As for the Druid race, which hadn't appeared before, it was a product of 【Wheel of Fortune】 Esmeralda's research—a race capable of transforming into monsters.
The higher their level, the more varieties of monsters they could transform into.
Esmeralda wasn't the only Druid present. There was another, and he was someone Lan Qingyou knew very well.
The Great Wind Mage and bane of stones—【Death】 Li Huai.
When Li Huai first chose to become a Druid, no one could understand it.
With such a powerful talent and offensive capabilities, why would he choose this race?
The older man's answer was simply that he'd wanted to be a magician since he was a child.
His answer left everyone speechless.
After all, as the owner of an S-grade Wind talent, the man was already a magician—and a very powerful one at that.
But in his mind, only those who could shapeshift were true magicians.
While Merfolk could transform, they were limited to a merman form, which wasn't what he was looking for.
So, the moment the Druid race became available, he chose it without hesitation.
"Haha, I didn't expect the Tower to be so sharp-tongued in person. Well? Do you want to do some fishing first?"
【Hierophant】 Nemo—the eldest among them, though he looked slightly younger now that he'd evolved into a Merfolk—was dressed in a short-sleeved fisherman's outfit. He conjured a fishing rod and gestured toward Lan Qingyou.
As for Lan Qingyou's position atop her Magic Broom, everyone tacitly avoided the subject.
They all knew the circumstances, so no one was tactless enough to mention it.
Jokes were one thing, but they wouldn't do anything to embarrass her.
Tsk. Even if the snow had stopped and the temperature was rising, that was no excuse to be wearing short sleeves.
Clearly, having a constant temperature enchantment truly meant one could do as they pleased.
"I'll pass. I don't know the first thing about fishing. I'd rather head into the dungeon as soon as possible."
Though it was a friendly invitation, Lan Qingyou still declined.
If it were anyone else in a different setting, they might have thought Lan Qingyou was being antisocial. In truth, she was; she wasn't the type to go out of her way to please others.
However, everyone here had their own unique personality and views, so no one took her refusal personally.
On the contrary, her directness was quite refreshing.
After all, no one here was the type to have much idle time.
"Is that the Witch's Magic Eye?"
【Wheel of Fortune】 Esmeralda, dressed in a red dress and wearing a string of pearls on her head, asked as she looked at Lan Qingyou's crimson eyes.
"Yes. After I became a Witch, my naturally black eyes turned red. However, this might just be my personal color; I'm not sure if other Witches' eyes change as well."
Lan Qingyou nodded, confirming Esmeralda's observation.
She was currently the only Witch in the entire Abandoned Land, and since she had never met any others, she couldn't say for sure.
"They do. According to what Justice said, they all turn red. Much like the distinct traits of other races, red Magic Eyes seem to be the defining characteristic of the Witch race."
Magician chimed in.
As one of the first people to know Chu Yuan, he was naturally privy to information others weren't.
"I see. It seems everyone is more or less the same then."
Though she had gained new information, it seemed rather inconsequential to Lan Qingyou.
She hadn't planned on interacting with other Witches anyway.
Even if they were all part of her own lineage.
As the founder of the Witch race, Lan Qingyou could afford to ignore these details. She was a Witch herself, so whether she paid attention to such things had little impact.
But the Supreme Council, which oversaw ten thousand Witches, could not afford such indifference.
After obtaining the Witch potions Lan Qingyou had worked overtime to brew, they had begun analyzing everything about Witches—their roles, combat power, appearance, and even their hobbies, dietary habits, and behavioral patterns.
Of course, this analysis wasn't limited to Witches.
Vampires, Merfolk, Titans, Man-Demons—they were all being analyzed.
Some of them even hoped to study these races to find a way for humans to evolve without the need for ancient bloodlines.
After all, ancient bloodlines were far too scarce.
Lan Qingyou's single pot of Star Dragon King Essence Blood might have seemed like enough to evolve over a hundred thousand people, but for the thirteen billion Blue Star transmigrators, it was a mere drop in the bucket.
That was why the Supreme Council, while sending out search teams, was also working on digging deeper into the human race itself.
Was it 'wishful thinking'?
Was it 'unrealistic'?
Perhaps, but these were simply the desperate compromises made in the face of limited options.
The problem wasn't scarcity itself, but inequality. When new races appeared, the vast majority who remained as the old race needed to be appeased, or chaos would surely ensue.
And if chaos broke out, the Supreme Council would undoubtedly be the first target of everyone's ire.
There was no question about it; from the moment they stepped up to seize power, this was a challenge they had to face.
Naturally, it would have been best if no new races had appeared at all.
But they already existed, so there was no point in dwelling on that. Finding a way to address the root cause was the only thing they could do.
They couldn't exactly kill everyone who had evolved, could they?
Don't be ridiculous. They were still counting on those people to be the pioneers and the vanguard that would allow the rest of humanity to live peacefully on the Kalim continent.
"When do we leave?"
Lan Qingyou, uninterested in the topic, asked 【Hierophant】 Nemo.
"The Tower really is impatient. But you probably haven't had breakfast yet, right? We haven't eaten either; we were waiting for you. We just caught quite a few fish, so we'll have a simple breakfast before we set out."
Nemo stood up and lifted a fish basket to show Lan Qingyou their catch for the morning.
It wasn't bad; there were about a dozen fish, each roughly palm-sized.
There were certainly enough for everyone to have two.
"Then I'll go and cook."
Gu Xiaobei stood up as well.
Though she was a guest here just like the others, no one could match her skills when it came to cooking.
Nemo smiled and handed over the fish basket.
In truth, he was also quite curious to see how Gu Xiaobei would prepare the freshly caught fish.
In any case, they were in for a treat.
"Chirp!"
"Squeak!"
Just as Gu Xiaobei was about to take the fish basket into Nemo's kitchen, two cries rang out from within Lan Qingyou's oversized robe.
After a few shuffles, a snow owl carrying a white mouse in its beak flew out from the folds of the robe.
After several months of healthy growth, Steel Wool had reached a size of about twenty centimeters.
It wasn't too big, but it wasn't small either; hiding inside Lan Qingyou's robe to stay out of the wind was no problem.
Furthermore, Aurora Snow Owls generally didn't get much larger than that, which made things easier for Lan Qingyou.
After all, its favorite thing to do was perch on her shoulder.
Rate on N.U.
