It's quite a long story, indeed.

  The Bedai Tribes, originally a nomadic people in the desert, are divided into dozens of tribes. The oneLeoric encountered is just one of them, originally residing along the Dark Road and now preparing to migrate northward.

  This vast desert was once the land of the Netherese Empire. After the empire's sudden fall, it turned into an endless expanse of sand. No one could survive in this desert, except for the Bedai Tribes.

  Farming, mining, and even trade are impossible in the desert. So, how do the Bedai Tribes make a living?

  Initially, they issued "Secret Passes."

  The original location of the Netherese Empire was at the heart of the northern continent. When the empire fell and the desert emerged, it effectively cut off travel between the eastern and western parts of the northern continent. Travelers and merchants found the endless desert a huge headache.

  Deserts have oases, and over time, with exploration, one could find these oases and create a route. But the Ennoak Desert whereLeoric stands has a unique characteristic.

  "You just said the oases in this desert aren't fixed; they move?"Leoric looked at the old man in disbelief.

  Even without experience in deserts,Leoric had common sense. Oases in deserts are normal; he could understand if they gradually withered and were consumed by the sand. But the idea that oases could move on their own was too bizarre to believe.

  "Yes," said the old man. "Because this isn't an ordinary desert," he sighed, a bleak expression appearing on his face. "You should know about the Fylinthians."

  Leoric, of course, knew about the Fylinthians, the culprit behind the destruction of the Netherese Empire. Spiritshade City was inhabited by descendants of the Netherese Empire, who always saw revenge and the restoration of their nation as their duty. Their archenemy was the "Fylinthians."

  "The Fylinthians are terrifying monsters," said the old man. "They can consume life force."

  When the empire was conquered by the Fylinthians, it fell. The Fylinthians took over this place, and wherever they went, plants withered, soil turned to sand, and within just a few years, it turned into a vast desert.

  In other words, this desert was not a natural formation.

  Later, the Fylinthians encountered their natural predators and were imprisoned and sealed, reportedly beneath this desert. They struggled to escape, causing the desert to constantly change, with oases appearing and disappearing erratically.

  The desert is too vast to cross without oases as refueling stations. And since the oases move, it adds greatly to the difficulty.

  The Bedai Tribes, however, have a special ability: they can always accurately find the oases, as if they can predict their locations.

  With this unique skill, the Bedai Tribes could roam the desert freely. Travelers and merchants only needed to pay the Bedai Tribes a fee for a Secret Pass to receive protection and guidance across the desert safely.

  At that time, there was no "Dark Road." The oases were erratic, and there were no fixed routes.

  By issuing Secret Passes and collecting "toll fees" or "guidance fees," the Bedai Tribes thrived in the desert for over a thousand years.

  However, good times don't last forever.

  In the eastern part of the desert, an organization emerged called the Xanthar's Guild. The old man rambled on for a while, butLeoric summed it up as: the Xanthar's Guild is a powerful organization, seemingly a criminal syndicate.

  The Xanthar's Guild, based in the eastern desert, needed to expand westward across the desert. They didn't want to be controlled by the Bedai Tribes and refused to pay toll fees or accept any Secret Passes.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  The Xanthar's Guild is powerful and well-staffed, with countless powerful wizards, clerics, and other extraordinary individuals. They somehow managed to fix the otherwise erratic oases – more accurately, they forced oases along the desert's central line to stay put, preventing them from moving. As for the rest of the desert, the Xanthar's Guild didn't care; the oases there remained erratic.

  They fixed over a dozen oases, large and small, using these as bases with soldiers stationed and interconnected, forming the "Dark Road"Leoric saw on the map.

  After building the Dark Road, the Xanthar's Guild also issued passes and collected toll fees, imitating the Bedai Tribes. The Dark Road was stable and safe, passing straight through the middle of the desert, making it the fastest route and thus very popular.

  So, the Bedai Tribes lost their business.

  As mentioned, farming, mining, and trade are impossible in the desert, and this was how the Bedai Tribes made a living. With the Xanthar's Guild stepping in and stealing their business, the tribes suddenly lost their means of survival.

  So, the Bedai Tribes switched to a more promising profession – bandits.

  The Xanthar's Guild built the Dark Road, and travelers and merchants passed through it. The Bedai Tribes robbed along the Dark Road.

  Of course, the Xanthar's Guild had professional ethics. After selling passes and collecting fees, they would naturally send soldiers to escort travelers and protect the routes. But the desert was too vast, and the Dark Road too long. No matter how powerful the Xanthar's Guild was, they couldn't protect every segment of the road impenetrably, leaving loopholes to exploit.

  The Bedai Tribes, having lived in the desert for generations and being nomadic, were extremely familiar with the geography and moved swiftly, escaping far away when necessary. The Xanthar's Guild was at a disadvantage in defense, and lacking the Bedai Tribes' ability to predict oasis appearances, they dared not venture deep into the desert away from the Dark Road. As a result, the two sides were locked in a decades-long stalemate along the Dark Road.

  But a few days ago, this balance was broken.

  For some unknown reason, the Xanthar's Guild suddenly closed the Dark Road, forbidding all travelers to pass and killing anyone seen. Not only that, but they also dispatched heavy troops to guard the Dark Road, launching attacks in all directions regardless of cost or loss,rampant slaughter the Bedai Tribes.

  The Bedai Tribes, ultimately weaker in strength, couldn't withstand the Xanthar's Guild's relentless onslaught and suffered heavy losses, unable to stay in the area. The dozen or so Bedai Tribes along the Dark Road collectively decided to migrate northward.

  The groupLeoric encountered was one of these small tribes.

  To summarize the old man's words, it boils down to a few sentences: The Bedai Tribes originally dominated the desert by finding oases with their unique skill, charging toll fees. Later, the Xanthar's Guild used more advanced technology to build a safer and faster Dark Road, stealing the Bedai Tribes' livelihood. The Bedai Tribes then turned to banditry for survival. A few days ago, the Xanthar's Guild launched a major offensive, forcing the Bedai Tribes to relocate.

  But why northward?

  "Because our people are still in the north."

  The old man explained that the Bedai Tribes originally lived in two cities on the northwestern edge of the desert: Ascore and Hlaungadath, both originally cities of the Netherese Empire. After the empire fell, the cities turned into ruins and became homes for the Bedai Tribes.

  But later, a group of evil sphinx monsters emerged, occupying Ascore and Hlaungadath and launching attacks on the Bedai Tribes. Forced to leave, the Bedai Tribes split into dozens of tribes, some staying in the northwest desert to fend off the sphinxes, while others ventured deep into the desert, later becoming bandits along the Dark Road.

  Now, news from the north said the sphinxes had reached a peace agreement with the Bedai Tribes, stopping mutual attacks and vacating Ascore as a gesture of goodwill. With the intense attacks from the Xanthar's Guild here, everyone agreed to head north and return home.

  As for the three clerics and paladins, they were encountered by chance. They also needed to cross the desert but ran into the Xanthar's Guild blocking the Dark Road. Desperate, they met this Bedai Tribe, and the bandits resumed their old profession, charging toll fees again to guide them.

  "Guide them?"Leoric asked curiously. "They need to cross the desert, and you're migrating northward. Are you on the same route?"

  "Ascore, where we're going, is already on the northwestern edge of the desert," the old man replied, taking out a map from under the table and showing it to Leoric. It was an old, worn-out sheepskin map showing only the desert area, not as clear or precise as the one in Leoric's possession, but it was still legible.

  "We're roughly here now," the old man tapped the center of the vast desert on the map, "and Escow City is up here, northwest," he pointed to a dot, "Once you reach Escow City, it's just another day's journey to get out of the desert. There's a trade route from Adbar Fort to Deepwater City, so you can easily hire a carriage," his finger traced the route on the map, "After Escow, out of the desert, and onto the trade route, you'll have convenient access wherever you need to go. It might seem like a big detour, but it won't add much time—besides," he squinted at Leoric, "it's your only option. The Dark Road is no longer viable."