Netheril's Ruins!

This was a real world. Powerful beings who built ruins specifically to pass down knowledge and wealth, like those in bardic tales, did exist—but they were scarce enough that the difference between their existence and nonexistence was negligible.

In truth, the vast majority of Legendary spellcasters would never consider the option of "leaving the wealth of their magic tower for some 'fated person' to inherit after their accidental death" when constructing one. At the very least, neutral and evil Mages like Punk would only consider whether they could use their magic tower to trap a greedy intruder. Even self-destructing the tower and destroying all its resources was better than giving their property away for nothing.

Of course, it would be even better if they could drag some unfortunate bastard down with them.

With such selfish and malicious mindsets being exceedingly common, most Legendary Mages filled their magic towers with countless traps and mechanisms that could still function perfectly even millions of years after their owners' deaths. Some self-destruction systems were even deliberately left inactive, simply so that daring intruders could pay the price.

Therefore, a ruin left behind by a Legendary spellcaster might not contain enough wealth to satisfy adventurers, but it would absolutely have terrifying dangers waiting for fools! This was also why Cain and Smile, two Legendary-tier powerhouses, had not dared enter the accidentally exposed ruin together—without a spellcaster who recognized a great number of Legendary magic arrays accompanying them, the danger posed by a magic tower would multiply several times over.

But... did possessing some knowledge mean a Mage could recklessly explore ruins slumbering in some corner of the Multiverse?

Punk was not that arrogant.

To be honest, the phrase "vastly knowledgeable" might have suited Punk reasonably well at the Master level, but at the Legendary tier,