Fellow Countrymen Swindle Fellow Countrymen

The two talked freely for a long time, with Mordenkainen firmly steering the conversation the entire way.

Anse was no match for the old man in this regard, but no one said he had to answer, much less tell the truth.

Mordenkainen had a good sense of restraint. Whenever that happened, he followed Anse's lead and changed the subject rather than probing further.

Anse realized that this legendary wizard was not as stubborn and overbearing as the Astral Travel Guide had described. Perhaps time had made him more mature—or better at putting on an act.

Since Mordenkainen was a master of Divination, perhaps every move he made carried some hidden meaning. Anse could not trust him completely.

Several dozen minutes passed.

The surrounding magical tides quietly underwent a slight change. Their rhythm remained unchanged, but they became more stable and controllable.

The Spirit Network began expanding!

The magical environment of the Gray Vault Tianyu displayed clear spatial stratification. Spellcasting difficulty rose in steps from the planetary surface to outer space.

Oerth was the region with the most stable and abundant magic in the entire Desolate Universe System, and it was also the birthplace of Gray Hawk's magical civilization.

Its source of magic was an eternal, stable flow of energy, organized by the Weave into a structure that spellcasters could draw upon.

This Weave was entirely different from that of the Realm Tianyu. It leaned more toward the "natural codification of rules" rather than the "manifestation of divine will." It was not

a divine creation.

The god who governed the Weave was Boccob, the god of magic, known as the "Uncaring One" and the "Archmage of the Gods." Unlike Mystra, he rarely intervened directly in the Weave's operation.

After the Spirit Network appeared, it did not interfere with the existing magical