482 A Jolly Atmosphere (1/2)
After all, the main plane inhibited gods, and if they descended with their real body, it would be easy to meet their demise if they encountered those with ill intentions.
For example, the Goddess of Fortune thought that she could beat everything if she descended with her true form.
In the end, it turned out she couldn't even beat Mordenkainen.
Instead, she went back to the divine realm and reincarnated.
There was another bunch of evil gods that got killed by Melf.
And some weak gods that came to the main plane and even disappeared.
They couldn't even cause a ripple.
This was why few gods dared to come to the main plane with their real bodies.
Most of the methods used were those like Mystra's, who came over with a divine shadow, and even if the shadow was broken, it would only cost a little bit of divine power.
Mystra, the Goddess of Magic, had few followers. She became a god with the body of a human and could slowly grow stronger by herself without the power of faith.
She didn't need followers, so she didn't really like to develop or respond to them.
They either existed or didn't.
It didn't matter.
She was very low-key, without desires or demands.
So, the Goddess of Magic's consciousness descending was a rather new experience to many people.
In the minds of these Legendary Mages like Alfred, there was a reason for all the actions of the big shots, let alone the gods.
There must be a very important reason for Mystra's sudden descent.
In the church, Roland felt the Goddess of Magic's mental power surrounding him.
She was ”looking” at him.
The young man next to him had dropped to one knee, not daring to look up.
Roland looked up at the opening above the church and saw the blue female silhouette looming.
”We meet again, Goddess Mystra.”
”Indeed.” The mature female voice sounded in Roland's mind. ”I didn't expect that in less than a year, in this short period of time, you would invent another new spell. This made quite an impression on me, so I came to see you again. This reminds me of myself in the past, before I became a goddess.”
Huh?
With Roland's total attribute addition to intelligence, his character now had an intelligence of 14.5 and was more than twice as strong as the one on Earth in terms of arithmetic, analysis, and even intuition.
Roland estimated that his intelligence on Earth, when converted to the game's value, was only 7 points at most.
So he was pretty shrewd with information in the outside world, and he could notice the slightest thing that seemed off.
The Sword of Mystra was a special summoning spell that summoned a projection of an epic longsword with intelligence, which could hover next to the caster and automatically attack enemies.
When this sword was held in one's hand, it granted the holder considerably powerful buffs, so oftentimes, even if the caster picked up the Sword of Mystra, they could act like half a Warrior.
It could even be temporarily loaned to melee professionals.
As for Mystra's Mansion, it was the ultimate life-saving skill that all spellcasters yearned for.
In the astral plane, a safe space of a three-by-three-by-three-meter cube would be created for the caster to hide in.
This space was usually stocked with enough food and water that one could avoid most dangers.
Normally, it would be impossible for even a god to find this small cube in the almost infinite astral plane.
Greater Prophecy was very effective in the main plane for searching for people, but in the astral plane, even if the direction was known, there would be no way to get to the destination.
The astral plane was too vast, and things were too distant from each other.
There would also be a large number of astral insects moving around the astral plane on the way.
Theoretically, Mystra's Mansion was the strongest life-saving spell of all.
Roland didn't believe that Mystra, who had invented Mystra's Mansion and Sword of Mystra, such superb spells, would find the Kill You 3000 Times spell amazing.
Hearing Roland's words, the Goddess of Magic was silent for a moment, then asked, ”Roland, do you know what a god is?”
”A more powerful living being?” Roland responded with a question, without much confidence.
”Very typical line of thought for a Mage.” There was laughter in the Goddess of Magic's voice. ”It's indeed not wrong to put it that way. If that's the case, the ancient dragons so powerful that they could physically enter the astral plane could also be called gods. But they aren't. The so-called gods are powerful beings that have mastered the natural laws and have condensed them into a Divine Spark.
”The Divine Spark is a powerful thing, it allows the use of natural laws that have been grasped.” In the Goddess of Magic's words, there was a slight sense of disappointment. ”However, the Divine Spark is also a prison. It makes it so gods are only able to use what is known of the natural laws and what their believers already know.”
Natural laws that have been grasped, and knowledge that the believers already have?
Roland froze for a moment, and then the synapses in his head connected as if lightning had cut through the darkness.
He clapped his hands. ”Divine Spark limits your creativity. Goddess of Magic… you only know the magic that you already know; your creativity, your inventiveness, are limited by the Divine Spark.”
”Smart.” The huge female shadow in midair nodded slightly to Roland. ”Just like you said, I used to be a genius; I could invent and create magic. But now, natural laws prevent me from doing those things. I can only use known magic—isn't that ridiculous!”
Roland was silent.
The words of the Goddess of Magic revealed a lot of shocking information.
The natural laws of this world seemed to have revealed a corner of its entirety to him.
Gods were limited by the natural laws and Divine Spark, so further extrapolation…
Did the two super-geniuses, Mordenkainen and Melf, not become gods like Mystra because… they already knew the limits of the gods?
It was more important to them to discover the true meaning of magic than having an endless lifespan and great power?
Seeing Roland's silence, the Goddess of Magic continued, ”You are the most talented Mage in the last three hundred years or so. A year or so ago, several different spell models were offered to me, but then I noticed that their offerers seemed to be stupid and couldn't have invented those spells. Now that I've seen what you've offered, I've noticed that these new spells all have the same style, so those spell models are actually your work, right?”
”If you're talking about the blue Inferior Fireball, that is by me indeed.”
”Very good.” The voice of the Goddess of Magic grew lighter. ”Roland, let's make a deal. How about you sincerely believe in me and I give you a tenth of my life force? This will be worth at least two thousand years of lifespan.”
”You want the knowledge in my head?” Roland responded with a question.