7 An Exponential Increase of Users

"What did you say? Delçois lost a magical debate? I didn't know that there was a magical debate recently."

"In the Forum? What Forum?"

"The magical knowledge that the school taught us is wrong? This… this can't be true!!!"

Delçois, who had lost that heated magic debate, became the hottest discussion topic overnight!

That was the second time he had triggered a discussion in the Felix School of Magic since he improved the magical engraving.

However, the current topic was far more explosive than the previous one!

He had never been wrong or shamed in the realm of magic since his entrance to the Felix School of Magic.

He was the epitome of genius in his schoolmates' eyes.

But how did a genius like him lose a magical debate in the end?

How could this not be shocking?

Only a couple of his friends knew about that incident at first.

Being Delçois' good friend, he was supposed to conceal this for his sake. But this incident was too explosive and the post was highlighted in the forum, which later garnered thousands of replies.

So how could one expect those impulsive young people to keep mum about it?

It spread like wildfire in the blink of an eye.

Many students soon began to make mithril magical tools with the Internet Divine Skill's engraving just to see Delçois make a fool of himself.

Some of them even engraved it directly on their wands.

All of them were stunned after they activated the Internet Divine Skill and logged into the so-called Internet.

Initially, there was still a portion of the crowd who went there to see Delçois make a fool of himself. However, they later forgot all about Delçois' incident after they saw the Library on the Internet.

For the first time in their lives, they were able to get in touch with magical knowledge from other places aside from the School of Magic.

Not only did it include the basic magical knowledge, it even included forbidden magic that could only be wielded by magical deities!

Even though the usage of points to exchange for forbidden magic was a terrifying thought, it was still a method to gain access to it, right?

Such discovery immediately caused an upheaval among the mage apprentices in the Felix School of Magic!

Wealth shakes people's faith!

Nobody cared about the often cited "those who used divine skills would be watched by the deities" at that moment. There were always people who would be tempted, so they began to spread the divine skill on a grand scale to earn points in exchange for magical knowledge.

There were even people who wrote letters to their family members and mailed out mithril rings with the Internet Divine Skill engravings. They were afraid that this divine skill would be banned one day.

Apart from that, this first taste of the Internet by using the Forum had all those mage apprentices completely hooked.

Many of them were overwhelmed by the myriad sources of information, stories and news when they first went into the Forum.

All the travel journals from mercenaries' adventures were simply overwhelming!

For those who loved to improve themselves, there was finally a place to discuss and ask about magical knowledge they couldn't receive from their teachers.

While in the Forum, nobody would look at their backgrounds, looks, pedigree, talents and wonder whether they were worthwhile to groom.

Someone would give you an answer as long as you asked.

Sometimes you could even do a search before you asked a question; there was the chance to find similar questions and answers to them.

There were really people who could be Mage Instructors lurking in the Forum.

For example, that existence who won the debate against Delçois. Its nick was "Didn't know that people could be ruthless when I was young"

He would always answer most of the magical questions in a helpful manner.

Many students who were stuck because they couldn't understand certain parts of their studies began to improve by leaps and bounds, after clearing up their confusions and hurdles with his explanations.

Many people were very grateful to "Didn't know that people could be ruthless when I was young"!

They were even more grateful for the emergence of the Internet!

—It provided chances and possibilities for those people who were seeking for ways to improve themselves but couldn't find them anywhere else.

A tremendous revolution that could alter the Aizea Continent's social fabric had begun in the Felix School of Magic!

And this incident had gained so much attention that the senior management of the Felix School of Magic began to notice.

…

The Felix School of Magic. Circular Tower of Magic.

At the seventh level, the Grand Mage Instructors were having a meeting in the meeting room which was engraved with Restricted Magic.

Apart from the six Grand Mage Instructors who were staying in the school, the meeting room had also activated the Instant Image Technique to allow for other Grand Mage Instructors who were thousands of kilometers away to also take part in the meeting.

The person who was conducting the meeting was the Principal of the Felix School of Magic. He was also one of the Four Main Pillars of the Queville Empire. He was the Magical Deity—Dandell.

Right there, they were already having a heated argument in the meeting room.

"Do we still need to discuss this matter? This damned Internet Deity is without a doubt an evil and false god! Look at the current situation in the school now. Countless students are questioning the way we teach magic! How could we accept this? We have to ban the Internet Divine Skill completely!"

"That's right. Releasing and sharing magical knowledge? Is he trying to create a bigger mess in the Empire?"

"There are already signs that it is indeed happening in my city. The mithril prices have already increased by 7% lately!"

"I suggest that we ban the Internet Divine Skill right now. We should also collaborate with the Five Main Righteous Deities to strike down the Internet Deity!"

The Grand Mage Instructors were very agitated in their discussions; they didn't look like they were the Empire's supporting pillars, at all.

Only a few of them remained silent.

After a while, Dandell, who looked like he was in his forties with his salt-and-pepper hair, interrupted the discussion by knocking on the table.

He asked a mage in his twenties who had been quiet the whole time, "What do you think, Lucien?"

All the Grand Mage Instructors present looked over after that question was posed. Many of them had a hint of jealousy that flashed across their eyes.

Being the youngest Grand Mage Instructor in the Empire, Lucien had alway been favored by Dandell.

That was plain to see from the way he seeked his advice in the meeting, like this time.

Lucien stood up and nodded at Dandell. Then, he gathered his thoughts before speaking. "I believe the emergence of the Internet Divine Skill is both good and bad for our Queville Empire!

"The advantage is obvious. Our Queville Empire is based on magic and we go against all the deities. We believe we can decide our fates. And what do we use to go against deities and decide our fate? Magic!

"But the price for magical cultivation is high, and the price to seek out talented children is even higher. Now, things are different with the Internet Divine Skill. If everyone could cultivate magic, not only would the Empire become stronger, it could also seek out the real magical talents mixed in the masses."

There were already mages preparing to refute Lucien before he could even finish speaking.

"What you're saying is too idealistic. The Internet Divine Skill would only allow evil people to gain magical knowledge. The world would be in a great disorder by then."

"That's right. If everyone could learn magic with the Internet Divine Skill, who would join our school of magic? And who is going to serve the Empire?"

"Yes. Everyone would only direct their gratitude towards the Internet Deity. They could become his believers."

"We would be ruled by the Internet Deity!"

The mages began to chime in with worry and anger.

"This is what I'm about to say!" Lucien interrupted their commotion and continued on, "The things that you worry about are not going to happen. Magical knowledge is a difficult and systematic knowledge. It's difficult to achieve success with just a few books if a person doesn't have resources and teachers to guide them!

"The Internet Divine Skill would only create more mage apprentices in the masses, but it wouldn't create many mages! Or, is it that all of you present are worried that you would lose your positions if many mage instructors appeared after the magical knowledge is shared publicly?

Lucien's final sarcastic remark angered many of them.

"Presumptuous!

"Do you really understand that learning magic needs resources? The resources would be insufficient if everyone is learning magic. And then, how are we going to groom our future Magical Deities?" someone rebutted.

"How much resources could mage apprentices exhaust? We control most of the magical resources in the Empire and we could use them to attract the top talents," Lucien replied, using the same logic.

"Foolish! We could attract the top talents, but what about the rest? They're going to fight for resources crazily and the Empire would descend into chaos."

"Rubbish! The masses would only get stronger if everyone cultivated magic. That would mean that they would be able to hunt and create even more magical resources."

The meeting room became chaotic again!

Everyone stuck to their own opinions and refused to back down.

Dandell had remained silent. He seemed to have deliberately asked Lucien to say his piece so he could cause a debate and allow him to hear all the different opinions.

He knocked on the table after a long time passed.

Everyone quieted down and looked at him.

He said, "All of you make great sense. However, it is not up to us to decide if the Internet Divine Skill should be banned. Now, all of you have only one mission—to eliminate the Internet Divine Skill's influence in Felix.

"First. Clearly explain to all the mage apprentices the reason why we don't teach them the Abis Formula.

"Second. Ban all the students from using the Internet Divine Skill. Tell them that we would have people watching them. They would receive a warning the first time they are discovered and they would be banished subsequently.

"Third. Publicize all the Mage Tower's basic magical knowledge to offset the Internet Divine Skill's influence."

The mages looked at one another upon hearing that and most of them had an excited look in their eyes!

The Internet Divine Skill had shaken their fundamental interests. Hence, they naturally hoped to ban it instantly and crush the so-called Internet Deity!