ALL NOVEL 53 – Benefit of Doubt
Rising to the 9th level of Embryonic Divinity was a major breakthrough in my power gain, both because I could now make more powerful attacks and manipulate my Divine Power for attacks in more efficient ways, but also because with the increased Divine Power efficiency I now had, I was receiving even more Divine Power with each prayer.
Unfortunately, while my body was improving its efficiency by using audio on the Internet, my consciousness in the mortal world was observing mortals using the Internet, and the consciousness noticed some problems.
Because Arcantor's Internet users had been in contact with the Internet for a month, even if they had problems with the Internet interface at some point, they could ask for help from friends who were already using the Internet, and it would be solved quickly.
But for the users in Eldoria, these small problems couldn't be solved so easily, because they were all just as lost in using the Internet as the new users in Arcantor.
And if they were confused about how to use it, it was because there was a structural problem with the design...
Observing various believers, I realized that the problem was even worse than I had first imagined.
Arcantor was a mage-centric kingdom, where mages held the most noble positions and were respected by the kingdom, even if they came from a civilian background.
And since wizards loved to read, the image of a wizard carrying a book back and forth through the cities was something very common and respected in Arcantor.
But the same could not be said for Eldoria.
Even though the citizens of Eldoria had heard of wizards and how respected they were in other kingdoms like Arcantor, few people had ever seen a wizard in person.
In Eldoria, the citizens respected strength more than knowledge, preferring a sword to a book.
And this became a problem for the Internet in Eldoria, because it wasn't easy for the users to use the Internet through the book, and nobody noticed that there was a button for the user to choose how the Internet window looked in the real world.
After thinking about it for a while, I decided to put the button to change the Internet skin in that place, with a flashing notification to show that users could change the way it looked.
Since they didn't like books or scrolls, I decided to launch the new Internet window skin, a simple blue holographic floating screen that matched the color of my eyes, the same window I used to control the Internet in front of mortals.
Unlike the book, which had a physical form, this window was just a hologram, so this lack of tangibility lowered the cost of Divine Power I had to keep it active; on the other hand, since it was easier to keep the Internet active this way, it made users keep it active longer than the books, bringing the cost back to the original price.
Another thing I had to focus on were some updates.
Since Arcantor was no longer the only kingdom using the Internet, I decided to change the name of the [Arcantor National] app to [National Journal] so that Internet users from other kingdoms wouldn't feel awkward using this app, and Arcantor's commanders could send messages to all users in all kingdoms without having to focus only on Arcantor.
If the kingdoms were just allies, it would be possible to develop this in a different way, but Eldoria had literally lost a war to Arcantor and had to submit to them, so it was only fair that they just put their heads down.
*Ding*
While I was updating the interface and small internet functions, a notification from my [Carrier Pigeon] popped up.
Curious, I paused my development and took a look at the message from Jaina.
[Greetings to the Illustrious God of the Internet,
It is with great reverence that I come before your divinity to bring news from our lands. Our mages, who diligently guard the border between the kingdoms of Arcantor and Novera, have reported the arrival of emissaries sent by the Goddess of Waves, who rules their lands.
These emissaries have expressed their desire to contact you.
Faced with this situation, I turn to you for guidance. How should we proceed with this contact proposed by Novera?
We await your answer, certain that your decision will bring security and prosperity to our kingdom.
May the wisdom of your divinity light our way.
With all reverence and respect,
Jaina Proudstone
Archmage of Arcantor].
Reading Jaina's message, written in such a formal way, as if messages on the Internet were like formal letters, was very funny to me.
This way of writing messages was very common among nobles and wizards, even if it wasn't necessary.
Only ordinary commoners wrote on the Internet the way people did in my previous world, with simpler, more direct communication.
But even though this type of message was unnecessarily long and complicated, I wouldn't complain about Jaina, and I would even reply to her in the same way, since that was how wizards felt comfortable talking.
What surprised me about all this was that Lucy had sent her emissaries to talk to me!
What was her intention?
From what I remembered of this body's memories, Adrian had a harmonious relationship with her, much better than any other young god at the school, but their relationship was just that, harmonious.
If I had to, I wouldn't have hesitated to attack Novera and completely destroy her kingdom, even if their relationship wasn't bad, because this was a competition.
Of course, I didn't have to, so I had no reason to be rude to her or her church's emissaries.
Out of curiosity, I decided to ask Jaina to reply to the Border Wizard that she could send this message through him, that it would reach me, telling Jaina to pass on my [Carrier Pigeon] profile, with Athenos' identity of course, so that the Wizard could send me the message.
Upon reading this, Jaina quickly responded positively and sent the message to the mage.
Watching her Internet, I followed the message she sent and quickly identified the Border Mage, changing my view to observe this mage through his Internet book.
The man was a mage who appeared to be in his 60s, but who was possibly at least 10 years older, considering that he was a master mage wearing a navy blue cloak.
When he saw that Jaina had sent him my contact information, the man was shocked and a smile appeared on his face as he very carefully added me.
Returning to the guest room of the Mage Tower where he was staying, the man smiled elegantly.
"The God of the Internet is ready to hear your message, you can tell me about it so that I can deliver it to the God of the Internet's emissary as soon as possible." said the magician.
Upon hearing this, the foreigners were confused. "Are you a member of the Church of the God of the Internet?"
The magician shook his head. "No, I'm just a devout believer who prays to the God of the Internet more than ten times a day.
Upon hearing this, the foreigners were completely shocked. "Ten times a day?!"
They probably didn't even pray to their goddess ten times a week, and here was this border magician praying to the God of the Internet more than ten times in the same day? Obviously, this man was a faithful follower of the God of the Internet!
To confirm this, the foreigner finally took out a scroll with various symbols they couldn't understand and handed it to the wizard.
Looking at the scroll, the wizard was completely confused.
What now? How am I supposed to give this information to the Internet God? He asked himself shocked, but he didn't want to lose any prestige in front of these envoys of another goddess, so he just put the scroll away gracefully and continued talking to them for a few more minutes.
I wasn't focused on that conversation, but on the contents of that scroll.
Since the wizard's internet book was still active, I had a full view of the area they were in, so I was able to read the scroll even though it was closed.
And what surprised me was what it contained.
Even though mortals couldn't understand what was written, I could understand it perfectly because it was written in the divine language, something that only gods could understand.
[Are you interested in a partnership? If so, meet me tonight at the border of our realms with your divine conscience].
It was still 10:00 a.m., a long time before the appointment, so I had time to think about it.
Where did she get the confidence to meet me with our divine conscience?
While I was thinking about this message, the magician had finished entertaining the foreigners and was wondering how to send this message to me.
When he finally put the parchment against the Internet book, I let some of my divine power seep through the book and destroy the parchment, making it look as if I had transported it to myself.
Since I already knew the contents, I didn't need to keep it just to make the wizard think I had already received the message.
I was just unsure what to do now...
Meeting our Divine Consciousnesses might show an opening for the other God to attack you directly, which wasn't safe at all...
If it was any other god, I'd probably refuse without a second thought, but according to the personality Lucy had shown in the years Adrian had lived with her, she deserved the benefit of the doubt...
///NunuNote///
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