NOVEL WEB Chapter 10: The Tavern
Although there were dimensional barriers that couldn't be breached in between all the major planes in this multiverse, it didn't mean that the major planes couldn't interact with one another.
On the contrary, the planes always interacted with one another for all kinds of reasons.
It could be as small as summoning on both sides to coordinate battle operations; or as big as inter-plane invasions and total war.
Things could get very complicated if the Internet Deity indeed wasn't a deity from the Aizea Continent!
The trivial incidents might just be spreading faiths and harvesting elementium; the serious ones could have sinister motives such as snatching souls and resources or even conquering their plane directly.
Deducing from the prayer—"The Great Existence From the Azure Blue Star," the mages could almost confirm that the Internet Deity was of external origin.
Then, what did he come here for?
Nobody could guess the reason.
That urgent meeting finally ended with a depressing ambiance.
The three of the Queville Empire's Four Main Pillars had decided to meet the Internet Deity.
The trend that had been brought along by the Internet Divine Skill wasn't one that they could stop. That is, unless they struck down the Internet Deity to eliminate this problem-causing divine being.
However, it definitely wasn't easy to kill a deity.
Therefore, meeting and finding out more about the other party before making decisions would be the most rational choice.
In a meditation room that was fully covered by magical engravings, Dandell began to chant the Internet Deity's prayers to summon the Internet under Zimmer and Betty's protection.
Soon after, Dandell fell silent.
He was waiting for the Deity of the Internet's reaction.
And they waited for half an hour.
"This…" Dandell furrowed his eyebrows.
Zimmer and Betty simply looked at each other.
Dandell sighed softly before stimulating his soul power and saying in a low voice, "I am the Principal of the Felix School of Magic, Dandell. Esteemed Deity of the Internet, I think we have some misunderstandings. Could we meet up and talk in person?"
The virtual scroll suddenly flashed after two seconds.
Dandell raised his eyebrow slightly as someone suddenly sent a message to his unique social media account which had been formed by using his soul fluctuations.
He clicked on it and saw that he had suddenly gained a friend in his Friends List—The Internet Deity!
He sent a message, "Sure! I heard the 'Warrior's Blood' in the 'Mage's Hat' in front of your school is great. Let's meet there at eight tonight!"
Dandell replied rather awkwardly, "As you wish, Esteemed Deity of the Internet."
The conversation ended and Dandell had a weird expression.
This Deity of the Internet seemed… rather friendly?
No, no, no!
Evil gods are the best at pretense. Don't be fooled by him.
…
…
The land was dark and a gentle wind blew.
At the tavern "Mage's Hat"—
Delçois sat in front of the bar as he savored his "Planter's Punch" in silence.
The tavern's boisterousness seemed to have nothing to do with him.
Although the school hadn't issued any expulsion documents formally, he, who had created a scene in class, decided to leave on his own accord and not give the school the chance to expel him.
That glass of punch might very well be his last drink in Willis City.
He would leave that place to seek freedom the following day.
Did he regret it?
Maybe.
After all, that was the place he had gone to in search of knowledge and the place where he became famous. It was even where…
Forget it. I became notorious and everyone is avoiding me now. Let's just forget about friends!
"Hey, Bro. Can you buy me a drink?"
A man's attempt at striking up a conversation interrupted Delçois' melancholy. He looked toward the source of the voice and saw a young man who was wearing a weird black jacket with a white shirt and a pair of blue, rough fiber pants. He was smiling at him.
Great. Has the famous Felix's magical genius already degenerated to the state where vagrants would ask him to buy them drinks?
Delçois lifted his chin at the bartender as an indication for him to order what he wanted.
"Thanks. One 'Warrior's Blood' please."
After placing his order, the young man sat next to him and said, "Bro, looks like you're in a bad mood? Your girlfriend dumped you?"
Delçois rolled his eyes.
The bartender brought over a glass of scarlet cocktail and teased, "He is in fact Felix's magical genius. He's usually the one doing the dumping. Who would ever dump him?"
Delçois yelled at the bartender, "You have a big mouth!"
The bartender said smilingly, "This 'Warrior's Blood' is on the house. Oh yes, thanks for giving me the mithril ring. I have to say it has opened the doors to a new world for me. Now I can be considered as a mage apprentice, too!"
The bartender laid his right palm out after speaking, and a flame rose up in the middle of his palm.
That was the most basic and also the most useless fire-based magic—The Burning Hand.
It was also a mage's romantic sentiment!
"Congratulations!"
Delçois smiled sincerely.
The happiest time on the path of magic cultivation was usually when they succeeded at releasing magic the first time.
Regardless how useless and impractical that magic was!
"The future grand mage has accepted your congrats!" the bartender said smugly.
However, his pride was soon crushed.
"Pfft. Did you call yourself a noble mage apprentice when you simply released a tiny flame? If so, could I be considered as one too, then?" Next to the bar, a young mercenary wearing leather armor raised his hand and a scarlet flame that was hotter and brighter than the bartender's rose up in his palm.
"My heavens. Have you become a mage apprentice, Little Colin?"
"When did you guys become mage apprentices?"
The young mercenary and the bartender attracted numerous customers' exclamations instantly.
Someone didn't like to see them show off and pointed out the reason, "If I guessed correctly, you guys learned it from the Internet, right?"
"The Internet? What is it?"
"See, this is the Internet! Listen to me, go and buy some Internet Rings quickly to make sure that all your friends and relatives have one. You would be able to contact one another wherever you are and you could also learn magic, combat skills and divine skills. Anyway, it has everything. It even has recipe books!"
"We could even learn magic?"
Someone at the bar wasn't aware of that and he was stunned!
Some customers who were seated further away even stopped their conversations and looked over, trying their best to listen in.
"Of course, as long as you have points, you could even learn forbidden magic! Look at this library. I bet it has more books in its collection than the Felix School of Magic!"
"Apart from grimoires, it even has online courses. See, this is it. It's almost similar to the Felix School of Magic, except their lessons are conducted from a distance. I listened to Instructor Young's lecture yesterday and it was fantastic! I have a premonition that I'll become a very powerful mage!"
"You're lucky. The latest internet update has allowed people to log in by praying. I was so pissed when I recalled that I paid two gold coins for a mithril ring a while back!"
"However, it isn't very good to log in with prayers. We get exhausted very easily. It's still better to log in with magical engravings."
Right then, those who didn't know anything about it were trying their best to find out more.
The majority of those who knew didn't treat it as a secret. They activated the Internet Divine Skill straight away and began to introduce it to others enthusiastically. They felt immensely satisfied to see the crowd's astonished expressions.
"Regimental Commander Haliman, did you sign up to be an online course instructor? I've read the recruitment requirements. With your fighter's qualifications, you would definitely qualify to be a combat skills instructor," someone asked a regimental commander.
"Haha. To be honest, I've already signed up for it and my request was already approved in the afternoon. I'll start giving lessons two days later after I complete my errands," said Commander Haliman proudly. Being an Instructor was a rather noble and respectable occupation in the Queville Empire's social structure.
Even Commander Haliman, who was in the middle-class tier, would feel immensely proud to become an instructor!
Even though he said, 'I'll start giving lessons two days later after I complete my errands', he was in fact too nervous to start broadcasting.
He had been constantly planning during those two days on how to give the lectures so it would show that he was very knowledgeable, so as to not disgrace his fighter's identity.
Just imagine. He would be an honorable combat skills instructor in just a couple of days!
Not only would he be famous in the Queville Empire, he could also earn plenty of points to exchange for the more advanced combat skills manuals. Commander Haliman raised his glass and shouted loudly, "Praise the Internet Deity!"
"Praise the Internet Deity!"
"Hahaha. I simply freaking love the Internet Deity!" someone chimed in.
There were also drunkards using their unique methods to declare their love for the Internet Deity.
In that moment, the tavern became even more boisterous.
Actually, that situation had begun a few days back.
As long as someone mentioned the Internet, the tavern's mood would be instantly lit up and everyone would join in the discussion.
From the magical power that was within reach, to a story that happened in a remote small town, and then to the deities' conspiracies mentioned on the forum, there were always plenty of topics for everyone to discuss.
Strangers who had just met would even activate the Internet Divine Skill and add each other as friends after having a good conversation. They would even set up appointments to have drinks again.
Gradually, people began to realize that they had more to look forward to in life.
Delçois looked at the man who had asked him for a drink and listened intently to the boisterous crowd. Lifting his chin, he said, "Hey Bro, do you have an Internet Divine Skill's magical tool?"
"Huh?" The young man was taken aback.
Delçois had guessed something when he saw the stunned expression. He removed his mithril ring, tossed it over and said, "It's yours now! Infuse your soul power… Hmm, if you aren't a mage, you could activate the ring by focusing and staring at it. Choose a power that suits you and work hard!"
The young man accepted the mithril ring with a perplexed expression.
Delçois got up and downed all the "Planter's Punch" in the glass. Then, he prepared to leave.
Right at this moment, the tavern suddenly became bright and quieter. Many people looked over instinctively as they saw a group of sophisticated and charismatic mages enter the tavern.