NOVEL WEB Chapter 21: It's Him!
The Internet exploded!
When the Empire passed down the order of compulsory spreading, all the regional administrative mages and officials had a headache, as they wondered how they were going to finish spreading the Internet Divine Skill within a month.
The situation had an unexpected development, though. The Internet Divine Skill was actually spreading by itself when they only had a nightwatcher shout the news aloud on the streets!
It was happening all over the Queville Empire; people were discussing the Internet.
If they didn't know the Internet, they wouldn't even have a common topic to chat with others.
That unexpected yet successful spread of the skill had killed many back-up plans in the cradle; all of which had been carefully devised by the administrators. This had left them feeling rather exasperated.
The Internet Divine Skill had such a successful spread mainly because of two points that had played a key role.
Firstly, the Internet Divine Skill had almost no learning curve to start navigating.
If the Internet Divine Skill would have remained like it had been at its first generation, which needed a carrier, the spread would have definitely not been so easy.
The peasants who couldn't even secure their meals would have never been able to afford the magical tools that had a little mithril in them, even if they were on the cheaper side.
Now, without the need of a carrier, and with the Empire's order, even those illiterate and uncultivated farmers could log onto the Internet with the Internet Deity's prayer.
It was quite convenient so it was no wonder that it had spread so far and wide in such a short time.
Secondly, this had also been caused by the public's desire for magic and power.
In a state where magic equated to status, power, strength, wealth… Who would reject learning magic?
However, magic had already been monopolized by the upper and middle class.
Since the Internet Divine Skill had set up a learning channel, who would want to remain in the mud for the rest of their lives?
Suddenly there was a magic learning spree all over the Empire! Combat skills learning! Learning how to read!
A massive and evident revolution had begun.
…
The Felix School of Magic looked rather peaceful, even while the Queville Empire began its revolution.
Given that it was one of the places where the earliest and most cultured adopters of the Internet Divine Skill were found, the widespread use of the Internet Divine Skill only meant that the posts in the forum had increased a thousand fold.
The mage apprentices were still the most concerned about their schoolwork.
Especially two days before when the Felix School of Magic had suddenly ordered all the wood-spirit majors to take part in a magical experiment. It caused an uproar at Felix!
In the magic world, magic was separated in two large categories—"common system" and "special system."
The common systems were respectively: water, fire, earth, wind, light, dark, and thunder. A total of seven systems.
Those were the basic magic subcategories that all the mage apprentices had to master. Missing any one of them would result in failing the Intern Mage's assessment and could only be addressed as mage apprentices for the rest of their lives.
People had to become mages successfully before they had the right to choose one or more systems to focus on.
Being one of the three major schools of magic in the Queville Empire, Felix had even stricter requirements for its students!
Apart from the common Seven Magic Systems, the school even required all their mage apprentices to pick up a special system magic.
Currently, the special system magic subcategories that Felix had were: time, spatial, wood-spirit, phantom, gravity, heart, cursing, illusion, summoning. A total of nine systems.
The special system usually meant that they were easy to grasp but difficult to master. Being unable to make it into a system would impede further progress.
Of course, in comparison, their power was usually quite bizarre and unpredictable, so they were difficult to defend against.
Hence, the legacy's significance of Felix's course elective system was greater than its practical significance.
Many mage apprentices' understanding of the special system magic would basically never increase after they graduated.
Only a very few extremely talented ones would be able to advance a little.
That point was the advancement of changing the special system to the common system.
In the nine special systems, the wood-spirit system was especially unique.
It was the rare magical branch that could bring benefits to its users.
Basically speaking, mage apprentices who chose the wood-spirit system would become the instructors' free labor for growing magical plants during their time spent learning wood-based magic.
Described euphemistically as: practicing magic.
Hence, many mage instructors were offended when the Felix School of Magic transferred all the wood-based mage apprentices.
Dandell the Magical Deity himself had issued the order, so they could only accept it.
At that moment, everyone was very curious… What kind of magical experiment needed so many mage apprentices?
Queville Calendar Year 1078, November 4th.
374 mage apprentices who had selected the wood-spirit system went to the great hall of the "Forest of Magic," located on the east side of the school, as per the school's instructions.
Dorothy was one of them.
However, she didn't possess her usual energy that day.
She stood among the crowd with a worried expression while ignoring schoolmates who were sucking up to her.
She had been in that state for over half a month.
Or one could say, she was no longer able to feel happy, ever since that night when she went to talk to Delçois and attacked a mysterious young man in anger. She even fell into a nervous panic.
Because her actions that day, her grandpa, Dorman, summoned her to the study and questioned her for a long time.
He especially focused on the young man's details. He repeatedly asked her about his every word and expression.
Her grandfather's attitude made Dorothy realize she had made a big mistake.
Nobody knew that the seemingly fearless Dorothy was rather afraid of her grandpa.
Even though her grandfather had the "Son of the Forest" title, and was alway polite and amiable, she was still afraid of him.
When she was seven years old, she received a magic wand that was personally made by her grandpa. She had been using the magic wand since then.
But nobody knew that she had seen her grandfather do a handstand through the door's gap that day. His hair transformed into countless roots that reached into the ground; his body became the tree trunk and his limbs became branches.
The magic wand her grandpa had given her was a branch which had fallen from that tree.
Its magic conductivity was comparable to a dragon's horn.
"Hey Dorothy, look. Grand Mage Instructor Lucien is here!" her schoolmates cried in a low voice and woke Dorothy up.
She took a deep breath to suppress the melancholy in her heart and lifted her head.
When she swept her gaze over, she suddenly felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Her scalp was numb and her limbs were cold!
That was, because the mysterious young man was standing behind the Grand Mage Instructor Lucien.
"Silence!"
Although Lucien was in his forties, he only looked as if he were thirty years old.
However, the great hall instantly quieted down when he shouted, even without the use of magic.
Because he was the Empire's youngest grand mage instructor!
He was also the one who was most expected to step into the magical deity realm!
"All of you will be taking part in a great magical experiment. Mister Ajaf is going to be responsible for this experiment. Remember, this experiment will decide whether you can pass your wood-spirit elective course. Please do this with care."
Lucien's words caused a small commotion in the great hall.
"Mister Ajaf, I'll leave the rest to you. Please excuse me!" Lucien nodded and respectfully motioned for Yu Sheng'an to start.
Yu Sheng'an nodded.
His gaze swept across the mage apprentices in the great hall. He inhaled slightly before speaking, "From here on, all your elective course time in the afternoon belongs to me. I hope to have your full cooperation.
"All right. Let's get to work. Let me announce the purpose of this magical experiment—Test and cultivate crops that are of high yield, drought-resistant, anti-saline and suitable to grow in sandy land. Everyone can go back to think about the types of crops that are suitable for magical modification and then write me a report. There will be a reward!"
The great hall erupted into an uproar as soon as he was done speaking!
All the mage apprentices had a hard time believing their ears.
That young man called Ajaf actually wanted their noble selves, wood-spirit mages, to cultivate crops?
That is absolutely ridiculous!