Horace's teacher, the old man called Drew, looks at the middle-aged man who just walked through the door and is obviously stunned for a moment. The guy is holding a Magic Net Ring in his hand, exactly the same as the one in Horace's hand.
"How do you have one too?!"
The other guy is shocked, and Drew is no different.
"I went to buy potions, and a lady magician who's close to mid-level or already mid-level gave it to me. She should be a believer of the Goddess of Magic, said this was a gift from the Goddess of Magic."
After his brief amazement, the middle-aged man also comes to his senses: "I haven't tried praying yet, but there's a rune on here that's similar to Wind Speech magic. I'm guessing the connection that lady talked about comes from..."
"I don't care about that, first tell me where you met that lady magician? I'm going there right now!" Before the middle-aged man can finish, Drew cuts him off.
No one notices the middle-aged man's weird expression.
That... coffin-carrying lady said he was an honest person, so she gave him a Magic Net Ring... honestly, "honest person" sounds like a good term, but for some reason, he always feels something's off about it...
After Drew gets all the details, he rushes to the spot between shop #9 and shop #10 on the street, but when he gets there, he doesn't see that respectable lady, doesn't see any "coffin," and doesn't even see anyone carrying a big box.
Did he miss her?!
Drew can't help but sigh.
Seeing quite a few people around who already got Magic Net Rings, several people already have screens in front of them just like Horace's, proving they've successfully activated them through prayer...
Hearing quite a few people around already whispering about it, he only regrets not having two more legs, or not using some wind magic to hurry over here.
"Once there was an opportunity right in front of me, but I didn't treasure it..." Drew mutters as he follows the crowd, searching around.
And at this moment.
In a small shop not far from him, Heddy has already pulled out another ring: "Little girl, it looks like your teacher isn't very good to you. That burn on your face should be from getting burned as his test subject, right? Want to change your fate? Just pray to this..."
In the Goddess of Magic's divine realm.
"Over 100 spellcasters have already prayed. Although most of them are mage apprentices, still, Ren, things are going way smoother than we imagined!"
Before Ren can speak, the book in front of him who's teaching and preaching is already acting impatient, like he's finally caught the doll's weakness, "Betty! I'm giving Lord Ren a lecture, this is the task the Goddess gave me, please don't interrupt. The Goddess's will cannot be blocked, even you can't interrupt it..."
The doll originally wanted to interrupt the book, but the moment she hears the word "Goddess," she obviously gets stuck, though she quickly recovers: "But Lord Ren is the person in charge of the Goddess's internet faith project, I must report to him about achieving the internet's staged goals, this is also the Goddess's will!"
Goddess vs. Goddess.
Neither can overpower the other.
But both have valid points.
They're at a complete standstill.
Watching these two guys bicker, Ren can't help but laugh and lean back in his chair.
This counts as one of his rare forms of entertainment.
Especially since he can already feel that his blank godhead is starting to no longer be blank—at least, it already has one drop of faith, and that excitement is indescribable!
Anyway, he's in a great mood.
After a while, the doll suddenly realizes she has real business: "Ren, although that Heddy chooses her recipients in a somewhat... abnormal way, she's distributing them really fast. Should we prepare to give her teacher another batch of Magic Net Rings?"
Heddy isn't a fanatic, and in the capital, she doesn't have a suitable place to build a magic array to communicate with the divine realm, so she has to go through her teacher as an intermediary.
"Of course."
Ren nods with a smile: "But I want to remind you of something—I think her choice of recipients is really interesting."
Before Betty the doll can voice any doubts, he adds another sentence: "By the way, how many Magic Net Rings have we made in total?"
"About 10,000." Betty knows this data by heart.
"Good, tell that old magician that after giving away 1,500 rings for free in the capital, switch to paid mode."
Betty can't help but exclaim: "Huh?! Why?! Money from the mortal realm is useless to us, charging will definitely affect the internet's spread."
"The refined iron in the divine realm isn't endless, we need them to sacrifice enough refined iron."
Ren's expression is very serious: "Besides, this is the Goddess's grace. Even the Church of Light's watered-down holy water is priced so high people can't afford it, but we're giving ours away for free. Don't you think they'll take the Goddess's grace lightly?! The more it's free, the less they'll treasure it."
"Furthermore, we're just following the rules among magicians—equivalent exchange. After they buy them, they'll have ownership rights and can send them to friends and family far away."
"How should we price it?" Betty thinks about it carefully and feels like this actually makes sense, especially when she hears the last part.
That's right! After charging, magicians won't just be able to get one—they can totally buy more to give to friends far away... This would spread way faster than having believers do it!
"One gold shield per ring. This is a price ordinary mage apprentices can afford, as long as they grit their teeth." Ren thinks for a moment, "But when we spread to other regions in the future, we'll need to adjust the pricing."
"Ah, Lord Ren, your wisdom is always refreshing! Although I'm not a person and don't have ears. Just as you said, the easier something is to get, the less people know how to treasure it. You're simply a philosopher. Making them spend a month and a half to two months of income to exchange for a Magic Net..."
"How do you know one gold shield takes a month and a half to two months?"
Ren looks at the book with some surprise.
Communication between the divine realm and the mortal realm can only happen through believers.
Even observation can only observe what happens around believers.
This guy actually knows about the income situation of mage apprentices in the Kingdom of Dawn's capital...
"Of course through Magic Space. A few little guys are discussing their salaries in Magic Space right now. I have to say, your decision to let them appear anonymously on the internet is brilliant! Without exposing their real names, they're saying all the stuff they keep buried in their hearts and don't dare say. If it were a real-name system, they definitely wouldn't dare talk about income..."
Ren once again finds the key point, or rather inspiration, from the book's words: "Book, I have a really important task for you!"
"Please give me your orders, this is what I should do, I'm your most loyal butler..."