Adrian sat alone in Athenos' study, surrounded by stacks of parchment, half-finished magical diagrams, and the quiet hum of candlelight. The room was modest, but it was his base of operations now—a place where divine innovation would begin.
He had no interest in building temples or preaching sermons. That wasn't his style. He didn't want to be worshipped through ritual. He wanted to be used.
What this world lacked wasn't just divine guidance—it was infrastructure. Communication was slow. Knowledge was locked behind scrolls and gatekeepers. Magic was powerful, but fragmented. Adrian saw the gaps, and he knew exactly how to fill them.
He began designing his first divine system.
Not a spell. Not a relic.
A network.
He called it the Internet.
It would be his divine domain, a floating blue screen that mortals could summon through prayer. It would allow them to access knowledge, send messages, and interact with divine applications. It would be elegant, scalable, and addictive.
He started with two apps.
The first was [Carrier Pigeon], a messaging system that allowed users to send instant messages across towns and kingdoms. No more waiting for couriers. No more relying on magical scrolls. Just a tap, and the message was sent.
The second was [Library], a searchable archive of books, spells, and manuals. Adrian uploaded everything he could find from Athenos' personal collection, then used his divine creativity to replicate and digitize texts from the royal archives. He built a basic AI to categorize and recommend content based on user behavior.
To access the Internet, mortals would need to pray to the God of the Internet. Each prayer would generate Divine Power. Each user would become a node in Adrian's growing network.
He tested the system with a few scholars at Arcantor's academy. He offered them access to rare texts in exchange for a simple prayer. The results were immediate. They were amazed by the speed, the clarity, and the depth of the [Library] app.
Word spread quickly.
Merchants followed next. [Carrier Pigeon] allowed them to coordinate trade routes, negotiate deals, and track shipments in real time. It was faster than magic, cheaper than couriers, and more reliable than anything they'd used before.
Then came the commoners. Farmers used the Internet to learn new planting techniques. Healers found remedies. Students discovered literacy.
Adrian watched the numbers climb. Dozens of believers became hundreds. Hundreds became thousands.
Each prayer strengthened him. Each user expanded his reach.
He wasn't just a god.
He was a system.
And Arcantor was only the beginning.