Chapter 345

The Goddess of Magic's Weave might seem like an orderly, free public service, but that wasn't actually the case.

Its users still had to pay a certain price, some tangible and some intangible.

Faith in and reverence for magic, for example, as well as the accumulation and advancement of arcane lore and knowledge.

The Weave could regulate energy, collect faith, and convey divine grace. The deities who used the Weave surely paid a certain price as well. There was no such thing as a free lunch.

Anything the Weave could do, the Micro-Weave could do as well, and its benefits could even extend to ordinary spellcasters.

"If it's only telepathic communication and Sending within the same plane, the cost isn't too high. Crossing planes requires relays, though, and the cost multiplies. We'd need to limit how many can be active at the same time...

"But how are we supposed to charge them? The moment we start collecting money, won't we expose ourselves?" Sakkors asked in confusion.

Teleporting items back in the opposite direction was extremely difficult, and opening teleportation channels could easily attract attention. Setting up payment points in Faerûn would be even harder to keep secret.

"We don't want gold. What we need is a unique kind of energy that can't be seen or touched," Anser said quietly.

Sakkors thought for a moment, then his expression changed drastically. "Are you insane? Faith is the foundation of the gods. We can't touch that."

"Of course I'm not talking about faith." The first thing Anser thought of was experience.

Experience was a composite form of energy synthesized by the dice, but it was highly unusual. It couldn't be shared and could only be used by its holder.

Moreover, the dice could only help creatures with Character Sheets acquire experience. There were very few such creatures, so ordinary Micro-Weave users could forget about it.

"I'm talking about psychic power. Since the psychic power that unconsciously leaks out is useless, we'll invent a meditation method that lets them contribute it voluntarily. It'll be stored in the Rary Mark, and once enough accumulates to form one unit, it'll be transmitted through the Micro-Weave into the mythallar..."

"Uh... is this really okay?" The more Sakkors listened, the more alarmed he became. Why did this whole process sound so much like believers praying?

"Does it conflict with faith?"

"It... doesn't seem to."

"Then what's the problem?"

Collecting faith was an extremely complex process, but broadly speaking, it could be divided into two methods: passive absorption and active harvesting.

Believers praying and worshiping at churches were common forms of passive absorption, while sacrificial rituals and the expansion of a deity's portfolio counted as active harvesting.

And faith didn't simply mean believing in a god. Emotional projection, spiritual resonance, identification with an ideal, the formation of shared consensus, cultural bonds, and the propagation of doctrine all counted. There were countless forms.

For example, the Holrewen Federation's practice of dictatorship inherently aligned with Bane's doctrine. Its people weren't his followers, yet they were still strengthening Bane's divine power without realizing it.

"Since it's psychic power, let's call the units Spirit Coins. Calculate the costs and revenue. For now, keep the profit margin at around one hundred percent, then adjust it later depending on the situation."

"Also, any knowledge or intelligence we don't already have can be exchanged for Spirit Coins. Allow Spirit Coins to be freely traded as well, but charge a ten-percent transaction tax..." Anser said thoughtfully.

The Micro-Weave had been created from psionic and magical power. Psionic power made up only a small proportion of it, but it was crucial. It was the key factor limiting the upper bounds of both the Micro-Weave and the mythallar.

Psionic power could also continuously increase the "brainpower" of both the mythallar and Sakkors.

Spirit Coins themselves were safe and reliable, with no side effects. With them, the mythallar wouldn't have to "eat people" like an Elder Brain.

If Spirit Coins were only used to "pay the network bill," their applications would be far too limited. The moment free trading was opened up, their value would inevitably skyrocket.

Many impoverished Micro-Weave users might work hard at meditation, continuously producing Spirit Coins and becoming even more motivated to do so.

Anser could also sell Spirit Coins for cash whenever he wanted, because to him, Spirit Coins were virtual. Within certain limits, he could create as many as he pleased.

Sakkors was an old monster who had lived for countless years. Although he had never encountered virtual currency before, he quickly realized what that meant. The way he looked at Anser changed completely.

That was way too sophisticated. There was no way he'd only just thought of it, right?

Following that line of thought, Sakkors's ideas began to broaden. "We could also build a scroll room and an alchemy room beneath the Black Tower, then hire spellcasters proficient in those crafts to remotely scribe scrolls and brew potions and magic items through mental projections..."

"Sure. You're already building on the idea." Anser's eyes lit up, and he grew even more satisfied with Sakkors.

"There's still one problem. How do we expand our user base? We can't possibly give everyone a Rary Mark. The burden would be too great." The excitement on Sakkors's face gradually faded.

The mythallar lacked sufficient processing capacity, and the dice had yet to be trained up.

"Easy." Anser was fully confident. "We'll use a tiered system with five levels: regular users, Junior Members, Intermediate Members, Senior Members, and Supreme Members..."

The tiers were modeled entirely after the Adventurers' Guild's ranking system. Nothing unusual about them, which made them easy for people to accept.

Regular users would be open to everyone without restriction, with only one function: Magic Power Spellcasting.

As long as someone could perceive the Micro-Weave, they could use it to cast spells, reducing the difficulty of spellcasting by more than half.

Compared with the Weave, the Micro-Weave was extremely easy to perceive.

Everyone knew that the Weave had a barrier to entry. One had to perceive the Weave, understand it, learn spell-slot casting, and so on. It had taken the Goddess of Magic many years of promotion before the system finally matured.

Perceiving the psionic-infused Micro-Weave, on the other hand, was incredibly simple. Regardless of whether someone had any spellcasting ability, as long as any one of their Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma scores exceeded 12 and their soul was intact, they could perceive it simply by closing their eyes and focusing. The threshold was extremely low.

For spellcasters, it went without saying. There was no need for any promotion at all.

Through their interactions with the Micro-Weave, regular users would learn its basic usage methods and rules. Those with enough interest and nerve could apply to become Junior Members.

Sakkors would review applications according to the requirements. Those who qualified would receive a Rary Mark, allowing him to control the total number of members.

Junior Members would have access to three functions: "Telepathic Call," "Sending," and "News."

After spending 100 Spirit Coins, a Junior Member could advance to Intermediate Member and unlock "Group Call," supporting up to eight people. Eight was the standard at minimum power consumption; adding any more would cause energy consumption to increase in steps.

After spending 1,000 Spirit Coins, an Intermediate Member could advance to Senior Member and unlock "Telepathy," allowing users to share senses and images. There would be no limit on the number of participants, though the fee would also be higher.

After spending 10,000 Spirit Coins, a Senior Member could advance to Supreme Member, gaining access to "Confidential Intelligence," the ability to purchase "Extraordinary Knowledge," and other privileges to be added later, such as "Historical Recordings" and "Real-Time Projection."

This would encourage members to spend while also giving the Micro-Weave time to be upgraded.

Sakkors worked hard to memorize and understand everything, his perception of Anser being revised again and again.

"The Micro-Weave and Rary Mark both need new names!" Anser said after some thought.

The word Weave absolutely couldn't be used. It fell under the Goddess of Magic's divine authority and could easily cause major trouble.

"What should we call it? SkyNet, Darknet, Spirit Net, Virtual Net, Faith Net, Flying Message... Which one sounds the least conspicuous?"

He agonized over it for quite a while before finally settling on Spirit Net!

It was fundamentally a network, so that part definitely had to stay. Spirit Net could easily be mistaken for a telepathic network or a network of the spirit realm, which could divert certain people's attention elsewhere.

In reality, the Micro-Weave primarily used Magic Power and psionic energy, but it could also make use of elemental, ethereal, and other forms of energy. Versatility was its defining feature.

This version of the mythallar had its fault tolerance pushed to the limit.

"Spirit Net, Spirit Coins, Spirit Net Mark..." Sakkors muttered the names to himself. They sounded a little plain—and rather inconspicuous.

"From now on, you need to keep training the corresponding abilities of your Character Sheet. Its upper limit is extremely high, so make good use of it," Anser instructed.

"I understand." Sakkors nodded silently, his attitude humble.

The abilities granted by the d20 required continuous training and guidance. Sakkors and the mythallar couldn't serve as the true core.

If the Spirit Net was ever going to rival the Weave, the d20 was the ultimate answer.

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