1550 Virtual Stones
The once happy smile on her face was nowhere to be seen. Though it wasn’t the shaking rage one might expect, it wasn’t pretty either. This was the first time in her life she had eaten such a loss.
Intuition was an amazing thing, and Aritzia’s was almost perfect. She was nearly certain that Dyon and Jaws were the same individual. However, she hadn’t made the final leap to comprehend just what the relationship between Dyon and Clara was. Maybe because she was too eager to get back at Jaws…
In the end, Dyon’s description of his relationship with Clara had worked out. Aritzia spent weeks pouring through all of the information she could find about Clara, but she couldn’t find any solid connection between her and Dyon. Other than that event that took place in Sapientia Corner, there was nothing else. And even that wasn’t very solid. In fact, the only sightings of Clara were her using teleportation formations, but due to the tower’s rules, it was impossible to track her destination.
The worst part about all of this was that she hadn’t even confirmed whether Dyon and Jaws were the same individual. This was because she had made a move on Dark Ocean and Madeleine at almost the same time. Because Clara needed time to implement the Open Phase, the attack on Madeleine had started by the time she finished. So, Aritzia had no way of knowing which event broke the contract.
‘No. The clause in the contract protects me. According to the language, my instigating BPA to attack Dark Ocean isn’t a direct action and thus can’t be linked back to my Sapientia Clan. Also, I’m an individual who cannot represent the Sapientia Clan. This is the benefit of me not being a key wielder. If just any Sapientia slighting Clara would break the contract, we would never have signed. This means what broke this contract was my elder brother capturing Virvor! Since Primus is our key wielder, his actions can speak for out Clan. Dammit! That was my mistake! I told him not to action himself yet he actually didn’t listen!’
Aritzia calmed herself, a deadpan expression taking over her delicate features. Even the Sapientia couldn’t have guessed that the change Clara made would be enough to take over 95% of the Sapientia Network… No, Mortal Network.
It was truly the perfect move. If Clara had chosen to take this opportunity to wrest more control of the Network, gaining 95% would have been impossible. 40% would have been her limit. But, she ironically gave up control to gain more control. It was truly a master stroke.
The worst part of this wasn’t the change in power dynamics, it was the blow to their reputation. Any smart individual knew that this change meant that the Sapientia had broken their word.
This blow wasn’t from only one side either. With this Open Phase, people began to openly communicate about what was happening on the middle tier. Individuals soon realized that the Sapientia Network weren’t reporting on such a large event and began to feel skeptical. Could it be they were hiding the truth of these matters from them?
If the Sapientia were hiding things from them now, how often had they done it in the past? Could they even be trusted anymore?
ραΠdαsΝοvεl.cοm
Madeleine, in a rage, streaked across the middle tier with her army of disciples, carving their way through the Golden Crow Sect army and making her way toward Sapientia City.
When others heard the famous wife of Dyon Sacharro swear to lay waste to Middle Sapientia City, the newly formed forums were sent into an uproar.
At that moment, the newest and probably best feature of the Open Phase was released: The Navigator. Clara and Dyon understood just how important organization was during the Open Phase, so they took their cues from a search engine famous in their mortal realm: Google. With The Navigator, individuals could search key words and be sent to the most popular forums for the topic they wanted to take part in.
Of course, there was a monetization aspect of The Navigator as well. “Key words” could be bought to prioritize their forums when these words were searched. Whoever invested the most money would gain the right to be the top link when certain words were searched. Those who paid would be on a leader for said key word with whomever paid the most being at the top.
For example, the Enigmatic Sect might want priority over the key words tied to their Sect. They’d thus pay to claim the key words “Enigmatic Sect” for themselves, so whenever it was searched, they would be the top result. This was of massive importance to a Sect and Clan’s Faith. They needed to ensure that no one could misconstrue them for someone else.
If someone else wanted the key words “Enigmatic Sect” they would need to pay more than they did, or else their link would forever be below the Enigmatic Sect’s. This system forced Clans, Sects, businesses, and forums to continuously add funds to the “Leader Board” so that they couldn’t be overtaken for certain key words.
Of course, there were also systems in place so that powerful Clans couldn’t suppress information by buying up important news and cultivation related key words. It especially helped that ‘links’ couldn’t be deleted, they could only be pushed down. In addition, popularity helped with the rank of a link as well, so good information would never disappear.
With the introduction of the Navigator, the suddenly daunting influx of forums became incredibly easy to manage with some proactive people cornering the market on the names of their forums so that more individuals could visit them. In this way, they’d be able to accept payment from others to advertise on their forums, thus allowing money on the new Mortal Network to flow freely.
Thanks to the Navigator, individuals who were curious about what was happening the Celestial Floors suddenly found it incredibly easy to find what they were looking for!