Don't disturb the sorcerer's scientific research

Chapter 132 Teacher Jia's Class Begins
The level of sophistication of the Bards' Association exceeded Jia Xiu's expectations.

They provide pick-up and drop-off service, gifts, and the lecture fee is settled before the lecture begins. They also compile the lecture content into a booklet and provide a writing fee.

I never imagined that dipping a quill pen in ink would be called "moistening the pen."

The lecture hall has 2,000 seats, and with standing room only, it is estimated that more than 3,000 people will attend.

Most of the bards from Serdarion and the surrounding area have come.

Jia Xiu felt a little embarrassed.

I thought it was a small venue for a few dozen people, or at most a hundred or so.

Given the sheer scale of the event, it seems the bards are genuinely curious about why that phantom became so popular.

Then, thinking about what I was going to talk about, I couldn't help but laugh. I was talking about the most utilitarian things in the most artistic venue.

"The so-called character design refers to the setting of a character, including appearance, abilities, personality, and the special features of other characters. We can see that in many classic epics, the settings of famous characters are relatively simple and direct. For example, a hero is a hero, with a particularly majestic image, but he doesn't feel three-dimensional enough. Here, I will provide an example."

As he spoke, Jia Xiu picked up Bubu and placed her on the table.

Two magic crystals "bribed" it to be used as a "teaching aid".

"This is Bubu, my squire, a fairy spirit. She's very cute, but quite powerful. Despite being a sorcerer, her dream is to become a knight. What's her defining characteristic? An interesting contrast. When a character is interesting, it motivates the reader to understand the story..."

In a corner of the audience, the Radiant Knight Justina pulled out a small notebook and frantically took notes.

So that's how it is. The stories of the glorious knights' miracles that she used to spread to her followers, and the scripts she wrote for her own appearance, were too one-dimensional. They needed to be more three-dimensional.

Jia Xiu went on to explain everything from character design to how a bard should start his performance.

Don't start by throwing out a bunch of background information and setting things up; if the audience had any other options, they would have already left.

You should start with the events that have occurred, for example, the opening is "Magic Level: Level Three!"

Makes sense!
Justina immediately thought of the legends and stories about herself. The first few chapters were all about setting up the background of the war, and only after the background was explained did she talk about the rumors about this armor and weapon.

Rewrite! It absolutely must be rewritten!
In any legend about the Radiant Knight, the Radiant Knight must be the one who appears at the beginning.

Besides the opening, one must also restrain one's urge to express oneself. A bard serves the audience, not write a masterpiece. Don't let an irresistible urge to express oneself lead you to say things that the audience doesn't want to hear.

For example, they might insist on portraying the main female character as having a background in prostitution, or as someone who has been repeatedly raped during a chaotic era.

And they would justify it by saying that this is what realism is all about, that this creates enough emotional tension...

Jia Xiu's lecture lasted for nearly three hours. He didn't take the money for nothing; he shared all his knowledge about popular writing without reservation.

After the presentation, there will be a one-on-one Q&A session.

Overtime pay is calculated per minute for answering questions.

Jia Xiu now understands why, as soon as news spreads that a certain industry can make money, courses offering instruction immediately appear.

This might actually be more profitable than the job itself.

A long line of people formed below the podium to ask questions. He thought that if he were to be a little more pragmatic, he could open a priority question channel for members. The 68 Hertz membership fee was a bargain.

After thinking about it, I decided against it. Doing this would easily ruin my reputation. Maybe I'll have another chance to earn this kind of extra money in the future. I can't ruin my reputation all at once.

Most of the questions asked were about the feasibility of designing the plot for their own works.

It's not easy for bards to make a living. Only a few are professional magicians; most are storytellers and entertainers, with no guarantee of income.

Fortunately, Jia Xiu has a rich collection of novels. Even the most clichéd plots become attractive new tropes here.

Those who have learned the tricks are all very excited because information dissemination is not very efficient these days. Whoever has a good story can live off it for quite a long time.

After speaking here, I'll move on to another place and listen to a completely new audience.

Do you have any questions about your story?

After seeing off a bard who repeatedly expressed his gratitude, Jia Xiu welcomed the next questioner.

"I'm not asking about the story."

"Not asking about the story?" Jia Xiu looked at the questioner in front of him.

She was a woman, but she had broad and powerful arms, fists the size of sandbags, and forearms like steel. It didn't seem like she had developed those skills from playing the piano. It would be more believable if you said she wielded a piano as a weapon.

"Then what are you asking?"

“Well, yes, that’s right,” Justina, who was asking the question, had benefited greatly from the lecture, which led her to have more detailed questions. “I have a friend.”

She asked the question somewhat hesitantly, but she really wanted to ask Jia Xiu if he could directly believe in her and help her spread her faith, and if she could directly bestow upon Jia Xiu the title of God.

But I couldn't bring myself to ask.

As a demigod, it was already somewhat shameful for her to actively recruit followers. What was even more shameful was that in the competition that had just ended yesterday, she hadn't even withstood Jia Xiu's draining of her magic.

Even if she wants to be chosen as a god, what if the other side doesn't want to be chosen by her?

So she had no choice but to resort to that cliché excuse, "I have a friend."

"Oh, you have a friend, not yourself?"

Jia Xiu raised an eyebrow, realizing that things were not so simple.

The appearance of a female knight with golden hair here is hard not to make one's imagination.

Insight!

No hole appeared.

Alright, it's confirmed. The Radiant Knight, without his armor, is here on a "secret visit."

What's going on? You were unhappy about having your magic drained yesterday, so you're here to cause trouble today?
It's a misunderstanding. He didn't expect that a demigod's magic power would be so easily depleted.

Sect Master, is the Sect Master here?
If a demigod comes knocking, can you at least give a shout?

However, Justina's demeanor didn't seem like she was there to cause trouble.

"No, how could it be me? Hahaha, it's a friend, yes, a friend, my friend, yes, a minor star in a theater troupe."

Justina felt her analogy was absolutely brilliant; Jasmine would never realize that while she was ostensibly talking about celebrities, she was actually referring to something divine.

Jia Xiu tapped his fingers on the lectern. Did this Radiant Knight think his analogy was brilliant?
Do the gods of the Holy Light lineage know that they have been compared to a theatrical troupe?

Justina continued, "Now, my friend, this minor celebrity, has run into some trouble. She didn't have many fans to begin with, and she's always wanted to gain more, but she hasn't had a good way to do so. Recently, due to some unexpected reasons, she hasn't been able to perform on stage as much, but her fans like her even more. Why is that?"

Jia Xiu translated it in his mind.

The Radiant Knights are desperately short of followers, and have recently reduced the divine spells they've been using to reward them. As a result, instead of converting to another god, the followers have become even more devout.

Why is there a reason?

All the believers have been manipulated by PUA (Pick-Up Artist) tactics. If they don't know how to control themselves, how can they become believers?

Wait a minute, the divine magic given to believers has decreased, could it be because of him?

"This is actually a matter of expectations. Fans have expectations of celebrities, so they will support them. If a celebrity performs less, they will look for their own problems. However, this is only temporary. If a celebrity continues to perform less, it will not work."

"Oh, I see. So what do we do about having so few fans?"

Justina looked serious, not at all like someone who cared about "my friend".

"The best way is to improve your performance level."

"That might be a bit difficult. You need a lot of fans to improve your performance level."

That's outrageous. The idea that having a large fanbase is necessary to improve performance is ridiculous. It's like they've simply replaced some nouns with something else.

No, the other side isn't human either, so that makes sense. "This issue is rather complicated and can't be explained in a short time."

"That's it."

Justina was a little disappointed. Sure enough, how could a student possibly handle something like this?

However, Jia Xiu continued, "There are a lot of people in line right now. If you really want to ask, why don't we wait until the Q&A session is over and then talk privately?"

"Really?"

So, two hours later.

The lengthy Q&A session has finally come to an end.

Jia Xiu found the Radiant Knight, who had been waiting for him for so long that the grass was almost growing taller. Seeing her eager expression, he suddenly realized that being a god wasn't so easy after all.

It's not like the top-tier deities of magic, life, fate, and death, who never lack followers no matter what they do; getting a few followers is quite a challenge.

Moreover, it is difficult to become strong if there are few believers, and it is even more difficult to gain believers if one is not strong.

The loop is closed.

Jia Xiu decided to talk to the Radiant Knight because after experiencing the bestowal of divine power, he realized that gods could be used as cloud servers.

The magic of the god of transformation allows him to use spells that were originally unusable, much like running a project on a server that his local hardware configuration couldn't handle, while all he needs is a result.

His research scope has broadened considerably. He can now study many spells that were beyond his current capabilities, spells that he could understand but couldn't use.

As for the choice of "server" personnel, the more he looked at it, the more he felt that Radiant Knight was a good choice.

Although his strength is limited, and he is only a demigod, his strength is probably not considered top-tier among demigods, it is precisely because he is not a true god that he has the opportunity to communicate face-to-face.

If he were truly the god of magic, he would receive countless prayers and requests every day, leaving him no time to attend to them.

Even a small "server" is still a server, so we don't mind.

Therefore, Jashu decided to seek an opportunity to cooperate with the Radiant Knight.

It's about cooperation.

It's not that he intends to convert to the Holy Light.

"Your Excellency, Radiant Knight."

When it was just the two of them talking alone, Jia Xiu stopped playing the little game of pretending he had a friend with her.

He got straight to the point and stated his identity.

Justina was taken aback at first, then immediately said, "No, I didn't, haha, what Radiant Knight? Never heard of him. Is he some insignificant roadside god in the Holy Light pantheon?"

When a demigod gets ruthless, he'll curse along with you.

While criticizing himself, he also tried to get away with awkward laughter.

However, when she saw that Jia Xiu didn't laugh along with her, she couldn't laugh either.

He admitted with a wronged expression, "Okay, I am the Radiant Knight."

I don't understand what she's so upset about admitting her identity.

"How did you find out?"

"To be honest, it's hard not to notice."

Was my attempt to cover it up really that bad?

"Well, not really."

"So that means it's bad?"

"You said it yourself, I didn't say it."

In order to find out Justina's specific demands, and what kind of demigod she was.

Under Jasmine's persuasive and manipulative questioning, Justina revealed everything about herself, including the specific process of becoming a god.

In this world, under normal circumstances, the first step to becoming a god is to become a demigod.

There are two ways to become a demigod.

First, after ascending to legendary status, continue to strive and touch a bit of divine power on your own. This power is often described as a "spark of divinity," signifying the first step in igniting the path to godhood.

Those who touch divinity through their own efforts can be considered "demigods of hard power".

In contrast, the second way Justina became a demigod was through a higher god taking a liking to her and bestowing upon her a title.

Justina was originally a somewhat stubborn and simple-minded knight.

Jia Xiu had already noticed this during the conversation.

She gets nervous when she talks too much, so Jia Xiu gives her a cloth to hold and squeeze to relieve the pressure so she can speak more fluently.

This simple-minded knight, while not lacking in strength, is not quite at the level of a demigod in terms of raw power.

She was a model of heroism and was conferred the title of subordinate deity by the Holy Light after her heroic sacrifice in a historical war to "defend the glory of the Holy Light".

This is part of the Holy Light's promise to believers.

It's probably something like, "Look, as long as you dedicate yourselves to the Holy Light, even at the cost of your lives, you will have the opportunity to become gods."

Therefore, she does not possess the knowledge and power of a proper deity.

It's not that they're particularly weak; it's just that most of their power comes from the blessing of the Holy Light, not from their own abilities.

They also lacked any sense of self-awareness as demigods.

That's why I feel nervous and guilty about "limiting" the flow of other believers, and I'm worried about losing it.

This is not a problem for most gods.

To avoid appearing devoid of divinity, she always chose to remain silent and act aloof when appearing in public.

It's good that you don't say anything.

Nevertheless, it did not diminish her desire to take things further.

"Demigod sounds awful. The Holy Light has appointed me, and I cannot betray its trust. At the very least, I must become a lesser god, but still a proper god."

That's what Justina said.

To become a legitimate god, one needs divine authority and a sufficient number of believers.

"I don't know how to gain followers. When I was a knight, I had a mentor to guide me, but now that I'm a demigod, no one cares about me."

After a moment of thought, Jia Xiu said, "I have a rough idea. You probably won't be very competitive if you try to attract believers by bestowing divine power."

"Does it have to be said so directly?"

“We might choose a roundabout way to attract believers, such as becoming famous first, and then turning casual fans into believers. As you become stronger, you can bestow more divine power, thus completing a positive cycle.”

Justina's eyes lit up. "So, what should I do to become famous first?"

As we all know, in buying and selling, whoever expresses the most urgent need first will be manipulated.

Jia Xiu leaned back in his chair.

"Young demigod, what are you willing to give up to gain more followers?"

(End of this chapter)