Chapter 1320: New Mage, Donald Promoted

Tower of Time, Public Level, Personnel Department.

Upon receiving the news, Xia Duo and Niya rushed over immediately; since there were no delays along the way, when the two arrived, the Personnel Department Supervisor and High Mage Depake had also just arrived.

Seeing the two appear here together, Depake looked quite surprised, "Niya, Xia Duo, why have you come?"

"I have always been very concerned about Apprentice promotions; I just received a notification from the Tower Spirit."

Xia Duo took over the conversation and explained briefly, then immediately threw a question to Depake: "What is your take on the promotion of this batch of Apprentices?"

"Uh—"

Depake pondered, a look of hesitation appearing on his face; he still had some understanding of the basic situation of the Tower of Time.

This batch of Apprentices, or rather, New Mages, applying for promotion permissions numbered over 40; before today, he had never experienced such a scene.

But how should so many people be arranged?

If all were granted promotion, these 40-plus New Mages, who would be difficult to generate revenue from in the short term, would immediately bring significant financial pressure to the Tower of Time.

In addition to the basic wages paid to them, there were also the maintenance costs for the Tower of Time's infrastructure, resulting in a loss of nearly ten thousand per month.

Although he was not responsible for the Tower of Time's finances, in all honesty, Depake did not want to promote so many Official Mages all at once.

But he also could not fathom Xia Duo's thoughts; logically, Xia Duo should support Apprentice promotions, but the current state of the Tower of Time was right there—promote 40-plus today, what about tomorrow? What about the day after?

One must know that the Tower of Time, including those rehired former Apprentices, currently had nearly a thousand registered Apprentices; as for the specific number, as the Personnel Department Supervisor, Depake was very well aware of that—

A total of 720 people!

The vast majority of them had already received over a year of the new-style education, and the so-called new-style education, in Depake's view, was entirely Arcanist education.

He could not say for sure how many of those Apprentices would eventually become Arcanists, but becoming an Official Mage was not a difficult task.

Before today, nearly 20 people had already become Official Mages and obtained internal permission upgrades within the Tower of Time, and now another 40-plus had come.

This was the explosion period for Apprentices becoming Official Mages.

Depake could almost imagine the scene in the not-too-distant future where hundreds of people all became Official Mages; the expenses for so many people would be very difficult to cover with just the income from the few types of mass-produced Magic Items currently in the Tower of Time.

If he could foresee this future, could Xia Duo, the Senior Arcanist who designed the new-style education, not foresee it?

But if he were to say that promotion was not allowed, or to deliberately stall promotions, it would violate the spirit of fairness in the Tower of Time's transformation that Xia Duo promoted.

Such things could be done secretly, but saying it out loud in front of the parties involved was still somewhat awkward!

At this moment, Depake was not just hesitant, but also troubled, conflicted, and caught in a dilemma; in the end, he could only say vaguely:

"These people being able to become Official Mages in such a short time are all the best among the Apprentices; I think it is necessary for the Tower of Time to provide them with a certain amount of support."

He had spoken, yet it was as if he had said nothing at all.

Xia Duo did not think too much about this; he had come mainly because he was worried that Depake would deliberately stall those people's promotions, and he also wanted to see this batch of New Mages.

Regardless of whether these people's mindsets were a bit too impatient, being able to complete the upgrade and apply for promotion permissions at the first opportunity meant they were, after all, as Depake said, "the best among the Apprentices."

If possible, he was also willing to offer some exhortations to make these people face the basics squarely and return to the right path.

"Regarding the promotion of these people, let's follow the regulations of the Tower of Time; grant promotion to those who meet the conditions, and do not deliberately accommodate those who do not."

After finishing, Xia Duo turned to look at Niya and made a gesture of invitation, "Then let's watch from the side."

"Okay."

……

Inside the Tower of Time, the Tower Spirit conveyed information very conveniently.

After Xia Duo signaled to Depake that he could begin, a familiar face soon appeared at the door; seeing this, Xia Duo could not help but shake his head inwardly—this Depake really had quite a few little tricks.

The person who arrived was an old acquaintance from Xia Duo's time as an Apprentice—Donald!

In the past, Donald was the model of progress for the exchange meetings pushed by the Progress Society; now he had become an Official Mage. Although he had come a bit later than the first batch of members of the Progress Society, compared to others, it was still a remarkable improvement.

If one were to say that Depake arranging for Donald to be first was not intentional, Xia Duo would never believe it, but the order of promotion and such actually did not matter.

The key was whether they could be promoted.

"Respected Lord, Lord Xia Duo, Lord Depake, Donald pays his respects to you!"

In front of Niya and Depake, Donald still did not dare to call Xia Duo by his name directly, but his demeanor possessed a composure that ordinary Apprentices lacked.

It seemed that his training at the Tilak Laboratory had truly helped him grow a lot.

Of course, along with his temperament and abilities, Donald's physique had also grown; in just two short years, Donald had developed from the little fatty who was a head shorter than Xia Duo at the beginning into a big fatty about the same height as Xia Duo.

In terms of physique, the current Donald could definitely rival Shande, the famous foodie Mage of the Tower of Time.

It was just that as someone familiar with Donald, Xia Duo knew very well that Donald was not gluttonous; perhaps there was some special bloodline involved.

Thinking this, Xia Duo immediately decided that if there was an opportunity in the future, he would send Donald to Jilan Tower for further studies; perhaps Donald could find a brand-new direction for development there.

"Donald, demonstrate the 1st Circle Spell you have mastered." Following the procedure, Depake asked in a very business-like manner.

"Yes."

Donald responded and immediately began Spellcasting, but the Spell he cast was not a general 1st Circle Spell, but an equivalent 1st Circle Spell used for the Ascension Trial, which in reality was entirely composed of 0th Circle Elements.

Seeing this, Depake nodded secretly; in fact, he had long heard of Donald's reputation, after all, one could not find a third fatty among the nearly one thousand people in the Tower of Time.

It was said that this guy was doing quite well at the Tilake Research Lab; it seemed he had not just become an Official Mage recently, but should have been delayed by something or forgotten earlier.

"That is enough, Mage Donald, congratulations, promotion successful!"

Subsequently, Depake handed Donald a Contract Document; although the promotion of Official Mages in the Tower of Time still followed the previous form, the Contract Document was very different from before.

In fact, at the beginning of the Tower of Time's transformation, everyone had already replaced their old contracts, but Donald was now changing from his previous Apprentice contract to the contract for a Formal Member of the Tower of Time.

Donald took the contract and did not pick up a pen to write anything, but simply said to the contract, "I agree!"

A hint of a sacred aura flashed across the contract and then vanished into invisibility, but in Magic Vision, this contract still emitted a relatively bright glow of Holy Power.

The Sacred Contract was signed, and after that, it was just a matter of upgrading permissions with the Tower Spirit; this step was the simplest, requiring only someone with the Permission Level to communicate with the Tower Spirit and issue the command.

Soon, Donald completed the entire promotion procedure.