Chapter 1718: Class Identity and New Recruitment Status

Returned to the Tower of Time.

Niya's true form had already arrived first; as soon as Xia Duo appeared, she couldn't help but complain, "Do your people usually watch these kinds of things?"

"Otherwise?" Xia Duo asked in return.

In fact, the people of Savile Territory would love to watch these if they could! Furthermore, while these new plays might be somewhat crude in their performance style, their core is undoubtedly positive energy.

Some express the truth, goodness, and beauty of human nature, some showcase the new life in the Territory, and some expose the evils of the old era.

The saying that people's hearts lean toward goodness is generally correct; even bad people do not wish for those around them to be bad. The reason these new plays have become popular in the Territory does not rely entirely on the Department of Culture and Education pushing them.

Rather, it is more because they are close to the most authentic lives of the people, which is what can maximize the resonance of the audience.

Take the just-performed *Wendy Johnson Buys Melons* as an example; if the reality of the Territory were that the Security Office shielded that corrupt security officer, it would not affect the existence of this play.

But what would people's reactions be when watching this play?

They would certainly think the Lord is extremely hypocritical; it would be good if they didn't curse on the spot, and at the very least, they wouldn't be cheering incessantly like they just were.

In that case, *Wendy Johnson Buys Melons* would be a satirical play.

Other plays are similar; they will not present situations that are vastly different from the reality of the Territory. If there were any, those would be other places, which only further highlights the advancement of Daxia Territory.

The people need art, but art needs the people even more.

In Xia Duo's understanding, only by constantly delving into life and taking root among the people, feeling the joys, sorrows, and bitterness of the common folk, can literary and artistic workers create high-quality masterpieces that are grounded, widely spread, and enduring.

The reason Niya could not accept those new plays in the square, besides the performance itself being somewhat rough, is that there are also some problems with Niya's own stance.

She has not completely placed herself in the position of the ordinary masses.

Xia Duo knows this is not Niya's fault, but rather this special world and this backward era have created a Mage class that is almost comparable to natural-born Nobles.

To make Niya completely draw a line with the old class, besides needing his constant influence, it also requires the ordinary masses to demonstrate higher potential.

Specifically, it must at least be proven that the majority of ordinary people possess the potential to become Mages or even replace Mages; this way, the exclusivity of the Mage class will be broken.

This is difficult, but the Tower of Time has already begun this attempt; universal education is merely just a beginning.

……

"Did the Arcane Union say when the Envoy from Evereska will arrive?"

"They didn't give a specific time, but they have already requested an Access Key, and they will notify us again before they come."

Speaking of this, Niya couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed; she had just used the excuse of the Evereska Envoy to leave the scene, and now that the person hasn't arrived yet, it is a bit awkward.

However, Xia Duo didn't mind, and subsequently said, "Alright then, I will go check on the recruitment situation first; notify me when they arrive."

An Elf Envoy is not some big shot; there is no need for him to wait in the Teleportation Room in advance, and it is no harm to teleport over after the other party arrives.

……

Public Level, Personnel Department office.

As soon as Xia Duo entered, he startled the staff busy in the office; one of them hurriedly put down the work in their hands and went up to meet him:

"President, why have you come?"

"I came to check on the recruitment situation; thank you for your hard work, working overtime even on the Midsummer Festival."

"It's no trouble, we are all very happy to do what we can for the New Apprentices," Raul said excitedly.

As a new Mage from a purely ordinary family, he knows very well what the recruitment of the Tower of Time means to those youths; his own hard work is nothing, he just fears delaying the future and destiny of those people.

"Is there a summary report?" Xia Duo asked.

"Yes."

"Where is it? Let me see."

"It's on Hadi's desk, I'll get it for you right now."

Raul turned and walked with quick steps toward a desk inside piled high with test papers, casually flipped through them and pulled out a thin booklet from a stack of papers, then turned back and handed it to Xia Duo:

"President, this is the summary report, but this only contains the data of the Apprentices who were assessed here at the Tower of Time; the data from No. 1 Spire has not been synchronized yet."

"It's fine, I'll take a look first."

Xia Duo opened the booklet; the first page was a table. The first column was the names of the Apprentices participating in the assessment, followed by various scores, and finally, there was a column for whether they met the standard or not.

Unlike the previous Apprentice assessments at the Tower of Time which only asked a few questions to prove they weren't idiots, the current recruitment assessment was a set of test papers personally created by Xia Duo.

The content involved logic, common sense, and even moral character.

Of course, considering that not everyone knows how to write, the assessment was conducted in the form of questions from the examiner. In the future, when the basic education in the Territory catches up, the recruitment assessment here will change accordingly.

Meeting the standard does not mean passing; it only indicates that the examinee has reached the standard for an Apprentice of the Tower of Time. After all, educational resources are limited, and selecting the best is a last resort.

……

Flipping and flipping, Xia Duo suddenly flipped to nothing. The tables in the front only recorded 20-something people per page, and he had flipped through four pages in total. Even if the data from No. 1 Spire hadn't been synchronized, the number was wrong!

In the list of prospective residents transitioning to full status that Laidun had organized for him previously, just the number of eligible youths around 16 years old was more than one hundred; these were all people from the original Grey Eagle Tribe.

Among the official residents of the Territory (those from before the arrival of the Grey Eagle Tribe, with the Grey Eagle Tribe counted as prospective residents), there are dozens of new eligible youths every year, plus the ones missed from previous recruitment drives.

Xia Duo estimated that for this recruitment, Daxia Territory alone would exceed 300 people. By next year, when more prospective residents from the Grey Eagle Tribe transition to full status, the number of eligible youths will see another major increase.

Compared to this, the growth rate of eligible youths in Savile Territory has always been stable; after all, that side has long passed the pioneering period and has not issued a policy of "giving land for having children."

There are about one thousand eligible youths every year, but unfortunately, even with a new Mage Tower built, it is impossible for Xia Duo to recruit all one thousand of them.

The quota he gave is only three hundred; the remaining seven hundred or so, if they miss this recruitment, will just have to wait for the future when education is universal.

It must be said that fate is sometimes so helpless.

However, in the absence of enough Spell Laboratories, Xia Duo would rather recruit fewer people, would rather let some people waste time for a while, than risk those young lives.

Another factor is the number of Teachers, which also limits the expansion plan of the Tower of Time.

"I just hope the Answer Machine test goes smoothly!"

Thinking this, Xia Duo had already received the subsequent part of the summary report from Raul—for the time being, there was only one page.

"The recruitment will continue until dusk; there are still people who haven't participated in the assessment yet. In addition, there are some test papers still being summarized; these are just a part of them."