Chapter 2703: Returning to the Territory, Planning to Open Middle School Courses

By the time Xia Duo had rested well and shifted his consciousness to his avatar, it was already nearly evening. Afterward, he wandered through the city of Evereska for a while, and by the time he emerged from the Northland Alliance Headquarters, the sky had turned completely dark.

Standing at the entrance of the Demon Descendant Intelligence Research Laboratory and looking south, Xia Duo spotted the most eye-catching street lamp advertisement under the night sky at a single glance.

When viewed before dark, the projection of the street lamp advertisement had appeared slightly thin, but at night, it immediately became brilliant and colorful. The flashing text and the inflammatory words of the spokesperson made any Elf passing near that road stop and watch.

As for the Cloud Pattern, which could only be considered clear during the day, it became even more conspicuous at night, such that even from a distance, one could distinguish the vast majority of its features.

It stood to reason that as long as one predicted the night in Evereska, it would be almost impossible not to see the Cloud Pattern information on the advertisement.

Seeing this scene, Xia Duo felt quite satisfied. As for the progress of the transformation, there was no need to rush; on one hand, the current efficiency of Vidas Workshop was already high enough, and on the other hand, the fact that the transformation was not yet complete did not affect its role in the prophecy.

As long as this possibility was inevitable, there was no need to worry too much about the future of the prophecy lacking the Cloud Pattern announcement. Rather than worrying about this, it was better to consider how to ensure that such a future would not encounter any accidents.

Returning to Shop No. 18 in Meilong Market, Xia Duo settled his avatar and shifted his consciousness back to his main body. Although it was already night, the Tower of Time remained lively.

Xia Duo grabbed information at random and discovered that, unknowingly, the Tower of Time was already conducting its 21st rank examination, and the average number of people passing each examination was about twenty.

Looking at it from this perspective alone, the number of new Mages in the Tower of Time was already nearly four hundred.

Of course, Xia Duo also knew the specific number: there were a total of 412 new Mages who had grown up under the new system. This number could be said to have completely exceeded the sum of all Official Mages trained by the Tower of Time over the years in the past.

Although this was partly because the total population of Daxia Territory was now much higher than that of the former Savile Territory, it also, to some extent, demonstrated the enormous potential of the new system.

After all, this was merely the beginning. Currently, the new Mage training mechanism of the Tower of Time had become increasingly mature, capable of organizing at least one rank examination every month on average, with at least twenty people passing each time.

Moreover, as the scale of recruitment continued to expand, this number would also increase accordingly.

This kind of efficiency was far from comparable to the Tower of Time of the past; calling it academic-style training was actually less appropriate than calling it industrialized training.

Today, the rank examination of the Tower of Time had reached its 21st iteration. Although Xia Duo still attached importance to it, he no longer needed to preside over it personally as he had at the beginning; now, he just needed to look at the results.

However, realizing that the number of people who had passed the rank examination had exceeded four hundred, Xia Duo felt it was necessary to continue setting up higher-level rank examinations.

The 21st rank examination currently underway only qualified those who passed as standard Level 1 Mages of the Tower of Time; the road for subsequent upgrades was still long!

Of course, subsequent upgrades would not necessarily have to be promoted through level-by-level examinations; examinations and preparing for examinations would occupy a large amount of time, and this time could originally have been used for normal work.

Therefore, there must inevitably be some trade-offs.

Xia Duo prepared to arrange examinations according to three major ranks: Primary Rank, Intermediate Rank, and Advanced Rank. Passing the Primary Rank examination meant becoming a Level 1 Mage, after which one could improve their level through achievements or performance, but only up to Level 4.

Level 5 was the Intermediate Rank, which required passing the Intermediate Assessment to be promoted; this was effectively a combination of academic qualifications and job ranks as seen on Earth.

Advancing all the way like this, when reaching the Advanced Rank step, one would face two choices: one was the Researcher route, which required advancing to an Advanced Arcanist, and the other was the conventional promotion route, which did not limit whether one advanced to an Advanced Arcanist.

Given the current scale of new Mages in the Tower of Time, Xia Duo felt that the Intermediate Assessment could be opened. Once this was opened, the existing Intermediate Mages of the Tower of Time who had not grown up under the new system could also obtain the Intermediate Rank recognized by the new system through the examination.

If they were unwilling, they would ultimately only be eliminated by the tide of the era. After all, under equal conditions, employers would certainly prioritize those who had received a complete education and passed the rank examination.

Opening the Intermediate Assessment was both an opportunity for those old-era Intermediate Mages and a reminder, a spur, and a warning to them.

Embracing the new system was by no means just about not opposing it; it should be about actively integrating into it and aligning with it in everything.

Considering that it was already mid-December, Xia Duo issued a notice through the Academic Affairs Office of the Tower of Time, stating that the first Intermediate Assessment would be organized at the end of next month, which was the day of the Midwinter Festival.

Going forward, it was tentatively scheduled to be organized once every six months; missing next month would mean waiting until next year's Midsummer.

Of course, before the official examination, the Personnel Department still needed to add a large class to evaluate the specific levels for all new Mages; only those who reached Level 4 would be allowed to sign up for next month's Intermediate Assessment.

Xia Duo had already sent the evaluation criteria to the Personnel Department. At the current stage, work duration and output value were generally the main evaluation indicators. This was favorable for new Mages who had joined units directly under the Tower of Time, such as full-time Teachers in the Academic Affairs Office, technicians in the Magic Technician Office, and even Magic Affairs Officers in the Xia Duo Territory.

Or members of the Plane Exploration Center and a few individual Level 3 Laboratories were all considered personnel of direct units.

If one joined an Independent Research Lab after passing the Primary Rank examination, then the actual achievements and specific benefits of the laboratory, as well as the individual's role within it, would need to be examined.

How much funding one could obtain from the Tower of Time was an important indicator, and whether it could be put into production or Application was also an important indicator; of course, basic research had additional bonuses.

But in general, the upgrade speed for those who joined Independent Research Labs was still slower than that of units directly under the Tower of Time.

Xia Duo had inquired with Depake, who was currently in charge of the Personnel Department. Based on the current evaluation criteria, it was estimated that about one-fifth of the four hundred-plus new Mages could be rated at Level 4, which was nearly one hundred people!

But as for how many of these people could pass the Intermediate Assessment, both Xia Duo and Depake were relatively conservative in their predictions.

The reason was simple: because the Tower of Time had not yet offered formal new Mage courses, these people had only received a complete Apprentice education, and the rest relied entirely on self-study.

Although a complete Apprentice education had laid a solid foundation, the Intermediate Assessment was not tested based on the standards of self-study, but rather based on the complete new Mage curriculum.

Under these circumstances, if anyone could pass smoothly, that person could definitely be called the "Elite among Elites"!

Simply a natural magic prodigy!

Therefore, the conclusion of the Intermediate Assessment at the end of next month would serve more as a lead-in to the new Mage curriculum. After the Midwinter Festival assessment ended, Xia Duo would open the new Mage curriculum, or rather, the Middle School Course, within the Tower of Time.

According to his expectations, after completing all the Middle School Course, one could almost consider advancing to an Advanced Arcanist; a mere Intermediate Assessment would naturally be a breeze, and even the Advanced Rank assessment, which had not yet been opened, would not be much of a problem.