Chapter 326: Exchange Meeting, Research Topic Application

The next day.

Because the banquet was merely an excuse, it began in the morning.

When all the Official Mages had left the Tower of Time, Xia Duo immediately ordered all Apprentices to take a day's worth of food and return to their respective residences.

Afterward, he sealed the Tower of Time and shut down functional facilities such as the Elevator, Arcane Garden, Library, Alchemy Bench, and Internal Defense Array.

If it weren't for the fact that passing through the Portal also consumed energy, he would have been prepared to send all the Apprentices outside as well; that would have saved even more.

Finally, when he left, he restricted the Portal's access permissions. (The Portal maintains low power consumption; turning it on requires high power consumption, so it does not need to be completely shut down.)

At this moment, outside, only Xia Duo could return to the Tower of Time at any time.

……

Holding the banquet starting in the morning did not lead to the cold reception Xia Duo had anticipated; the Mages were all very excited to hear that Niya had become the Princess's student.

Perhaps this was the only time they would be able to get involved with a big figure like the Princess.

When it came down to it, most members of the Tower of Time were Intermediate or Primary Mages; let alone a Great Arcanist, even ordinary High Mages were rarely seen.

However, by noon, everyone's enthusiasm began to wane; after all, it was Niya who had become the Princess's student, not themselves.

Some even wanted to leave, which Xia Duo naturally could not allow; fortunately, he had prepared in advance, specifically guarding against a cold reception!

The Elf Fruit Wine from the Tower of Time's inventory was brought out for everyone to drink freely, and more importantly, there was the Intermediate Mage exchange meeting hosted by Aiboke, as well as the Primary Mage exchange meeting he hosted himself.

Exchange leads to progress, but exchange also takes time!

Time quickly reached the afternoon.

Under the shade of the trees, the members of the Tower of Time were divided into two groups, drinking wine while talking about Magic; if not for Xia Duo's deliberate arrangement, such a scene would have been difficult to appear.

"Mage Xia Duo, I have a research topic regarding Permanent Magic and hope to receive support from the Tower of Time." A Primary Mage named Tilake suddenly stood up.

"Yes, no problem, but you need to submit a written application." Xia Duo agreed without hesitation.

"Ah—" Tilake let out a cry of surprise.

Clearly, he had not expected Xia Duo to agree so readily; he had originally only brought it up with a "try it and see" attitude, and he had not expected Xia Duo to give him such a big surprise!

"Thank you, thank you for your support, Mage Xia Duo. I will definitely produce results as soon as possible!" Tilake's voice trembled with excitement.

In the original model of the Tower of Time, only Intermediate Mages were qualified to apply for independent research topics, while Primary Mages could only do auxiliary work for Intermediate Mages.

As for their own research, having their Spellcasting capabilities exploited by Intermediate Mages, they mostly just proposed some conjectures and hypotheses, and even verifying them required finding a time without many Spellcasting tasks.

And this usually meant taking on outside missions, so that all their time would belong to themselves.

The topic Tilake proposed had also been verified intermittently in his spare time, and he had a certain degree of confidence, but he did not want to share it with his mentor, nor did he want to wait until the day he became an Intermediate Mage.

It just so happened that the exchange meeting organized by Xia Duo at the banquet allowed him to see an opportunity, and he had obtained what he wanted.

……

Hearing Xia Duo agree to Tilake's request without hesitation, other Primary Mages were also eager to move, but the written application still made them hesitate.

A written application meant it was official; if the Tower of Time invested, it would also require a return. If the research topic failed, they might end up carrying a heavy debt.

Not everyone had the Courage to try this.

Nor did everyone have a relatively feasible topic and the ability for independent research like Tilake.

"Does anyone else want to apply for a specialized research topic?" Xia Duo asked specifically.

In all honesty, he still hoped that more people would apply, because this meant these Primary Mages had the potential to become Intermediate Mages or even higher.

Only learning Spells and not doing research, in Xia Duo's view, could not be called a "Mage" at all, but should be called a "humanoid Spellcasting device"!

Such people had no hope of becoming an Advanced Arcanist.

Just then, Kaili, who was cowering in the crowd, suddenly whispered: "Xia Duo, I also want to—"

"No, you don't!"

Xia Duo immediately and decisively rejected him, and Xia Duo's actions did not cause resentment among the Mages present; everyone knew that Kaili had been an Official Mage for less than a year.

Not everyone could be like Xia Duo, becoming an Intermediate Mage (Level 6) in just over a year. (Counting the time in the Projection Plane, it was just over three years.)

Everyone just took Kaili's little episode as a joke; those who were familiar with him laughed a couple of times and it passed, and everyone continued their exchange.

……

The banquet was not very successful, but the exchange meeting was a great success.

The Primary Mage exchange meeting alone gave Xia Duo a lot of gains; if he could join the Intermediate Mage exchange meeting, the gains would surely be even greater!

It was just that if he let other Intermediate Mages host it, he would be a bit uneasy, so he had to do it himself; fortunately, he was now the Acting Tower Master, and it was still very convenient to hold exchange meetings.

Doing so could not only save the Tower of Time's energy expenditure, but also bring many gains to individuals.

If he held a few more, perhaps he could even change the atmosphere within the Tower of Time!

Xia Duo was just envisioning the scene of the Tower of Time full of academic atmosphere in the future when a figure suddenly flew out from the side and headed south.

It was Mage Warren!

The External Affairs Director of the Tower of Time, one of the Mages currently stationed in Savile Town.

Did something happen in town? Or did he have some urgent matter himself?

Xia Duo turned his head to look at the Intermediate Mage exchange meeting; more than a dozen Intermediate Mages had already stood up. Only Aiboke remained seated, and when Xia Duo looked over, Aiboke also looked at him simultaneously and sent a Sending:

"A Spellcaster has teleported in from outside the town! If the Tower of Time were still there, we could have blocked the opponent's teleportation; now we can only manage to detect it."

If it were an enemy, teleporting in and out would have almost no restrictions, and even if they knew, there would be no way to stop it.

At this moment, Xia Duo was filled with greed for that Arcanist named Aquilain; he alone could detect teleportation and could even delay it.

If it were a Magic Artifact, it would be portable; if it were Magic, that would be even better. With such Magic, there would be no need to worry about being teleported upon by someone.

"Warren sent word that the teleportation landing point is at the Eagle Chamber of Commerce; it should be Aquilain!" Aiboke sent a Sending.

"Aquilain?!"

Xia Duo was a bit surprised; he had just thought of Aquilain, and he hadn't expected the opponent to deliver himself to the door. This might be the best opportunity for law enforcement!

However, considering that the two-day period had not yet passed, Xia Duo forcibly held back.

Moreover, it is inconvenient to take action in Savile Town; one reason is the worry about damaging the town area, and the other is that the Tower of Time is at least 20 li away from here.

The consumption for the Guidance Spell is far greater than taking action near the Mythallar Ruins, and he is somewhat worried about whether the Tower of Time might "flame out" halfway there.

At this moment, Aiboke, knowing it is Aquilain, can no longer sit still and flies out as well.

Xia Duo stays behind to pacify the crowd.