Chapter 418: Directional Cultivation Experiment

Returning to the Tower of Time, Xia Duo felt as if he had returned to a safe harbor; the troublesome matters of the outside world did not exist here. Since he rarely returned, the high-risk experiments that had accumulated over the past month all needed to be conducted one by one with the help of the Tower of Time's Spell Laboratory. In the afternoon, Aiboke returned to the Tower of Time and told Xia Duo that the people from the Rodney Territory had already left, heading directly east; it seemed there would be no shortage of dealings with them in the future.

In the evening, Xia Duo stopped his experiments and went to Tilake's Research Lab to take a look. Although the research on Permanent Magic was progressing slowly, it was always advancing, which put Xia Duo's mind at ease.

As for the production of Magic Items, for the time being, there were only Scrolls, mainly with the Probationary Members and Associate Members of the "Progress Society" drawing the Arcane Geometry Diagrams, while Formal Members performed the final Magic Net connection.

Because the "Progress Society"—that is, the original Study Group—had frequent exchanges between its members, and Xia Duo had already opened up relevant Knowledge of Elementary Arcane Geometry to them in advance, the standardization of the scroll patterns was done quite well, which was why they possessed a finished product rate as high as seventy percent.

After a round of inspection, Xia Duo called for Dewan to leave together.

……

"Xia Duo, is there something you wanted to see me about alone?" Although everyone was already quite familiar with each other, the gap in status between the two sides had grown larger and larger today, and Dewan felt a bit nervous at this moment.

He could think of the biggest difference between himself and others: he was an Arcane Spellcaster while also being a Divine Magic spellcaster, which was almost unique in the Tower of Time; this might make him an outlier in Xia Duo's eyes.

Once, he had felt such prejudice from Xia Duo, but later, for some reason, it had disappeared; however, the high Perception of a Divine Magic spellcaster let him know this was not an illusion.

And next, Xia Duo's words made him even more uneasy, "I have a matter I would like to discuss with you, and it concerns Divine Magic spellcasters."

"Xia Duo, you aren't thinking of driving me away from the Tower of Time, are you?" Dewan said nervously.

Generally speaking, Clerics of the Lord of Radiance were all cultivated by local Temples and would all join the local Temple; however, Dewan was not cultivated by a Temple, but rather perceived Holy Power through understanding the order of all things via Magic, and he liked Magic even more than anything else.

If he were made to leave the Tower of Time, he would only be able to join a Temple, and he would be very uncomfortable with that.

Of course, there was another reason: the Temple did not make as much money as the Tower of Time, and regardless of himself or his family, they all needed money.

Looking at Dewan's nervous appearance, Xia Duo could not help but smile; he hadn't even brought up the matter yet, "Don't be nervous, Dewan. How could I drive you away from the Tower of Time? The matter I'm speaking of does indeed concern you, but ultimately it depends on your own thoughts!"

Hearing this answer, Dewan's nervous mood eased slightly, and he asked Xia Duo: "What is the matter?"

By this time, the two had walked outside Xia Duo's residence. Xia Duo first let Dewan enter, then explained: "The Tower of Time needs a special type of Mage who must simultaneously handle both Arcane and Divine Magic, though of course, the main focus is on the Divine Magic aspect."

Following that, Xia Duo briefly introduced the relevant requirements for an Astral Mage, as well as their future achievements. Of course, he did not hide the risks that might be encountered after becoming an Astral Mage.

Especially the long-term wandering in the spiritual world of the Astral Plane, which would cause Astral Mages, who were already particularly sensitive, to develop mental problems.

After finishing, Xia Duo had the Tower Spirit send over a bottle of Elf Fruit Wine, poured a glass for Dewan, and then quietly watched him think.

……

Holding the crystal-clear crystal wine glass, the fresh and sweet scent of the Elf Fruit Wine wafted over, but at this moment, Dewan had no heart to drink this fine wine that cost at least 100 Gold Coins a bottle.

If it were normal times, he would happily drink a few glasses, but the question Xia Duo had thrown out now made him feel surprised, doubtful, confused, nervous, and a little uneasy.

Various emotions churned in his heart, leaving him unable to make up his mind for a moment, his brain in a mess.

"Xia Duo, I—I, could you let me consider it more?"

"Of course!" Xia Duo downed the glass of wine in his hand in one gulp while signaling for Dewan to drink as well. He even assisted the Plane Exploration Array in searching for Projection Planes, which mainly relied on the subjective initiative of the Astral Mage.

It wasn't that you could just stuff someone in and have the Exploration Array automatically gain a search bonus; it required the Astral Mage to act proactively. In this situation, a forced melon wouldn't just be bitter—it might not even serve to quench thirst.

Under Xia Duo's guidance, Dewan drank two glasses in succession. Perhaps it was the scent of the wine that calmed the emotions in his heart; gradually, Dewan calmed down.

He began to seriously consider the pros and cons of this matter. After pondering for a long time, with the two bottles of wine bottomed out, Dewan finally made a decision, "Xia Duo, I am willing to become an Astral Mage."

Dewan was indeed willing to become an Astral Mage. Initially, he was just thrown into disarray by the sudden news, but once he calmed down, he found he had no reason to refuse.

Becoming an Astral Mage might have drawbacks, but that was too far away from him—so far that he couldn't see it at all. What he could see was that becoming the only Astral Mage of the Tower of Time would certainly not be worse than his current situation.

However, although Dewan agreed readily, Xia Duo was not so hurried, "I placed a book about Astral Mages in the Library. When you go to the Library, just ask the Tower Spirit and you will know. There are some simple techniques for Astral Mages in the book; you can try practicing them first. As for whether to take it a step further, you can give me your answer again when the time comes."

Even if Dewan instantly became a qualified Astral Mage, with only him, it wouldn't be of much use. Perhaps it could slightly improve search efficiency, but it would definitely not be able to achieve what the Arcane Union did, where there were always Projection Planes available for use whenever someone went over.

Therefore, in the general direction, Xia Duo did indeed have a sense of urgency, but specifically for the present, he also knew that all of this was still a long way off! Cultivating Dewan was just a casual move, and even asking Bishop Anbulier to keep an eye out for Clerics interested in Magic was the same. What Xia Duo truly valued was the explosion of various talents and technologies after the universal practice of Magic.

A few geniuses might be truly formidable, but Xia Duo preferred the steady advancement of countless Wisdom clusters.

Of course, wanting to adapt to this brand-new state of development required the new order he was promoting.

……

After seeing Dewan off, it was not early. After Xia Duo finished a set of Focus Training, he performed a set of physical training before going to bed.

Before falling asleep, Xia Duo did not forget to imitate Elf Meditation, but unfortunately, he did not succeed until he fell asleep.

After waking up the next day, Xia Duo first tried hard to recall the meditation process from last night, recording a series of feelings for future reference. While having breakfast, he was still looking forward to when he could project into an Elf again.

Perhaps if he did it enough times, he really would be able to learn how to meditate like an Elf!

(End of chapter)