Chapter 674: Recruiting Apprentices, Observing Teaching

Moreover, Magic Technicians are not just for doing contract work for the Tilake Research Lab; they can also provide contract services for other research labs in the Tower of Time.

From now on, those doing research will focus on research, and those doing production will focus on production.

To achieve this goal, a massive number of spellcasters is essential, which is also an important reason why Xia Duo is having the Tower of Time expand its recruitment of New Apprentices.

The times have indeed changed; from the moment Xia Duo learned that some Mage Towers in the Inner Land had already begun to show signs of division of labor and cooperation, he knew the times had changed.

Once progress appears, it is difficult to suppress, but those Mage Towers are ultimately not as radical as a transmigrator like Xia Duo, or perhaps, it is uncertain if anyone in all of Netheril is as radical as he is.

But in fact, from Xia Duo's own perspective, this radicalism is just basic operation.

If education cannot be popularized, how can one speak of creating civilization?

Thinking of this, Xia Duo summoned the Tower Spirit and, regarding apprentice organizational relations, set it so that apprentices cannot be recruited as Magic Technicians within two years of joining the Tower of Time.

Under the new system, if one cannot become a Level 3 Apprentice and prepare for the Ascension Trial within two years, then one more year is unlikely to make them an Official Mage.

If that is the case, it is truly better to go be a Magic Technician early to earn money; after all, if one cannot become an Official Mage, one must repay the expenses the Tower of Time spent on their training.

The three-year training fee totals 1000 Gold Coins, which is not a small sum, even for a wealthy family.

This price was not considered outrageous in the past; after all, in the past, for an ordinary person to want to become an Official Mage, it would cost about this much, fluctuating up or down based on individual intelligence.

But under the new system, the biggest expense for the Tower of Time in training apprentices to become Official Mages is actually the salaries of the teaching staff, as much of the Knowledge has already been opened for free, sparing apprentices a lot of trouble.

And mass training is the easiest way to save costs.

In short, regardless of whether these New Apprentices eventually become Official Mages, the Tower of Time never loses. And in the long run, the more apprentices who become Official Mages, the more profitable it is.

It is equivalent to obtaining more and higher-level Magic Technicians, or research personnel; at the very least, they can become members of the new type of magic Army.

……

After offering a few words of encouragement, Xia Duo went to the Personnel Department, retrieved the files of apprentices who had left the Tower of Time in recent years, and then notified the External Affairs Mage to send them to Savile Town, having Saier Town Mayor issue a conscription order to those apprentices.

Since he has already realized that he neglected the development of Magic Technicians, if he wants to get a grip on it, he must take a shortcut. Although most of the apprentices who left the Tower of Time in recent years have already given up the path of Magic, it is not that easy to forget the corresponding Knowledge.

Gathering those among them who have mastered Spellcasting abilities and giving them a little training is enough for them to become the most primary Magic Technicians; it will not be too late to train and improve them slowly afterward.

Moreover, who knows, among these people there might be some late bloomers who were previously overlooked!

Becoming a Magic Technician might just bring them the opportunity to return to the path of Magic!

In Xia Duo's hometown, workers moving from production lines into schools, research institutes, and the Army is nothing new. If it weren't for the unsuitable conditions in Savile Territory, it would be best to carry out universal education right now.

However, since Daxia Territory is starting from scratch, there is no need to worry too much. Xia Duo has already sent all the residents around 16 years old into the Tower of Time, and anyone of the appropriate age in the future will also be sent over.

As for residents over 16, once the Territory's development reaches a certain level, they will also receive corresponding Magic Education, though Xia Duo does not expect too much from them; it is merely giving them a chance.

……

After leaving the Personnel Department, Xia Duo did not return directly to his residence, but instead took another turn around the Public Level, focusing on inspecting the class situations of various apprentice groups.

In this situation, Xia Duo suddenly felt a bit like a primary school principal.

The number of people in an apprentice class is not fixed; it is determined by the ability of the instructor. Those with ability can naturally lead more apprentices and, of course, receive higher performance bonuses—this is "flexible teaching."

Apprentices go from being a Level 1 Apprentice just entering the Tower of Time, to a Level 2 Apprentice in Enlightenment Classes, and finally to a Level 3 Apprentice who has completed all Apprentice Courses and is only waiting to pass the Ascension Trial to become an Official Mage.

The curriculum consists of 20 books from shallow to deep, of which only one is for enlightenment, and the rest are for Level 2 Apprentices to study, but in fact, compared to the books that Tower of Time apprentices needed to read in the past, it has been greatly streamlined.

In particular, these books were mostly compiled and edited by members of the Progress Society, and their initial source can be traced back to the Study Group period, to Xia Duo's guidance of the first batch of Progress Society members.

They are filled with Xia Duo's thoughts and concepts regarding study and teaching. If nothing goes wrong, this set of books should be the first systematic set of apprentice textbooks in Netheril.

Xia Duo observed a few live teaching sessions and found that most of the instructors were still at the stage of reading from the script and had not yet mastered various forms of teaching techniques.

In this regard, Xia Duo did not have much experience either; after all, he was not a professional educator before he transmigrated. Asking him to teach others Knowledge is fine, but asking him to teach others how to teach touches on his blind spot.

He can only let these local Mages slowly summarize and improve through practice.

However, these new instructors are doing well in answering questions; at least they are putting in the effort. Xia Duo watched several sessions in a row and did not find any instances of perfunctory behavior.

It seems that performance incentives are quite useful.

But just thinking about the extra wages paid for this, Xia Duo still feels a bit of a heartache. Fortunately, these instructors are mostly apprentices or members of the Progress Society, are not very old, and have not yet learned various ways to slack off.

However, Xia Duo feels it is necessary to add a "patrol inspector" position to the Apprentice Management Office, specifically for patrolling teaching situations, with the goal of catching others and deducting their performance bonuses as their own performance.

Only with competition can improvement be promoted!

No, it is better to add it to the Personnel Department; this can avoid affecting the internal harmony of the Apprentice Management Office, and at the same time, it can be used to exert influence on the Personnel Department, gradually integrating the Personnel Department into the new system.

Currently, the various transformation measures Xia Duo has taken have involved compromises with the Intermediate Mages of the Tower of Time, but a full transition to the new system in the future is imperative.

It is just that right now, those Intermediate Mages are still the backbone of the Tower of Time (in terms of income, power, etc.). Without them, Xia Duo cannot run the Tower of Time alone. Relying on himself to work desperately to earn money to support the entire Mage Tower is something Xia Duo cannot do; he is not that idle.

"Guard against impatience, plan slowly!"

……

Returning to his residence, Xia Duo sat at his desk, first brewing himself a cup of "Bonu Original Leaf," and only then took out a notebook that had already been written and drawn on for over a dozen pages from his Personal Space, beginning to design his own Spellbook.

For the past half month, because of the Princess's frequent visits to the Territory to "settle the Elves," Niya has actually been spending almost every day with Xia Duo. Just a few days ago, the Fielder Spellbook was completely cracked.

Excluding the contents of the Spellbook, the Spellbook itself no longer holds any secrets for Xia Duo.

As for the spells recorded in the Spellbook, he only gained a rough understanding of them and did not start researching them, mainly because he wanted to finish his own Spellbook first.

This has almost become an obsession for Xia Duo.