Chapter 736: Statue Anomaly, Agency Business

Xia Duo still often recalls the old man in Savile Town who used 【Prestidigitation】 to amuse children; besides that old man, there are quite a few others in Savile Town who possess spellcasting abilities upon reaching adulthood.

Although these are only crude tricks, this innate spellcasting ability should have been valued when they were young and strived to be carried forward.

It is truly a pity that the spellcasting abilities of these people end up being nothing more than toys for amusing children.

Xia Duo does not care whether these people's abilities are innate—after all, it is possible they spent time at the Tower of Time and are just bragging—but this at least illustrates one thing—

Savile Town is scattered with quite a few spellcasters (who might only know a single crude trick).

Training these people and cultivating them into Magic Technicians—wouldn't that be wonderful!

Once industry gets moving, unless fully automated production suddenly appears one day, a large number of qualified industrial workers will be indispensable!

In the magic world, the minimum standard for a qualified industrial worker in Xia Duo's eyes is the possession of spellcasting ability; without spellcasting ability, one cannot even Link Magic Web, nor can one operate an Alchemy Array, so how then could one produce Magic Items!

The current Tower of Time is transitioning from a classical workshop to a modern academy, with the medium-to-long-term goal being the integration of production, education, and research; but for now, absorbing social forces is also an essential accumulation during the Tower of Time's transformation process.

……

After leaving the Town Hall, Xia Duo passed through the Central Plaza in front of the Town Hall and flew toward the southeast; when he flew to the center of the plaza, his heart stirred, and he landed in front of the Saville Statue.

The statue, which he had seen countless times in the past, suddenly possessed some peculiar charm this time; Xia Duo circled the statue a few times and discovered that this peculiar charm was entwined around the statue, appearing and disappearing.

It could only be discovered inadvertently; if one observed it deliberately, it would instead vanish.

"Could this be Faith Power?"

It is no wonder Xia Duo made this guess, as it is truly hard not to associate the statue with Faith Power, but Xia Duo had never seen Faith Power with his own eyes, and he could not determine whether this was it or not.

"Hmm—"

Xia Duo suddenly had an idea, but there was still proper business to attend to right now, so he suppressed this thought to the bottom of his heart; it would not be too late to verify it after finishing his business.

……

Arriving at the Military Camp, before Xia Duo had even landed, he saw a person dressed as a Mage in a Training Ground, circling back and forth around a small patch of open space with three soldiers.

Looking closely, it was actually an acquaintance!

Xia Duo flew directly down toward the Training Ground, "Xiaolei, why is it you? You aren't tinkering with those little gadgets at the Tower of Time, so what are you doing running here?"

Xiaolei is considered the only Intermediate Mage at the Tower of Time who does not have any Apprentices; he usually likes to tinker with strange and peculiar things, and every now and then he causes some trouble.

The most serious time, he turned himself into a small dog; fortunately, he could still speak normally, and he had people fetch Lord Epps and Aiboke, otherwise he might have really been cooked as a real small dog.

Seeing Xia Duo, Xiaolei's eyes dodged a bit, and he stammered: "I accepted a duty service mission and came over!"

"Is that so? I don't believe it!"

Xia Duo looked at the soldier to the side, "I ask you, what did Mage Xiaolei come here to do?"

"My Lord, Mage Xiaolei came to promote his Multi-functional Mixture!"

It really wasn't! But what on earth is a Multi-functional Mixture? Xia Duo was stunned, but immediately understood that it was probably just some newfangled toy Xiaolei had come up with.

It's just that this time he switched to playing with potions.

"How is the effect?" Xia Duo asked again.

"It should be pretty good!" the soldier answered truthfully.

Pretty good? Xia Duo glanced at Xiaolei; when had this guy ever been able to come up with something good?

However, since there were no problems, Xia Duo did not ask further, only reminding Xiaolei not to get too busy and miss the class time for the advanced training course, then walked toward the barracks not far away.

……

The meeting with Keyaan was very brief; after knowing that the Mages who had accepted the duty service mission were all very cooperative, Xia Duo left with peace of mind.

As for the issue raised by Keyaan that a single-person, single-time mission only lasts one day, which would cause the cultivation progress of spellcasters in the Army to be repeatedly interrupted, Xia Duo did not give a direct answer.

Delaying the mission time is indeed very simple in terms of operation; it is just changing the content of the mission.

But not everyone can accept long-term field duty, especially since they have to obey the orders of an ordinary person during the mission, doing whatever they are told to do.

The Tower of Time is currently at a critical moment of transformation and most needs to pass through it steadily; it is really inconvenient to increase the mission time and stir up emotions.

However, considering that different people need to have different choices, Xia Duo still contacted the Tower Spirit to add a self-selected duration setting to the duty service mission, letting them choose for themselves.

For the time being, only 1, 2, or 3 days can be selected.

As for whether it will be forcibly extended later, that will depend on the specific situation.

……

Whether it was giving instructions to Saier Town Mayor or coming to the Military Camp to check on the duty service situation, these could only be considered small interludes; Xia Duo's most important purpose for coming to Savile Town this time was to find an agent for the Communication Magic Tool that the Tower of Time is about to launch.

The chamber of commerce Xia Duo is more inclined toward is the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce; on one hand, this is the chamber of commerce introduced by the Princess, which brought sincerity when the Tower of Time was in difficulty, and on the other hand, it is the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce itself.

It has a good reputation, and its owner behind the scenes is said to be a Senior Arcanist who has cooperated with multiple Great Arcanists of the Seven Towers; it is considered one of the most outstanding chambers of commerce in Netheril.

It is not even limited to the Seven Towers, and it maintains good relationships with forces outside the Seven Towers as well.

Through the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce, Xia Duo can sell the Tower of Time's Communication Magic Tools to the entire Netheril, and even to the Elf and Dwarf kingdoms.

Therefore, his first stop was the office set up by the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce in Savile Town.

……

Savile Town, East District.

Xia Duo knew the address, but he still had to ask someone before he found this office of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce; it was truly too remote!

Behind a shop, it was originally likely used as a temporary warehouse and was only later renovated into an office.

When Xia Duo arrived, the door here was still half-ajar; if the very distinctive Gold Coin emblem of the Ming Shui Chamber of Commerce hadn't been hanging at the entrance, he would have thought he had gone to the wrong place.

"Is anyone there?" Xia Duo shouted toward the inside.

It was a bit deep and a bit dark inside, but it still couldn't block Xia Duo's Xia Duo Perception; he saw that there were people inside.

Sure enough, a resonant voice came out from inside, "Not discussing new business for now; old customers can come in and sit as they please!"

Xia Duo thought to himself that it was interesting—they wouldn't even do business when it came to them—but the Tower of Time counted as an old customer and was not among those excluded; he pushed the door open, stood at the entrance, and said toward the inside: "I am Xia Duo!"

Although the voice was not loud this time, it carried the power of Magic and traveled straight to the very back.

Immediately following, Xia Duo heard a sound of tables and chairs colliding, and then a figure darted out from inside, coming to a sudden stop in front of him:

"Xia Duo, Lord Xia Duo?"

The newcomer squinted, sizing up Xia Duo against the light, seemingly a bit doubtful; seeing this, Xia Duo shook the Pioneer Scepter in his hand, and a smile instantly bloomed on the newcomer's face.