"There is no direct connection!"
"No direct connection?" Depak frowned. He didn't think that Shado would waste time to entertain him, but he couldn't figure out what the connection between the price of magic items and the 'study group' was.
The purpose of Xia Duo's coming here was to find out and get some fresh air, not to guess riddles. A logical chain of thoughts flashed through his mind, and then he said:
"Times have changed, Master Depak! Have you ever thought that one day, the price of magic items may be cheaper than the raw materials?"
"This is impossible!" Depak retorted immediately.
Xia Duo shook his head. In fact, it would be much easier to understand if he replaced it with "market price" and "cost." The "market price and cost" situation has happened countless times on the earth.
"Market price" is relatively stable, but for production entities with different technologies, "cost" is a variable.
The more you sell, the more you lose. It is not a joke, but a possible reality.
In the magical world, the current manufacturing of magic items is inseparable from spellcasters, so the actual pricing is largely determined by the mage, and materials account for a small proportion.
Cost = mage labor + materials.
The labor cost of a mage is largely proportional to the time the mage spends on production. So from a qualitative analysis——
Cost = mage time + materials
Improving production relations is actually to reduce the working time of mages and hand over some work that does not need to be completed by senior mages to low-level mages or even ordinary people.
Once productivity changes suddenly, and mages may even be separated from specific production links, the cost will be limited to materials.
Of course, Shado did not speculate on the possibility that magic items in the future may not need to be made by mages themselves. He only mentioned the benefits of improving production relations and the speculation that other mage towers may already be undergoing transformation.
The "Study Group" is a pilot for the transformation of the Tower of Time.
Chateau will not only try more advanced production methods, but also try more advanced organizational methods to lay the foundation for the next comprehensive transformation.
After saying that, he looked at Depak, waiting for the other party's reaction.
"Master Xia Duo, I think what you said makes sense, but there is a problem. Doing so will inevitably lead to a massive spread of relevant knowledge. This -"
Looking at De Park's still doubtful expression, Sha Duo sighed deeply in his heart. The prosperity of science, technology, and manufacturing on Earth actually allowed a considerable degree of public knowledge to exist.
Secret methods and recipes have been replaced by patents.
However, in the magical world, the boundary between theory and technology is not clear. Theory can be directly transformed into technology (spells), while technology is still technology (spells).
To a certain extent, knowledge is equivalent to strength, and it is also the strength of an individual, so most Nese mages are relatively conservative.
Especially the lower you go, the more conservative you become. You want not to let others know at all. It is best if you are the only one who is a mage and everyone else is an ordinary person.
This is just like on earth, it is against human nature to get rich first and then get rich later. Only people with firm beliefs can truly do it. Most rich people, the purpose of their existence is to make more money and prevent others from doing so. People become rich.
In the wizarding world, visionaries do not exist.
The birth of the Arcane Federation is actually a consensus and compromise reached by the spellcasters who control the power. From this, Chateau vaguely saw the prototype of a magical community similar to a scientific community.
It only needs to replace the Severnton Council and become the official legal system of Netheril.
The will of the country and the organization does not depend on the will of the individual. Even if they are as powerful as the Grand Arcanist, as long as there are more than one person, they must seek common ground while reserving differences.
Regardless of the external environment, "Netheril" itself actually has a strong desire for development, but it is limited by the current backward production relations and cannot fully liberate productivity and vigorously develop magical civilization.
What Xia Duo is doing now is in line with the development trend of the current era to some extent. The real era is calling!
Xia Duo didn't explain too much about Depak's concerns. He was relieved and let him think for himself.
If you go against the trend, you will inevitably be swallowed up by the trend.
Of course, even if you follow the trend, you may encounter undercurrents. The so-called darkness before dawn is generally like this.
After leaving De Parker, it was already getting late. After completing a set of concentration training, Sha Duo went to bed early. However, before going to bed, he asked Ta Ling to make an appointment with other managers of the Tower of Time and mid-level mages. Meeting the next day.
Mages are all busy people, especially mid-level mages. Of course, Xia Duo can go directly, but if the other party has something important to do, then his trip will probably be in vain.
Making an appointment is actually a reminder to remind them to make time in advance.
…
the next day.
There was still no news from Niya. From the Savile leader's side, Derrick had received Shado's instructions and started negotiating with the branch presidents of the Raw Material Suppliers Association in Savile, trying to re-sign a fixed-share supply contract. .
At the Tower of Time, Shado interviewed all the mid-level mages. Of course, unlike "insiders" like De Parker, Shado did not directly talk about "study groups" for these mid-level mages.
Instead, it is like a daily communication, asking them whether they are satisfied with the current environment and what improvements the Tower of Time needs, just like a boss chatting with employees.
Intermediate mages are not a closed circle. There will be communication and cooperation between them. The transformation of the Tower of Time is no secret.
But Xia Duo hopes to spark a broad discussion, rather than informing them all without any feedback later, and then just run away from a group of people when the transformation is truly underway.
In the next few days, Xia Duo did not return to Linshui Village, but stayed at the Tower of Time, waiting for news from Niya while using the magic laboratory to increase the intensity of magic practice.
At the same time, he was always paying attention to Tilak's permanent magic project and Derrick's negotiation process outside. Of course, there was no progress in both of them for the time being.
…
The fifth day that Shado returned to the Tower of Time was also the eighth day that Shado expelled the priest Cole.
On this day, Xia Duo was conducting his first [Detection] exercise in the magic laboratory. He was very interested in this prophecy-like spell, so he only ranked it after [Short-distance Teleportation].
Of course, the first practice is not about a complete spellcasting or a success. Instead, the method is the same as before when practicing spells, splitting the element units into units, and then performing a complete spellcasting after all the element units are practiced proficiently.
Splitting the element units requires the caster to have a good understanding of the principles of the spell and be able to identify the internal logic. Otherwise, just splitting it does not make much sense.
In the final analysis, elements are essentially just operations on the strings of the magic network, and the types are limited. However, the combination of elements at different levels of the magic network is almost infinite.
According to the principle of magic, the separated element units are actually the decomposition of specific spell casting steps. There is no need to practice individual elements, Xia Duo has long been familiar with them.
While Xia Duo was practicing, the tower spirit suddenly sent a message, "Agent Xia Duo, the master has returned to the Tower of Time. Please meet in the study."
