"Then…Lady Snowlotus, apart from ordinary civilians, are there any other ways that can allow us to obtain a large number of civilians in a short amount of time?" Meryl couldn't help but ask hesitatingly.
"You mean to say, human slaves, don't you?" Snowlotus showed a faint smile.
"Indeed! I want to know if there's a way to obtain a large group of cheap human slaves in the Northern Lands."
"Battles between witches very rarely happen in the Northern Lands. Even when there are conflicts, most of them are resolved in the Witch Council. As such, there are no such things as slaves of war here."
Meryl's face couldn't help but turn solemn.
"However, Zhentarim is a festering land of war and conflict. The disagreements between the various adept clans are always ongoing. If you really need civilians, I can purchase some slaves from Central under the name of the Fate Witches."
"Oh, there was such a thing?" Meryl's eyes instantly lit up, "If you were to purchase these slaves, how many would you be able to get? And what is the price?"
"If a clan war breaks out in the central area, then there will possibly be a loser. The civilians of the defeated clan will likely be taken away and sold to other adept clans. We Northern Witches also have representatives there and can take a share of such slave trade. The approximate number of slaves circulating in the market in a year is around two to three thousand. We Northern Witches can get around four to five hundred of those slaves. The price is about five hundred magical crystals per slave."
"That's a very reasonable price! I want them all." Meryl raised an eyebrow as an expression of glee appeared on her pretty face.
Snowlotus laughed and shook her head, "I meant the Northern Witches, as an entirety, can get four to five hundred of the war slaves. When it is split up into the individual branches, my Fate Witches can only get twenty to thirty slaves."
"Only twenty to thirty…" Meryl couldn't help but deflate when she heard this.
At such a slow rate of injecting new blood, the Crimson Clan would not be able to establish a complete frame of development even if they were to toil for another hundred years.
"If you think that's too little, then go and catch the people you need! Wars might not be allowed between the witch clans in the Northern Lands, but it's not the same at Zhentarim. As long as you have a good enough reason, those old fogeys of the elder council can only watch on, even if you were to exterminate an entire clan. When that happens, the opposing clan's population and resources will be all yours, wouldn't it?"
Meryl rolled her eyes. Snowlotus' words might sound sarcastic and crude, but the logic was there. If they had no other choice, they could give this method a try.
After politely ending this pleasant conversation with Snowlotus, Meryl brought Vanlier and the organized materials along to consult her teacher.
Meryl finally met her busy teacher Greem in his room on the thirteenth floor.
Over the past few days, Greem had been busy forging his adept set piece.
He had obtained the fire dragon's hide, but he needed to tan the hide through a complicated process. It was the first time Greem was dealing with such high-quality magical materials. The smoothness of the dragon's hide would be severely affected if any problems cropped up during the tanning process.
Moreover, the most valuable thing about the fire dragon's hide was the strange fire elementium powers contained within it. Greem had to find a way to draw out this power to ultimately bring out the value of this expensive material.
It was important to note that grandmaster-level tanners were equally as precious as alchemists in major adept organizations and clans! After all, the hide or skin of a powerful magical creature could only unleash its fullest potential after perfect and proper treatment.
Such technique and methods were also rare alternative knowledge!
"What did you say, population?" Greem's mind was still immersed in his magical equations and experiment. It took him quite a while to finally understand Meryl's intention in visiting him.
"Yes, teacher. Our territory is severely lacking in people right now. We need to find a way to obtain a large number of civilians as soon as possible!"
"Mm. In the long term, civilians are a must!" Greem fell silent for a bit and a sort of composure that only the long-lived possessed appeared on his face, "However, the facilities of our territory are not yet complete. The civilians will have a hard time surviving even if we manage to recruit them. So, in the short term, it's best to bring some goblins over from the Goblin Plane to fill in the numbers for the moment."
Meryl opened her mouth in shock. To think her teacher would have such a comprehensive and detailed thought process, despite only being a few years older than herself. The matters he addressed matched those of Lady Snowlotus.
"But…teacher, if there are too many non-human civilians, it will affect our recruitment of human civilians in the future." Meryl explained her thoughts with some frustration.
"It won't happen." Greem smiled and said, "Make sure to have the majority of the goblins we recruit this time be technicians and engineers. Once they arrive, their main mission will be to construct housing and village models for other civilians to come. Then, they will build processing factories."
"Processing factories?" Meryl was utterly confused. She felt as if she couldn't quite keep up with her teacher's ideas.
"Of course. Processing factories are a necessary existence!" Greem casually continued, "Icewind is too cold. It's not suitable for farming or herding. Yet, we must provide the civilians we recruit with a stable living. My idea is to organize adepts and apprentices to hunt and gather in the Black Forest. Then, the hunted spoils and gathered plants will undergo the necessary processing in the clan factories. We can then have the new civilians learn to become craftsmen with specialized skills."
Chapter 741 Goblin Apprentice
Year 32,856 of the Era of Adepts. The 12th day of the 5th month of the year.
The first group of goblin apprentices that had been recruited passed through the interplanar portal and appeared in the public teleportation room on the first floor of the White Tower.
Little Locke was the youngest among these goblins.
Short statures half that of a human's, wide feet, coarse, dark green skin, crooked noses, and large, limp ears; this was how green goblins ordinarily looked.
Little Locke might have been more handsome than most, but all goblins looked the same to other races. He didn't appear to be any different from his peers.
Sadly, even with the forcefield barrier of the tower, most goblins were still pressed against the cool floor by the vast and profound planar consciousness the instant they appeared in the World of Adepts. Many frail goblins had even fainted without a sound already.
The individuals in charge of the teleportation seemed to be prepared for such a scene. Several young men and women in apprentice garb walked into the teleportation array and fed the goblins some sort of blue potion. Meanwhile, they did not do anything to those who were still conscious.
Little Locke had always been an individual with a healthy body since he was a kid. Though he also felt that ubiquitous and constant heavy pressure crushing down on his body and spirit, he still managed to endure it successfully and did not fall unconscious.
When he saw a young human girl feed a companion beside him that blue potion, causing the companion to wake up immediately, Little Locke couldn't help but lick his lips in envy. He asked softly, "I…can I also…drink…have a drink?"
Little Locke was stuttering, but he was using the common language of the World of Adepts.
Ever since the adepts had conquered the Goblin Plane, the language of the adepts had become a higher language that all upper-class citizens of the Goblin Empire had to master. Little Locke was very fortunate. His brilliance and intellect allowed him to be one of the first chosen to travel to the World of Adepts.
The apprentice was a young and pretty female. Her slender figure was visible under the thin clo
th robe. Her personality also appeared to be very gentle and kind. She was not showing any signs of discrimination against these 'lower' slaves from another plane.
"You don't need to drink it. The fact that you can resist the suppression of the planar consciousness with your own Spirit is more than enough proof of your excellent Spirit potential. Try your best to etch this odd feeling into your heart. It will be the key to your future development."
The female apprentice's voice was gentle and sweet, causing Little Locke's panicking heart to once again calm down.
It was a whole seven minutes later before all the goblin apprentices were slowly moved out of the teleportation array under the instructions of an adept. Soft sobbing could be heard from the party. There were still five of their companions who had not managed to endure the planar suppression and had died.
It was only a result that had come to be due to the tower's forcefield weakening part of the suppression. Without the tower, a good half of these goblins would have died immediately.
After all, the World of Adepts was a major plane that was several tens of thousands of times stronger than the Goblin Plane. The high-magic environment and planar pressure here were no different from putting these lifeforms of a lower plane on a roller coaster. Those with slightly weaker Physique would be instantly eliminated!
There were as many as forty goblins that had been teleported over this time. Not counting the five that had just died, there were still thirty-five goblins. There were some among them who were experienced veteran goblin engineers, as well as some well-trained goblin technicians. However, the majority of them were still intelligent, bright, and talented young goblins.
As adept servants that had been chosen to serve here, they were allowed to live on the bottom floor of the tower. There, groups of five goblins were assigned a stone room. There was nothing else in there apart from some simple wooden beds and a shared wooden table.
The young female human apprentice that Little Locke had just become acquainted with was Eco, and she lived on the second level of the tower. The treatment of the apprentices was far better than the young goblins. They had their rooms to themselves, and there were far more places in the tower that they could go.
As adept servants that had just joined the clan, the first thing that Little Locke and the other goblins had to do was systematically learn the language of the World of Adepts. They would also have to gain a comprehensive knowledge of the situation of the World of Adepts, along with its ores, plants, and animal resources.
In all honesty, having this large group of goblins sit on towering stools where their feet couldn't touch the ground and follow along the language teacher's lesson to learn a new language was a different kind of struggle and suffering. Outsiders could hardly imagine how tough it was. Moreover, there were many old goblins with white hair and muscular goblin technicians in this group.
Having such a group of goblins of different ages, backgrounds, and professions enunciating the language of the adepts in their strange accents was truly a hilarious scene.
Though the learning ability of most goblins caused plenty of trouble for the human scholars who had come to teach them, brilliant young goblins like Little Locke still won the unanimous praise of all the teachers.
At the personal interruption of an adept from the higher floors of the White Tower, seven goblins–Little Locke chief among them–were chosen. They were moved to the second floor of the tower and started a life of apprenticeship much like the other human apprentice adepts.
At this time, it had only been one and a half months since Little Locked had arrived at the White Tower. The second batch of forty goblins arrived at the teleportation array.
…………
The Magical Hall of the eighth floor of the White Tower.
Meryl was staring into the monitoring crystal on the wooden table along with Snowlotus. It was the scene in the teleportation array on the first floor that was being displayed in the crystal. Old Fox Vanlier, as the aide to the majordomo, dutifully waited to the side.
"Cough, another six goblins died again." Mery looked at the collapsed goblin in the array, swept across with her Spirit, and gained precise knowledge of the outcome.
"It can't be helped. After all, they don't have an actual adept's tower over on the Goblin Plane. Without the ability to reduce the power of the planar teleportation, it is only natural that the goblins who have weak bodies or Spirits die!" Snowlotus' cool gaze swept across the monitoring crystal as well. She then asked curiously, "What is it that that teacher of yours is planning? Having these goblins learn alongside our witch apprentices; this…if the Witch Council learns of this, the conservative old hags would not rest until they came here and razed White Tower."
A faint smile appeared on Snowlotus' face as she said this. It seemed she was already imagining the furious and exasperated looks on the faces of those conservative witches.
"My teacher was quite clear in what he meant! Goblins who pass the test and meet the Spirit requirements will be trained as apprentice adepts for a moment. Meanwhile, those who did not meet standards will be expelled from the tower and be made to go work in those…in those high-energy food processing plants."
The intent to smile grew even more in Snowlotus' eyes when she heard the tower's majordomo pronounce these odd words with such difficulty.
That odd male adept always came up with fantastical ideas. For example, the magic-energy food processing plant that Greem was pushing for this time targeted those ordinary mortals with no supernatural powers. More specifically, it was targeted at middle to low-class human nobles.
The White Tower neighbored the Black Forest. It had an unprecedented wealth of magical creature resources!
The adepts and apprentices in the past only needed to hunt enough to fulfill the food requirements of the White Tower itself. As for specially processing some of the magical creature meat to provide for the human nobles, there was no such precedent.
After all, the World of Adepts centered around the adepts. All considerations of benefits were also based on the adepts. Setting aside the adepts and providing ordinary human nobles with high-energy magical creature meat was something that no one had ever attempted.
After all, there was practically no interaction between adepts and mortals in the World of Adepts!
The adepts were rulers, whereas the mortals were ants and sheep resting beneath their feathers. The human nobles were no more than shepherd dogs helping the adepts manage the sheep. To have a noble adept lower their minds and think from the perspective of nobles and mortals, was something practically impossible!
Though some low-grade adepts in desperate situations might lower themselves to be magical advisors to major nobles, they were few and far between. Fellows like them that had lost their dignity as adepts were also excluded from the social circles of mainstream adepts.
However, an up-and-coming Second Grade fire adept and rising clan leader like Greem was not thinking about socializing with other adepts and was instead thinking about how to 'serve' those lower human nobles? This was truly somewhat beyond Icelady Snowlotus' expectations!
What did the nobles have?
Wasn't it just some shiny gold coins, ugly oil paintings, vases, and animal hides? What use was it to obtain this 'trash' from them through trade? It was important to note that the only real currency among adepts was magical crystals.
That was why Snowlotus couldn't help but be confused by Lord Greem's thoughts, so much so that she even found them ridiculous and funny. Still, the Crimson Clan was his. The White Tower was his. Whatever it was that he wanted to do, she should just let it be.
Snowlotus was basically watching every development of the White Tower with the curious attitude of a bystander!
"Lady Snowlotus, how are the civilians you have been recruiting on your side?"
"Don't worry about it, Adept Meryl. Leader Alice has been very concerned with the plan after I sent news of it back to the Tower of Fate. She has already st
arted conscripting civilians from the few nearby subordinate territories. The first group of civilians to migrate over will arrive in two months; they will number three hundred. You guys had best have the preparation work completed by then."
"Three hundred people? Two months?" Meryl couldn't help but mumble and repeat the numbers. Old Fox Vanlier, on the other hand, immediately started moving his brush and recording the numbers.
Chapter 742 Development of the Territory
No one knew when, but the formerly silent Icewind became lively once again.
Humans and intelligent lifeforms from various regions started to gather here, working and toiling toward a united goal.
There were the apprentice adepts of the Crimson Clan, the witch apprentices of the Fate Witches, the goblin apprentices selected from the Goblin Plane, as well as wandering apprentices that had come for the reputation of the clan. The Crimson Clan's higher-ups had demonstrated rare compassion toward these apprentices, allowing them to reasonably enjoy the privilege of using the magical facilities of White Tower.
The spacious and comfortable living environments, the peaceful and harmonious atmosphere of study and scholarship, the powerful adept teachers, the systematic and comprehensive library, and the plentiful magical laboratories; all of these became the most attractive of magnets, firmly drawing the hearts of the apprentices to the tower and making them the loyal followers of the Crimson Clan.
Several different cliques had quickly formed within the apprentices after a few months of trials and studies. Several small social circles centered around powerful apprentices had silently developed based on the potential and talent of the individual apprentices themselves.
The core of these circles were almost always pseudo-adept apprentices!
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