Roddy once heard a saying: First-rate enterprises set standards, second-rate enterprises set brands, and third-rate enterprises set products.
So, contrary to what many sorcerers had guessed, the real purpose of the Elsen Magic Conference was not to poach the royal mages. Although many magic apprentices volunteered to work here through the generous treatment offered by Elsen City, to put it bluntly, this step was only to "make a brand" at best.
In Roddy's eyes, it was only "second-rate" to let others know that "Elsen City's generous treatment" was not the ultimate goal of the plan. It was not the ultimate goal of the plan. His goal was to establish a "standard" that could be used in the Kingdom of Karen and even the whole continent.
In other words, he wanted to establish the "authority of magic" in Elsen City and make it the indisputable "first magic city".
The establishment of standards would definitely clash with those who already had vested interests. This process would never be gentle. That was why Camilla had straightforwardly prepared more than twelve "demonstration venues" and conducted comprehensive demonstrations and explanations in different areas in batches. Everything was determined by strength. Any underhanded tricks would pale in comparison to absolute strength.
Most people knew the importance of "intelligence", but no one would spend a huge amount of money and energy to build an intelligence organization like Roddy did. While other forces still relied on various "informants" to collect intelligence, the information of more than eighty percent of the total number of visitors had been categorized and placed on Camilla's table by the "Central Intelligence Agency of Elsen".
Origin, experience, allegiance, current academic level, judgment. Although there might be some discrepancies with the actual situation, most of the content had helped Camilla to divide these mages into three categories: those worth roping in, those to ignore, and those to be wary of.
Obviously, when the three mages deliberately left the table to stir up trouble, they did not know that they had actually been on Camilla's "blacklist" before they entered Elsen City.
It was very easy to investigate the political leanings of the mages. Of the three mages, one was the famous Fire Mage Musk, and the other two were the veteran mages, Blanche and Tucker, who were supported by the royal family. They were battle-type mages and were too lazy to do any research. Since more than ten years ago, they had not made any comments in the mainstream magic circle. However, this did not stop Camilla from digging up information on the two and putting them on the list of people to be wary of.
From the surveillance at night, it seemed that the people spreading the news were all connected to the three mages in countless ways. Obviously, even if Roddy hadn't been absent from the first day's speech, this group of people would still find an opportunity to disrupt the entire meeting.
Camilla did not care about these rumors. She used the exhibition the next day as a powerful counterattack. And when the exhibition that lasted for a day was over, the opinions of all the participating mages in Elsen City had taken a 180-degree turn.
Piles of magical weapons, hundreds of sets of mithril armors, charging lances … The effects of each magical tool might not be that powerful, but when they saw that these items could be mass-produced at the rate of N number of pieces per day, which mage would be able to sit still?
The twelve exhibition halls not only had demonstrations of magic instruments, but also tours of the Elsen Library, tours of the Floating-Space Tower, observation of artificial rain, High Elves' magic circles and arcane puppets.
All of these made the visiting mages dumbfounded.
Ever since the morning, the "exhibition" had completely ignited the atmosphere of the entire "conference". Even the four mages who had been famous for a long time stayed in the exhibition hall until they even forgot to eat!
Not to mention the ordinary mages. A few of the more popular exhibition halls almost broke the railings due to the crowd — and this was under the situation where outsiders were not allowed to enter. If it wasn't for the soldiers in the city blocking the unrelated people outside, there would definitely be serious casualties.
The twelve "exhibition halls" provided by Camilla were very precise. Although most of the mages were interested in things related to magic, the rest of the unknown wizards and druids were attracted by the other "unpopular" topics, such as the effect of artificial rainfall on crops, the long tillage method, and the comparison of output data between fertilization and non-fertilization. These were the things that the mages who were not from noble backgrounds were more concerned about.
The wood elf druids from the Silent Forest were a typical example. They often had multiple roles, such as the guardians of the village, and sometimes, they were also the managers. At the same time, they also had to ensure the village's food income. This kind of mage did not have the time to study magic theory. They were more practical than anything else: feeding their people was more important than anything else.
Therefore, this comprehensive "exhibition" used all kinds of "black technology" to dazzle the eyes of all the participants.
Before coming here, many eastern mages of the kingdom simply saw Elsen as a "city of ruins." It was like a rich man who wanted to laugh at the poor scholar in the countryside suddenly found that the floor was inlaid with gold and jade. For the next four days, they were basically in a state of shock.
And the more observant people not only paid attention to the magic circle, they also found the happy smiles of the wandering farmers.
This scene was obviously not seen in other parts of the kingdom. After all, in the eyes of the mages, the "lower class" was completely enslaved to feed the upper class. The farmers in their impression were all worried about survival all day long. Who had ever heard of anyone wandering around with spare money?
But the reality in front of them was obviously not an act, and the harvest of the fields was definitely not an illusion. The comprehensive gap in the level of technology and productivity made them finally realize the huge gap between the two sides.
Branch and Tucker naturally did not want Elsen to become the "center of magic authority" in the kingdom. They came with a political mission, but now, they had to admit that Elsen had long surpassed the current level of magic in the Kingdom of Karen and stood at the absolute forefront.
This situation completely ruined the series of "mockery" they had originally prepared. After all, under this situation, forcibly belittling Elsen was not only meaningless, but it would also attract the ridicule of other people in the same profession.
Five days had passed, and everyone had a general understanding of the strength that Elsen City had displayed. It was reasonable to say that now was the time to get to the main topic, but to the two mages' surprise, so far, the "guardian" Camilla had not started the real "exchange" program.
Naturally, they did not know that they were "quarantined."
At this moment, Camilla was discussing matters regarding Lassman with the other two mages with a face full of smiles.
Crohn and Strange obviously did not expect to receive such preferential treatment. After all, they knew very well that at the same time, the other mages were still hanging around in the "exhibition area" of Elsen.
"Obviously, Elsen thinks that the two mages are more trustworthy, and more worthy of our greatest sincerity."
Camilla was now wearing a formal robe, and the dense magical wave on her body was no less than the two mages'. Her words obviously made Crohn and Strange feel comfortable, and also dispelled some of the doubts in their hearts.
"Next, Elsen City will launch the 'Magic Forum' to work hard to establish a perfect magic system in the future." Camilla guided them patiently, further demonstrating the advantages of Elsen City. "The next three days will be the 'Laboratory Trial Period.' After the trial period, Elsen will open the 'Basic Laboratory' to all mages who are willing to provide qualified academic research. At the same time, if the academic level is high, you can pass the audit and have a higher level of access to the laboratory …"
She briefly outlined the agenda and took out two contracts. "Of course, Elsen admires your outstanding achievements in magic, so it is willing to directly provide the two of you with the best magic laboratory. In exchange, each of you only needs to publish more than three cutting-edge main author papers in the journal 'Magic' every year. "
Crohn and Strange looked at each other, feeling that this request was too simple. After all, they had already tasted the sweetness of the publication of the journal 'Magic'. With their level, they would certainly publish more than three papers every year. Then, wasn't this request from Camilla the same as not mentioning it at all?
But the mages were not stupid. They picked up the contract and read it carefully, only to find that there was a very important clause: after the contract was signed, both parties could not publish papers in any other journal, and all results could only be published in the journal 'Magic'. The contract was for three years.
This was tantamount to binding the two of them to 'Magic'. Crohn and Strange looked at each other, realizing that Elsen City was bribing them. After all, the core reason why a journal could be read by all mages was the "value" of the content. If the entire article was rubbish that was copied from others, naturally, no one would be willing to buy it. But if the conclusions were all authoritative, there was no need to worry about its "dragon head" status.
Logically, as mages sponsored by the royal family, the two should not have "cooperation" with Elsen City. But this contract did not mention "Elsen City" at all. The other party signing the contract was purely the journal 'Magic' … In other words, they were only cooperating with a journal that was popular in the country.
At present, there was no second journal as comprehensive as' Magic 'in the Kingdom of Karen. Moreover, this contract was only valid for three years, after which it would automatically expire. Even if Charles II was dissatisfied, there was no way to stop this short-term "cooperation".
So Crohn and Strange signed the contract happily. Camilla smiled and put the contract into the magic storage cabinet. She got up and said, "Since the two of you have agreed to the contract, you can now use the laboratory according to the contract. I will have someone take you there."
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