Chapter 463: Recruiting Far and Wide, Ready to Open!

The moment the Thunder Lord acts, success naturally follows.

In the first hour, the mages he summoned joyfully returned with their half-completed theses.

By the first night, the infrared and ultraviolet frequencies had been determined.

By noon the next day, the final thesis had moved from the Thunder Lord’s desk to the desks of the Arcane journal’s reviewing editors and the committee members...

Then, by the next night, they couldn’t wait for the thesis to be reviewed, scheduled, and published, when two apprentices showed up at Garrett Nordmark’s Mage Tower, bearing letters of introduction from their mentors.

"...What? People are coming now?"

Garrett lifted his head from behind a pile of journals, a look of bewilderment on his face: "Has my paper even been published yet?"

He had been tasked with a multitude of assignments by the Thunder Lord and was currently overwhelmed. Arcane, Magic, The Ordinary Mage’s Monthly, and Thunderclap—these four prestigious journals featured articles that were more complex and brain-burning than the last...

Just getting through them had already maxed out his brain’s CPU at 200%. Concepts like being worldly wise or adept in human affairs were out of the question; his brain was fried with no cells to spare for such thoughts.

"What are you thinking! Of course, it hasn’t been published yet!" Andrew Lynn looked at him with a mix of frustration and exasperation, almost wishing he could knock some sense into Garrett with a copy of Arcane:

"So you should consider, who could have the news already!"

"Ah... Oh..."

Garrett shook his head to cool it down and finally caught on. His thoughts shifted from the thesis to the current situation, and he quickly figured out what was happening:

"Is it someone who co-authored the paper with me? Or recommended by an editor of Arcane? Or maybe my seniors?—No, the last one’s not possible; our teacher has forbidden it..."

"It’s from the editors of Arcane." Okay, he wasn’t too slow after all. Andrew’s tone softened:

"The letters of introduction for both bear the secret marks of an Archmage, but they are not handwritten, probably a favor asked by relatives or students. One is from the shapeshifter Archmage Erela, and the other, from the enchantment Archmage Kramer."

"An Archmage’s favor must be returned." The face of the Arcane editor had to be respected. After all, Garrett would have to rely on himself to publish papers in the future; his teacher couldn’t cover for him forever. Garrett muttered:

"What about the people?"

"One is a mage apprentice, 14 years old, a great-nephew of an old friend of the Archmage, from another province. He has been studying magic for a year and a half and hasn’t chosen his specialization yet. The other is a nephew of one of the Archmage’s students, a level one enchantment mage, 19 years old."

This background didn’t sound very impressive. The apprentice’s transition to an official mage, with room and board covered in the Mage Tower, had a maximum limit of two years; if they didn’t advance within that time, they were sent home. At one and a half years, he was almost at the limit;

A 19-year-old level one mage, if starting from the average age of 14 for mage school admissions, was also almost at the limit. In Garrett’s elite class, most were advancing to level two by the age of seventeen or eighteen.

Seeing that Andrew didn’t even bother to mention their names, his evaluation of them was probably average at best. Fortunately, recruiting apprentices at the Mage Tower wasn’t the same as taking on disciples—it was basically just hiring workers. Garrett nodded: Ɽ𝓪𐌽ꝋ฿ĚS̈

"Alright then, let them work—Andrew, Orla, do you want to take on apprentices?"

"We have our own channels." In fact, Andrew had already spread the word through his siblings and expected to start interviews within a week. He was only level six and temporarily only wanted to take on one disciple, so he needed to choose carefully.

As for Orla, Archmage Carlisle hadn’t permitted him to take apprentices yet...

While it was nice to be cared for, standing in Andrew’s power field, he hoped more for Garrett to strive for advancement:

"They are here because of you, just pick the ones you can use."

Garrett nodded quickly. Although he was more interested in apprentices from the transformation or curse-based medical branches, he was short on people, so he would make do. Someone had to wash the bottles, clean the test tubes, and check the papers, which was a relief (✪▽✪)

After these two, three or four more apprentices arrived one after another, bearing slips from Archmages and committee members. Garrett welcomed all:

The Mage Tower provided lodging,

meals, and limited research conditions, and the apprentices provided labor. If they couldn’t advance in two years, they were out. The Council had established a fair system.

With the labor force settled, the progress of the medical facility also surged ahead. Garrett read papers while writing applications, and before the week was over, he received approval from the Magic Council’s review committee, transmitted through the Department of Mage Management:

Permission was granted to Garrett Nordmark to operate a medical research institute under the name of the Mage Tower. Research funds were allocated as a one-time payment of 5000 contribution points, to be paid in the following manner:

1. Land allocation for the institute, valued at 500 contribution points;

2. Construction of the institute building, valued at 500 contribution points;

3. Fixed magical facilities and enchanted equipment for the institute, valued at 3500 points (with an itemized list);

4. Medicinal potions and magical materials, valued at 500 points;

Additionally, the council provided a monthly stipend of 500 contribution points to mages employed at the institute. In return, the institute was obligated to provide at least 10 third-level healing spells each month to targets designated by the council (lower-level spells were converted to third-level for accounting purposes).

That’s not bad!

Garrett happily calculated: he was already a level five mage and a level five priest, and he planned to learn the divine spells for treating severe injuries and removing diseases soon. This way, he could perform the third-level healing spells himself.

Wait, some injuries were straightforward, like a broken arm or leg; he could let Apa handle those!

Apa could also cast healing spells!

Then, he wouldn’t need to hire very powerful mages, saving a bundle~~~

A level three mage or priest would suffice. Low-level priests didn’t earn much, so with a monthly 500 contribution points, he would have a surplus after paying salaries, which could be shifted to research funds.

If he could achieve good results, write papers, and scrape some funds from the council; and if he could invent unique treatment methods and sell public health services, he could scrape even more. Together, these earnings would roughly balance the budget of the medical research institute.

Oli give!

Garrett, keep it up!

The medical institute roared into construction. They leveled the ground, built roads, dug foundations, and constructed buildings... Every day brought a new look, and in three days, it was transformed. The location he had initially chosen, owned by the council and located in a remote area, was perfect.

It was a bit far, but when Garrett rode Apa around the outskirts of Nevis City, he could actually increase his speed. Riding at full speed in the wilderness, the commute didn’t even take half an hour each way.

Just perfect~~~ In his previous life, it took him an hour to get to the hospital by bus!

Garrett was proud. With a location and buildings secured, he needed manpower. Garrett took this opportunity to visit Elder Wood at the Temple of the War God and several familiar grand mages of the medical branch:

Come over!

Come work!

Elder Wood, I offer free guidance on exclusive healing techniques, isn’t that tempting?

At the Temple of the War God, I offer free guidance on battlefield first aid, isn’t that tempting?

What about the medical grand mages? Don’t your apprentices need a place for internships?

Of course, he couldn’t forget the necromancers. Garrett, along with Leon Carlos, whom he had groomed and who had now advanced to a level one mage, paid a visit to Archmage Edgar. The Archmage was very dissatisfied:

"Only two slots? What good are two slots? At least five! Garrett, do you hear me? Five! If there’s one less, don’t bother coming back today!"

"...But, my medical institute is only so big..." Garrett couldn’t help but smile wryly:

"There are already twelve apprentices, rotating between research and treating patients, and we have enough manpower! If we take on any more, they’d only be able to help with hospital chores!"

"Chores then!" Archmage Edgar puffed his beard and glared, utterly unreasonable:

"What’s with apprentices acting all high and mighty? Sweeping, cleaning windows, washing bed sheets, anything you can think of, just assign it to them! Five slots, not one less!—For every apprentice you take on, Black Crow Swamp will throw in a corpse!"

What kind of exchange is that? Buying apprentices and getting corpses for free!

Garrett really wanted to complain. However, he had to admit, shamefully, that he was tempted:

"Well, Archmage, I should clarify one thing. If there are suitable apprentices among them, I intend to take them as disciples—and once I take them, I’m not giving them back!"

"Take them, take them all!" The words of the Immortal at the legendary gathering had clearly spread across Black Crow Swamp

. Archmage Edgar was very generous:

"Take whoever you fancy, and even better if you take them all! If you can train a grand mage and pass down the skeletons given by the Immortal, you’ll be an honorary elder of Black Crow Swamp!"

"..."

Garrett conceded defeat. Thinking it over, he could accept fewer other mages, but he really needed to take on more necromancers. At the very least, those skeletons sweeping, cleaning windows, fetching water, and wheeling patients needed to be controlled by necromancers...

"Well, Archmage, about those skeletons for manual labor, I’ll place an order for 10. —Bulk purchase, make the illusion appearances cheaper for me!"

The healers were in place, the apprentices were in place; the experimental animals such as mice, rabbits, dogs, and pigs were all ready. Garrett also sent Bernard around the city to round up ten barbarians:

Four to guard the hospital entrance, four to maintain order in the clinics and wards. The remaining two were responsible for raising the mice, rabbits, dogs, pigs, and all other experimental animals...

In short, Garrett happily realized his dream of using barbarians as security. He no longer had to worry about medical disturbances.

When the new issue of the Arcane journal published Garrett’s paper on infrared and ultraviolet light, Garrett’s new hospital was fully equipped and ready to open.

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