Therefore, the country of Serre has always given people a very awkward and awkward feeling, which also comes from this.

They are clearly practicing terrible slavery. The mage class has almost monopolized all power, and they completely treat civilians as a renewable resource. No matter how you look at it, it should belong to the mage dictatorship.

But the interesting part is that once inside the red-robed mage, the situation takes a 180-degree turn.

At least in terms of political status, every red-robed mage who successfully graduates and reaches a certain level is equal.

Of course, high-level mages can not regard their apprentices as human beings, but use them as experimental subjects or send them to perform dangerous tasks that may lead to a near-death experience.

Similarly, the apprentice can also assassinate the teacher and replace him.

As long as you do it perfectly and concealed enough, even if the truth is later made public, you will only receive praise and admiration from others, and it will become an indispensable shining point on your personal resume.

In particular, the Chief Council, the highest decision-making body, has existed since the time when the Red Robe Mage Organization held high the banner of independence to resist the Mulhorand Empire, and has long since become an insurmountable red line and tradition.

Although Sazastan's intention to implement dictatorship was good, it was to reduce internal friction and build a truly powerful magic empire to compete with the behemoth West Coast Empire.

But it's a pity that no one understands his good intentions.

The moment when he was announced as the "chief ruler", all the faction chiefs, without exception, chose to regard this oldest and most powerful lich as the biggest enemy of the entire organization and even the country.

It must be said that Sazhastan's experience fully proves how difficult it is to carry out subversive reforms of a regime and a country from within.

Those vested interest groups will not be willing to give up their power and wealth when the country is in danger, as shown in many film and television works, and then unite all the forces that can be united to tide over the difficulties together.

In most cases, even if they realize that the anger of the people at the bottom has been ignited and their political power is no longer stable, they will not give up any benefits. On the contrary, they may collude with foreign enemies to sign treasonous treaties and use external forces to suppress them.

Domestic resistance.

After all, choosing the latter is at best just groveling and being a dog to the other party, but if the people at the bottom are allowed to successfully overthrow the existing regime, it will be the disaster of annihilation.

Which one is more important can be figured out by using your brain a little bit.

What's more, the chiefs of the red robed mages don't care what kind of reforms Sazastan wants to carry out, and how powerful Ser will become after the reform.

They only care about one thing, and that is that the original power in their hands has been taken away.

"Everyone, I think you should have a clear idea of ​​what Sazhastan wants to do now, right?

He is tarnishing our sacred tradition!

Defiling the final bottom line that has been unshakable since its inception!

As a member of the Red Robe Masters, we have the responsibility and obligation to stop him."

A faction chief took the lead in breaking his silence to kick off the meeting to denounce Sazhastan.

It is easy to see from the expression on his face that he does not seem to be worried at all that what he said will reach Sazhastan's ears.

"But the problem is that stopping Sazhastan means the outbreak of war. None of us are prepared for a war that will engulf the entire Seer."

Another chief raised the difficulties currently faced.

You should know that each faction has its own sphere of influence and controls one or two provinces.

Some of the provinces close to the border are relatively good, as the number of troops, training level, and weapons and equipment are all guaranteed.

However, some relatively safe provinces obviously have the meaning of "relaxation of military armaments over time."

If troops suddenly start to explode in a place like this, anyone who is not blind will realize that the other side is going to start a war.

In addition, large-scale procurement of weapons and equipment will also alarm Sazastan.

"Don't worry, I have already contacted the businessmen in the West Coast Empire.

They will use airships to transport all weapons, equipment, and supplies needed for the war to the Araul Province.

All we need to do is avoid Sazarstan's eyes and ears before transporting it back.

In addition, I also contacted the orc kingdom that occupied the Rongma Grassland and Vasa.

They will sell us a group of slaves captured in previous wars and a large number of corpses.

By then, as long as a portal is built, hundreds of thousands of additional troops can be obtained immediately.

So I think we don't need to be afraid of war at all.

The one you should really be afraid of is Sazastan.

After all, he only controls two provinces."

When saying these words, the slightly fat bald male chief stood up from his position, his words and actions were full of incitement.

There is no doubt that he is the one who hates Sazastan the most among all the chiefs.

Even if we drag the whole of Serge to hell, we must kill this enemy.

Otherwise, you will be the next one to die inexplicably and tragically.

After all, through this private alliance, they already knew that the two chiefs who had previously been thought to have died in the factional struggle were actually killed by Sazastan.

If things continue like this, anyone in the entire council who dares to oppose this powerful legendary lich will definitely be killed and replaced with an obedient puppet, which may simply be a lich, vampire or other undead.

This is obviously a result that the entire Red Robe Mage organization cannot accept.

"Are the merchants of the West Coast Empire reliable? Don't forget, they are our enemies."

Another chief had a worried look on his face.

You must know that before the emergence of the West Coast Empire, Sel was the largest exporter of magic items in the entire Faerûn continent.

Many areas lacking spellcasters rely on trading with them to obtain various magic items.

The concessions scattered all over the country are the best proof.

But later, with the competition and squeeze brought about by the rise of the West Coast Empire, Sale suffered a huge blow in the export of magic items, and its market share shrank sharply.

Not only has all the market share in the west and north been lost, but even the traditional sphere of influence around the Falling Star Sea has been losing ground.

There is no way, who can let the cost, technology and strength be inferior to others.

In the past, the red-robed mage was able to open concessions all over the continent of Faerun because of the above three things.

The low cost comes from the nationwide screening of gifted children and the complete and mature mage training system.

In just a few years, a teenager can become an apprentice involved in making magic items.

Especially those children from common people and poor families, who cannot afford to buy scrolls, books and conduct experiments, can only make money through this method.

If the same job is given to a graduated red-robed mage, the instructors may need to pay a hundred gold coins.

It may only take twenty or even fewer apprentices.

The relationship between the two parties is basically equivalent to that between a graduate student and a tutor in a modern university on Earth.

It's okay if you meet a mentor with some conscience, but at most you will be squeezed for a few years. If you endure it a little bit and endure it until you graduate, you can become a dharma master with a bright future.

But if you meet a mentor who is impersonal, he is basically no different from a slave.

Therefore, through this extreme cost control, the price of Serge's magic items has always been lower than that of all Faerûn.

The caster institutions and mage towers in many places have been ruined by them.

There used to be a shop opened by a red-robed mage in the market of Askatra, the capital of Amn.

However, the Masked Mage Guild did not take any action and allowed the other party to operate under their noses. Even internal members would occasionally visit.

This shows that the red-robed mage has a strong monopoly in the field of magic item production.

But the problem is that this situation has changed now.

Serge could select smart enough children across the country to train as apprentices, and he could naturally establish a west coast empire with absolute dictatorship.

Moreover, the latter is countless times larger than the former in terms of population size and land area.

As we all know, no matter what you do when there are too many people, it will naturally start to get crazy.

This is determined by the relationship between supply and demand and objective factors, and is not subject to human will.

If the red-robed mage's mentor gives his apprentice twenty gold coins, then the West Coast Empire can be cut in half and given only ten.

What, too little?

If you don’t do it, others will!

Haven't you seen that there are a lot of apprentices out there fighting for this opportunity?

Except for a very small number of geniuses who have been focused on since they entered school, the rest are basically firewood in the West Coast Empire's magic system, constantly burning themselves, just to make further progress on the path of magic.

But even if they are involved to this extent, few people will choose to give up.

Because this is the only channel through which the civilian class can complete a class jump in relatively fair competition.

The other is to enter the imperial bureaucracy and slowly work your way up.

What's more, even the income of a mage apprentice is much higher than that of workers, farmers, and small traders, and their social status is completely different.

no way.

Magical learning is a field that requires a lot of talent.

It's not like engaging in cutting-edge scientific research, where you can sometimes achieve success through constant trial and error, and it's not like other fields where you can get the title of expert professor just by writing a few papers.

Because learning progress and spellcasting level cannot lie.
To be continued...