"Hmm?" Elijah murmured, not angry that he had been interrupted. He calmly gazed at the slave owner and waited for him to state his business.
Seeing that all eyes were on him, the fellow rubbed his hands and smiled obsequiously. "Esteemed Principal, my name is Silvester Cobain and I own a small business in Lithos Empire to the south. I've traveled all this way to bring these two products of mine who have displayed shocking talent and intelligence since young."
The frown on Elijah's face didn't escape Silvester, the slave owner taking it as his cue to stop being long-winded and quickly getting to his point.
"In essence, I wish to propose entering a business relationship with your esteemed Mage Academy. These two are merely the cream of the crop, I have many more whose talent should only be slightly beneath them."
"I shall happily bring them over for you to test and should they satisfy your requirements, it would be my greatest honor to sell them off under your tutelage."
Both Elijah and the faces of everyone here changed pleasantly.
Unless Sylvester was daring enough to lie to the Principal - something that would cost him greatly - if the slave owners like Slyvester brought over wards who could qualify for the Master class - which was supposed to have free tuition - then the academy could profit by getting unaffiliated talents to nurture using its superior resources that could directly be turned into the city's power.
Of course, the Master Class was the most desirable one, if only for the free tuition alone. Either way Safemoon Academy could profit greatly by getting more unaffiliated talents to nurture using its superior resources that could directly be turned into the city's power.
It was a win-win for both sides.
It wasn't that other Mage Academies couldn't do this, it was just that all others were in the business of making money, not spending it.
Such a thing was seen as a drain on funds, mostly because they had no way to predict if their investment into an enigma would be worthwhile, so they didn't particularly care about such talents because the people who taught them were Masters and the like.
Those Mage Academies would at best have people graduate one stage below them and even then they would be considered geniuses.
Adept Academies would have peak Amateur graduates as the norm, with early-late Journeyman graduates as their geniuses.
Master Academies would have peak Journeyman graduates as their norm and early-middle Adept graduates as their geniuses.
Grandmaster Academies would have peak Adept graduates as their norm and early Master graduates as their geniuses.
No Mage Academy on Fallon - at least on the surface - had graduates at the Grandmaster.
It was impossible to juncture one so easily in just five years, and even those with Master graduates had to pay a very high price to selectively nurture some using the best resources Fallon had to offer.
However, no one could easily gauge the kind of graduates this academy would have based on its standards and resources, so it was hard to tell how things would end up.
Of course, Elijah didn't think too much about it. Safemoon City lacked only a few things, but if there was one thing they had in spades, then it would be money.
With the kinds of resources, other powers had to spend to acquire their Supreme Coins, they had enough to build more than 20 Grandmaster Academies and run them all simultaneously with full capacity for at least half a century.
That was not even accounting for the fact that each passing day more were coming to purchase Safemoon's goods which the students would get for 'free'.
Principal Elijah liked the idea of being able to spit out personalized talents for the city after buying them and investing in them with care to foster their allegiance. He was certain that a wise merchant like Darius would greatly appreciate it if he took this deal.
As such, he nodded. "Name your price."
Seeing this, Silvester was excited and began rubbing his hands even faster. Any more, and he might create fire and become the second Prometheus of humankind.
"Well, this is… how should I say? Hm… I can't really…"
He was a small-time slave owner, so he had long since been overwhelmed. Even the concept of 1 Supreme Coin was mindblowing to him, as it was worth 100 Dius.
To put things into perspective, his yearly income when converted from his empire's currency to Dius would be about 0.75 Dius.
This situation was akin to someone who made around $80,000 yearly suddenly making a transaction which could earn them 5 billion dollars on the spot.
In front of such money, how could he remain calm? Thinking you would be stoic like some awesome protagonist was just wishful thinking.
Especially, when the other had practically handed him a blank check. His brain was incapable of doing the math how much he could charge to take full advantage without offending the other party.
Elijah frowned at this and waved his hand. "The boy's talent is at the S grade with SS grade potential, so I'll pay 300 Supreme Coins for him. The girl is an entire grade above him in both respects, so I'll pay 500 SC for her. Check your bracelet, the money has been transferred."
Silvester's body shivered so hard it looked like he might break down into molecules. He had just received more than he would have ever dared to ask for, and he silently asked Martin to display his account.
Seeing 800 SC deposited, his eyes rolled back into his head as he fainted on the spot. Apart from Elijah who was speechless, none of the others found it strange.
Instead, they were filled with endless hate and envy while looking at the fainted fellow, were it not for the Principal's presence they would have trampled him to death.
Elijah quickly called some Guard Androids to carry the fellow away before he would come to harm and the deal would fall through. The rest of the parents looked at their wards with disapproval, making them feel speechless.
What, are you saying that if we also had Master Class talent, you would sell us away for money?!
Realizing something was wrong, the parents quickly fixed their expressions and displayed benevolent smiles, as if they would never think of such a thing.
Elijah simply scoffed and clapped. "Now that this is over and done with, students head inside where I will give you your orientation."
"As for the adults, I have an announcement that will be shared with everyone soon. In a week's time, we will begin admission for our Battle Corps division, so send your talented wards here for their ability training. Our standards are just as high for the Battle Corps as the Mage Academy, so keep that in mind."
"As I said earlier, every admission henceforth will require C grade as the minimum standard, and every grade will rise accordingly thereafter. This means the Common Class will consist of those with C and B grades, the Elite Class of A and S grade, and the Master Class SS grade and beyond."
"Admission will be held once a year for both academies on this very same date, the first day of June."
Elijah then walked into the academy. "That is all, the rest of the internal specific information will be shared during orientation."
