Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4565 - 3647: Revisiting the Magic Academy (Part 2)

Shiller was taken aback; he hadn't expected that to be the reason. Mainly because he really didn't have much of a concept of magic, so he asked, "How much money does it take to build this school?"

"How much would it cost to build the Hogwarts in your dreams?"

"Stop, stop, stop, don't mention that name." Shiller sneakily glanced around; do you have the rights? Just calling it out like that?

Shiller really hadn't thought about this problem, because after all, in the magical world of "Harry Potter," magic is almost purely idealistic power, requiring no real cost, so building the school shouldn't have any costs.

So he estimated the cost based on what it would take for ordinary humans to build such a large castle and came up with a rather exorbitant figure. It's not that the building materials would be very expensive; the key issue is that the land is too expensive.

Owning a castle that size, along with a lake and woods, buying such a large piece of land is not easy. Shiller isn't very familiar with real estate prices in England, but he knows American real estate prices well. To buy such a large area, you basically need a billionaire at Stark's level to step in.

"That's a bit of a problem," Shiller said, "I'm not broke, but if you're relying solely on my investment, that's going to be difficult."

"I certainly didn't plan for you to be the sole investor. There are plenty of people interested in investing. The new school will be a joint-stock company, I need enough of us to hold a substantial share."

"I see," Shiller said. He knew that if Batman was among those pitching the idea, they would definitely suggest a joint-stock model, so they can also understand the school's operations and participate in supervision and inspection.

"How do people from other universes plan to invest? Are they using Battleworld currency? Wouldn't that be a bit of a loss for Kamar-Taj?"

Strange knew what Shiller was referring to. Not many magicians have accounts in Battleworld, even fewer on the DC side. This makes it hard to trade for good magical stuff with Battleworld currency, which would be a loss for Kamar-Taj.

"That's why we're going for a three-way trade," Strange said, "You guys use currency from our universe to invest in building the school; when they become shareholders, they give me their Battleworld currency, which I then hand over to you guys. You can use it to exchange for technology-related stuff, or simply skip this process and let Batman or other Kamar-Taj from other universes use technology to buy shares."

"That sounds great." Shiller fell into thought. Helping people from the other universe enhance their magic while Batman from the other side uses his wisdom to help here with the technology level is actually a mutually beneficial win-win situation.

Moreover, although the technological development on this side is fast, Earth in the other universes isn't as advanced. They could also resell Batman's technology to earn some good stuff from another universe.

For example, Dream Power Doctor Strange's power of dreams. Both Strange and Shiller have been eyeing it for a long time.

Dream Power Doctor Strange's strength is in Marvel's top tier, but the universe he's in isn't particularly special; it's basically average. He himself isn't too concerned with it.

But sales is all about creating need where none exists. It doesn't matter if there's no interest now; a couple of cross-boundary invasions, and there will naturally be demand.

If they could use the technology they get to exchange for part of Dream Power Doctor Strange's strength, or simply have him work for them, then they'd make a fortune.

"I think this plan is great," Shiller said, "What do you think our shareholding should be? 51%?"

"No need for it to be that high," Strange said, "As long as our shares are higher than those of the others in this major universe, that's enough. After all, Batman is from next door and it's not easy for him to come over."

"True, in that case, the budget can be lowered somewhat. But building such a large magical school isn't easy. From what you're saying, we're not planning to extensively use magic?"

"Mainly because the capability of ordinary human construction is also quick now," Strange said, "Stark's engineering team can whip up a Mercury Base in no time. A magical school isn't going to need much in the way of materials, nor will it take much time."

"If we must use magic energy, I'd prefer to use most of it after the construction, to add defensive systems to the school, rather than waste the power in the building process."

Shiller nodded and said, "Indeed. When you can harness solar energy, Stark's mechanical engineering team's energy is not worth much; it's better to use their energy. And the more versatile magic energy should be used for more important subjects, putting good steel to the blade."

"That's what I think," Strange said, "We should aim for owning about 30% of the shares in the entire universe."

"Are there that many people to invest in our major universe?" Shiller slightly frowned, "If they only take 30%, that means other investors in the Marvel Universe each get far less than this number, which is actually quite a lot of people."

"There's not many right now, so we have to rely on us to expand," Strange raised an eyebrow and said, "I've already persuaded Loki, and Asgard will take a share too."

"They're investing too? What's their need... Oh, Loki mentioned this to me before."

"Yes. Some races in the Nine Major Kingdoms are envious of the human race's magic, and even within the Aesir, there are those with weaker innate constitutions who are more suited to practicing magic."

Shiller now fully remembered that Loki had complained to him before; being a wise and benevolent king isn't that easy.

During the Odin era, everything served the purpose of war. Just like the Spartan civilization abandoned weak infants, the Aesir were not much different back then. If you had no value in war, you'd better stay out of sight, and the Father of All Gods might give you a meal at most, but don't expect anything more.

Even Loki, as a prince, encountered various troubles due to physical differences, and it was even more so for other less healthy Aesir. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

Though the proportion wasn't very high, it did exist. For instance, some pregnant women during the gestation process were affected by certain forces or severely injured, leading to inadequate energy provided to the child, causing congenital deficiencies when born.

This approach worked during Odin's time, but not in Thor's era, because they are now working hard to align with normal civilization. The goal of normal civilization is to make sure the young have support and the old have care, rather than directly eliminating the weak.

In this context, the fate of those unfortunate infants with poor health became a dilemma because the Aesir had no education system tailored for them.

If you let them practice fighting like normal children, they're likely to break down easily. But if you teach them nothing, they might develop psychological problems due to peer rejection.

Loki had previously mentioned wanting to send these children out of Asgard, but where to send them was unclear. Ideally, sending them to Vanaheim to study magic would be great, but these kids didn't quite have as much magic talent as the people over there, making the situation awkwardly stuck in the middle.

Loki actually never mentioned sending them to Earth, as he knew Earth wouldn't agree. After all, even the weakest Aesir was much stronger than humans, and if anything went awry, it could result in many deaths.

The proposal made by Strange was a compromise and helped Thor and Loki, allowing them to gain investment and also owe a personal favor.

Moreover, Aesir growing up on Earth would naturally have more affection for it and might choose to work on Earth directly in the future, adding talent to Earth in a certain way.

As always said, although their health isn't as good as other Aesir, they still have racial advantages and are even physically superior to most in the cosmos. By the time their physique becomes strong and they learn magic, who could stop them?

The more Shiller thought about it, the better it seemed, so he nodded and asked, "How much of a stake do they plan to take?"

"Loki insists on 20%, but I think that's too much. 10% at most, which is more than people from other universes."

"Let Nick handle the negotiation," Shiller said, "he will surely bring back a price we're satisfied with."

"What I'm thinking is that their side mainly invests in resources, responsible for the materials for the school buildings. After all, what they can provide is much sturdier than what humans have, and some have energy-immune attributes, which can effectively prevent kids from ruining things."

"You go ahead and arrange that," Shiller said, "you're the expert, I trust your judgment."

"Loki has already announced this news among the Lokis, and many are interested. But I think initially not many will be in discussions, and securing one or two universes is enough; the rest should be kept for the others."

"Then I'll ask Dream Power Doctor Strange," Shiller said, then thought for a moment and added, "Oh, right, there are also two slots for Iron Man."

Shiller was referring to White Can and Mechanical Overlord Iron Man, also known as the Iron Man of Calculating Element. These Iron Mans have rather unique technologies — one is the Extremis Virus, the other Virtual Technology, which could be useful in this universe.

"Then it's pretty much settled," Strange said, "the first Batman who came to ask me for information, I sent it to you through the chat system of Battleworld. See if you recognize him."

Shiller received the message, opened it, and realized he did know him; it was the adventurous Batman who previously went on a mission in the DC Universe.

But this wasn't surprising; he had already expressed interest in the Magical Defense Network, wanting to have one at home was normal. The only question was whom he would send to learn. Shiller guessed it might be either Damian or Cassandra.

Then Strange sent him several other Batman profiles. The Primary Universe Batman was involved, and Shiller guessed he might have been eyeing this system for a long time, given the particularly disastrous nature of the Primary Universe.

Then there was the Arkham Batman. It wasn't surprising either, as Arkham Batman had already become president, with unprecedented control over three powers, so his responsibility for Earth and demand for security naturally increased.

Some other universes used the name of Justice League Dark, but Shiller suspected Batman's influence was certainly behind it.

"But I have to remind you," Shiller said after reading the list, "people from different multiverses will be very complex, and various courses and learning arrangements might be a huge hassle."

"Fortunately, I have a ready reference," Strange said, "I'm planning to spend more time to complete the wonderful world in your dream."

"But you can't completely copy it," Shiller sighed, "at least the students in that magical school come from the same country. In this case, our students even come from different universes. You'll be really busy then."