After reveling in his success, Saul ran another test on his ntal body.
The results were just as delightful.
Although the new resin had been purged of the soul fragnts it had previously absorbed, its quality still surpassed that of the first- and second-generation plastic bones. As a result, Saul’s ntal strength had risen by another level. And as it continued to absorb more soul fragnts in the future, his ntal body would only grow stronger.
“This material needs a new na. 'plastic bone' doesn’t even begin to describe it anymore.”
As he mulled it over, Saul tidied up his ssy notes. After organizing all the pages together, he added a cover to the first page and stitched them up with thread.
He leaned forward and wrote three large words on the cover—Soul-Devouring Resin.
This would be the na of the formula for Saul’s second body modification.
That said, aside from Saul—whose ntal body was already comparable to that of a True Wizard—no other apprentice would be able to replicate it.
This was a modification sche that would cause ordinary apprentices to either die on contact or go insane from just trying it.
And unlike his first modification, this second one had been far more comfortable—almost like drifting through a dream.
However, what he saw in the dream left Saul puzzled.
Why had he dread of an elf?
Senior Byron had once told Saul to avoid anything related to elves before reaching the Third Rank.
But Kongsha didn’t seem to share that concern. She was actively seeking out information on elves.
Thinking back, both encounters he’d had that involved elves were steeped in eeriness.
And the library held no information about elves at all. Even books written in Elvish contained nothing about the elves themselves.
This complete lack of knowledge about them left Saul feeling vaguely uneasy.
Fear stems from the unknown.
“Maybe the Tower Master can help analyze it… though I don’t know if he’s free right now.”
He wrote a ssage with his communication pen to inform the Tower Master that he was awake, then sat on the sofa gifted to him by the Tower Master and began a restorative ditation.
To his surprise, just a few minutes after leaving, Gorsa reappeared before Saul.
And he brought the sa type of sofa with him.
“Not bad. Your ntal and physical alignnt has returned to a stable range.” Upon seeing him, Gorsa scanned Saul from head to toe. “Still, having undergone two body modifications in such a short ti, it’s best to have Kaz do a full checkup.”
Saul nodded obediently. While he had already done a self-check, the tools in the storage room were quite basic. If the Tower Master could get Kaz to take a look, that’d be even better.
“Do you still have the letter that Kist delivered?” Gorsa brought up another matter.
He had been preoccupied the last ti he received news of it and couldn’t co, but now it was clear that he was quite concerned about why Kist had reached out to Saul.
“No. Not long after I finished reading it, the paper vanished. I couldn’t find a trace of it.”
Gorsa listened, lowering his gaze in thought, gently tapping his fingers on the sofa.
Then, he abruptly stood. His hood slipped off his head, and his thick russet cloak billowed open.
“Close your eyes.”
Saul quickly shut his eyes.
A burst of blinding light pierced through his eyelids, casting everything behind them in red and causing a faint stinging pain despite being shut.
Saul hurriedly raised his hands to shield his eyes, finally escaping the glare’s intensity.
Dazed, he could feel the external light growing even stronger, nearly cutting through his fingers and stabbing into his eyes.
Just as he considered whether he should follow the carriage driver’s example—curling on the floor and covering his head—the intense light finally began to fade.
“You can open them now,” Gorsa said gently.
Saul opened his eyes, but all he could see was white. It took two full minutes before his vision finally returned.
“Tower Master?”
“I didn’t find any trace of the letter either. Kist secretly sent you that letter, then made it vanish right after you read it. If he only wanted to convey a few words, he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths.”
Saul’s eyes widened. “You an… he might’ve transmitted sothing else through that letter?”
“That’s my suspicion,” Gorsa replied with a faint shake of his head. “But I just examined you thoroughly—there’s no sign of foreign magic or ntal influence. Still… considering Kist’s usual tactics… Saul, try to recall if there was any other content on the letter?”
Was Gorsa suggesting that Kist might have controlled him through the letter?
Saul’s expression grew serious as he closed his eyes and circulated his ntal strength to its fullest.
Anyone else doing this would look like a joke—it was nearly impossible for a normal person to detect tricks from a Second Tier wizard.
But Saul was confident. If there was any trace at all, he’d find it.
A while later, he opened his eyes. “No issues.”
Still, when he saw Gorsa staring straight at him, Saul politely asked, “Tower Master, would you like to do another scan yourself?”
“If I did, it would harm your ntal body.”
This Wizard Tower was Gorsa’s domain, deeply connected to him. Since even he couldn’t find anything, the chance that Kist had tampered with Saul was extrely low.
“Have you encountered anything strange lately?” Gorsa asked slowly. “For example, hearing unusual sounds or seeing unfamiliar images.”
That question jogged Saul’s mory—he finally rembered the real reason he had called the Tower Master here.
“I passed out for a ti during the modification. While unconscious, I saw an elf.”
“An elf?” Gorsa leaned forward. “How do you know it was an elf?”
Saul described the girl sobbing and wailing that she was going to die.
Then he asked, “Could that elf-related vision have sothing to do with Kist?”
Recalling Kist’s striking appearance and flamboyant mannerisms, Saul suddenly blurted out a theory.
“Could Kist… be an elf?”
“Hah, why would you think that?” Gorsa was actually amused. “Then again, most apprentices know almost nothing about elves. But since your ntal body is already on par with a True Wizard, I suppose I can tell you… Elves disappeared three hundred years ago.”
Elves… disappeared?
Saul blinked. “If they vanished three hundred years ago, why is everyone still so wary about them? And Elvish is one of the most common wizard languages—people study it all the ti without any issues.”
Seeing Saul’s surprise and curiosity, Gorsa smiled and continued, “That’s because Elvish was a language the elves created specifically to communicate with wizards.”
According to Gorsa, the elves were born with exceptionally strong ntal power. Even newborns had the ntal strength of True Wizards.
They spoke rarely and preferred to sing, but their songs had no lyrics—only lodies.
When they needed to communicate, they simply sent ntal vibrations—entire volus of information transmitted perfectly in a single second.
But this often caused unintended consequences: the receiving party—if not another elf—might go insane on the spot.
So the elven sages developed the Elvish language.
Normally, elves used writing to communicate. If necessary, they would speak. And in ergencies, they would send a ntal pulse and let fate decide whether the receiver survived.
“Elvish does have a spoken form and sounds like singing. But many of the pronunciations are impossible for humans to replicate. Even with tongue and throat modifications, perfect imitation is extrely difficult. That’s why Elvish is used more for recording than for speaking.”
Starting with Elvish language was Gorsa’s way of easing Saul into the topic through sothing familiar, rather than shocking him with raw facts about elves.
After all, even discussing elves could confuse or even damage the minds of weaker apprentices.
“It was thanks to Elvish language that the wizarding world ca to understand elves better. But greater communication didn’t lead to fewer conflicts.”
From Gorsa’s explanation, elves weren’t the idealized paragons Saul had imagined.
They were straightforward, but not naïve. They loved nature, but also the laws of nature.
At tis, this made their behavior seem inexplicable or even cruel.
For instance, when a group of wizards clashed with the elves, the elves rcilessly transford the entire region—along with its human inhabitants—into a habitat suitable for elven life.
Not a single human survived.
This cented the elves’ terrifying reputation.
“Back then, the elves didn’t control much territory. But not even Third Rank Wizards dared provoke them. Their status was unshakable. Then, three hundred years ago, they suddenly vanished. No one has seen a real elf since. It’s as if their existence was erased. And any wizard who tried to investigate their whereabouts either disappeared… or was contaminated.”
Gorsa’s silver eyes glead faintly. “So say the entire elven race, without exception, was contaminated.”
Saul: ...I’ve stepped into sothing huge.
(End of Chapter)
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