In the days that followed, Saul entered an intense study mode.
Dormitory—studying.
Classroom—studying.
Morgue—working and studying!
He had never felt so fulfilled before!
Whenever soone asked, he simply said he was preparing for the test in three months.
Even Keli, who had been relatively calm, was starting to feel pressured by his relentless efforts.
However, in the eyes of so, Saul’s determination looked more like desperation. A final struggle.
News that Kaz demanded Saul reach 10 joules of magical power by his first test spread quickly, as expected. So people had faith in him, while others thought he had no chance.
Everyone had ditated before and knew roughly how much magic power could be increased in a month.
Though no one knew exactly how far behind Saul was, Duke’s words made it clear that his chances were slim to none.
Saul later tested himself in secret. His current magical power was only 3 joules, while the standard passing line was actually 10 joules.
In other words, Kaz was demanding that he reach the level of a normal First Rank apprentice within three months.
This was his punishnt for sneaking in.
Although Kaz had assigned him a new job, he never said that Saul didn’t have to et the magic power requirent.
Saul didn’t want to gamble on whether Kaz would lower his expectations just because he was useful.
Especially since he had Kongsha eyeing him like a hawk, not to ntion Sid, who would surely seek revenge once he returned.
Saul wished he could sleep only two hours a day, but lack of rest would lower his efficiency over ti.
Luckily, his ntal aptitude allowed him to fully recover with just four hours of sleep.
At least he had the ability to push himself to the limit.
On this particular day, the "Basic Knowledge of All Things" class covered the topic of animals.
Saul had already finished reading the entire section back in his dorm and even morized so useful facts.
He continued flipping through the book at a pace far beyond the classroom schedule.
Rustle.
The pages turned.
"Ghosts and Monsters?"
Saul was stunned and imdiately began reading carefully.
In stories and movies from his past life, morgues were notorious for supernatural occurrences.
While he hadn’t encountered any actual danger in the morgue yet, strange things happened there all the ti.
For instance, while sawing off a corpse’s arm, it suddenly spoke, saying it hurt.
If not for the fact that the corpse had already been cut in half, Saul might have tried to find a doctor to save it.
At the ti, all he could do was take two clothes and stuff them into both halves of the corpse’s mouth.
Lately, he had been deeply engrossed in Grimm’s Understanding of Sorcerous Body Modifications and The Guide to Corpse Refinent, making him especially sensitive to the word “ghost.”
"The end of life is generally divided into material death and ntal dissipation…"
"ntal dissipation occurs in various forms. When it is not entirely controlled by the will of its original self, it is called a ghost. When it is controlled by another will, it is called a monster."
"…When the material vessel is destroyed or lost, ghosts can temporarily inhabit other objects, commonly dolls, clothes, or corpses."
Dolls?
Reading this, Saul thought of the little wooden girl doll used to test ntal strength.
Was there a ghost inside it?
Could he borrow it for research?
And what about the color-changing trash can in Kaz’s lab—was that a ghost or a monster?
Fear often cos from the unknown.
After days of studying, when Saul recalled that terrifying night in the lab, his fear had been replaced by curiosity.
He quickly skimd through the entire “Ghosts and Monsters” section and found that most of it focused on categorizing their types and traits.
Explanations like the one he had just read were rare.
Perhaps it was too advanced—sothing First Rank apprentices weren’t ready for.
Nearby, Keli happened to glance at his progress.
"You’ve already finished reading the Ghosts and Monsters section?" Her mouth fell open as her eyes darted between Saul and his book.
"Just skimming."
At that mont, Saul made a decision.
He looked toward the Second Rank apprentice at the front of the room, who had already finished summarizing the lesson and left the students to self-study.
Then, he glanced around at the increasingly empty classroom, where so people were either slacking off or dozing.
He quietly packed up his things and whispered to Keli, "I’m heading back first."
Keli opened her mouth as if to say sothing, but Saul was already hurrying away.
She pouted, then looked down at her Introduction to Rune Construction, deciding she should at least master all the basic runes first.
Having a strong ntal aptitude made learning fundantal knowledge much easier.
Even though she knew Saul was still struggling to increase his magic power, she couldn’t help but envy him a little.
"Senior Mark!" Saul rushed into the lab with an armful of books.
As expected, Second Rank apprentices rarely attended public classes. Their ti was mostly spent on one-on-one guidance from ntors and self-study.
It seed Mark really did use the lab as his personal study room.
Saul wondered if Mark had ever experienced the horrors of that night.
"Why aren’t you in class?" Mark instantly recognized Saul’s voice and greeted him with a friendly smile.
After all, Saul was one of the apprentices Kaz had taken under his wing. That ant he must have done sothing to impress the ntor.
Unlike those other two apprentices—whatever their nas were—who still had to co to the lab in the afternoons just to study on their own.
Mark had already taken a fair amount of tuition from them, but he hadn’t even bothered to rember their nas.
Three months from now, how many of these First Rank apprentices would still be here? A year from now?
Unimportant people weren’t worth rembering.
For a wizard, ordinary apprentices were just expendable.
For advanced apprentices, lower-ranked ones were also expendable.
It wasn’t about status—just survival.
"Senior Mark, I encountered so difficulties while studying composite runes. I’d like to ask for your guidance."
Mark instinctively glanced at his study notes to check today’s date.
"You… finished learning basic runes already?"
Saul nodded.
Mark rubbed his chin. "You’re progressing fast. If you can solve your magic power issue, advancing to Second Rank is only a matter of ti."
"Alright. I’ll teach you how to construct one composite rune for free, but just one. If you want to learn more, you’ll have to pay."
A free lesson on composite runes ant their past encounter in the lab was being written off.
Regardless of what role Mark had played that night, as the lab’s administrator, he had been negligent.
This was his way of compensating Saul—not because Saul had been in danger, but because Mark had been at fault.
"Thank you, Senior."
Saul flipped to the last few pages of Introduction to Rune Construction.
"Can I start with this composite rune?"
It was a dark-elent composite rune.
Mastering it would allow him to combine it with basic runes to form multiple Zero-Rank dark-elent spells.
In other words, learning this rune ant Saul could finally start learning magic.
In the very first class, ntor Gudo had warned them not to be too hasty in learning spells.
But Saul didn’t have the luxury of ti.
"Of course. First, you need to understand that composite runes aren’t just simple overlays of basic runes. There are also many changes in magical power conduction…"
Saul skipped half of one class and the entirety of another.
Under Mark’s guidance, he gradually realized…
Composite runes were insanely difficult!
(End of Chapter)
Reviews
All reviews (0)