The temperature in the room plumted.
The warm and pleasant atmosphere from just monts ago shattered like glass, revealing the truth beneath.
Saul froze for a second, instinctively turning his head to look at ntor Kaz.
But ntor Kaz remained silent, expressionless.
Only then did Saul realize—while ntor Rum had been in a good mood throughout the conversation, Kaz hadn’t smiled once.
In fact, there was a simring restlessness about him.
Sothing must’ve happened… sothing I don’t know about! Saul withdrew his gaze, bowed respectfully to both ntors, and left ntor Rum’s room.
Even after he stepped through the door, not a single word passed between the two ntors behind him.
Sothing definitely happened! Why won’t they tell ? Or is it that… only Master Gorsa is allowed to?
Hayden was waiting for Saul on the ramp of the East Tower’s 16th floor.
But when she saw him and greeted him, Saul didn’t respond. He simply walked down with a heavy look on his face.
That imdiately made Hayden tense up as well.
Though she had been surprised when the routine Soul Infusion check-ups were suddenly canceled, she felt more at ease than the other test subjects—after all, Saul could perform Soul Infusion on his own.
And when she saw Saul earlier, he had given her a calm nod, which had only reassured her further.
But now, seeing him co out of ntor Rum’s room with such a grave expression, Hayden’s heart gave a hard thump.
“Lord Saul?” She jogged forward a few steps, catching up to him.
Saul stopped walking, gathered his thoughts, and told her, “You should go back and rest for now. Your wounds may have healed, but it’s still too soon to rejoin the experints.”
“Okay.” Hayden nodded repeatedly.
“Also, review your skills from the corpse chamber while you’re at it.”
Hayden blinked, her blank expression turning even more stunned.
“Starting tomorrow, you’ll be involved in the experintal tests on Aman. You’ll be responsible for observation and recording. I’ve got other matters to deal with.”
Hayden finally registered what he said, but unease crept across her face.
“My hands… might not be as steady as before.”
Saul nodded. “I know. But don’t forget, I didn’t bring you along just to be a test subject. You’ve already lost your most precious thing. Don’t let the second be wasted too.”
With that, he didn’t wait for the stunned Hayden and quickly descended the tower.
Hayden remained where she was, whispering to herself, “The second… Lord Saul must an the skills I developed over ten years in the corpse chamber. But… what was the first precious thing?”
No matter how long she thought, she couldn’t figure it out.
Saul had sent Hayden away not just to process the conversation with the ntors, but also because he wanted to find soone.
ntor Rum had half-intentionally revealed that Soul Infusion once used the eye of the Thousand-Eyed Banshee from the Land Drifters as material. But since Gorsa no longer traded with the Land Drifters, that material could no longer be obtained.
Combined with Rum’s sudden act of revealing the experint subject’s skull today, Saul imdiately thought of Kongsha—the girl with only half a head, whose new skull was filled with eyes.
Ever since she learned sothing about elves at the academic exchange, Saul had heard nothing more about her.
But judging from Heywood’s reaction when he tried to stop her, Kongsha had likely gone off to do sothing very dangerous.
Whether she succeeded… or died out there… remained unknown.
Saul made his way easily to the Second Rank apprentice dorms. He raised his hand and knocked loudly on Kongsha’s door—thump thump thump.
But after a mont, there was no response.
Just then, a nearby door opened, and soone stepped out. The person looked up and saw Saul waiting at Kongsha’s door.
“Ah, Saul… senior.” The person seed hesitant at first but still greeted him politely.
Saul turned and saw a familiar face.
Monroe, a Second Rank apprentice who had mastered nearly every Zero Rank spell and many First Rank ones as well. He still taught new apprentices the basics of “Understanding of All Knowledge.”
So First Rank students even called him a “walking knowledge vault.”
But perhaps because he spread his energy too broadly across many fields, Monroe hadn’t advanced in years.
Aside from reading, he rarely joined other activities, making him nearly invisible among high-ranking apprentices.
Saul, by contrast, had focused his efforts more narrowly. Yet his progress was undeniable.
Becoming a Third Rank apprentice in just three years had already broken the Wizard Tower’s record.
Among apprentices, he was sothing of a legend.
But Saul rarely interacted with other apprentices—he mostly saw corpses and ntors. Neither group showed much surprise at his rapid growth.
“Senior Monroe.”
Saul didn’t act high and mighty. Monroe had once helped him answer many questions—even if those were paid sessions—Saul remained respectful toward those who had helped him in the past.
“You’re here to see Kongsha?”
“Yeah. I’ve got so questions for her.”
“She’s been gone from the tower for a long ti. Long enough that so think she’s already dead out there.”
Saul sighed.
He had suspected as much.
If Kongsha really went to that so-called “Elf Valley” Billy ntioned, she might never return.
She was also approaching thirty—maybe only a year or half a year away.
Braving danger to head for Elf Valley might have been her final chance to advance to Third Rank.
With Kongsha gone, Saul had no one to ask about the questions troubling him.
He looked up at Monroe and said, “Thank you.”
He was about to turn and leave, but Monroe stopped him.
“Saul, before she left, Kongsha ca looking for you. But you weren’t around. So she asked to give you sothing, in case I ran into you.”
“Sothing for ?” Saul was a little surprised. As far as he rembered, after their deal over Elven Whispers, they hadn’t really interacted. Yet she ca looking for him before leaving?
If it had been before today, Saul might’ve declined outright. But after today’s Soul Infusion experint, his curiosity about Kongsha had only grown.
“What is it? Let see.”
He didn’t reach out—he wasn’t necessarily going to accept it.
Monroe began digging around inside his clothes.
Saul frowned slightly. What kind of item does Monroe carry around like this?
“Huh? Where is it? I was sure I kept it on …”
Monroe checked himself all over but couldn’t find it. Sothing like this shouldn’t happen to a cautious wizard apprentice.
“Maybe I left it in my room. Co in with and we’ll take a look.” Monroe raised his head and gestured for Saul to enter his room.
Saul took one step toward the doorway… then stopped.
Monroe noticed the missing footstep and looked back. “What’s wrong?”
Saul smiled. “I’ll wait out here, senior.”
Then he added, “Honestly, I’m not all that eager to receive Kongsha’s gift.”
Monroe clearly didn’t expect that. He stood still for a mont, one eye visible beyond the doorfra.
That eye stared straight at Saul—for a full three seconds.
The air turned strange.
Saul pressed his fingertips together, calm and unflinching, returning Monroe’s gaze silently.
Then, Monroe moved. He stepped into his room and quickly began rummaging.
About thirty seconds later, an excited voice called from inside.
“Here it is!”
Then Saul heard a wet squelching sound—guchu.
He stepped forward quickly and looked into Monroe’s room.
He saw Monroe lowering his hand from his face—right as their eyes t.
Monroe’s fingers were wrapped around an eyeball, freshly and violently plucked from his own socket.
The lid had been torn open, blood now covering half his face and soaking his collar.
Saul raised an eyebrow.
If this “gift” turned out to be a crushed, misshapen eyeball… he certainly wasn’t taking it.
But Monroe just glanced at the ruined eye and casually tossed it to the floor. Then he raised his hand again—two fingers plunged into the bloody, empty socket.
With the aid of blood as lubricant, they made another wet, squishy sound as they scraped inside.
Then Monroe drew his fingers out.
At the tips—apparently—he was pinching sothing.
Apparently.
Because between those fingers, there was absolutely nothing visible.
Monroe extended his hand toward Saul.
“Here. Co take it.”
(End of Chapter)
Reviews
All reviews (0)