After informing Saul that the final test would begin tomorrow, Gorsa disappeared once again into the storage vault.
Saul, anwhile, imdiately began preparing the materials listed on the inventory Gorsa had given him days ago.
Although he’d had the list for a while, Saul hadn’t moved to gather the materials until Gorsa gave the green light, fearing it would alert others prematurely.
Not only that, all others who were qualified to participate in the experint had also received the order: no one was to bring materials into the Companion Flower Garden.
This left the ntors and apprentices who had painstakingly prepared for days completely dumbfounded.
Saul made his way to the First Storage Room to collect a few key materials, only to see Heywood opening the warehouse door with a dazed look.
“The final test… it’s finally happening?” He wasn’t wearing his hood. The terrifying woman’s face on the back of his head was desperately trying to twist forward, seemingly eager for the answer as well.
“Yes. It starts tomorrow morning,” Saul said, and then suddenly realized—Heywood didn’t know until now. That ant… he wasn’t even on the participant list.
A powerful Third Rank apprentice, Gorsa’s very own student, yet not even given the chance to attend.
Heywood let out a bitter laugh, and Heidi on the back of his head burst into shrill, ear-piercing sobs.
The sound was sharp and unbearable, the kind that made one want to cover their ears.
Heywood sighed and lightly tapped the back of his head. The wailing ceased instantly.
“There was a final test once before,” Heywood said, explaining to Saul. “But that ti, we completely failed.”
“That day, Ivan, Kongsha, and I walked confidently into the laboratory on the 20th floor. But the preliminary experints of the project failed miserably. The entire follow-up experint had to be called off. Even our ntor suffered severe injuries from the backlash.”
Heywood seed to be reliving that day from more than a decade ago.
The three of them had been carefully selected by Gorsa. According to the plan, after completing the transformation into a wizard body, they were supposed to enter the final test.
In other words, they were ant to be essential participants in that experint.
But the transformation failed almost imdiately after it began.
Heywood no longer rembered exactly what happened. He only recalled waking up to the tornt of brain-eating worms gnawing at his mind. Gorsa was covered in blood. Of the five other ntors, two were also gravely wounded.
That day, he was told the experint had been terminated. And soon after, he was exiled to the First Storage Room.
Despite all these years of relentless self-improvent, of researching even the most dangerous subjects—
He never got another chance to participate in the second resurrection experint.
Once Saul had gathered all the materials from his list, Heywood handed him the cart.
But when Saul reached to take it, he noticed Heywood was still holding onto it. Several seconds passed before he finally let go.
“Wish you all the best. Complete the experint,” Heywood said with an awkward smile. Heidi burst into tears once more.
This ti, Heywood didn’t silence her—even as Saul pushed the cart away.
Just as he had once told Kongsha—
They had already been abandoned.
Saul left the First Room with complicated feelings. He returned to his own Second Room to collect the rest of the materials, then exited the tower.
Outside the Wizard Tower was the Half-Life Garden.
The Companion Flowers that once grew chaotically had all disappeared. The garden fence remained intact, and the experintal site was now located within its bounds.
A scarecrow stood planted in the ground just outside the fence.
Its exposed hands and face were made of dry, yellow straw, and its nose was a wooden stick.
As he passed, Saul nodded to the scarecrow in greeting.
The lips drawn onto the scarecrow’s face curled upward ever so slightly.
The garden was already filled with people.
Despite Gorsa’s order that unrelated personnel were forbidden from entering the experintal site, the area remained crowded.
That was because the tower master had suddenly decreed that everyone could only bring raw materials into the test site—potions had to be prepared on-site.
Most of the tools, materials, and potions for the resurrection experint required extrely complex preparation. No one expected Gorsa to suddenly demand it all be done in the field.
So, each ntor had requested to bring along their apprentices for assistance.
The garden was slightly cramped as a result.
Still, despite the crowd, the place was quiet.
From their eye contact alone, Saul could tell they were likely communicating using Voice Transmission spells.
Saul moved toward the back of the garden and spotted Keli standing not far behind ntor Gudo.
She wasn’t speaking to anyone, with heavy dark circles under her eyes, yawning loudly without any care for appearance.
As she wiped away the tears squeezed from the corners of her eyes, she noticed Saul pushing a large cart over and waved at him with a bright smile.
Saul smiled back, but behind that smile, his mood had suddenly sunk.
Keli wasn’t supposed to be here. But because Gorsa had suddenly required all potions to be prepared on-site—and since she was the primary handler of the adhesive—she’d been brought in unexpectedly.
Saul had tried multiple tis to keep Keli out of the resurrection experint. In the end, he’d unintentionally led her right to it.
He noticed the transparent crystal pendant hanging from Keli’s neck. Inside was a chunk of irregular silver tal.
That was likely the Beta toxin used in the final step of the adhesive. It had weaker radiation than the Alpha toxin, but only Keli could safely handle it.
ntor Gudo was holding his bucket, vomiting into it, while confirming the final steps with nearby apprentices to ensure no mistakes would be made.
ntor Monica stood not far away, pale and expressionless, arms folded across her chest.
Behind her was the Third Rank apprentice Jero, who specialized in lightning. Jero seed utterly unaffected by the tense atmosphere—his face bore a relaxed grin.
When he saw Saul, Jero raised a hand in greeting.
Saul stopped the cart deliberately in front of him.
“You’re back? What about Senior Byron?”
“Died out there,” Jero said with a grin.
Boom!
Magic surged from Saul’s body in an instant.
“Just kidding, just kidding!” Jero quickly raised his hands. “We split up after completing the mission. You know he doesn’t like .”
Of course Saul knew Byron didn’t like Jero. But he also understood that Jero’s “just kidding” referred not to the death, but to the part about them parting ways.
“Ah, lucky I made it back in ti. Would’ve missed today’s excitent. A resurrection experint—such a magnificent piece of sorcery!”
“Hmph.” Saul gave a cold snort and pushed the cart onward. As he passed Monica, he greeted her softly.
Monica seed distracted. She forced a smile in return for the tower master’s most favored apprentice.
She hadn’t brought her pet today. The burns on her skin from electrical sparks hadn’t been tended to, and she hadn’t peeled off the charred skin on her face—it remained there, stark and jarring.
Further inside were the leading ntors of the experint: Anze, Rum, and Kaz.
ntor Anze lay back lazily on a lounge chair with his eyes closed.
That was always how he operated—he directed, the apprentices perford. Those who failed beca the next round of materials. As a result, he’d brought the most apprentices—ten in total.
Today, he wasn’t even bothering to direct. The scene was fully managed by Lokai.
Though only a Second Rank apprentice, Lokai showed no fear directing even Third Rank apprentices. It was clear this wasn’t his first ti leading.
ntor Rum…
Saul had no idea how Rum had been brought here. Perhaps Gorsa had simply teleported him.
Without the support of his corner wall, Rum’s flesh had spread evenly in all directions, becoming a giant sphere.
One person now took up the space of more than ten.
Two apprentices Saul had never seen stood beside him. They had the sa blond hair and blue eyes that Rum preferred, and both were obese.
Barely over 1.7 ters tall, they each looked to weigh over 300 pounds.
They bore a strong resemblance to their ntor.
Rum didn’t speak to anyone. He gazed calmly into the distant mountains.
At that mont, Kaz walked over. He initially reached to take Saul’s cart, thought better of it, and instead fell into step beside him.
“Saul, do you know why the tower master suddenly decided to launch the resurrection experint ahead of schedule?”
Saul stopped the cart, spread his hands, and smiled wryly. “I only found out today that the final test would be held in the garden.”
He wasn’t lying.
The key word was “garden,” not “today.”
(End of Chapter)
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