Saul looked up at Byron. The man’s expression was as serious as ever.
“Is it the coordinate diagram for that compound rune?”
Byron’s eyes crinkled slightly. “Yes. Though it’s only a construction diagram for a compound rune, it gave a lot of inspiration. That’s how, just at the tail end of my thirtieth year, I was able to find my own Locator.”
“Locator?”
“You’ll understand once you reach Second Rank. Knowing too early would only burden you and cloud your thoughts.”
Saul nodded.
In the world of wizards, knowledge also demanded strength. Learning about high-level knowledge too soon would only lead to madness.
“But even if you can’t understand this knowledge yet, once you reach Second Rank, co find and join my squad. I’ll share so of my insights from back when I was a Second Rank apprentice.”
“Squad?” Yet another term Saul had never heard of.
“Third Rank apprentices need to leave the tower to search for opportunities in order to fuse their Locator. That’s why you almost never see them inside the tower.”
“Also, the places they go are often dangerous, so most travel in teams. So Second Rank apprentices follow them, hoping to find a Locator suited to them. But so of them end up dying out there.”
Byron sighed, a whistle-like sound escaping from his whole body.
“There’s no helping it. The resources inside the tower are limited.”
Thinking of his empty lab bench and cabinets, Saul hugged the hefty bag of magic crystals in his arms and sighed, too. “Yeah, too limited.”
Byron walked over to Peggy’s long table, flipping through the books on it. He then checked the three stone coffins in the room before returning to Peggy’s decayed corpse.
“There is a wraith hidden in these three corpses. Peggy should’ve handed them over to ntor Kaz. But... her greed got the better of her, and she wanted to keep the Second Rank apprentice’s corpse for herself.”
Saul nodded. The hardback book had already told him: after Saul died, Peggy would have registered them as three First Rank apprentices on the record.
The whereabouts of that Second Rank corpse were now obvious.
The wound standing in for lips continued to move.
“But she underestimated the wraith and overestimated herself. She got stuck and could only drag you in as a scapegoat.”
Saul kept nodding. Byron had nailed every detail.
“You did well,” Byron concluded, the corners of his eyes lifting slightly as he looked at Saul with satisfaction.
“I just stumbled through.” Saul had only managed to kill Peggy thanks to the hardback book ruling out all the wrong options and a few tools Keli had given him.
Otherwise, with his strength, he’d be maxed out after two shots of the Strike Undead.
So, if there’s a big thigh to hug, you hug it—just be careful not to get dragged into the pit.
“I’ll handle Peggy’s belongings. Any objections?”
Saul imdiately shook his head. “No objections. With you handling it, it’s the safest way.”
Byron didn’t waste words. He walked over and effortlessly picked up two of the coffins.
One held the Second Rank apprentice; the other, a First Rank.
“Let’s go.”
Saul blinked, unsure of Byron’s intent, but he quickly followed.
When they passed Hayden’s room, Byron stopped and gave the door a few kicks.
The door opened a crack. When Hayden saw Byron outside, he opened it all the way.
“Senior Byron.”
“Mm.”
Byron, now fully healed, tossed the First Rank apprentice’s stone coffin inside.
Bang!
It hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
“Hmm?”
Hayden had worked with Byron for years and understood the ssage imdiately.
“I get it. I skipped work tonight. I don’t know what happened here.”
“Mm.” Byron nodded.
Hayden promptly shut the door and pretended the room was empty.
anwhile, Saul stood there, jaw nearly hitting the floor at Byron’s handling of things.
Byron hoisted the last coffin and led Saul to the third corpse room.
Once again, he slit open his throat to speak.
“Peggy’s corpse is problematic. I’ll stay behind and report it to the ntors. This one is mostly fine and still valuable. Since Peggy already tried to hide its existence, I’ll leave it to you.”
So, Byron was... splitting the loot? aning Peggy’s corpse was now Byron’s.
Saul didn’t mind.
But Byron hadn’t just taken Peggy’s corpse. He was also offering Saul sothing better.
“You’re the one who killed Peggy. I’m taking the corpse, but I won’t just rob you blind. If there’s anything you want in exchange, co find anyti within a month.”
Saul stood up, delighted. He could already na a long list of things.
But glancing at the stone coffin on the ground, he cald himself.
Byron was about to beco a Third Rank apprentice. He wouldn’t leave the tower.
And as one of the few people in this place who didn’t an him harm—possibly even soone who could help him—
That was rare.
He still hadn’t finalized his Wizard Body Modification plan. Better to save this opportunity for when he really needed it.
“I’ll be taking over the corpse room work until I officially advance to Third Rank. Co to anyti.”
“Senior, do you know Sid?” Just as Byron turned to leave, Saul stopped him.
“Hmm?” The wound closed again.
“I’ve had so issues with Sid. Do you think Peggy might’ve tried to kill because of him?”
But Byron shook his head.
For so reason, Saul understood what he ant.
He was saying “I don’t know,” not “No.”
Byron studied Saul for a mont, confusion flashing in his eyes.
He was probably wondering: how did a re First Rank apprentice, a newcor barely a month in, manage to make so many enemies?
Byron left the room, giving Saul the space. He still had to deal with Peggy’s corpse and the ss she left behind.
Saul was satisfied with Byron’s response.
At the very least, Byron didn’t seem to be close with Sid.
That ant Byron could beco another thigh to hug in his struggle against Sid.
A Third-Rank thigh!
Saul wore a satisfied smile as he approached the stone coffin.
It looked special—not made from ordinary materials.
Well, regular coffins couldn’t exactly contain a wraith, could they?
Saul rubbed his hands in excitent. “No one gets rich without windfalls. The robber wasn’t lying!”
He locked the door from the inside.
This would be his first ti handling a corpse that hadn’t been pre-screened by Hayden.
And his first complete set of materials, all to himself.
…
It did seem that Peggy had nothing to do with Sid.
After Kongsha killed the new apprentice Sid had brought to replace Saul, Sid hadn’t shown up for quite so ti.
Life returned to peace. Studying and experinting once again beca the focus.
But Saul knew Sid wouldn’t give up.
On Saul’s shoulder was the hardback book that Sid was clearly after—and each near-death experience only made Saul more aware of its power.
Now, if anyone tried to take the book from him, Saul would fight to the death.
He wasn’t sure how much Sid knew about the hardback book.
But he suspected it wasn’t much.
The book could foresee death. Sid’s attempts on his life had indeed been dangerous—
But they always lacked decisiveness.
Which gave Saul ti to find a way out.
He thought to himself: If I were trying to steal the book, I’d use a thod that left no ti to react, no place to escape.
Not like Sid, wasting chances and getting caught every ti.
So, Sid was clearly chasing after a book, but he didn’t seem to fully understand what it could do.
Then… how did he even know the book existed?
Whoosh!
The sound of flas snapped Saul out of his thoughts. He stood up and glanced at the crucible and other containers on the table.
Still a long way to go before the reaction is finished.
He got up to greet his first guest of the day.
(End of Chapter)
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