Chapter 10: The First Night as an Apprentice
Chapter 10: First Night as an Apprentice
Saul stared at the maid in disbelief.
He was only twelve years old!
He pulled the heavy cart into the room and slammed the door shut in the maid’s face.
The maid straightened up and pouted unhappily.
At that moment, another maid pushing an empty cart—who had just delivered to Room 603—walked by.
Seeing her colleague standing there empty-handed, she looked surprised.
"He didn’t let you in?"
"It’s fine." The maid curled her finger and tugged on her neckline. The collar snapped back against her skin and jiggled lightly.
"He’ll want it eventually."
Saul had no idea the maid already saw him as a target. He was inside, happily flipping through every book, full of excitement.
Each one was thick and heavy.
Some books introduced magical plants, animals, and minerals found in this world.
Others described the traits and legends of common ghosts and monsters.
Some looked like language textbooks, but were as complex and difficult as a Chinese-English dictionary.
And some were filled with illustrations—strange and disturbing.
If you stared too long, they actually made your head spin.
After flipping through each book roughly, Saul went to examine the items covered in black velvet cloth.
There was a crystal ball—not the pure black one he’d seen before, but transparent.
There was a full set of test tubes and beakers made of clear crystal or glass, along with a small cauldron.
There was also a large wooden box, divided into compartments, each holding something different—several sets of clothes, and a Level-One Apprentice badge.
All of these items were introduced in the Apprentice Handbook, and Saul used it to check everything one by one until he understood it all.
He pinned the badge onto his coat, gently tracing its rough surface with his fingertips.
Then, thinking about tomorrow’s first public class, Saul pulled out the book titled “Wizard Language: An Introduction to Noah Script” and sat back down at his desk to begin preparing.
After all, back in his previous life, he had made it through the college entrance exams.
Saul was pretty good at memorization and cramming.
There were no windows in the Level-One apprentice rooms.
He couldn’t see outside and had to rely on the blue hourglass on the wall to tell time.
Grain by grain, the blue sand fell.
The sound of pages flipping and pen strokes filled the silence—the entire world seemed to go still.
After mechanically eating the lunch and dinner delivered by the maid, Saul looked up and was surprised to find—it was already midnight.
Tomorrow would be the first day of class. He couldn’t stay up too late and burn himself out.
He stretched, his muscles groaning with soreness, though his mind still felt clear and alert.
After going through the spiritual aptitude test, Saul had clearly noticed his mental energy was stronger—as if a valve inside him had opened.
Back when he was a servant, he worked until midnight and was kicked awake at 4 a.m. to start again.
Back then, he was always exhausted.
Now that he actually had time to sleep—he didn’t even feel that tired.
“Am I imagining it? It really feels like my mind is sharper than before.”
He wasn’t entirely sure about his condition, but he made a mental note to ask his mentor tomorrow.
After a quick wash-up, he went to the wall and turned the flame down to its dimmest setting.
Whether in the room or in the halls, the flames could be dimmed, but must never be extinguished.
Even the servants knew that.
It was a matter of survival.
Saul lay down in bed, still a bit excited.
The bed was about 1.5 meters wide, far more spacious and comfortable than the giant communal mattress he’d once shared.
He sprawled out his arms and legs, trying to occupy the whole mattress—but he was still so young and thin that even lying crosswise, there was still space.
After lying like that for a while and still not falling asleep, Saul curled into a ball and tucked the blanket tightly around himself.
Only then did he feel a strange sense of safety.
This time, he fell asleep quickly.
At 4:15 a.m., his internal clock jolted him awake.
He yawned as he sat up, cool air filling his lungs and waking him up instantly.
The bright lamplight washed down once again, and Saul returned to his desk.
Just as he was about to flip open a book, a sudden instinct stirred.
He walked to the door, cracked it open, and peeked out into the hallway.
His room was 604, located near the end of the hall—he could see the ramp that led up and down the floors.
After a while, he heard faint footsteps, and a boy’s silhouette appeared under the dim lights, struggling to push a small cart uphill.
Was that… Brown?
Saul’s eyes widened. His body even tensed with eagerness—but he forced himself to calm down.
Even though he was now an apprentice, his actual strength was no different from yesterday.
He shut the door and sat back down at the desk.
“I remember Brown just had night duty a few days ago. Why is it him again?”
“Is it because I became an apprentice?”
Even if the method Saul used to pass the test was questionable, and many apprentices knew about it…
The servants likely didn’t care.
All they knew was that Saul had gone from a servant to a terrifying and powerful wizard apprentice.
So, the Brown who once led the bullying might be stuck with more and more midnight shifts now.
Saul wanted to know: who gave Brown the order to try and kill him?
But now wasn’t the time.
First, he lacked the strength to interrogate anyone.
Second, it might alert the real mastermind.
He glanced at the hardcover book hovering near his left shoulder, reaching out to touch his life-saving artifact—but his fingers passed through air.
He only felt emptiness.
“Maybe… I’ll only be qualified to understand this book’s nature once I become a full wizard.”
The threat of death hadn’t disappeared just because he became an apprentice.
Instead, the shadow over his head had grown even darker.
Saul still had no idea what kind of web of schemes he had been dragged into.
He lowered his head and dove once more into his studies.
Right now, only learning, and more learning, brought him a sense of peace.
The next thing that stirred him was a polite knock on the door.
It was Keli.
There were dark circles under her eyes—she had probably stayed up studying too.
“It’s almost time for class. Want to share what you learned last night?” she said bluntly.
So this is what she meant by “genius should walk with genius.”
Saul glanced at the time and realized—it was almost class time already.
In fact, he was running later than he’d planned.
He scrambled to grab his books and writing tools and rushed out the door.
“The hourglass has a reminder setting. It’s in the handbook.”
Saul instinctively made an OK gesture, but Keli didn’t get it.
The two of them walked briskly toward the East Tower, chatting as they went.
“How long did you study last night?” Keli asked quietly.
“I could only read for two hours before my head started spinning. I had to close my eyes and rest.”
Saul’s heart skipped a beat—he didn’t tell the truth.
“Roughly three or four hours at a time, then I’d rest.”
In reality, he’d read while eating, only stopping when he lay in bed to sleep.
He’d only gotten four hours of sleep, and now he was full of energy.
Even with that, Keli still widened her eyes and stared at him in disbelief.
“Your spiritual stamina is insane. No wonder you stared at that wooden doll for so long.”
She looked down at her book with a hint of envy.
“If only I could read that long too…”
While chatting, they arrived at the 10th-floor classroom.
It was already packed—not just with new apprentices, but many older ones as well.
Only the first row and the back corner seats had any space left—everything else was taken.
As Saul hesitated between staying low-key or being bold—Keli marched proudly toward the front row.
Seeing Saul not follow, she looked back and motioned with her chin.
“Come on. You’re past the point of staying low-key.”
(End of Chapter)
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