Chapter 20: Outstanding People Always Get Their Opportunities
Chapter 20: The Capable Always Get Their Chance
From the look in Saul’s eyes, Mark saw determination.
He couldn’t understand how a student who had only just become a trainee could decide to undergo body modification by the second day. He himself had hesitated for an entire month before daring to take a knife to his hands.
But now, Mark could already see value in Saul.
To escape alive from the midnight incident in the lab — there was no way this guy was just some regular rookie.
Either he had real skill, or a powerful backer.
“Well, go ahead and copy it. This book is written pretty plainly. If you finish reading and want to go deeper, you can come find me in the lab. I’ll be around all this month.”
This kind and friendly version of Mark left the other two students in the lab slack-jawed.
“Thank you, Senior Mark.”
Saul sat back down. Time was tight — he had to copy everything as fast as possible.
Mark left Saul to it and walked over to the other end of the lab.
Watching from the side, Angela had been waiting a while. She picked up her book, walked over to Mark with a sweet smile.
“Senior, I had a few problems while learning how to construct runes today… I couldn’t get them right. Could you maybe help me out?”
She hugged her book up to her chin, trying her best to show off her cuteness.
“Sure,” Mark said with a smile, “10 magic crystals, or 2 merit credits.”
Angela’s hopeful expression instantly collapsed.
She only had a few dozen crystals in total — how could she spend that much just asking a few questions?
“I-I’ll try to figure it out on my own.”
She hurried back to her seat, head low, afraid others would mock her.
She thought about trying to ask Mentor Katz, but after yesterday’s poor impression, she wasn’t sure if he’d even bother coming today.
The book Grimm’s Understanding of Sorcerous Body Modification wasn’t thick — just a little over a hundred handwritten pages. Not typeset, so not that many words total.
While copying, Saul skipped all the fluff and only focused on the actual knowledge, creating a clean set of study notes.
Still, for a student only two days into training, understanding the whole book was harder than expected.
He didn’t hold back — whenever something stumped him, he went straight to Mark with the book in hand.
From Mark’s change in attitude, Saul could tell the senior was intentionally compensating him for something.
Was it because he survived the strange lab event last night and gained some respect? Or did Mark know about the pink-bandaged man who helped?
Whatever the reason, Saul seized the chance to earn some free mentorship.
With Mark’s help pointing out the key points, his note-taking speed soared. He was confident he could finish copying all the useful content by tomorrow noon — well worth the two magic crystals spent.
Mentor Katz didn’t appear until after 3:30 again.
But this time, his brows were tightly furrowed, deep in thought about something.
Duke, who was planning to go ask questions, got waved off before he could speak.
Only now did the two realize why senior students never came to this lab for help.
That patient explanation on day one? Clearly just bait.
Once you’re hooked, out comes the cold indifference.
Duke, unable to reestablish any superiority over Saul, looked increasingly anxious. His glances toward Saul were full of conflicted emotions.
No one expected what came next.
After frowning in silence for a while, Katz suddenly walked over to Saul.
“Mentor?” Mark thought he was being called and stood up, nervous.
But Katz walked straight to Saul. “Come with me.”
Saul was startled… then thrilled.
Yesterday, Duke and Angela had been taken away while he was left behind — effectively abandoned. But today, Katz had changed his mind?
What happened?
Saul quickly gathered his books and followed Katz without a word.
They went down the East Tower’s sloping stairs. Any apprentices they passed immediately stepped aside and bowed their heads.
As a new apprentice, Saul had never been to the lower floors.
He knew that the lower levels of the West Tower housed the butlers and servants, and the first floor was supposedly a garbage dump.
When Saul used to sweep the halls, he’d send the trash to the storage room — others came to dispose of it. He’d never been to the garbage area himself, but he’d heard it was staffed by strange, reclusive old servants.
The further down they went, the dimmer the lights grew.
Saul kept his head down, walking close behind Katz, not daring to look around.
But he counted the floors in his mind.
9…
8…
7…
…
2!
When they reached the second floor, Katz suddenly turned and brought him inside.
At the entrance sat a hulking man, easily over 200 kilos, slumped against the wall and completely unmoving.
He blocked nearly the entire corridor.
Katz and Saul squeezed through the gap. The man didn’t react at all.
Just a few steps in, there was a red wooden door.
Katz pushed it open. The creak was ear-piercing.
As Saul stepped inside, a wave of foul, bloody stench flooded his nose.
He immediately held his breath and looked up at Katz.
The mentor’s face didn’t change at all — like he didn’t even have a nose — and walked calmly to the center of the room.
The walls were covered in pale powder, with messy scrawls written across them in a language Saul didn’t know.
Thankfully, it didn’t cause any dizziness, though it looked unsettling.
In the center of the room was a conveyor belt jutting out from the wall.
At the entrance, a black leather curtain blocked whatever was behind it.
Next to the belt was a long table with a variety of square boxes — all open and empty, but many had strange sticky residues inside.
Some had small mushrooms growing along the edges.
A row of tools — hammers, chisels, etc. — hung nearby.
Under the table was a large wheeled bin. Its open interior was stained deep, dark red — likely the source of the stench.
At the far end of the room was another table with two chairs. One was pulled back carelessly. On the desk were piles of papers, scattered sheets, a toppled pen holder, and pens spilled to the floor.
“The first and second floors of the East Tower are for corpse storage. This is the second floor.”
…Corpses?
Saul clenched his lips. Suddenly all the strange sights started to make sense.
“If you can handle this work, you’ll earn 3 credits per month.”
Saul’s head snapped up.
According to the student handbook, one credit equals ten magic crystals. And credits can be used for much more than crystals. The reverse — using crystals to get a credit — was impossible.
He nearly blurted out “I’ll do it!” then and there.
But suddenly, he thought of Angela and Duke. Had they been brought here yesterday too? And did they fail, so they were sent back to the lab?
“What do you need me to do?” Saul tried to keep his voice calm and obedient.
“Handle mutated corpses,” Katz replied as he pulled a lever beside the conveyor belt.
The machine hummed to life.
A moment later, a fresh corpse passed through the leather curtain and stopped before them.
Saul had expected this job to involve corpses. But seeing one up close still drained the color from his face. He instinctively stepped back two paces.
The body was tied to the belt. A black leather sheet covered most of it, except the face.
He recognized it instantly.
It was the new apprentice Keli had told him about yesterday — the one who had sliced his legs into strips and buried them like plant roots in a flowerbed.
(End of Chapter)
Snorlax blocking the way.
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