Chapter 31: This Damn Constitution

For an entire month, the new apprentices hadn’t seen the sunlight from the outside world. Even Duke, who had the darkest complexion, was starting to look pale.

Let alone Saul.

He spent his days buried in study and working with corpses. His face had become as pale as a dead man’s, with dark circles hanging under his eyes.

He didn’t even need makeup to play a ghost at night.

For three consecutive days, he had skipped public classes.

If the morgue allowed people to stay overnight, he might have just holed up there instead of coming out.

But today, his research had reached a dead end, so he came out to look for some inspiration.

The book Green’s Sorcerer of Wizard Body Modifications described four or five different modification approaches, but it didn’t detail what materials were used or how the modifications were actually carried out.

That made sense, though—such knowledge wouldn’t just be openly shared.

Either it was someone’s trump card, or it was the inheritance of some organization.

The book also mentioned that even well-established wizard body modifications had a high mortality rate.

And trying to develop a brand-new modification method? That would take the sacrifice of hundreds or even thousands of lives before any progress could be made.

Among the second-level apprentices Saul knew, most of them had likely undergone some form of body modification. The one he was on the best terms with was still Senior Mark.

When Saul arrived at the lab, aside from Mark, Angela was also present, but Duke was nowhere to be seen.

Upon seeing Saul, Angela pursed her lips in an awkward smile.

Saul nodded in return, but unexpectedly, Angela seemed startled by this. Her hands trembled, nearly dropping the book she was holding.

Since they only had the kind of relationship where they’d acknowledge each other in passing, Saul didn’t think much of it and headed toward the back of the lab where Mark was.

Mark seemed to be conducting some kind of experiment—or maybe it was just cooking. He was lazily tossing ingredients into a cauldron and stirring it with a wooden spatula.

Saul observed from three meters away for a while and couldn’t help but sigh. As expected of someone who majored in dark-element magic, even the ingredients he used looked creepy.

After throwing in what appeared to be either hair or seaweed as the final ingredient, Mark covered the cauldron with a transparent glass lid and lowered the flame.

He turned his head, grinning as he greeted Saul. “Haven’t seen you for a few days, and you’ve already made a lot of progress.”

“Senior Mark,” Saul greeted back, then got straight to the point. “I have a few questions I’d like to ask you.”

“Oh?” Mark lazily removed his gloves and tossed them into the trash bin at his feet. “Do you have magic credits?”

“Yeah.”

“What subject?”

“Wizard body—” Saul had only said two words before he stopped.

Mark’s hands paused, then he turned to Angela and said, “Angela, you should head back for today.”

Without a word, Angela picked up her book and bolted out of the room, making sure to shut the lab door tightly behind her.

“You’re really planning to undergo body modification? That’s usually something for second-level apprentices.”

“I took a test, and my current magic power is only 4. If I don’t undergo body modification, I won’t pass the assessment from Mentor Kaz in three months.”

After a month of meditation, Saul had only increased his magic power by 1 joule. At this rate, it would take him another six months to reach 10 joules.

But he only had two months left.

“Hmm…” Mark rubbed his chin. “Since Mentor has already assigned you to the morgue, I don’t think he’ll be that strict anymore.”

“But Mentor never said he would change the assessment criteria.” Saul didn’t want to gamble on it.

The Hardcover Book could warn him of imminent death, but those warnings usually only appeared when danger was right at his doorstep.

If he reached the point where all choices led to death, even if the book warned him, it would be useless.

Just like that night in the lab when he nearly died.

If it hadn’t been for Big Pink showing up, he wouldn’t have survived.

That gruesome experience had taught Saul a valuable lesson:

Even in the face of imminent death, there was always a sliver of hope, and his own efforts were crucial.

If he hadn’t fought to save himself that night, he might not have lasted long enough for Big Pink to pass by.

“There are other ways to increase your magic power to 10 joules,” Mark said.

“But, Senior,” Saul spread his hands, “I don’t have that much money, I don’t have enough credits, and most importantly, I don’t have time.”

Mark rubbed his chin again. “So you’ve made up your mind… Alright then.”

He stretched out his hand toward Saul. “2 credits. I don’t accept magic crystals.”

The 3 credits he had just earned…

Saul exhaled. “Deal. Do we need to register it first?”

Mark, however, retracted his hand. “If it were someone else, yes. But since it’s you, I’ll let you owe me for thirty minutes.”

Thirty minutes?

So twenty days of hard work was worth just half an hour of knowledge.

Mark sat down. “I remember you copied a book on wizard body modification before. You should have some understanding of the subject by now. Do you have any ideas on how you want to modify your body?”

“The cheapest and most effective materials available to me right now are corpse materials. So my modification plan is to extract the parts from these materials that can enhance elemental perception and magic power.”

Mark chuckled. “No wonder you’re starting to look more and more like a corpse.”

Then, he adopted a more serious tone, sitting up straight. “Since you were chosen to work in the morgue, it means you have a strong sensitivity to spiritual entities. If you modify your body using corpse materials, do you know what will happen?”

Saul’s eyes widened.

“You’ll attract a lot of supernatural entities, and they’ll be eager to find you.”

So… I’ll just see more ghosts?

“Are there a lot of ghosts in the wizard tower?” Saul asked.

“Scared?” Mark smirked at Saul’s hesitation and answered, “Not many, and most of them are restricted in various ways. The ghosts in the wizard tower are mostly created by wizards or advanced apprentices using special spells. But even so, you might find yourself entangled in all sorts of trouble. Most ghosts are very lonely, and they’ll desperately seek out people who can see and hear them—people who don’t pose a threat to them.”

“I see. As long as I become stronger, I can resist them.” Saul clenched his fist, his skeletal hand standing out starkly.

Mark didn’t feel particularly reassured by the young man’s small display of courage. He gave him one last piece of advice:

“Always maintain a sense of reverence, Saul. Fear comes from the unknown, terror is born from the unknown, and only the unknown is infinite.”

Having given his warning, Mark didn’t try to dissuade Saul any further. Instead, he began explaining which parts of corpses were suitable for body modifications.

Since he couldn’t share established modification formulas—either because he didn’t know them, or because Saul couldn’t afford them—he focused on important precautions. He pointed out which materials should never be combined, as they would lead to disastrous consequences, and what reactions might indicate a life-threatening failure.

Finally, Mark recommended two main options: skin and bones.

These materials were large in volume, making it easier to engrave runes on them, which would help Saul control his modifications more effectively. They were also relatively safer.

More delicate parts, like the brain or eyes, were off-limits for now. Without the strength of a third-level apprentice, one could barely hope to survive such modifications.

“Take me, for example…” Mark raised his right hand, and a slit appeared in his palm.

A long, crimson tongue extended from the opening—over a meter long—wriggling in front of Saul as if it wanted to lick him.

“I spent a fortune to exchange for a modification formula with a high success rate, then adapted it to suit my own constitution. And at that time, I was already a second-level apprentice.”

Next Chapter

Table of Content