Chapter 43: No Money, No Progress
For his fourth spell, after consulting Mark, Sol decided to learn the zero-rank dark spell Strike the Undead.
His work environment made it far too easy for ghosts and spirits to appear, and this spell was particularly effective against them.
After about two hours of studying, Saul had formed a preliminary idea of the new spell’s analytical model.
Then, work called him once again. He got up to greet the first client of the day.
A skeleton…
“This is way too clean.”
There wasn’t a single bit of flesh left—like it had been dug up decades after burial.
Such a clean corpse actually made Saul feel suspicious.
He put down his tools, placed the "guest" into the large box, and then went next door to consult his senior.
“I don’t know,” Hayden replied from behind the ever-narrow door slit he used to receive guests. “By the time the corpse reached me, it was already just bones.”
So Hayden simply transferred it to Saul.
After saying goodbye to Hayden, Saul turned to look at the room of the new second-rank apprentice.
Unlike Senior Byron, the newcomer wasn’t an easy person to talk to.
Asking him probably wouldn’t get any useful answers.
The first procedure in the mortuary wasn’t about collecting materials—it was about eliminating any potential dangers from the body.
Which meant that by the time the corpse arrived at the mortuary, it had likely already been stripped of its flesh.
This little episode didn’t distract Saul for long. Since there were no other customers that day, he was able to continue his research.
However, progress on his body modification project was far slower than his spell studies.
If only body modification were as simple as runes and spells.
Anyone who heard Saul’s thoughts would probably be infuriated.
After dumping out yet another batch of soon-to-explode failed concoction, Saul went to close the lid of the large box—then suddenly stopped.
“Huh?”
The skeleton from earlier was slowly shrinking and corroding under the chaotic solution he had poured in.
Did he just… accidentally create sulfuric acid?
Saul closed the lid, waited a while, then checked again.
The skeleton was completely dissolved, yet the box remained perfectly intact.
“This box is probably the most valuable thing in this whole mortuary.”
Saul patted the sturdy container, tempted to pry off a piece for research.
“Hm?” He suddenly noticed a small gray-white stone at the bottom of the box.
Using tongs, he carefully picked it up and placed it in a test tube.
He had expected the stone to be hardened from the dissolution process, but instead, it had a rubbery texture, like cow tendon.
Saul labeled the test tube and recorded the refining process that led to its formation.
This could come in handy someday.
For now, it was an extremely effective way to dispose of corpses—like something straight out of his past life’s novels.
Over the next few days, Saul ran several tests. The "plastic bone" (as he named it) was fireproof, waterproof, acid-resistant, and even impervious to regular blades.
If used correctly, could it be turned into some sort of armor?
As he idly prodded the stone with a steel needle, Sol let his thoughts drift.
The Next Day—Public Class
Keli slammed a book down beside Sol and sat down with big news.
“That new apprentice you asked about yesterday… he’s dead!”
“Dead? But he just got here.”
Saul curled his toes inside his shoes, struggling to keep his expression neutral.
“Yeah, must’ve offended someone. He didn’t even meet his mentor before dying.”
Keli sighed—whether for the dead apprentice or for herself, Saul couldn’t tell.
“My father warned me before I came here: forget your past identity, forget your pride. Until you become a second-rank apprentice, act like a lowly nobody.”
Saul looked away, his gaze falling on the Noah script in front of him.
Magical script wasn’t a normal language—it didn’t include everyday nouns or verbs. Its entire vocabulary existed solely to serve spells, elements, and spiritual power.
As a result, its word count was actually quite small.
In the past month, Saul had already memorized every single word in Noah script—something that would have been unimaginable before.
Yet, it hadn’t even been difficult for him.
In fact, most of his focus wasn’t even on this anymore.
But today, he found himself distracted.
When he had killed Brown two days ago, he had felt nothing. He thought his nerves had been hardened by the dangers of this world.
But now, hearing about the new apprentice’s death, he realized—he still felt guilt.
Expressionless, Saul mocked himself inwardly.
“I killed someone for my own benefit.”
“I… am no longer a good person.”
He closed his eyes, committing this feeling to memory.
But he did not regret it.
A Few Days Later—Back in the Mortuary
While continuing his experiments, a thought suddenly struck Sol.
The skeleton "guest" he had received earlier…
It was very likely that the bones belonged to that very same new apprentice.
All bodies that died under abnormal circumstances in the tower were first sent to the mortuary—to prevent ghosts from gathering and causing instability.
It was also an opportunity to harvest any valuable materials from corpses mutated by magic.
In fact, it was from that new apprentice’s bones that Saul had discovered the plastic bone refining method.
He had been using other guest’s bones to replicate it over the past few days.
But now, he had to stop.
Because he was out of materials.
And more importantly, he was out of money and credits.
“This isn’t sustainable.”
Saul rubbed his chin as he stood at his workbench.
“If I keep funding my experiments with just my salary, I’ll go bankrupt. I need more income.”
His research was something no other first-rank apprentices had even heard of.
And a normal first-rank apprentice’s earnings weren’t nearly enough to support long-term experimentation.
Recently, he had even cut back on submitting materials. Luckily, his mentor Kaz had never reprimanded him for it.
This emboldened him to act more aggressively.
But even so, his supplies were nearly exhausted.
“I don’t have anything valuable to sell… My Phantom Eye is a combat asset—I can’t give that up. The plastic bone will be my secret weapon, so I can’t leak it either.”
Then he thought of something.
His insights on rune studies—especially his Coordinate Method for Compound Runes.
If he sold this knowledge to wealthy first-rank apprentices, he might make a decent profit.
After all, even second-rank apprentice Byron had been interested in it.
The Coordinate Method was novel but not overly complex—it didn’t touch on deeper arcane principles.
He just needed to pick the right buyer—someone who wasn’t his competitor and had decent morals.
Keli was an option, but he had already squeezed her dry once. Who knew if she even had any credits left?
As for other first-rank apprentices… Saul hadn’t interacted with many.
And the ones he had? He didn’t want to deal with them.
“Wait!” His eyes lit up.
Why was he being stupid?
Byron was the perfect choice.
Wealthy, strong, about to leave the tower (so no conflicts of interest), and most importantly—a decent person.
With a quick greeting to Hayden next door, Saul happily skipped work to find Byron.
West Tower, 10th Floor
Saul stood on the slope leading to Room 1016.
He had been here before, and Byron’s room had never given him trouble.
The second-rank apprentices’ corridors were always quiet, especially during lab hours.
As Saul approached, he suddenly realized—Byron might not even be home at this time.
Just as he was debating his next move, a nearby door abruptly swung open.
Mark stepped out.
“Saul? Were you looking for me?” Mark asked, surprised to see him.
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