Chapter 44: First Collaboration

Saul’s steps halted abruptly as he stopped in front of Mark.

He wasn’t particularly keen on letting Mark know that he was acquainted with Byron.

“Senior, I wanted to ask if there are any other ways to earn academic credits.”

“You’re short on credits?” Mark found it odd. A new apprentice wouldn’t typically have many expenses requiring credits.

But he quickly recalled that Saul was researching sorcerous body modification—a field that was nothing short of a bottomless pit when it came to investment.

“Come inside.”

Mark stepped aside to open the door.

Mark’s dormitory had the same structure as Kongsha’s, but inside, it was a complete mess, with the floor covered in various unknown objects.

Only the long table had a small cleared-out space, but there was only one chair.

Mark casually sat on the chair and used his foot to push a crate toward Saul, motioning for him to sit on it.

“With your current job, earning more credits is actually quite easy.”

Saul obediently looked up at Mark.

“Have you heard of the Mutual Aid Society?”

Saul’s heart skipped a beat, but he feigned recollection. “I heard some of my batchmates mention it, but I was too busy at the time and never went.”

Then, he cautiously asked, “Senior… are you also part of the Mutual Aid Society?”

Mark waved his hand dismissively. “I’m not. That so-called Mutual Aid Society is just a small group run by a third-level apprentice with a few second-level apprentices. But the ones managing it on the surface are all second-level apprentices.”

Mark’s lips curled into his familiar mocking smile. “They call it ‘mutual aid,’ but when newcomers join, they’re basically just getting exploited.”

“However, the Mutual Aid Society has set up some interesting things, like an exchange market. Their goods are cheaper than those in the Academy’s registry. Someone like you, if you have items to sell, can go there to make some money.”

“Items to sell?” Saul asked tentatively. “Are you saying I should sell things from the morgue? But… isn’t that against the rules?”

“You’re a newcomer, so of course, you lack the means to do it yourself. But you can set a clear price and let those interested figure out how to take the goods away themselves.”

Saul hesitated over the proposal.

He had been considering checking out the exchange market, but the parasite that attacked Keli last time was a serious problem.

For seniors like Mark and Byron, visiting the exchange market might be safe, but for a newcomer like him, he was likely to be targeted.

It would be ideal if participation in the exchange market could be anonymous.

But then again, the number of apprentices in the Wizard Tower was limited. Even if everyone wore masks, it wouldn’t be hard to guess who was who.

If someone reported this to Mentor Kaz… well, some things were fine to do in secret, but not openly.

“Thanks, Senior. I’ll think about it carefully.”

Mark noticed Saul’s concern and reassured him, “You don’t have to worry too much. The last person who had your job was selling things at the exchange market all the time. And the people who bought from him, hoping for future cooperation, naturally helped keep his secret.”

Saul asked with some hope, “Senior, do you need anything?”

Mark rolled his eyes.

“You think you have anything I’d need?”

Saul thought he might, but there was no need to reveal it to Mark just yet.

After leaving Mark’s dorm, Saul returned straight to the second floor of the East Tower.

Visiting Byron would have to wait.

Instead, he planned to slip a note under Byron’s door, requesting a private meeting on the second floor of the East Tower.

Hopefully, Byron would be interested in the composite rune construction model he had developed.

Compared to the exchange market, which was full of hidden dangers, Byron was a much more reliable option.

Two days passed, but Byron never showed up. Even though Saul had already slipped the note into his dormitory.

“Did he already leave?”

Saul had completely run out of alchemical materials. He had a few pieces of “plastic bone” in hand, but his sorcerous body modification research had yet to make any substantial progress.

With his free time, he had successfully mastered the 0th-tier sorcery spell—Smite Undead.

If Byron had truly left the Wizard Tower, Saul would rather resort to stealing materials from the morgue than trade his knowledge with unfamiliar strangers.

Just then, the morgue’s door was suddenly knocked upon.

Saul was surprised. Professor Kaz had just visited yesterday, and normally, he wouldn’t return for another four or five days.

Who could it be now?

Saul opened the door, only to find the cold and aloof senior who had taken over Byron’s job.

As usual, she held her chin high while looking down at him.

“Come with me. I need your help.”

With that, she turned and walked away, as if certain that Saul would follow.

Saul hesitated for half a second before shutting the door and trailing after her.

It was his first time entering the First Morgue.

As soon as he stepped inside, the sight before him stunned him.

This place was completely different from his own morgue.

Or rather, it didn’t look like a morgue at all.

It resembled a ritual chamber more than anything else.

The ceiling and walls were covered in black patterns, interwoven with runes of varying sizes.

The floor was littered with candles of different heights—some burning, some extinguished—arranged in intricate formations.

At the center of the room stood three stone coffins, all of which were wide open, revealing three corpses standing upright inside.

Seeing corpses in a morgue was nothing unusual.

But these three bodies gave Saul an unsettling feeling.

They stood there without any visible restraints. If not for the obvious fatal wounds on their bodies, one might have mistaken them for living people with their eyes closed.

“These three were delivered today,” the senior apprentice said, arms crossed at the entrance. “But there’s a problem. The second-level apprentice in the middle…”

She pointed at the body with a deep gash running from its shoulder to its chest.

“…he brought an evil spirit with him. If I don’t get rid of it, none of these bodies can be used for materials.”

“But the spirit is cunning. Every time I try to kill it, it immediately jumps into another corpse. And once I switch targets, I have to start my spell all over again.”

An evil spirit?

Saul wondered whether his newly learned Smite Undead spell would work.

But on the surface, he said, “Senior, I don’t really have any means to deal with an evil spirit…”

“Of course, I know that,” she sneered. “I just need you to track its position for me at the critical moment so it doesn’t escape again. It’s a pain.”

She tossed something at Saul.

Saul caught it and looked down—it was a soft, flexible piece of leather.

The material was smooth and pale, warm to the touch, and carried a faint floral scent.

Two small holes had been punched into the middle, spaced about half a palm-width apart.

No runes or formations were drawn on it.

“Put this mask on your face and sit inside the rune formation in the corner. You’ll be able to see where the evil spirit is hiding. Hurry up and get to it,” she ordered impatiently.

“Senior, I…”

She cut him off again. “I get it, you want payment. Fine. Once the evil spirit is dealt with, you can take one of the two first-level apprentice corpses. I’ll record that we only received one first-level and one second-level corpse today.”

An entire corpse?!

Saul had always thought sneaking a few materials was already quite bold.

Yet this second-level apprentice was handing over a whole body without a second thought.

The corpses sent to the morgue were always abnormal in some way, preventing a standard burial. But properly processed, those abnormalities became valuable dark-attribute materials.

This was an extremely lucrative offer.

All Saul had to do was track the evil spirit’s position?

But… was it really that simple? Would the evil spirit attack him?

“Senior, may I ask… why did you come to me instead of Hayden?”

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