Chapter 56: The Temperamental Mentor
He had been focusing on Saul's potion just moments ago, but when he glanced up, he suddenly noticed that something seemed off about Saul’s left hand.
Saul raised his left hand and rolled up his sleeve to his elbow, revealing a dark gray hand and a forearm tinged with a lighter gray hue.
Kaz immediately grabbed Saul’s left hand, muttered a series of incantations under his breath, and then, his eyes emitted a burst of intense light.
The light vanished in an instant.
Yet Saul felt an unsettling sense of exposure, as if he had been stripped bare and scrutinized completely.
“Dead man’s bone, heartgrass, sulfuric liquid... and some other peculiar materials…”
Kaz slowly let go of Saul’s hand. When he looked at Saul again, his expression was incomparably complex.
“You actually managed to develop a completely new body-modification plan tailored to your own condition,” Kaz remarked, his tone a mix of admiration and alarm. “How do you dare to do something like this? Are you not afraid of dying?”
Saul had already prepared an answer.
“I am afraid. But aside from this, I had no other way to ensure that my magic power reached 10 joules before the assessment,” Saul said solemnly, lowering his gaze to his left hand. “I figured, since my left hand was already in this state, even if the experiment failed, at worst, I’d just lose the whole hand.”
Kaz snorted. “Hmph, you think that if the experiment fails, simply cutting off your left hand will save you?”
Then, as if suddenly recalling something, he furrowed his brows. “Why do you need to reach 10 joules of magic power?”
Before Saul could give an exasperated reply, Kaz remembered the requirement he had casually set when he had initially dismissed Saul.
“Ahem,” Kaz coughed awkwardly. He couldn’t admit that he had forgotten about it entirely, so he hastily amended his words. “Even if your magic power doesn’t reach 10 joules by then, as long as I see that you’ve put in effort and made progress, I wouldn’t be unreasonable.”
Brushing aside the life-threatening risk Saul had undertaken, Kaz turned his focus to another matter. “What abilities does your modified arm possess? Have you conducted any tests?”
Saul retracted his hand, unsure whether to feel relieved or disappointed.
“After the initial modifications, my magic power has increased significantly—it has now stabilized at 13 joules. My mental strength has also improved slightly. Additionally, my left hand can resist ordinary physical attacks and a certain degree of magical damage. But as for the exact limits... I haven’t dared to test further.”
Kaz listened intently while stroking his chin. He stole a glance at Saul’s eyes.
This young apprentice was clearly inexperienced—he had no idea just how valuable his body-modification plan could be to other apprentices.
No, Kaz couldn’t let this kid get too full of himself.
“But your plan likely has a major flaw,” Kaz said as he circled around Saul. “The sudden surge in magic power from the modifications could overwhelm your mental state, pushing you to the brink of cognitive collapse. A first-tier apprentice like you would struggle to handle it—either you’ll explode with a bang, go insane with a hum, or…”
Kaz stopped directly behind Saul, his voice abruptly turning icy, like the depths of the sea on a winter’s night.
The temperature in the morgue plummeted.
Saul exhaled, only to see his breath crystallize into frost in the air.
He felt like he was freezing to death.
The air thickened; even the oxygen entering his lungs felt like blocks of ice.
Kaz slowly extended a hand and pressed it onto Saul’s head.
“…Or let me ask another way—are you still Saul?”
A palpable killing intent bore down on Saul, as if the grim reaper’s scythe was already at his neck.
If he hesitated even for a second, his head would surely be severed.
Saul forced his lips apart, desperately pushing out a response. A metallic taste flooded his mouth.
“Yes!”
Kaz withdrew his hand.
The temperature in the room gradually rose.
All of Saul’s discomfort vanished. There was no blood in his mouth.
It was as if nothing had happened.
“Good,” Kaz said, stepping back in front of Saul.
The terrifying experience Saul had just endured was, in reality, nothing more than a verification spell cast by Kaz.
“Your mental state hasn’t deteriorated into disorder. It seems you were lucky enough to survive the potential collapse of your cognitive structure. But luck won’t always be on your side. Next time, don’t recklessly experiment on yourself,” Kaz warned.
“Yes, Mentor,” Saul replied, lowering his gaze.
He had thought Kaz might offer to buy his modification plan or at least try to obtain it through some combination of guidance and coercion.
But unexpectedly, Kaz seemed disinterested. He had instantly identified most of Saul’s experimental materials and had even pointed out the plan’s biggest flaw.
It seemed that a body-modification technique valuable to second-tier apprentices like Byron was still beneath the notice of true wizard.
That was a relief.
Saul exhaled in quiet relief. “At least I don’t have to worry about the mentors forcefully taking my modification plan.”
“Mentor Kaz,” Saul spoke again. Although he still felt uneasy from the earlier experience, he knew he had to seize the opportunity to ask now—who knew when Kaz would appear again?
“I saw in the rulebook that at least a second-tier apprentice is required to apply for live experiments. Based on my current abilities, do you think I could apply early?”
Kaz nodded. “You do have talent in this field. Restricting you with rigid rules would only be a hindrance. It seems you’ve studied The Guide to Corpse Refinement quite extensively. In that case…”
Kaz’s voice suddenly trailed off.
Ten seconds passed, yet he said nothing more.
Saul couldn’t help but look up, only to see Kaz standing there with his mouth slightly open, as if someone had pressed a pause button on him.
“Mentor?” Saul cautiously asked, shifting his weight slightly, ready to retreat.
He was afraid Kaz was about to explode.
“Ah!” Kaz suddenly snapped out of it. His eyes widened in fury. “Live experiments? Ha! Did you even read The Guide to Corpse Refinement properly? You think I gave you that book just to make you obsess over dead bodies?”
Just moments ago, his mentor had been pleased. Now he had flipped into a furious rage.
Was everyone here suffering from some kind of split personality disorder?
Saul quickly bowed his head and admitted his mistake, not daring to argue back. He could only vent his frustrations internally.
“The book is literally called The Guide to Corpse Refinement! If it’s not about working with dead bodies, what else would it be about?!”
“You’ve been in the morgue for so long and seen so many corrupted corpses and mutated materials, yet all you can think about is the surface-level application?”
Kaz spat his words, his fingers rapping loudly against the table.
Saul furrowed his brows in confusion.
Hadn’t he taken this job in the morgue just to fill a vacant role? Did Kaz have some other expectation?
Seeing Saul still failing to grasp his point, Kaz scowled. “You idiot! What did I praise you for before? You have a rare soul talent! A soul talent!”
Kaz berated him mercilessly for wasting his talent before storming off in anger.
Saul was left alone, completely baffled.
What did "neglecting his proper duties" even mean?
"I've always submitted my materials on time. Sure, I’ve secretly kept quite a few, but the amount I turned in definitely met the passing standard. How does that count as neglecting my duties?"
What did "wasting his talent" mean?
"Didn’t the mentor himself say that I have great talent in examining alienation and contamination? How exactly am I wasting it?
Soul talent?
"The mentor did praise my high soul talent, but right after that, he also said my dark attribute perception was low, and having such a high soul talent only increased my chances of seeing ghosts. Does he think I haven’t seen enough ghosts yet?"
Because Kaz had changed his expression multiple times, Saul had originally wanted to ask him about why Tier-0 witchcraft had different effects on ordinary people and wizard apprentices. But in the end, he completely forgot about it.
Now, he didn’t even feel like continuing his experiments. He could only sit blankly on the long bench, lost in thought, trying to figure out the deeper meaning behind Kaz’s words.
He remained motionless like that until the candle on the teleportation platform suddenly flared to life with a "hiss," reminding him that it was time to get to work.
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