Chapter 157: The Soul-Guiding Oil Lamp
Saul slowly clenched his teeth.
The cold truth made his breath feel heavy and constrained. Yet, deep inside, a voice told him that this was how the world was always meant to be.
Vini seemed unsatisfied with the level of impact the truth had on Saul. She leaned in closer, her shadow extending toward him, stopping near his ear.
A soft voice whispered, "Do you know how many years Gorsa has been stuck at the peak of the Second Tier?"
"If you don’t understand what that means, let me give you an example. Do you know why Second-Tier apprentices who fail to reach the Third Tier by the age of thirty are expelled from the tower?"
"Why does the Wizard Tower let them leave instead of squeezing them dry until they die?"
"Because those who remain at the peak of their level for too long are continuously exposed to contamination from the unknown forces above. If those Second-Tier apprentices stay in the tower, they will inevitably be corrupted and turn into monsters. You work in the corpse room—you should know that contaminated things always end up in the landfill. Even someone as powerful as Gorsa wouldn’t dare take that risk."
Saul faintly felt a sweet scent brush against his face, but after the sweetness came an intense bitterness.
Vinnie continued, "Tell me, doesn’t Gorsa seem more and more like a monster to you?"
Saul couldn't hold back anymore. He staggered back, his spine hitting the desk. Pain and fear made him gasp for breath.
"Hah... hah..."
A horrifying thought struck him—if the Tower Master had turned into a monster, how many people in this wizard tower would still be alive?
As Saul was trapped in the terrifying future Vini had described, a gentle voice suddenly echoed from the doorway.
"Yura, don’t scare Saul."
Both Saul and Vini turned their heads and saw Gorsa, draped in a red-brown cloak, walking calmly through the corpses.
As Gorsa passed, the corpses automatically shifted aside, making way for him, then closed back together after he walked through.
When he reached Saul and Vini, Gorsa spread his arms and lifted his cloak, revealing a body wrapped in pink bandages.
"Come back."
Vini’s shadow remained motionless.
But Gorsa was patient. He spoke again, "Come back... be good."
Vini finally glanced at Saul. Her crimson eyes betrayed no emotion.
She stepped forward, spread her arms, and embraced Gorsa. Then, like raindrops merging into a lake, she dissolved into his body and disappeared.
Saul snapped back to reality. As Vini disappeared, she turned to look at him one last time, and for a fleeting moment, he thought he saw a cold yet beautiful woman’s face.
Gorsa retracted his hands, his wide cloak fluttering, once again concealing his entire body.
Lowering his head slightly, he said softly to Saul, "You don’t need to dwell on what Yura said, especially about resurrection. When you reach the Third Tier, I will explain everything to you."
Saul took a step forward. "Tower Master, was that spirit really Lady Yura?"
Gorsa nodded. "It was her."
He chuckled softly. "Did she tell you she’s just a replica and call herself Vini?"
Saul hesitated. He didn’t know how much Gorsa had overheard, but there was no point in hiding it—after all, Vini had just been absorbed into him.
So, he nodded.
"She always does this. When she’s happy, she calls herself Yura. When she’s not, she calls herself Vini." Gorsa’s eyes curved into a smile, but his expression quickly darkened. "I’ve done my best to preserve her consciousness, but when supplementing Yura’s soul energy, some external contamination inevitably occurred. It has affected her perception."
"For now, there’s nothing I can do. Consciousness is even more fragile than a soul. Sometimes, even the smallest external shock or a shift in one’s own thoughts can cause severe damage, pushing the consciousness from one extreme to another."
From under his cloak, Gorsa extended his right hand, holding a small, rusted oil lamp with a shallow layer of oil inside.
"The body is the foundation of the soul. Don’t play around with soul separation for no reason."
Saul stiffened, then reached out and took the oil lamp.
It was small enough to fit comfortably in his palm. The wick was just a tiny thread, burning with a steady flame.
Did the Tower Master know he had left his body before? Or had Vini told him?
"I don’t even know why I suddenly left my body last night," Saul explained, trying to show that it wasn’t intentional. "It scared me, but luckily, I managed to return."
"Carry this Soul-Guiding Oil Lamp with you," Gorsa instructed. "Drip a few drops of your blood and saliva into the lamp oil. If your soul separates from your body again, it will help guide you back."
Saul tightened his grip on the lamp. So, the Tower Master believed this would happen again?
"Thank you. But... do you know why this is happening to me?"
"You already have a theory, don’t you? Go confirm it instead of listening to others."
Gorsa’s gaze softened into a faint smile. "If you really want to thank me, then grow stronger. At the very least, reach the Third Tier—only then can you be of use to me."
Saul immediately nodded. "Yes, Tower Master! I will do my best!"
Gorsa smiled again—and then, in an instant, he vanished.
The large storage room was finally empty, leaving Saul as the only living person there.
Without the threat of a lingering spirit, he no longer needed help.
Clutching the Soul-Guiding Oil Lamp, Saul walked back to his desk and sat down.
He rested his head on his arms, his face hidden. No one could see his expression.
By three o’clock in the afternoon, Saul had finished moving all his experimental materials from the second floor corpse room of the East Tower to the first-floor storage room.
During lunch, he sought out Senior Byron, intending to transfer the contribution points he had earned from trading the Wind Sail Ship as a repayment for saving his life.
As expected, Senior Byron did not refuse and directly accepted Saul’s gratitude.
"When did you return?" Byron asked while calculating his share, returning some extra points to Saul.
"Actually, I got back yesterday," Saul said with a wry smile.
Byron glanced at Saul, assuming he had been with the Tower Master since returning, so he didn’t ask further.
"What do you plan to do about Wright?"
Saul understood what Byron meant and smiled. "Honestly, what he did was normal in the wizarding world. It was actually you coming back to find me that really surprised me."
"I only acted because I was confident," Byron said indifferently. "If you had died, I would have fled immediately, and I wouldn’t have avenged you."
Saul shook his head. "Senior, do you really not care about saving my life?"
"I only assisted a little. You survived on your own. As for gratitude..." Byron raised the ledger in his hand. "This covers it."
Saul smiled. No need to dwell on favors.
"By the way, where does Senior Wright live?"
Byron glanced at Saul’s seemingly innocent smile and sighed internally, silently mourning for Wright. Without hesitation, he provided Wright’s dormitory number and his usual laboratory locations.
The information was highly detailed.
But Saul didn’t immediately go after Wright. There was no rush.
Instead, he took advantage of his time to relocate.
His neighbor, Keli, hadn’t returned yet.
A little disappointing, but it was normal for missions to take time. Not everyone returned in just a few days like he had.
With no time to rest, Saul exchanged some necessary supplies and returned to the second storage room.
…
While Saul was busy, news that he had taken over as the warehouse administrator—a position previously held by a Third-Tier apprentice—had already spread among the senior apprentices.
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