Chapter 93: Birthday Gift
Saul picked up a pair of black gloves from the long table in the morgue.
These gloves were custom-made, fitting snugly against the skin. They were thin enough to not interfere with handling objects while also being resistant to dirt, water, and fire—well worth the custom price.
Most importantly, they did not affect spellcasting.
The only downside was that they were a hassle to put on.
Such form-fitting gloves were always tricky to wear.
Saul started with his left hand.
The interior of the gloves was quite dry, making it difficult to slide them on smoothly.
At that moment, a long, thin black tendril extended from the back of Saul’s neck, skillfully pulling open the glove’s edge to help him wear it properly.
“Thanks, Little Algae.”
The slightly eerie tendril belonged to a part of the Soul-Devouring, which Saul had accidentally brought back from the abandoned laboratory beneath the Wizard Tower’s garden.
After multiple confirmations and research, Saul was fairly certain that this little tendril was not particularly dangerous.
Especially since he could easily remove it from the back of his neck with a simple tug, leaving no wounds behind.
It was clearly not parasitic.
After helping Saul put on the gloves, Algae obediently retracted itself.
Saul had named the tendril Little Algae because, unlike the massive, terrifying, and aggressive black tentacles in the original swamp, it more closely resembled the conscious core of the Soul Devouring Swamp.
That core had looked like a ball of seaweed, so Saul had simplified its name to Little Algae
Algae was sometimes clueless and sometimes surprisingly clever. It had always followed Saul, but it never revealed itself in front of others.
Neither his mentor nor his senior peers had noticed anything strange about it—or if they did, they merely assumed it was some research material Saul carried around. No one questioned it.
The morgue’s environment was somewhat similar to Algae's original habitat. After spending a few days around Saul, it had even grown fatter.
Now, with the gloves and the runic array inscribed on his bones to resist electric fields, Saul no longer had to worry about Monica’s stray electrical currents during class.
Just as Saul was putting his things away, a rhythmic “bang, bang, bang” sounded from the door.
Before he could answer, a familiar voice called out from outside.
“Open up, open up, it's your birthday!”
Keli’s voice was as flat as ever, as if she were saying, “Open up, open up, water inspection.”
When Saul opened the door, he saw Keli standing there, holding a square box.
“Happy birthday.”
The box looked suspiciously familiar. Saul turned back and saw a row of identical little boxes on his worktable.
Feeling somewhat speechless, he turned back, took the box from Keli, and invited her inside.
Birthday celebrations didn’t seem to be a common custom in this world—at least, not among wizard apprentices.
Saul had once accidentally learned Keli’s birth date and had casually given her an experimental potion he had created using his diary’s guidance.
He had made many such experimental potions while exploring wizard body modifications, but most of them were either useless or outright harmful.
This particular Prototype No. 1 potion could purify certain impurities from metal, making it much stronger.
Since Keli specialized in metal-based magic, Saul figured she might find it useful, so he gifted it to her.
Unexpectedly, Keli had been deeply moved. She had never received a gift purely for the sake of celebrating her birthday before.
She then asked for Saul’s birth date and had since made a habit of celebrating his birthday every year.
Last year, Keli had gifted Saul the runic array inscribed on his bones to resist electric fields—a rather expensive present.
“Is it valuable?” Saul asked casually as he set the box on the table and began unwrapping it.
“Do I ever give anything that isn’t valuable?” Keli crossed her arms, clearly eager to see his reaction.
Saul finally unwrapped the heavily packaged box.
Inside was a cotton cloth. He lifted it to reveal a small, blue fruit about the size of a thumb.
“This is…” At first, Saul simply found it familiar. Then he remembered. “Is this a Companion Flower Fruit?”
“Yes.” Keli nodded firmly.
“And it’s the kind that increases magic power?” Magic power had always been Saul’s Achilles’ heel.
Especially after reaching 45 joules, his magic power had once again hit a bottleneck.
A single blue fruit from a Companion Flower could increase magic power by at least 1 joule.
Unfortunately, cultivating these fruits was unpredictable, and obtaining a Companion Flower was already difficult for apprentices like them.
The first Companion Flower Saul had acquired had produced a blue fruit.
Later, he managed to obtain two more Companion Flowers through work and exchanges, but neither ever bore a white fruit.
“These past two years, your birthday gifts have been too timely. Looks like I’ll have to prepare something even better next time.”
Keli nodded enthusiastically. She was never shy about receiving gifts.
“If you can, get me some particularly unique toxins.”
“Toxins? Why? Aren’t you focused on metal magic?” Saul was surprised—he had never heard Keli express interest in poisons before.
“Well, my mentor specializes in poison magic, so many of his research projects involve toxic reactions.” Keli shrugged.
It seemed that advancing to a second-level apprentice meant she could now participate in her mentor’s research projects.
In contrast, Saul mainly assisted Mentor Rum and Senior Nick with simple experiments and worked in the morgue.
Even so, other apprentices envied his situation.
“Anyway, forget about that for now. I actually made a birthday cake this time! Let’s go back to the dorm and eat it together—”
“No… Let’s not.”
“I swear it’s better than last year’s.”
“No way! I have experiments to do. I can’t spend another night in the washroom.”
“It won’t be that bad!” Keli moved behind him and started pushing him forward. “This time, the ingredients are fresh!”
Saul didn’t want to use force, so he struggled to resist.
At that moment—
“Sorry, I wasn’t eavesdropping, but… what’s a birthday cake? A new kind of poison?”
Nick emerged from the morgue’s crimson doors, raising a hand in greeting.
With someone else present, Keli immediately withdrew her hands and regained her usual cold demeanor.
“Uh, good afternoon, Senior Nick.” Saul adjusted his collar. “A birthday cake is a food used to celebrate birth anniversaries.”
“Your homeland has a tradition of giving gifts on birthdays?” Nick walked up and held out a folded letter. “Well, that works out. I have some good news here—consider it a gift.”
Saul took the letter from Nick’s fingers, unfolded it, and began reading.
His expression gradually shifted from curiosity to surprise and disbelief.
Looking up, he asked, “Senior Byron says he’s inviting us to go outside on a mission… What does that mean?”
Nick replied calmly, “Exactly what it says. As long as the mentors approve, an invitation from a third-level apprentice allows even first-level apprentices to take on outside missions. And the mentors have never refused before.”
Then, Nick raised his hands and clapped twice.
“Congratulations—you’re getting out of here.”
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