InkQuillWrites

"Who brought them back?" Saul asked in surprise. Both of these people had died in Hanging Valley, at the hands of the vengeful spirit, Morton. At that time, they were in a hurry to escape due to pursuers behind them, and they hadn’t had time to collect the bodies. He never expected to see them again. "Probably Mochi Mochi. He lives in the Black Fortress Forest at the border. When you go out in the future, you can rest at his place." Mochi Mochi was that unusually tall and thin man who also lived in a long and narrow dwelling. Saul hadn’t expected that he could retrieve the bodies from such a dangerous place like Hanging Valley. However, these two corpses looked slightly different from when they were alive. It wasn't due to livor mortis, giantism, or other typical postmortem changes, but rather a subtle transformation. Herman’s skin had become rough. Looking closer, it wasn’t that his skin had merely turned coarse, but that it was covered in numerous tiny pores. ...

After revealing her identity, Kongsha didn’t speak immediately. Her crimson lips were tightly pressed together, the edges turning a sickly pale due to excessive force. "Saul, I’ve waited ten days for you. I already know your answer, but I still want to ask again," she finally said after a long silence, her tone filled with helpless compromise. "What will it take for you to help me this time?" Saul was stunned—only now did he remember the agreement he had made with Kongsha. "Let’s talk inside first," Saul said, pointing to a nearby room—his dormitory. Clearly, Kongsha had been waiting here on purpose. Without hesitation, she followed him inside. The dormitory remained as disorganized as ever. Large crates were piled up against the walls, and all Saul had to do was reseal them to move out again. Kongsha glanced over the crates, then turned back and murmured, "Are you so confident you’ll advance to a third-level apprentice soon that you don’t even bother...

Saul was left standing alone in the corridor. He glanced around. There were several white doors lining the hallway, likely leading to rooms containing dangerous materials. At the end of the library corridor, a familiar ramp came into view. "This should be one of the Tower Master's exclusive floors, though I'm not sure exactly which one." The 18th to 21st floors of the Wizard Tower belonged to the Tower Master. No one else was allowed to live or conduct research there. There were no signs or labels indicating the tower’s floor numbers, which was rather inconvenient. Saul had gained preliminary approval from Gorsa to access the books here, but true recognition required passing a series of trials. The dangerous mission at the end of May was just one of them—and it wouldn't be the last. "If I manage to pass all these tests and make it to the end… what will be waiting for me?" Eula, the horde of corpses, Mentor Kaz, Mentor Rum, Kongsha... Their faces flashed ...

“That book has a problem?” Saul asked in surprise. “No,” Gorsa’s voice remained gentle. “It’s just that this book is useless to you.” Saul tightened his grip on the only book left in his hands. Logically, he should have handed the second book over to the Tower Master at this moment, but for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. That loud sound just now felt like it had struck his heart. With the Tower Master’s arrival, the faint conversations outside the library also disappeared. “Don’t be afraid.” The Tower Master winked at Saul. His hand emerged from beneath his cloak again, revealing a partially burned red candle standing upright in his palm. “Did you make this?” Saul was stunned. Wasn’t this the red candle that had been swallowed by the bronze door? Could it be that behind the bronze door was the place where the Tower Master resided? “Yes, I used a bit of wax from the storeroom, about the size of a fingernail. The rest of the materials were my own.” Since he had been dis...

Complaining to these corpses was pointless. Saul hadn't broken any taboos, so the corpses couldn't harm him. But if he did, they wouldn’t hesitate to tear him apart. After working on the corpses until midnight, Saul made sure to report to Katz the next morning. He briefly mentioned his private transaction, only saying that after he accidentally pushed open two doors, the senior beside him was grabbed by noodle-like arms and dragged inside. That person had yet to reappear. As expected, Mentor Katz didn’t ask for details. He simply said, “Got it,” in a flat tone. Two days later, Saul arrived at the tenth floor of the East Tower’s library, carrying two borrowed books on malevolent spirits. Of the two books, only the first one recorded a story related to the Nightmare Butterfly. However, the information was vague. All Saul learned was that the Nightmare Butterfly was terrifying, could distort people's perception, and could be captured—nothing more. Additionally, the identity of...

Seeing Ferguson take another step forward, with killing intent now visible in his eyes, Saul quickly turned back and pushed the bronze door open a crack. “Senior, no need to get angry. I still need to study this candle a bit more—wouldn’t want to cause trouble for either of us. Besides, even if this deal falls through, we can still discuss other materials, right?” The enraged Ferguson suddenly calmed down. The candle’s unexpected function had distracted him from his original purpose. The candle was merely bait to control Saul. What he truly needed to stay alive was still inside the second warehouse. “Then give me back the magic crystals!” Ferguson extended his hand with a cold expression. “Sure, I’ll go get them right now.” Saul smiled, turned his head… and then froze completely. Ferguson saw that Saul had agreed verbally but remained standing still, and a wave of irritation surged through him again. Five hundred magic crystals wasn’t enough to bankrupt a Level-3 apprentice, but it was...

Saul was actually more anxious than Ferguson. He had experienced a scene of being surrounded by corpses before and knew that as long as no taboos were violated, there was generally no danger. What unsettled him was how these corpses had managed to reach the warehouse entrance. Had the warehouse's taboos failed, or had he made a mistake in his work? Before figuring out the truth, he decided to stay still if the enemy did not move. Saul pretended to be just another corpse among the crowd, silently watching Ferguson. Little did Saul know, in those brief seconds, Ferguson had gone through hell. Ferguson had just been about to escape with the red candle when suddenly, a massive axe descended from above, cleaving his head in two. The next moment, he found himself back in the dark corridor, standing once more. He realized that everything just now had been an illusion. Before he could react, the ground beneath him turned into a swamp. No matter how he struggled, he couldn't escape. In ...

"Soul, existing independently? Isn't that just a ghost?" Saul thought of the various strange phenomena he had seen in the wizard tower. "Of course not in that form! I mean a complete, independent, conscious spirit—not a fractured entity that mutates into madness, tainted by the unknown," Vinnie said, growing somewhat excited. But as she gazed at the red candle, her head slowly tilted downward again. "They argued for a long time, neither able to convince the other. So Gorsa took Eula away. Ha, the Kema Principality was so pleased that they immediately announced to the public that the two were married." "And what stance did the Tower Master and Lady Yura take on the matter?" Vinnie did not answer immediately. The red candle had already burned down by a third, its white flame unusually steady. "They did eventually become husband and wife. But one day, when Yura woke up, she found herself restrained inside a dimly lit laboratory. And Gorsa.....

Chapter 173: Imitation So Good It Kills the Original No sooner said than done. Saul inflicted a fourth wound on himself to collect a little blood and muscle tissue. Then, he prepared the basic materials for making a candle, added the accompanying flower juice, his flesh and blood, and a small piece cut from the original candle to craft a brand new one. This new candle looked very similar to the ones on the candelabra, but due to the added flesh and blood, it turned red instead of white. "I diluted it as much as I could, and it's still this red. Should I extract serum instead, or maybe use some other colorless tissue?" Although the color of the first product was off, Saul decided to test it anyway. He fixed the candle onto the table and tossed a small fireball at the wick. But the flame floated over the wick without igniting it. "Is there something wrong with the material, making it less flammable? Wait a minute!" Saul then pulled out a lighting device, took a fe...

The pipeline behind the candlestick made Saul’s hair stand on end, but it didn’t deter his determination to continue experimenting. Although Ferguson wanted to harm him, the conditions he offered were truly tempting. Saul lacked magic crystals, academic credits, and rare experimental materials. On top of that, he had quite a few troubles to deal with. Solving those problems required in-depth research, which meant another huge expense. Since Ferguson and Kujin wanted to set him up with a sugar-coated bullet, why couldn’t Saul swallow the sugar coating and throw the bullet back at them? He had no idea what true candles were really worth, but he figured he could create a counterfeit. After all, Ferguson only wanted to use the candle as leverage against him, not for actual use. As long as it looked convincing enough, it would work. Of course, “convincing” had to be high quality—if it was obviously fake, there would be no sugar coating to enjoy. Without hesitation, Saul began replicating th...

The sudden silence lasted for a long time. Seeing that Kongsha remained silent, Saul grew anxious. His eyes were still wrapped in bandages. "It seems my concerns were unnecessary," Kongsha finally spoke, but she hesitated to give Saul any direct advice. Instead, she phrased it more tactfully, "If you're interested in methods to strengthen your spiritual power, I can take you somewhere. There, you will surely find a suitable Locator." "Locator..." Saul already had the diary, but he had yet to figure out how to turn it into his personal Locator. If he could study other Locator methods, it might broaden his understanding. "Kongsha, Locators aren’t easy to find, right? Is the place you’re talking about especially dangerous?" "Yes! But only in dangerous places can powerful Locators be found. Saul, you are indeed… outstanding right now, but if you want to continue on the path of a wizard, you can't be satisfied with your current achievemen...

Saul pushed open the door and saw Kujin leaning against the opposite corridor wall. The man silently observed Saul, his figure appearing less imposing than usual. He didn’t ask about Saul’s negotiations with Ferguson, as if he had no interest in the matter. Since Kujin pretended to be an outsider, Saul played along, nodding at him before leaving. He had deliberately scheduled the meeting for two o’clock to avoid being held up, but he still didn’t make it back to the warehouse before three. On the only route leading to the corpse chamber on the second floor of the East Tower, a figure cloaked from head to toe stood in the middle of the corridor, waiting for him. Wizards really loved wearing these oversized cloaks that concealed their entire bodies. Saul had seen both Tower Master Gorsa and Haywood wear them. Wizards traveling outside especially favored these cloaks, shielding themselves from prying eyes while hiding their often abnormal appearances. Saul stopped five meters away from th...