Thor had successfully landed a job handling the third stage of work in the Corpse Room. The price was that the young maid had lost her throat.
Thor also got a leather coat from Kazi.
It was a bit stuffy to wear, but he no longer had to constantly watch out for splattering flesh and blood, and it was easy to clean.
Kazi had Thor report to the Corpse Room for work sometime between three and seven each day. But nothing from here could be taken outside, corpses included.
Thor no longer needed to go to the Laboratory. There was nothing he could do there, and nothing he could learn.
If he turned in more materials, he could receive extra rewards. Kazi felt that Thor's ability was worth more than the three credits he was being paid, so he had added a share of the profits to Thor's fixed pay to encourage him to work hard.
That was already an extremely generous wage for a Level 1 Apprentice.
Normally, new apprentices only became official Level 1 Apprentices after mastering all the basic knowledge.
Apart from earning a few credits by passing the monthly tests, they had to rely on work assigned by their mentors to earn more.
Although Gorsa Wizard Tower was vast, it had only a limited number of jobs suitable for apprentices.
Safer jobs generally paid one to three credits a month, while dangerous ones might pay four to seven.
Jobs that paid seven credits in particular meant that even experienced Level 1 Apprentices might die.
Without some way to protect themselves, ordinary people wouldn't dare take them.
Thor's job wasn't entirely without danger, either.
According to Mentor Kazi, by the time a corpse reached Thor, it had already gone through two rounds of screening.
The first, most dangerous round was handled by a Level 2 Apprentice, who did his best to eliminate any dangers associated with the corpse.
The second round was handled by a veteran Level 1 Apprentice who had mastered basic wizard knowledge and knew several Tier 0 Wizardries. He could protect himself and screen out most of the useful materials on a corpse.
Thor, thanks to his unusual knack for finding things on corpses and a bit of luck, had landed the third-round job.
The third round was less dangerous, but it paid less, too. Still, if Thor kept up the efficiency he'd shown today, earning six credits in a month wasn't impossible.
That was the importance of having a specialty.
Mentor Kazi couldn't understand it. Thor's Dark Element perception wasn't very strong; it didn't even meet the passing mark. So why was he so sensitive to abnormalities on the dead?
He could only attribute it to Thor being naturally sensitive to Spirit Bodies.
Low Dark Element perception but sensitivity to Spirit Bodies—in other words, he was prone to seeing ghosts.
Thor didn't understand why he could see all sorts of strange phenomena through Meditation, either. But it didn't matter if he didn't understand. He could still make use of it.
When he had time, he could ask Keli about it. Did different Meditation Diagrams have different effects? Was the speed of Meditation different, too?
As a newcomer, he still had a lot to figure out, and the mentors and seniors leading the way clearly weren't willing to share their knowledge for free.
With Mentor Kazi's guidance, Thor completed his first day's work smoothly and familiarized himself with the general layout of the third-floor Corpse Room.
Kazi was in high spirits after successfully finding a third worker, and even gave Thor some pointers.
He realized that Thor's mental talents really were excellent. He learned Runes quickly and accurately, and seemed to sink into Meditation with ease.
Thor had even shown a knack for learning languages while studying Noah Language.
With those abilities, he could make a name for himself in any ordinary profession.
But a wizard without an aptitude for Magic Power was like a weapon that couldn't kill. He could only become a plaything, used and controlled by others.
Unless he had some kind of fortuitous encounter, or waited for an opportunity to undergo Wizard Body Modification.
But even Level 2 Apprentices faced a high death rate during Wizard Body Modification. How likely was a Level 1 Apprentice to succeed?
The chances were so slim they were practically nonexistent.
Kazi's enthusiasm for teaching had come and gone quickly.
Before long, he left Thor alone in the Corpse Room and warned him to leave the second floor of the East Tower before eight that evening. Better yet, he shouldn't linger in the East Tower at all.
Thor respectfully saw his mentor off, then shut the door and walked back to the conveyor belt.
He wrestled with himself for a while.
He was the only one here now. It took courage to pull the lever and summon a corpse.
Thor rested his hand on the lever for about a minute before suddenly yanking it down.
The conveyor belt rumbled into motion, but even after running for a while, no new corpse appeared.
Thor thought that was strange and pulled it again.
Still nothing.
Just as Thor was feeling uneasy and about to pull it a third time, a man's voice came from the exit covered by black tassels.
"Stop pulling. There aren't any more today."
"Got it."
"Keep an eye on the lamp in the window. If it turns white, that means there's something for you."
"Uh, thanks, Senior."
There really was a small Candle Lamp above the exit with the black tassels, identical in appearance to the others around the walls.
But while all the other lamps were glowing bright white, this one was dim and yellow, as if it were about to go out.
Mentor Kazi hadn't told Thor about this. He probably didn't handle the actual work here, so he'd overlooked a detail in the procedure.
With no more work, Thor didn't want to stay here any longer. He hurried out.
When he left, the burly man at the end of the corridor was still sitting there, like a corpse.
But Thor noticed his nostrils twitch.
He was alive.
Thor's second day as an apprentice passed smoothly, and it was far more relaxing than the first.
Before class on the second day, Thor found Keli.
"I have ten Magic Crystals now."
"Pay me back."
Keli held out her left hand.
"Would you rather have one credit or ten Magic Crystals?"
Keli's eyes widened. "You got a job?"
Thor nodded.
"I heard my mentor say yesterday that apprentices can earn credits by taking tests, but they can also earn them by taking on jobs in the Wizard Tower." She rested her chin on her hand. "But my mentor won't let me look for work. She just tells me to study. I don't even have a single credit yet."
Your mentor doesn't let you work because you can pass the tests easily without having to.
Thor felt a little bitter, but he quickly pushed the discomfort aside.
"So, do you want the credit or the Magic Crystals?"
"Of course I want the credit." Keli looked as if she wanted to pounce on him. "Damn it, I've never even seen what a credit looks like."
Credits weren't coins you could hold in your hand, so they couldn't trade them right there in class.
They had to go to the Registration Office beside the Library on the ninth floor of the East Tower and transfer the credit into Keli's name.
They soon turned their attention back to studying.
Mentor Monica didn't show up for the second Meditation class. In her place was a female Level 2 Apprentice. She taught them a little new material, then started meditating on her own at the podium.
Any apprentice carrying a Magic Crystal who tried to approach her with a question was glared away with a cold look.
So the rest of the lesson became another self-study period.
Without anyone to teach them, some apprentices started gathering in groups to help one another, and the classroom gradually grew noisy.
Keli still sat beside Thor.
Thor looked at the Human-Monster Walking Diagram in his book and suddenly remembered the question he'd had the day before.
"Keli, which diagram do you use for Meditation?"
"The Secret Realm Flower on page three."
"Can you meditate independently, without a Crystal Ball?"
"Of course not. The mentor said that if you can meditate independently, your Mental Power is basically at the level of a Level 2 Apprentice." Keli looked surprised. "Can you meditate independently already?"
Thor shook his head. "I can only enter a hazy state that's somewhere between dreaming and waking. I can't absorb elemental particles, but I can stabilize my mental state."
"That's amazing." Keli gave him an enthusiastic thumbs-up. "When I meditate without a Crystal Ball, all I see is a jumble of lines."
She leaned over. "Which Meditation Diagram do you use? Does your progress depend on the diagram?"
"The Human-Monster Walking Diagram on page seventeen."
"..." Keli looked at him in confusion, flipped through her own book, then turned back. "Do we have different books? Why don't I have that page?"
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