Telling the Teacher Is Nothing to Be Ashamed Of

So, this meditation diagram was called the Erosion Diagram.

Yet, Thor still felt his own name for it was more vivid and fitting.

"Mentor, I've asked others, and none of their meditation books have this diagram; only mine does... Someone tampered with my book, someone wants to kill me!"

Thor's expression shifted constantly between anger and lingering fear.

"So what?" Kazi was calm, perhaps even a bit indifferent.

"Please, Mentor, save me."

Kazi's white, bushy eyebrows furrowed as he looked down at Thor.

"Kid, the world of wizards is not all truth, goodness, and beauty. To become stronger, to explore deeper mysteries, everyone will use any means necessary. What you need to do is adapt to this world, not just think about seeking shelter."

"Mentor Kazi, I understand survival of the fittest, but I've only been an apprentice for two days, and already someone is directing maids and even other apprentices to target me. Could there be some hidden motive behind this? Right now..." Thor hunched his shoulders and clutched his stomach, saying pitifully, "I don't even dare to eat the food the maids bring."

"Survival of the fittest?" Kazi paused. "You haven't learned much knowledge, but you certainly have plenty of words in your mouth."

He thought for a moment and finally relented. "Regardless of who is trying to harm you, directing the servants and apprentices of the Wizard Tower is indeed crossing the line. I am aware of this now; no one will dare to touch an apprentice's supplies again."

He pressed a hand onto the top of Thor's head. "Being able to dodge the schemes of the Erosion Diagram is your own ability; that is what matters most. Go back, eat well, study, and become strong. Then you will find that the crises on the path to becoming a wizard are far more terrifying than someone plotting against you."

Thor's request for help today had consumed his time for asking questions, and once Kazi finished speaking, he walked out of the Corpse Room with his hands behind his back.

Thor breathed a slight sigh of relief, but he was also somewhat disappointed.

Although Kazi said Thor didn't need to worry about being plotted against in his daily life anymore, he hadn't said he would help Thor find the culprit behind the scenes.

This meant he still had to worry about Sid finding trouble for him elsewhere, or even... killing him personally.

Fortunately, the Wizard Tower likely had some constraints on second-rank apprentices, otherwise, Sid wouldn't have to resort to such underhanded methods to deal with him.

For a second-rank apprentice to kill a newcomer, it would be as easy as flicking a finger.

He still had to find a way to become strong as quickly as possible.

At the same time, he had to find a way to evade Sid's constant schemes until he had the ability to fight back.

Thor began copying the book again.

He was expressionless, his pen moving rapidly; even when transcribing the complex Noah Language in the book, he didn't slow down much.

At seven o'clock, he left the Corpse Room.

Just as he stepped out, he suddenly saw the scarlet door next to his open, and a man in his early twenties walked out. The badge on his clothes indicated that he was also a first-rank apprentice.

Judging by his age, he was the type of very senior first-rank apprentice.

When the other person saw Thor, his gaze passed over him as if he were looking at thin air.

Thor silently stepped aside to let the other person walk up the ramp first.

There was no work today, so everyone could leave on time.

Thor stood against the door for a while, wanting to see if the red wooden door at the very end would open.

That should be the room where the first stage of corpse processing took place.

However, Thor waited for about ten minutes, and that door showed no movement.

Thinking he couldn't delay here for too long, Thor hugged his books and left in a hurry.

Kazi was in a bad mood today.

None of his new apprentices satisfied him.

That Duke had high affinity for the dark element and decent magical talent, but his brain didn't know how to turn a corner, and he lacked intuition.

If he found even a few small runes so difficult to learn, how would he approach sorcery in the future?

That Angela had decent talent as well, and she was smarter than Duke, but her mind was too flighty.

Those big eyes were cute, yes, but they were always darting around.

Even when learning basic knowledge—a task that only required effort—she could find ways to play around.

And she thought she was doing a great job of feigning innocence.

Kazi himself was not a person who liked to scheme, so he didn't like such apprentices.

In his view, those who became high-rank wizard apprentices through scheming would eventually fall on the road to becoming official wizards.

Moreover, Angela reminded Kazi of another girl.

That person was probably tasting the bitter fruit she had planted herself right about now.

As for Thor...

Kazi hadn't paid him any mind at first.

In his view, someone without magical talent becoming an apprentice was just a waste of the Wizard Tower's resources.

He assumed Thor must have used some trick to become an apprentice.

Kazi had originally intended to easily weed him out during the first test, but he had unexpectedly discovered Thor's talent for the soul.

No, to say it was an accidental discovery would be inaccurate.

It was someone who had instructed him.

Kazi walked slowly along the ramp between the sixteenth and seventeenth floors of the East Tower.

The sixteenth and seventeenth floors of the East Tower were the living quarters for the mentors.

Suddenly, the shadows all around began to move.

Even though the light from the candelabras remained perfectly steady, the shadows beneath his feet seemed to be fleeing, transforming into countless tiny, dense black dots that collided and leaped, scrambling to burrow into the cracks of the stone.

Kazi stopped in his tracks, his facial muscles twitching as he slowed his breathing.

Who said that official wizards wouldn't feel fear?

He raised his eyes and saw a person walking down from the top of the ramp.

His arms were pressed against his sides without swinging, and as he walked, his heels were lifted high, with only the tips of his toes touching the ground.

It was as if the ground were filthy, and he was trying his best to avoid contact.

Most importantly, the man was wrapped from head to toe in pink bandages, revealing only a pair of silver eyes.

Kazi bowed deeply.

"Tower Master."

"Mm."

With that simple response, the man in pink bandages brushed past Kazi.

Kazi let out half a breath in his heart.

But before he could exhale the other half, he noticed that the Tower Master had stopped after taking two steps.

He hurriedly turned around, not daring to show his back to the Tower Master.

"That little fellow, isn't he quite suitable for disposing of corpses?"

The voice of the Tower Master, who could strike fear even into an official wizard like Kazi, was surprisingly gentle.

"Yes, his soul talent is indeed quite good. The first time he processed a corpse, he actually managed to find one more piece of material than I did."

"Hehe, that must be because you weren't being diligent." The Tower Master chuckled.

Kazi shivered.

"Show him this, so he can master it more quickly."

A deep, dark slit opened in the bandages around the Tower Master's abdomen, and he reached his slender fingers inside to pinch out a thin book made of silk cloth.

"Understood." Kazi took it with both hands.

"By the way, Tower Master," Kazi suddenly remembered the boy asking him for help today, "someone tampered with that boy's meditation book and replaced one of the pages with an Erosion Diagram."

The Tower Master turned around, appearing quite interested.

"He used an Erosion Diagram for meditation?"

"Uh, I don't think so. How could a new apprentice possibly resist an Erosion Diagram? He must have been lucky enough to notice something was wrong and waited until today to tell me."

A cold, biting wind whistled through the corridor.

The Tower Master's body, which touched the ground only with his toes, swayed like a reed.

"That won't do. The wizard apprentice is my property, the meditation book is my property, and the maid is my property." The Tower Master's eyes curved, as if he were smiling. "Oh, and the laboratory is my property as well."

The laboratory?

Kazi felt cold sweat breaking out at his hairline, yet he shrank back, not daring to let it run down his cheeks.

"Go find that bad fellow and make him pay."

Having said this, the Tower Master turned and continued his descent.

After his figure disappeared behind the bend, countless tiny black shadow dots hopped and skipped out from the stone crevices, joyfully reforming into shadows.

Kazi looked down at the book in his hands, feeling somewhat puzzled.

Tower Master, why do you value that Thor so much?