A new day, one o'clock in the afternoon.
Hayden, a senior Level 1 Apprentice, walked silently into the second Corpse Room.
He glanced at the Teleportation Platform. The Candle Lamp above it was dim.
There was no work today, either.
That was a good thing.
He had been handling corpses for three years.
The work itself made him sick, and it was also so tedious it was nauseating.
But he had no choice. If he didn't do this job, he had no idea how he could pass the monthly tests.
There were fewer and fewer Level 1 Apprentices left from the group that had entered the Wizard Tower with him.
A few had managed to advance to Level 2, a few had died during the tests, a few had died while studying, and a few, like him, had quietly kept going without making a name for themselves.
So, even though he was utterly sick of the work, Hayden still couldn't give it up.
With no work today, Hayden went to the table by the wall and casually flipped through a book.
But he soon shut it again.
He had read these books many times already, and they couldn't help him advance to Level 2.
"Actually, when you think about it, not advancing to Level 2 isn't so bad." Hayden looked toward the next room. "A Level 2 Apprentice is already handling the first stage of corpse processing. If I didn't have this job, I'd probably be like the other Level 2 Apprentices, worrying every six months about whether I'd pass the test, right?"
Thinking that, Hayden felt even less like reading.
He walked over to the conveyor belt and suddenly felt like lying down on it to see what it was like.
But just as he lifted one leg onto the Teleportation Platform, someone knocked on the door.
He jumped, nearly missing his grip.
Who would come here at this hour?
Could it be that new guy from yesterday?
Hayden lifted his chin and sauntered over to the door.
"Who is it?"
"I'm Sid, a Level 2 Apprentice."
Hayden immediately hunched his chin and shoulders together.
He hurriedly opened the door and saw, through the gap, a blond young man with an impatient look on his face.
The scarlet door opened a crack, and Hayden quickly slipped outside.
"Senior, did you need something?"
The putrid stench of the Corpse Room came out with Hayden.
Sid frowned and took two steps back.
Seeing that, Hayden quickly turned around and shut the door.
"I heard a newcomer took over the work in the Corpse Room?"
"That's right. A noisy little kid."
"How's he doing?"
"Well... I haven't checked yet. He should be doing all right, I guess?"
Sid sneered. "How well can a newcomer do? Besides, my junior wants this job."
"Huh?" Hayden looked up in surprise.
"Can you find a way to free up the job for him?"
"Free it up?" Hayden drew in his hands awkwardly, his eyes darting around. "But the Corpse Room jobs are all assigned by Mentor Kazi."
"Once the job opens up, I'll have my junior go for it." Sid rubbed his fingers together. Their tips warped slightly, and fine white powder fell from them.
"Th-then should I try to talk the newcomer into it?" Hayden asked tentatively.
"Heh." Sid gave an inscrutable chuckle. "If you satisfy me, I'll give you a Midnight Ghost Feather."
"Ah!" Hayden straightened up completely, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. "I-I... I'll definitely make that kid..."
Suddenly—
"Doing business in the Corpse Room now?"
A deep voice interrupted them.
Hayden and Sid both looked down the corridor.
"Is that the Level 2 Apprentice in charge of the Corpse Room?" Sid narrowed his eyes. "He's here this early? I'm afraid this will mean another blood payment."
But when the speaker stepped out of the darkness, Sid's pupils shrank sharply.
Beside him, Hayden nearly sat down on the floor.
"M-Mentor..."
The figure emerging from the end of the corridor wasn't a Level 2 Apprentice at all. It was Mentor Kazi.
With Kazi staring at him, Sid's heart jumped. But recalling how Mentor Kazi usually behaved, he steeled himself and said, "Mentor Kazi, we were just..."
Kazi raised a hand, cutting Sid off. "I don't care what you're doing."
Sid relaxed. He'd known the mentor wouldn't care about the apprentices' affairs.
But Kazi's next words nearly made Sid drop to the floor.
"A lot of servants and apprentices have died in the tower lately. Go outside and bring back a dozen or so recruits."
Sid's heart quivered. He tried to negotiate. "All right, Mentor Kazi. Once I've finished next month's test, I'll..."
"Next month? This month! You leave tomorrow—no, tonight!"
Kazi glared at them. He wasn't tall, but the moment he got angry, the other two apprentices felt as if his presence had crushed them into a crack between stones.
"Mentor Kazi," Sid said, no longer showing any of his earlier arrogance. Cold sweat covered his head. "I have my test next month. If I leave the tower now, I might not be able to get back in time."
Facing Sid, Kazi remained unmoved. "You need to understand one thing."
"All the servants, maids, and apprentices in the Wizard Tower are the Tower Master's property. And you"—Kazi pointed his wrinkled index finger at Sid—"have already caused the Tower Master a loss, so you'll have to make up for it."
Sid opened his mouth, but in the end, not a word came out.
A bead of sweat slid from his temple, hit the floor, and broke into several droplets.
Thor learned the next afternoon that Sid had left the tower.
The one who told him was still Mentor Kazi.
"Senior Sid?" Thor's face paled.
His hand rested on the book he had just finished copying. His fingers curled, crumpling the pale yellow paper into a wrinkled ball.
"But why would he... want to hurt me?" Thor shook his head, baffled.
"You'll have to figure that out yourself." Kazi took out a book and tossed it onto the table.
Thor looked down. It was a thin book made of silk.
The Corpse Transmutation Guide.
It was the first time he had seen a book made from cloth.
"I think you, uh, have some talent. Take this book and read it. If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me." Kazi glanced at Thor's reaction, then turned and left.
Thor picked up the book.
A non-textbook wizard book cost at least two Magic Crystals a day to borrow, and a guide was worth much more than a basic text.
Mentor Kazi had effectively given him a lot of Magic Crystals.
"The mentor's really generous," Thor said, then chuckled softly.
He set the Corpse Transmutation Guide aside, let the smile fade from his lips, and carefully smoothed out the book he had just crumpled.
"Chit~"
A soft sound made Thor look over.
The Candle Lamp on the Teleportation Platform had turned bright white.
Thor walked over and pulled the lever down hard.
The black conveyor belt began to roll. A fresh corpse covered in black leather emerged from beneath the fringe.
The deceased this time was a stranger, and he had died peacefully.
Thor lifted the black leather. As expected, the body was largely intact.
This was his first time handling one on his own.
Thor eased himself into a half-immersed meditative state.
Although Sid had found someone to slip the Human-Monster Walking Diagram in, hoping to kill him, Thor had unexpectedly found it well suited to meditation.
And since the Hardcover Book hadn't objected, he could keep using it!
Thor picked up the tools from the table behind him.
The corpse swayed gently. For a moment, the person lying on the Teleportation Platform seemed to become Sid.
Thor closed his eyes briefly and brought himself back to reality.
"I have a month now, but when Sid comes back, I'm afraid he'll retaliate even more viciously."
The danger hadn't passed completely, but at least Thor had been given some breathing room.
"From what I can see, as long as I'm useful, I can get some protection. I still need to make myself more useful."
As he worked, Thor glanced at the Corpse Transmutation Guide Kazi had given him.
Suddenly, he stopped moving.
"Could corpse transmutation have something to do with Wizard Body Modification?"
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