In the days that followed, Thor threw himself into studying with everything he had.
In the dormitory, he studied.
In the classroom, he studied.
In the Corpse Room, he worked and studied!
He had never felt so fulfilled!
Whenever anyone asked, he said he was preparing for the test three months away.
Even Keli, who had always seemed calm, was swept up in his frantic pace and couldn't keep her composure.
But in some people's eyes, Thor's desperate effort had become synonymous with despair and one last struggle.
The news that Kazi expected Thor to reach 10 joules of Magic Power in his first test had spread to everyone, just as expected. Some people believed in him, while others thought he had no chance at all.
They had all meditated before, so they already knew how much Magic Power a month of meditation could add.
They didn't know how far Thor had to go, but from what Duke had said, he had absolutely no hope.
Thor had secretly gone to measure his Magic Power later, too. He currently had only 3 joules, while the normal passing threshold was 10.
In other words, Kazi expected him to reach the level of an ordinary first-year Level 1 Apprentice within three months.
This was also punishment for sneaking in.
Although Kazi had assigned Thor a new job, he had never said that Thor didn't have to meet the Magic Power requirement.
Thor didn't want to gamble on whether Kazi would lower his expectations just because he'd given him work.
Especially with Kongsha watching him like a hawk, and Sid waiting to retaliate in some unknown way when he returned.
Thor wished he could sleep only two hours a day, but not getting enough rest would lower his study efficiency over time.
Fortunately, his Mental Power talent meant that four hours of sleep was enough to restore his energy.
At least that gave him the stamina to keep up the grind.
That day, Cognition of All Things covered the animal section.
Thor had already finished reading the entire animal section back in the dormitory. He'd even memorized some practical facts he thought might come in handy.
He continued turning the pages at a pace far ahead of the class.
"Flip."
He turned to the next page.
"The Ghosts and Monsters section?"
Thor froze, then hurriedly began reading it in earnest.
In the novels and movies of his previous life, the Corpse Room was a hotbed of ghosts and monsters.
He hadn't encountered any danger in the Corpse Room yet, but strange things happened there all the time.
For example, when he was sawing the arm off a corpse, it had suddenly cried out in pain halfway through.
If the corpse hadn't already been cut clean in half, Thor would have wanted to find a doctor and have it resuscitated.
But all he could do at the time was grab two pieces of cloth and stuff one into each half of the corpse's mouth.
Besides, Thor had lately been studying Green's Cognition of Wizard Body Modification and the Corpse Transmutation Guide, so he was unusually sensitive to the word "ghost."
"Life ends in one of two ways: the death of the physical body or the dissipation of Mental Power..."
"The dissipation of Mental Power can take many forms. A form that cannot be fully controlled by the original body's subjective will may be called a ghost, while one controlled by another subjective will may be called a monster."
"...When the physical vessel is gone or damaged, a ghost can often temporarily possess another physical vessel. Common vessels include puppets, clothing, and corpses..."
A puppet?
At that, Thor thought of the little girl puppet used to test Mental Power.
Was there a ghost hidden inside it?
He wondered if he could borrow it to study.
Then, in Kazi's laboratory, did the color-changing trash can count as a ghost or a monster?
Fear often came from the unknown.
After several days of studying, Thor thought back to that night in the laboratory. His fear was now mixed with a little curiosity.
Thor quickly skimmed the entire Ghosts and Monsters section, and found that the section on general knowledge mostly introduced the different kinds of ghosts and monsters and their traits.
There was little explanatory material like the passage he'd just read.
Perhaps it went too deep for Level 1 Apprentices to handle.
Keli happened to glance at Thor's progress.
"You've already finished the Ghosts and Monsters section?" Her mouth fell open as her eyes darted between Thor's face and the book.
"I was just skimming." Thor suddenly made a decision.
He looked at the Level 2 Wizard Apprentice at the front of the classroom, who had finished summarizing the lesson and told everyone to study on their own.
Then he looked around at the increasingly empty classroom and the newcomers who were either dozing off or doing who knew what.
He quietly stood up, gathered his things, and whispered to Keli, "I'm heading back first."
Keli wanted to say something, but Thor had already hurried out.
She pursed her lips, then looked down at Introduction to Rune Construction in front of her. She figured she'd better master all the Basic Runes first.
People with a talent for Mental Power really had an advantage when it came to learning the basics.
Keli knew Thor was still struggling and working hard to increase his Magic Power, but she couldn't help envying him.
"Senior Mark!" Thor rushed into the laboratory with his books in his arms.
Sure enough, Level 2 Apprentices hardly attended public classes. They spent all their time receiving one-on-one tutoring from their mentors and studying on their own.
Senior Mark really had turned the laboratory into his study room.
Thor wondered if he'd experienced the same terrifying night Thor had.
"Why aren't you in class?" Mark recognized Thor's voice at once and stood up with a smile.
After all, Thor was an Apprentice Kazi had taken away and never brought back. He must have done something to satisfy Kazi.
The other two Apprentices, An and Duke, still had to wait until the afternoon to study in the laboratory.
Mark had already collected plenty of tuition from them, but still hadn't remembered their names.
Who knew which Level 1 Apprentices would still be sitting in the classroom three months from now? What about a year from now?
There was no need to get attached to people who didn't matter.
To Wizards, ordinary Apprentices were expendable.
To senior Apprentices, junior Apprentices were expendable.
It wasn't about rank. It was about survival.
"Senior Mark, I ran into some problems while studying Composite Runes on my own. I was hoping you could help me."
Mark instinctively glanced at his study notes to check the date.
"You've... finished learning the Basic Runes?"
Thor nodded.
Mark stroked his chin. "You're making good progress. If you can solve your Magic Power problem, advancing to a Second Rank Apprentice is only a matter of time."
"How about this? I'll explain how to construct one Rune for free, but only one. If you want to learn any others, you'll have to pay the usual fee."
A free lesson on a Composite Rune meant that what had happened in the laboratory was settled.
Whatever role Mark had played in it, as the laboratory's administrator, he had certainly neglected his duties.
Mark's discreet compensation to Thor was entirely to make up for that negligence, not because Thor had been in danger.
"Thank you, Senior."
Thor flipped to the last few pages of Introduction to Rune Construction.
"Could I learn this Composite Rune first?"
It was a Composite Rune centered on Dark Element. Once he'd learned it, he could combine it with other Basic Runes to create several Tier 0 Wizardry spells with Dark Element properties.
That meant that after mastering this Composite Rune, Thor would be able to learn spells.
Although Mentor Gudo had warned them in their very first class not to get ahead of themselves and dream of learning Wizardry so soon, time was what Thor lacked most.
"Of course. First, you need to understand that Composite Runes aren't simply Basic Runes stacked on top of one another. They also involve many changes in how Magic Power flows through them..."
Thor skipped the second half of the first class and the entirety of the second. Under Mark's guidance, he gradually realized... Composite Runes were damn hard!
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