I Love Studying, Studying Makes Me Fulfilled

In the days that followed, Thor entered a state of desperate study.

Dormitory, study.

Classroom, study.

Corpse Room, work and study!

He had never lived such a fulfilling life before!

Whenever anyone asked, he would say he was preparing for the test in three months.

Even Keli, who had been relatively calm, was dragged into this frantic pace by him.

However, in the eyes of some, Thor's efforts became synonymous with a final, desperate struggle.

The news that Kazi required Thor to reach 10 Joules of mana by the first test inevitably spread to everyone; some were optimistic about him, while others felt there was absolutely no hope.

Everyone had practiced meditation and knew exactly how much mana could be gained in a month.

Although they didn't know how far behind Thor was, judging by Duke's implications, there was definitely no hope.

Thor had secretly tested himself later and found his current mana was only 3 Joules, while the normal passing line was actually 10 Joules.

In other words, Kazi required him to reach the standard of a normal first-year freshman within three months.

This was also his punishment for sneaking in.

Although Kazi had arranged new work for Thor, he never said Thor was exempt from the mana growth requirement.

Thor didn't want to gamble on whether Kazi would lower his standards just because he was doing work for him.

Especially since he had Kongsha lurking nearby, and Sid, who might seek revenge upon his return.

Thor currently wished he could sleep only two hours a day, but if he didn't rest well, his long-term study efficiency would drop.

Fortunately, his mental talent allowed him to recover full energy after sleeping for four hours.

This finally gave him the capital to compete.

On this day, the Cognition of All Things class reached the chapter on animals.

Thor had already finished reading the entire animal chapter in his dormitory and had even memorized some common knowledge he deemed useful.

He continued to flip through the book at a speed far exceeding the classroom progress.

"Swish."

The paper turned to the next page.

"Chapter on Ghosts and Monsters?"

Thor was startled and immediately began to read carefully.

In the novels and movies of his past life, the Corpse Room was a high-risk area for ghosts and monsters.

Although he hadn't encountered any danger in the Corpse Room yet, bizarre things happened frequently.

For example, while sawing the arm off a corpse, the corpse would suddenly open its mouth and say it hurt.

If that corpse hadn't already been split in two, Thor would have wanted to find a doctor to save it.

But at the time, all Thor could do was take two pieces of cloth and plug the two halves of the corpse's mouth.

Additionally, Thor had recently been delving into Green's Cognition of Wizard Body Modification and Corpse Transmutation Guide, making him exceptionally sensitive to the word "ghost."

"The end of life is generally divided into physical death and the dissipation of mental power..."

"There are many situations for the dissipation of mental power. Among them, forms that cannot be fully controlled by the subject's own subjective will can be called ghosts, while forms controlled by other subjective wills can be called monsters."

"...When the physical support disappears or is damaged, ghosts can often briefly attach themselves to other physical supports. Common ones include dolls, clothing, corpses, etc..."

Dolls?

Seeing this, 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, did the color-changing trash can in Kazi's laboratory belong to a ghost or a monster?

Fear often stems from the unknown.

After Thor had been studying for several days, he recalled that night in the laboratory again, and his fear was now tinged with a bit of curiosity.

Thor quickly flipped through the entire chapter on ghosts and monsters, finding that the common knowledge section mostly introduced the types and characteristics of ghosts and monsters.

Explanatory language like the one he just read was rare.

Perhaps if it were explained too deeply, a first-level apprentice wouldn't be able to handle it.

Keli, sitting to the side, accidentally caught a glimpse of Thor's progress.

"You've already finished the chapter on ghosts and monsters?" Her small mouth hung open, her eyes darting back and forth between Thor's face and the book.

"Just flipping through it casually." Thor suddenly made a decision.

He looked at the second-level wizard apprentice at the front of the classroom, who had finished reading the summary of the lesson and was letting everyone study on their own.

He looked again at the increasingly empty classroom, and at the newcomers who were either dozing off or busy with who knows what.

He stood up quietly, packed his things, and whispered to Keli, "I'm heading back first."

Keli wanted to say something, but Thor had already hurried away.

She pouted, looked down at the Introduction to Rune Construction in front of her, and decided she should just focus on mastering all the basic runes for now.

Those with a talent for mental power really have it easy when it comes to learning the basics.

Even though she knew Thor was still struggling and running around trying to increase his mana, Keli couldn't help but envy him.

"Senior Mark!" Thor rushed into the laboratory, clutching his books.

As expected, second-level apprentices rarely attended public classes; they spent their time on one-on-one tutoring with their mentors and self-study.

Senior Mark really treated the laboratory as his own study room.

He wondered if Mark had ever experienced the terror Thor had gone through that night.

"Why aren't you in class?" Mark recognized the voice immediately and stood up with a smile.

After all, Thor was the only apprentice taken away by Mentor Kazi who hadn't been brought back; he must have satisfied the mentor in some way.

As for the other two apprentices, An something and Du something, they were still only allowed to come to the lab for self-study in the afternoons.

Although he had already collected quite a bit of tuition from those two, Mark still hadn't bothered to remember their names.

Three months from now, who knew which first-level apprentices would still be appearing in the classroom? And a year from now?

There was no need to build connections with insignificant people.

For wizards, ordinary apprentices were consumables.

For high-level apprentices, low-level apprentices were consumables.

It wasn't about class; it was about survival.

"Senior Mark, I've run into some problems while self-studying compound runes, and I was hoping to ask for your guidance."

Mark instinctively checked his study notes to confirm today's date.

"You... finished learning the basic runes?"

Thor nodded.

Mark stroked his chin. "Your progress is quite fast. If you can solve your mana issues, advancing to a second-level apprentice is only a matter of time."

"Tell you what, I can explain the construction of one compound rune for free, but only one. If you want to learn others, you'll have to pay the standard fee."

A free explanation of a compound rune meant that whatever happened in the laboratory was wiped clean.

Regardless of the role Mark played in that incident, as the laboratory administrator, he certainly had been negligent in his duties.

The compensation Mark was secretly giving Thor was purely to make up for his negligence, not because Thor had been in danger.

"Thank you, Senior."

Thor flipped his Introduction to Rune Construction to the last few pages.

"Can I learn this compound rune first?"

He was pointing to a compound rune primarily based on dark elements. Once mastered, it could be combined with other basic runes to form multiple rank-0 spells with dark-elemental properties.

This meant that once he mastered this compound rune, Thor would have the ability to learn spells.

Although Mentor Gudo had warned them in the first class not to be so delusional as to try and learn spells too quickly, time was the one thing Thor lacked most right now.

"Of course. First, you must understand that a compound rune is not just a simple overlapping of basic runes; it involves many complex changes in mana conduction..."

Thor had skipped the second half of the first class and the entire second class, and under Mark's guidance, he gradually realized... compound runes are f*cking difficult!

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