This Damned Constitution

It had been exactly one month since enrollment.

The new apprentices had not seen the sunlight of the outside world for a full month, and even Duke, who had the darkest complexion, was starting to turn deathly pale.

Not to mention Thor.

He spent his days buried in academic research and dealing with corpses. His face had become as pale as a dead man's, complete with two dark circles under his eyes.

He could play a ghost in the middle of the night without needing any makeup.

He had skipped his public classes for three days in a row.

If it weren't for the rule that no one could stay in the Corpse Room at night, he would have wanted to curl up inside and never come out.

But today, his research had hit a wall, so he came out to look for some inspiration.

Green's Cognition of Wizard Body Modification recorded four or five modification concepts, but it lacked the specific materials used or the actual process of modification.

That was to be expected; such knowledge would never be displayed to others casually.

It was either someone's trump card or the heritage of a specific faction.

The book also stated that even with mature concepts for witch body modification, there was a very high probability of death.

And if one wanted to discover a brand-new method of modification, there would be no hope of success without sacrificing hundreds or thousands of lives.

The few level-two apprentices Thor knew had certainly undergone witch body modification, but the one he had the "best" relationship with was still senior Mark.

When Thor arrived at the laboratory, Mark was there, as was Angela, but Duke was nowhere to be seen.

When Angela saw Thor, she pursed her lips and smiled, looking a bit awkward.

Thor nodded in response, but Angela seemed startled, her hands trembling so much that she nearly dropped the book she was holding.

The two only had the kind of acquaintance where they nodded at each other, so Thor walked over to senior Mark at the back of the laboratory.

The latter seemed to be conducting some kind of experiment, or perhaps cooking; he was nonchalantly placing items into a crucible and stirring them with a wooden spatula.

Thor stood three meters away and observed for a while, only able to sigh that as expected of someone majoring in dark elements, the materials he put into the crucible all looked so hellish.

After adding the final clump of something that looked like hair or seaweed, Mark put on the transparent glass lid and turned down the fire under the crucible.

He tilted his head and greeted Thor with a smile, "Haven't seen you in a few days, you've made quite a bit of progress."

"Senior Mark." Thor stepped forward, "I have a few questions I'd like to ask."

"Oh?" Mark nonchalantly took off his gloves and tossed them into the trash can at his feet, "Do you have magic crystals?"

"Yes."

"What kind of questions?"

"Witch body..." Thor only said two words before stopping.

Mark's movements paused. He looked up and said to Angela in the distance, "Angela, you should head back for today."

Angela didn't say a word; she picked up her books and ran out, closing the laboratory door tightly behind her.

"Are you really planning to undergo witch body modification? This is a field usually only touched by level-two apprentices."

"I went for a test, and my current magic power is only 4. If I don't undergo witch body modification, tutor Kazi won't pass me in the test three months from now."

After a month of meditation, Thor's magic power had only increased by 1 joule. At this rate, it would take another six months to reach 10 joules.

But he only had two months left.

"Hmm..." Mark stroked his chin, "Actually, since the tutor has already handed the work in the Corpse Room over to you, he shouldn't be that strict anymore."

"But the tutor never said he would change the content of the test." Thor didn't want to gamble.

Although the Hardcover Book would issue death warnings, it usually only popped up to make its presence known when a life-or-death crisis was imminent.

If he stepped into a dead end where every choice led to death, then the Hardcover Book would be useless even if it did pop up.

Just like that night when Thor almost died in the laboratory.

If it hadn't been for Big Pink appearing, Thor wouldn't have escaped his fate of death.

Although the process was miserable, it made Thor understand one truth.

Even when in a desperate situation, there is still a glimmer of survival, so one's own efforts are still very important.

If Thor hadn't insisted on saving himself at that time, perhaps he wouldn't have lived long enough for Big Pink to pass by.

"There are other ways to raise your magic power to 10 joules."

"But senior," Thor spread his hands, "I don't have that much money, nor do I have enough credits, and most importantly, I don't have the time."

Mark rubbed his chin, "It seems you've made up your mind. Then..."

He held out his hand to Thor, "2 credits, no magic crystals accepted."

The 3 credits he had just obtained...

Thor let out a breath, "Deal. Do we need to go to the registration office first?"

Mark retracted his hand, "If it were anyone else, certainly. But since it's you, I can let you pay on credit for half an hour."

Half an hour?

In other words, twenty days of hard labor in exchange for half an hour of knowledge.

Mark sat down. "I remember you once copied a book about Wizard Body Modification, so you should already have some understanding of it. Now, do you have any ideas for modifying your own body?"

"The cheapest and most effective materials I have on hand right now are corpse materials. So, my modification plan is to extract the parts from these materials that can effectively enhance elemental perception and mana."

Mark chuckled, "No wonder you're starting to look more and more like a corpse yourself."

He then straightened his posture, his tone turning slightly more serious. "The fact that you were chosen to work in the Corpse Room shows that you are sensitive to spirits. If you use corpse materials to modify yourself, do you know what will happen?"

Thor widened his eyes.

"You will easily run into anomalies, and those ghosts and monsters will be more than happy to seek you out."

So, it just means I'll be prone to seeing ghosts?

"Are there many ghosts and monsters in the Wizard Tower?"

"Scared? Haha..." Mark looked at Thor's hesitant expression and answered with a smile, "Not many, and most have various restrictions. Because the ghosts and monsters in the Wizard Tower are basically created by wizards and high-level wizard apprentices using certain sorcery. Even so, you could still accidentally fall into all sorts of trouble. Most ghosts are very lonely; they desperately seek out ordinary people who can see and hear them, yet pose no danger."

"I understand. As long as I can become stronger, I can resist these ghosts." Thor raised his fist, his bone-white hand standing out conspicuously.

Mark did not feel comforted by the boy's small display of courage; he gave Thor one final warning.

"Always maintain a sense of awe, Thor. Fear stems from the unknown, horror is born from the unknown, and only the unknown is infinite."

After the warning, he stopped trying to dissuade Thor and began to explain which parts of corpse materials were suitable for Wizard Body Modification.

Since he couldn't teach Thor existing modification knowledge—Mark didn't know any others, and Thor couldn't afford them—he focused on highlighting precautions, such as which types of materials must never be combined, as that would certainly lead to disaster, and which experimental reactions might indicate a life-threatening situation.

Finally, Mark recommended two main types of materials: skin and bone.

These two have large surface areas and are relatively easy to engrave with runes, which would help Thor maintain control and be safer to work with.

As for materials like brains or eyes, it would be best for Thor not to touch them; generally, without the strength of a third-level apprentice, it is very difficult to adapt to them.

"Like me..." Mark raised his right hand, and a slit opened in his palm. A bright red tongue, over a meter long, stretched out in front of Thor, seemingly wanting to take a lick.

"I spent a large sum of money to exchange for a high-success-rate Wizard Body Modification formula in the tower, and then combined it with my own constitution to modify myself. And at that time, I was already a second-level apprentice."