The Might of White Bones

The boys filling the room all stared at Thor in astonishment.

The entire room fell silent for a moment.

But soon, three boys exchanged glances and stepped forward.

"You've got some nerve, kid!" The first picked up a chair from the floor and swung it viciously at Thor. "Let's see whether your hand is tougher or the wood is!"

Thor raised his skeletal left hand and punched the wooden stool.

The stool shattered with a crash, splinters spraying all over the other boy's face.

But the boys did not attack again.

Everyone fell silent. The astonishment on their faces had turned to terror.

Even Brown, who was groaning on the floor, stared at Thor's left hand in shock and instinctively scooted backward.

His left hand could not be hidden.

Male servants did not have gloves, and they had plenty of daily work to do. It was impossible not to use his left hand all the time.

Thor simply revealed it, intimidating everyone while making his right hand less conspicuous.

"Y-you've been cursed?"

To his surprise, the first thing everyone thought of was a curse.

"Can the curse spread?"

"Quick, tell the Butler!"

Thor did not explain. He looked at Brown and suddenly reached out with his left hand to grab him.

"Waaah!!!"

Brown was so frightened that he ignored the injury to his left hand and scrambled backward on all fours.

Thor waved his left hand around in front of everyone again.

The boys shrieked in terror and stumbled back repeatedly.

Thor suddenly felt that he was being childish, but it did help vent some of his anger.

"Starting tomorrow, I won't be cleaning the corridors anymore." No one in the room dared object to Thor. "You'll take turns."

He pointed his skeletal index finger at Brown. "You're first."

Brown's face changed at once.

"Butler, it's him! He got cursed and didn't report it!"

A boy's voice came from behind him.

Thor turned around and saw another boy who always mocked him leading in a middle-aged man dressed in a black uniform.

The Butler did not look frightened when he saw Thor's hand.

He quickly furrowed his brow. "Come with me."

Thor glanced at the snitch and silently followed the Butler out.

The two arrived at the storage room.

"Tell me."

"I helped Level 2 Wizard Apprentice Kongsha conduct a living experiment."

The Butler froze. "You volunteered?"

Thor was puzzled. If he had not volunteered, could the Butler sue on his behalf?

"Ahem..." The Butler coughed twice. "What I mean is, did Lady Kongsha pay you compensation? If not, you can apply to the Steward for compensation. After all, servants are the Tower Master's property. Even apprentices cannot use them up as they please."

Thor did not believe the Butler's words.

Before crossing over, Thor had been killed when a Wizard Apprentice smashed him with a book. But after he died and the current Thor crossed over, no one had given him any explanation.

The man was merely testing whether he had any connection to Kongsha.

So Thor said calmly, "No."

Only after seeing the Butler's expression shift slightly did he continue, "Lady Kongsha and I do not need that little compensation between us."

The Butler's expression changed again.

His anger, halfway to erupting, was forcibly squeezed into a smile.

"Ah, haha, then fine. Since the two of you... I won't interfere. Go back. You don't need to work for the next two days. Rest up properly."

He warily glanced at Thor's left hand.

Thor bowed slightly. "Thank you, Butler."

When he pushed open the door and stepped out, he saw a crowd of boys with their heads pressed together at the bedroom doorway, peering in this direction.

As Thor approached, the boys immediately retreated into the room.

"You!" Thor pointed at the boy who had reported him. "It'll be your turn the day after tomorrow."

The boy's face instantly went as white as Brown's!

For the next two days, Thor lived a remarkably comfortable life.

No one assigned him work. He could wander through most areas of the fourth floor. No one dared fight him for food, so he could finally eat hot meals, and he occasionally even saw meat.

Even the Butler brought him a bottle of potion on the second day, supposedly to treat the wound on his head.

How laughable!

There was not even a scar left on his forehead.

Still, Thor respectfully accepted the medicine and thanked the Butler repeatedly.

Everything he was enjoying now came from everyone's speculation about his relationship with Kongsha. But if Thor could not become a Wizard Apprentice, it would all be nothing but a bubble, and he would eventually be knocked back to where he started.

Hadn't Kongsha been too disdainful to even learn his name?

Without becoming a Wizard Apprentice, he had no right to act arrogantly. Thor could only intimidate those boys who bullied the weak and feared the strong.

On the third day, something happened.

The boy who had gone to clean the corridors at dawn that day did not return.

In the end, the Butler had to step in and bring back the Corpse.

A boy eagerly described it to Thor in vivid detail, saying that the dead servant's entire head had turned into a flower.

His skull had become the pistil, while the flesh on his face bloomed layer by layer, vivid red like fire.

After the Butler brought back the Corpse, he handed it directly to the garbage room for disposal. Blood dripped all the way there, and even Thor, who had been resting, was called over to help wipe the floor.

Thor and a group of boys crouched on the ground, scrubbing hard at the bloodstained floor.

Not a single Wizard Apprentice passing by paid them any attention.

They were always in a hurry and never cared which servant had died again.

Thor even caught sight of Kongsha's chin.

Her head was hidden beneath her hood, though, so she did not look as frightening as she had at night.

After they returned, the Butler came again.

"I see you've rested enough. Starting tomorrow, return to your normal work."

"Okay." Thor agreed without hesitation.

Someone whispered behind him.

Clearly, someone had noticed his brush with Kongsha this time.

Because Kongsha had not wasted even a single glance on Thor, some had already concluded that Thor had merely been bluffing.

Seeing Thor agree so readily, the Butler's brow furrowed even more tightly instead.

Just as he was about to say something, the room's door was pushed open again.

It was actually the Steward who entered.

"Lord Steward," the Butler hurriedly bowed at a ninety-degree angle, "what brings you here?"

The Steward ignored the Butler's obsequiousness and merely said coldly to Thor, "You are Thor?"

Thor knew that the opportunity Kongsha had promised him had arrived.

The hand hidden in his sleeve quietly clenched. "Yes, Lord Steward."

"Come with me."

The Steward turned and walked out, not sparing the Butler a single word the entire time.

Thor sidestepped around the Butler, nodded at him, and smiled.

A layer of fine sweat instantly appeared on the Butler's forehead.

Thor followed the Steward all the way to the sixth floor.

Most of those living on the sixth through ninth floors were beginner Wizard Apprentices, though there were also higher-level apprentices who had advanced but were unwilling to move away.

Usually, there were few people to be seen in the Wizard Tower, but today the corridor was packed.

They were all neatly dressed children around ten years old. Yet none of them had a child's innocence on their faces. Every one of them was pale and panic-stricken.

"Go stand at the very back." The Steward led Thor to the rear of the line, pointed with his chin, and spoke blandly.

"Yes." Thor knew these were the newly admitted Wizard Apprentices. Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he walked over slowly and quietly took his place at the end of the line.

The person who had originally been at the back heard the movement and turned around warily. When he saw Thor, confusion appeared on his face first, followed by a trace of anger.

Thor did not know why he wore that expression, but he glared back forcefully without the slightest fear.

After living with those boys for several days, Thor had come to understand.

This world was different from his own. If you were harmonious and friendly, people would only see you as weak and easy to bully.

Since that was the case, Thor might as well be strong.