Differential Treatment

Duke subconsciously did not want others to know that Thor, who had clashed with him, was being heavily relied upon by Mentor Kazi.

"Then you can rest easy, he definitely won't pass the first test. Didn't you see how short of mana he was during the rune class? Even if someone like that learns quickly, what's the use if they can't cast any spells?" Duoze had been rebuffed by Thor before, so his tone was quite sour.

He even speculated with malicious intent, "Listening to Mentor Gudo, apprentices who fail the test will definitely be punished. Maybe Thor will end up being sent back to work as a servant! Luoji, don't you think so?"

"Ah? Yes." Luoji replied dully.

"Oh?" Jenna began to sympathize with Thor again, "That's a bit pitiful."

"That's true." Luoji immediately added.

Watching his good friend constantly stealing glances at Jenna, Duoze rolled his eyes in his heart.

Just as the group was deep in discussion, the door to 603 opened again.

The chatter ceased instantly.

Thor stepped out of his dormitory, walked to the neighboring 604, knocked on the door, and called out Keli, who was buried in her studies inside.

"Has a newcomer arrived at the tower?"

"Hmm? Yeah, what about it? I thought you wouldn't care about these things." Keli was still holding a thick roll of parchment, looking at Thor with a stunned expression.

"Is there an apprentice among the newcomers with strong dark-attribute talent?" Thor asked.

Keli shrugged expressionlessly, the parchment hitting the doorframe with a dull thud, "You thought I would care about these things?"

Thor, choked up by Keli again, couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"I thought you would be very interested in a new genius."

"My progress is already on a different level; let's talk once someone catches up." Keli raised an eyebrow at Thor, one hand resting on her chin, "You're very interested in him, do you want me to go find out?"

"No need."

Thor walked away with his arms crossed, looking inscrutable, leaving Keli standing there, confused.

"What is he up to? Is he torturing my curiosity?"

Keli pursed her lips and pondered for a moment. Seeing someone walking toward her out of the corner of her eye, she quickly retreated into her room and slammed the door shut with a bang.

Duke was met with a solid cold shoulder, and the enthusiastic smile on his face instantly turned gloomy.

Explosive laughter erupted from behind him, making him clench his fists, wishing he could smash open the dormitory door in front of him.

But now everyone knew that Keli was already the apple of Mentor Gudo's eye, often being taken by his side for instruction.

This was the special treatment that countless apprentices dreamed of.

Rumors spread among the new apprentices that she would definitely be the first to become a level 2 apprentice, and perhaps even step into level 3 soon.

Countless people wanted to get close to Keli; even if they could only get a tiny bit of resources from her, it might be enough to help them survive the apprentice tests time and again.

However, Keli seemed to have lost her mind, as she was only willing to stay with Thor.

All her cheerfulness and enthusiasm were reserved for Thor alone.

Invisibly, this only deepened the newcomers' resentment toward Thor.

Yet, the person burdened by this resentment didn't care in the slightest.

3:30 AM.

Thor suddenly opened his eyes. The chaos dissipated like the tide, and reason reclaimed his brain.

The servant George had given Thor a duty roster a few days ago.

Today, it was the turn of one of Sid's lackeys—Brown—to be on duty cleaning the corridors.

Thor quickly put on his clothes, took out the carefully preserved Phantom Sound Pupil, and left the dormitory.

Brown, who was a head taller than Thor, pushed his cart timidly as he walked along the ramp of the West Tower.

He lifted his hand from time to time to tighten his collar.

The temperature inside the Wizard Tower was not low, but a chill was omnipresent.

Ever since that damned Thor had damnably become a damned apprentice, Brown had been forced to take up the job of cleaning the corridors again.

This was the job with the highest mortality rate among the servants; whether it took ten days or several months, there were always people who left in the early hours of the morning and never returned.

"It's cheap for that George, licking Thor's boots so quickly."

George had been assigned other tasks by the butler and did not participate in the early morning shifts.

Now all the male servants knew that George had latched onto Thor's thigh.

They immediately changed their attitudes and placed George, who had previously been bullied, on a pedestal.

George slept on the right side of the communal bunk, taking Brown's place.

Brown had lost his influence, yet no one dared to truly bully him.

However, he had also lost his once-transcendent status, and he had to take on many tasks he previously didn't have to do.

The danger, naturally, was higher.

Fortunately, Brown was not entirely without a trump card; facing the dangerous early morning cleaning shift, he was still confident he could return safely.

Ever since Thor became an apprentice, that Level 2 apprentice had never sought Brown out again, but he had once left Brown a life-saving item.

Brown tightened his collar once more, habitually feeling the Little Fragrant Bead hidden beneath it.

It was a translucent bead strung on a black cord, about the size of a thumb, with a small black insect sealed inside like an amber fossil.

Brown did not know what it was, but that Level 2 apprentice had told him that this Little Fragrant Bead could protect him from the harm of ordinary anomalies.

This was precisely the advance payment Brown had received for persecuting Thor earlier.

It was just a pity that after Thor left, that Level 2 apprentice was unwilling to openly look after Brown, let alone take him on as a personal servant.

Otherwise, who would still be afraid of that George?

Even the butler would have to treat him with respectful, fawning smiles.

Although there were regrets, Brown still happily squeezed the Little Fragrant Bead; with this wizarding tool, he hadn't come out at a loss.

The sense of pleasure and superiority Brown derived from the Little Fragrant Bead didn't last long before it was suppressed once again by the eerie atmosphere inside the Wizard Tower.

"When will I ever be able to leave this damn place? If I had known I'd be a servant forever, I wouldn't have... I might as well have gone back to the village to farm."

Regret was merely a useless emotion that only served to dampen his will.

Brown let out a long sigh and pushed the cart forward.

He maintained his silence as he turned the corner on the sixth floor.

Suddenly, the wheel got stuck in a gap between the stone tiles, and no matter how hard he pushed, it wouldn't budge.

"What's going on?" Brown crouched down irritably, trying to lift the wheel.

At that moment, he suddenly saw a foot step onto the stone tile in front of the wheel.

A pale, almost purple, naked, and bony little foot.

Then, another foot with a similar appearance landed as well.

Only, that foot had its heel facing toward Brown.

It was the exact opposite of the first foot.

What the hell!!!

Brown couldn't care less about the cart; he yanked the Little Fragrant Bead from under his collar, held it high above his head, and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that this horror would be dispelled by the bead.

There was no movement for a long while.

Brown tentatively opened his eyes just a crack.

Every hair on his body stood on end.

Surrounding him and the cart were countless naked feet.

Those feet were all arranged in alternating directions, and each one was different. Some belonged to adults, some to children, and some to the elderly.

"Haa... haa..."

Brown's breathing began to tremble.

The scene before him was bizarre.

But what was even more chilling than the bizarreness was that Brown had seen this scene before.

When he was ten years old.

Barbarians had invaded his village and gathered all the living creatures they could catch.

People and livestock were all split in half, impaled on wooden stakes in alternating directions, and left standing in mid-air.

Promoting today, but I've caught a cold, it feels so awful.