"Sid" slowly released Brown's fist. He didn't answer Brown's question, only asked, "Do you remember why I told you to kill Thor?"
Brown felt as if his whole body were on fire. His excitement left him no room to think.
"Because that brat Thor offended you."
"Then why didn't I just kill him myself?"
This time, Brown hesitated. "Because the servants belong to the Tower Master?"
"Is that all you can think of? Useless."
"Sid" scolded him and turned to leave.
Knowing that his chance would be gone in an instant, Brown hurriedly blurted out all the thoughts that had been swirling in his mind.
"Because, because you can't kill him with your own hands, my lord."
"Sid" finally stopped and turned around, a satisfied expression on his face.
"You guessed it?"
Brown felt bubbles rising all over his body.
He wondered if, after passing this test, he might become Lord Sid's personal servant.
And, with time, find his way to becoming a wizard.
"I guessed part of it, my lord."
"What did you guess? Tell me. Let's see if you're worth continuing to use." "Sid" folded his arms.
Brown smiled in delight. "When I asked if I should take Thor to the tenth floor so you could deal with him yourself, you muttered, 'If I could do it myself, why would I need you?'"
"Good. Anything else?"
"My lord, after Thor died, you told me to keep an eye out for a red hardcover book on him or somewhere he usually spent time. If I saw it, I wasn't to let anyone touch it or let anyone else find out."
Brown swallowed. His mouth was terribly dry, and he badly wanted a drink of water, but how could he think about finding water now?
"You wanted to kill Thor to find that hardcover book, didn't you?"
Brown licked his lips. His mouth was too dry, and his tongue wasn't wet enough to help. Instead, it made his lips sting.
"...You're very clever." "Sid" sighed, then asked gently, "Would you like to experience the wonders of witchcraft?"
Brown answered fervently at once. "I would, my lord. I want it so badly. I dream about it every night."
Sid's lips curled slightly.
"Then look down."
Brown hesitantly lowered his head. His pupils contracted.
Smoke was rising from his body.
Flames licked out from several charred holes, licking at his skin and clothes.
Brown's mind went blank. He couldn't understand what was happening.
He raised his head to seek Sid's help.
But a fist made of white bones appeared before his eyes.
"Crack!"
Thor sent Brown's nasal bone flying into the back of his skull with one punch.
He straightened up and watched flames pour from Brown's throat.
Tier 0 Wizardry, Demoralizing Gaze.
Witchcraft Item, Phantom Sound Pupil.
Tier 0 Wizardry, Scorching Breath.
Thor gasped. Good. He'd used up all his Magic Power.
So in the end, he'd had to resort to a physical attack to silence Brown's screams.
He shook his left hand, flicking the flesh and blood from the white bones, then looked toward his left shoulder.
"Hardcover Book? Diary? Will you leave me once I'm dead?"
The hardcover book ignored Thor, floating quietly by his left shoulder as it watched the show.
As the flames gradually spread, Thor reached out and pulled the Little Fragrant Bead from Brown's hand before the fire reached his fingertips.
"Sid probably gave him this. It didn't trigger a fatal reaction. But it seems to have an Organ-Devouring Beetle sealed inside."
Thor sniffed the Little Fragrant Bead again.
"It's wrapped in some kind of wax. Smells like Corpse-Wrapping Wax."
Corpse-Wrapping Wax had a slight ability to suppress ghosts and monsters. Its effect lasted only about three months. Once its three-month shelf life was up, the wax melted by itself.
Then the beetle inside would escape, burrow into the body of the nearest person, and devour their internal organs until it burst.
Thor twirled his finger, letting the Little Fragrant Bead, strung on a black cord, swing back and forth. Then he flicked it into the flames.
The fire melted the bead and burned the beetle to ash before it could regain consciousness.
This was the first time Thor had killed someone. He was disappointed to feel no unease at all.
Mournful Gaze and Phantom Sound Pupil couldn't read other people's thoughts.
But judging by the few words Brown had let slip while trapped in a terrifying hallucination, the fellow before him was most likely not human.
The flames from Scorching Breath couldn't become a raging inferno. After burning for a while, they went out on their own.
Thor looked down at the man who had once bullied him and pushed him toward death several times, now reduced to a lump of charcoal.
He stepped over Brown's corpse.
The morning sunlight couldn't penetrate the Wizard Tower's thick stone walls.
Inside the tower, the only way to tell morning from evening was by the brightness of the candlelight.
The candles in Gorsa Wizard Tower burned eternally. No one knew what they were made of.
A group of people crowded around the ramp between the sixth and seventh floors of the West Tower, whispering about the charred corpse sprawled across it.
The Butler hurried over with several servants.
He bowed and apologized to the Apprentices while ordering the male servants to clean up at once.
Sid was walking down the ramp when he found his way blocked again. He frowned in annoyance.
"Have none of you seen a dead body before? Move aside."
The Level 2 Apprentice had lost his temper, and the Level 1 Apprentices scattered like startled birds.
Sid passed the male servant lying face down and too afraid to move. Ignoring the Butler's repeated bows, he finally glanced at the corpse from the corner of his eye.
His steps faltered.
The corpse's face was unrecognizable, but the scent on it came from the Corpse-Wrapping Wax he had made himself.
Was it Brown?
Sid didn't care that his former underling had died.
Brown would either die to one of the tower's bizarre threats or be eaten by the beetle before long anyway.
Sid continued down the ramp, nonchalant. A person was slowly making his way up toward him.
Thor lifted his head and smiled at Sid as they passed.
"Good morning, Senior."
Sid stopped. He watched Thor turn into the corridor on the sixth floor.
He looked back at the charred corpse, the corner of his eye twitching violently.
When he turned around again, his expression had grown frighteningly dark.
He felt that he had been insulted.
Did a rat from the garbage heap dare bare its teeth at him now?
There was just one thing Sid couldn't understand.
Wasn't Thor's main element the Dark Attribute? How could he use fire-based witchcraft?
A few days later.
Thor sat at the makeshift Experiment Table in the Corpse Room, organizing what he had learned recently.
Wizard Body Modification was important, but he couldn't slack off on building up his basic knowledge, either.
Thor had now mastered three Tier 0 Wizardries.
If anyone else knew, they would probably be stunned.
At present, only Keli had a vague idea of Thor's progress—and that was why Keli had such dark circles under her eyes.
But even the famously talented Keli could currently cast just one Tier 0 Wizardry: Flash Spell, which had little direct destructive power.
This was mainly because Keli's command of Composite Runes wasn't as thorough as Thor's.
Now Thor was about to begin learning his fourth Tier 0 Wizardry.
Most Apprentices wouldn't learn so many spells.
The usual process was to first master one spell, then practice it for a long time until it became second nature to both body and mind before attempting another.
Learning several spells at once could easily cause confusion between runes.
This was especially true of Composite Runes. A moment's carelessness could lead someone to confuse two runes that looked extremely similar but were actually completely different.
The smallest price for mixing up runes was damage to one's Mental Power, leaving one with a headache for several days.
The pain could be so bad that one couldn't even focus on a book.
Even worse, a failed attempt to construct a spell model within one's spiritual body while casting could cause the spell to rebound.
At its most severe, the backlash could be fatal.
Thor had one advantage over others: while they memorized diagrams, distances, and angles, he memorized coordinates.
The more advanced approach would be to memorize formulas, but unfortunately, he didn't know how.
Thanks for all your support and votes. I've caught the bugs.
Feel free to share your thoughts on the plot and setting. I'll grit my teeth and read them all, and do my best to make things right. If I can't, please bear with me, haha.
Before you continue