A Tier 3 Thigh to Hug

Thor looked up at Byron, whose expression was as serious as ever.

"Is it the coordinate map for that Composite Rune?"

The corners of Byron's eyes crinkled. "Yes. Although it was just a construction diagram for a single Composite Rune, it gave me a great deal of inspiration, which is why I was able to find my own Locator at the very last moment before turning thirty."

"A Locator?"

"You will understand that once you reach the second rank. Knowing it now would only increase your burden and cloud your thoughts."

Thor nodded.

Knowledge in the Wizard World also requires a certain level of strength to explore.

Learning about high-level knowledge too early would only drive one mad.

"However, even though you cannot understand this knowledge yet, once you reach the second rank, you can come find me and join my squad. I will teach you some of the insights I gained when I was a second-rank apprentice."

"A squad?" This was another term Thor had never heard before.

"Third-rank apprentices all go out to seek opportunities so they can fuse with a Locator, which is why you almost never see them inside the Wizard Tower."

"At the same time, because the places they go are very dangerous, they often travel in groups. Many second-rank apprentices also follow these teams out to find a Locator that suits them, though some end up dying out there."

Byron sighed, his entire body emitting a whistling sound.

"There is no help for it; the resources within the Wizard Tower are limited."

Thor thought of his own empty workbench and cabinets, then squeezed the large bag of Magic Crystals in his pocket and sighed as well: "Yes, far too limited."

Byron walked over to Peggy's long table and flipped through the books on it. He checked the three stone coffins in the room once more before finally returning to Peggy's decaying Corpse.

"There were evil spirits hidden within these three corpses. Peggy should have handed them over to Mentor Kazi to deal with. But... her greed got the better of her, and she wanted to keep the corpse of this second-rank apprentice for herself."

Thor nodded. The Hardcover Book had told him as much; after Thor died, Peggy would have written in the Registration Book that there were only three first-rank apprentice corpses.

The whereabouts of the second-rank apprentice's corpse were self-evident.

The wound acting as a mouth continued to open and close.

"But she underestimated the evil spirits and overestimated herself. She became trapped deep within the situation and had no choice but to find you to act as a scapegoat."

Thor continued to nod; Senior Byron had guessed everything correctly.

"You are not bad," Byron concluded, the corners of his eyes curving as he looked at Thor with satisfaction.

"I just stumbled into it by luck." Thor's ability to counter-kill Peggy was entirely due to the Hardcover Book helping him eliminate all the wrong options, combined with the few items Kongsha had given him.

Otherwise, given his strength, two casts of Strike Undead would have been his limit.

So, one should still cling to powerful thighs when possible, as long as one is careful not to be led into a ditch.

"I will handle Peggy's belongings. Do you have any objections?"

Thor shook his head immediately. "No objections. It is safest for you to handle it, Senior."

Byron did not waste words; he walked over and effortlessly lifted two of the coffins.

One contained the second-rank apprentice, and the other contained a first-rank apprentice.

"Let's go."

Thor was stunned, not knowing what Byron intended to do, but he followed him immediately.

Byron passed Hayden's room and stopped to kick the door.

The door opened a crack, and when Hayden saw it was Byron, he immediately opened it fully.

"Senior Byron."

"Mm!"

The wounds on Byron's body had already healed. He tossed the stone coffin of the first-rank apprentice inside.

"Bang!"

The stone coffin hit the floor, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Hm?"

Hayden, who had worked with Byron for several years, understood his meaning immediately.

"I understand. I am off the clock tonight; I don't know what happened here."

"Mm." Byron nodded.

Hayden immediately closed the door, pretending no one was there.

Thor, standing to the side, was completely dumbfounded by Byron's actions.

Byron carried the remaining stone coffin and led Thor to the third Corpse Room.

He moved again, tearing a slit into his throat.

"There is something wrong with Peggy's corpse, so I will keep it and report it to the mentor. This one is basically fine and still has some value. Since Peggy had already hidden its existence, I will leave it for you."

It seemed Senior Byron was "dividing the spoils," and Peggy's corpse would belong to Senior Byron.

Thor had no complaints.

However, Byron did not take Peggy's corpse directly, instead offering Thor a better option.

"You killed Peggy, so I'll keep her, but I won't take your things for nothing. If there's anything you want to trade for, you can come find me anytime within a month."

Thor stood up in surprise; he could have opened his mouth to list a bunch of things right then and there.

But he looked back at the stone coffin on the ground and suddenly calmed down.

Byron was about to become a Level 3 Apprentice and would not be leaving the Wizard Tower.

And as one of the few people in the entire Wizard Tower who held no malice toward him—and could even be considered a potential ally—

He was far too rare.

His current Wizard Body Modification experiment had not yet finalized its plan, so it would be better to save the opportunity for when he truly needed it.

"Before I officially advance to a Level 3 Apprentice, I will be taking over the work in the Corpse Room. You can come find me whenever you like."

"Senior, do you happen to know Sid?" Seeing that Byron was about to turn and leave, Thor called out to him again.

"Hm?" The wound had healed.

"I have some conflict with Sid. Do you think Peggy might have wanted to kill me because of him?"

Byron, however, shook his head.

For some reason, Thor understood what Byron meant.

He was expressing "I don't know," rather than "No."

Byron looked Thor up and down, a flash of confusion in his eyes.

He was likely wondering why a Level 1 Apprentice, a newcomer who had only been here for a month, could have made so many enemies.

Byron exited the room, leaving the space to Thor. He still had to go back and deal with Peggy's corpse, as well as the trouble she had left behind.

Thor was also satisfied with Byron's reaction.

At the very least, Senior Byron and Sid were likely not close.

In this way, Senior Byron could absolutely become another powerful backer for him to rely on against Sid.

A Level 3 backer!

With a contented smile on his face, Thor walked over to the stone coffin.

This stone coffin looked quite special; it wasn't made of ordinary materials.

Well, that made sense—how could a regular coffin hold an evil spirit?

Thor rubbed his hands together in excitement. "A man cannot get rich without a windfall; the bandits never lied to me."

Thor locked the door from the inside.

This would be the first time he handled a corpse that hadn't been screened by Hayden.

It was also the first complete set of materials that belonged solely to him.

The matter with Peggy seemed to have nothing to do with Sid after all.

After Kongsha killed the newcomer Sid had brought back to replace Thor, Sid had not appeared for a long time.

Life returned to peace, and study and experiments seemed to occupy the main melody once again.

But Thor knew that Sid would not give up.

The Hardcover Book that Sid was determined to obtain floated on his shoulder, and surviving several brushes with death had made Thor increasingly aware of the Hardcover Book's power.

If anyone were to try and snatch the Hardcover Book now, Thor would absolutely fight to the death.

He was unsure how much Sid knew about the Hardcover Book.

But he speculated that it was certainly limited.

The Hardcover Book could predict death, and the tentative strikes Sid had made against Thor were indeed capable of threatening Thor's life.

But every time, the killing intent had not been decisive enough!

This had given Thor time to find ways to save himself.

Thor asked himself, if he were the one trying to seize the Hardcover Book, he would definitely choose a method of killing that left no room for reaction and no place to escape.

Instead of wasting opportunities time and again like Sid, only to have his intentions discovered by Thor in return.

Therefore, although Sid was tracking the trail of a book, he was not very clear about the Hardcover Book's function.

Then, how did he know of the Hardcover Book's existence?

"Hiss!"

The sound of flames interrupted Thor's train of thought. He stood up and first glanced at the cauldron and other containers undergoing reactions on the table.

There should still be a long time before the reactions concluded.

He rose to welcome the first guest of the day.

Thanks again to the readers!