The Dead Are the Real Trash

The dormitories for newly promoted Level 1 Apprentices were spread across the sixth through ninth floors, though most people lived on the sixth floor.

Thor had thought servants would deliver textbooks and other supplies once he returned to his dormitory. Instead, he saw a familiar face outside Room 604.

Sid, the Level 2 Apprentice responsible for the testing, stood there with his arms crossed, looking at Thor as he walked alongside Keli.

His face was full of mockery.

Thor's heart tightened, and he quickly glanced at the Hardcover Book on his left shoulder.

It floated obediently, showing no sign of opening.

He let out a breath, then forced himself to walk up to Sid under his icy gaze.

"Senior, were you looking for me?" Thor lowered his head slightly, his eyes fixed on Sid's hands.

Level 2 Apprentices generally did not appear here.

Many of the new Apprentices had been drawn out and stood at a distance, watching with alarm and uncertainty.

They had all been shocked by the way Sid killed the chubby boy. For children from outside, even watching it had been like a nightmare.

Even Keli remained three meters away, watching with a blank expression.

Sid lowered his arms, the mocking smile on his face widening.

He leaned forward, bringing his Mouths down near the top of Thor's head. "I know how you cheated your way through the test."

Thor suddenly raised his eyes, looking up at Sid from an extreme angle.

"But I won't revoke your Apprentice status." Sid straightened up, folding his arms across his chest again. His tone seemed to soften somewhat.

"You know? People with Mental Power but no talent for Magic Power who become Apprentices... only die more miserably! Hahahaha..."

Sid did not deliberately lower his voice. Thor could already hear people behind him beginning to talk about him.

"I'm looking forward to hearing about your death. If you die prettily enough, I wouldn't mind turning your Corpse into a wax figure and putting it on the fourth floor to warn those lowly servants."

"Don't! Even! Dream! Of! It!"

Thor felt his skin go numb from head to toe.

Sid was quite pleased by Thor's pale face. He took half a step back and looked at Thor as if admiring a work of art.

"Then I'll look forward to seeing you next time."

With a cold sneer, his expression darkened completely as he turned and left.

All the Apprentices in the corridor moved aside and pressed themselves against the walls, afraid that some part of their bodies might block Senior's path.

Once Sid disappeared around the bend of the Ramp, Thor let out a long breath and finally felt sensation return to his stiff limbs.

He lowered his head and prepared to return to his room, not bothering to look at the expressions around him. They could not have been pleasant.

Becoming a Wizard Apprentice had been his choice. He knew his aptitude and talent were poor. So even under everyone's doubts and ridicule, Thor would not give up.

He reached out to open the door, but another hand slammed against it.

Thor looked up and saw Duke's Twisted Face.

"Shanqi... he actually lost his life because of trash like you?" Duke's chest heaved violently. "People without talent have no right to learn Witchcraft! Go rot and mold away among the servants!"

A fire surged up from Thor's heart, burning so fiercely that smoke seemed to rise from his throat.

Thor abruptly thrust out his left hand.

The Bone Hand clamped tightly around Duke's head as though it were gripping a ball!

His hair and skin sank slightly beneath the pressure of the bones, and even his skull made fragile cracking sounds.

Duke's stream of curses turned into wails.

"Ah! Aah! Aah—"

Under Thor's immense, irresistible strength, he was slowly forced down to his knees.

"The ones who lose their lives... are the real trash!" Thor said through gritted teeth.

He looked up at the crowd in the corridor, their expressions all different, and began tightening his grip again.

"AAAAH!!!"

Duke's cries became ever more piercing, like needles drilling into everyone's brains.

Everyone could not help backing away.

Then, a hand suddenly landed on Thor's left arm.

Thor turned his bloodshot eyes and realized Keli had somehow come up behind him.

She looked at Thor with complete indifference, as though he were not killing someone but merely eating a meal.

Keli raised the Apprentice Rule Manual in her hand and waved it before Thor's eyes.

"Rule Three: Apprentices may not kill one another. Violators will be skinned. If you really want to kill him, next time we'll find somewhere without people."

Keli did not lower her voice either, ensuring both Thor and Duke, kneeling on the ground, heard every word clearly.

Perhaps it was the faint coolness from Keli, or perhaps the breeze stirred by the booklet, but the fire in Thor's heart no longer felt quite so violent.

He released his hand and watched Duke, deep finger marks left on his face, scramble and crawl into the crowd.

"You're right." Thor looked at Duke's fleeing back and raised his voice. "We'll find somewhere with no people, then butcher him!"

Thor no longer paid attention to the gazes around him and pushed open the door to return to his dormitory.

When he turned around to close the door, he found Keli ducking beneath his arm and slipping inside.

Thor paused, but slowly closed the door anyway.

"You didn't even bring any luggage?" Keli clasped her hands behind her back and strolled around Thor's room.

Thor said nothing.

Keli walked back in front of Thor. They were both teenagers, yet she looked slightly taller than him.

"How did you cheat? Did you pretend to faint to avoid the Magic Power test?"

Thor turned his head away.

Keli moved around in front of him again. "Is your Magic Power talent poor?"

"Mm!"

Thor did not lose his temper with Keli, the only person who had stood beside him. He merely snorted through his nose.

"Poor Magic Power talent is a little troublesome. You might fizzle out after casting only a few Curse-Spells or Witchcraft." Keli spoke stiffly.

"But your Mental Power talent was still the best performer in that day's test."

Keli suddenly extended her right hand toward Thor.

"Geniuses should walk alongside geniuses. Hello, I'm Keli, first place in the Magic Power talent test."

"...Thor."

After a moment of silence, Thor placed his right hand in hers.

For no apparent reason, he had gained a rather inexplicable friend.

After Keli left, Thor sat at the desk. Remembering that somewhat cringeworthy scene just now, the corner of his mouth twitched.

But he quickly composed himself.

Unlike Keli, who still bore the name of a genius, his reputation as a cheater would probably spread everywhere and become common knowledge.

But Thor had no time to consider what others thought. To become an Apprentice, he had stepped into a mystery that even he could not see through.

His earlier rage had come more from his fear of Sid.

Now, reason returned.

Thor tore off a sheet of paper and wrote several names on it.

Brown.

Sid.

Kongsha.

Keli.

Duke.

Brown had been deliberately targeting him all along. And it seemed someone was pushing everything from behind the scenes.

Thor wrote the word "enemy" after Brown's name.

Sid held deep hostility toward Thor. Thor even suspected Sid was the person behind Brown.

The Hardcover Book had also warned Thor that Sid would kill him after the Magic Power talent test. Added to Sid blocking his door today and spreading news of his talent...

Thor wrote "mortal enemy" after Sid's name. Unfortunately, Thor currently had no way at all to fight this mortal enemy.

He could only be thankful that, now that he was a Wizard Apprentice, Sid probably could not directly attack him so easily.

"Next... Kongsha." Thor softly spoke the name of the person who had changed his fate.

He wrote a question mark after Kongsha's name.

Kongsha's terrifying appearance and mysterious methods made Thor deeply wary of her. At present, he still did not know what Kongsha wanted him to do.

Weak as he was, he could only take things one step at a time.

Thor skipped over Keli's name and turned to the final one.

Duke.

Though he had already vented once, seeing that name still annoyed him.

He raised his pen and quickly wrote after it, "Big idiot..."

Knock, knock, knock!

The knocking interrupted Thor. He crumpled the paper on the desk into a ball and shoved it into his pocket.

The door opened, and a pretty girl of seventeen or eighteen appeared before Thor. She wore an extremely revealing maid outfit, thrusting out her chest and hips as she pushed a small cart in a pose clearly meant to attract young men.

The cart was piled half a person high with books, study supplies, and daily necessities.

She lowered her head and smiled at Thor, the angle perfectly practiced and sweet. "Good afternoon, Lord Thor. These are the books and tools you will need for your studies. Would you like me to push them inside for you?"

Thor took the cart handle. "No, thank you."

The maid bent deeply, her ample breasts nearly brushing Thor's nose.

"Would you require any other services from me, my lord?"