Precious Knowledge That Transcended Class

When the clock hand pointed to exactly eight.

The classroom's originally quiet atmosphere was broken by a burst of noisy footsteps.

A group of young masters and ladies in exquisite silk robes and gleaming badges entered in twos and threes.

Most were only fifteen or sixteen, their faces brimming with confident, even arrogant, smiles.

The air was instantly filled with the pleasant mingled scent of various expensive essential oils.

"Hey, did you hear? That idiot Kathy got played at the black market last night. They said she nearly suffered Mana backlash."

"Really? Hahaha, that arrogant fool finally got what was coming to her?"

"Jane, is that a new-style mage robe? Those flowing-light runes are gorgeous. It must have cost five hundred Purple Gold Coins, right?"

They talked about gossip, luxury goods, and the upcoming ball as though this were not a solemn Wizard Tower, but some noble salon.

This was class.

For Tylen, this assessment was a matter of life and death. For them, it was merely a game that required a little more seriousness.

Suddenly, a shrill female voice shattered the harmony.

"Wait... what is that smell?"

A pretty girl with golden curls and a vicious expression stopped in her tracks.

She wrinkled her delicate nose, fanning the air before her in disgust. Her gaze swept across the classroom like a radar before finally locking onto Tylen in the corner.

"Why are you here? You aren't qualified to stand here. Get out!"

Jane Austen.

The Austen Family's second daughter, a typical noble young lady. She had decent talent, but an utterly terrible personality.

At her cry, everyone's attention focused on Tylen.

There was surprise in those gazes, contempt and disgust, but not the slightest respect for one of their own.

"Hey! You there!"

Beside Jane, a tall, skinny young man who had just conjured flowers for her called out.

He was Tom, Jane's number one sycophant.

Tom pointed at Tylen and barked arrogantly:

"Did you wander into the wrong place? This is Instructor Makley's advanced practical class, not your Morgue! Take that disgusting corpse stink of yours and get out!"

Tylen stood there expressionlessly, as though he had heard nothing.

He could not even be bothered to spare the yapping lapdog a glance.

He was waiting.

"What? Are you deaf? I'm talking to you, you—"

"That's enough."

A cold voice came from before the experiment table. It was not loud, yet it instantly drowned out all the noise.

Makley had somehow turned around already. Holding a mithril teaching whip, he looked coldly at Tom.

The classroom instantly fell silent enough to hear a pin drop.

Tom was like a duck with its throat seized, mouth hanging open and face flushed liver-colored.

"Instructor... I just thought..."

"You thought?" Makley sneered.

"Since when was it your turn to make the rules in my classroom?"

He slowly walked to the podium, his gaze sweeping over every student present before casually glancing at Tylen in the corner.

"Magnus was specially approved by me to audit this class."

"He has decent talent, and besides..." Makley pointed at the three corpses on the experiment table.

"Today's teaching materials were prepared by him."

"If any of you can handle corpses as perfectly as he can, I'll also allow you to bring any stray cat or dog in to audit."

"Now, does anyone still have a question?"

The entire room was dead silent.

Everyone stared in shock at the inconspicuous commoner apprentice huddled in the corner.

Decent talent?

That Corpse Collector?

Jane bit her lip and glared unwillingly at Tylen, but under the instructor's pressure, she could only shut up obediently and return to her seat.

Tylen still had his head lowered, but the corner of his mouth curled almost imperceptibly.

Using a tiger's authority to intimidate others... this did not feel half bad.

"All right, class begins."

Makley tapped the blackboard, and the magical projection behind him lit up at once.

"Today, we will cover a basic application of the soul school—selection and control of undead vessels."

"Many people think Spirit Summoning is simply stuffing a spirit body into a corpse. That is completely wrong!"

Makley walked over to the young man's corpse and lightly tapped its brow with his teaching whip.

"Look here. This corpse has been dead for no more than ten hours, thanks to the effect of a magic array. The spiritual residue in its pineal gland has not yet dispersed. For beginners, this is the most ideal target."

"Watch my hand gestures and Mana frequency carefully."

Buzz!

Makley's finger traced a complex path through the air, and an eerie green radiance of Mana flashed to life.

Tylen stared fixedly at every movement his instructor made.

Although he could not activate the thirtyfold efficiency of the [Slacker Saint Body] in full view of everyone, his Mental Power of 3.2, along with the powerful summarization skills and concentration of an Earth-born overachiever, were genuine assets.

He saw it!

He saw details that had never been recorded in books!

When Makley constructed the third node of the Spell Model, his finger made an incredibly slight tremor. That was to offset the corpse's own rejection response!

And when he injected Mana, he did not pour it in all at once. Instead, he used a pulsed method of "three shallow, one deep"!

So that's it... So this is what the books mean by "dispersed"!

Tylen felt as if lightning had split open his mind. Many problems that had troubled him for a long time were solved in an instant.

It was like suddenly understanding an entire type of application problem. Everything became clear.

This was the value of guidance from a great teacher!

This was the weight of core knowledge!

Next, Makley walked over to the skeleton.

"If it is Skeleton Summoning, the focus is not spiritual residue, but the structural mechanics of the bones."

Pointing at the joints Tylen had reinforced with brass wire, he said approvingly:

"Look at this treatment. A metal medium for Mana conduction was left at the joints. This can increase the skeleton's agility by at least twenty percent."

"The skeletons you usually summon walk like half-paralyzed old men because you do not understand how to handle the joints!"

"You can either use physical methods like this, or control Mana to form a membrane around the key areas and wrap them..."

The students below all craned their necks to look at the exquisite skeleton, which resembled a work of art. Surprise appeared in their eyes.

They might have been arrogant, but they were not blind.

A handling technique of this level was absolutely not something an ordinary servant could accomplish.

"Lastly, Soul Disguise."

Makley walked over to the female corpse, his voice turning low.

"This is an advanced technique. How to use a corpse's skin as camouflage, deceiving guards and even low-level detection arrays..."

As he explained, he demonstrated how to peel away the corpse's surface spiritual essence.

A full two hours passed.

Tylen stood motionless in the corner, like a dry sponge greedily absorbing every drop of knowledge.

He was so engrossed that he even forgot the numb ache in his legs.

This knowledge was something he had never been able to imagine before.

And now, he had heard it for free!

"All right, that concludes today's class."

Only when Makley dismissed the class did Tylen snap back to himself as though he had returned from another world.

The students began packing up and leaving.

As they passed Tylen, their gazes had changed.

They no longer simply ignored or despised him. There was now a trace of curiosity, even wariness.

When the arrogant girl named Jane passed Tylen, her steps paused.

She glanced at Tylen, then at the skeleton on the podium that had been handled almost perfectly, and snorted.

"A servant who sucks up to others!"

With that, she lifted her chin proudly and strode away.

Tylen did not argue. He merely smiled as he watched her leave.

A servant?

Perhaps.

But give me enough time and resources, and I'll show you who the real servants are!

"Magnus, clean this place up."

Makley's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes, Instructor."

Tylen immediately composed himself and became once more that diligent, humble servant.

But he knew that some things had changed completely.

He had forcibly pried open a crack in the door leading to the upper world.

Next, he had to force that crack wide open and turn it into his own path to the heavens!