He knew a little about the current state of the Cain Wizard Tower.
For a city-level Wizard Tower, the official minimum requirement was a Grand Wizard as its master, along with ten Official Wizards.
That was why the tower had only ten Morgues equipped with complete freezing and preservation arrays.
But in recent years, in an effort to qualify as a provincial-level Wizard Tower, the Kane Family had been recruiting like mad.
The number of Official Wizards in the tower had now surged to thirty!
Too many monks, too little gruel.
Thirty monks fighting over ten bowls of gruel—it was only a matter of time before they came to blows.
Especially after the tower had failed its promotion assessments several times in a row. Its resources had not increased as expected; instead, its expanded staff had become a heavy burden.
Now, the conflict was finally about to erupt.
Seeing Tylen looking thoughtful, Makley didn't hide anything. He laid out the stakes plainly:
"Among the thirty Official Wizards, neither my talent nor my academic achievements rank among the best."
"But do you know why I still have my own Morgue?"
Tylen answered respectfully, "Of course. It's because you have noble and pure blood, my esteemed mentor."
Makley smiled and nodded. "That's right. It's because I'm a direct descendant of the Kane Family. This Wizard Tower belongs to us."
It was both a warning and a way to give Tylen absolute confidence.
"I know a lot of people have their eyes on my position."
"They think I'm hogging a resource I can't make proper use of, and they want to take it for themselves."
A glint of coldness flashed in Makley's eyes.
As someone who stood to benefit, there was no way he would give up what he had already claimed.
Tylen immediately followed Makley's lead, stepped forward, and asked sincerely:
"Teacher, how can I help ease your worries?"
"Just give the word, and I'll risk my life for you."
Makley turned around and rested a hand gently on Tylen's shoulder.
The hand was heavy, carrying both trust and pressure.
"You need to prove yourself exceptional."
Makley's voice grew low as he got to the point:
"After this audit, the higher-ups are going to tighten the budget for purchasing corpses even further."
"The monthly budget will drop straight from 10,000 Purple Gold Coins to 6,000."
"But!"
Makley's fingers suddenly tightened, squeezing Tylen's shoulder until it hurt.
"The number of corpses we provide can't go down!"
"This is a test for all the Corpse Collector Apprentices and their teachers."
"Besides, I've privately partnered with three other Official Wizards who don't have Morgues."
"They're eager to receive corpse supplies as excellent and presentable as the ones we got yesterday and today."
"So, my student."
Makley stared into Tylen's eyes and spoke slowly, one word at a time:
"For the next month, you'll have to work a little harder."
"You'll have to use those 6,000 Purple Gold Coins to handle the same workload as before, when you had 10,000—or even more."
"You need to expand your corpse-collecting connections and make sure our supply never dries up. We need more corpses than the others, and better ones, too!"
At those words, Tylen was so furious he could only laugh inwardly.
Good grief!
Even capitalists would weep at this. The Jews would kneel before it.
The budget was cut by 40%, and he had to supply three more Wizards on top of that. Was his workload supposed to triple!?
Wasn't this the classic "make the horse run without feeding it"?
If I didn't have the Slacker Saint Body, I'd probably be working you all to death on the job!
Tylen vented furiously in his mind.
But he kept his expression under perfect control.
He put on a suitably troubled look, furrowing his brow as if contemplating an immense difficulty.
Then his gaze turned resolute, like a martyr ready to brave fire and water out of gratitude.
"Please rest assured, Teacher!"
Tylen gritted his teeth and declared loudly:
"Though it'll be difficult, I'll work twice as hard and do everything I can. I won't let you down!"
Makley was quite pleased with Tylen's attitude.
"Good."
Makley nodded, his tone softening a little.
"I know you have your own difficulties. It's hard for a Grand Wizard to work on a project without materials."
"If there's a particular problem or you need support, you can tell me right now."
"As long as it's reasonable, I'll provide it."
As he spoke, Makley gave Tylen a meaningful look.
Here was his chance! Another test!
Tylen immediately fell into thought.
He quickly ran through his options in his mind.
Asking for money directly? Too crude, and it might leave his mentor thinking he was greedy. After all, he'd only just been reimbursed 98 Purple Gold Coins.
Asking for magic? He hadn't even mastered Magic Thorn Art yet. He shouldn't bite off more than he could chew.
Asking for knowledge? He'd only just started Runic Studies and hadn't finished digesting what he'd learned.
He needed to ask for something that would solve his current problem while showing that he was "public-spirited and thrifty."
And it couldn't be too expensive.
After thinking it over, Tylen's eyes suddenly lit up.
He looked up at Makley and said, a little sheepishly:
"Teacher... could you give me a White Diamond Carving Knife?"
Makley's brows rose slightly in surprise.
"What do you need that for? It's used to carve hard materials."
Tylen smiled sheepishly and explained:
"Well, Teacher."
"I'm planning to practice runes so I can master Bone Domination, the spell you taught me, as soon as possible."
"But... rune paper is too expensive."
"The cheapest kind costs 1 Purple Gold Coin for just three sheets, and its poor quality makes it liable to catch fire during practice."
"I thought that when I collect corpses, I often find lots of scraps of bone that nobody wants."
"If I had a good carving knife, I could practice runes on bones instead."
"Then I could put the money I saved on paper toward the corpse-collecting budget and buy more corpses to ease your burden."
"Besides, bone runes are a very good field of application, aren't they?"
Makley was stunned.
He looked at Tylen's frank, simple expression, which even held a little of the "naive cleverness" of a lowly apprentice.
Deep down, he felt a surge of emotion he hadn't experienced in a long time.
What a good kid!
To save him money and help him meet his quota, Tylen had come up with the hard way of using bones instead of paper!
In this Wizard Tower, so full of scheming and self-interest, such pure loyalty and consideration was more precious than even an epic-grade magical artifact!
"Good!"
Makley was delighted. He swept a grand gesture with his hand, his generosity rising to the fore.
"A White Diamond Carving Knife is too brittle and not sharp enough. It's beneath your diligence."
With a turn of his wrist, a carving knife appeared in his hand, its body a deep purple and its blade gleaming with an eerie light.
"This is a Purple Diamond Engraving Knife. It's three times harder than a White Diamond Carving Knife, and it comes with the Sharpness enchantment."
"Take it!"
What a treasure! Tylen's heart let out an instinctive scream.
The Purple Diamond Engraving Knife was worth around 3,000 Purple Gold Coins, and the Sharpness enchantment on it was worth another 200 Purple Gold Coins.
Before Tylen could recover from his surprise, Makley handed him five Purple Gold Banknotes worth 100 each.
"Also, here are 500 Purple Gold Coins."
"This is for you personally."
Makley looked at Tylen's thin frame, a note of concern in his voice.
"Go buy some good supplements and build up your strength."
"The next month will take a lot out of you. I don't want my student collapsing from exhaustion before he's even finished his training."
Tylen took the Purple Diamond Engraving Knife, its sheen mesmerizing, then accepted the crisp new banknotes.
At that moment, his heart was bursting with joy.
"Thank you, Teacher!"
"I won't let you down! Even if I work myself to death, I'll collect every last corpse for you!"
Before you continue