The hour-long intensive lesson came to an end amid Mentor Makley's deep, magnetic voice.
Tylen felt as though he had stepped into a whole new world. Countless insights into the rune structures, Mana circuits, and node resonances of Bone Domination churned in his mind.
"All right, that's all for today."
Makley fixed Tylen with a profound gaze.
"Once you've fully absorbed today's lessons, you'll have grasped the core essence of Bone Domination."
"But that's only the first step."
"Once you successfully break through your bottleneck and become a Level One Apprentice, and master soul resonance through the Spirit Summoning Control Method, you'll be able to try making a Skeleton Servant of your own."
"That's the foundation of everything we Soul-type Wizards do."
Tylen bowed respectfully, his voice brimming with gratitude and anticipation.
"Thank you for your instruction, Mentor. I'll remember everything you've taught me."
Makley nodded in satisfaction. Then his expression grew serious as he gave Tylen a few instructions.
"Also, don't go out to collect corpses for the next three days."
"The month-end inspection is about to begin. The people upstairs will be making spot checks."
"Clean the Morgue from top to bottom."
"And make sure someone is here at all times. Don't give anyone a chance to find fault with you."
"Yes, Mentor."
After giving his instructions, Makley's figure twisted. He transformed into a black Crow once more, flapped his wings, and flew out through the transom, disappearing into the night.
After seeing his Mentor off, Tylen shut the window.
As the Slacker Saint Body took effect again, the swollen feeling of an overloaded brain quickly faded, replaced by exceptionally clear thoughts.
I can tell from that lesson that manipulating runes also consumes Mental Power.
So I need to redistribute my limited Mental Power.
Tylen sat at the desk, lightly tapping his fingers against it as he allocated his resources in his mind.
My current Mental Power cap is 3.6.
Thanks to the thirtyfold recovery effect, every time I meditate, I can refill my bar.
That means I can get at least three full bars a day, for a total of 10.8 Mental Power.
Magic Thorn Art is already sharp enough to handle threats from low-level apprentices. I don't need to practice it any further.
With experience books to help me, there's no need to waste my precious Mental Power on tedious spell-formula deductions, either.
My top priority now is to raise my Runic Studies level as quickly as possible and gain an immediate boost to my combat strength!
Having made up his mind, Tylen looked at his Grand Monthly Card panel.
He still had two level-up rewards to claim from completing the task earlier.
Lv.5: Concentrated Soul Fragment x2; Blank Experience Book x5 (100 experience points each; can be assigned to increase a skill's proficiency)
Lv.6: Wizard's Experience x4
"Experience books really are great!"
At a thought from Tylen, four books glowing with an eerie blue light turned into streaks of light and plunged into his brow.
Boom!
[Spirit Summoning Control Method: 7666 → 11684/100000]
The progress bar surged forward, directly breaking through the invisible threshold known as "Level 0 Apprentice"!
Tylen immediately sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began deducing the spell formula.
He now had 2.6 Mental Power left, and didn't plan to spend all of it on spell-formula deduction.
He used only 0.6 Mental Power, just enough to guide the vast flow of experience as it washed through his Spirit Sea.
In an instant,
the dense mist that had shrouded the magic circle in his Spirit Sea began to melt and recede, like snow beneath the blazing sun.
A large swathe of mist cleared, revealing the spell circle's incomparably profound, intricate, and fascinating patterns and nodes beneath.
The patterns were no longer lifeless lines. They seemed to have come alive, glowing with a faint blue light and pulsing as if they were breathing.
In that moment, Tylen's thoughts resonated with the patterns in a marvelous way.
He instinctively felt that his thoughts were no longer confined to the cramped container of his brain. Instead, they began extending rapidly outward along those nodes.
Like tentacles, or the ripples of radar waves.
For the first time, he felt the existence of his soul with such clarity and precision.
It was an immensely complex, profound, and indistinct shadow, tightly intertwined with his body, the two blending into one.
Surging spiritual energy rushed through it like an underground river, flowing through every nerve and every cell.
And now, that very presence was gradually forming a deeper connection with the invisible, intangible, omnipresent Mana in the air.
At that moment, Tylen could sense the Mana particles drifting through the surrounding space with nothing but his thoughts.
They were like countless tiny fireflies, bobbing in the darkness.
Using this Mana as a medium, Tylen realized he could resonate with certain special beings.
"This is... spiritual resonance!"
Tylen was overjoyed.
The core effect of the Spirit Summoning Control Method was to summon souls and bring them under control.
The sign that someone had entered the first stage and become a Level One Apprentice was the ability to sense, communicate with, and even control the spiritual energy outside themselves through Mana!
That meant he was no longer just a butcher who could play around with corpses. He had finally stepped across the threshold into the supernatural.
When Tylen opened his eyes, emerging from that wondrous state,
his body hadn't undergone any obvious changes like bulging muscles, but he could clearly feel a much closer connection between himself and the world around him.
"Level One Apprentice..."
"Mentor said that becoming a Level One Apprentice would let me try making my own Skeleton Servant."
"Does that mean I can start right now?"
At the thought, Tylen's heart began to pound.
He looked over at the human corpses in the Morgue. He wasn't authorized to use them.
"But..."
Tylen's eyes suddenly lit up, and a smug smile curved his lips.
I brought back plenty of stray dog corpses today!
No sooner had he decided than he sprang into action!
Tylen dashed into the cold room like a gust of wind and dragged out a stray dog's corpse—the right size, with the most intact bones.
He spun the Bone-Cleaving Knife in his hand.
He stripped the bones, washed them, and soaked them in acid. Half an hour later,
a crystal-clear dog skeleton, scrubbed completely clean, lay before Tylen.
"To control bones, I first need to carve the full set of Bone Domination runes into them."
Tylen recalled what he'd learned.
"Normally, the most common method is Alchemy Etching."
"You wrap the bones in a ready-made rune mold, put them in a special acidic alchemical solution, and use a chemical reaction to etch the patterns into them."
"This method is efficient and has a high margin for error. It's suitable for mass production."
"Unfortunately, I don't have a mold or any expensive alchemical solution."
Tylen sighed and took the Purple Diamond Carving Knife out from under his bed.
If I don't have the right conditions, I'll make them.
"Hand-carving may be slow, but it'll let me practice my technique and deepen my understanding."
Tylen took a deep breath, with the Slacker Saint Body bolstering him.
His gaze swept over the dog skeleton before him like an X-ray scanner.
With his thought processes thirty times faster, a complete, three-dimensional rune blueprint quickly took shape in his mind, perfectly overlapping the bones before him.
"First, I need to carve Runic Cores at all the joint nodes to serve as Mana relay stations."
"Then I'll connect the cores into a whole using Mana circuits."
"Finally, I'll draw auxiliary Runic Frames like Sturdy and Agile around the outside to ensure the structure stays stable."
The plan was set.
Tylen flicked his wrist, and the Purple Diamond Carving Knife touched down between the dog skull's brows.
Sss, sss, sss...
Fine bone powder fluttered through the air.
Tylen's hand was as steady as a rock. Every cut landed precisely where it should, with an even depth and smooth lines.
With the Slacker Saint Body's help, he worked at astonishing speed and accumulated experience at a terrifying rate.
During the first hour, he still had to work carefully, stopping now and then to check his progress.
By the second hour, his movements had loosened up and found a rhythm.
By the third, he was working with ease, even able to think about how to optimize the Mana circuits.
By the fourth, he'd grown so practiced that the carving knife felt like an extension of his fingers.
When the fifth hour came,
Tylen put down the carving knife, stood up, and stretched. His joints cracked like popping beans.
"Whew!"
He let out a long breath as he looked at his handiwork.
A quarter of the key areas in the dog's skeleton—the skull, spine, and limb joints—had now been neatly and evenly carved with runes.
Densely packed patterns shimmered faintly in the candlelight, giving them an eerie beauty.
"Just one last step."
Tylen turned and picked up a coil of thin iron wire.
He spent ten minutes physically reinforcing the joints in the dog skeleton.
Since this was his first attempt, the rune connections might not be stable enough. The physical reinforcement would serve as a double safeguard.
Once everything was done,
Tylen glanced at the clock on the wall.
One in the morning.
"Bed!"
Without hesitation, Tylen fell onto the bed and was asleep in seconds.
Twenty minutes later,
Tylen's eyes snapped open.
He felt refreshed!
All his muscle fatigue and Mental Power loss had been restored.
He jumped out of bed in excitement, like someone who'd discovered an irresistibly addictive new game and couldn't wait to see how his new gear performed.
He went to the desk and picked up a round bone fragment covered in special inscriptions.
It was the master switch for the Bone Domination rune system, as well as its control core.
Tylen set it in his palm and took a deep breath.
He stirred the newly awakened, still somewhat unpracticed Mana within him.
"Rise!"
He spent 1 point of Mental Power and slowly channeled it into the bone fragment in his hand.
Buzz!
The fragment glowed faintly, and an invisible wave instantly traveled to the dog skeleton on the table.
Crack!
The Bone Dog that had been lying lifeless on the table suddenly twitched as if it had been plugged in.
"It moved! It really moved!"
Then the Bone Dog stiffly rose to its feet, its frame gaunt and rigid.
Tylen leaped up excitedly. "I did it! I did it!"
Before you continue