The next morning, sunlight struggled to pierce the towering Wizard Tower and illuminate the beautiful campus.
After breakfast, Tylen first delivered the several corpses he needed that day to the classroom, completing his assigned duties.
Then he grabbed the rune paper he had hastily finished the night before and hurried to the Fine Wine Gang's headquarters.
In the warehouse, Ars looked over the neat Runic Frames, their Mana circuits clear and smooth, and smiled with satisfaction.
"Brother Magnus, your quality is as consistent as ever."
Ars paid him promptly and was just about to discuss the next order when Tylen waved a hand.
"Brother Ars, I have some things to take care of over the next three days, so I might not be able to take any orders."
"Oh?"
Ars narrowed his eyes slightly, a sharp glint flashing in them.
As a seasoned veteran who had spent years navigating the black market, he knew that the Wizard Tower was conducting a sweeping internal investigation these days.
He didn't ask any questions. Instead, he lowered his voice and leaned closer to Tylen.
"If you've got things to take care of, then take care of them first."
"But since we've worked together so well, I'll give you a piece of news for free."
Ars glanced around, then lowered his voice until only the two of them could hear him.
"We got reliable word that the Blazing Sun Wizard Tower... seems to have successfully upgraded."
"Be careful when you go out from now on, especially if you run into people from the Blazing Sun Tower."
At that, Tylen felt a jolt of alarm.
The Blazing Sun Wizard Tower was the old rival of the Cain Wizard Tower.
For many years, the two towers had stood on opposite sides of Lion City, one in the south and one in the north, competing as equals.
Although both were "city-level" Wizard Towers, neither would yield to the other.
But now that the Blazing Sun Wizard Tower had successfully upgraded, it meant they had advanced to "provincial-level."
What did that mean?
It meant more resources would be directed their way, their influence would grow, and the Cain Tower would have to defer to them from now on.
"Thanks for the warning, Brother Ars."
Tylen nodded solemnly, expressing his gratitude.
But he didn't ask whether the news was true.
He knew that when it came to news of this magnitude, asking wouldn't get him a straight answer anyway.
Worse, it might give the impression that he didn't trust Ars, making Ars feel that his kindness was unappreciated.
After saying goodbye to Ars, Tylen drove his carriage swiftly back to the Wizard Tower.
At the same time, a tall, lean figure quietly appeared at the kitchen entrance.
With chestnut hair and an elongated face, he was Morgan, one of the Sewer Duo, who hoped to turn his fortunes around with a "big scoop."
Morgan walked into the kitchen with a smile and politely addressed Burton, the fat chef, who was tidying up.
"Excuse me, sir. Could I ask you something?"
"I'm a third-level Wizard Apprentice in charge of clearing the sewers, and I'm a student of Lady Lavia."
He deliberately invoked his mentor's name, hoping to make himself more convincing.
"Recently, some strange odors have been coming from the sewers, and we're investigating the source."
"Have any kitchen utensils or ingredients gone missing here lately? Or have you had any incidents involving large amounts of fuel disappearing?"
As he spoke, Morgan thoughtfully walked over and slipped a five-Purple-Gold-Coin piece into Burton's hand.
Burton's tiny eyes, squeezed into slits by his fat, glanced at the coin. With a smooth motion, he tucked it into his apron pocket.
"No."
Burton puffed on his pipe and blew out a smoke ring, speaking casually.
"There's always someone watching this kitchen. We haven't even lost a spoon, let alone any fuel."
Morgan nodded knowingly, thinking that was just as he'd expected.
That thief wouldn't dare strike in a place like the kitchen, where there were so many eyes around.
So he changed tack and asked tentatively, "Then... has anything unusual happened in your morgue lately?"
"The morgue?"
Burton raised an eyebrow and looked at him as if he were an idiot.
"What could be unusual about that dump? It's nothing but corpses and bones."
Morgan wouldn't give up, and tried to lead him toward an answer.
"For example... have you seen any unusual flames? Or noticed any special... fragrances?"
"And does the apprentice who handles the corpses come to the dining hall to eat every day?"
By now, Burton had seen right through him.
He waved a hand and answered casually, "What flames or fragrances? That place smells like corpses and potions, and nothing else."
"As for that kid, he's so broke he can barely scrape by. He eats so much here every day that I feel sorry for him. If he doesn't eat here, where's he supposed to eat? Dirt?"
At that, the light in Morgan's eyes immediately dimmed.
Disappointment, along with regret over the five Purple Gold Coins, made his smile stiffen.
"So I was just overthinking it..."
He wanted to go ask someone else, of course, but unfortunately his wallet wouldn't let him keep throwing money around.
"Sorry to bother you."
Morgan sighed and turned to leave, cursing inwardly, Dutch! You unreliable bastard!
Ten minutes later.
Tylen drove his carriage back to the Menial Worker District.
He had just tied up the horse when Burton, who was smoking by the entrance, called him over.
"Little Ma, come here."
Burton blew out a smoke ring, lowered his voice, and told him about Morgan coming by to fish for information.
At the end, he fixed Tylen with his shrewd little eyes, made a gesture as if eating, and asked in a low voice, "Kid, tell me honestly. You haven't been secretly..."
Tylen burst out laughing. He showed no sign of panic.
"Thanks for covering for me, Uncle!"
"But do I look like some kind of pervert to you?"
"I just bought a few things and made some hometown dishes I wanted to eat."
"I already reported it to my mentor. He knows."
Burton nodded in understanding, then asked curiously, "You can actually report such trivial matters directly to someone that important?"
In his mind, Official Wizards were lofty figures. Why would they have time to care what an apprentice ate?
Tylen smiled and answered lightly, "My mentor gives me corpse-processing assignments every day. It's only natural to mention it in passing when I report on my work, isn't it?"
"True."
Burton nodded with a laugh, and didn't press the matter.
"Alright, go on and get busy."
"But if someone else comes asking next time, what should I tell them?"
Tylen smiled. "Same as this time."
"I've been busy as hell lately. I don't want to get into any other trouble."
"Besides, you haven't lost anything. And that furnace was one I borrowed from you."
Burton laughed heartily and pointed his pipe at Tylen.
"You little sly fox."
Back in the morgue, Tylen quickly went into "battle-ready mode."
First, he cleaned the morgue from top to bottom, even removing the cobwebs in the corners.
Then he took the pot of meat out of the cold storage, sealed it up with the other ingredients, and temporarily hid everything among the clutter under his bed.
Once he had finished, he picked up the heavy book Alchemy Basics, sat down at the table, and began to study.
An hour later.
Burton's hearty voice rang out beyond the door, deliberately raised for all to hear.
"I greet you, sir!"
At that, Tylen immediately closed his book, stood up, and straightened his robe.
This was Burton's signal: the inspectors had arrived.
He opened the door and saw Vincent, the slightly plump Wizard who had inspected Makley last time, coming over with four young men and women in neat uniforms, each carrying a clipboard.
"Sir Vincent."
Tylen bowed respectfully, his manner impeccable.
Then he handed over the neatly organized inventory records and accounts with both hands.
Vincent took the ledger, flipped through it casually, then nodded and walked into the morgue with his four subordinates.
The moment he entered, Vincent took a closer look at Tylen.
He had noticed how clean and tidy the entire room was.
There was none of the nauseating, aged stench of corpses found in other morgues, nor any mess of miscellaneous items.
Even the corners of the walls were free of mold, proof that the room was cleaned meticulously.
It was cleaner than the morgues assigned to the other four people.
"Good."
Vincent nodded slightly.
Then the five of them got to work quickly and efficiently.
They checked the number and condition of the corpses in storage while contacting the relevant people through magical communication to confirm each corpse's destination and purpose.
Just then, one of the young inspectors pointed to a heap of dog corpses at the bottom of the cold storage, sewn together like some kind of abomination, and asked with a frown, "What's going on here?"
Tylen immediately stepped forward and explained respectfully.
"Reporting to you, sir, I came across a pack of wild dogs outside the city while collecting corpses yesterday."
"I killed them in self-defense."
"I thought the bones might be useful for practicing rune carving, or as materials for low-level undead, so I brought them back."
"It didn't cost the Tower a single coin."
Vincent looked at the dog corpses, then at the two Skeleton Soldiers in the corner, green flames burning in their eye sockets.
He recognized them as Makley's handiwork.
"Hmm, making use of waste. A good idea."
Vincent nodded and said no more.
As long as the accounts added up and no public funds had been embezzled, he couldn't be bothered with such a minor matter.
"Everything checks out. Let's go."
The group had arrived quickly, and left just as quickly.
Over the next three days, Tylen led an extremely busy life.
He had to deal with all sorts of surprise inspections, along with the related end-of-month checks.
Afraid he might miss the inspectors, he didn't even dare go out to buy groceries himself. He could only pay Burton to shop for him.
But with the [Slacker Saint Body]'s help, he kept everything running smoothly.
Whether they showed up in the morning, in the afternoon, or even in the middle of the night, he handled every inspection flawlessly, leaving them nothing to criticize.
And aside from dealing with the inspections, Tylen didn't neglect his own cultivation in the slightest.
In fact, he made incredible progress every day!
For three days straight, he did three high-intensity workouts a day, morning, noon, and night, without fail.
With his recovery rate thirty times higher and a plentiful supply of nourishing meat, Tylen's body underwent visible changes.
His once skinny, bony frame had grown somewhat sturdier.
Beneath his clothes, the muscles were becoming clearly defined, balanced, and powerful.
He still couldn't compare to Knights who specialized in physical training, but he already outclassed ordinary Wizard Apprentices.
On the System Panel, his [Constitution] stat had risen steadily from 1.2 to 1.8!
Aside from his physical condition, his Grand Monthly Card tasks for the first week had also been tallied.
His level had reached 11, with 200 experience.
Although the conditions had prevented him from completing tasks like "three duels," "10 alchemy experiments," "10 magical dishes," and "10 soul summons," which was a bit of a shame,
the rewards he'd already earned were more than enough for Tylen.
[Total rewards obtained:] [Lv7: Magic Artifact Shards x100 + Magic Artifact Fragments x20] [Lv8: Meditation Essential Oil x5 + Meditation Essence x5] [Lv9: Spirit-Channeling Bone Shards x2] [Lv10: 320 Knowledge Crystals, Blank Knowledge Books x5] [Lv11: Apprentice's Experience x4, Wizard's Experience x5]
Meanwhile, he also made full use of his time to devour books.
He had finished the hefty Alchemy Basics from cover to cover, raising his [Alchemy] to level 0.1.
He had also finished Introduction to Ritual Studies, raising his [Ritual Studies] to level 0.1.
Beyond his gains in theoretical knowledge, his [Runic Studies] had now reached level 0.8!
Over the past three days, aside from physical training and dealing with inspections, he had spent every day grinding away at all kinds of runes.
Under Makley's intensive instruction, he had now mastered the Bone Domination and Bone Weaving runes.
He had taken apart and reassembled that Blood Rune Bone Hound several times, refining it with each attempt.
[Magic Thorn Art] had also reached Lv.4 without a hitch.
Its shockwave effect could finally cover his entire palm.
And with a thirtyfold boost to his meditation efficiency and the help of [Meditation Essence], his Mental Power had soared to 4.5!
[Name: Tyron Arthas Magnus] [Rank: Level 1 Apprentice] [Constitution: 1.2 → 1.8] [Spirit: 3.8 → 4.5] [Magic Control: 11.7 → 18.7] [Spell: Spirit Summoning Control Method (11684 → 18732/100000)] [Skill: Magic Thorn Art Lv.4 (231/400)] [Knowledge: Runic Studies 0.8; Alchemy 0.1; Ritual Studies 0.1]
June 1, 3102, Sacred Fire Calendar.
With the conclusion of this round of rigorous month-end inspections, a series of new policies under the banner of "cutting costs and boosting efficiency" officially took effect.
The atmosphere throughout the Wizard Tower grew tense in an instant.
As for Tylen, the first problem he faced now was no longer corpse collection.
It was: competition.
Under the new system, the Wizard Tower would select a group of outstanding lower-level apprentices to take on more responsibilities (and do more work). In return, they would receive somewhat more resources than before.
A crowd of apprentices gathered in front of the bulletin board, buzzing with discussion.
Some apprentices rubbed their hands together, convinced this was a great chance to get ahead.
Others wore worried expressions, believing it was just exploitation in disguise and that they were about to be worked even harder.
Tylen stood at the edge of the crowd, looking at the red noticeboard as the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.
"Competition?"
"The part I've been looking forward to is finally here!"
Before you continue