Power Is Granted by People, and That Is What Matters

With Steampunk's certification complete, the rune competition—which should have been full of suspense—came to an end in an utterly absurd yet indisputable fashion.

Although Steampunk announced that the second- and third-place finishers would also receive consolation prizes, such as mana potions,

at that very moment, neither the contestants nor the spectators had any enthusiasm left.

Human memory was cruel and selective.

People only remembered the champion standing at the top. As for who came in second?

That was merely the first name on the list of losers.

The shinbone Tylen held was still playing the bewitching tune of Two Tigers on an endless loop.

TWEET, TWEET, TWEET

Toot, toot, toot... toot, toot, toot...

The ridiculous background music, paired with the dejected expressions of everyone from the Blazing Sun Wizard Tower, made for a comical sight.

After a brief silence, thunderous applause and excited chatter erupted from the crowd.

This kind of reversal was exactly the sort of spectacle onlookers loved most.

"I knew it! Cain Wizard Tower is a venerable establishment with centuries of history. It still has all that heritage behind it. How could it really have fallen into complete decline, like the rumors say?"

"Exactly. Looks like the teaching standards inside the Wizard Tower haven't slipped at all. They've just been keeping a low profile."

Some in the crowd were more suspicious by nature and raised objections:

"Hey, are you all so sure this guy really is a low-level Corpse Collector Apprentice? Couldn't some advanced apprentice be pretending to be a newcomer and crushing the competition?"

His words were immediately met with rebuttals from those around him:

"'Pretending,' my ass! Are you blind?"

"This kid's been pushing that beat-up cart around to collect corpses almost every day for the past six months, rain or shine."

"I've seen him get bullied a few times. Do you think anyone could fake that aura of poverty and the stench of corpses on him?"

"Exactly. What advanced apprentice would have nothing better to do than such filthy work, like cleaning out a sewer?"

As they listened to the heated discussion around them, a glimmer of light appeared in the gloom that had hung over Cain Wizard Tower like the last rays of a setting sun.

Locke, standing beside Tylen, keenly sensed the shift in the mood.

He seized the opportunity, stepped forward, and warmly slung an arm around Tylen's shoulders, as though the two were old friends.

"Nicely done, Magnus!"

Locke praised him loudly, then lifted his chin and looked down at Joyce and Virgil, whose faces had turned livid.

"By the way, you lot aren't much good, are you?"

"So much for the Blazing Sun Wizard Tower's 'elite first-years.' So much for your vaunted 'geniuses.'"

Locke gave a sneer and lightly tapped the bone in Tylen's hand.

"You couldn't even beat the lowest-ranked Corpse Collector Apprentice in our Wizard Tower. If I were you, I'd have crawled into a sewer by now. How can you still stand here and breathe the same air as us?"

His words were devastatingly effective and deeply insulting.

Joyce's face, already flushed with anger, now turned as red as a bloodied pig's liver. She was clearly on the verge of losing her temper.

But Virgil, standing beside her, was even calmer and more sinister.

He grabbed Joyce, who was about to charge forward and argue, then stepped up and fixed Locke with a venomous stare.

"Sara, you've got some nerve talking about us."

"If I'm not mistaken, you were just as dumbfounded by this so-called 'low-level apprentice,' weren't you?"

Virgil pointed at the half-carved skull in Locke's hand and mocked him.

"Weren't you beaten by him too?"

"We only slipped up today because we weren't prepared. We didn't know you were hiding someone like him."

"But what about you? You're his classmate, yet you didn't even know what he was capable of. And you still have the nerve to laugh at us?"

The retort was razor-sharp, striking directly at Locke's weak spot.

Locke's mind went blank.

He'd been so caught up in his excitement and taunting his opponents that he'd completely forgotten about that.

The fact that he'd known nothing about Tylen proved that they weren't close at all.

Just as Locke was at a loss for words and the mood grew awkward,

Tylen's calm voice rang out.

"Classmate Virgil, you don't know what our relationship is like in private, so why say such malicious things to sow discord?"

Tylen turned slightly and calmly slipped the still-playing bone into his robes.

He looked at Virgil and spoke with sincere conviction.

"A low-level Corpse Collector Apprentice like me can barely afford to eat. How would I have money to buy expensive rune textbooks? How would I ever get the chance to study advanced runes?"

"I've only been able to study Runic Studies and reach the level I have today because of the private support and guidance Sara and Hoffman have given me."

His words sent a wave of astonishment through the crowd.

Even Locke was stunned, staring at Tylen with wide eyes.

I've supported you? Since when?

But Tylen gave him no time to think and continued in a tone thick with gratitude.

"They only did poorly today because they hadn't practiced working with bones."

"As for me, I was just lucky."

"I work with corpses every day, and whenever I have nothing else to do, I practice on the bones of the dead. That's all there is to my meager skill."

As he spoke, Tylen turned around and looked past Locke to Kathy, who had been hiding behind everyone else, wishing she could sink into the ground.

"Classmate Hoffman, don't be shy."

Tylen's voice grew especially gentle, as though he were encouraging a child who was too timid to step forward and accept a prize.

"If you hadn't lent me that notebook and shown me how to make mana resonate, I'd never have thought of using the hollow inside a bone to produce sound."

Kathy suddenly raised her head. Behind her large glasses, her eyes were full of shock, confusion, and hesitation.

She opened her mouth, wanting to deny it.

A notebook? What notebook? When did I ever lend you one?

But Tylen gave her no chance to speak. He stepped forward with a smile and said,

"Master, don't be shy."

"This lucky win today wasn't mine alone."

"It was a victory for all three of us, and for the entire Cain Wizard Tower system of helping one another learn!"

"Right?"

Tylen's deep black eyes fixed on Kathy.

There was no pressure in his gaze, only a reassuring calm... and a hint.

Kathy nervously clutched the hem of her clothes.

She looked at the eyes turned toward her. They were no longer filled with the usual contempt and mockery, but with admiration, curiosity, and approval.

For someone who had endured constant rejection and bullying, this feeling of being recognized was like a traveler in the desert coming upon a clear spring.

Almost without thinking, she timidly took a small step forward and stammered,

"Y-yes... yes, that's right."

Seeing Kathy's coy, bashful demeanor, everyone present only believed the story more. Not a soul doubted it.

After all, people tended to assume that genuine technical geniuses were introverted, inarticulate, and uncomfortable in the spotlight.

Her reluctance to draw attention to herself and instinctive urge to give away the credit only made her inner shock and confusion harder to notice.

While everyone's attention was focused on Kathy, Locke finally came to his senses.

He gave Tylen a long look, a strange glint passing through his eyes.

This kid... sure knows how to read the room.

That was Locke's private thought.

Among the nobles, if someone got a chance to attract everyone's attention and make a name for himself in one stroke, he would want to claim all the credit and shove his teammates aside so he could enjoy all the glory himself.

But this Magnus had voluntarily shared his credit and glory with Locke and Hoffman.

Since the other man had laid out a path for him—not just a stepping stone but a red carpet—he'd be a fool not to walk it.

So Locke laughed heartily, clapped Tylen hard on the back, and declared,

"Haha! Magnus is right!"

"This isn't a victory for just the three of us. It's a victory for all of Cain Wizard Tower!"

"Virgil, what do you have to say now? This is the unity of Cain Tower!"

Watching the three of them standing together as though they were "united in purpose," Virgil and Joyce gritted their teeth, unable to respond.

The surrounding onlookers erupted in another round of warm applause.

Amid the clamor of praise, Tylen quietly stepped back half a pace and hid half his body in the shadows behind Locke and Kathy.

"The Classic of Power says: to weigh is best; to act comes second."

"Power is granted by people, and that is what matters."

Tylen silently repeated the creed he had followed in his previous life.

Before doing anything, you had to understand this: credit was secondary. First, you had to know what your superior wanted.

Power and resources were granted by people, so you had to remain accountable to whoever granted you power.

Even if you achieved great things, your superior wouldn't recognize or promote you if you failed to meet their expectations.

And if your superior was dissatisfied with you, you wouldn't receive the power they granted.

Tylen understood his central goal clearly: to fulfill Makley's expectations and ambitions.

Makley's most important aim was to prove that he could consistently train outstanding students and bring glory to the Wizard Tower.

He also wanted to use this opportunity to make connections with the two talented people from noble circles, so he could promote himself in the future.

Both Kathy and Locke were Makley's students. The more students who stood out, the more glory they brought Makley, and the more they showed that Cain Wizard Tower had not fallen into decline.

Listening to the onlookers speak positively about Cain Wizard Tower and watching Kathy and Locke bask in their praise and admiration...

Tylen smiled. He'd achieved everything he'd set out to do.