Bone Spire!

The Bone Spire was not built from bricks and stone, but from countless enormous, twisted bones of all kinds of creatures, stacked, fused, and pieced together!

A dragon's ribs formed its archways, Abyssal monster skulls adorned its body, and innumerable human and beast bones filled the gaps.

Thick black chains, as though condensed from souls, wound around the tower.

Densely packed phantoms of souls hung from the chains, still wailing soundlessly. They formed the eternal, soul-shuddering background noise that circled the tower.

The spire pierced the dark-purple sky, its peak vanishing into roiling clouds like tainted blood. Huge bat-like creatures with skeletal wings could vaguely be seen darting through the clouds.

Centered around the spire stood all manner of bizarre structures.

Houses woven from living vines.

Towering walls of flesh that constantly writhed, painful faces surfacing across their surfaces.

And fenced enclosures shrouded in sickly green mist, from which waves of roars echoed.

The wharf itself was a massive floating skull upon the black Sea of Death. Two enormous green Soul Fires burned in its eye sockets, guiding ships to dock.

"So this is... the Bone Spire?!"

Lynn muttered to himself.

The people here really had a twisted sense of aesthetics. Would it kill them to live in normal buildings? Did everything have to be this gloomy and terrifying?

How was this any different from the hell of legends?

But these buildings... seemed to be alive?

No... they were Undead constructs.

Whether it was the Bone Spire, the vine houses, or the walls of flesh.

Every structure in sight counted as an Undead creature!

They continuously absorbed negative energy, strengthening themselves while exhaling pure, dense death aura.

Lynn could sense the endless negative-energy particles and death aura between heaven and earth.

The wizard power within his Mental Core had also become exceptionally active in this dense Undead environment.

The whispers of death and souls that permeated the air faintly resonated with the Soul Whisper Meditation Method he cultivated.

With every breath, every cell in his body seemed to moan in bliss.

What a wonderful place!

But the other apprentices did not feel the same way.

Whether nobles or commoners, all of them had gone pale. The hellish sight had stunned them speechless, and the corrosion of negative energy had already inflicted various adverse effects upon their bodies.

Even the ever-composed little prince, Alphonse, had clenched his fists tightly, his expression incomparably grave.

Alphonse was likewise one of the most exceptional geniuses among this batch of students, possessing high Death Affinity and moderate Shadow Affinity.

However, his Death Affinity had not been innate. It had awakened only after he was persecuted during court struggles and fell into a near-death state.

Originally, his initial spiritual power had been only 7 points, but after awakening in that "half-dead" state, it had soared to 15 points in one stroke!

He had become a top genius with high Death Affinity, moderate Shadow Affinity, and 15 points of spiritual power!

After his awakening, Alphonse had later been discovered by Wizards from the Bone Spire and was thus "invited" to join the Academy.

Alphonse had never cultivated a meditation method, though he had undergone knight training. Even so, he still felt uncomfortable in such an environment.

Aside from Lynn, who had advanced to a First-Class Apprentice, everyone else among them was an ordinary person. In this environment, they simply could not survive for long!

The concentration of negative energy here was more than ten times that of the outside world. Living beings exposed to it for extended periods would feel as if they were soaked in strong acid.

Simply standing here and breathing this air let them experience a burning, corrosive sensation from the inside out, leaving them in unbearable pain.

Some pampered young girls were even horrified to discover grayish-black spots appearing on their skin as their hair gradually began to fall out.

"No! I don't want to stay here! I want to go back!"

A doll-like girl watched her snow-white skin gradually wither and crack, dead-man's spots appearing across it. She could no longer endure it.

She collapsed to the ground and broke down crying, unwilling to take another step.

She could clearly have been a shining "pearl" in the kingdom. Why had she come to this cursed place?

Wizards, Supernatural Power—none of it mattered anymore.

If she did not leave soon... she would die!

The gray-robed Wizard Morris merely gave her an indifferent glance and began muttering an incomprehensible spell.

As if she had lost her soul, the girl's eyes became empty and lifeless. Like a walking corpse, she followed the group.

Then Morris's insect-like compound eyes swept across the dejected apprentices. His hoarse, dry voice rang out, breaking the dead silence:

"Welcome to... the real world. Rookies, do not Fear. Your 'new life' will be wonderful."

"Now get off the ship!"

The Netherbone finally came to a steady halt.

The gray-robed Wizard Morris was the first to disembark. His left leg, made of tentacles, left slick trails across Skull Wharf.

He turned back, his compound eyes sweeping over the pale-faced, stumbling new apprentices as he rasped his command:

"Keep up and don't fall behind. This place is full of Undead creatures and bizarre constructs. If you get lost, bear the consequences yourselves."

The apprentices fell silent as cicadas in winter and clung close behind Morris, stepping onto the soil of this legendary land.

That was, if the ground made of compacted bone powder and hardened dark-red matter could even be called soil.

Lynn endured the discomfort on a soul-deep level and adjusted his breathing, circulating the Soul Whisper Meditation Method to turn the omnipresent pressure into a subtle tempering of his wizard power.

He could feel that his Mental Core had instead become even more active in this environment.

The group advanced in silence, passing through a narrow passage formed by living vines and by the towering wall of flesh where agonized faces constantly emerged amid low, mournful whimpers.

The roars of unknown creatures drifted from the sickly green mist in the distance, stirring unease in the apprentices' hearts.

Is this where we'll be living from now on?

It really is terrifying.

At last, they were led into an incomparably grand hall at the base of the Bone Spire, supported by countless gigantic ribs—the Skeleton Hall.

Here, they would choose their mentors, or perhaps... be chosen like merchandise.

Several Formal Wizards radiating all kinds of strange auras examined the newly arrived rookies as though appraising goods.

Lynn looked at their greedy, friendly, or indifferent gazes, and his heart involuntarily tightened.

Why does this feel like a sheep walking into a tiger's den?

If I choose the wrong mentor... wouldn't I really be walking into a tiger's den?!

No, I can't choose blindly!

After Morris led Lynn and the others to their assigned area, he prepared to leave.

"Mentor Morris, please wait!"

Lynn immediately stepped forward and lowered his voice. "This student has something to ask."

Morris halted, his compound eyes turning toward him. "Speak."

"Regarding the selection of a mentor... this student's experience is shallow. I respectfully ask Mentor to guide me."

Lynn's attitude was exceedingly respectful.

After all, Morris had sold him the Soul Whisper Meditation Method at an extremely low price aboard the ship, showing him ample goodwill.

Having "invested" in him like this, Morris probably would not want him to "die young," would he?