Laboratory

Early the next morning, Lynn finished meditating, looking refreshed and full of energy.

Meditation could serve as an excellent substitute for sleep. Just two hours of meditation could ease mental fatigue.

Kevin had also just awakened from shallow meditation, with a trace of frustration on his face.

Although he had tried hard to draw in Negative Energy Particles, the results had been minimal.

That tiny amount was nowhere near enough to form a Mental Core. Before it could even enter the Sea of Consciousness, most of it had already dissipated.

By the time they had washed up, Kevin had already adjusted his mood.

His talent was not actually bad. He even possessed middling talent for death magic, making him something of a minor prodigy.

But compared to Lynn...

Better not compare at all!

"Lynn, want to attend today's public class together?" Kevin invited him enthusiastically.

"It's Introduction to Meditation Methods and Mental Core Condensation Techniques. I heard the deacon teaching it is very experienced, and it'll be a big help with condensing our cores!"

"Even if you've already condensed an Energy Core, you can still listen to learn how to stabilize a Mental Core and build a solid foundation."

Lynn shook his head and politely declined.

"Thanks, but I have some other things to do. I hope the class goes well for you."

He had already successfully condensed his core. Such a basic course was useless to him now and would be nothing but a waste of time.

Under Kevin's somewhat disappointed gaze, Lynn left the dormitory.

Rather than heading to the public teaching area, he went straight to the Academy's dining area.

Using his Nameplate, he bought two portions of reasonably fresh black bread and smoked meat, along with two cups of watered-down light beer—standard apprentice meals. He bought two portions.

At Bone Spire, the Nameplate was not only proof of identity, but also a key to one's privileges, a storage device for Contribution Points, and a simple protective charm.

Its material and design corresponded strictly to the holder's rank.

The Nameplate in Lynn's hand was made of rough bone and was grayish-black overall.

Its front bore a simple etched emblem of Bone Spire—a tower formed from three bones—with the apprentice's name and an identification number engraved beneath it.

Activating one's Nameplate could cast the Glimmer Illumination spell and also display a map of the entire Academy.

This lowest-grade Nameplate was issued to every new student.

The mortality rate among new students was absurdly high, so naturally the material used was the cheapest possible. No one minded losing as many as necessary.

The Nameplates of the Formal Wizard apprentices and Formal Wizards Lynn had seen in the Academy were clearly far more refined.

Lynn planned to visit the Apprentice Progression Hall later to receive formal certification as a First-Class Apprentice and replace his Nameplate.

A short while later, Lynn arrived at the area where his mentor Gregor's Laboratory was located.

This place was even quieter than the apprentice district, and the air was filled with all sorts of strange odors.

There was the pungent stench of chemical reagents, a faint rotten smell, and some kind of... burnt-feather odor?

Undead puppets and bizarre creations occasionally passed by, carrying piles of materials or hauling all manner of misshapen waste out of the laboratories.

The waste was mixed with all kinds of negative auras: death energy, miasma, curses, resentment, mutation...

The refuse was too miscellaneous to be reused at all, so the Undead puppets transported it all to a cliff and dumped it over the edge.

At the bottom of the cliff was a giant blackish-purple sludge-like creature. It had opened its enormous mouth, waiting for the waste to fall into it.

To it, every scrap of waste was a supreme delicacy.

Even the aura it unconsciously emitted was enough to contaminate and corrode everything nearby.

Lynn did not dare wander around here. After all, anyone capable of applying for a laboratory was not someone he could afford to provoke.

If his leisurely attitude happened to irritate some wizard whose experiment was going badly, and that wizard killed him with a single move, where would he go to seek justice?

Gregor's Laboratory was a huge room that looked like it had been converted from a warehouse. The door was slightly ajar.

Lynn knocked on it, and an impatient "Come in" sounded from inside.

As he pushed the door open and entered, the sight before him made Lynn raise an eyebrow slightly.

The laboratory was even messier than he had imagined. Instruments, materials, books, and bone plates were piled everywhere, leaving barely any room to step.

Mentor Gregor stood before a complicated device made of metal pipes and flickering runes, his brow tightly furrowed as he continuously recorded something.

He was still wearing that stained gray robe, and his already messy hair seemed even more disheveled.

"Good morning, Mentor. I brought you breakfast." Lynn placed one portion of food on a barely cleared corner of a table.

Gregor did not even raise his head. He merely waved a hand, then walked over to the windowsill.

There sat a potted plant that looked half-dead, like a twisted cactus, grayish-black from top to bottom.

With practiced ease, he plucked a shriveled fruit the size of a walnut and tossed it into his mouth without looking. After chewing a few times, he swallowed it.

"Don't bother with that."

Gregor's voice remained hoarse and tired. "When I'm hungry, I just eat this. Satiety Mushroom. One is enough for a day."

Lynn understood. Was this the otherworld version of a Butt Cheek?

This thing could fill one's stomach, but it lacked the satisfaction and joy that came with good food.

If things went on like this for a long time... what was the point of living?

As if he had noticed the incomprehension on Lynn's face, Gregor snorted coldly.

"When you reach my level, you'll understand. A wizard's body can automatically absorb surrounding energy to maintain its functions. Some wizards even transform their bodies entirely into elemental forms."

"Ordinary food is no longer very useful to us. If Satiety Mushroom weren't able to stabilize Witch Power, I wouldn't even eat this stuff."

Lynn suddenly understood. He stopped dwelling on the matter, looked around the laboratory, and asked, "Mentor, is there anything I can help with? Cleaning, perhaps, or organizing materials?"

Gregor finally turned around. His cloudy eyes swept over Lynn, seemingly a little surprised by his initiative.

"No need. I'm used to it this way. Including you, I currently have four apprentices under me. The other three..."

"Hmph. One is hanging around the Task Hall earning Contribution Points, one is off somewhere tinkering with Undead creatures, and the last is trying to flirt with the female apprentices over at Soulweaver."

"I don't expect anything from them. As long as they don't ruin my reputation or cause me trouble, that's enough. They rarely come here. Do as you please too, just don't disturb my experiments."

You have a reputation?

Mad old man? Obsessive lunatic?

Still, Gregor's arrangement suited Lynn perfectly.

Wasn't the great freedom precisely why he had chosen him?

Lynn nodded. Rather than leaving, he began carefully sorting through a pile of scattered bone plates nearest to him.

The bone plates were covered in complex formulas, rune configurations, and experimental data records, most of them related to energy circuits, soul thresholds, and negative-pressure environment construction.

They were clearly research materials for the Death Metamorphosis Ritual.

With the knowledge he had absorbed in the library yesterday as a foundation, Lynn was no longer a complete novice. He could understand some of the simpler data formulas.

Gregor glanced at him but did not stop him, returning to his own work.

As he sorted, Lynn used the Record function of the panel to rapidly store this scattered knowledge.

At the same time, he activated Analysis, directly targeting several core problems that repeatedly appeared amid the chaotic information.

After working like this for most of the day, noon arrived. Lynn had intended to eat the extra breakfast, but Gregor directly ordered him a meal, letting Lynn experience a Formal Wizard's "work meal" for himself.