An Undead at the peak of Level 1 was already equivalent to a Wizard Apprentice at the peak of First Class!
If a Wizard Apprentice's Wizardry was not powerful enough, or if they were not proficient in casting, they could easily be slaughtered by an Undead.
However, this black Skeleton Soldier was sealed, and its strength had been greatly weakened.
Lynn did not rush to buy it. Instead, he first used Analysis to try to break its seal.
If he could figure out how to activate it, this black skeleton's value would rise dramatically.
The Analysis function did not disappoint him. It quickly provided the activation method for the Negative Energy Sequence.
He only needed to use negative energy to trace out specific runes, then imprint them into the various nodes throughout the black skeleton's body in sequence.
Simple, and it would not cost him anything.
Lynn was overjoyed. It looked like he was about to score a huge bargain today!
Yet his expression remained calm as he casually pointed at the black skeleton and asked the Second-Class Apprentice stall owner,
"How much for this?"
Seeing someone ask about the black skeleton that had been sitting unsold in his hands, the apprentice hurriedly replied,
"Classmate, I won't hide it from you. This... this skeleton is a little strange. It doesn't really obey commands, but its bones are quite tough. If you want it, ten Magic Stones or the equivalent in Contribution Points will do."
Ten Magic Stones was not a cheap price.
In the Mundane World, that was equivalent to a hundred thousand gold coins!
The exchange rate between Contribution Points and Magic Stones was ten to one. One Magic Stone could be exchanged for ten Contribution Points.
Therefore, Lynn's fixed monthly "salary" of one hundred Contribution Points was not low. Among apprentices, it could be considered a "huge" fortune.
If an ordinary apprentice could buy an Undead servant, dealing with the "Living Corpse Trial" among the Three Trials of Life and Death should not be too difficult.
Lynn frowned slightly at that.
"Your Undead not obeying commands is a serious problem. It would be terrible if it suffered Backlash and turned on its master during a battle. Ten Magic Stones is too much."
The apprentice stall owner scratched his head. Thinking about it, that was true.
No one wanted to spend a high price on an Undead servant that would not obey commands!
Lynn did not give the apprentice much time to think before naming his price.
"How about this? Five Magic Stones, and I'll take it right away!"
That cut the price in half, leaving the apprentice stall owner in a difficult position.
This skeleton had not been easy to capture.
With his strength as a Second-Class Apprentice, and despite having many methods to suppress Undead, he had only barely managed to subdue it.
After going to such trouble and taking such great risks to capture it in the Eternal Night Graveyard, was it only worth five Magic Stones?
"Although this skeleton isn't easy to control, these black bones are far from ordinary. Even as materials, they aren't worth merely five Magic Stones."
"How about this? We each give a little. Eight Magic Stones?"
After thinking for a long time, the apprentice named a price he could accept.
Lynn haggled with him for a while longer. After the apprentice reluctantly lowered the price by another Magic Stone, he refused to budge any further.
In the end, the two completed the transaction for seven Magic Stones.
Both sides were quite satisfied.
The apprentice had gotten rid of a Skeleton Soldier that was difficult to control, and the price was somewhat higher than simply dismantling it for materials.
Lynn was naturally even more satisfied. Seven Magic Stones was not cheap for a seemingly useless skeleton, but compared to its hidden potential, it was practically a steal!
Once it grew stronger in the future, let alone seven Magic Stones, not even seventy thousand Magic Stones could buy a single finger bone.
He folded up the sealed black skeleton and stuffed it into the Bone Ring.
This black skeleton was extremely intact. It was only about four and a half feet tall, yet it weighed far more than an ordinary skeleton. Its bone density was extremely high.
Its Shadow talent seemed highly suited to becoming an assassin, and Lynn planned to cultivate it in the direction of a Shadow Skeleton.
In this Wizard Academy, one's opponents were basically all wizards. An assassin hidden in the shadows could exert an enormous deterrent.
It was still empty-handed, so Lynn planned to equip it with a weapon first. If he found suitable equipment later, he could outfit it gradually.
Lynn moved through the noisy crowd of the market, his gaze sweeping across the various stalls.
Since everyone setting up stalls in Apprentice Corner was a Wizard Apprentice, the items they could offer were extremely limited. Most of them failed to catch Lynn's eye.
After walking all the way to the end, he spotted a familiar figure in a relatively tidy corner.
Thomas Iron Hammer, the son of Black Marsh City's blacksmith magnate, was watching over a stall.
It was filled with all kinds of bone and metal goods gleaming with a cold light.
Reinforced bone blades, barbed iron hooks, replacement skeletal finger joints, and even several small round shields pieced together from unknown beast bones and thin iron sheets.
"Lynn?"
Thomas had been maintaining a short sword when he happened to look up and notice Lynn. A trace of surprise appeared on his dark face.
He then wiped the grease from his hands with the coarse cloth hanging around his neck.
"Didn't expect to run into you here."
His palms were much rougher than those of others his age, and his knuckles were thick. He clearly handled tools often.
"Thomas." Lynn nodded and walked over to the stall, picking up a finely crafted bone short sword for a look.
"Looks like you've found your footing here."
"I'm nowhere near your level. I'm just barely making a living."
Thomas patted the strange half-human-height contraption beside him, which had been crudely assembled from rusted gears and several bones.
"I became Mentor Harold's disciple in Gear and Bone. He specializes in constructed puppets and Golems. With the little bit of family craft I inherited, I can only do some repairs and make this sort of apprentice junk."
He pointed at the goods on his stall.
Lynn nodded.
Hmm... Thomas was still quite practical. Relying on his skill, he had barely managed to gain a foothold in this dark Academy.
But his earnings were too low. This scrap metal was barely enough to keep him alive; obtaining sufficient resources for advancement would be difficult.
Thomas lowered his voice, excitement in his tone. "But lately, I've been working on something new."
"Look, low-level Undead are stupid, stiff, and fragile, while metal constructs have hard bodies but lack spirit..."
"I've been thinking, could I use my family's Hundred-Forging Gold-Infusion Method to fuse a low-level Undead's core with a metal skeleton?"
"It doesn't have to be too complicated. Even if it's just replacing a Skeleton Soldier's arm with a rotating iron hook, or adding a layer of iron plating to a Zombie..."
As he spoke, a gleam flashed through Thomas's eyes. "If I can pull this off, who in the Apprentice Market could compete with me?"
Lynn set down the short sword. He was not drawn in by the grand vision Thomas had laid out, and his tone remained calm.
"Not a bad idea, but the compatibility between soul and metal, as well as conflicts in the energy circuits, are all problems."
"Yeah." Thomas sighed and scratched his head.
"There are mountains of problems, and the Magic Stones and materials burn away fast. With the capital I have now, it will be hard to make it happen. Forget it, let's not talk about that."
He changed the subject, and the relaxed expression on his face faded. "Do you know how the others from Black Marsh City are doing?"
"I ran into Carl and Lillian in the cafeteria before," Lynn said.
Thomas shook his head.
"That kid Carl started some New Student Mutual Aid Society, wanting to unite the new students, but he's been running into walls everywhere."
"A few days ago, some older students even robbed him of the little material he had just gotten. They beat him black and blue, and his members were completely unreliable."
"Lillian... sigh, she's no longer that innocent, adorable little girl."
"I heard she's been following a Third-Class Apprentice lately. Life has gotten a little easier for her, but..."
Thomas did not continue, but the meaning was obvious.
Lynn had not expected Lillian to change so much after only half a month at the Academy.
But a Third-Class Apprentice... he truly could provide her with a great deal of help. If she could rely on him, perhaps she might go very far.
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