Assassin Wu Liuqi

Thomas paused, lowering his voice further:

"Eileen's still the same, always keeping to herself. To speed up her training, she's been desperately taking on missions and has gotten hurt quite a bit lately.

"As for Mary..."

Thomas glanced toward a direction in the market, looking like he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Lynn waved a hand, signaling that he understood.

Thomas also knew that Mary had originally wanted to rely on Lynn, but he hadn't thought much of her. Now, she could be considered to have "betrayed" Lynn and thrown herself into someone else's arms.

But since he didn't know the full story, he said no more and turned to talk about someone else.

"The most troubling one is Benjamin..."

"Oh? What happened to Benjamin?"

"That kid's far too timid."

Thomas frowned deeply.

"The last time I saw him was seven or eight days ago. He was huddled in a corner, saying someone was watching him and that he felt like he could be dragged off for experiments at any moment."

"After I escorted him back to his dormitory, he holed himself up inside and refused to come out."

"After that, there was no more news. I looked for him in several places he frequented, but couldn't find him."

"I asked the steward, but he only said that according to the rules, no action would be taken unless an Apprentice had been missing for over a month."

Deal with it after a month of being missing? Deal with what? His ashes?

Thomas looked at the bustling market, at the Apprentices whose faces were mostly filled with hostility, and sighed.

"This damned place is too dark... Lynn, I'm afraid not many of us who came from Black Marsh City will make it through."

"I know you have your own plans, but I still hope you'll help them out more whenever you can."

Lynn listened in silence, his expression unchanged and offering no response.

Help them out?

How was he supposed to help?

Why should he help?

Why did everyone keep asking him to help?

Just because they came from the same city?

Give him a break. They were Dark Wizards!

He wasn't that noble...

Lynn patted Thomas on the shoulder and said nothing more.

He changed the subject, taking out a Magic Stone from his ring and placing it on the stall.

"Get me two Bone Daggers."

Seeing that Lynn gave no response, Thomas understood what he meant. He sighed and said no more.

Spending one Magic Stone on two Bone Daggers was already an extravagant purchase, considering they were merely Undead weapons.

Thomas didn't hesitate. He picked out the two best Bone Daggers on the stall, both gleaming with a faint ghostly light.

"These two daggers were made from an unidentified beast bone I traded from my mentor. The material is extremely sturdy, and they've been sharpened well. See if they work for you."

Lynn picked them up and tested them. They felt pretty good.

Bone weapons were lighter than iron weapons, and bone weapons made from extraordinary creatures transmitted energy far better than iron.

With his goal accomplished, Lynn greeted Thomas and turned to leave the stall. His figure quickly vanished into the chaotic crowd.

Lynn left the market.

This shopping trip had yielded plenty. Not only had he recorded quite a few Wizardries, but he had also acquired a powerful pet.

He was just about out of Magic Stones. He still needed to find a way to get more.

When he returned to the dormitory, Kevin was sitting cross-legged on the stone bed, meditating.

The moment he saw Lynn return, he ended his meditation resentfully and ran to stand guard by the door.

Over the past few days, Kevin had suddenly realized that the effect Lynn produced while meditating had grown stronger. Even hiding by the door, his own meditation was still terribly ineffective.

If the outside weren't so dangerous, Kevin would have wanted to run as far away as possible.

Lynn understood this as well. After the Analysis of his meditation method reached one hundred percent, both its effects and range had greatly increased.

All he could say to Kevin was:

"So what!!"

Once Kevin left the dormitory, Lynn took the curled-up black skeleton from the Bone Ring and prepared to activate it.

He inscribed the completed [Minor Undead Domination] onto his Mental Core, completely mastering the cantrip.

Although this skeleton was humanoid, it differed slightly from human bones. Its lines were smoother, and its arms were longer.

After releasing the skeleton, Lynn immediately removed its restraints and prepared to subdue it first.

It instantly struggled to rise. Two faint flames of soul flickered violently in its eye sockets, radiating chaotic and resistant mental fluctuations.

"Quiet."

Lynn shouted in a low voice. His Mental Power spread out like invisible tentacles as he cast [Minor Undead Domination].

A coercive force enveloped the black skeleton, attempting to suppress its instinctive resistance.

However, the black skeleton's soul was not weak. [Minor Undead Domination] had extremely limited effect, and the black skeleton could "rebel" at any time.

That was only possible because Lynn possessed Superior Soul Talent. An ordinary Apprentice would likely be countered by the skeleton after just three to five seconds of control.

Lynn didn't dare slack off. The [Analysis] function activated at full power, instantly scanning for the core node deep within its soul flame.

Ten seconds later, the Analysis was finally complete.

[Analysis completed: The optimal Mental Imprint location is on the inner side of the skull, one-third of the way above the foramen magnum.]

The panel gave him an exact location.

Lynn immediately condensed his Mental Power into a sharp engraving needle, bypassed the skeleton's chaotic mental defenses, and precisely pierced that node!

"Buzz—"

The black skeleton's entire frame shuddered violently. Its struggling movements instantly froze, while the chaotic soul flames in its eye sockets gradually began to flicker in a steady rhythm.

A Mental Imprint belonging to Lynn had already been branded deep within its core.

After completing this step, Lynn let out a heavy breath. He had finally subdued it.

This kind of subjugation couldn't maintain long-term control. The duration varied depending on the strength of the Undead being controlled.

Lynn made a rough estimate.

With his exceptional soul, the optimal Mental Imprint, and one hundred percent mastery of [Minor Undead Domination], he would need to reinforce the Mental Imprint every ten minutes.

That was already incredible. After all, the black skeleton was far from ordinary, while the method he used to control it was only a level-zero cantrip.

Other Apprentices could probably only control an ordinary Undead of the same rank for one minute.

Under Lynn's control, the skeleton performed a series of combat and evasion movements.

There was none of the clumsiness of an ordinary Skeleton Soldier in its motions. Everything was exceptionally smooth.

He tossed the high-quality Bone Dagger he had ordered earlier from Thomas's stall to the Shadow Skeleton.

It caught it in one hand and refined it in an instant.

The black skeleton's finger bones deftly flipped the dagger once before gripping it steadily. Then, it began to swing it experimentally.

Its movements were fluid, utterly lacking the stiffness of an ordinary skeleton.

Lynn had initially thought the black skeleton's high bone density would make it rather cumbersome, but it didn't affect its movements at all.

Every attribute of the black skeleton was clearly superior to an ordinary skeleton. At full speed, even Lynn found it difficult to react.

What a top-tier pet!

Soon, a dual-wielding black skeleton, its daggers whistling through the air, appeared before Lynn.

The methods for using daggers were recorded in the [Memory Library], so there was no need to learn them again.

The Academy's Bone Vault contained all kinds of knowledge, including every weapon art imaginable, and Lynn had recorded them all.

Hmm... the path of knight training was in there too, including the most elite knight breathing method—the [Corona Breathing Technique].

It was said that at profound levels of mastery, one could transform into a blazing sun and burn everything in the world to ash.

Of course, it couldn't be compared to the path of Wizards. Otherwise, such a top-tier breathing method wouldn't have been placed in the lowest tier of "general" knowledge in the library.

The Life Energy condensed by knights conflicted with the Negative Energy Particles absorbed by Dark Wizards, making it impossible to cultivate both.

Though Lynn felt somewhat regretful after learning this, he could only give it up helplessly.

Wizards had far too many methods of strengthening the body. There was no need to obsess over the path of knights.

Looking at the black skeleton after it finished its practice, Lynn thought for a moment before giving it a resounding name—Wu Liuqi.