After helping Thain carry the specimens back to his dorm, the young girl Tandy left slowly, turning back repeatedly with every step.
She seemed to want to remind Thain if he had forgotten something.
But faced with Thain's indifferent expression and his emotionless tone bidding her farewell, Tandy ultimately didn't dare to stay any longer.
After Tandy left, Thain shook his head.
The apprentice specimens on the experiment table would remain preserved for two months without decaying.
Having spent the morning dissecting and studying, Thain next walked to his bed and picked up one of the five magic books given to him by his mentor, Mosido.
"General Introduction to the Fundamental Knowledge of the Wizarding World's Mainland"—this was by far the thickest and largest book Thain had ever encountered.
Aside from introducing some commonly used magical knowledge, many sections also contained handwritten annotations left by Mentor Mosido in the margins.
Those valuable and practical magical insights naturally became one of Thain's primary focuses.
Beyond that, what also greatly intrigued Thain were the descriptions scattered throughout the book about the customs and cultures of the Wizarding World and the Wizarding Continent.
"Is the world we live in called the Wizarding World?"
"And where exactly is the Underdark located within it?"
"Where in the Wizarding World is my home?" Thain wondered silently as he flipped through the pages.
Unfortunately, this was primarily a foundational textbook on magic. By the end, Thain still hadn't found the answers he sought.
Even the notes describing the customs of various regions in the Wizarding World were written vaguely, as if the author deliberately avoided revealing too much about the surface world or other regions.
At most, Thain could only glean that the world he lived in was far vaster than he had imagined.
From Mosido's notes, he also sensed a trace of his mentor's own insignificance—despite being an official mage—when faced with the boundless expanse of the Wizarding World.
Come to think of it, it had already been ten years since Thain arrived in the Underdark.
In all that time, he had never seen a single apprentice who could leave the city of Mosobra and return to the surface.
The sunlight of day and the starry skies of night now existed only as distant memories buried deep in his mind.
Here in the Underdark, when Thain looked up, all he saw were the faint glows of phosphorescent stones embedded in the cavern ceiling.
The academy's dark mages had sealed off all methods of returning to the surface. Over the past decade, Thain had explored many areas around Mosobra, yet he had never found even a hint of a path leading upward.
Even when fresh "recruits" were abducted from the surface and brought here by the dark mages, all Thain ever saw was a massive airship hovering in the sky.
Where did this ship come from? What powered its flight?
Thain had no answers.
All he knew was that every time, the ship would deliver large numbers of children of suitable age to Mosobra.
And after unloading them, the ship would vanish by the next day, as if it had never existed.
Under the dim glow of the magic crystal lamp, the shadow of the young man reading the book stretched longer and longer.
After an unknown amount of time, the sound of a door opening broke the silence.
A girl whose presence brought Thain comfort and familiarity walked to his side.
After accompanying him through five more pages, Lina spoke:
"You should rest early. Don't you have other magic classes tomorrow?"
Nodding, Thain closed the massive book and slid it under the bed before lying down with Lina in his arms.
At some point, the magic crystal lamp flickered out.
In the darkness, between hushed breaths, Thain whispered to the girl before him:
"Today, Master Kosolon gave me a specimen. The preservative fluid used on it was unusual—I wonder how it was concocted."
"...I'll help you analyze it tomorrow," Lina murmured softly in response.
When it came to anatomical expertise and knowledge of dark and necromantic studies, Lina—already an advanced apprentice—was leagues ahead of Thain.
Even Thain's steady dissection skills had been honed under her guidance through countless sessions.
As an advanced apprentice specializing in fire and dark magic, Lina also had a keen interest in related fields.
If they could uncover the secrets of Master Kosolon's preservative—or even just a fraction of its mysteries—it would benefit both of them immensely.
Discussing such topics in the midst of intimacy wasn't because Thain and Lina were particularly morbid.
Rather, it was simply the norm in the Underdark.
They had grown so accustomed to casually mentioning death or specimens that it no longer fazed them.
This was a sign that they had truly adapted to the identity of dark mages and the atmosphere of the dark magic academy.
It also meant they stood at the pinnacle among most apprentices—whether in terms of strength, adaptability, or mindset.
...
Aside from Master Kosolon's anatomy lectures, as the academy's public courses commenced, Thain attended any class that interested him or could prove useful—introductory potion-making, magical beast identification, foundational spell model construction, and more.
The inclusion of words like "introductory" or "foundational" in these course titles made it clear that the knowledge imparted was merely the most rudimentary level of each magical discipline.
This was unavoidable. Knowledge was priceless.
Unless one became the direct apprentice of an official dark mage, gaining access to deeper studies in a specialized field was nearly impossible.
Expecting to achieve mastery through these basic public courses alone was nothing short of delusional.
In truth, these lectures were primarily aimed at entry-level and low-tier apprentices.
Intermediate apprentices like Thain had usually already covered this material.
Even the dark mages teaching these classes rarely introduced anything novel in public sessions.
Compounding the issue was the fact that dark mages were generally cold, arrogant, and temperamental.
A single misstep that displeased one could result in death—even for intermediate apprentices, though the risk was far lower compared to their lower-tier peers.
After all, the academy had invested over a decade in nurturing these intermediate apprentices.
They weren't so easily discarded at a dark mage's whim.
Amid Thain's public course attendance, one amusing detail stood out:
The instructor for "Fundamentals of Fire Magic" and "Introduction to Alchemy" happened to be his own mentor, Mosido.
Perhaps because Thain was present, Mosido often incorporated more advanced insights into his lectures.
This unexpected depth drew such crowds that the classroom was always packed.
Thain, as Mosido's personal disciple, frequently assisted him during lessons—standing at the lectern or experiment table, absorbing the mysteries of magic and truth up close.
On several occasions, Thain also spotted Tandy, the entry-level apprentice he had briefly crossed paths with before.
Her habit of approaching Thain after class led many uninformed apprentices to assume she was under his protection.
As a result, none dared to set their sights on this petite beginner.