When Dierce stepped into Mosesdo's laboratory, her golden hair glowed like amber in the alchemical lamp's flame—this touch of brightness stood in stark contrast to the gloomy, rotting-wood-like old mages in the Black Magic Academy. "We're both from the Western Islands, and look at you, turned into a prim old scholar." She leaned against the experiment table, crossing her long legs, her smile carrying the casualness of a sea breeze.
Mosesdo twitched the corner of his mouth, the awkwardness hidden in his wrinkles: "Dierce, your popularity is so great that not even the academy walls can hold it back. You even have to meddle in Kaysen's mess?" The potion in the crystal vial on the table wobbled, reflecting the bargaining chips Dierce tossed over: three energy crystals glowed with a cold light, the Elan grass powder fell into the silver plate, the Rigen fruits looked like two solidified drops of blood, and the five-hundred-year-old magic tree branch was wrapped in a dark green magic power.
"This old fool is a stubborn mule in botany; my potions need his seeds to stay alive." Dierce tapped the Rigen fruit with her fingertip, "Besides, the news of the spatial rift has long fed the greed of the black mages into a fierce beast." When Mosesdo heard "spatial rift," the potion in the alchemical cauldron suddenly boiled—the rift in the dark region, even the first-level mage Andis had only scratched the surface, yet he held a deeper secret.
"Tell Kaysen to get lost, and have the compensation delivered within three days." Mosesdo waved his hand, and the flame at the bottom of the cauldron "puffed" to darkness, like snuffing out half an unspoken truth.
Kai was still excited about the crystal ball. The translucent sphere handed over by Zorro shimmered with star-like light inside, capable of measuring mental power, storing images, and communicating with senior brothers and sisters. "The mentor is so busy he's confused; he should have given you the crystal ball, so I'll make up for it first." Zorro's voice was muffled, as if his life had been boiled dry by alchemy—this quasi-mage senior brother had dumped most of his life into the alchemical jar, and in a fight, he might not be stronger than an advanced apprentice.
Holding the crystal ball, Kai saw the numbers before his retinas: mental power 30.1, magic power 30.2, physique 8.8. It had been almost a month since he advanced to an intermediate apprentice, and his progress was as slow as a snail's crawl, but this was the truth of magical cultivation—meditation was an endless drudgery, requiring years to grind out high-level values.
Staring at the communication directory in the crystal ball (currently only Zorro and Phil), he planned his public classes and library points: "I should take the anatomy class; this course holds the secrets of synthetic beasts." What Kai didn't say was that after seeing the necromantic synthetic beast of Death Hand Mike, he always dreamed of creating a fleshly barrier that could block out the sky.
When the door to the anatomy classroom opened, the stench of rotting flesh mixed with the sweet stench of magic potions rushed in. Kelsolon's three mouths wriggled simultaneously, and the mouth on the back of his hand was the first to latch onto Kai's name: "A disciple of Mosesdo comes to learn anatomy? Why not switch to my sect and see, this room full of corpses is much more interesting than alchemy!" His protruding eyes, one high and one low, were like two misshapen, yet in the realm of death and necromancy, he was the "Flesh Butcher" that made all academy apprentices tremble.
When Kai bent over, the hairs on the back of his neck still stood on end—this madman, when he went berserk, even the Holy Tower knights would detour. "Master, I only want to learn some basics in the domain of death." He stared at the curled-up apprentice corpse on the experiment table, the preservative making the skin take on a grayish hue, the terror frozen on the face like an unthawed block of ice.
This child had been in the academy for less than a year, passed the mental power test, but was devoured by the cruelty of the Black Magic Academy. Kai knew that he could stay only because his dark element talent was like a black cloth, masking the bloodshed into a stepping stone for cultivation.
"Dissect the heart, don't damage it!" Kelsolon's laughter scraped at the eardrums, yet Kai's scalpel was as steady as if it had grown on his hand. When the blade cut through the flesh, he thought of the muscle and bone structure of the necromantic synthetic beast—turns out, the anatomy class didn't just teach separating flesh from blood, but also drafting for future synthetic beast servants.
The news of the dark domain rift fermented in the academy, Kaysen's compensation was on the way, Zorro's alchemical inheritance awaited exploration, and the fleshly maze under the scalpel slowly revealed the cruelest promotion code of the magical world. Next time, when Kai faced the resource plane beyond the spatial rift, the toughness honed in this anatomy class might be the courage to survive.
"Useless! I've taught you so many times, and you still can't make a perfect specimen!" Corsolon's hoarse voice, like a rusty blade, scraped out a piercing sharp sound in the deathly silent classroom. His sarcoma-covered hand fiercely clutched the throat of the male apprentice below, his bulging eyeballs swelling and contracting, madness and ferocity oozing out along the bloodshot whites of his eyes, "Wasting materials, you might as well be my experimental material!"
"Oh! Fresh flesh and blood, my Little Rada will surely be satisfied,(Jie Jie Jie)!" A sharp "squeak" suddenly came from his sleeve, and an ugly rat, bald over three-quarters of its body with raw flesh exposed, scurried out. The moment this rat appeared, all the apprentices in the classroom instantly fell silent, and even Kay on the podium felt a sudden chill in his heart—having been in the Black Magic Academy for ten years, he had witnessed countless times the bloody scene of this beast devouring the living, even waking up from nightmares. More than 70% of the apprentices in the academy were shrouded in the shadow of this "Little Rada," and Kay even thought it was more ferocious than the plant giant in Kaysen's plantation. The cruel shimmer in its blood-red pupils was like a poisoned needle, making people panic.
In front of that male apprentice was a half-arm. Whether due to nervousness or poor skills, he punctured three blood vessels in a row, completely ruining the material. In the blink of an eye, the originally palm-sized red-skinned rat suddenly swelled, turning into a two-meter(afterimage), and swallowed him whole in one bite. When the rat returned to Corsolon's sleeve, it shrank back to palm size, but the apprentices always felt that two red lights in the sleeve were staring at them greedily like predators. "Gulp," someone swallowed saliva, and everyone hurriedly bent over to tend to their specimens. Even if there were minor mistakes, they desperately made up for them, just to deceive this official black magician.
The complete apprentice corpse specimen in Kay's hands was handled perfectly—he had this talent. If he had apprenticed under Corsolon, he might have become a top apprentice like Death Hand Mike. But thinking of Corsolon's madness of using his disciples as experimental materials, Kay secretly rejoiced that he hadn't chosen the wrong path back then.
When looking down at the specimen, Kay's peripheral vision caught a girl in the front row: her immature face was less than ten years old, her black hair was braided into a unique small plait, and she was trembling all over, timidly casting a (pleading) gaze at him. The palm specimen she was handling had two obvious mistakes—meaning one foot was already in the gates of hell (three mistakes meant certain death, and only one mistake was barely tolerable).
Kay remembered that several years ago, the introductory apprentice Meri had also pleaded for help like this. Back then, he was just a low-level apprentice but had mustered the courage to help. Now, Corsolon was still inspecting the specimens one by one, and there was still a moment before it was this girl's turn. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the scalpel. Instead of directly helping her fix it, he used his complete specimen as a template and gently gestured the "cross suture method" in mid-air.
All the apprentices in the classroom were, staring at their own specimens, and no one noticed Kay's small movement except the girl who was pleading for help. Apprentices who could survive two years in the Black Magic Academy weren't stupid. When Kay demonstrated the second time, she instantly understood and hurriedly picked up the scalpel to remedy it. By the time Corsolon inspected her, the specimen was already perfect, and the mistake had been fixed using the "cross suture method."
"Huh? Not bad, you used the 'cross suture method' to fix a mistake." Corsolon frowned and shook his head, "Getting old, memory's not good anymore," and then skipped her to inspect the next apprentice. Both the girl and Kay secretly broke into a sweat—if they had known earlier that Corsolon hadn't taught this term's introductory apprentices the "cross suture method," Kay would never have dared to act rashly. This life-risking plea for help was finally a close call, but Kay knew that the bloody trials of the Black Magic Academy would never be truly safe…
No introductory apprentice dared to look Kay and the others in the eye. But those low-level apprentices that introductory apprentices didn't dare to provoke, when passing the podium, respectfully bowed their heads to greet Kay. The leader, Vida, Kay knew him; this guy was about to break through to intermediate apprentice. A few months ago, their levels were similar, but now Vida had to salute when seeing him—this was the rule of the Black Magic Academy.
Kay knew that Vida had always wanted to apprentice under Corsolon, but unfortunately, Corsolon looked down on him, evaluating him as "stupid and clumsy." Fortunately, Vida hadn't made any obvious mistakes in anatomy class and hadn't been swallowed by that terrifying rat, so that was luck. Vida often came to anatomy class, and he and Kay were nodding acquaintances.
After Vida and the others left, the apprentices slipped away even faster. A faint smell of blood lingered in the classroom, and everyone was already used to it. After the crowd dispersed, only Kay and the female apprentice who had pleaded for help remained.
"My name is Tiandi, thank you, Senior Brother Kay, for saving me!" The girl bowed to Kay at an angle exceeding ninety degrees. She was less than ten years old, as thin as a blank board. Kay had no special preferences and was originally not interested in her. Saving her was purely due to the bit of kindness and reluctance in his heart, but now, he regretted it—Corsolon hadn't taught this term's introductory apprentices the "cross suture method," and he couldn't bet on luck every time or hope that Corsolon's memory was bad.
Tiandi didn't understand Kay's dilemma. Recently, in the apprentice circle of the Black Magic Academy, stories about Kay had spread widely: killing Ilk and Scarface Joke to become famous, winning academy rewards in grade assessments, and saving Meri in anatomy class years ago. Female apprentices were delicate and emotional, and many low-level and introductory female apprentices in the academy were moved by Kay's deeds back then. Tiandi had also pleaded for help with a try-it-and-see attitude, never expecting it to work. In her eyes, Kay was the "good person" from the rumors, and she couldn't help but fantasize: Did he want to pursue her?
Apprentices in the Black Magic Academy were generally psychologically precocious, and Kay never expected the little girl to imagine so much. Facing the gratitude, he shook his head and said indifferently, "With just two mistakes of yours, Corsolon wouldn't do anything to you. The three fed to the pet made more than three obvious mistakes."
"But I'm really grateful! Senior Brother, is there anything I can do for you?" Tiandi leaned forward, getting very close to Kay, her hair almost brushing his sleeve.
"How old are you?" Kay asked casually.
"Nine years old, and I'll be ten in two months!"
Kay showed an "as expected" expression and then said, "Almost ten, you should have some strength. Help me carry this specimen on the podium back to my dormitory." The specimen, without a heart, liver, or kidneys, was Corsolon's reward for Kay being his assistant in anatomy lab. To make a name for oneself in anatomy and human anatomy, talent alone wasn't enough; one had to practice repeatedly. Otherwise, why would Corsolon publicly praise him as "professional"? Apprentices only saw Kay's glory but didn't see the sweat he shed behind the scenes, even the bloodstains on the specimen had been on his fingertips countless times.
Tiandi froze, glanced at the specimen and then at Kay. Seeing his cold and unwavering expression, she swallowed saliva and didn't dare to反驳(retort). But she wondered in her heart: Did Senior Brother Kay have unique tastes? Or did he want to do something in the dormitory? Could it be… that he had taken a fancy to her small frame?
She thought more and more complicatedly—having been in the academy for two years, the sisters around her either "fell" to senior students as playthings or died tragically on the experimental table. With her decent looks, she needed to find a strong enough backer. The ones she had considered before weren't as good as Kay: handsome, strong, and kind-hearted, too reliable! Even though she had heard that he had a girlfriend who was a high-level apprentice, so what? She could be a concubine as long as he protected her. A nine-year-old little girl, her inner drama entangled like vines, confusing even herself.
Kay didn't think about any of this. Letting Tiandi carry the specimen was just the magician's principle of equivalent exchange: having saved someone, the other party should give something in return. He lowered his head to organize the scalpel, not seeing the girl's reddened ear tips and the expectant yet shy light in her eyes.
(Wondering if Tiandi will trip and fall while carrying the specimen or trigger some hidden plot? Will Kay's "equivalent exchange" play out in unexpected ways? Like and follow to watch the human (game) in the Black Magic Academy, where the little girl's fantasies can go to outer space!)