"My participation?" Kyle asked as he saw the old man gesture for him to be seated.
He promptly followed the direction Mr. Heinz pointed and he sat on the sofa. He then closed his eyes for a moment to try and forget his empty stomach but it was difficult. However, he still endured his rumbling stomach as he wanted to get to the bottom of this.
Mr. Heinz seems to know what he is going through, but he doesn't have plans to feed Kyle.
At the very least, he continued explaining Kyle's situation at the moment.
"Yes… Listen, the one that brought you here is the first tier of the Variants. They are useful laborers but useless in combat. They're slow and too stiff to do complicated things. The second tier is decent but not strong enough. They were still lacking and not cost-effective."
Kyle felt that he knew where this topic would lead to. He listened intently and made sure to keep them in mind.
"As for the third tier, they're strong and scary. Even the First-Class Practitioners of Elemental Arts would be shredded by them if they were not careful. Unfortunately, the method to create the third-tier Variant has been lost. We only know that it requires a specific physique… As for that physique, we don't really know what we should be looking for."
Indeed. At this point, Kyle shuddered as he could guess what he was about to say.
"Lesley might think I'm suitable to advance his research…" He softly muttered.
"Right… Lesley has a very, very good memory. She also has a bit of influence over the Academy, she can easily make it difficult for you inside the academy. She can make you want to go out of the Academy and make you disappear. The next time you appear, you might be a Tier 3 Variant if lucky... but lifeless if you're unlucky."
Kyle understood this easily and nodded. Since Lesley has a deep background within the Academy, there's no point clashing against her. He swiftly made a decision.
"Yes, I understand now. Please let me stay here, Master Heinz!" Without any hesitation, Kyle shamelessly called him his master.
Although he has the Divine Extraction System, he needs time to develop safely. In any case, Lesley will graduate in a year, so he should be fine waiting that much.
Furthermore, he will also learn from a very experienced master who seems to have a special position within the academy.
Even though he finds it weird that Heinz's laboratory is inside this steel factory away from the Academy, there must be a story behind it and he'll slowly get to know it.
Of course, Kyle was also curious about the "First-Class Practitioner" since even the previous Kyle didn't encounter these words before. However, he knows that's it not appropriate to ask about it yet.
'It would be better if you compared their strength to the police's field revolver instead…' he mused.
Seeing the polite and decisive young man in front of him, Heinz couldn't help but smile. It seems that his laboratory would be quite lively again.
He didn't dislike the idea of having an apprentice since he knew that he was already old. He also wanted to pass down his knowledge and find someone to continue his legacy.
He tapped the desk with his fingers feeling satisfied with this development.
'I'm close to it… I'm close to having a breakthrough in my research… Even if I can't complete it due to my health, someone will continue it for me and my master. We will create a new branch of the Dark Arts!' Heinz brooded as a hint of madness in his eyes leaked for a brief moment.
Kyle didn't notice it as he was also busy suppressing his hunger.
After a while, Heinz finally decided to feed Kyle.
He let the corpses stay on the floor and called another Variant that was staying within the factory to bring a meal for the young man. There were roasted mutton and lemonade from the leftovers of the workers. It was quite a fulfilling meal after so many days and he couldn't help but look gratefully at the old man.
After this, Heinz allowed Kyle to use the bathroom to clean himself and even gave him a trench coat to cover himself.
"There's a market near the residential area outside. I can see that you have brought some money with you. You can spend it there to buy a change of clothes… I will show you to your room--Ah, there's another delivery. You have to help me for now." Heinz suddenly said as he looked in the door's direction.
Kyle just finished cleaning himself and was excited to learn more from Mr. Heinz. He doesn't want to leave the factory yet unless he learns about the situation outside.
Since this is the territory of the Academy of Dark Arts, he has to be careful. What if some weird guy took a part of his shadow again?
Luckily, a new batch of corpses was delivered…
Creak... The door opened and the Variant sent another batch of dead bodies.
"Master Heinz, where did these corpses come from?" Kyle asked as he looked at the Variant delivering another 8 corpses to the laboratory. These corpses were unfamiliar and their clothes were quite different.
"Hmm? Where else? It's from another recruitment site. You're not thinking that the place you were recruited is the only site, right?" Mr. Heinz asked in disbelief.
Kyle was stunned for a moment before nodding his head.
"I didn't think of that. Thank you for clarifying, Master Heinz."
"What are we going to do with them?" He asked cautiously and suppressed his uneasiness in front of the dead bodies.
He was curious about their purpose since this would have been his fate if his soul wasn't rejected by the underworld.
"We'll use them as fuel…" Heinz answered without a trace of emotion.
"Fuel?"
"Yes. In Dark Alchemy, a human body can be used as fuel and they're quite effective. With the help of Quince Furnace---" Heinz paused for a moment before sighing.
"There are too many things you don't know. I'm not a good teacher, so it's better if you read the basics first… You know how to read, right?" Heinz asked as he walked towards the mini library inside the laboratory.