Damian extended his trembling right hand to receive this potion of a strange color.
It's just that his right hand was extremely stiff, and his left hand was unusable because only bones remained.
Upon seeing this, the woman didn't hand the glass bottle to Damian; instead, she uncorked it herself and handed it over.
Damian, amidst fear and nervousness, raised his head rigidly to take the medicine.
Regardless of the situation, Damian discovered that it felt incredible for a woman to give him medicine. Well, in this case, it would be a somewhat beautiful woman; this wouldn't be a complete blessing.
But that potion is truly useful.
After consuming all the liquid from the potion, Damian immediately felt a cold stream flowing from his throat to his stomach; moments later, his trembling ceased, and his hands gradually regained mobility. Shortly after, his right hand felt warm, and his entire body slowly recovered.
He felt an itch on his forehead. Damian raised his hand, touched his wound, and discovered that all his old wounds had disappeared.
But if something was wrong, it was that only his left hand remained bony and showed no signs of recovery.
"I'm afraid your left hand won't be able to recover with your current physique," the woman said, placing the glass bottle casually on the table and saying, "Of course, this would change unless you become an apprentice mage."
Damian smiled bitterly. "Miss, I'm just a simple servant."
"A servant, that's interesting. How about this?" The woman smiled strangely and said, "If you're interested, I have an opportunity that could change your life. Of course, it depends solely on you whether you dare to participate or not."
"Is that what I think?" Damian's eyes behind his black bandage gleamed with traces of surprise.
"Yes, a test to become a mage."
Damian nodded. "I would be willing to do anything; maybe if I have talent, I could become a mage."
"Oh, hehehe..." The woman wasn't surprised by Damian's choice as a living subject for the experiment; it could be seen that he had good willpower and courage, and although he was also afraid, he could maintain some calmness. These are the qualities an apprentice mage should have.
Damian waited for the woman to finish laughing before continuing to ask, "Miss, if you help me become an apprentice mage, how much will it cost me?"
"What value do you have to be an apprentice mage?" The woman's tone suddenly changed again.
Damian was startled but gradually calmed his excitement.
After working as a servant in this place for a few days, he couldn't wait to rid himself of this lowly identity. That's why he was so excited at the moment and even wanted the other party to set conditions immediately.
But the woman's rhetorical question immediately made him calm down again.
Currently, he has no value for the other party to give him a trial spot.
Damian fell silent, but he didn't give up on becoming an apprentice mage. He believed that the woman in front of him wouldn't mention the trial opportunity just to mock him. He had to wait for the other person to make the offer.
"Do you really want to become an apprentice mage?" The woman asked again. "Even if the outcome is to end up like me?"
Her upper body suddenly leaned forward; the cover over her decaying skin swayed from side to side; and her eyes showed a deep coldness that made Damian understand what she had endured so far to be where she was.
Damian occasionally encountered apprentice mages, but none seemed as terrifying as this woman.
But only she had asked him that question...
"I think I do..." Facing the woman who was so close to him, Damian replied softly but firmly.
Rather than worrying about becoming fertilizer for flowers at any time, it's better to die in search of strength to be able to live freely in this ever-expanding world.
"Alright..." The woman nodded, showing a certain degree of satisfaction. "In the next two days, a new group of apprentices will be sent for a trial. As expected, seven or eight of them must have died on the way as usual; only a few of them."
"Thank you, Miss."
"Call me Syndra."
"I'm a second-class mage, Syndra... If you can pass the trial to become a mage, remember who gave you that opportunity."
"Understood, Master. My name is..."
"It's not necessary." Syndra interrupted him suddenly and said, "Wait until you become an apprentice mage, and then you can tell me your name."
Damian fell silent.
Before becoming an apprentice mage to Syndra, he was just a servant who didn't even deserve a name.
This would be something very realistic to consider.
But in the mage tower, at least here, identity always comes with strength.
Damian walked out of Syndra's room, and the door quietly closed in front of him.
As he turned around, the blood from the opposite side had disappeared; he didn't know how Syndra did it, but she had saved his life.
The candlelight on the wall was almost bright yellow.
Damian quickly scanned the corridor for spots that needed cleaning.
There was nothing dirty on the surface.
He didn't have time to keep cleaning; as long as there was no noticeable garbage, the housekeeper wouldn't wear white gloves to touch the floor in search of dirt.
Damian turned around and pushed the cart as fast as he could, finally running to the fourth-floor hallway before the candlelight turned white.
Breathing heavily, he returned the items to the utility room and took out the trash.
"I finally finished before the steward checked." Damian unconsciously wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his left hand, but the hard bones scraped his skin.
"I still don't feel any pain or even touch in my left hand." Damian moved the fingers of his left hand, and as he felt that strange sensation, more movement came.
"But I can move freely. Is this the power of some curse?"
After accepting that his left hand might permanently turn into bone, the power contained within it fascinated Damian.
He looked again at his right hand; although it only appeared thinner on the outside, Damian could feel the hidden power within.
He picked a random stone from the trash bin in the utility room, gently squeezed it, and the stone broke into several pieces.
The right hand should be the result of a successful experiment. The grip strength is very strong, much superior to that of common adult men. I think the grip strength of the so-called warriors and knights of this world is nothing more than this."
By just adding a few more ingredients, the potion's effect was so different from one end to the other that Damian got many ideas that he could take from it to make changes.
Damian once again strengthened his belief in becoming an apprentice mage.
With this thought in mind, he left the utility room, walked to the bedroom door where he rested, and pushed the door to open it slightly.
As he was still looking at his hands, he opened the door very slowly.
At that moment, there was a discussion from behind the door, which made Damian stop.
"That guy, Damian, hasn't returned yet. It seems like this time he's really dead."
"Poor Damian, it's not easy living being the focus of many magical apprentices; even his eyes bother some stronger mages."
"Hmm, now that he's dead, we have to take his place, and we must seize that opportunity. If we impress a mage or an apprentice mage, maybe we can learn magic at some point in our lives."
There was silence in the room.
And Damian, who was no child at all, frowned deeply. Did it turn out that these orphaned children were more hungry than piranhas?
Did these children in the same conditions as him just wait for his death to take his job?
After a while, someone spoke again in the room.
"If you think about it this way, it's better to leave Damian alone. Remember, he's lost most of his memories. What can he do to us now? We can start making him listen; he'll die sooner or later if he hasn't already."
"Besides, if something happens to him, we must take turns cleaning up; that's everyone's job."
"What?"
"We've always asked Damian to clean the corridor, right? Hasn't the housekeeper or the steward said anything yet? Starting tomorrow, we should start working so as not to cause trouble."
"Again, are you afraid of Damian? He was the first to arrive at this place, but now that he doesn't remember anything, he should be the one doing everything as our most experienced companion."
"If he disagrees, beat him until he agrees."
Everyone seemed to believe that Damian was dead and started making arrangements for the next unfortunate person who would take his place.
Boom!
At that moment, the door was kicked open.
"Starting tomorrow!" Damian looked at the boys in the room and said, "The task of cleaning the halls will have to be done in shifts."
Some people were surprised by Damian's appearance, while others showed a fierce smile after being delighted.
The boy who smiled was named Marcus; he was the strongest and largest among the boys, and it was said that he used to be a noble, so he believed he should be privileged in some way.
But in Damian's eyes, he was just a brat who knew nothing about life.
Now, a little boy dared to disobey his orders. Marcus pressed his joints and promised to let Damian know what the rules were!
Marcus approached and raised his fist without saying a word.
Pum!
However, Marcus's fist was blocked by Damian with his right hand.
"Damn brat!" Marcus didn't expect Damian to react so quickly; he thought of retracting his hand to attack again. But as soon as he wanted to make a move, he found that his hand was firmly gripped.
How could he imagine that an eleven-year-old boy would have so much strength?
He was obviously very thin, looked sickly, and his body was very small, so Marcus believed it wouldn't be a problem to bother him a little.
But obviously, Damian's changes were noticeable due to that strange potion he had taken.
Playing a little with kids should be very good for their growth, so he exerted more force in his grip.
Crack?
"Aaahhhh!!!"
Marcus immediately fell to his knees in pain.
When Damian let go of his hand, Marcus immediately moved back and forth on the floor while holding his hand.