Chapter 37: Please take care of me, don't leave me alone!
When Saul realized that no matter what material he picked up, the hardcover book would only reveal the word "dead", he knew – the limit had been reached.
It was not the limit of the hardcover book, but the limit of the crucible.
Even with the naked eye, he could clearly see that the slimy purple slurry was flopping from time to time, with some déjà vu organs occasionally flopping out and quickly sinking to the bottom.
Like a drowning person struggling constantly, but ultimately can only drown underwater, turning into a pile of dry bones and mud.
Saul picked up the handle of the crucible, and with a sad face, poured the contents into the large box containing the corpse.
This large box provided by the Wizard Tower was very magical.
Any more fluttering corpses would be as quiet as another bird when thrown in.
Saul watched as the solution began to have some sort of indescribable chemical reaction with the guests in the box, and quickly tightened the lid of the large box before the smoke spread out.
Getting up and looking at the slightly fluttering large crate, Saul shook his head and sighed.
"Sure enough, with my current barren knowledge of wizardry, it's still too hard to hit the big time and succeed all at once."
"It's also possible that the modification regarding the sense of smell is beyond my current scope of understanding. Should I change the direction?"
Saul looked back at those remaining materials on the test bench, estimating that he would still be able to hokey-pokey a few times on his own.
In one corner of the lab bench, there was also a book filled with several pages of notes.
On it, in the language of Saul's previous life, it recorded the various possible ways to die in the experiment, as mentioned in the hardback book.
Saul analyzed these death methods through detailed statistics, and counter deduced the characteristics of each experimental material, with their possible effects in the potion.
Through continuous summarization, the direction of the experiment was constantly corrected.
This is a typical process of deduction from known results.
It is also an experimental method that all other sorcerers dare not think about.
"Giggle!"
The sound of a candlestick turning bright interrupted Saul's deep thoughts.
He sighed and rolled up his sleeves again, revitalizing himself.
As painful as it was to have the inspiration of thought interrupted by work, having guests meant a steady stream of material for future experiments.
Research was often boring and tedious, especially when you still had half a clue about even the principles involved.
After five boring days, Saul finally welcomed a level one apprentice guest on the sixth day.
This guest was not a new student, it was someone he had never seen before, and had somehow died unexpectedly, leaving only a pair of eyes staring fearfully and helplessly overhead.
That upturned perspective almost squeezed the entire pupil into the upper eyelid.
It was as if there was some kind of presence above its head that drew its attention.
The body was mutilated, and Senpai Hayden, who was in charge of the previous process, worked diligently most of the time.
This led to the fact that Saul's harvest would be reduced accordingly.
Saul examined it once and had nothing to show for it, so he could only work on his head.
The unloaded organs were placed into a suitably sized box.
Saul took out the yellowish leather given by Sister Kongsha and directly wrapped the entire box and put it aside.
The rest of the guests were sent into the large box.
At the end of the day, Saul held the box wrapped tightly in pale yellow leather and poked his head around the door to observe.
It was the first time Saul had ever taken a body out of the body room.
Despite Kongsa's assurances, Saul was a little apprehensive.
The rules of the Wizard's Tower sometimes didn't matter much.
As long as you can guarantee that no one will find out.
With Sister Kongsha's strength, if she really wanted to get her hands on a first level apprentice's brain, she wouldn't even have to glean it from a corpse.
She could always make a few herself at any time.
Yet she had expended painstaking efforts to send Saul to the corpse room just for a monthly share of brains.
It was evident that the Wizard's Tower still held apprentices in high regard.
Killing one or two on the sly was fine, but killing more than that was going to cost you dearly.
"If you can't take the materials out, just put them in the corpse room and wait for School Sister Kongsha to come and get them. Anyway, the servants who clean up never move beyond the tool bench." Before he could fail, Saul thought of a way back first.
He held the box and carefully walked out of the corpse room.
In order to prevent being bumped into by the seniors and seniors next door, Saul deliberately delayed his departure until nearly eight o'clock.
The light in the corridor was no longer as bright as it had been in the afternoon, and the occasional fluttering of the candles' cores seemed to be urging Saul to hurry up.
When Saul reached the end of the corridor, he saw the strong man who was leaning on the corner of the wall as if he were a corpse.
Saul took a step forward.
The strong man's nose suddenly twitched.
Saul clasped his arms, ready to turn around.
The burly man's face turns in the direction of where Saul is and twitches his nostrils a few more times.
Quiet.
He could hear his own breathing.
The burly man suddenly moved, bracing himself on the ground with one hand and slowly rising to his feet.
It would be inaccurate to say stood up; it would be to rise and curl up with his head bowed and his chest held low for fear of the top of his skull hitting the hallway canopy.
The burly man, though invisible, still walked precisely toward where Saul was.
"Done." Saul backed away slowly, clutching the yellow leather, until his back pressed against the cool stone wall and a tingling sensation spread down the musculature of his back to his innards.
"It's going to get caught in the bag."
"No hints in the hardback? It wouldn't be fatal to get caught. It's my first offense, and if I put the stuff back in the necropolis, maybe there won't even be a punishment."
Saul looked sideways at the scarlet door not far from his side, wondering if he should put it back now.
Fight for leniency.
But at that moment, there was a sudden change in the direction of the burly man.
This caused Saul's newly raised heel to fall back.
The burly man slowly entered the corpse room where Saul was.
Saul looked sideways to see the burly man barely squeezing through the door, stopping with uncanny accuracy next to the tool bench and reaching down to pull out the large box underneath.
The heavy crate was lifted easily in the burly man's hands like a prop made of foam.
And then the burly man squeezed through the gate without bumping into anything else in the room.
Turn right out of the door.
Saul just quietly watched as the burly man lifted the large box and walked into the depths of the darkened corridor.
There was the sound of heavy footsteps, but they too faded.
It was imperative to leave as soon as possible!
Get through safely!
Saul snapped back to his senses, immediately realizing that it was getting late, and made a mad dash for the outside, clutching the objects in his arms.
The East Tower was still dangerous for a first level apprentice, especially since he currently only knew two 0th level sorceries that had little offensive power, his ability to defend himself was a concern.
The closest passage between the East Tower and the West Tower was on the fifth floor.
As he ran, Saul suddenly felt something strange.
From the second level to the fifth level, it only took three laps to climb.
But has he just ... not turned for a long time?
Unease rose in Saul's heart, but he didn't dare to stop.
For some reason, he always felt that his head was a little heavy, and his center of gravity was unstable, ready to fall at any time.
It was as if there was something that had burrowed out of the hair spinning on top of his head, growing recklessly into a big wobbly ball that was constantly affecting Saul s movements.
Saul wanted to look up, but the movement of raising his eyes suddenly stopped.
He thought of the guest he had received today.
The apprentice who turned his pupils desperately upward in an effort to see over his head.
Saul jerked to a halt.
Suddenly stopping his progress, something shifted quickly in front of his eyes.
It seemed to be a bare forehead with a bit of a frown, poking down a bit from the top of the head and shrinking back from the rebound pull.
"What the hell is that extra thing on my head?"
Sure enough, the Wizard's Tower was nonexistent in its goodwill toward him.
Everyone else was always walking by the river, and there was no such thing as a wet shoe.
Only he was the one who was bound to fall into a ditch once he walked by the river.
The soul talent gave him the capital to survive, but it also brought the calamity of perishing at the same time.
Saul let go of his hand and slowly lifted it upwards.
The fingertips lifted over his brow, but settled in mid-air.
What if he did touch something?
Saul's hand slowly retracted again.
He kept his head still as his eyes flicked to the hardback.
"Did it work?"
Hardback didn't respond.
Saul's taut nerves suddenly relaxed.
The hardcover book didn't react then~
He still held the head in his arms and didn't relax even when he guessed that the change in the head came from here.
He took one step, steadily, to the wall and calculated the distance.
"First time, please take care of me!"
As the boy gritted his teeth, he turned to the wall and bowed with a sharp ninety-degree dip.
The figure cut into a shadow.
"Dang!"
Something ... hit the wall hard.
"Splat-"
It was followed by the sound of something breaking.
Saul stood up, and there was sticky liquid sliding down the top of his head.
Kind of like squeezing shampoo directly onto your head.
Icy cold.
Slowly drips downward.
With a blank face, Saul raised a hand and touched his forehead hard to prevent the unknown liquid from flowing into his eyes.
"Take your time!"
(End of chapter)