Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

During this time, several prominent figures emerged in the academy, two of whom were Lynn's acquaintances—Mary and Alphonse.

Mary, this ambitious but humble apprentice, seemed to have completely changed in the past two years.

Ever since she became a disciple of the curse-wielding mentor, Medusa, known as the "Eye of Misfortune," she has been striving to climb higher.

With her youthful and delicate body, she dated several boyfriends, and with their "life-risking" financial support, she successfully gained a foothold in the college.

Later, after giving up all his assets, he learned exquisite enchantment magic and the "Talent Stealing Charm" that he had longed for from Medusa.

Her mentor, Medici, seemed to admire her ruthless drive to climb the social ladder and readily agreed.

She also wanted to see what kind of "splendid" flower this twisted seed could bloom.

After mastering the enchantment spell, combined with her already outstanding appearance and increasingly shrewd and cunning nature, she thrived among the apprentices.

She moved among several male apprentices, easily gaining their trust and even infatuation.

However, any apprentice she targeted often met a tragic end.

Some of them died of mental exhaustion inexplicably in bed after spending the night with her, their wealth and resources vanishing without a trace.

Some were tricked into going out on missions with her sweet words, only to die mysteriously, while she herself returned safely with a large amount of "spoils" and "inheritance".

Through this dishonorable but extremely efficient method, Mary rapidly amassed astonishing wealth and resources.

With the help of abundant resources, Mary successfully advanced to the second-class apprentice level.

This made her act even more reckless.

She began to purposefully hunt down first-class apprentices who possessed special talents but were not as strong as her.

After driving them to the brink of death or mental breakdown, she would activate the "Talent Stealing Curse," forcibly extracting their innate talent and bestowing it upon herself.

As a result, she acquired some miscellaneous, low-level talents.

A faint affinity for flames, a talent for inferior toxins, enhanced sense of smell, rapid healing, super flexibility, and a bouncy, muscular build...

However, the frequent and violent plundering of her talents placed a huge burden on her soul, making it mottled, turbid, and full of "impurities" left by the conflict between different soul origins.

Her personality became twisted, sometimes alluring and seductive, sometimes cold and serpentine, and sometimes violent and insane.

The truth will eventually come out.

As more and more apprentices who went on missions with Mary died or disappeared under mysterious circumstances, Mary's strength and resources grew rapidly, and she occasionally showed signs of talent that did not belong to her...

All signs gradually pointed the finger at her.

Her name spread far and wide, and the apprentices called her "Bloody Mary" with fear and disgust.

For the Dark Wizard Academy, such ruthlessness is nothing new; every day, all sorts of deceit, intrigue, and assassinations take place here.

The college cannot punish her for this.

As her fame spread, Mary's "business" became increasingly difficult.

Many people would avoid her at all costs, and some of the victims' friends hated her so much that they were ready to kill her at any time.

But she remained active in the shadows of the academy, like a beautiful viper, searching for her next prey.

If Mary is the serpent in the shadows, then Alphonse is the pale new star in the tower of bones.

In stark contrast to Mary's path, which was filled with scheming and plunder, Alphonse's rise was built upon his remarkable talent and almost obsessive focus.

Since enrolling two years ago, his rare dual talents of high death affinity and medium shadow affinity have instantly attracted the attention of many instructors in the academy.

Ultimately, he unexpectedly became a disciple of Marfa, a mentor renowned for his research on souls.

Within the tower of withered bones, Alphonse's talent transformed into power at an astonishing speed.

His understanding of death energy and his control over shadows and the dead seemed to be an innate instinct, far surpassing his peers.

His exceptional talent and single-minded dedication made his path to promotion seem unusually "smooth".

Not long ago, Alphonse broke through the bottleneck and successfully advanced to the third-class apprenticeship, his dazzling brilliance even overshadowing many senior students who had enrolled years earlier.

His image gradually became clearer within the academy.

He wore a well-tailored dark apprentice robe, his figure was slightly thin but upright, his face was pale but handsome, and he had a calmness and aloofness that did not match his age.

Exceptional talent, handsome face, aloof demeanor, and those deep, penetrating eyes...

In this eerie and sinister dark wizarding academy, he was like a noble prince in distress...

His appearance made him an idol of the academy among the female students, and every day girls would come to him wanting to spend the night with him.

However, no other woman ever appeared by his side; only the "ghost girl" with a blurred face but a vaguely discernible beautiful outline always followed him.

They wandered through the desolate, sparsely populated graveyard of eternal night, watching together at dawn as the "vascular light strip" was lit.

Under the "moonlight," Alphonse would whisper ancient poems to the ghostly maiden.

She responded with a dance, guiding the scattered phosphorescent lights around her to form ever-changing patterns of light and shadow in the air, as if holding a silent ball that only they could understand.

In a daze, Alphonse reached out his hand in a gesture of invitation to dance, his fingertips passing through her illusory form.

Sometimes, in libraries filled with the knowledge and lamentations of the dead.

As Alphonse reads various profound books, the girl will quietly float beside him, her blurred face gently "gazing" at him.

This scene broke the hearts of many young girls, but it also sparked various versions of the "prince and maiden" love story in their minds.

Under Marfa's tutelage, Alphonse not only mastered necromancy, resurrection of the undead, and shadow stealth, but also gradually participated in his mentor's more cutting-edge and dangerous experimental projects.

Among them, the most eye-catching are the studies on "soul symbiotes" and "emotional binding".

Rumor has it that Marfa has been trying to break the absolute boundary between life and death.

They are preparing to deeply fuse different souls in a way that transcends contracts, creating a "symbiotic soul entity" that combines the characteristics of both and has unlimited potential.

Alphonse, with his exceptional talent for death and his unique and profound connection with the ghost girl beside him, was chosen by Marfa to become one of the core test subjects of this high-risk project.

This was also what Alphonse hoped for, as he was also involved in the "emotional binding" project.

It is said that in his spare time, Alphonse often muttered things like "love can overcome everything," "let her have feelings again," and "be able to truly bask in the sunlight."

The latest news also confirms that Alphonse is actively cooperating with Malfa to prepare for the final stage of the fusion experiment.

The goal of the experiment was to completely merge his own soul with the "ghost girl" who had been with him for many years.

No one knows the specific details or success rate of this experiment, nor can anyone imagine what the consequences would be if two independent consciousnesses were forcibly merged.

Will it create a more powerful and complete "new Alphonse", or will it lead to a tragedy of personality collapse and soul tearing apart?

Hmm... I heard that Alphonse shouted loudly during his experiment—"Rise, my love!"

Let's hope he can achieve it...

But in any case, Alphonse's name is no longer just "aloof genius", "fallen prince", "academic idol" and "school heartthrob".

It is also associated with terms such as "Malpha's dangerous experiments" and "soul symbiote".

He was like a new star radiating a pale, cold light, a stark contrast to "Bloody Mary" in the shadows.

A creature that winds its way up through the mud by plunder and intrigue, its body stained with blood and impurities.

The other, relying on talent and determination, went directly into the unknown abyss, intending to merge life and death and reshape himself.

For this, he was willing to give up everything.

Hopefully, after all he's been through, he'll return as himself...