Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

Gregor stared at him for a few seconds, then suddenly grinned:

"You've got ideas, kid. You've got a good plan."

"Alright, since you've made up your mind, I'll help you find a suitable resource point to garrison."

"Perfect timing. I have a few old friends in the main world [River Styx]. The aura of death is strong there, and there are many high-quality resource points that require wizards to be stationed there year-round..."

Lynn quickly waved his hand, interrupting Gregor.

"Mentor, are you in such a hurry to send me away...? I was planning to stay at the academy a little longer to exchange for some resources and learn more..."

Gregor glared at him.

"You think you can take up a post anytime? There's a limit to how many positions you can fill. The academy isn't going to waste resources letting you go on vacation."

"Especially those high-quality resource locations, they are in high demand. If you don't start working on them now, you might not be able to find a suitable one even after waiting for six months to a year."

"We've reserved a spot for you in advance, so you can take over as soon as the garrison wizard steps down. Otherwise, why would you expect to just sit in the mission hall waiting to snatch up missions?"

Upon hearing this, Lynn immediately shut his mouth.

Come to think of it, certified wizards are already the backbone of the academy, and every task they undertake is not easy. They can't simply complete a task like apprentices who gather two herbs and kill two zombies.

Without connections, you could wait for years in the mission lobby and still not get your desired garrison mission.

Why? Because it was reserved and snatched up by someone else early on!

Before Lynn could answer, Gregor pulled out a magical artifact and began to examine it.

The artifact's screen displayed a list of resource points and various tasks controlled by the Bone Spire Academy.

"Hmm... I remember there's a Valley of Sinking Souls in the River Styx in the northern region. It's a naturally formed dead ley line node, and its negative energy concentration is about 70% of that of the Eternal Night Graveyard."

"Found it, this is it!"

"This is a good place. Deep in the Valley of the Fallen Souls, there is a 'Tributary Leak Point of the Styx' that can regularly produce 'Styx Crystals'."

"One of the wizards has two months left in his term, and if things go well, you can take over immediately."

"Each term of duty is ten years, with a base annual salary of 3000 magic stones, a 5% commission on resource output, and a one-month vacation per year to return to the academy..."

Lynn's eyes lit up: "Okay, this is it."

Abundant negative energy and plentiful resources perfectly suit Lynn's taste.

"Done." Gregor closed the booklet.

"I'll write you a letter of recommendation. Go get your application verified now. Once verified, submit your application materials directly to the 'Overseas Mission Dispatch Office.' I'll also give you a heads-up. It should be approved within two weeks."

"Thank you, mentor," Lynn said sincerely.

Gregor waved his hand, then lowered his head to fiddle with his experimental model, muttering to himself:

"Hurry up and go, don't delay my research... Where should I get a substitute for the Starry Sky Beast's heart...?"

Seeing Gregor resume his experiments, Lynn smiled, put away the triangular badge, and turned to leave the laboratory.

On his way to the "Hall of the Marks of Truth," he looked up at the perpetually dark sky of the Eternal Night Graveyard, where the holy marks stretching across the sky were clearly visible in his enhanced perception.

"Stigmata... One day I will fill the entire sky with my Stigmata!"

"When those newly minted wizards see this scene, what kind of amazement will they utter...?"

He murmured to himself, his eyes reflecting a galaxy of interwoven future possibilities.

"All Things Sacred Mark..."

...

The Hall of Truth is located in the core layer of the Spire of Bones. It is not a "room" in the actual sense, but a semi-dimensional space that has been separated and operates independently.

Lynn stepped into the teleportation array, and the triangular badge in his hand glowed with a faint light.

After a moment of distortion, he found himself standing in a pure white void.

Lynn was alone in the void, with a smooth, mirror-like silver floor beneath his feet that stretched to the horizon.

There is no sky above, only countless slowly rotating geometric patterns composed of purely regular lines—these are projections of the "traces of truth" left by successive tower masters, eternally engraved here.

In the center of the hall, a dark gold crystal ball with a diameter of three meters floats.

The surface of the sphere was rippled with liquid-like energy, while the interior reflected the three-dimensional phantom of the entire Bone Spire. Every detail, from the spire to the boundary of the Eternal Night Graveyard, was clearly visible.

Lynn curiously examined everything inside the Hall of Truth's Mark, especially the projections of the Truth's Mark, each of which contained endless rules and knowledge.

Although he really wanted to analyze it, Lynn suppressed his reckless impulse.

These are marks left by previous tower masters, each of whom was probably a great true spirit wizard. If I were to analyze them, I would immediately alert these big shots.

They've only stepped down, not died; we should still maintain a proper sense of respect for them.

I examined the crystal ball again; it monitored everything happening in the entire Eternal Night Graveyard plane in real time...

Lynn felt a little nervous.

Could it be that all my movements are being monitored?

Who is the monitor?

Tower spirit? Or... Tower master?

Someone of the Tower Master's level shouldn't have time to monitor someone as insignificant as me, right?

Leaving aside Lynn's brainstorming session, the entire hall began to "activate" the moment Lynn stepped in.

The crystal ball in the very center rippled slightly, emitting a cold, synthesized sound that resonated directly in his consciousness:

"Welcome to the Hall of Truth's Mark. Please state your purpose."

"Apprentice Lynn, applying for formal wizard certification." Lynn held up the badge, his voice echoing clearly in the empty hall.

The ripples on the surface of the crystal ball accelerated slightly, beginning to identify the information within the badge.

[Identity detected: Lynn Gregor's apprentice, third-class student, junior researcher]

[Life energy level detection in progress...]

[...Detection anomaly. Energy level: Formal Wizard (Peak First Ring). Soul wavelength: Highly stable.]

[Preliminary assessment: Meets certification standards.]

The crystal ball flashed, as if it were performing some kind of depth scan.

[Record retrieval: The target twice attempted to probe the tower structure in an unusual manner, triggering a Level 1 alert.]

[Behavioral logic analysis: Extremely high inclination towards knowledge, risk is controllable.]

[Access Control Required: High-level access required. Contacting 'Discipline Deputy Tower Master Sersi'...]

Lynn raised an eyebrow slightly—as expected, the tower spirit still remembered using [Analysis] to peek at the Bone Spire.