The Wizard: Starting as a Corpse Collector Apprentice and Paying for a Monthly Subscription

After bidding farewell to Father Logan, who had been arrogant at first but then became obsequious, Tyron drove his slightly dilapidated cart away from the shadow of St. Dormition's Church.

The midday sun shone on Truth Avenue, making the road surface appear white.

Tyron gently flicked the reins, and the old horse snorted, moving at a leisurely pace toward the northern part of the outer ring road.

His next destination was the "Eye of the Clouds" rune shop there.

The carriage wheels rolled rhythmically over the smooth stone road.

Tyron sat on the carriage shaft, seemingly admiring the street scenes along the way, but his mind was actually racing.

"The task assigned by Professor Mackley was far more complex than simply delivering a letter or buying something."

He narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping over the rows of shops lining both sides of the street.

This is the outer ring of Lion City, a place where various merchants and respectable people live.

Compared to the chaos and filth of the lower city, this place is filled with an atmosphere of order and prosperity.

Shop assistants dressed in neat linen robes solicited business at the door, patrolling guards wore gleaming armor, and even the air was filled with the aroma of money and spices.

"Since it's a test, it can't be a smooth ride all the way."

Tyron was secretly making plans in his mind.

"Delivering the message is the first step, testing loyalty and ability; disposing of the body is the second, testing connections and methods. So, what's next..."

Just as he was pondering this, an unexpected event occurred.

Whoa!

Tyrone yanked the reins hard, and the old horse let out a startled neigh, rearing up on its front hooves and coming to a screeching halt in the middle of the road.

Just now, two figures suddenly darted out of the alley next to them without warning. If Tyron hadn't reacted quickly, the horse's hooves would probably have trampled them.

These are two low-level apprentices, a man and a woman, who appear to be siblings. Their faces are pale and they look terrified, as if they are being chased by someone.

Before Tyrion could even ask a question, a rapid thud of hooves suddenly came from the left-hand intersection, followed by an exasperated roar:

"Magnus! Are you fucking blind?!"

Tyron frowned slightly and turned to look.

A black flatbed truck of the same model came speeding by, with three corpses piled up haphazardly inside. The body bags were not even properly tied, and pale hands and feet were exposed.

The driver was an extremely muscular young man.

He had a short, blond haircut, with each hair standing up like a steel needle.

With a long face, a hooked nose, and deep-set eyes, he was glaring angrily. His imposing figure, standing at least 1.85 meters tall, filled out the large linen apprentice robe, giving him an imposing presence like a brown bear.

Behind him followed four shady-looking apprentices, each with their necks tilted to the side, staring at Tyron with hostile eyes.

The moment Tyron saw these five people, his heart skipped a beat.

"Hagrid".

In the lower-level apprentice circles of the Kane Wizard Tower, this name was practically synonymous with bully.

Hagrid was not selected through a formal qualification examination.

It is said that his father was a key member of a large gang in Seawave City and spent a lot of money to pull strings and get him into the Wizard Tower.

Although this guy's magical sense is average, his physical fitness is excellent, and he has been hanging out on the streets since he was a child, so fighting is a regular occurrence for him.

It is said that he had already taken lives before entering the tower.

After entering the Wizard's Tower, Hagrid did not focus on learning magic. Instead, he quickly formed a gang and gathered a group of low-level followers to do things like bullying men and women.

The most disgusting thing is that this guy brought gang tactics into the corpse retrieval mission.

Other apprentices worked themselves to the bone, running errands everywhere to meet their monthly quota of corpses.

Hagrid, meanwhile, led his men to guard the only way through the area, directly robbing the corpses of other vulnerable apprentices.

Those who were robbed dared not speak out in anger.

After all, in a place like the Wizard Tower where the strong prey on the weak, the lives of lowly apprentices are worth less than grass.

The bigwigs at the top only care about the results and don't care about the process at all.

The fact that you were robbed only proves your incompetence.

When Tyrion was still a newbie, he was ambushed by Hagrid and had two of the corpses he had worked so hard to obtain stolen. As a result, he almost got kicked out of the Tower that month because he failed to meet the mission requirements.

"What a small world!"

Tyron sneered inwardly, but quickly put on a fearful expression.

In the past, he might have had no choice but to swallow his anger.

but now……

He silently calculated the remaining magic power in his mind.

"The Demonic Thorn Technique can be activated twice more. Although it's not many, it's enough to deal with a few ordinary people who only know brute force."

The core question now is: why are these people here?

Was it just a chance encounter? Or... was it orchestrated by someone?

……

Meanwhile, at the Kane Wizard Tower, on the twenty-third floor.

Macley was holding a steaming cup of black tea, watching the scene in the mercury mirror with great interest.

"Hagrid and his gang of idiots are quick on their feet."

Markley gently blew on the tea foam, a playful smile playing on his lips.

This was certainly not his arrangement.

As a noble and qualified wizard, he would not stoop to such a low level as to test his apprentices.

The mastermind behind all of this was another apprentice of his—Jane.

That young lady from a noble family, who was pampered since childhood.

Jane had always held herself in high esteem and felt that being in the same classroom as a poor boy like Tyrone from the slums was an insult to her noble lineage.

Especially recently, Tyron has received direct protection from Markley on several occasions, which has completely broken Jane's defenses due to her intense jealousy.

Not daring to vent her anger on her mentor, she naturally directed it at Tyron.

So she instructed her sycophant Tom to find Hagrid, promising him some benefits in exchange for a reason to kill Tyrion.

Anyway, many apprentices die on missions every year, so who cares about the life or death of a corpse-collecting apprentice?

All of this, of course, did not escape Markley's notice.

But he did not stop it.

"True strength lies not only in facing the fangs of monsters, but also in facing the daggers of one's own kind."

Macley took a sip of black tea, his eyes cold yet expectant.

"Tyron, let me see how you handle this kind of malicious intent coming from behind."

"Should they kneel down and beg for mercy? Should they flee in disarray? Or...?"

……

The atmosphere on the street was tense and confrontational.

Hagrid jumped off the carriage and, with his four henchmen, surrounded Tyrion in a fan shape.

Seeing this, passersby quickly moved aside, but did not go far. Instead, they stood at a distance, pointing and gesturing, looking on with amusement.

Tyron sat in the car, his hands tucked into his sleeves, a perfectly measured hint of humility on his face:

"Brother Hagrid, it's been a long time."

"If I offended you just now, I apologize. We're all from the same sect, there's no need to ruin our relationship."

"apologize?"

Hagrid grinned maliciously, a greedy glint appearing on his fleshy face.

He didn't take Tyron seriously at all.

In his mind, this was just a spineless coward who only knew how to nod and agree.

"Stop talking nonsense! My car almost flipped over just now because I was trying to avoid you! How are we going to settle this?"

As Hagrid spoke, he swaggered over to Tyrion's carriage and reached out to lift a corner of the body bag.

His eyes lit up when he saw the two well-preserved corpses inside.

"Hey, not bad quality."

Hagrid turned around, pointed at Tyrion's nose, and said:

"Since you are sincere in admitting your mistake, I will be merciful and give you a chance."

"These two corpses are mine; consider it compensation for my emotional distress."

Having said that, he waved his hand and shouted to his underlings behind him:

"What are you all standing there for? Move the goods!"

The four henchmen immediately surrounded the car with strange laughs, reaching out to grab the body bag from the vehicle.

"stop!"

Tyron jumped off the carriage and stood in front of the crowd.

His voice suddenly rose, carrying a hint of righteous indignation:

"Hagrid! You've gone too far!"

"This is the main street! We are all apprentices of the Kane Wizard Tower, representing the face of the tower! Aren't you afraid of becoming a laughingstock by openly robbing your fellow disciples here?!"

His shout was full of energy, attracting even more onlookers.

Hagrid paused for a moment, then burst into laughter, clutching his stomach, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"Hahahaha! Face? You're talking to me about face?"

He abruptly stopped smiling and approached Tyrion step by step, the shadow cast by his massive body completely enveloping Tyrion.

"Someone like you, a piece of trash who crawled out of the slums, a piece of trash from the bottom of society, dares to call yourself an apprentice of the Kane Wizard Tower?"

Hagrid stretched out his thick fingers, pointing them at Tyrion's chest, each poke carrying a humiliating force:

"Kid, know who you are!"

"You're nothing but a dog kept by those adults! They tell you to collect corpses, and you collect corpses; they tell you to eat shit, and you eat shit!"

"Besides, a piece of trash like you can't even be a proper dog!"

Hagrid leaned close to Tyrion's ear, lowering his voice to a sinister tone:

"A dog should behave like a dog. You are not qualified to enter the house and offend your master's eyes."

Upon hearing this, Tyron's pupils dilated slightly.

really.

This is not a simple robbery.

It was a hired murder.

"You think I'm an eyesore? Looks like only Jane, that girl who doesn't like me in class!"

"This damn world, am I supposed to die just because I attended two classes?"

Tyron sneered inwardly, his anger palpable.

To those high-ranking nobles, the life of a lowly apprentice like himself was probably not even worth a hair on their pets.

Since you're not giving me a way out...

Then don't blame me for being impolite.

Just then, a crisp electronic notification sound rang in his mind.

[Unexpected mission detected!]

[Background: Jane, a jealous and domineering young lady, believes you have polluted the atmosphere of her noble classroom and has instructed the lowly bully Hagrid to try to kill you.]

Of course you don't want to die. Enough is enough!

[Breaking News: [Never Underestimate the Young and Poor] Mission Officially Launched!]

[Phase One Objective: Kill Hagrid!]

[Reward: 1500 experience points, 100 Knowledge Crystals.]

[Task Summary: Fortune changes every thirty years! I think you all have absolutely no idea how valuable the saying "Never underestimate a young person's potential" truly is!!]

Looking at the pale blue light flickering on his retina, Tyron almost burst out laughing.

System, you really know your stuff!

I was originally planning how to minimize the impact, but now that there's a mission reward to keep me going, what's there to hesitate about?

Kill the bullies, gain experience, earn crystals, and you can even show off a bit.

Where can you find such a good deal?