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

The next morning, sunlight barely penetrated the towering wizard tower, illuminating the beautiful campus.

After having breakfast, Tyron first delivered the bodies he would need for the day to the classroom, completing his assigned task.

Afterwards, he took the rune paper he had hastily made the night before and headed straight for the Wine Gang's stronghold.

Inside the warehouse, Ars looked at the neatly arranged rune frames with clear and smooth magical circulation, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.

"Magnus brothers, your quality remains as consistent as ever."

Ars paid the money readily and was about to discuss the next order when Tyron waved his hand.

"Brother Ars, I have some things to take care of for the next three days, so I might not be able to take any orders."

"Oh?"

Ars's eyes narrowed slightly, a glint of shrewdness flashing within them.

As a seasoned veteran who had been navigating the black market for many years, he naturally knew that a massive purge-like investigation was underway within the Wizard Tower these past few days.

He didn't ask any further questions, but lowered his voice and leaned closer to Tyron, saying:

"Since you have something to do, then go ahead and do your thing."

"However, since we've had such a pleasant working relationship, I'll give you a free piece of information."

Ars looked around, his voice so low that only the two of them could hear him:

"We have received confirmation that the Sunfire Wizard Tower... appears to have been successfully upgraded."

"Be careful when you go out in the future, especially when you encounter people from the Sun Tower."

Upon hearing this, Tyron felt a chill run down his spine.

The Sun Wizard Tower, that's the old rival of the Kane Wizard Tower.

For many years, the two towers, one in the south and one in the north, have stood side by side in Lion City, competing with each other.

Although they are both "city-level" wizard towers, neither is willing to concede to the other.

But now that the Sun Wizard Tower has been successfully upgraded, it means that the other party has been promoted to the "Provincial Level".

What does this mean?

This means a shift in resources, an increase in influence, and that Cairn will have to be subservient to the other side in the future.

"Thank you for the reminder, Brother Ars."

Tyron nodded solemnly in thanks.

But he did not inquire whether the news was true or false.

Because he knew very well that even if he asked, he wouldn't be able to find out the truth of this kind of information.

Instead, it might give you the unpleasant feeling of not trusting the other person and being rejected.

……

After bidding farewell to Ars, Tyren quickly drove the carriage back to the Wizard's Tower.

At the same time, a tall, slender figure quietly appeared at the kitchen doorway.

With chestnut hair and a long face, he was none other than Morgan, one of the two sewer giants who wanted to turn his life around with a "big news story".

Morgan walked into the kitchen with a smile, looked at the portly chef Burton who was tidying up, and politely asked:

"Excuse me, sir."

"I am a third-level wizard apprentice in charge of dredging the sewers, and a student of Lord Lavia."

He deliberately invoked his mentor's name in an attempt to increase the persuasiveness of his argument.

"Recently, there has been a strange smell coming from the sewers, and we are investigating the source."

"Have you experienced any incidents of kitchen utensils, food theft, or large-scale fuel loss recently?"

As he spoke, Morgan very considerately walked over and slipped a coin worth 5 purple gold coins into Burton's hand.

Burton glanced at the coin with his small eyes, squeezed into slits by his fat, and then smoothly slipped it into his apron pocket.

"no."

Burton, pipe in mouth, exhaled a smoke ring and said casually:

"My kitchen is supervised by someone every day, and not even a spoon has been lost, let alone fuel."

Morgan nodded knowingly, thinking to himself, "Just as I thought."

That thief certainly wouldn't dare to steal food in a crowded and conspicuous place like the kitchen.

So he changed the subject and tentatively asked:

"So... has anything unusual happened in your morgue lately?"

"The morgue?"

Burton raised an eyebrow, giving him a look that said he was an idiot.

"What could be unusual about that dump? It's all corpses and bones."

Morgan, undeterred, continued to guide the conversation:

"For example... did you see any unusual flames? Or did you smell any unusual... fragrance?"

"Also, does that apprentice who's in charge of collecting corpses come to the cafeteria for meals every day?"

Upon hearing this, Burton understood perfectly.

He waved his hand and said casually:

"What firelight and fragrance? What else could that place smell like but the stench of corpses and medicine?"

"As for that kid, he's dirt poor. He eats so much at my place every day that it breaks my heart. Where else would he eat? Dirt?"

Upon hearing this, the light in Morgan's eyes dimmed instantly.

Disappointment and heartache over his five purple gold coins made the smile on his face stiffen.

"So I was just overthinking it..."

He certainly wanted to ask others, but unfortunately, his wallet wouldn't allow him to continue spending money.

"Sorry to bother you."

Morgan sighed, turned and left, cursing inwardly, "Dutch! You unreliable bastard!"

Ten minutes later.

Tyron drove the carriage back to the servants' quarters.

Just as he tied up the horse, Burton, who was smoking at the door, called him over.

"Little Horse, come here."

Burton exhaled a smoke ring and lowered his voice to recount how Morgan had come to inquire about the matter.

Finally, he stared at Tyrion with his shrewd little eyes, made a "eat" gesture, and asked in a low voice:

"Kid, tell me the truth, were you secretly...?"

Upon hearing this, Tyron immediately burst into laughter, showing no sign of panic.

"Thanks for covering for me, uncle!"

"But do I look like that kind of pervert to you?"

"I just bought some ingredients and cooked some hometown dishes that I wanted to eat."

"I've already reported this to my advisor, and he knows about it."

Upon hearing this, Burton nodded knowingly, then asked curiously:

"You actually manage to report such trivial matters directly to such important figures?"

In his view, formal wizards were all high and mighty, and had no time to care what their apprentices ate.

Tyronn smiled, his tone relaxed:

"My supervisor assigns me corpse disposal tasks every day. Isn't it normal for him to casually mention it during his work reports?"

"Too."

Burton smiled and nodded, not pressing the matter further.

"Alright, you can go ahead and get busy."

"But what should I say if someone asks again next time?"

Tyronn said with a smile:

"Just like this time."

"I'm incredibly busy lately and don't want to cause any more trouble."

"Anyway, you didn't lose anything. I borrowed that stove from you."

Burton laughed heartily and pointed at Tyronn with his pipe:

"You little rascal."

……

Back to the morgue.

Tyronn quickly entered a "preparedness mode".

He first cleaned the morgue inside and out, not even missing the cobwebs in the corners.

Then, he took the pot of meat out of the cold storage, sealed it together with the other ingredients, and temporarily hid it in the clutter under the bed.

After doing all this, he picked up the thick book "Basic Alchemy" and sat down at the table to begin studying it diligently.

An hour later.

Burton's cheerful, deliberately raised voice rang out from outside the door:

"Greetings, Your Excellency!"

Upon hearing this, Tyron immediately closed his book, stood up, and straightened his robe.

This was the signal Burton was giving him: the inspectors were coming.

Pushing open the door, I saw Vincent, the slightly overweight wizard who had checked Macley last time, walking over with four young men and women in neat uniforms, each holding a recorder.

"Lord Vincent."

Tyron bowed respectfully, his posture impeccable.

Then he handed over the organized outbound records and accounts with both hands.

Vincent took the ledger, glanced at it casually, nodded, and led his four men into the morgue.

The moment he entered, Vincent gave Tyron a second look.

He found the whole house to be quite clean and tidy.

There was no nauseating stench of decaying corpses like in other morgues, nor any messy clutter.

There was no mold even in the corners of the walls, which shows that the cleaning is done very carefully.

It was cleaner than the morgue that was managed by the other four people.

"good."

Vincent nodded slightly.

The five people then quickly and efficiently got to work.

While checking the quantity and condition of the corpses in the inventory, they also contacted relevant personnel through magical communication to determine the whereabouts and purpose of the corpses.

At this moment, a young inspector pointed to the pile of dog carcasses at the bottom of the cold storage, which looked like a stitched-together monster, and asked with a frown:

"What's going on?"

Tyronn immediately stepped forward and respectfully explained:

"Reporting to you, sir, these are the pack of wild dogs I encountered yesterday while collecting corpses outside the city."

"I killed them to save myself."

"I thought these dog bones might be useful for practicing rune carving, or as material for low-level undead, so I brought them back."

"It did not cost the Tower any money."

Vincent glanced at the dog corpses, then at the two skeleton soldiers standing in the corner with green flames emanating from their eye sockets.

He naturally recognized it as Markley's work.

"Hmm, making use of waste, that's a great idea."

Vincent nodded without saying anything more.

As long as the accounts match up and there's no embezzlement of public funds, he can't be bothered with such trivial matters.

"Everything is normal, let's go."

The group arrived quickly and left just as fast, turning and departing.

……

Over the next three days.

Tyron led a very busy life.

He has to deal with all sorts of unexpected audits and related end-of-month inspections.

For fear of missing the inspection, he didn't even dare to go out to buy groceries by himself, and could only pay Burton to help him buy them.

But with the blessing of the "Slacking Off Sacred Body," he managed everything in perfect order.

No matter whether the attack comes in the morning, afternoon, or even midnight, he can handle it perfectly, leaving no room for criticism.

Besides dealing with inspections, Tyron's own spiritual practice has not been neglected at all.

It could even be described as progressing by leaps and bounds in a single day!

For three days, he did high-intensity physical training three times a day without fail, morning, noon and night.

With a 30-fold increase in recovery efficiency and ample meat nutrition, Tyron's body underwent visible changes.

His originally thin and bony figure has now become more robust.

Beneath the clothes, the skin already revealed well-defined, evenly proportioned, and powerful muscle lines.

Although he is not as good as those knights who specialize in physical training, he is already far superior to ordinary wizard apprentices.

On the system panel, his [Constitution] attribute also successfully increased from 1.2 to 1.8!

Besides physical fitness, the first week's monthly card tasks have also been completed.

My level has reached 11 with 200 experience points.

It's a bit of a shame that I couldn't complete tasks like "three duels," "10 alchemy experiments," "10 magical dishes," and "10 soul summons" due to limitations.

But for Tyronn, the current gains are already substantial enough.

The total rewards earned are as follows:

[Lv7: 100 Artifact Fragments + 20 Artifact Shards]

[Lv8: Meditation Oil x5 + Meditation Essence x5]

[Lv9: Spirit Bone Fragment x2]

[Lv10: 320 Knowledge Crystals, 5 Blank Books of Knowledge]

[Lv11: Apprentice's experience x4, Wizard's experience x5]

On the other hand, he also used his time to read voraciously.

He has completely devoured the thick book "Basic Alchemy" and raised his Alchemy skill to level 0.1.

I also finished reading "Introduction to Ritual Studies" and upgraded my "Ritual Studies" level to 0.1.

In addition to improving his theoretical knowledge, his [Rune Literature] has now reached level 0.8!

During those three days, aside from physical training and dealing with inspections, he spent every day frantically working on various runes.

Under Markley's highly intensive tutelage, he has now mastered the "Dominate Bones" rune and the "Skeletal Structure" rune.

He had disassembled and reassembled that blood rune bone hound several times, optimizing it repeatedly.

[Magic Thorn Technique] has also successfully reached Lv.4.

Its vibration effect can finally cover the entire palm.

With the added benefits of 30 times the meditation efficiency and the [Meditation Essence], my mental strength has surged to 4.5!

[Name: Tyron Arthas Magnus]

[Rank: Level 1 Apprentice]

[Constitution: 1.2 → 1.8]

[Spirit: 3.8 → 4.5]

[Magic Control: 11.7 → 18.7]

[Spell: Summoning and Domination Spell (11684→ 18732/100000)]

[Skill: Magic Spikes Lv.4 (231/400)]

[Knowledge: Runic Arts 0.8; Alchemy 0.1; Ritual Studies 0.1]

……

June 1, 3102 of the Sacred Flame Calendar.

With the conclusion of this rigorous end-of-month review, a series of new policies called "cost reduction and efficiency improvement" have been officially implemented.

The atmosphere in the entire wizard tower instantly became tense.

For Tyronn, the first problem he faces now is no longer the difficulty of collecting corpses.

Rather: the competition.

Under the new mechanism, the Wizard Tower will select a group of outstanding junior apprentices to take on more responsibilities (do more work), and of course, will also provide them with more resources than before.

The bulletin board was crowded with apprentices discussing the matter.

Some apprentices were eager to try their luck, seeing this as a great opportunity to make a name for themselves.

Some apprentices looked worried, believing that this was just a disguised form of exploitation and that they would be even more tired.

Tyron stood on the outskirts of the crowd, looking at the red bulletin board, a slight smile playing on his lips.

"A competition?"

"Finally, we've arrived at the part I've been eagerly anticipating!"