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

Inside the morgue, candlelight flickered.

With a flapping sound of wings, the black raven landed on the back of the chair, its body twisting and stretching, and in the blink of an eye it transformed into Macley, who was wearing a black robe.

He straightened his slightly wrinkled cuffs, his gaze landing on Tyron, and asked bluntly:

"How's your rune practice going these past few days?"

Tyron bowed respectfully, without offering any further explanation. Instead, he turned and walked to the bedside, bending down to pull out an object wrapped in a black cloth from under the bed.

Splash!

The black cloth was lifted, revealing the skeletal dog that had undergone multiple modifications.

In the dim candlelight, the pale bones were covered with dense, dark red patterns that intertwined like blood vessels, exuding an eerie and ferocious beauty.

Markley's pupils dilated suddenly.

As a seventh-level official wizard, his insight is incredibly sharp.

With just one glance, he could tell that this skeletal creation was unusual.

Those dark red lines were not paint, but... dried blood.

His gaze quickly moved upwards, landing on the thick bandage wrapped around Tyron's left wrist.

"Did you...make this over the past few days?"

Markley's voice held a suppressed hint of disbelief and surprise, and his tone even rose slightly.

Tyronn smiled and said calmly:

"Thanks to the purple diamond carving knife you gave me, mentor. Without a tool of that caliber, I would not have been able to carve such intricate loops on the hard bone."

Hearing the student's modesty, Markley took a deep breath and calmed himself down:

"Make it move, let me see."

"Yes."

Tyron grasped the control bone fragment and infused it with 1 point of mental energy.

hum!

The crimson runes on the bone dog's body lit up instantly, as if its dormant blood vessels were being refilled with fresh blood.

Click, click.

Under Macley's gaze, this low-level undead creation, which should have been stiff and lifeless, actually resembled a real hunting dog.

He ran nimbly and stopped abruptly in the narrow morgue, even completing a difficult backflip jump.

Macley immediately released invisible mental tentacles, covering the skeletal hound and carefully sensing the flow of magic at every node.

A few seconds later.

Pop, pop, pop.

Markley couldn't help but applaud, a long-lost, genuine smile appearing on his face.

"Quite excellent."

"It's clear that you have a very thorough understanding of the 'Dominate Bones' rune system."

"What surprised me the most was that you actually thought of using your own blood as a spiritual medium to solve the problem of rigid mechanical structures in the absence of undead fire."

MacLeod looked at Tyron with admiration in his eyes:

"Good, good, Tyron, I knew I hadn't misjudged you."

The humiliation of being ridiculed by colleagues outside the conference room during the day, and the helplessness of being persuaded to quit by my great-grandfather, seemed to be greatly diluted at this moment.

Looking at the talented and highly capable student in front of him, Markley felt a sense of "redemption".

Perhaps, I am destined to be a useless person who can't break through in this lifetime.

But if we can cultivate a second genius student, who would dare to call him a waste?

……

Mark Lillie pulled up a chair and sat down, then gestured for Tyron to sit down as well.

At this moment, he no longer seemed like a high and mighty mentor, but more like an elder who cared about his juniors.

"Which subjects do you plan to take for this exam?" Markley asked.

Tyron answered respectfully:

"The students have limited knowledge and are completely confused about this kind of selection process that covers the entire tower. I would appreciate it if the teacher could provide some guidance."

This is not all just polite talk.

Tyron was indeed a complete novice when it came to the unspoken rules and exam trends within the Wizard Tower.

Mackley's lips curled into a slight smile, clearly satisfied with Tyron's attitude.

"A wise choice, child."

"This competition is inherently unfair to you first-year apprentices."

"The scope of the questions is more focused on second- and third-year apprentices, who have a year or two more knowledge base than you, and their character is also more resilient."

"But at the same time, it's also an opportunity for first graders."

"Because everyone is at the bottom, as long as you choose the right track, beating everyone else to get first place is actually the easiest thing to do."

Then, Markley stretched out his fingers and began to analyze the pros and cons of each of the eight subjects for Tyron:

"First is alchemy, which is both the sky and the abyss."

"Although the future prospects are bright and it's very lucrative, you have no advantage in this exam."

"Alchemy requires a lot of money to accumulate materials and countless furnace explosions to accumulate experience. The relevant terms were determined when we registered."

"The same goes for geography and monster studies. They require experience and knowledge. If you've been staying in the morgue and haven't seen the outside world, taking these exams is just suicide."

"As for mental strength and depth of meditation..."

MacLehose gave a cold laugh:

"These two subjects are too subjective."

"The judging criteria are in the hands of the proctors, leaving too much room for manipulation. Many students without connections often lose inexplicably."

Tyron nodded repeatedly as he listened.

Isn't this just the interview score? He knows it all too well.

"So these three subjects are my recommendations for you."

MacLehose held up three fingers:

"Symbolic studies, ritual studies, and ancient linguistics."

"These three subjects belong to 'hard knowledge'."

"A rune drawn incorrectly is incorrect, a spell pronounced incorrectly is incorrect; there are no fuzzy boundaries, and no one can manipulate the results."

"Furthermore, you possess excellent memory and logical thinking abilities, making these three subjects a perfect fit for you."

"As long as you can memorize it by rote, you can significantly improve your grades in a short period of time, and even get a perfect score."

Listening to MacLehose's eloquent speech, Tyron was momentarily dazed.

At that moment, he felt as if he had traveled back to his past life.

Thinking back to when I was choosing a major in college, I listened to various application experts analyze "dead-end majors" and "popular majors for employment".

I also recalled when I was applying for graduate school, my advisor earnestly planned my life path for me.

However, compared to those experts in his previous life who were only in it for the money, the current Markley was more authoritative and genuinely on his side.

This is the true value of directions given by "insiders"!

With that, Markley flicked his wrist and slammed three heavy books onto the table:

There are three days left until the exam.

"All exam questions are within the scope of these three books."

"I've highlighted the important points for you in red."

"Do your best to thoroughly understand and memorize all these key points!"

Tyron accepted the three books with both hands, their heavy weight giving him a sense of security.

"Thank you, mentor! I will certainly live up to your expectations!"

After accepting the books, Markley did not leave immediately, but his expression became serious:

"There's something else that's more important than the exam."

"After passing the exam, you will rise from the bottom to the front, have the status of formal apprentices, and attend classes with the children of nobles."

"At that time, you will experience more pressure, exclusion, and even humiliation from them."

"The class divide is not so easy to bridge."

"Therefore, before that, you need to be prepared and try to increase your 'value' as much as possible."

Upon hearing this, Tyron nodded knowingly and asked:

"Teacher, I understand the principle, but how do I increase my own value?"

"Should we go and buy an expensive robe?"

Markley smiled smugly and wagged his finger:

"Of course it's not that kind of superficial thing."

"Do you remember the Eye of the Clouds rune shop?"

"Tomorrow, they will be holding a rune exchange competition among apprentices."

"The main focus is on the precision of the runes' control over the bones."

"There are no restrictions on participation; anyone who is an apprentice can participate."

A sly glint flashed in Macley's eyes:

"There are 60 people who have signed up so far, 25 of whom are from our Kane Wizard Tower, and the other 35... are from the Sun Wizard Tower."

"Among them are many sons of nobles and wealthy people who want to use the competition to gain prestige."

"You should participate in this competition."

"Then we'll take first place and give the Sunfire Wizard Tower a good beating for their recent arrogance!"

Upon hearing this, a sudden realization flashed through Tyron's mind.

What kind of exchange competition?

This is clearly a gilded radish hill that Macley conspired with the shop owner Stipunk to enhance his own prestige!

This is a gilded stage custom-made for myself!

Whoever wins against Sun Tower in this competition will bring glory to Cairn Tower.

When you go to class with this honor, the children of noble families will definitely have something to worry about.

"The student understands!"

Tyronn immediately indicated that he understood, and a fighting spirit ignited in his eyes:

"I will absolutely not let my teacher down, nor will I bring shame to the Kane Wizard Tower."

Markley nodded in satisfaction, his gaze sweeping once more over the blood-rune skeletal hound on the ground:

"Your ability to create skeletal artifacts of this caliber is more than enough to handle this competition."

"However, there's one more thing."

MacLeh paused for a moment, then lowered his voice and said:

"You need to pay attention to one girl in this competition."

"Kathy Ralph Hoffman."

"She is the youngest daughter of Baron Hoffmann in the city. She is a diligent student, quite talented, and most importantly... she has a gentle personality and is not very hostile to people from the lower classes."

"Her father, Hoffman, was the cavalry captain of the Lion City garrison."

"Although this position is not high-ranking, it is responsible for patrolling the area around the city, investigating smuggling, issuing hunting permits, and suppressing bandits."

"He is a typical example of someone with a small official position but great power, and also the 'gatekeeper' for us wizards when we go out of the city to handle matters."

Upon hearing this, Tyron's mind raced.

Combining the internal developments of the past few days with his own analysis, he instantly grasped the key point.

The mentor is planning ahead!

If everyone is going to frequently go out of the city to hunt monsters in the future, then maintaining a good relationship with the city defense team will be of paramount importance.

Otherwise, someone could easily trip you up or deliberately leak your whereabouts to thieves, and you could be killed without a burial place.

Tyron immediately said respectfully:

"Please rest assured, teacher."

"I will definitely try to get along well with this Miss Cathy."

"This will provide you with sufficient convenience when you go hunting outside the city in the future, teacher."