Gorsa turned to the old butler and asked softly, as if afraid of frightening him, âIs your masterâs coffin still around?â
Hunter felt like he had forgotten what fear was. Faced with such a gentle voice, he could only respond by instinct.
âYes, sir.â
Gorsa nodded. âThen Iâll trouble you to send him back.â
âYes, sir.â
The next second, Gorsa vanished once again.
Hunter numbly stepped forward. He cradled his former masterâs head and two legs in his arms and silently placed them back into the carriage.
âMaster, letâs go home.â
Gorsa had sent the visitor off with ease. In the next moment, he was back in the living room.
He collapsed onto the sofa, leaned back, and let out a comfortable sigh.
As if heâd just done some intense workout.
Kaz, meanwhile, had returned to his original spot the moment Ralph was reduced to three small pieces.
âHa, Kaz, what do you think? Havenât forgotten all my Light-attribute spells yet, have I?â
Kaz bowed his head respectfully.
âNo matter what attribute you major in, sir, youâre always that powerful.â
Gorsa nodded in satisfaction.
âBut⊠why did you let Ralph go?â Kaz couldnât understand.
If youâre killing someone, why hold back?
âI let him go back to his coffin. He wonât be able to recover for at least four or five years.â
Gorsaâs explanation was weak, but Kaz had no choice but to nod.
He didnât understand at all.
Could it be that the Tower Master spared him because of the Bloodthorn Familyâs old ties to the Bloodrose Family? But that had been a long time ago, hadnât it?
Then he heard the Tower Master say, âRightâthree years from now, give Saul the Bloodthorn Familyâs location. Have him pay them a visit.â
âUh?â
âHe made the mess, he can clean it up. If he canât become a Second Rank apprentice within three years, let him die out there!â
âUnderstood. Should I head back now?â
Gorsa nodded, then leaned silently against the sofa.
At that moment, he looked like a cloak.
Spread flat across the couch.
Kaz left the living room and gently closed the door behind him.
Then, the corner of his mouth twitched.
âDoes the Tower Master want Saul to visit the Bloodthorn Family as training? Or to expose him to body modification? Does he really intend for Saul to take part in our experiments? How many more years is that going to takeâŠâ
Kaz shook his head and left with his hands behind his back.
Butler Hunter had excellent driving skills. Even at high speed, his masterâs round, rolling head remained firmly nestled on the seat cushion.
As they passed through towns, the old butler didnât stop to rest. He kept the carriage racing forward.
As if even a momentâs delay would have him share his masterâs fate.
Not until stars dotted the sky overhead did the carriage finally stop in a mountain hollow.
The muscles on the old butlerâs face twitched, and suddenly he seemed to come alive again. He scrambled into the carriage, crawling on hands and knees.
âMaster! Master!â
He lifted Ralphâs head and poured a pre-prepared flask of blood over it.
The blood streamed down Ralphâs face and into his mouth, as though guided by some invisible force.
Ralphâs gray, unblinking eyes suddenly moved.
Then his mouth twitched slightly back to life.
âMeat. I need meat!â Ralph cried out weakly.
The old butler quickly passed Ralph his legs.
Ralph didnât mind that they were his own limbs. From his charred-black neck, red flesh shot out to wrap around the legs.
Then came the sound of chewing.
âNot enough. Not enough!â Ralphâs neck was eating while his mouth kept moving too.
Without hesitation, the butler drew a long blade from under the carriage seat and chopped off his own left arm with one swift stroke. Gritting his teeth through the pain, he held the severed limb out under Ralphâs neck.
Ralph accepted it without a word and devoured the arm.
âStill not enough. Almost there!â
The butler then sliced off his right leg at the hip, using the tip of the blade to toss it over beside Ralph.
That was all he could takeâhe collapsed in the carriage, quietly gasping in pain.
Just as he was wondering if he should let his master devour him whole, Ralph finally seemed satisfied.
Or at least temporarily satisfied.
A tongue several meters long slithered from Ralphâs mouth and licked the butlerâs arm and leg stumps.
The wounds instantly closed up, though no new limbs grew back.
âBack to the manor. I need a few years to recover,â Ralph muttered, his neck a little longer now, and lay his head tiredly on the cushion.
âYes, Master.â The butler propped himself up with one arm, hooked a foot around the carriage frame to stabilize himself, and resumed the journey.
If any traveler had seen the butler driving the carriage that night, theyâd have been scared half to death.
From inside came Ralphâs cursing.
âGorsa, that lunatic! That butcher! That tyrant! I curse you to be betrayed by all, to be devoured alive!â
Even so, Ralph kept his voice low, afraid his words might leak out.
Hunter knewâhis master was truly afraid this time.
After venting for a while, Ralph told Hunter, âItâll take four or five years for me to recover. Be careful in the meantime. Donât let anyone know Iâm still alive.â
âUnderstood, Master,â the butler answered promptly.
Only then did Ralph close his eyes to rest.
His butler had never once disappointed him.
âJust wait⊠wait until I recover⊠wait until I retrieve the diary⊠I wonât let them off!â
âŠâŠ
Neither Gorsa nor Kaz kept a constant watch on Saulâs progress.
They seemed absolutely certain that Saul would become a Second Rank apprentice within three years.
And Saul, completely unaware of this expectation, managedâthrough sheer persistenceâto raise his magic power to 45 joules after two years.
He had also finished analyzing the construction framework for a First Rank spell. He could advance at any moment.
But Senior Byron advised him to hold off until he reached 50 joules before starting First Rank spells.
Saul decided to trust the advice of someone more experienced and kept holding back, refraining from practicing First Rank magic just yet.
Raising his magic power from 14 to 45 joules hadnât been as smooth as Saul had imagined.
In fact, looking back, the process was full of bitter, tearful memories.
His progress often hit inexplicable plateaus, where further meditation failed to increase his power.
He asked aroundâothers had similar experiences, but rarely as frequently or severely as him.
To make matters worse, Keli never got stuck at all!
She had already advanced to Second Rank three months ago.
That day, she ran excitedly to Saul to show off and âkindlyâ informed him that she had taken one of two adjacent rooms on the 12th floor, waiting for him to advance so they could be neighbors again.
Even though he hadnât advanced yet, Saul had made a lot of valuable progress over the past two years.
With Little Algaeâs help and the safety net of the diary, he had successfully optimized the plastic bone formula, updated his left hand, and used the improved version to rebuild his right hand as well.
Yesâonce he confirmed the design wouldnât impact dexterity, Saul didnât hesitate to melt down his right hand too!
Now both his hands were pale gray, smooth and delicate, slightly translucent, with visible bones inside.
And his sculpting and molding skills had improved significantlyâthe new hands looked like plaster casts from an art studio, even a bit elegant.
These hands not only gave Saul two big boosts in magic power, but after infusing them with soul fragments, they unlocked a new ability: Spirit Resin Control.
This allowed Saul to cast Zero Tier Dark-attribute spells almost without adjusting his mental focus. Casting them became as easy and natural as waving his hand.
Not only thatâthis time, Saul specifically found a way to solve the handsâ vulnerability to electricity. He drew a set of symmetrical, interactive rune formations on the bones to resist electric fields.
Now, with a pair of insulated gloves over them, he was basically shockproof!
(End of Chapter)
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