Chapter 40: Unequal Treatment |
Duke instinctively didn’t want anyone to know that Saul, with whom he had once clashed, was now being heavily reused by Mentor Kaz.
“Then rest assured—there’s no way he’ll pass the first test. Didn’t you see how magic-starved he looked during rune class? No matter how fast someone learns, if they can’t cast any sorcery, what good does it do?” Doze, still bitter from being rebuked by Saul, spoke with clear hostility.
He even added maliciously, “From what Teacher Gudu said, any apprentice who fails the test will be punished. Who knows, maybe Saul will get kicked back to being a servant! Right, Rocky?”
“Uh… yeah,” Rocky replied gloomily.
“Ah?” Jenna’s voice held a tinge of pity. “That’s kind of sad, though.”
“Yeah,” Rocky quickly added.
Watching his friend constantly sneak glances at Jenna, Doze rolled his eyes internally.
Just as the group was gossiping excitedly, the door to Room 603 opened.
The chatter stopped instantly.
“Did the tower get any new apprentices?”
“Hmm? Yeah, why?” Keli, still holding a thick scroll of parchment, looked at Saul with surprise. “I didn’t think you’d care about that sort of thing.”
“Is there someone among them with a strong dark affinity?” Saul asked.
Keli expressionlessly spread her hands, the parchment thumping against the doorframe with a dull sound. “And you think I would care about that sort of thing?”
Saul was once again left speechless by Keli and couldn’t help but laugh.
“I figured you’d be curious about a new genius.”
“Our progress isn’t even comparable anymore. We’ll talk again when someone actually catches up,” Keli said, raising an eyebrow at Saul, one hand under her chin. “You seem pretty curious, though. Want me to find out for you?”
“No need.”
With a mysterious look, Saul folded his arms and walked off, leaving Keli standing there, completely baffled.
“What the heck is he playing at? Just trying to torture my curiosity?”
Keli pursed her lips in thought, but when she saw someone walking toward her from the corner of her eye, she quickly ducked back inside and slammed the door shut.
Duke took the full brunt of that slammed door, the friendly smile on his face instantly turning sour.
Behind him came a burst of mocking laughter, making him clench his fists, wishing he could just smash the door open.
But by now, everyone knew—Keli had become Mentor Guduo’s favorite. She was often brought along for direct, personal instruction.
It was a level of special treatment most apprentices could only dream of.
Among the new apprentices, rumors swirled that she would be the first to advance to Second Rank—and might even reach Third Rank soon.
Countless people were eager to get closer to her. Even the smallest scrap of resources from her could be enough to help someone survive the apprentice tests.
Yet Keli, for some unfathomable reason, only wanted to be around Saul.
All her warmth and cheer were reserved solely for him.
Unintentionally, this only deepened the resentment others felt toward Saul.
But Saul himself, the target of all this resentment, couldn’t care less.
3:30 a.m.
Saul’s eyes suddenly snapped open. The haze of sleep dissolved like a retreating tide, and clarity returned to his mind.
A few days ago, his former servant George had delivered him a copy of the duty roster.
Today, it was Brown’s turn—one of Sid’s lackeys—to clean the corridors.
Saul dressed quickly, took out the carefully preserved Phantom Sound Eye, and left the dorm.
…
Brown, taller than Saul by a full head, hunched as he pushed a cart along the west tower’s sloping hallway.
He tugged at his collar now and then.
The temperature inside the tower wasn’t low, yet the chill seemed ever-present.
Ever since that damned Saul had become a damned apprentice, Brown was forced to return to the corridor cleaning duties.
It was the highest-risk job among servants—some went out in the middle of the night and never came back. Could be ten days. Could be months. People just disappeared.
“Lucky bastard, that George. Already kissing up to Saul.”
George had been reassigned by the steward and no longer participated in the midnight cleaning shifts.
Now all the male servants understood—George had latched onto Saul’s leg.
They’d immediately changed their tune, elevating the once-bullied George to a pedestal.
George now slept at the far end of the dorm, taking Brown’s original spot.
Brown, having lost status, wasn’t openly bullied, but all the special treatment he once had was gone. He had to do work he previously never touched.
And that meant danger.
Still, Brown wasn’t completely unprepared. When it came to these treacherous night shifts, he had little confidence in his survival.
Ever since Saul had become an apprentice, that Second Rank apprentice had never sought him out again. But before then, the same apprentice had gifted him a life-saving tool.
Brown tugged his collar again and reached under it to touch a small scented bead.
It was a translucent bead, about the size of a thumb, strung on a black cord. Inside it was a tiny black insect, suspended like amber.
Brown didn’t know what it was, but the Second Rank apprentice had assured him the bead could protect him from ordinary spectral threats.
It had been an advance payment for tormenting Saul.
Unfortunately, once Saul left the servant ranks, that apprentice had no more use for Brown—never acknowledged him again, let alone took him on as a personal servant.
If only things had turned out differently—he could’ve had even the steward bowing to him.
Bitterness aside, Brown still felt a bit of smug satisfaction. With this magic item, he hadn’t lost out entirely.
The elation brought by the bead didn’t last long, though. The tower’s eerie atmosphere soon weighed him down again.
“When the hell can I leave this godforsaken place? If I knew I’d be stuck as a servant forever, I would’ve… should’ve just gone back to farming in the village.”
Regret was pointless—it only drained his will.
Brown let out a long sigh and kept pushing the cart forward.
He stayed quiet as he turned the corner to the sixth floor.
Suddenly, the cart’s wheels jammed in a crack between the stones. No matter how hard he pushed, they wouldn’t budge.
“What the hell now?” Brown squatted down, annoyed, trying to lift the wheel.
That’s when he saw a foot step down onto the stone right in front of the cart.
A barefoot—ghastly pale, almost purple, thin and bony.
Then another foot landed beside it, facing the opposite direction—heel toward him.
The two feet were perfect mirror opposites.
Hell no.
Brown didn’t care about the cart anymore. He yanked the scented bead from under his collar and raised it high above his head, eyes squeezed shut, praying it would ward off the horror before him.
Nothing happened for a while.
He cracked one eye open.
And all the hair on his body stood on end.
He was now surrounded by bare feet. Around him and the cart—feet, everywhere.
Each one was a mismatched pair, one forward, one backward. No two pairs were alike. Some belonged to adults, some to children, some to the elderly.
“Hhh… hhh…”
Brown was trembling with every breath.
The scene before him—utterly grotesque.
But even more terrifying than the horror… was the familiarity.
He’d seen this before.
When he was ten years old.
Barbarians had invaded his village, gathering every living thing they could find.
People and animals alike were split in two, one forward, one backward, impaled on stakes and left hanging in midair.
(End of chapter)