Chapter 308: Master

“Consciousness… soul…” Saul unconsciously repeated the words.

He knew that these two concepts couldn’t be equated, but the knowledge he had studied before had never clearly defined either term.

“You should have already studied these concepts.”

“But the books never gave a clear definition.”

“That’s right. You’re not ready to know yet. It’s like walking—you can do it just fine. But if someone asked you to consciously control each muscle and bone involved, you’d probably be unable to move.”

Saul nodded thoughtfully. “Still, I don’t understand why the people of the Land Drifters would go to such great lengths just to affect my consciousness. I’m just an apprentice, after all.”

Gorsa chuckled softly again. “You think they targeted you as a way to get at me?”

Saul didn’t reply, but that was exactly what he’d always assumed.

This time, upon his return, he’d deliberately asked Senior Byron to divert everyone else’s attention, just so he could report the matter to the Tower Master immediately and discreetly.

Although Gorsa was a standout among Second Rank wizards, it would be impossible for him to go up against the entire Land Drifters faction alone.

Not to mention, the Land Drifters clearly had allies.

“You really believe you’re just a pawn used to counter me? Didn’t you just take down a veteran Third Rank apprentice on your own?”

Saul was taken aback.

He had grown so accustomed to identifying as a low-level wizard apprentice that he’d never considered he might have any value worth exploiting.

But in the eyes of the Tower Master, he apparently had already grown into someone worth manipulating—at great cost, no less.

“Are you saying the Land Drifters really want to control me?”

“It’s not impossible. Don’t forget—you are already my student. Doesn’t that status alone speak to your value?”

The Tower Master spoke with no shortage of confidence.

Saul lowered his head slightly, but then suddenly seemed to realize something and looked up sharply. “Tower Master, do you mean—”

“Call me Master.”

Saul’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Gorsa had officially acknowledged him.

But what about Master Kaz?

Of course, Saul knew better than to ask such a foolish question right now. Instead, he responded immediately, “Yes, Master!”

Gorsa nodded with a smile, then brought the conversation back, “At this point, we can be fairly certain that someone tampered with your soul body, likely due to the influence of the Land Drifters’ Soul-Devouring Flower.”

“Then how do I get rid of its effects?”

“Perhaps… we can use this influence—to flush out the enemies hiding within the Wizard Tower.”

Saul’s eyes lit up. That had been his idea too, though he hadn’t dared to say it aloud.

“I don’t know much about the Soul-Devouring Flower. It’s a secret known only to the Land Drifters’ core members. But judging from their previous tactics and your current situation—I can deduce that it’s likely a power that can influence a person’s consciousness, thereby controlling their behavior or thoughts.”

“There are three types of remote control: one uses demonic creatures, another uses mental radiation, and the third… you’re not ready to know yet. The Soul-Devouring Flower isn’t that powerful anyway.”

“The first two methods are already very difficult to maintain over long periods, especially now that you’re back in the Wizard Tower. If they want to keep influencing you, they’ll need to sustain the connection constantly.”

Saul blinked slowly. Did the Tower Master—no, Master Gorsa—really not know the full capabilities of the Soul-Devouring Flower? Because it sounded like he’d guessed it all almost exactly.

Gorsa could see Saul’s surprise, though he clearly couldn’t guess the reason behind it.

“For now, make sure you carry the puppet I gave you with you at all times,” Gorsa said, tilting his head slightly. “Don’t tell me you threw it away?”

“No!” Saul replied quickly. “I—I just didn’t bring it on my recent trips outside.”

But his tone lacked confidence.

In truth, he’d deliberately avoided carrying the red-eyed puppet Gorsa had given him—because he wanted to hide the diary.

After all, Lady Yura had once hidden herself inside it. Saul feared it might still contain some form of surveillance from Gorsa.

And the last thing he could afford was for anyone to know about his most important secret.

Of course, Kismet already knew everything, but that was an unfortunate exception, a walking time bomb.

Precisely because of Kismet’s unexpected discovery, Saul had grown more certain: the fewer people who knew about the diary, the better.

Fortunately, Gorsa didn’t press him about the puppet. He simply reminded him again, “From now on, carry it at all times.”

“Yes, Master,” Saul responded. After all, the diary was now embedded in his soul body, and he was sure it could withstand Gorsa’s mental probes.

That red-eyed puppet? He could deal with it easily.

“That puppet can temporarily house a soul body and is extremely sensitive to mental energy. Feed it a certain amount of your mental power, and it will memorize your mental pattern. In the future, if anyone or anything tries to influence the Soul-Devouring Flower inside your soul body, the puppet will detect it. Its eyes will turn black, and it will alert you.”

So that’s what it was for.

When the Gorsa had given him the puppet, he’d probably already suspected his soul body might be compromised.

“Thank you, Master.”

Gorsa nodded. “Once you leave this room, do not mention the Land Drifters or the Soul-Devouring Flower again. Not even to yourself.”

Leave this room?

A flurry of guesses flashed through Saul’s mind, but before he could ask, his vision was suddenly filled with light.

Familiar doors and rows of bookshelves—he realized he was standing in the private library on the 19th floor.

“Saul?” a deep, raspy voice called from behind.

Saul turned around and saw Kaz standing in the hallway.

“Master, what are you doing here?” Saul quickly walked over.

Kaz looked at him with a complicated expression. “You… you’ve already become a Third Rank apprentice. You advanced even faster than when you reached the Second Rank.”

His back seemed even more hunched, the wrinkles on his face more pronounced.

“The Tower Master has better judgment than I do.”

Looking at his old master, Saul didn’t quite know what to say. But Kaz clearly didn’t need any comforting.

“The Tower Master asked me to wait for you here. Since you’ve been acknowledged by him and become his student, don’t call me Master anymore. Just call me Mentor Kaz, like everyone else.”

Saul had never intended to stop recognizing Kaz as his master, even after becoming Gorsa’s student. But before he could say anything, Kaz raised his right hand and waved it lightly.

Saul noticed a charred black mark in his palm.

A fresh injury, most likely.

“Don’t refuse. Honestly, I was planning to give up on you in the beginning.” Kaz’s face carried a relieved smile. He turned and gestured for Saul to follow.

The two of them walked toward the ramp connecting the tower’s levels.

“It was the Tower Master who asked me to give you a chance—to let you work in the corpse chamber.”

Saul had already guessed as much, so he wasn’t surprised.

“It was then that I noticed you had an unexpected affinity for dark-element spells. This wasn’t the same as your elemental sensitivity talent—it was a way of thinking, a set of habits that suited the dark element perfectly. You weren’t disgusted by dealing with corpses and filth every day. In fact, you even had the nerve to use materials from those corpses to modify your own body.”

Kaz couldn’t help glancing at Saul again, recalling his own astonishment at the time.

And a bit of fear—because if he’d accidentally caused Saul’s death after the Tower Master had just entrusted the boy to him, he didn’t know if he’d have gotten off easy.

“It wasn’t until then that I realized your true talent. Focusing solely on numbers like magic power and mental strength—that was my narrow-mindedness.”

Watching Kaz constantly reflect on his past misjudgments, Saul tried several times to interject but never managed to get a word in.

Kaz was especially sentimental today.

The two of them walked all the way to the ramp, then ascended—arriving at the 20th floor.

It was Saul’s first time there.

The 20th floor was unlike any other level of the Wizard Tower.

At the entrance stood a pair of bronze doors.

Identical to the ones on the ground floor of the East Tower!

Kaz stepped forward and placed both hands—left and right—on the doors.

“From this moment on, you are officially authorized to participate in the Tower Master’s experiments. I will now brief you on the details.”

(End of Chapter)

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