Chapter 28
NO.3 The Banshee's Phase Wings
In the dim dormitory, the light of the Image-Projection Prism flickered.
When the Black Mist coalesced into a human face, Orlando trembled as he spoke:
“M-My lord, the Sealing Amber you granted me failed to kill her. She must have realized my existence... Today, she went to find Blaji, and he’s a Tier-6 apprentice...”
The shadow in the prism let out a cold chuckle through clenched teeth, muttering in a voice only he could hear:
“Worthless.”
The rules of the Tower of the Four Sages were laughable to the extreme.
A dignified Tier-3 apprentice bound by so many restrictions, unable to even deal with a trainee apprentice without looking over his shoulder.
If it were in his own "Eternal Silence Blackthorn Tower," he could have barged into a trainee apprentice's room and killed them without a backer.
The Tower of the Four Sages’ protection of its apprentices was simply absurd.
Seeing that the shadow in the prism had not responded for a long while, Orlando grew anxious and began to cry out:
“My lord, you must help me!”
“Orlando, of course I will help you.” The shadow’s tone suddenly turned gentle, even a little kindly. “But Wizard Fernando of the Anatomy School is about to return. His attainments in both soul and flesh far surpass those of Tower Master Derrick. During this period, we must suspend all actions... including you.”
Orlando’s pupils contracted sharply. “Y-You’re abandoning me?”
“No, no, no. More accurately, you’ve lost your value.”
Orlando’s eyes widened in terror, his whole body shaking with fear and fury.
“No, you can’t do this. You promised that once it was done, you’d recommend me to Eternal Silence Blackthorn Tower to become a wizard’s disciple. According to the regulations of the Star Law Institute, you must keep your promises between wizards.”
The shadow in the prism stared at Orlando with a look as if gazing at a pitiful worm.
“The Star Law Institute?”
The shadow sneered and interrupted, “Only fools from the Tower of the Four Sages would cling to outdated rules. Besides... does a betrayer deserve to speak of promises?”
Orlando stood up and staggered backward, his stumbling figure knocking over the Everbright Lamp on the desk.
“I’ll report everything to Tower Master Derrick...”
“Orlando, I’ve told you countless times the tower’s defense mechanisms are ineffective against me.”
The cold, sinister voice suddenly exploded from behind.
Orlando turned sharply. On the window lattice behind him hung a pitch-black bat upside down, a pair of crimson slit pupils watching him with amusement.
Terrified to his soul, Orlando pulled a staff from his robe.
But before he could swing it, a decaying hand had already clamped over his face.
“No~ Aahhh~!”
His screams were drowned by the sound of flesh being torn.
When the chewing noises finally stopped, the bat transformed into a young man in noble attire and landed lightly on the floor.
“A decent scream. Let me see how strong your resentment is.”
As he spoke, the youth traced occult summoning runes with his fingertips.
A cloud of Black Mist slowly rose from Orlando’s broken corpse.
The mist barely formed a humanoid shape, unable even to maintain a complete torso, as if the slightest breeze could blow it away.
Pfft—
The youth let out a chuckle:
“Useless in life, trash in death.”
A grotesque being of this level he wouldn’t bother glancing at it even if it were lying on the roadside.
The youth's body twisted and once again transformed into a palm-sized black bat, flying out through the porthole.
The grotesque being left behind in the room stood still for a moment, then passed through the door and exited.
...
The laboratory was filled with the scent of preservation fluid. A silver-haired trainee witch was at the desk, organizing three completed anatomical specimens.
"Cradle of Enchanted Human Offspring," "Banshee Wail Resonance Cavity," and the newly finished specimen of the banshee's wing membrane.
The tip of the quill scratched softly on the parchment.
Serial Number: NO.3
Scientific Name: Banshee's Phase Wings
Dissection Time: 8:50 AM, May 19th, Year 3040 of the Wizard Calendar
Organ Source: Banshee corpse remnants from Morgue No. 66
Morphological Description: Foldable, materialized, wing-like organ. Hollow bones with radially arranged muscle groups...
Grotesque Reaction: Spectral hands emerging from underground and an abyssal illusion. The woman’s dying scream. No measurable magical energy degree.
(Magical Vein Diagram)
Core Magical Vein: Four-sided conical magical vein network inscribed on the inner bone wall. Preliminary judgment: phase transfer.
Application Directions: 1. Can serve as a model for flight-type witchcraft. 2. Dissect other phase-attributed specimen organs to refine the phase magical vein diagram.
...
The "Cradle of Enchanted Human Offspring" had been modeled by Lucy into a storage-type Basic Witchcraft called "Magical Energy Storage," capable of holding magical energy of 3°.
The "Banshee Wail Resonance Cavity" had been constructed into another Basic Witchcraft model, which Lucy named "Wail of Agony."
It released terrifying soundwaves into the surroundings, causing magical energy damage.
The spell wasn’t particularly powerful, but its advantage lay in being an area-of-effect witchcraft something rarely seen among low-level spells.
However, due to the level of the enchanted beast it was derived from, both spell models remained Basic Witchcraft.
Lucy lightly bit the shaft of her quill.
Among most wizards, Basic Witchcraft was often ridiculed as “magical tricks,” and the amplification effect on Mental Strength was very limited.
Thus, to qualify as an official apprentice, one’s Mental Strength had to exceed 10 points, and they also needed to master at least two Tier-1 Witchcraft spells.
Typically, apprentices would directly dissect high-grade organs to obtain Tier-1 Witchcraft. Lucy, however, planned to attempt a different route fusing low-level magical veins to create composite spells.
Although this method was difficult, if successful, its power would far surpass that of single magical vein spells.
Unfortunately, even though Lucy had already created two magical vein spell models, she hadn’t dared to continue dissecting enchanted specimens because of Orlando’s presence. With her Academic Points stalled, she had to delay her simulations.
This significantly slowed the progress of the hybrid spell, but Lucy had no other choice.
The gap between trainee apprentices and official apprentices was like a chasm not something that determination and persistence alone could bridge.
For the sake of safety, she planned to lay low until Blaji reported the matter to a senior managing apprentice.
Luckily, she wasn’t entirely idle.
She still remembered that clump of mutated tissue she had sliced off Leticia’s shoulder.
Since it had remained active even after separation, Lucy had taken it out of the preservation fluid and, after some basic treatment, placed it in an empty jar.
Left overnight on the lab bench, the tumor's activity had clearly declined. The force and frequency with which it struck the glass jar had also diminished significantly.
Lucy picked it up with forceps and used a scalpel to slice open the tumor’s surface, attempting to analyze the internal magical vein diagram.
To her surprise, the muscle textures within the tumor were extremely chaotic, and the magical vein traces were disorganized, lacking any logic.
Just as Lucy prepared to dissect deeper into the tissue, the tumor suddenly moved away from the approaching scalpel.
This movement made Lucy pause in slight astonishment.
She had assumed it was just a lump of decayed flesh with some residual activity but no consciousness. Now it seemed things weren’t so simple.
Being able to dodge the scalpel at least suggested a basic cognitive ability to avoid danger. Did that mean this thing was actually a complete and independent life form?
With that thought, Lucy brought a plate of steak from the living room something Leticia had packed for her yesterday, originally saved for tonight’s dinner.
She tossed a palm-sized piece of steak into the glass jar. The tumor flinched in fright at the steak dropping from above.
It first curled into a ball and huddled in a corner, trying its best to avoid the steak drenched in black pepper sauce. Several minutes passed.
After determining the object posed no threat, the tumor began to squirm toward it like a soft-bodied creature and extended a small part of itself to touch the steak.