Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

Seeing that Morton intended to see him out, Bal hesitated for a moment, then took out Oleg's body, wrapped in cloth, from his storage bag and carefully placed it on the ground.

"Chieftain... the remains of Senior Brother Oleg are here."

Upon seeing his son's cold, stiff body, Chief Morton trembled violently, and his eyes instantly reddened.

He forced himself not to lose his composure and gestured to the head butler.

The head butler silently stepped forward and carefully picked up the body.

"Thank you..." Chief Morton said in a hoarse voice, waving his hand to indicate that Baal could leave.

He needs time to process this immense grief on his own.

Oleg was not only his most beloved son, but also the future heir of the entire Keller family.

Now that he is dead, we need to carefully consider who should be the next successor.

The Keller family... cannot fall...

Baal felt as if he had been granted a pardon. After bowing, he quickly left the Keller family mansion and rode his skeletal horse swiftly back to the Shadow Mine.

Upon returning to the fortress, he immediately sought out Lynn, presented him with three hundred magic stones as an apology, and gave a detailed account of his trip to the Keller family.

He even clearly described the difficult behavior of the guards at the gate, his own responses, and Chief Morton's reactions and words.

Lynn listened quietly, accepted the magic stone, and remained noncommittal about Baal's performance on this trip.

He wasn't surprised by the Keller family's performance; they were just a small family that could only offer the highest level of apprenticeship. What could they do even if they were dissatisfied with him?

The weak can only rage in vain.

As for things like "thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river," or "fortune turns like a wheel"...

First, you need to have good feng shui.

Secondly, you also need to be able to actually make it spin...

This isn't some fictional novel where you fall off a cliff or into the sea and suddenly gain immense power, then go on a rampage of bravado and face-slapping to reach the pinnacle of life...

In the Wizarding World, unless you are "possessed" by some old monster, you should honestly accumulate knowledge and hone your mental strength.

Now that one apprentice is missing, someone needs to fill in for the work at the mine.

Lynn calmly instructed, "From today onwards, the account reconciliation and ore storage matters that Oleg was previously in charge of will be jointly handled by you and Arya."

"Arya is meticulous and will be mainly responsible for checking and registering accounts and documents, while you will be responsible for specific fieldwork such as warehousing and handling, inspection and supervision, and handover with outposts."

"You'll also be responsible for more of the daily chores in the mine."

Baal felt a chill run down his spine, knowing that his leisurely life was over.

Originally, he was only responsible for the security of the Shadow Mine. With his mentor's powerful undead army around, he only needed to patrol once a day.

Now that most of Ogle's work has been assigned to him, including dealing with the official wizards at the outpost and the most error-prone tasks, how could he not be nervous?

This is also a new test for him.

Arya, on the other hand, received a relatively light clerical job and still had plenty of time to study recipes.

"Yes, sir! Baal will do his utmost and will not dare to make any more mistakes!" Baal quickly replied, not daring to utter the slightest complaint.

"Go ahead," Lynn waved.

Baal and Arya, who were listening respectfully to each other, bowed and left the room.

The heavy stone hall doors closed silently behind him, shutting out the cold gaze of the young wizard inside.

Baal and Arya breathed a sigh of relief almost simultaneously. They looked at each other and saw the relief of surviving a disaster in each other's eyes.

This matter is finally over.

They didn't speak immediately, but instead silently moved away from the stone hall.

They stopped in a corner where discarded tools were piled up after turning two corners and confirming that there was no movement around.

Baal leaned against the cold stone wall, his body still a little weak. He opened his mouth, his voice sounding somewhat hoarse:

"A...Aria...we...we'll...go all the way to becoming her apprentice..."

He subconsciously lowered his voice, glancing uneasily toward the stone hall, as if the door might open at any moment.

Arya reached out to interrupt Baal, gesturing for him to be quiet.

Her face was also pale, but she quickly forced herself to calm down.

She raised her hand and set up a simple soundproof barrier around the two of them. Although she didn't know if it could stop a formal wizard, she felt much more at ease.

"Don't panic." Her voice was very soft, with a slight, almost imperceptible tremor.

"This incident was Oleg's personal act and has nothing to do with us."

"Now that you've become an apprentice, just stay put. Since your mentor has assigned you tasks... you should be fine for now."

Even so, she herself knew that the image of forcibly turning souls into vengeful spirits would probably be forever etched into their memories.

"Oleg..." Bar's voice was choked with sobs.

"He...he just...gone..."

He still cannot fully comprehend that kind of terrifying punishment that transcends death.

"That's his own fault, there's no need to feel sorry for him," Arya interrupted him.

"From now on, focus on serving your mentor and don't have any other thoughts. We...we must never follow in his footsteps."

Over the next few days, the atmosphere inside the Shadow Mine became extremely tense.

Baal was like a frightened bird, always on edge no matter what he did.

Every time he entered the fortress to report to Lynn, even if it was just to pass on a message while standing at the entrance of the stone hall, he wished he could hold his breath and keep his footsteps as quiet as possible.

When facing Lynn, he didn't even dare to raise his head, and his voice was barely audible when reporting.

If Lynn hadn't had such keen senses, he probably wouldn't have heard what he was saying.

Arya also became unusually cautious.

She kept Lynn's living room, study, and the paperwork area under her charge meticulously, and all the account entries were kept exceptionally clear.

She would still prepare exquisite meals, but she would no longer make any deliberate attempts to "ask for advice," simply placing the food in the designated spot and then quietly leaving.

The advantage of choosing a room that was closest to Lynn's training room had now become a psychological burden, making her cautious every time she entered or left, afraid of disturbing Lynn.

Aside from necessary work-related exchanges, the two apprentices had almost no other conversations.

Lynn didn't care much about any of this, and even thought it was better this way.

Apprentices and mentors should maintain a sense of awe and a certain distance; otherwise, they will eventually lose sight of who is the master and who is the master.

Just like Lynn and Gregor, although they were master and apprentice, Lynn, relying on his role in the experimental project, was not polite at all.

That was truly putting one's hand into Gregor's pocket; back then, they treated his materials rack as their own, taking whatever they wanted directly.

If I were in that shoes, I probably would have already slapped that thief to death.