Dark Wizard: Rise! My undead army!

At this moment, the "wealth disparity" in the market has begun to emerge.

About 20% of the apprentices have already raised some start-up capital with their skills and are preparing to make a big splash.

Thirty percent of the apprentices are still in abject poverty. They have no skills, and some have even started to pawn their wizard robes.

The other half were just wandering around nonchalantly, with no coins on them but full of confidence on their faces, clearly "bug challengers".

In the afternoon, Lynn set up her stall at the same spot as before, and business was much better.

By the time he closed up shop in the evening, Lynn's assets had become: 67 contribution points, 4 magic stones, and a small bag of various basic materials.

Since he didn't have any spatial equipment, Lynn's miscellaneous haul was difficult to carry, so he found some stalls and sold the materials in exchange for two magic stones.

I enjoyed a delicious beef pie and vegetable soup at the food truck, and after eating and drinking my fill, I went to the market entrance and found a place to meditate.

With ghostly guards watching over the place, safety is greatly enhanced.

Some apprentices, unwilling to waste their precious time, gave up meditation and chose to trade with other apprentices or do more handicrafts.

The first day of the assessment has ended, and the task has been exceeded.

...

The next morning, Lynn did not set up her stall at the Apprentice Corner.

With his mission accomplished, he felt much more relaxed and prepared to take this opportunity to explore the Ghost Market.

The Apprentice Corner was just an inconspicuous corner of the Ghost Market; he hadn't yet explored the real market.

Head straight into the depths of the market, where the real "Ghost Market" is located, the official trading place for wizards, but apprentices are not excluded.

Yesterday, quite a few apprentices went in, looking for jobs in those shops.

However, most shops also know that these new recruits are only there to be assessed as "temporary workers," and they not only won't stay long, but they also don't do a clean job.

Of the ten people who came to work, eleven of them were thinking of stealing something from the store to sell in order to pass the assessment.

After all, you can't earn much by doing odd jobs. Let alone five magic stones in three days, you can hardly earn five magic stones in thirty days.

of course there are exceptions.

Some shops not only don't reject these apprentices, but actually open their doors wide to them; as long as you dare to come in, they'll take you in.

As for the consequences... let's not talk about them.

The moment you step into the market, the hustle and bustle of the apprentice corner seems to disappear.

The light here is much brighter, with large amounts of pale white phosphorescence floating in the air for illumination.

The road is lined with shops with eye-catching signs above them. Many of them are named after mentors or even chief instructors, and they offer a variety of services.

"Zack's Immortal Workshop" specializes in: mechanical/undead modification surgery, consciousness uploading consultation, custom mechanical limbs/organs, and installation of undead prosthetic bodies.

"Malfah's Dream Corridor" specializes in: memory weaving and reshaping services, emotional stripping/injection, customized dreams, and soul beautification (fading trauma imprints).

"Victor's Bone Throne" specializes in: ordering standard undead legions (skeleton warriors/archers, skeletal warhorses, etc.), renting undead war machines, and wholesaling skeletal building materials.

"Glassa's Flesh and Blood Hotbed" specializes in: custom-made special stitched monsters, organ transplantation and enhancement, live body modification, and "concept design" of new species.

"Medice's Misfortune Pawnshop" specializes in: pawning and redeeming cursed items, fortune-telling consultations, custom-made anti-curse amulets, and "safekeeping" your good luck...

...

These shops broadened Lynn's horizons; she never expected that all the mentors would open shops here.

Of course, the mentors and chief students don't stay in the shop to do business every day; the shop is basically maintained by their students.

They only personally intervene when they encounter certain "high-end" or "tricky" business deals.

Lynn didn't easily enter these shops. After all, he didn't have any needs, and a mere wizard apprentice like himself shouldn't wander around aimlessly.

Those formal wizards have quite a few tricks up their sleeves; it wouldn't be good if they got marked after going in.

It's not the theft itself that's scary, it's having someone eyeing it.

Moreover, those who have their eyes on him are giant dragons!

Lynn set his sights on the stall in the middle of the road.

The stalls here are sparse, and each stall is shrouded in a faint silencing barrier. You can only see the lips of the buyers and sellers moving, but you can't hear any sound.

After all, those with the resources have opened shops, and most wizards will choose to buy what they need from the shops.

The vendors are usually lone wolf wizards who are dissatisfied with the buyback prices offered by the shops and choose to sell themselves.

Most of the people coming and going in the market were dressed in the black robes of formal wizards, with badges on their chests symbolizing their rank and faction.

Occasionally, one could see a few third-class apprentices with refined auras respectfully following behind their mentors.

Ordinary apprentices held this market in awe and would not easily set foot here.

The goods in the "Apprentice Corner" were more than enough for their needs, and they felt more comfortable there.

Lynn also kept a low profile, slowly walking and observing with her [Mental Vision] activated.

The goods here are clearly much higher-end.

Living organs encased in transparent crystals, fragmented ancient artifacts suspended in a force field, bone plates inscribed with obscure knowledge, and even the young of strange otherworldly creatures imprisoned in a small barrier.

The prices are also staggering, often reaching hundreds or even thousands of magic stones.

After walking for about 15 minutes, Lynn stopped in front of a shop.

The shop resembles a combination of a watchmaker's and a blacksmith's shop, with design drawings hanging on the walls and semi-finished machinery piled up on the worktable.

Harold's Gears and Bones specializes in: custom construction and repair, undead mechanization, energy circuit optimization design, and precision components for clockwork/gears.

The shop owner, none other than Thomas's mentor, Harold, a formal wizard specializing in transformations, was advertising something at the entrance.

Harold was a short, stocky, burly wizard with a thick beard, wearing leather armor inlaid with gears and bone decorations.

There was also a stall set up at the entrance of the shop, displaying some modified items. He, a second-level mentor, was actually personally promoting them at the stall.

The most eye-catching item on the stall was a "semi-mechanical ghoul" with its chest cavity dissected.

Its right arm has been replaced with a rotating saw blade, and a sophisticated spring structure and a slowly rotating gear core can be seen on its chest. A grayish crystal of soul is embedded in the heart.

This is far more advanced than Thomas's "Bone Wheel Iron Zombie," the difference between the two is like that between a slingshot and an automatic rifle.

"【Basic Construct - Flesh Fusion】, increases combat endurance by 50%, stable obedience, and allows for customized weapon modules."

Harold was explaining to an interested wizard, "The downside is that the energy circuit has a high load and requires cooling after continuous high-intensity combat."

Lynn was also extremely interested in this wizard's creation. [Analysis] started automatically, and his gaze focused on the energy circuits that were shimmering with light inside the ghoul's chest cavity.

After a moment, he noticed something was wrong.

The design of the three main pathways at the intersection of the scapula, spine, and pelvis is too "direct" and lacks energy buffering, making them prone to overheating or even melting when energy surges.

Harold noticed Lynn's gaze, which even held a hint of understanding, as if he had figured out what was going on.

Harold was very displeased with the boy's pretentious manner; when did his work fall to the level of being judged by a second-rate apprentice?

"Hey kid, what are you looking at? Get out of here! If you can't afford it, don't block the light."

Harold's tone wasn't exactly polite, but it wasn't malicious either; it was more like the impatience of a techie towards a pretentious newbie.