After leaving the attendant’s house, night had already fallen.

Saul maintained his magical fluctuations at the level of a first-rank true wizard, then found a random inn that served wizards and settled in for the night.

He had originally planned to disguise himself as a wizard apprentice to approach the apprentice boy who had appeared in the attendant’s dream.

However, he discovered that wizard apprentices seemed to have rather low status in Sky City.

Unlike Stat Continent where ordinary people were everywhere, Sky City itself was a giant magical construct. Regular people truly couldn’t live here easily.

The places available for ordinary people were limited to two remote alleys.

Most residents there were ordinary people like attendants who worked at the airport.

Wizard apprentices here were actually forbidden from staying at inns.

There were special apprentice dormitories provided for apprentice housing.

Money didn’t matter.

The rank restrictions were extremely strict.

Only true wizards had it somewhat better.

At minimum, they weren’t assigned specific living quarters, though they still couldn’t enter areas near the White Glass Palace.

The inn where Saul stayed was quite ordinary, showing no special treatment for wizards whatsoever.

Fortunately, Saul wasn’t someone who pursued luxury.

He casually booked a single room and mediated directly until dawn.

Early the next morning, Saul went out and, after asking several passersby, successfully found the broken tower that had appeared in the attendant’s dream.

Although the wizard apprentice from the dream didn’t necessarily live near the broken tower, since the attendant had come here to find someone, the other party at least appeared in this location fairly regularly.

Saul’s first day here yielded no results.

He didn’t use any magic. On the second day, he continued waiting near the broken tower and observing every person who passed by.

The boy didn’t keep Saul waiting too long. On the second morning, Saul saw him jogging past the broken tower.

“Found him.”

Saul walked with his hands behind his back, leisurely following behind. Even as the other party’s figure grew more distant, Saul didn’t quicken his pace.

Just as he was about to lose track of the boy, Saul saw him enter what looked like a large auditorium.

This auditorium covered considerable ground area, surrounded by squares blooming with white and pink whisper flowers.

The square also had quite a few wizard apprentices—few first-levels, but many second and third-levels.

This place was also close to the apprentices’ dormitory area.

Compared to the densely packed apprentice dormitories that resembled a beehive, this place was much more spacious, like a student playground.

As Saul crossed the square, every apprentice who noticed him would bow their head in respect.

Even those previously sitting on benches would immediately stand up.

“The hierarchy is quite strict.”

Saul walked to the auditorium entrance. Before he could enter, someone came out first.

The person was a woman who appeared to be in her forties. Although her skin remained smooth and fair, the weariness and exhaustion in her eyes couldn’t be concealed.

Seeing Saul, she first froze, then immediately showed a relieved smile.

“You finally came! I thought you found the compensation inadequate and had already given up.”

Saul stopped walking. “You know who I am?”

The woman nodded. “Though I haven’t met you before, a young first-rank wizard with an unfamiliar face appearing outside the lecture hall at this time could only be the substitute instructor we hired from off the island.”

Saul shrugged. “Actually, I’m still considering…”

The woman raised both hands. “I know our compensation is a bit low, but before you have the ability to enter the Academy of Knowledge or Academy of Practice, being an instructor at the apprentice academy is the most suitable transitional job.”

Seeing that Saul still hadn’t left, the woman assumed he was tempted and simply grabbed Saul’s sleeve, leading him inside.

“I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Laura, and I’ve been an instructor here for 27 years.”

“Saul.”

“Hello, Saul. I know you’re still hesitating, but you really should try it first. Even if it’s just substituting for one class?”

Laura chattered away, “Third-level apprentice classes are actually quite easy to teach. They’ll ask some headache-inducing stupid questions. If you really don’t know the answer, just tell them directly that this isn’t something they should know right now.”

Apprentices occasionally passed by them, but Laura brazenly continued explaining methods for dealing with apprentices.

“If you really have something urgent, you can also notify us to change the class to a self-study session. Of course, we won’t pay class fees for those situations.”

Laura covered her lips with the back of her hand, appearing secretive while her voice remained loud, “Of course, my suggestion is that you can come here to do your own things while the apprentices just study by themselves.”

Saul raised an eyebrow and nodded with apparent understanding.

This Laura wizard was obviously just an employee, not the owner of this academy, much less the person responsible for paying salaries.

“You young people, having just become first-rank wizards, are full of ambition and don’t understand how good this place is. Actually, the formal instructors here have all worked for decades like me.”

“Although this place can’t help you advance or obtain many rare resources, it can keep you alive—alive like a king.”

When Laura said this, she suddenly waved at an apprentice standing relatively close to her.

That apprentice was immediately swept up as if hit by a hurricane, then slammed hard against the corridor wall, immediately spitting up a large mouthful of blood.

The nearby apprentices were so frightened they didn’t dare make a sound, all consciously standing against the walls.

Laura used a completely different tone to address the apprentice who hadn’t yet gotten up, “Scott, if you don’t understand how to show respect to true wizards, next time I’ll smash your head like a berry!”

The apprentice lying on the ground didn’t dare get up, nor did he dare make eye contact with Laura. He could only spit blood while desperately nodding.

But clearly… he had only been standing slightly closer to Laura.

Saul opened his mouth, then quickly closed it, his face showing astonishment like a green instructor fresh out of training.

Laura was very satisfied with Saul’s reaction. She knew that normal people at this point should have changed their opinion of this poorly paid job.

So she began creating a sense of urgency for Saul.

“Of course, if you still have other plans, that’s fine too. Just substitute for these few days of classes. The instructor originally responsible for third-level apprentices went to take the Academy of Knowledge assessment. If he fails the assessment, he’ll return to continue teaching.”

At this point, the two arrived at the innermost classroom in the corridor.

This was a tiered lecture hall.

It looked like it could seat over two hundred people.

But currently, fewer than fifty people sat in the classroom, and they were unusually scattered. Seven people sat in the very back row and didn’t straighten their postures like the others when Saul and Laura entered.

Laura, who had been speaking loudly all along, used secret speech technique with Saul for the first time, “By the way, unless the apprentices in the back row actively ask you questions, you usually don’t need to bother with them. These people either have close relatives who are true wizards or have good talent with chances to become true wizards. We generally don’t manage apprentices at this stage to avoid awkwardness when we meet after they advance.”

Saul nodded casually. In fact, he hadn’t been listening carefully to Laura’s words.

Because in the back row, he had spotted the wizard apprentice boy who had appeared in the attendant’s dream!

(End of Chapter)