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nKyle didn’t feel too surprised about this development as he accepted his fate.

nA month quickly passed in this process and during this time, no one had looked for him about the death of the third-year students.

nHe suspected that Mr. Heinz took the blame for it or it was completely sealed using his authority as a special researcher.

nWell, he can’t really tell since he was mostly inside the Animus Haven Hall and can’t hear any news. He was training his Ghost Hands, reading books, or just using his Phantasm State whenever he can.

nApparently, the duration of the Phantasm State can’t be extended just by having a strong Spirit or Intelligence in Kyle’s case.

nIt can only be lengthened with the accumulation of experience and his body getting used to the state of phantasm.

nIf his body wasn’t used to it, even with his high Spirit, he would subconsciously reject this state limiting his duration inside. If he forcefully tried extending it without his body getting used to the sensation, it can cause irreversible damage to his mental state and he might really fall into darkness without getting back.

nAs of now, he wasn’t sure what it means to fall into darkness but it sounds like something a horror movie would quote so he decided not to test himself and just follow the expert’s advice.

nAfter a month of hard work, Kyle managed to naturally increase his Phantasm State duration to 25 seconds and the cooldown to 2 minutes!

nIt was such a huge improvement for him.

nAccording to Mr. Heinz, it was normal to have such improvements during the early stage and it will become more and more difficult as he grows stronger.

nToday, Kyle was waiting for his meal to be brought by Denise inside the haven hall…

nAfter the incident with the Gower and his lackey, the two of them had somehow become closer and Kyle would even notice Denise would blush after seeing him from time to time.

n‘Am I really becoming more handsome?’ Kyle asked himself after recalling Denise’s face.

nLuckily, the latter is already taking care of herself so she was slowly extricating herself from the status of a malnourished girl.

nKyle shook his head as heard the door open.

nDenise brought a tray of food. It has a pot of tea, biscuits, broiled bone, and devilled kidneys enough for the two of them.

nSince Kyle had been staying inside the hall most of the time, he had already fixed the solemn lighting here and added some lamps to brighten up the place. 𝑖.𝑐ℴ𝑚

nMr. Heinz didn’t mind it especially when he said that he’ll be spending his own money.

n“Didn’t I tell you that you can have your breakfast before coming here?” Kyle asked as he helped her set up the table.

nThe table is near the door a few meters away from the magic circle.

n“Isn’t it boring eating alone? Anyway, did you notice that the factory is doing good over the past month? The food has improved and the weekly salary of the laborers was no longer being delayed.” Denise muttered as she started eating her food.

n‘It’s because of Mr. Heinz’s agreement with Lesley…’ Kyle answered inwardly. He also realized now that the salaries of those workers were actually being delayed before. It seems that this place wasn’t really doing well before.

n“What are the workers even doing? I heard from Master Heinz that they’re only doing superficial metalworks… However, does it not provide a stable source of profit?” Kyle asked curiously…

nSince Denise is closer to the workers it was better to ask her. Mr. Heinz doesn’t seem to like it if he’s meddling in things unrelated to Dark Arts.

n“Mhmm… It’s indeed superficial. Aside from the special furnace that is being used, the pieces of metal they’re making don’t involve any ritual or mysticism. They are only making parts of some mystical items. They will still be processed by several experts in another workshop.”

nKyle nodded after hearing this answer from Denise. He already has these thoughts as well.

nDenise then continued…

n“The money they’re earning from this work is sometimes being used by Mr. Heinz for his experiment… Urgh… I even heard from the Vice Headmaster before that he might replace Mr. Heinz because of this. Unfortunately, no one from the Academy can take care of the special furnace other than Mr. Heinz.”

nKyle finally realized why the laboratory that should be in a solemn place is actually connected to the metal workshop!

n‘So it’s all about the Quince Furnace… I wonder how special it is and no one could replace Mr. Heinz.’ Kyle mused. He didn’t ask Denise about the specialty of the furnace since it’s very unlikely that she knows of it.

nThe two then chatted about random things and Denise also mentioned the recent news in the town.

nIt appears that almost all students in the higher years have left the academy to gain practical experience. Several airships were seen yesterday coming and going at the dockyard.

n“Right! It’s already June 12! Tomorrow, you’ll be consuming your third potion made by Sir Heinz, right? Good luck!” Denise reminded after recalling the date.

nKyle jolted after hearing this since he had almost forgotten this arrangement. He has already shared his experience with the potions with Denise and he also mentioned the third potion to her.

n“Haa~ I just hope that it won’t kill me…” After saying this, he changed the topic. “Is there still no delivery of corpses for Mr. Heinz?” Kyle asked since the delivery of corpses rarely happens and he already instructed Denise to inform him if there was any news.

nAt this time, he was expecting to hear another bad news but he soon saw Denise’s smiling face. 𝘳𝑎.𝗇t

n“Yes! I heard that there will be a delivery tonight…” Denise answered with a smile. She didn’t know why Kyle wanted to see more corpses but she was still looking out for him.

nAfter sipping her tea, she added. “You can also wait for the corpses of those higher-year students. I’m sure some of them will die.”

nUpdated from 𝑟.𝘤𝘰𝓂

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