Within the hall floated several translucent light screens displaying information about each mentor, their faction affiliations, and their primary fields of study.
Among the Necromancy faction, two mentors stood at the absolute pinnacle.
[Skeleton Emperor] Victor
A supreme authority in skeletal warfare and undead legion construction.
Victor believed firmly in the principle that quantitative accumulation eventually leads to qualitative transformation.
His primary research subject was:
"On the Amplification Effect of Collective Consciousness upon Undead Synergy and the Feasibility of Ultimate War Weapons."
His focus lay entirely in large-scale undead warfare.
Victor devoted himself to creating perfectly disciplined undead armies capable of overwhelming entire planes through absolute coordination and endless numbers.
His specific research fields included:
• Titan Skeleton Projects
• Undead array resonance
• Specialized undead combat units
• Undead war fortresses
• Large-scale necromantic warfare systems
Victor himself was considered a living encyclopedia of undead warfare.
During multiple planar wars, his undead legions had played decisive roles, earning him terrifying titles such as:
"Mobile Catastrophe."
And
"Planar Executioner."
Wherever his army marched, all life withered away, leaving behind only endless skeletons.
For weaker worlds, Victor's mere arrival represented unavoidable disaster.
[Flesh Stitcher] Grasha
An absolute authority in flesh-stitching and biological modification.
A mad artist who openly defied the taboos of life itself.
Grasha's obsession was "creation."
Not ordinary creation
But the violent birth of entirely new species.
Her primary research subject was:
"Transcending the Boundaries of Life: Selection of Optimal Flesh Units and Forced Biological Transmutation."
Her research direction focused on using fleshcraft and alchemy to forcibly construct stronger and more "perfect" lifeforms.
Specific fields included:
• Extraordinary organ transplantation
• Directed mutation induction
• Intelligent flesh golem engineering
• Aberrant biological synthesis
She was feared across many planes under titles such as:
"Desecrator of Life."
And
"Creator of Nightmares."
Within the demi-plane known as the Eternal Night Graveyard, countless horrifying creations born from her experiments still wandered freely.
Among her most infamous masterpieces were:
• The Rotting Hive
• The Nine-Headed Dragon
• The Abyssal Maw Leviathan
As for the Soul faction, there were likewise two supreme mentors.
[Soul Weaver] Malfa
A terrifying strategic-level wizard skilled in manipulating souls, memories, and the invisible threads of fate itself.
Her research leaned heavily toward control, deception, and psychological domination.
Her primary research topic was:
"The Extraction, Weaving, and Manipulation of Soul Threads: On the Anchoring Role of Emotional Energy within Soul Structures."
Malfa viewed souls as the most exquisite threads imaginable.
Her entire discipline revolved around stripping them apart, weaving them together, dyeing them with emotion, and reconstructing them into entirely new forms.
Her specific research areas included:
• Emotional binding
• Soul symbiosis
• Fate-thread manipulation
• Personality reconstruction
Even among dark wizards, Malfa was considered profoundly dangerous.
[Soul Devourer] Saron
A terrifying predator of the soul domain.
Saron specialized in soul consumption and transformation, pursuing power through extremely radical and dangerous methods.
His primary research topic was:
"Reverse Analysis of Soul Essence: Deciphering the Fundamental Structure of the Soul Through Devouring and Digestion."
His research philosophy was brutally simple:
The soul itself was both fuel and nourishment.
Everything he studied revolved around one central question
How could souls be consumed more efficiently, more safely, and more completely in order to strengthen oneself?
His specific research areas included:
• Soul digestive enzymes
• Trait extraction and purification
• Soul resistance studies
• Devouring compatibility experiments
Even among dark wizards, Saron's methods were considered savage and unstable.
Curse Mentor -- [Eye of Doom] Medusa
The living embodiment of causal weaponry.
A mysterious and deeply dangerous wizard specializing in bloodline curses and interference with fate itself.
Her primary research topic was:
"Interference and Resonance of Fate Strings: Constructing Long-Range Curse Models Through Bloodline Connections."
Unlike ordinary curse users who relied on disease or weakness hexes, Medusa focused on far more terrifying forms of sorcery
Curses capable of directly affecting destiny, causality, and conceptual existence.
Her specific research fields included:
• Bloodline Soul-Chasing Curses
• Resource Deprivation Curses
• Talent-Stealing Curses
• Fate Deviation Techniques
Her enemies often died without ever understanding what had happened to them.
Transformation Mentor -- [The Undying] Zack
A pioneer who abandoned ordinary flesh in pursuit of immortality.
Zack was the founder of the Mechanical Undead path.
He firmly believed that flesh and blood were inherently weak and flawed.
Only by transforming oneself into a hybrid existence of machinery and undeath could true immortality be achieved.
His primary research topic was:
"Research into Consciousness Independence and Carrier Adaptability: On the Necessity and Feasibility of Abandoning the Original Physical Body."
His research focused heavily on consciousness transfer, mechanical ascension, and undead integration.
Zack sought to completely separate consciousness from fragile organic flesh, allowing the soul to exist eternally within superior vessels.
Specific research areas included:
• Consciousness digitization
• Multi-body adaptability
• Collective consciousness networks
• Mechanical-undead fusion systems
His core philosophy could be summarized in a single sentence:
Flesh is weak. Ascension through machinery is eternal.
Beyond these top-tier mentors, the academy housed many other well-known figures.
Among them were:
• [The Withering Singer] Drake -- Elemental Magic Mentor
• [Death Whisperer] Aubrey -- Prophecy Mentor
• [Soul Barrier Master] Seraphina -- Protection and Barrier Mentor
• [Plague Apostle] Neomi -- Potion and Alchemy Mentor Find the original chapter at g.com.
• [Soulbinder] Royce -- Enchantment and Puppetry Mentor
• [Abyss Soulbinder] Malcolm -- Summoning Mentor
…
After browsing through the mentors' introductions and research directions, Slade's understanding of Bone Spire Academy deepened considerably.
As expected of a sanctuary for dark wizards
Not a single one of these research topics could be considered remotely normal.
Compared to them, Gregor suddenly seemed almost harmless.
The mentor Morris had recommended
[Hand of All Things] Gregor.
His primary research topic was:
"Research on Soul Threshold Breakthrough and Talent Purification Through Near-Death States."
Gregor's research focused on constructing controllable "death-like" conditions in order to break the innate limitations of the soul and spirit.
He believed that only by approaching death could a wizard achieve leaps in talent and mental strength.
In his view, this was the true key to breaking through advancement bottlenecks and reaching higher realms.
Because his experiments required integrating numerous disciplines into highly complex arcane systems, Gregor possessed broad knowledge across multiple fields:
Necromancy.
Soul studies.
Curses.
Transformation arts.
Even elemental magic.
…
At first glance, however, his profile seemed unimpressive.
It even sounded somewhat unrealistic and overly theoretical.
The only notable feature was the sheer breadth of his knowledge.
But for most apprentices, that held little appeal.
After all, there was an old saying:
A jack of all trades is master of none.
To many people, an "all-rounder" simply meant mediocrity spread across multiple fields.
Meanwhile, the other apprentices from Blackswamp City had also selected their preferred mentors.
Unfortunately, with their relatively ordinary talent, it was highly unlikely that any top-tier mentor would personally choose them.
Most would probably end up assigned to unknown or lower-ranking wizards instead.
To Slade's surprise, Alphonse appeared far more interested in Soul Weaver Malfa than in Victor.
Originally, Slade had assumed the prince would choose the path of necromancy and eventually become some terrifying ruler of the dead.
Instead, Alphonse gravitated toward the domain of souls and destiny.
Mary, meanwhile, behaved very differently from everyone else.
She wandered cautiously among several mentors who appeared comparatively "safe," hesitating for a long time before finally stopping in front of Medusa the Eye of Doom.
Her gaze locked tightly onto the information displayed on the light screen before Medusa.
More specifically
On one particular spell.
Talent-Stealing Curse.
A terrifying ritual curse capable of gradually stealing another person's talent and transferring it to the caster.
"To steal talent through curses…"
Mary silently repeated those words over and over in her mind, her breathing growing increasingly rapid.
Clearly, she was deeply dissatisfied with her own talent.
Her mental strength was mediocre, and her low-level charm affinity offered little value in this brutal academy where bones and corpses formed the foundation of power.
She remembered Slade's enviable superior talent.
She remembered the humiliation she had suffered in the Nightingale Pavilion.
And she remembered the helplessness she had felt throughout the journey here.
If…
If that talent belonged to her instead…
Then she would never need to depend on anyone again.
No one would ever dare look down on her again.