Chapter 3: Chapter 2: The uncultured are terrifying
The Babylonian Academy of Magic and Strength owned the most land in the Lancelot Empire and had the highest reputation within the empire. It was also one of the most important training grounds for the mages and knights of the empire.
The Academy was further divided into several departments, consisting of Light, Dark, Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Thunder, Summoning and Space. Each section had its own independent classroom building, library, laboratory, training field and residential area, as if they were small towns.
Bryan was an errand slave for the Necromancy department, which was a subdivision of the Dark Magic department. Because Necromancy majors had to work with skeletons, zombies and the like, and because this major had been off the radar for many years, it was not only the most unpopular major, but also the weakest. Even other Dark Magic students scoffed at Necromancy students and didn't bother to team up with them.
Bryan had been one of the weakest and most despised majors in his six years of running errands for the Academy. Add to that his special duties of transporting corpses and skeletons... and he had been subjected to an endless stream of eye rolls and cold shoulders. Every day was a living hell for him.
Han Shuo followed Bryan's memories and came to a small path in the mountains at the back of the academy. He entered through a small gate reserved for errand slaves returning in the middle of the night.
The other students had long since gone to sleep as it was midnight. Since Han Shuo took a secluded path, he didn't meet anyone on his way back. He observed his surroundings along the way and noticed that the architectural style of Babylon Academy was similar to some of the Western European countries back on Earth.
Finally, with some effort, he made his way back to the area designated by the Necromancy Major. Bryan lived in a warehouse, a place befitting his position.
The warehouse was filled with random items, most of them discarded junk or ingredients left over from experiments.
Most of these items awaited Bryan's organisation and disposal. Necromancy students would often throw their unwanted items through the warehouse window for Bryan to deal with.
The warehouse was not very large to begin with. Apart from all the random junk, the only other thing there was a small wooden bed. Even this bed was sometimes covered by a mountain of rubbish as the students never paid any attention to where they threw their unwanted items.
The first thing Bryan did when he finished work late at night was to clear the rubbish from his bed. He had to get rid of it before anyone woke up the next morning and then turn his attention to the others.
As Han Shuo took in his quarters, which resembled more of a garbage dump than anything else, his eyes misted over and he felt a deep pang of sympathy for the unfortunate youth. How could he survived those six years!
The air in the warehouse was unbelievably foul, even opening the windows had little effect as the stench came from the mountain of rubbish. More items were piled up on the small bed. It seemed that even after Bryan's death, some people had continued the habit of dumping rubbish here.
As Han Shuo shuffled his feet, he felt that even taking a few steps was an arduous task (the floor was covered with abandoned rubbish). He finally reached the bed and was about to clean it, just like Bryan always did.
But Han Shuo was not Bryan. When he was halfway through, Han Shuo felt a surge of anger. At first, this rage was only half-hearted, but the magic yuan within his body reacted to the rage and began to move quickly, feeding his rage.
Finally, Han Shuo abruptly stopped his movements and angrily shouted, "I am not Bryan! I will not stand for this! Bryan oh Bryan, since I have occupied your body, let me help you punish this Lisa!"
Han Shuo was unaware that according to his original personality, he would never have impulsively acted on his thoughts even if he had wanted to. The old him only had the will to think evil thoughts, but lacked the courage to act on them.
He walked out of the camp and turned towards the women's quarters. In the silence of the night, he stealthily made his way to the living quarters. Bryan had cleaned here many times and was familiar with the area. Of course, he also knew where Lisa lived.
The Necromancy major had far fewer students than the other majors, so each student had her own room. Each room was spacious and had all the necessities. It was heaven compared to Bryan's dump.
Lisa lived on the second floor and Han Shuo could not get in at night. Luckily, there was a large tree next to her window. He flattened his body and scampered up the trunk like a skinny monkey. He could peer into her window if he stood on his toes.
Han Shuo was secretly pleased to see that the window was open. He propped himself up and peered in. The little witch Lisa had decorated her room in pink and it actually looked quite cute, especially with the furry toys hanging on the wall above the table.
A faint scent of perfume wafted into Han Shuo's nose, causing it to crinkle. He had not expected the cold-hearted Lisa to decorate her room so cutely.
He couldn't hope to beat her in a fight and he knew it. He looked more closely and noticed pink gauze bed curtains in one corner of the room - that must be Lisa's bed.
He took a small bottle from his bag and smeared some blood (typically used in experiments) around the edges of his eyes and mouth. He dishevelled his brown hair after checking his face in a broken mirror (which Bryan had picked up). When he looked back into the mirror, a terrifying face covered in bloodstains looked back out.
"Heh heh, if I can't beat you, then I'm going to scare the hell out of you!"
Han Shuo was quite pleased with his current make-up and nodded with a low chuckle. When everything was ready, he stepped on a branch and swung himself close to Lisa's window, swaying back and forth with the branch. He stretched out his bone-thin hand and tapped on Lisa's window.
Don... Don...
Lisa was fast asleep when she was awakened by the "Don Don" sounds coming from the window. She groggily opened the pink gauze curtains and stepped out barefoot.
Little feet, white as jade, padded across a carpet that was also pink. Under the peaceful moonlight, the five pink toes on each foot were actually quite enchanting.
Lisa was a little younger than Bryan and the young lady of a noble household. Apart from what she had done to Bryan, Lisa was quite a beauty, with a head full of long, soft, blonde hair, a height of 162 centimetres which made her just a little taller than Bryan, gently arched eyebrows, an elegant long nose and endearing red lips.
Dressed in pink pyjamas, Lisa didn't look fully awake. Getting out of the pink bed, she instinctively looked over to the source of the noise.
A familiar face covered in blood, petrifying traces of blood dripping from the eyes and nose, and a thin body rocking back and forth at the window, stared back at her with no sign of life.
"Wahhhhhh..."
A terrified scream filled the corridors of the women's quarters.
Han Shuo sneered inwardly, thinking, "This time I'm going to scare you unconscious, if not to death. His expression became more and more chilling as his thoughts grew. After a while of staring into space, he rolled his eyes backwards and swayed even more.
He couldn't see Lisa anymore because he had rolled his eyes back. After the first horrified scream, Lisa's voice suddenly became silent, and this was followed by Han Shuo's facial expressions.
She must have fainted. Han Shuo thought as the sounds of the other necromancy masters' cursing floated within earshot. Better get out of here while he can, otherwise he'd be in for a world of pain if he got caught.
An incredible pain spread from the bridge of his nose just as he was about to reverse his eye roll. Another intense pain came from the top of his head, causing him to fall from the tree. The fall awakened all his pains and made him see stars.
Shortly after that, attacks began to rain down on him, with a voice shouting as the blows landed, "Bryan, looks like you finally grew a backbone! You escaped death last time, but your brain rotted instead! I study necromancy and spend my days with skeletons and corpses. You idiot tried to scare me by pretending to be a corpse, I must give you credit for that. Would the future great mage Lisa not be able to tell if a body even has a soul?"
Although his body hurt, his heart was in even more pain. That stupid Bryan had spent six years as an errand slave for the Necromancy Major, but he hadn't even learned that little bit of common sense. This was hardly the outcome he'd expected for the first time he'd plucked up the courage to do something bad.
Necromancy? This wondrous necromancy could even determine that? It certainly had some value. It looks like I'll have to learn a lot if I want to survive in this world, otherwise the unfortunate events of today will most likely happen again.
As the agony on his body increased, Han Shuo continued to think quickly while howling in pain. The magic of Chu Cang Lan's dark path included the word 'demon', while necromancy didn't sound like a great way to go either. What if he were to train in both, would there be a conflict between the two, or would they become stronger together?
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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