Chapter 82: The Eye of Darkness
A howl of agony rang out as Han Shuo clutched his lower body, moving off of Fanny. He curled up in pain as his mental state returned completely to normal.
Fanny sat up, dusted herself off and got off the bed as if nothing had happened. She flicked a proud glance at Han Shuo and snorted lightly, “Well, do you recognize my strength now?”
“Master Fanny, there was no need to be so vicious, was there?” Han Shuo grimaced as he clutched at his abdomen in pain.
“Damn it, how dare you say anything. I’ve let the matter at the pool go, but you’ve… you’ve violated me again! I’ve already gone easy on you by not killing you!” Fanny was filled with rage at the thought of what had just happened as she glared at Han Shuo irately.
Han Shuo scrambled down adroitly from the bed and sat down next to Fanny, his face full of seriousness. He said calmly, “Let bygones be bygones. I’m going to recite a magical incantation for you.”
Fanny saw that Han Shuo was all business and knew that he was purposefully shifting topics from what had just happened. A surge of rage grew in her heart and she was about to open her mouth and furiously berate Han Shuo when she suddenly heard Han Shuo’s incantation. Fanny paid it no heed at first, but was then astounded when Han Shuo came to the end. A bafflingly excited light shone in her clear eyes as they focused on Han Shuo. She asked with a trembling voice, “This is necromancy magic… I can feel it, but how come I’ve never heard this incantation before?”
“This is an incantation for an advanced magic, ‘Canopy of Necromancy’. It’s necromancy magic that has been lost for many years. I also gained it unwittingly.” Han Shuo explained slowly upon seeing Fanny’s overjoyed expression.
“Just what is going on, explain it to me clearly! And are there any other lost necromancy magics? Hurry up and tell me!” Fanny had always been embroiled in the study of necromancy magic and had long since forgotten her earlier rage upon hearing the ancient incantation, that had been lost for ages, come out from Han Shuo’s mouth. Rather, she asked him frantically instead.
Internally heaving a sigh of relief, Han Shuo first gathered his thoughts calmly and then nodded, saying, “There’s also an evil “Corpse Reanimation” magic. I found it unwittingly. Master Fanny, you should know that these are all lost magics of our necromancy major, so I need you to temporarily keep this a secret.”
Master Fanny wasn’t dumb, she immediately understood what Han Shuo intended and nodded her head like a chick pecking at rice, urging him on with her eyes.
Han Shuo then went over the magical incantation and hand gestures for “Corpse Reanimation” and “Canopy of Necromancy” in detail for Fanny. He then brought out some knowledge that he had yet to fully grasp and inquired Fanny with them one by one. Fanny was delighted without comparison and had long since forgotten Han Shuo’s discourteous actions towards her earlier. She patiently explained and detailed the incomprehension that Han Shuo had run into.
Han Shuo understood that he would be casting these spells sooner or later, but, he didn’t intend to let others know that he knew these secrets before his strength was enough.
As an adept mage of the necromancy major and someone Han Shuo admired, Han Shuo hadn’t planned on continuously hiding the truth from Fanny. Particularly when she was someone whose bark was worse than her bite, and was actually very caring towards him. After all, there was still some knowledge that he’d have to ask Fanny about in order to gain full understanding.
Han Shuo stayed in Fanny’s room and talked until the middle of the night unbeknownst to both of them. The previously excited Fanny started yawning successively, then discovered that it was late. Fanny covered her mouth as she yawned and said lazily to Han Shuo, “It’s late, I’m going to rest. I’ve explained these questions to you, so you should return to the dorms and rest too. Oh right, you haven’t ever stayed in the dorms I’ve arranged for you right?”
Nodding, Han Shuo got up and walked to the door. Just as Han Shuo was about to push the door open and leave, Fanny suddenly said, “Bryan, don’t think I’ve forgotten what you’ve done to me. However, if you can apply yourself to your studies and graduate early from the necromancy major, perhaps I will forgive you!”
Han Shuo started, halting in front of the room door and turned his head to see Fanny looking at him with expectation. Her expression was grave as she said seriously, “Bryan, with your talent this shouldn’t be difficult. As long as you’re willing to work hard, you’re sure to become a very strong necromancer, and then you’ll be able to get everything you want!”
“Does that include you, Master Fanny?” Han Shuo asked subconsciously.
Fanny’s heart trembled as she looked at Han Shuo leering at her. Her cheeks suddenly reddened and she became irate, admonishing, “Get out! Scram, you sex-crazed bad boy!”
His heart full of joy, Han Shuo felt that Fanny seemed to be a bit interested in him. From their recent conversations, he could tell that Fanny had certain expectations for him. He thought carefully and suddenly understood. He realized that if he wished to gain Fanny’s heart, his current strength and status were truly a bit unrealistic.
“Don’t worry, I’ll work hard. You’ll see soon!” Han Shuo whispered as he paused in front of the door, then quickly left in the darkness.
After he departed from Fanny’s room, Han Shuo didn’t return to the dorm room that Fanny had arranged for him. There were people guarding the doors and some of the rooms were connected to each other. Han Shuo didn’t wish for others to discover his tracks, in case he raised the suspicions of “Shadow Ghost” and Grover.
Particularly as he’d just heard Fanny say that she’d felt someone had been following her recently. This made Han Shuo become even warier, afraid to exposing himself in front of others.
Turning over these thoughts in his head, he felt that perhaps he should buy a house outside of the school grounds, otherwise he wouldn’t even have a place to stay in the future when he returned to the Empire. If he had his own personal place, he wouldn’t need to travel to the cemetery at the back of the Academy every time he wanted to activate the transportation matrix.
Just as Han Shuo was quietly weighing this matter in his heart and walking to the side of the dark major library, he suddenly heard the sound of pages being turned. This caused his heart to suddenly contract in surprise as he immediately concealed himself noiselessly in the shadows of a corner around the library.
Moving his neck slightly, three original demons flew out soundlessly, sneaking into the library under the cover of deep night. Two figures held faint light in their hands, and Han Shou saw two familiar faces with the help of the feeble light source — the old mage Duke and the senior knight Erick.
Han Shuo had originally received the round, green ball, that opened the cemetery of death, from these people in the cemetery in the mountains behind the Academy. The confident Erick had thought that Han Shuo would be dead without a doubt after his fighting aura imbued slash. Thus, he hadn’t checked Han Shuo’s body. After a few months, Han Shuo hadn’t thought that he’d see these two again in the dark major library.
“Be careful. Strong people are abound in this Babylon Academy of Magic and Force. Don’t alert others, or we’ll be in big trouble.” Duke immediately admonished lightly upon seeing Erick flipping through pages with large motions.
“We still haven’t discovered it, the books of the necromancy major have no record of anything to do with ‘The Eye of Darkness’.” Erick flipped pages with a softer hand as he complained in a low voice.
“Huh. ‘The Eye of Darkness’ is the key to opening the cemetery of death. We finally obtained it after a great deal of effort, to think that it would suddenly disappear. When Dylan died last time, the item was no longer on him. We went back to his place and searched all of it, but still found nothing. Why would that item suddenly disappear? This is strange indeed. The Babylon Academy of Magic and Force has many books regarding necromancy. Perhaps we can find some clues. Otherwise we can’t afford to be targets when the higher ranks throw the blame around.” Duke glared at Erick and said lowly.
On the outside, thanks to the original demons’ eavesdropping, Han Shuo could thoroughly eavesdrop on their conversation and expressions. He finally understood that the round ball he held was the “Eye of Darkness”. It looked like the two were making a visit to the dark major library late at night because they, too, had the same mindset as him, wanting to research the secrets of the “Eye of Darkness” in the library.
After a short while, the two had gained nothing and left the library dejectedly. They left swiftly using a small road leading to the back of the Academy.
From their conversation, Han Shuo could conclude that the two seemed to be a part of some sort of organization. He had now obtained the “Eye of Darkness” and wanted to know more of their secrets, and see if they would be a threat to him. He made use of the three original demons to trail them from a distance, slowly moving to the mountains in the back along with them.
The two didn’t pass through the cemetery in the mountains, only changing their direction after they’d left the academy grounds. They left quickly, using the streets of the northern district, finally walking into an isolated yard in the northern district.
The three original demons had followed them here and were about to sneak into the yard for a good peek, according to Han Shuo’s instructions, when he suddenly felt the original demons crash into something. “Who?!” Immediately sounded out from the yard.
Han Shuo was startled and immediately understood that some sort of boundary must have been set up around the yard. Otherwise the original demons, being without shape or form, would have never been discovered. The original demons seemed to sense danger as Han Shuo was recovering from his surprise. They retreated quickly, with Han Shuo hastily manipulating them with his mind, bidding them flee with all possible speed in three different directions leading to the northern street.
After a while, the original demons returned to Han Shuo’s body from three different directions, allowing him to heave a sigh of relief. He remembered the yard, knowing that there was a strong expert inside and temporarily gave up his continual observation.
He discovered that these were the streets of the northern district just as he was about to leave. This yard was not too far away from Phoebe’s residence. The sky was already growing slightly brighter at the moment. Han Shuo remembered the rations he had promised the dwarves and spent a silver coin for breakfast on the ride, then walked to Phoebe’s residence.
When Han Shuo arrived at Phoebe’s residence, he immediately noticed that the presence of guards around her residence was much more numerous than before. Exceedingly soft sounds of breathing sounded from both sides of the door. It looked like experts were lying in wait inside. Apart from that, there was also a place within the building in which Han Shuo couldn’t feel the flow of air. This let him know that a sort of field or barrier had been set up inside.
Han Shuo knocked lightly when he arrived on Phoebe’s doorstep. Someone swiftly arrived as soon as he’d knocked, but didn’t directly open the door, asking softly behind the door instead, “Who is it?”
“I’m called Bryan, here to see Miss Phoebe!” Han Shuo stood outside the door and said softly.
“Please wait a moment!” The person inside responded as another set of footsteps quickly faded away. After a while, two sets of footsteps could be heard from the other side of the door.
“Is it Bryan?” Fabian’s voice rang out through the door.
“It’s me.” Han Shuo responded.
Sighing in relief, Fabian instructed, “Open the door, it is indeed Bryan.”
The doors were opened to reveal Fabian, standing beside two swordsmen, who wore silver armor. Their faces were weathered and coarse, bearing the traces of many years of standing beneath the wind and sun. It looked like they were two experts.
“Hurry and come on in! I haven’t seen you for ten days now. Phoebe often mentions you around me, saying that we’ll forgo a lot of hassle with you on our side and your extraordinary reflexes.” Although a smile appeared on Fabian’s face, he was obviously quite weary.
“It looks like life hasn’t been that easy for you. Last time I was here, security wasn’t as tight as it is now!” Han Shuo swept his gaze over Fabian as he teased him.
Sighing lightly, Fabian said, “Don’t mention it. Since the banquet, Miss Phoebe has been the victim of assassination attempts three times in the past ten days. Each has been more vicious than the last. These people are from the Battlefire mercenary band, Miss Phoebe has spent a lot of money in order to hire them, but in the last couple of days, they’ve had three of theirs injured and two dead. It looks like Grover is starting to become anxious, but our circumstances have become more and more dangerous!”
They walked towards the main hall as they talked. Han Shuo could sense two more mages and one warrior in the corners of the surroundings, they seemed to be exceedingly strong. With so many experts protecting her and Phoebe’s strength as a swordmaster, Grover and “Shadow Ghost’s” people must surely be extremely frightening with such a high number of casualties.
Three original demons once again flew out soundlessly from the back of Han Shuo’s neck. They avoided the boundary that the Battlefire mercenary band had set and hid in three different parts of the room, silently observing everything around them.
After a while, Phoebe walked in with a tall beauty with fiery-red hair, pinned up in a ponytail. The girl’s skin was copper-colored and her body was tall, athletic, and buff. Her breasts, butt, and body were large, and she wore a broadsword on her back. She too looked like a swordsman.
“Bryan, it’s good to finally see you again. This is great!” Phoebe said in surprise as she looked at Han Shuo.
“Phoebe, this is the magical Bryan that you’ve talked about?” The athletic girl with the fiery-red hair looked at Han Shuo skeptically as she spoke.
“Yes, Candice!”
“Let me see if he’s as amazing as you say!” Candice snorted lightly as she pulled out the broadsword behind her in one movement, suddenly slashing downwards at Han Shuo. When the broadsword was unsheathed, red flames immediately crept up onto the surface of the entire blade like a red dragon’s breath. It looked like she was also a mage swordsman.