Chapter 94: Wondrous speed in meditation
The next day, within the training grounds of the dark major.
The dark major was a large major within the Academy and its training ground facilities were more comprehensive than the necromancy major’s. Its surface area was also more vast. When Han Shuo arrived at the dark major training grounds, he discovered that some people had already gathered inside. There were those who were ready to undertake the test and others who were just here for the show. A loud din of noises prevailed inside.
As the teacher of the necromancy major, Fanny sat with a few other teachers from the dark major and was busily registering the information of students who were going to take the test. The old witch Camilla of the dark major was still within the dark major, under the observation of Han Shuo’s original demons and hadn’t made a showing.
Han Shuo looked around after entering and discovered that Amy and Athena from the necromancy major were the only familiar people there. He began to walk towards the two girls.
“Eh, are you also here for the test?” Amy waved her hand in greeting when she saw Han Shuo approach from afar.
Nodding, Han Shuo said, “Yes, I’ve yet to pass the test. What areas should I be looking out for?”
“There’s nothing much to be concerned about with these tests, it’s just a matter of testing your mental strength and then releasing a few magics for them to see. Oh, right. Us necromancy majors also need to demonstrate manipulating summoned creatures. There’s nothing terribly complicated about it, only the more advanced tests, like the one for adept mage, are more complex. Apart from these basic tests, you’ll needs to know all sorts of techniques and grasp certain magical concepts. Finally, you’ll have to complete a mission. Only after you meet all these requirements will it count as you having officially graduated.” Athena flicked a glance at Han Shuo as she explained in detail for him.
Standing with the two girls on the outside, Han Shuo observed for a bit and discovered that some of the dark major students all demonstrated their magic one by one according to the rules. Some teachers then quizzed them on their comprehension of certain magical concepts at their current level, finally giving them a grade based on their performance.
“Bryan, you prepared for the magic apprentice level right?” Athena asked when she saw Han Shuo didn’t respond and was only silently monitoring the performance of all the other students within the training grounds.
“No, I’m here to see if I can make it to novice mage.” Han Shuo looked towards Fanny sitting primly in the distance and replied.
“What? Are you joking? If I recall correctly, you were still an errand slave for the necromancy major a few months ago. How is it possible that you’re advancing to novice mage so quickly?” Athena raised her voice and looked at Han Shuo in disbelief.
“No way?” Amy also exclaimed softly.
Smiling faintly, Han Shuo nodded his head firmly, explaining, “I’m only giving it a shot and may not pass.”
Even though Han Shuo had spoken so, Amy and Athena still couldn’t believe that Han Shuo was here to attempt the novice mage tests. The two girls chattered ceaselessly with their questions, finally stopping only when it was Amy’s turn to be tested.
“Good luck Amy! I think you’ll be able to successfully advance to novice mage this time.” Athena encouraged Amy when she heard Amy’s name being called. Han Shuo also good naturedly wished her luck.
Amy walked out and then test her mental strength in front of those assembled. She then released the three magics that a novice mage should have grasped: Agony of the Soul, Bone Spears, and summoning zombies. She then manipulated the zombies to attack a target within the training grounds. Finally, Fanny and some of the other dark major teachers asked a few questions regarding comprehension of magical theory.
After a while, Fanny opened her mouth and said, “Congratulations Amy, you will be a novice mage from today onwards. All of your information within the Magic Association will be changed today.”
Athena also walked out for her test as Amy was still celebrating excitedly. She underwent the same tests, but maybe she was nervous during the process as her bone spear magic suddenly exploded halfway through. She also tripped over herself when facing the magical knowledge questions.
It wasn’t a surprise when Athena was notified that she had failed this test. She walked back to Amy’s side with a depressed look. Han Shuo didn’t have time to speak words of comfort before his name was called out by Fanny.
He walked unhurriedly towards the inside of the training grounds and caused a bit of a disturbance. Some of the dark major students standing around were quite surprised to see Han Shuo, originally an errand slave, appear within the great hall. All of them started discussing with each other in low whispers and a great many of them held a mocking attitude as they observed this happening.
“Heh heh, don’t be nervous. Just follow the previous procedures and go through the tests one by one. I believe in your strength and that you can successfully advance to the rank of novice mage.” Fanny spoke a word of encouragement and had Han Shuo follow the same procedures that had taken place before him.
The test of mental strength came first. Han Shuo gathered his mental strength as he faced a testing stone made of special magical material. A dark major teacher then held up the testing stone to measure Han Shuo’s mental strength.
His mental strength coalesced at an extremely fast pace due to the potential of his brain having been unearthed. The testing stone had slowly brightened when the other students had their mental strength tested by the stone, until it finally stopped at a certain level of brightness.
However, Han Shuo’s case was a bit different. The darkened testing stone didn’t slowly brighten continuously, but immediately lit up in the two breaths it took for Han Shuo to concentrate his mental strength, and then stopped at a certain level of brightness and didn’t change any further.
“This, what’s going on?” Several of the dark major teachers displayed surprised expressions as they sat on the viewing table, as if they hadn’t anticipated the testing stone to have such an odd reaction.
Han Shuo dispersed his mental strength and suddenly became a bit nervous inside upon seeing the astonishment of those around him. He’d been worried originally that he didn’t have enough mental strength. This is why he’s used his entire strength. In addition, Han Shuo also didn’t know that his speed in gathering mental strength was truly that speedy. He’d planned on keeping a low profile after listening to Fanny last night. He could only smile wryly and say, “Perhaps there’s something wrong with the testing stone, why don’t you try another?”
“Don’t voice nonsense, how could something be wrong with the testing stone?!” The dark major teacher holding the stone glared at Han Shuo and spoke firmly.
“His mind was hit by the necromancy magic of the Agony of the Soul before, and sank into a period of mental confusion for a while. This may have caused some oddities in his brain. I think we don’t need to pay this much attention to it.” Fanny glared at Han Shuo ferociously on the stage, seeming to blame him for wanting to show off, and then said with a faint smile to those assembled.
“So this is the case. I think I’ve also heard of this before. To think that the Agony of the Soul magic of your necromancy major has such marvelous effects, it seems a bit interesting!” The teacher holding the testing stone said with a frown and an odd tone.
“Master Alex, if you’re interested, I can cast it on you too. Heh heh, but I can’t guarantee that you won’t lose your mind!” Fanny chuckled lightly and teased him.
“No o, never mind. I don’t have that kind of guts. Alright, this test is over. We can commence to the next stage of this test.” The dark major’s Master Alex didn’t tarry much more and nodded at Han Shuo.
Athena had made mistakes because she was nervous. Han Shuo now had weathered some hardships and the training of his mental state was even more extraordinary. He naturally wouldn’t get cold feet.
The three magics that a novice mage should have mastered were deployed very smoothly by Han Shuo, with not the slightest bit of unfamiliarity. After the zombies had been summoned, Han Shuo’s manipulations were even more adept than Amy’s. The movement of the zombie in everyone’s eyes wasn’t clumsy, but rather gave people a feeling of nimbleness.
Han Shuo handled the last section of magical theory questioning even more easily. The main questioner was Fanny. Fanny knew of Han Shuo’s level in grasping magical knowledge and didn’t ask much at all. She carelessly asked a couple of the questions that Han Shuo had asked her two days and ago and let him easily pass.
Han Shuo smoothly obtained the qualifications for the rank of novice mage without any mishaps. Fanny smiled, “Congratulations Bryan, from this day forth your information will be recorded in the Magic Association. Heh heh, although there are many novice mages, you’ll be able to garner a good occupation for yourself in the future. However, I think with your potential, this won’t be the limit of your ability!”
Han Shuo left the training grounds dashingly with Fanny’s blessings, walking directly towards the knight school, intending on exchanging the black iron ore with Lawrence’s gold coins.
Chu Cang Lan had left instructions for a combination of special ingredients for forming the five elemental zombies. Han Shuo had heard of some of these materials and knew that they were quite expensive in this world. This made Han Shuo realize that he would have to pour in large amounts of gold coins if he wanted to refine an earth elite zombie. Gold coins became an issue that he had to consider.
However, when Han Shuo was halfway there, the original demon that had been monitoring Duke, who had stayed put in the wind major area all this time, suddenly notified Han Shuo when he left around noon and also made for the knight school. Having originally intended to find Lawrence, Han Shuo had to temporarily put aside his idea and used the original demon to keep an eye on Duke’s movements.
After Han Shuo followed Duke to the knight school, Duke met up with Erick, who’d gone missing for a few days. Apart from Duke and Erick, there was another person with them. It was the earth rider knight Clark, whom they’d met in the Dark Forest. This greatly surprised Han Shuo.