Chapter 25: Pain and Happiness
Lawrence looked at Han Shuo with some surprise, then smiled and said, “very good”. His body abruptly moved again, and he appeared in front of Han Shuo in the blink of an eye. He violently kicked out with his foot using lightning-like speed, still aiming for Han Shuo’s stomach.
Han Shuo had already taken a hefty kick to the stomach at this point in time and was in an exceeding amount of pain. He was well aware that sergeant knight Lawrence’s attack speed and strength was not something that he, someone who hadn’t even surpassed the solid realm of demonic practice, could fully defend against.
But, for some reason, Han Shuo was wholly unafraid, and even felt a bit of eager anticipation. The magical yuan within his body circulated through his abdomen a few times, and he felt a quick abatement of pain. He concentrated like he never had before, and faced Lawrence’s subsequent attacks calmly.
Just as Lawrence’s foot came flying his way, Han Shuo’s feet had already pushed off and he backed up with haste, evading Lawrence’s foot like lightning. However, Lawrence wasn’t surprised in the least and his body didn’t hesitate. He followed his empty kick with a string of punches and kicks, following Han Shuo’s retreat and ferociously continued to attack Han Shuo.
Lawrence was a sergeant level knight, and could increase his body functions beyond a typical muscle man when he circulated his fighting aura to his energy and attack power. Even with Han Shuo’s current agility, he still couldn’t avoid being repeatedly hit. Pilipala sounded continuously, as Han Shuo could only fully protect his face. That left his chest, waist, stomach, arms, and legs to suffer constant hits.
The pain in his body increased as he started being hit multiple times. His evasion speed became more sluggish due to his overall body condition. He was hit with more attacks this way, and towards the end his two legs were as heavy as lead, and each movement required a monumental amount of effort.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Han Shuo had been constantly practicing magic and strengthening his body during this time, then based off Bryan’s weak and fragile body, he would’ve been dead within a minute of Lawrence’s storm of attacks.
When he’d faced Claude and Erick, both had sent their fighting aura directly into Han Shuo’s body. The wild fighting aura had been enclosed by the magical yuan as soon as it’d entered his body, preventing Han Shuo’s body from suffering from too much damage.
Han Shuo hadn’t been seriously injured the two times he’d been hit by fighting aura, causing him to slightly overlook the warriors and knight, but now that he’d been subjected to such a thorough beating by Lawrence, Han Shuo finally understood how he’d been completely wrong before.
He hadn’t been hurt before purely due to the wondrous effects of the magical yuan. If it wasn’t for the magical yuan, then his internal organs would have most likely have been completed destroyed as soon as the fighting aura entered his body. No wonder Claude was so taken aback when Han Shuo hadn’t immediately died a grisly death when Claude sent his fighting aura into Han Shuo’s body. This also explained why Erick confidently thought that Han Shuo was dead without a doubt, and didn’t even bother checking Han Shuo’s body.
Lawrence used his fighting aura in a different way and didn’t send it directly into Han Shuo’s body to wreak havoc on his internal organs. On the contrary, Lawrence used it to increase the speed and strength of his attacks. This prevented the wondrous effects of the magical yuan and forced Han Shuo to passively take the hits with his physical body.
Pa!
The same foot stomped on Han Shuo’s stomach again, and Han Shuo staggered backwards in retreat. He finally couldn’t handle any more and once more fell heavily to the ground.
The current Han Shuo had two broken ribs and numerous other injuries. Apart from his unharmed face, his entire body had suffered severe hits as it never had before. Han Shuo struggled with his body and kept trying to stand up, but would wobble back to the ground every time he tried.
Each twist and movement of his body brought him great pain, but Han Shuo actually felt ecstasy at this moment. He could clearly feel that the magical yuan was circulating at a speed much faster than normal, and kept flowing through all his aches and pains, creating a strange, fiery sensation where his bones had been broken and wounds had been opened.
Han Shuo understood that his previous conclusion had been correct. The fastest way to breakthrough the solid realm was to “break things”. The magical yuan’s abnormal circulations now continually repaired his broken body, and reforged his tendons, bones, muscles, and skin over and over again, causing his physical body to become tougher.
Although his body hurt beyond belief, Han Shuo was quite satisfied. He grit his teeth and yelled brokenly while laughing grimly. He finally scrambled to his feet and stared at Lawrence in the eye, “I think our partnership can be continued for a long time.”
Lawrence stopped and stood in front of Han Shuo, frowning as he watched the latter struggle to his feet after falling again and again. As the attacker, Lawrence was well aware of the force of his attacks just now. Even an ordinary companion-at-arms with the benefit of defending with fighting aura would not be able to take the hits like Han Shuo stubbornly did.
What surprised Lawrence the most was that even after suffering these fierce attacks, Han Shuo could still laugh loudly in between screams of pain. Lawrence could hear from Han Shuo’s laughs that the latter truly seemed to be filled with joy. Lawrence thought this was simply too incredible.
When Han Shuo had mentioned a long term partnership, Lawrence was dumbfounded at first, but then smiled lightly. “Bryan, you’re quite interesting, but a long term partnership depends on your body and whether it can handle more attacks. To be honest, I haven’t fully exerted myself today, nor have I used my sword. I have coins in abundance. If you still want to earn this money, you can come find me anytime. I will still offer the same price of five golds per session, what do you think?”
Han Shuo nodded and responded, “No problem, I’ll be back soon!”
“Good. Bryan you’re a very interesting fellow, I hope you can recover quickly. My attacks next time will be even more vicious! Be prepared!” Lawrence said as he changed out of his clothes, rearmed himself with his sword and left the training field.
Han Shuo didn’t leave immediately after Lawrence had departed. He instead sat down Indian style, and repeatedly circulated the magical yuan according to the principles of practicing magic, reforging his severely damaged body.
After a while, he felt his drained energy slowly revive after repeated circulations of the magical yuan. His legs, that felt like they weighed a ton, also gradually regained some strength. Although he still hurt all over, pain seemed to be better than the complete lifelessness he had felt earlier.
He grimaced as he moved, sensing the pain he was in. Han Shou laughed loudly, holding up underneath the unending agony. He slowly stood up, then swaggered out of the training field.
“Oh, it’s Bryan, are you alright?”
Han Shuo heard others gasp in amazement as soon as he walked out of the training field. Upon swiveling his body, he realized that it was the kindhearted young warrior, Cal, the one who had tried to talk Han Shuo out of it in the lobby. Cal’s tight robes had some dust on it, and some traces of sweat beaded his forehead, but he seemed otherwise unharmed.
“No big deal.” Han Shuo smiled at Cal and responded faintly while nodding his head.
Cal was a seasoned warrior and could tell with one glance that Han Shuo was not as unaffected as he said he was. Cal had a great deal of experience as a human target, and naturally understood that even if nothing showed in outward appearances, that didn’t necessarily mean that the body was unharmed. The way that Han Shuo was walking and his expression all indicated that his body condition was quite bad.
Cal quickly walked towards Han Shuo and reached out a hand to help steady Han Shuo. Cal frowned, “What no big deal. Your body must be in awful shape. Here, let me take you back. Good thing you walked out alive, I thought you’d be beaten to death in there!”
Cal meant well, but Han Shuo was an errand boy for the necromancy major, and a crazy one at that. If he were to return with Cal, it was bound to create unnecessary complications.
Besides, Han Shuo didn’t want to owe anyone favors. Even though he felt terrible, he had to hold it in. He would be fine if he walked slowly. Therefore, Han Shuo brushed off Cal’s steadying hand and smiled, “Thank you Cal. I’m fine, really. I can go back by myself.”
Han Shuo turned to leave immediately after his words, but saw a familiar figure approaching from afar – Claude.
A human target followed behind Claude, and they both approached the knight student training fields. It looked like he was also here to spar with human targets.
Han Shuo had been prepared to bump into Claude when he came to the school for knights. The last time at the department of light magic, Han Shuo’s little skeleton had almost been pulverized by Claude, and he himself had suffered from Claude’s fighting aura as well. If it wasn’t for the magical yuan enclosing the fighting aura, he would most likely be dead by now.
Claude had long since forgotten this matter, and didn’t know that the Han Shuo was the master of the little skeleton, but Han Shuo had already noted this event for future revenge. Even though he was prepared to see Claude again, his body condition was at its worst at the moment and Han Shuo had no desire to go head to head with Claude right now. If he’d guessed wrong and Claude was still harboring a grudge from last time, death was the only possible outcome for Han Shuo if Claude took his revenge.
Han Shuo’s mind frantically raced through ways to avoid Claude as the latter approached with a sunny smile, turning his head to hold a spirited conversation with other knight students.