Chapter 35: Prepare to fight
Han Shuo worked by himself during the nights, leveraging his perceptive senses to hunt down the magical creatures nearby. The flawless cooperation between man and skeleton had no drawbacks. They had gathered four level 5 cores by now, as well as some valuable skin and horns.
Han Shuo not only tried to cast magic whenever they hunted down magical creatures, but also repeatedly practiced the bone arrow magic, often combining missile and melee attacks for uncanny effectiveness.
Han Shuo never displayed the same panic and disarray that the students had displayed when they first met magical creatures. He always displayed the same calm, even a sort of numb callousness.
Even Han Shuo himself didn’t know why he didn’t have any negative emotions throughout the entire process. He could vaguely feel that his inner heart was actually brimming with eagerness and anticipation when he hunted magical creatures, as if he really enjoyed the process.
“I’m definitely not a good person!” Han Shuo laughed at himself, and accepted this time’s haul of cores and Windblade Wolf pelts from the little skeleton’s hands. He patted the darkly gleaming head of the little skeleton and smiled, “Let’s go. We can go back now.”
The little skeleton’s hand clutched its bone dagger, with no traces of emotion in its empty eye sockets. It trailed behind Han Shuo and swiftly returned along their original path.
Han Shuo chanted an incantation when they were halfway there and the little skeleton returned to the other dimension. Seeing that he was about to return to the camping area, Han Shuo slowed his footsteps and walked unhurriedly through the shadows of the trees.
As it was past midnight, the students standing guard in the camping area had changed to Fanny, Lisa, and Amy. Lisa and Amy had half-drooped eyes and looked incredibly sleepy. Anyone could tell at a glance that they were slacking off and not shouldering the responsibility they were assigned.
It was a good thing that Fanny understood the importance of keeping guard. Her pair of beautiful eyes roamed the four corners alertly, and her wary gaze immediately locked onto the direction that Han Shuo was coming from when his light footsteps grew near.
Her magic staff in hand, Fanny frowned with an expression of high alert on her alluring features. She slowly advanced in Han Shuo’s direction and said softly, “Who goes there?”
“Master Fanny, it’s me!” Han Shuo called out lightly as he walked out slowly from the shadows.
“I knew it would be you. I went to look for you earlier and discovered that your tent was empty. Where did you go in the middle of the night?” Fanny’s eyes locked onto Han Shuo’s body as she asked with confusion.
“Nothing much, I only went to find a secluded corner to practice magic. After I asked you about the bone arrow magic last time, I’ve been taking advantage of the night to find a secluded area to practice. I think that only with repeated practice can I guarantee that I won’t make a mistake.” Han Shuo scratched his head and answered honestly in a light voice.
“Bryan, it’s great that you’re so hardworking. After a while, when you’ve grasped more magic, I will explain this matter to the school authorities. That way, your status as an errand slave can be waived, and perhaps you will be able to enjoy the same treatment as the students.” Fanny looked at Han Shuo and thought for a bit.
“Oh, I was sold to the Babylon Academy of Magic and Force. Will my status as an errand slave be waived purely because I understand magic?” Han Shuo asked after he recovered from being dumbfounded.
Fanny nodded and spoke decisively. “No mage has ever been an errand boy or slave. Being a mage is an esteemed profession throughout the Profound Continent. Even if our necromancy major is unpopular, if you can prove that you truly understand magic, then your status will change, and you’ll never have to be the slave that runs errands.”
“I see, that’s wonderful. I actually have a lot more questions that I hope Master Fanny will be able to answer for me. I will do my best to improve myself and become an adequate mage.” Han Shuo’s thoughts raced as he suddenly recalled the many unanswered questions he had from the magic books he had read previously, and wanted to make the best use of this opportunity to get them answered.
“No problem, you can ask me any necromancy questions you have in the future. I will help you. Eh… although you’re a bit lascivious right now, I’m certain that you’re a magical genius and will help you escape your current position.” Fanny smiled faintly and responded in her gentle voice.
Han Shuo smiled honestly, as if he hadn’t heard Fanny accuse him of being too carnal. He contemplated briefly and started asking Fanny a few questions regarding magical knowledge.
After a brief moment, Fanny gave a great start of surprise and gazed at Han Shuo in shock. “Oh, goodness, Bryan, you already have so much magical knowledge. That’s amazing!”
“I gained this magical knowledge from reading the magical books in the library last time I helped Jack clean the library. Ever since I discovered that I could cast the bone arrow magic, I started to investigate the reason why.” Han Shuo lied smoothly, and in fact spoke with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“Bryan, I really wasn’t wrong about you. You really are a magical genius!” Fanny exclaimed in astonishment again upon hearing Han Shuo’s explanation.
At this moment, the sound of footsteps fell into Han Shuo’s ears again. His face grew grave as he hastily spoke, “A sound is approaching, but it doesn’t sound like a magical creature. Rather, it sounds more like a human.”
Fanny’s beautiful features changed slightly after Han Shuo’s words, and she pulled on his arms in panic. They ran straight for the tents, “There are many races within the Dark Forest, but not all of them are friendly. Even some who are humans like us will sometimes kill for a high level magical creature core. We should be ready.”
Fanny’s slender fingers clutched Han Shuo’s wrist in her hurry. She had no particular thoughts about it, but Han Shuo’s mind had already been filled with sinister intentions. His mind started falling head over heels when the feeling of the smooth fingers of her jade hand crossed his wrist, and his mind suddenly recalled the tantalizing moment on the back of a battlesteed a few days ago.
“Everyone up! Lisa and Amy, get everyone up and ready for battle! Possible danger approaches!” Fanny words jolted the dozing Lisa and Amy awake. The two could detect the arrival of danger in Fanny’s frantic tone, and they started raising a ruckus to warn those in the tents.
In the blink of an eye, many students who had been sound asleep in the tents all rushed out with their clothes in disarray and still half asleep. They began urgent preparations for battle.
Fanny unintentionally glanced at Han Shuo at this moment and found that Han Shuo was smiling happily at the hand that was clutching his wrist. An expression of enjoyment could be found on his face. Incensed, Fanny let go only after she gave Han Shuo a sharp pinch with her jade hand. She spoke angrily in a low voice, “Damnit Bryan, I find that you’re as lecherous as Fitch.”
Han Shuo cried out in pain and wore an awkward smile on his face. He thought internally, I wonder what would Fanny think if she knew that I was the one who touched her butt last time?
Several heavy footfalls gradually approached and fell into everyone’s hearing in the mess of the students getting ready. Han Shuo had started to calm down after Fanny’s pinch, and the previous lustful gleam in his eyes faded without a trace, to be replaced by a deep coldness. It was as if he was a bystander coldly observing everything around him.
Heavy footsteps accompanied by weird, airy sounds continued to approach the crew. Gene frowned and asked, perplexed, “Such heavy footsteps shouldn’t belong to humans, but two legged magical creatures are exceedingly rare. What could they be?”
Fanny furrowed her brow in deep thought as her beautiful eyes suddenly brightened with understanding. She suddenly called out, “Everyone hurry and summon skeletal warriors to the front, we seem to have run into the man-eating monsters in the Dark Forest.”
Everyone was gobsmacked when the words “man-eating monsters” crossed Fanny’s lips. A few of the female students shuddered as fearful expressions blossomed on their faces. Gene was also startled and hurriedly commanded everyone to form a circular defense pattern. He too brought out a brown magic staff, that looked like a tree branch. His face was full of careful wariness.
Rounds of incantations flew out from the students’ and teachers’ mouths. Multiple skeletal warriors, ghouls, and zombie warriors appeared out of thin air, as well as Fanny and Gene’s hate warriors.
Hate warriors were more advanced beings of existence amongst the dark creatures. These hate warriors were enormous in size, wielded metal clubs, and had incredible strength in all the fat on their bodies. Their bodies also possessed extremely durable defensive capabilities, and were a common meat shield used by necromancers.
Indeed, following their thudding footsteps, eight, grey-colored, 2.5 meter tall man-eating monsters wielding studded clubs and long spears soon appeared in everyone’s vision.
Man-eating monsters were pack creatures. Ten or so man-eating monsters counted as a tribe. The man-eating monster’s nature was lazy and they liked to steal things. They were born robbers. They understood how to use studded clubs and long spears, add to that, the toughness and durability of their bodies meant they had extreme power and damage in close combat.
However, what frightened people most wasn’t the strength of the man-eating monsters, but their habits. Man-eating monsters were labeled thus because they ate humans. If they met humans in the course of a robbery, not only would they steal everything, but they would carry off the human for food.
Han Shuo and co. had formed a defensive field, with the skeletal warriors, ghouls, zombie warriors, and hate warriors forming an outer defensive perimeter. A few necromancers readied their offensive missile spells and watched the approaching man-eating monsters gravely.
“Prepare to fight!” Fanny called out. Her staff had already been raised up.