Chapter 2
Chapter 2: The Uncultured are Scary
The Babylon Academy of Magic and Force owned the most land in Lancelot Empire, and held the highest reputation within the empire. It was also one of the most important training institutions for the empire’s mages and knights.
The academy was further divided into several departments, which consisted of light, dark, fire, water, wind, earth, thunder, summoning, and space. Each department had its own independent classroom building, library, laboratory, training field, and living district as if they were small cities.
Bryan was an errand slave for the necromancy major, which was a subcategory of the department of dark magic. Because necromancy majors had to work with skeletons, zombies, and the like, as well as the fact that this major had fallen off the radar for many years, it was not only the most unpopular major, but also the weakest. Even other department of dark magic students scoffed at the necromancy majors and didn’t deign to form teams with necromancy students.
Bryan had belonged to the weakest and most despised major in his six years of running errands for the academy. Adding onto that, his special tasks of transporting corpses and skeletons… he had been subjected to no end of eye rolls and cold shoulders. Every day was a living hell for him.
Han Shuo followed Bryan’s memories and arrived at a small path in the mountains located at the back of the academy. He entered through a small gate reserved especially for errand slaves returning in the dead of night.
Other students had long since gone to sleep, because it was midnight. Since Han Shuo was taking a secluded path, he didn’t meet anyone on his way back. He observed his surroundings along the way and noted that the architectural style of Babylon Academy was similar to some of the western European countries back on Earth.
He finally made his way back to the necromancy major’s designated area with some effort. Bryan lived in a warehouse, a place befitting his position.
The warehouse was filled with random items, with the majority being discarded crap or ingredients left over from experiments.
Most of these items awaited Bryan’s organization and disposal. Necromancy students would often toss their unwanteds in through the warehouse window for Bryan to take care of.
Lisa was a bit younger than Bryan, and was the young lady of a noble household. Disregarding what she had done to Bryan, Lisa was quite a beauty with a head full of long, soft, blond hair, a height of 162 cm that made her just a tad taller than Bryan, delicately arched eyebrows, an elegantly long nose, and endearing red lips.
Dressed in pink pajamas, Lisa didn’t seem fully awake. After she walked out from the pink bed, she instinctively looked over at the source of the sound.
A familiar face covered in blood, petrifying traces of blood dripping from the eyes and nose, and a thin body swaying back and forth at the window, stared emptily back at her with no sign of life.
“Wahhhhh….”
A horrorstruck scream filled the hallways of the female living district.
Han Shuo inwardly grinned evilly and thought, I’m going to scare you unconscious this time, if not scare you to death. His expression grew more and more chilling as his thoughts grew. After a while of staring emptily ahead, he rolled his eyes backwards and swayed even more strongly.
He could no longer see Lisa because he’d rolled his eyes back. There was a sudden lack of sound from Lisa after that initial horrorstruck scream and continued through Han Shuo’s gradual facial progression.
She probably fainted. Han Shuo thought as sounds of the other necromancy major girls’ cussing floated within hearing. Better to leave while he could, otherwise he’d be in for a world of hurt if he was caught.
An incredible pain spread from the bridge of his nose just as he was about to reverse his eye roll. Another intense pain appeared from the top of his head, which caused him to fall off the tree. The fall awoke all his aches and pains and made him see stars.
Attacks fell on him like rain shortly thereafter, with a voice yelling as the hits landed, “Bryan, looks like you finally grew a backbone! You escaped death last time, but your brain rotted instead! I major in necromancy and spend my days with skeletons and corpses. You idiot tried to scare me by pretending to be a corpse; I have to really give it to you. Would the future great mage Lisa be unable to determine if a body even has a soul?!”
Although his body hurt, his heart was in even greater pain. That dumb Bryan spent six years as an errand slave for the necromancy major, but hadn’t even picked up this bit of common sense. This was hardly the outcome he expected for the first time he’d gathered up his courage to do something bad.
Necromancy? This wondrous necromancy could determine even this? There was definitely some value in it. It looks like I have a lot to learn if I’m to survive in this world, otherwise the unfortunate events from today will most likely happen again.
As the agony on his body increased, Han Shuo continued to think rapidly while howling in pain. The magic of Chu Cang Lan’s dark path encompassed the word “demon”, whereas necromancy didn’t sound like a great path either. What if he were to train in both of these, would there be conflict between the two or would they – become stronger together?