Time flew. Half a month had gone by in the blink of an eye.
This half month was one of the most relaxing periods Han Shuo had ever had. Borg and Carey took care of the cleaning duties that had originally belonged to him. And because Han Shuo's back was injured, Fanny didn't come looking for him to do more research.
Han Shuo learnt from Jeff that even Fitch had gone back in to give the Adept Mage qualification tests another try. Therefore, this great enemy was no longer a threat for the time being.
Since Han Shuo's shameless confession of love at the bottom of the trap, Lisa's attitude towards Han Shuo had changed drastically. Not only did she no longer pick on Han Shuo, but she often protected him, forbidding other students from practicing necromancy magic on him.
Given the situation, apart from eating, sleeping, drinking and showering, Han Shuo spent all the rest of his free time practising magic and studying 'The Basics of Necromancy' and 'The Descriptions of Dark Creatures'.
To be honest, the injuries on Han Shuo's back had long since healed, thanks to his magic practice. There wasn't even a scar left.
The current Han Shuo had grown another two centimetres and was now 170 centimetres tall. Thanks to practicing magic and getting enough nutrition from the rations, his previously weak body had begun to firm up and gain strength. Muscles were even forming on his chest and arms.
Unknown to anyone else, Han Shuo's body and strength had slowly changed without anyone knowing. He had also progressed to the crucial point of training for the Mystical Glacial Spellfire. When Han Shuo circulated his magical yuan, he could follow the spell's instructions and bring his magical yuan to the palms of his hands.
Whenever Han Shuo activated the 'Mystical Glacial Spellfire' and circulated his magical yuan to his left and right palms, he could feel the centre of his palms become glacially cold and scorching hot respectively. The surface of his skin would turn a faint purple and red, making the centre of his hands look quite strange.
In the meantime, Han Shuo didn't dare to do anything rash with the strange jade box. He was scared to death that the situation from last time would happen again. For the time being, he wasn't willing to take that kind of risk again until he knew what the orb was and what its purpose was.
Thanks to studying the 'Descriptions of Dark Creatures' over the past two weeks, Han Shuo had a much clearer understanding of the specifics of summoning certain dark creatures. He also understood how to communicate with them and how to send them back to the other dimension.
However, even though the incantation to send a summoned dark creature back to the other dimension was recorded in the 'Description of Dark Creatures', and Han Shuo believed that he was perfectly capable of doing so with his current level of mental strength, he didn't dare to act. This was because he wasn't sure if he could summon the little skeleton again if he sent it back to the other dimension.
The black skeleton with seven bone spurs was the result of Han Shuo's painstaking refinement using the methods of refining a demonic treasure. Not only was it superior to ordinary skeletons in every way, but it also had a frightening immunity to light magic.
Han Shuo had spent his days and nights with the little skeleton during this time. It had also helped Han Shuo a great deal, causing Han Shuo to become attached to it. He was worried that if he sent it into the other dimension, he would lose it forever if he was unable to summon it the next time.
Because of this concern, even though Han Shuo was confident that he would be able to send it back to the other dimension, he was still reluctant to do so. He'd rather let the little skeleton live under his bed and keep it there, even if it meant running the risk of being discovered by others.
The small black skeleton lay lazily in a wooden bucket, its bones as black as ink and glowing with a faint haze. Over the past two weeks, Han Shuo had often injected magical yuan into the bucket, further refining it according to the magical yin concentration matrix.
Under Han Shuo's constant refinement, the small skeleton's body was becoming more agile and stronger. His bone dagger was even stronger than ordinary knives and swords. Han Shuo had once experimented with a piece of broken bone and discovered that when the bone dagger sliced through it, the broken bone was immediately cut in half.
As the small skeleton underwent changes, Han Shuo also benefited from training in the solid world. His body also underwent a mysterious transformation.
The only thing was, Han Shuo had still not been able to break through this level of the Demon Realm. He carefully went through Old Fart Chu Cang Lan's memories, added some of his own reflections on what had happened recently, and came to a conclusion - if he wanted to quickly reach perfection in the solid realm, 'breaking things' was the most effective and efficient way.
Whenever Han Shuo had been severely beaten or suffered injuries to his body, his body would quickly repair itself through magic training. And each time after recovery, his body would be stronger than before. His skin and bones would be more resilient. Only after damage and injury would his progress in the solid realm pick up.
As he thought about this point, Han Shuo involuntarily smiled ironically. This kind of magic training was death by masochism! But since he had embarked on this path, he had to find a way to quickly break through the solid realm in order to gain more strength and power.
On that day, Han Shuo's figure appeared at the doors of the martial arts school of the Babylon Academy of Magic and Force.
After a few days of gathering information, Han Shuo understood that there was a place within this school for the cultivation of warriors and knights. However, the warriors and knights were trained separately. The ranks of the warrior students were mostly filled with commoners whose training consisted mainly of practicing their combat aura and instilling the notion of loyalty to their liege.
The students of the Knights' School were mostly from noble families and were a training ground for the powerful families and military forces, as well as the royal sons of the Empire. These students came from unusual backgrounds and had varying degrees of influence within their families. As well as practising their martial aura, they were here to learn the manners and etiquette of the nobility, the strategies of war and the art of command.
These students absorbed a variety of knowledge within the Knight's School, all with the aim of gaining a good opportunity in the future, whether it be within their family or within the Empire. The families of these knight students were all quite wealthy, and on the way to becoming a senior knight, they did not bat an eyelid at spending money to hire a few commoners to practice combat and martial arts techniques.
A few commoners who thought they had tough bodies would take the beating in return for money and rich rewards. Even a few warrior students would become willing human targets in exchange for money.
However, it wasn't easy to earn this money. Knight students would sometimes miscalculate and even beat some human targets to death. But since this was a mutually agreed upon, mutually willing transaction, and the Knight students had paid for it, no one cared if the human targets were beaten to death. After all, they had asked for it.
Han Shuo had come here to become one of the human targets. But he wasn't here for the money, he wanted to temper his body in order to break through the solid realm.
Numerous human targets stood in a spacious lobby. All of them were strong and fit, and all of them wore the dirty clothes of poor commoners. Han Shuo focused his attention for a moment and spotted a few warrior students mixed in with the crowd. Some had been attracted by the Academy's reputation, and some were students from the Warrior School.
You're a messenger boy for the Academy. But your body is not very strong, and you're not a warrior. You're asking for death by coming here. Little fellow, let me advise you not to pursue this reward, otherwise you might really be beaten to death! A thin old man said to Han Shuo as he looked over from the doors at the front of the lobby.
The old man, Jeff, was about fifty years old and in the same profession as Han Shuo. He wore the clothes of a messenger boy and was in charge of registering the human targets. He had some concerns about the frailty of Han Shuo's body, so he tried to persuade Han Shuo out of kindness.
"No worries, Mr Jeff, please register me. I'd like to try!" Han Shuo looked at Jeff and spoke sincerely.
"Since you insist, I'll register you. Ai. Do you think this is easy money? If you really get beaten to death, don't blame me for not warning you!" When Jeff saw that Han Shuo was still insisting after a few attempts, and that others behind him in the line were calling impatiently, he gave up trying to convince Han Shuo and agreed, entering 'Bryan' into the register.
A few other human targets looked at him strangely as Han Shuo walked through the doors. The eyes of most of them were filled with disdain, and the kind-hearted few wore expressions of pity and regret, even trying to convince Han Shuo not to try.
Although Han Shuo's body was a little stronger than it had been before, due to the practice of magic, he was still a far cry from the burly men whose arms were thicker than their thighs. Bryan was all skin and bones, like a skinny monkey, and Han Shuo was only marginally stronger in comparison.
"Listen to me, leave while you still can, otherwise you'll surely be beaten to death." As Han Shuo took in his surroundings, a skinny twenty-something youth walked over to Han Shuo and tried to persuade him.
This youth was wearing the clothes of a martial arts student. Although his body didn't look too well built either, he was undoubtedly much stronger than those who looked strong on the outside but hadn't practised any martial arts techniques simply because they were warrior students.
"Thank you, I want to try!" Han Shuo flashed a friendly smile and spoke lightly as he nodded to the boy.
"My name is Cal, and I often come here to earn some extra money. Even though I'm a Sergeant Knight, I've suffered serious injuries before. I've seen too many people beaten to death because they wanted to earn some money, so I hope you can take my advice. Leave while you still can or you'll really regret it!" Cal looked at Han Shuo with sincerity, dissuading Han Shuo with a face of sincerity.
Han Shuo smiled and shook his head, "My name is Bryan. Very nice to meet you, Cal. I'm grateful for your good intentions, but I must try."
Cal let out an involuntary sigh at Han Shuo's determination and shook his head without saying anything. However, Cal's gaze was full of pity, as if he felt that Han Shuo was definitely dead.