Ossen City, the Babylonian Academy of Magic and Strength.
Han Shuo ate breakfast and bought a new set of clothes before arriving at the academy later in the morning. He went to the library first and secretly put back the two books "The Foundations of Necromancy" and "A Magical Dictionary" that he had asked Jack to steal earlier. Then he went to Fanny's lab.
The doors to the lab were open and Fanny was wearing a black robe with gold trim, a pair of black framed glasses and a wand in her left hand. She held a quill in her right hand and was drawing some magical patterns on the pedestal in the centre, explaining something with her speech.
Beside her, Fitch had put on an air of attentive listening, but his eyes often wandered over Fanny's face. Fanny had lost some of her charming beauty with the glasses, but had gained solemnity and the beauty of intellectuality. In Han Shuo's eyes, her beauty hadn't diminished at all, and he gazed at her soulfully, mesmerised.
Fanny spoke a few words, then lifted her head to look at Fitch, who was busy staring into space. She frowned, "Fitch, do you understand?"
Fitch suddenly snapped out of his reverie and nodded, smiling, "Master Fanny, you were very clear, I understand."
As Fanny lifted her head to look at Fitch, she happened to see Han Shuo standing in front of the door. Han Shuo was now a little taller than Fitch and his body was muscular and well defined from constant training and fighting. He stood there with his spine straight, like a spear, without the slightest bit of the usual frail appearance that mages usually possessed.
Fanny blinked at first, a little surprised by Han Shuo's unnoticed changes, but when Fanny also saw Han Shuo staring at her, mesmerised, her heart leapt and her face blushed red as well. Her right hand tightened on the pen, almost breaking it in two.
What's wrong with me? Fanny said to herself and took an involuntary deep breath, seeming to pout as she glared at Han Shuo. She lifted her head to call out, "Long time no see Bryan. You disappeared for a month after our last training session. Where have you been sneaking around for so long that you only remembered to return now?"
Han Shuo's mentality immediately returned to normal after hearing Fanny's words. He laughed lightly, not waiting for her to greet him, and strode purposefully into the room. He replied, "The last time I was in the Dark Forest, I realised the many shortcomings in my skills. That's why I've borrowed a book of magic and done some remedial study on the basics of magic. I came to Master Fanny with some questions, because I've encountered many difficulties.
"Huh. Who would believe you? You're always so mysterious." Fanny rolled her eyes at Han Shuo, obviously not believing his words. She turned her head to look at Fitch, She suddenly found his presence irritating for some inexplicable reason. She instructed, "Fitch, I have a few things to discuss with Bryan in private. Since you have understood my explanation, you can go back and practice well."
Fitch started. He didn't seem to think that Fanny would want him to leave because of Han Shuo's appearance. He blanked for a while, then finally glared viciously at Han Shuo and said lowly, "Errand slaves will always be errand slaves. It's not like you've become a real student just because you put on the uniform."
Fitch finally left after saying this. A smile was constantly visible on Han Shuo's face, completely unaware of Fitch's low muttering. Han Shuo knew that it was because of Fanny's attitude towards Fitch that Fitch held a grudge, but until Fitch took action to express his hatred, Han Shuo couldn't be bothered to spend an ounce of energy on him.
"Go and shut the door tightly!" Fanny put the pen down and fixed Han Shuo with her eyes, giving him a commanding look as soon as Fitch had left.
Close the doors? Han Shuo's heart leapt as he looked at Fanny with a deep and meaningful gaze. He showed a trace of a strange smile, stood up hastily and said, "Alright, I'll go close the doors.
When Han Shuo had jubilantly and happily closed the doors to the lab, Fanny gave Han Shuo another look and continued to instruct, "Get on the bed first!"
Nodding his head like a chicken pecking corn, Han Shuo didn't even bother to say much this time and just took off his shoes, falling straight backwards onto the white bed. He proudly crossed his legs and smiled, "Master Fanny, come over here as well!"
Fanny watched Han Shuo with an amused expression as her mouth closed with an audible click. "Come, close your eyes first."
He had never been so docile as Han Shuo obediently closed his eyes and thought dirty thoughts. A depraved smile blossomed on his face.
"Ah!"
A painful howl came from Han Shuo's mouth. He suddenly felt that a great surge of mental power had entered his mind, completely jolting Han Shuo out of his beautiful dreams.
When Han Shuo saw that Fanny was looking at him with a small smile, he asked with a hint of anger in his voice, "Master Fanny, what are you doing?"
"Examining your body! Didn't I tell you last time that you were the subject of my experiments and that I would use the school facilities to examine you thoroughly when we returned to the school, as I have just done? What did you think I was going to do with you after I closed the doors and made you lie on the bed?" Fanny spoke with a serious face and glared at Han Shuo, but even with the glasses on, they could not hide the proud smile in her eyes, one that was proud of the successful execution of her plan.
The Han Shuo of now was not the Han Shuo of then, he saw the joy in Fanny's eyes at once. He sat up with a wry smile and said,"Forget it, don't examine me anymore. These things can't be explained by rational logic. If you really make me an idiot by interfering with my mind like this, my life will be over."
Fanny's brow furrowed in thought as she heard Han Shuo's words and sighed involuntarily after a moment's thought. She smiled, "Forget it then. I'm willing to lose an experimental subject, but not a talented student."
Seeing that Fanny was letting him off the hook so easily, Han Shuo heaved a huge sigh of relief and immediately thanked Fanny sincerely. He then took out the 'Beginner's Magic of Necromancy' book and began to ask Fanny about any parts he didn't understand.
When Fanny saw Han Shuo take out the Beginner's Magic of Necromancy from his space ring, and then saw that many parts of the book had been highlighted and written down by Han Shuo, she immediately looked at Han Shuo askance. She lightly exclaimed, "You're already reading this book? Have you grasped all the magic that an apprentice should know? Um... and you've taken a lot of notes. Looks like you haven't slacked off this month... I was wrong about you."
"Of course, I've already grasped the magic that magic apprentices should know!" Han Shuo smiled.
He thought for a moment and released the Soul Torment spell in front of Fanny. Fanny immediately said, "Oh my goodness! Bryan, you're too amazing. You actually have enough mental strength to release the 'Agony of the Soul' magic. This means that your mental strength has truly reached the level of a novice magician. You're a genius, a true genius!"
Han Shuo wasn't sure if he was a genius or not, but he knew that his mental strength could only improve so quickly because of that strange green round ball. He still hadn't figured out what this green, round ball was, but he was absolutely sure that it had something to do with the cemetery of death.
After a series of surprised exclamations from Fanny, Han Shuo began to seriously ask Fanny all his questions about magical knowledge he didn't know. As an adept mage, Fanny's constant homework had always been to teach students how to understand magic, and she was very familiar with this basic knowledge. She did her best to answer all of Han Shuo's difficult questions.
The two were quite close during this process and Han Shuo could smell the scent wafting from Fanny's body. Their eyes would lock during the explanations and there was a sense of mutual admiration due to their shared enlightenment. Fanny didn't resent Han Shuo being so close to her and would even pat him on the back when he clearly understood one of her explanations.
Time passed unnoticed in Fanny's laboratory. The two of them had been talking for several hours, but Fanny wasn't the least bit impatient. She seemed delighted and would never be bored because she had met a good student.
It wasn't until the bells began to ring that Fanny came to. When she regained her senses, she said lightly, "Oh no, I almost forgot that I have to preside over a lesson on the training grounds later this afternoon. Bryan, your comprehension is very high. It looks like you've chosen the right way to learn necromancy magic, but let's stop here for today, I'm going to the training grounds to teach my class, do you want to come with me?"
Han Shuo shook his head and smiled, "I'd rather not. I've already thoroughly grasped some of the lower level magic. I've learned a lot from you today that I didn't understand before, and I need some time to think about it carefully. I won't be going to the training grounds.
Nodding, Fanny didn't push any further and hastily tidied up the lab. She picked up a book, adjusted her collar and said, "That'll do. You can come and see me privately in the next few days and I'll help you go over the areas you don't understand. Oh, right. Lisa seems to have been very worried about you being gone for so long. She asked me where you went?"
"Heh heh, I haven't been up to much. Please tell her not to worry. I'll be leaving now, and I'll come and see you quite often in the next few days. Thank you in advance, Master Fanny." Han Shuo said carelessly and left before Fanny left her laboratory. He thought for a while, avoided the crowded areas and started walking outside the academy.
After leaving the Academy, Han Shuo walked very carefully around two streets and finally made his way to Phoebe's residence.
Han Shuo vaguely felt that he was in a bad place after the assassination attempt at the Boozt Merchant Guild. Not only had he offended Grover, but it was likely that even Phoebe held a grudge against him, but for the black gold ore, Han Shuo had to grit his teeth and find Phoebe again. He just hoped that the last ten days or so had been enough to calm her temper.
The same old butler answered the door again, and Fabian had come by shortly after Han Shuo had entered because he'd heard the news. He still had a faint smile on his face when he saw Han Shuo and said, "Bryan, how come you have time to drop by today?"
With a wry smile, Han Shuo shook his head and sighed, "Don't mention it. I helped your young miss assassinate Darnell and Yuna in the Boozt Merchant Guild last time, but somehow I offended your Miss Phoebe. Not only did I not receive any compensation, but she actually beat me up. Too bad!"
"Oh? Even though Miss Phoebe comes from a wealthy family, she's not the type to throw a tantrum without a reason. What happened between you and Miss Phoebe? After she came back in the middle of the night that day, she spent the next few days being angry. I overheard her calling you despicable, shameless and disgusting. I really don't understand what could have happened to put her in such a terrible mood! Fabian looked at Han Shuo in confusion and he said slowly as he seemed to be deep in thought.
His face wry, Han Shuo sighed again. "Forget it, let's not mention these things again. I need to find her again for my materials. Is Miss Phoebe at home right now?"
"Sorry, Miss Phoebe is out and temporarily unavailable, but I think she'll be back soon, so if you're not in a hurry, you can wait here for a while."
"Alright, then I'll wait for her for a while."
Indeed, after a short wait, Han Shuo's ear caught the sound of someone knocking on the door from far away. As his heart began to beat with anxiety, he privately weighed up what he should say to Phoebe when he saw her later.
Just as Han Shuo's brow was furrowed in thought, a man's voice sounded softly. "Uh, you're Bryan, what are you doing here?"
Han Shuo started and immediately lifted his head when he realised that the warrior Lawrence, who had spent five gold coins to hire him as a human target at the Warrior Academy the last time, was standing at the door with Phoebe.
"Senior Brother Lawrence, do you know him?" Outside the door, Phoebe looked at Lawrence in astonishment as she asked in surprise.
"Of course, he's Bryan, the runner from our academy!" Lawrence replied matter-of-factly.
"Errand boy?" Phoebe and Fabian exclaimed at the same time. Phoebe measured Han Shuo with a strange look as she asked Lawrence, "Senior Brother, your Babylon Academy of Magic and strength is the most prestigious school in the entire Empire. Why would such a despicable, shameless and disgusting person be there?"
Lawrence started at these words and shrugged at Han Shuo, smiling at Phoebe, "Little junior sister, how did Bryan offend you? I rather admire his stubborn and unyielding personality."
Han Shuo's face was wry as he sat there without saying a word, drinking tea one sip at a time with his head bowed. He thought privately that he was in quite a pickle. He hadn't thought that Lawrence was Phoebe's older brother. Now that his identity had been revealed, it would be difficult even for him to avoid it if Phoebe wanted to follow up on earlier events.