Amidst the clamour from outside the arena, Han Shuo's body leapt as he pushed through a wall he had constructed earlier and landed on the flat ground behind it. The traps that the skeleton warriors had dug were a few paces behind Han Shuo, with branches and twigs covering the entrance to the traps. The ghouls had covered the outside with dirt and it all looked quite normal.
Having completed their mission, the dark creatures spread out at Han Shuo's command and hid behind the large trees and artificial mountains in the background. Han Shuo then stood behind the earthen wall, firing bone spears and bone arrows once again, attacking the three rapidly approaching light Major disciples.
"Huh. You're asking for trouble by attacking us openly." Keelung approached as two radiant slashes flew out, destroying the attacks Han Shuo had sent their way, and quickly approached Han Shuo with the other two students.
The other two students also cast spells just before reaching Han Shuo, destroying the earthen walls that Han Shuo had just erected. One of them walked over the dirt and stepped into a noose on the ground. Seeing this, Han Shuo immediately gave an order to the zombie controlling the trap.
The zombie warrior standing in the distance suddenly yanked hard on the rope in his hand. The loose rope suddenly tightened under the light major's foot and abruptly wrapped around his ankle, sending him flying into the sky.
"Damn it!" Keelung roared and was about to make a play to save the light major student when Han Shuo, standing quite a distance away, sent bone spear attacks at him from another direction, forcing him to temporarily retreat.
The other student, however, had sharp eyes and nimble fingers and unleashed a radiant slash that sliced through the rope. This caused the trapped student to freefall from a great distance, screaming in pain.
Suddenly, a large stone tied to a rope rolled down from the artificial mountain on the left and crashed into Keelung and the others. They were terrified, and at the same time, they released magic to defend themselves against the large rock, and then rushed towards the other traps.
Light magic was wonderfully effective at restraining dark creatures, but the ones Han Shuo had summoned never engaged them in direct combat. Rather, they used other tools and elements to attack the three light major disciples. This completely nullified the restraining effect that the light majors had on the dark creatures.
Eventually, the four Dark Major students who had been chasing them also arrived. When they saw the three from the Light Major busily fending off the attacks from the traps, they immediately joined in with great enthusiasm. They began chanting Dark Major magic from not too far away, preparing to fan the flames and offer their assistance to Han Shuo.
A series of magical incantations suddenly sang out from Keelung's mouth. A blinding light suddenly shot out of the darkened sky. Everyone's eyes temporarily lost vision wherever the extreme light landed. Even the other two light students didn't have enough time to react as they temporarily lost sight of everything around them.
Keelung had closed his eyes beforehand, calculating when the Strong Light spell would arrive. He suddenly opened his eyes, ready to deliver a devastating blow that would turn the tide against all those who'd lost their sight.
But in the second he opened his eyes, he didn't even have time to cast a spell before he saw more than ten skeleton and zombie warriors surrounding him. Under the force of two zombie warriors pushing him, his body recoiled against his will as he fell into a trap when his foot stepped into the empty air.
The other students, both Light and Dark, who'd lost their sight, were all standing there, extremely anxious. The dark creatures approached them one by one, picking them up or pushing them, throwing them all into the traps, making no exceptions for anyone.
The Strong Light spell was an extreme shock to the eyes of ordinary people. Han Shuo had also fallen victim to its speed, but his body was different from ordinary people and his eyes recovered extremely quickly. Most people would need at least ten seconds to recover from such a bright flash, but Han Shuo was only out for two seconds.
Before the effects of the powerful light spell had fully worn off, and before Keelung had even opened his eyes, Han Shuo had already recovered and was directing the dark creatures into an action that would change the course of the battle. He turned the outcome of the battle around and settled it with a single move.
Not only had Han Shuo thrown the students of the Light Major into the pit, he had also thrown the four students of the Dark Major into the pit. The trap had been dug very, very deep and could more than hold these small mages who didn't know the levitation spell yet. There were also dark creatures holding large stones above them, ready to hurl them down at any moment. This was the end of the competition.
Deo had watched with a more relaxed face and excitement when Han Shuo had performed particularly well earlier, but when Han Shuo had even targeted the dark main students and trapped them at the end, he had snorted coldly and tightened his face once again as he said to Fanny, "Your disciple has no sense of team spirit, look at what he's done!
"I think it's your four students who had no morale from beginning to end. They weren't useful at all. Bryan must have thought they were useless and wanted to give them this reminder. It's just a joke, no big deal". Fanny was in high spirits as she laughed and repeated Deo's words.
On the other side, .Light Major Archmage Voigtlander stood up with a dejected look on his face. He waved his sleeves, spoke to Emma, and then left the square, leaving only Master Beacher to clean up the aftermath of the competition.
Logically, since necromancy was tied to the Dark Major, and since Han Shuo had taken the field in place of Phillide, this should have been a Dark Major victory.
But Han Shuo's moves were a direct slap in Deo's face. This made it difficult for Deo to be happy. When he saw Voigtlander giving a random word of instruction to a teacher behind him, he also said goodbye to Dean Emma and left in a dark mood.
As for Lisa and the other necromancy students, they burst into enthusiastic cheers. It was the proudest moment the Necromancy had had in many years. They'd always been oppressed and ridiculed, but because of Han Shuo's sudden appearance, not only had they saved Fanny's face, but all of the necromancy students were basking in glory.
When Han Shuo walked out after the magic shield was taken down, he immediately saw the glow of fiery joy in Fanny's eyes and the sounds of cheering from the other necromancy students.
"Eh... although the circumstances are a bit strange, I must announce that the Dark Major has won this year's demonstration. Those who participated in the battle will receive a space ring that I have personally refined. Everyone will also receive a Staff . I hope you will continue to learn and improve. Emma's voice rang out softly as Han Shuo walked out, carrying over the entire square.
As the onlookers watched in admiration, Han Shuo was the first to go to Emma's side and receive the rewards of this time's battle. The Dark Majority had finally crawled out of the trap with the help of others. They were about to take their revenge on Han Shuo when they heard Emma's announcement and smiles returned to their faces. They strolled over to Emma.
Han Shuo swept the space ring with his mental power after receiving it and was quite satisfied. The capacity of the space ring personally refined by Grand Magus Emma was at least five times greater than the one Han Shuo was currently wearing. The materials needed to refine such a large space ring would be even more unusual. It also looked like only a character at the level of a space Grand Magus would be able to refine it.
Part 2
Until now, Han Shuo had never used a staff when casting magic. When he picked it up and imbued it with his mental power, he suddenly discovered that there was another small room within the staff. This space had the ability to store mental power. When he unleashed a random spell and felt it circulate through the staff, the speed of the spell increased slightly.
From the looks of it, this staff had the effect of storing small amounts of mental power and even increasing the casting speed of spells. No wonder mages were willing to risk their lives to obtain a decent staff. A miraculous staff would more or less have a great effect on increasing a mage's power.
Han Shuo didn't hang around the square after receiving his space ring and staff. He nodded to Fanny from afar with a smile and left, leaving Fanny and the others to take care of the remaining details.
"Wait a second, Bryan!" Han Shuo's departure didn't go unnoticed by the many students in the square. However, everyone just watched him go with surprise and didn't do anything after whispering to each other in a low voice. However, when Lisa saw Han Shuo leaving, she called out from a distance and ran straight towards Han Shuo.
After leaving the square and arriving at the Necromancy Major's training grounds, Lisa's face was filled with a look of astonished excitement. She stared at Han Shuo and kept up a running litany of questions, "You were too amazing today! You handled them all by yourself! You did everything with a natural and smooth style, how did you do it?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Han Shuo said noncommittally, "It wasn't that I was strong, it was just that they were too weak."
Han Shuo had met many people during his journey to the Dark Forest, all of whom were adept mages or senior swordsmen. He'd even met Swordmaster Trunks and Archmage Emily.
The guards of the McGrady Guild, including Duke and Erick who'd appeared later, were experts who'd seen many battles and had amazing strength.
After fighting against these people, Han Shuo had basically experienced all kinds of situations. He had just fought against mages who hadn't reached the Adept level yet, and their battle experience was even more limited. Of course, he had every advantage, and it would have been strange if he hadn't won instead.
If Han Shuo had mobilised the small skeleton, his own martial techniques and the Demonslayer Edge, he wouldn't have needed to use any schemes or traps. He would be able to completely annihilate the five light-major students with his own strength, denying them the slightest change in resistance.
"When did you become so strong?" Lisa watched Han Shuo with every expression of interest as she asked curiously.
Grasping the magic staff in his hands, Han Shuo poured in his mental strength and began to practice the Bone Prison spell that a journeyman mage should be able to master. He poured his mental energy into the staff and used it as a conduit to try and activate the Bone Prison spell.
The Bone Prison spell was a spell that imprisoned enemies. Once cast, it would form a prison made entirely of white bones, imprisoning enemies and preventing them from moving a muscle.
If one had enough mental power, one could control every single bone in the bone prison. . Not only would it be able to imprison someone, but the caster could use the bones inside the prison to imprison the prisoner again. The bones could be transformed into soft and supple vines. It was all quite amazing.
It was the first time he had manipulated the Bone Prison spell. After more than ten bones had appeared in the air, they couldn't quite form a prison. When Han Shuo relaxed his concentration, the bones didn't form any structure before falling to the ground with a clatter.
"My strength is similar to yours, and I'm not that great. If you practice diligently, I believe your performance will be even higher. You might even be able to represent our major in next year's battle." Han Shuo carelessly replied to Lisa as he continued to practise the Bone Prison spell.
Lisa made a silly face at Han Shuo at these words, then said lightly, "I'm too stupid. I've been studying necromancy for so long, but you've only been learning it for a few months and you're already much stronger than me."
"No, your strength is quite good compared to the other necromancy students. Heh heh, I meant that if you work even harder, you should be able to increase the rate of your progress. I don't think the magic of our necromancy major is any worse than the other majors. It's just that there are fewer people studying necromancy magic now, so fewer experts are being produced." Han Shuo chatted comfortably with Lisa, practising the Bone Prison spell over and over again.
After a while, some other students, who seemed to have realised the power of necromancy for the first time thanks to Han Shuo's heroics, all skipped their meals and enthusiastically arrived at the training grounds. They too began to practice magic one by one.
When the other students appeared, Han Shuo stopped his magic practice and avoided the excited chatter of the other students. He walked out of the training fields and after leaving them, he walked in the direction of Fanny's laboratory.
When Han Shuo arrived at Fanny's lab, the door was locked. It looked like Fanny had not returned yet. Normally, Fanny would be in her lab right now. It looked like she'd been delayed by the Necromancy Major's newfound fame, so she hadn't returned yet.
He was in no hurry either as Han Shuo took a seat on the grass and pulled out the book of necromancy magic he had taken from the cemetery of death. He studied it while the three original demons patrolled in three different directions. Without fear of anyone suddenly approaching, he slowly began to study the Bone Prison magic he wanted to master.
After a while, the room in front of Han Shuo suddenly twisted as light flashed by and Dean Emma materialised in front of Han Shuo.
With a start, Han Shuo quickly placed the book of necromancy magic in the space ring and smiled. He said to Dean Emma, "Hello Dean, what are you doing here?"
Dean Emma looked kindly at Han Shuo, an admiring smile appearing on her wrinkled face. She opened her mouth to say, "You are a diligent child. You're not willing to waste the slightest bit of time and still study while waiting for Fanny. No wonder you've achieved so much in such a short time."
Han Shuo was a little confused by Emma's words. He didn't know why Emma had suddenly appeared and spoken such strange words to him.
He thought for a while and looked at Emma with a frown. He opened his mouth to ask, "Did you come looking for me?"
Nodding, Emma said straightforwardly, "Of course, heh heh. I didn't show up here because I failed a space magic spell."
"Then do you need something from me?" Han Shuo hesitated and then asked again.
Emma smiled kindly after hearing Han Shuo's question, "Actually, I want to thank you. If it hadn't been for you last time, I wouldn't have known that Camilla was a member of the Kasi Empire's Black Underworld Organisation."
Han Shuo jumped again when he heard these words. Han Shuo hadn't said a word about this to anyone but Candide, and now that Emma was suddenly talking about it, it really scared Han Shuo. His thoughts raced as he looked at Emma, "Did Master Candide tell you this?"
Nodding, Emma smiled, "Clever boy. The old man of our house says you're a good talent and Fanny mentioned it to me as well. After today's competition, I've discovered that there are indeed some mysterious things about you. But I won't ask you why. I just wanted to try to convince you of something with my visit this time.
Shock written all over his face, Han Shuo would never have expected Emma and Candide of the Dark Mantle to be husband and wife. No wonder Emma had given him that strange look before the battle.
"What do you want to tell me?" Han Shuo stared at Emma after he came to himself.
"I can tell from your look that you have feelings for Fanny, but I hope you don't develop anything with her before you are strong enough. If you're still just a student who hasn't graduated and your relationship goes beyond that, it won't be good for you or Fanny, especially Fanny. It could cause unnecessary trouble." Emma stared at Han Shuo and spoke sincerely.
She hesitated and then opened her mouth again, "This is for your own good and Fanny's, I hope you will heed my words of wisdom. When you've completed your necromancy studies and you're stronger than Fanny, I can even help you if you run into problems in your relationship with Fanny. Eh, Fanny's coming, I'll say goodbye now".
Emma's figure disappeared again after she'd finished speaking. Just as Emma had disappeared, Han Shuo also heard the sounds of Fanny approaching.