Chapter Three: From Fool to Madman

As Han Shuo’s mind wandered in confusion, he felt pain all over his body. That little witch, Lisa, was still wildly beating him. Poor Han Shuo was terribly weak; the first blow landed squarely on his nose, and tears streamed uncontrollably from his eyes. After falling from the tree, the pain made his head spin so much that all he could do was curl up on the ground, exposing the fleshiest part of his body—his backside—for Lisa to hit.

But after a short while, Han Shuo suddenly noticed something odd. A thread of magic essence within his body happened to circulate toward his backside, and wherever the magic essence flowed, Lisa’s kicks didn’t hurt as much. The stinging pain diminished considerably, and, strangely enough, there was even a sensation of comfort.

Han Shuo found this baffling. He thought to himself that this “solid form” stage of the demonic art truly was a “self-abuse” technique. Lost in thought, that strand of magic essence wandered to his right buttock, just as Lisa’s foot kicked over, landing exactly where the magic essence resided.

Two cries rang out—one high, one low—from Han Shuo and Lisa, respectively. Lisa discovered that Han Shuo’s right buttock was as hard as iron, and her little foot throbbed with pain; she recoiled immediately, crying out in distress. Han Shuo, on the other hand, felt not an ounce of pain where Lisa kicked him—on the contrary, it felt almost pleasant. With pain wracking his body elsewhere, this sudden wave of comfort made him let out an involuntary moan, a sound so oddly suggestive that it bordered on lewdness.

“Bryan, you idiot! Why on earth do you have rocks in your pants?” Lisa shouted in exasperation, rubbing her delicate foot. By now, a few other female necromancy students had gathered around, their eyes cold and sleepy as they glared at Han Shuo.

His nose didn’t hurt as much, and the tears stopped flowing. Han Shuo moved and sat up on the grass, glancing around. He saw the apprentice magicians Amy and Athena, and Bella, a fellow junior magician like Lisa. All three girls were glaring at him with anger in their eyes.

There was killing intent in the air.

Compared to Lisa, Amy, Athena, and Bella were much less attractive—sixteen or seventeen years old, none particularly pretty. Their beauty was further diminished by interrupted sleep, so their moods were especially foul.

“Idiot, what are you staring at? Speak! Why do you have rocks in your pants? You’ve bruised my beautiful foot! It hurts so much!” Lisa snapped, hands on her hips, her left foot gingerly raised, making her look rather odd.

“Idiot, am I?” Han Shuo sneered inwardly, but outwardly he wore a blank expression, struggling to his feet with a foolish grin. “No, there aren’t any rocks in my pants!”

Turning his back to the four necromancy girls, Han Shuo spoke as he loosened his trousers. He hadn’t even pulled them down when four piercing screams shattered the night, followed by frantic footsteps.

“Bryan, you fool! Pull your pants up right now, or I’ll kill you!” Lisa shouted, her voice trembling with obvious panic.

“Oh,” Han Shuo replied dumbly, snickering to himself. Silly little girls, you’re no match for me.

When the four of them finally stood face-to-face again, Lisa scrutinized Han Shuo for a moment before huffing, “Fine, I won’t argue about the rocks in your pants. But what were you doing climbing the tree outside my window in the middle of the night?”

Han Shuo gave a goofy laugh and pointed to a ragged bag hanging in the tree. “I was going to fetch that old sack, of course!”

“You climbed a tree in the dead of night—for some trash?” Lisa was livid, nearly losing her mind with anger.

At that moment, Bella, the junior magician, sighed and said to Lisa, “Lisa, can’t you see that Bryan’s lost his mind? If your ‘Wraith’ didn’t kill him, it’s driven him mad. What’s the point of arguing with a lunatic?”

Athena stifled a yawn, clearly exhausted. “Ugh... We have classes tomorrow. I’m going back to sleep. Lisa, you deal with this.” She turned to leave.

Amy seemed to pity Han Shuo. She gave him a silent, lingering look, shook her head, and sighed, saying nothing more before walking away with Bella.

If Han Shuo hadn’t played the fool, he would have suffered the wrath of all three girls, not just Lisa. But since he acted deranged, they saw no point in picking a fight with a madman and simply let him be and returned to their interrupted dreams.

After the three girls left, only Lisa and Han Shuo remained. Lisa gave Han Shuo a few vicious glares and said coldly, “Go do whatever you want. I’ll settle this with you another day. I’m tired tonight. If you dare disturb my sleep again, I’ll use magic to drive you mad all over!”

With a final glare, Lisa hobbled away. As she entered her room, she muttered, “Ouch, it hurts! That idiot really did have rocks in his pants. My ‘Wraith’ must have driven him insane.”

Once Lisa was gone, silence returned. Han Shuo let out a breath of relief—thank goodness Lisa hadn’t used necromancy magic. If she’d unleashed another ‘Wraith’ with her junior mage’s power, he might have truly lost his mind.

When the curtain fell and the crowd dispersed, Han Shuo didn’t linger. Muttering curses under his breath, he dragged his weary body back to his storeroom.

Back in the storeroom, he shoved aside the pile of junk on his narrow cot and collapsed into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Han Shuo was still fast asleep when the storeroom door suddenly burst open, followed by a startled shriek.

Bleary-eyed, Han Shuo rolled over to see a short, chubby boy with golden hair and a bruised left eye, dressed in the same rough servant’s clothes, staring at him in terror, unable to form a coherent sentence.

“Oh, it’s Jack. What brings you to my room?” Han Shuo asked. The chubby Jack was Bryan’s age. Perhaps out of sympathy, Jack was one of the few in the necromancy department who treated Bryan decently. Jack’s family was poor, and two years ago his father had sent him to Babylon Magic and Martial Academy as a servant to earn a few silver coins each month.

Unlike Bryan, Jack wasn’t a slave; he’d not been sold to the Academy but worked there of his own free will. Although he was also bullied by the necromancy students, he wasn’t treated as harshly as Bryan. He was occasionally beaten or used for small experiments, but his life wasn’t disregarded.

Bryan had always envied Jack—he had enough to eat at every meal and didn’t suffer inhuman torment. Likewise, Jack found a bit of self-confidence only in Bryan’s company, which was why the two were close.

“Whew, you scared me! Bryan, you’re alive—thank goodness!” Jack exclaimed.

“Thank goodness? I’m starving, Jack. Do you have anything to eat? If you do, give it to me, and I’ll pay you back later!” Han Shuo said bluntly.

When he finished speaking, Han Shuo noticed Jack staring at him in bewilderment, his plump face and beady eyes full of suspicion.

“What’s wrong? Do I look that good?” Han Shuo asked impatiently.

Jack hesitated, then regarded Han Shuo even more strangely. “All these years, you’ve never asked me for food. I always had to offer it first. And you never talked to me like this. Bryan, you seem... different.”

Han Shuo’s heart skipped a beat. Lisa and the others hadn’t noticed anything amiss, but this silly chubby Jack sensed it as soon as he spoke.

Thinking back through Bryan’s memories, Han Shuo realized that Bryan rarely spoke to anyone in the necromancy department. He simply did as he was told and never interacted with others. Only with Jack did he occasionally converse—though mostly it was Jack talking and Bryan listening. Having spent much time together, it was no surprise Jack noticed the change.

Han Shuo forced a laugh and said, “After being hit by Lisa’s ‘Wraith,’ I nearly died. It made me realize I’ve been living the wrong way. I want to change.”

Jack let out a big sigh of relief and nodded. “So that’s it. I thought the ‘Wraith’ had driven you mad!”

Han Shuo: “...”

“Here, this is my hidden black bread. Take it. I’m really glad you’re alive. Everyone thought you were dead, and until another servant is found, your work was given to me! I had to come here at dawn, and in my hurry, I bumped into Buck and got beaten up—hence the bruise on my left eye!” Jack said, handing over a piece of stale black bread. He seemed delighted not to have to do Bryan’s chores.

Seeing the bruise on Jack’s left eye, Han Shuo took a savage bite of the bread and growled, “Buck hit you again? That’s outrageous! Come on, let’s go get revenge!”

Jack was startled, grabbing Han Shuo to hold him back. “Bryan, are you crazy? We’re used to this! Buck’s a necromancy apprentice, and it’s not the first time we’ve been beaten. As long as he leaves us alone, we should be grateful. Why get revenge?”

Han Shuo snorted. “Don’t worry. I have my ways. I’m mad now—the whole necromancy department thinks I’ve lost my mind. If I’m crazy, who am I afraid of?”

With that, Han Shuo dragged Jack out of the storeroom, swaggering with newfound confidence. Inside him, the magic essence spun ever faster.