A Whole Bunch of People Beat Me

At noon, at the Trial Ground of the Necromancy Magic Academy.

Han Shuo swept halfheartedly while silently pondering Teacher Gene's explanation of Necromancy that morning, his brows slightly furrowed in concentration.

A plump figure suddenly rushed through the entrance and stopped in front of Han Shuo. Panting, Jack said urgently, "Brian, this is bad! Keri and Borg are coming to settle the score with you!"

Annoyed at having his thoughts interrupted, Han Shuo frowned at Jack's panicked expression and asked, "What happened? Those two idiots, Keri and Borg, got beaten up by me last time. Why are they coming back for more?"

"I don't know. I'm not really sure either. I just heard they ate something this morning and felt awful. Their faces were green. Anyway, they're shouting about settling the score with you. That little witch Lisa is looking for you too!"

Reaching back to feel his back, Han Shuo found it still hurt a little, though it was much better than last night. The deep blue-green Battle Aura along his spine was still enveloped by his Demonic Essence. That mass of deep blue-green Battle Aura seemed to be shrinking and disappearing bit by bit, which put his mind somewhat at ease.

"They're asking for it. They can't blame me!" Han Shuo said coldly, tightening his grip on the broom and looking toward the entrance.

Jack still looked frantic. Rubbing his hands together, he said urgently, "Brian, this time is different! Keri and Borg brought helpers. They don't seem to be errand boys from our Necromancy Department. Several of them are tall and strong. Hurry and run!"

"Damn you, Brian! How dare you ambush us! You'll pay for this today!" While Jack was urgently urging him to leave, Keri's voice came from outside. By the time he finished speaking, several people had blocked the entrance to the Trial Ground.

Keri and Borg really did have green faces. Just after coming through the entrance, Borg groaned, suddenly clutched his stomach, and convulsed. He spat out a mouthful of black liquid, and a bitter, sour odor immediately spread from his mouth.

At the sight of what Borg had vomited, Keri's already green face looked even worse. His stomach seemed to be churning too. With a few retches, he stuck his fingers down his throat, apparently trying to vomit something up, but nothing came out.

"Brian, what did you tell Lisa to brew for us to eat? You've ruined us! I'll fight you to the death today!" Weakened after vomiting, Borg leaned against the doorway, clutching his stomach with one hand and pointing at Han Shuo with the other as he shouted venomously.

Inwardly amused, Han Shuo was left speechless. Last time, when Lisa had asked why he had suddenly become so agile and strong, he had casually made up a bunch of nonsense to brush her off. How could he have known that Lisa would believe him and actually brew those disgusting things? Apparently, she had experimented on Borg and Keri. No wonder the two looked half-dead.

"N-no, I didn't!" Han Shuo shook his head and said with a bewildered expression, looking foolish and utterly innocent.

"Lisa told us everything, and you still dare deny it? I'm not leaving until I've taught you a lesson today!" Keri roared and signaled to the helpers beside him. Six errand boys, including Borg, rolled up their sleeves and advanced menacingly toward Han Shuo.

Apart from Keri and Borg, the other errand boys came from the Darkness Department. However, they were not quite as tall and strong as Jack had described. Some of the four were indeed tall, but those were all skin and bones. There were sturdy ones too, but they were not even as tall as Han Shuo. All in all, the tall ones were not strong enough, and the strong ones were not tall enough. Judging by their looks, they probably could not fight particularly well either.

Tightening his grip, Han Shuo still wore a simple-minded expression, but an irrepressible urge to vent rose inside him, as though only beating every one of them to the ground could quell it.

The urge came with extreme abruptness, instantly filling Han Shuo's mind and driving him to act like an incantation. Han Shuo had always been rather passive, seldom taking the initiative to offend anyone and never daring to brazenly stir up trouble. But if he fought them now, his current strength and speed might blow the matter out of proportion. He was somewhat unwilling, but reason could not hold him back.

It felt exactly like the last time at the Trial Ground, when he had wanted to strike Lisa. Back then, Han Shuo had abandoned reason and followed his inner desire. In the end, the Battle Aura Claude had struck into his body had been dissolved by the Demonic Essence enveloping it.

Now, the situation was exactly the same. The Demonic Essence in Han Shuo's back still enveloped Eric's Battle Aura, and his inner urge had become overwhelmingly strong.

Turning to look at the trembling Jack, Han Shuo lost every trace of simple-mindedness from his face. His eyes were as sharp as blades, carrying a hint of a gambler's frenzy. Handing Jack the broom, he said coldly, "Take this. If anyone dares hit you, stab him!"

After a pause, Han Shuo pointed to the other, sharp end of the iron broom and said flatly, "Use this sharp corner!"

Frightened by Han Shuo's current appearance, Jack stared dumbly at him, his legs shaking. Where was even a trace of Brian's cowardice and timidity in the calm, cold ruthlessness Han Shuo was displaying now?

Thrusting the broom into Jack's hands, Han Shuo turned around, his face once again simple-minded and wooden. With instinctive fear, he cried in panic, "Don't! Don't hit me!"

"You're exactly who we're hitting!" All six rushed him at once, their fists and feet suddenly lashing out at every part of Han Shuo's body.

Covering his head with both hands, Han Shuo first retreated fearfully. After backing up three steps to Jack's side, he suddenly seemed to be provoked. Letting out several wild howls, he charged straight at the six like an enraged bull.

Keri was in front. Seeing Han Shuo go mad again, Keri, who had taken a beating last time, felt his heart tremble. His raised right foot froze in mid-kick, and he simply did not dare bring it down.

But just because Keri did not kick him did not mean Han Shuo would spare him. As he ran, Han Shuo could already feel the Demonic Essence in his back circulating rapidly. As before, it seemed to have begun digesting the deep blue-green Battle Aura Eric had left behind.

At that moment, Han Shuo had only one irrepressible thought: knock every last troublemaker before him to the ground-dead or alive!

Spreading his hands, Han Shuo seized Keri's suspended right foot with lightning speed, then heaved it upward. Keri flipped backward through the air and landed with a thud, grimacing and crying out in pain. His teeth met the ground, and blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The four who had come to help Keri and Borg were startled by Han Shuo's ferocity. Their nasty grins abruptly froze, and their expressions grew somewhat strange.

"Don't be afraid! There's only one of him and six of us. We can beat him to death just by piling on!" Borg stiffened his neck and suddenly spoke up. Producing a four-legged wooden stool from somewhere, he shouted and swung it at Han Shuo.

At Borg's words, the other four, whose momentum had just faltered, rallied. Slowly drawing wooden clubs from behind their waists, they followed Borg and swung down at Han Shuo's head.

They even came armed! Han Shuo narrowed his eyes slightly. Just as Borg's stool was about to hit him, he suddenly pushed off with both legs and darted out of the way.

Bang!

The stool struck the stone floor, its four legs wobbling with a creak, looking rather unsteady. Borg gave a soft exclamation of surprise. Having missed, he looked stunned, seemingly not expecting Han Shuo to dodge.

Thump! A fist struck Borg squarely on the bridge of his nose, making a crimson flower bloom. His head jerked back, and he staggered two steps, even releasing the stool in his grip from the pain.

Lowering his head with a cold chuckle, Han Shuo grabbed the stool Borg had dropped and turned toward a short, stocky, red-haired attacker sneaking up behind him. The wooden club whistled through the air. Just as it was about to land on Han Shuo's head, he abruptly raised the stool and forcibly blocked it.

Gripping a stool leg in each hand, Han Shuo felt the Demonic Essence along his spine circulate faster and faster. He could clearly sense the enveloped Battle Aura steadily disappearing into it. His hands seemed to have inexhaustible strength. With a stool leg in each hand, he suddenly tore outward.

With a creak, the entire stool split in two. Holding half in each hand, Han Shuo kicked out with his right foot, striking the attacker squarely in the lower abdomen. The man immediately turned deathly pale and crouched down in pain.

Han Shuo did not let him off so easily. At that moment, he felt a sense of utter exhilaration and wanted only to vent to his heart's content. Both hands went to work at once, repeatedly smashing the stool halves down over the man's head and face with sharp cracks. Blood instantly burst from his forehead, staining the stool in Han Shuo's hands.

"Stop him! That damned lunatic will kill Alva!" Borg's nose had been flattened by Han Shuo's punch. Two trails of blood trickled from his nostrils like earthworms as he shouted in terror.

Even Keri struggled to his feet. Though frightened, he still shakily raised the wooden club he had hidden beforehand and charged at Han Shuo with the others.

Clatter! Crack!

The fierce sounds of collision rang out incessantly. Watching from the side, Jack's bent legs shook uncontrollably as he stared at Han Shuo in disbelief. Holding half a stool in each hand, Han Shuo showed no fear before their combined assault. In his wild, savage face, his eyes held a bone-chilling coldness.

Han Shuo kept shifting and dodging, but the stool halves never stopped, smashing and slapping straight into their noses and faces. Before long, blood was bursting from the faces and heads of all six attackers.

At that moment, Jack fell into a complete daze, stunned by Han Shuo's ruthless methods. He had never dared imagine that one day, the perpetually cowardly, timid, and submissive Han Shuo could show such a fierce and brutal side.

While Jack stood dazed, the mass of Battle Aura Eric had left in Han Shuo's back was finally slowly refined by his Demonic Essence as he fought with abandon. Only then did Han Shuo start inwardly, abruptly realizing what he was doing and feeling a shiver of fear after the fact.

"There's fighting! What's going on? Hurry to the Trial Ground and take a look!" Suddenly, Han Shuo heard Fanny's voice in the distance, followed by footsteps rapidly approaching.

Kerry Borg and the others, in contrast, remained completely unaware. Each stared at him in terror and alarm. They all held clubs, but not one dared take another step closer.

Knowing this was no small matter, Han Shuo rapidly turned ideas over in his mind. Then an idea struck him, and he abruptly ran toward the entrance to the Trial Ground. As he ran, he smeared the blood on the stool halves haphazardly over his face and forehead, then tossed the two bloody halves aside. Reaching back to the wound Eric's sword had inflicted yesterday, he tore at it hard and howled in pain. The wound, which had yet to scab over completely, instantly split open, and blood seeped out, staining his back red.

At the entrance, Han Shuo's rapid run came to an abrupt halt. He promptly dropped to the ground and crawled "laboriously" toward the doorway. When he saw Fanny and the others appear, Han Shuo stretched out his bloodstained hands, his forehead and nose covered in blood, and whimpered fearfully, "They... a whole bunch of them beat me. Save... save me!"