Chapter 278: A crazy proposal
“So, can you confirm my qualifications now?” Han Shuo understood full well that his magical cultivation played a huge role in his achievement today. Another reason was that his luck was quite good.
“No problem. Please wait for a moment and I’ll complete everything the rest for you!” Ares replied readily and turned to nod at the archmage next to him. The baggy-robed archmage took Han Shuo’s doc.u.ments to the third floor.
“Mister Ares, that person has come by again.” The young girl, who’d been waiting downstairs, tapped her way up and informed Ares.
Ares was stunned. He waved his hand and said, “Let him come up!”
Not long after, Candide came up with a remote expression. He was immediately a bit dazed upon seeing Han Shuo standing there.
Han Shuo was also stunned, as he hadn’t expected to meet Candide in a place like this. A glint flashed through his eyes, which quickly returned to normal. He stood still while still maintaining his smile.
“You old thing. Only now did you find time to spare to come visit me!” Ares laughed heartily. He seemed to have known Candide for a long time.
“I wouldn’t bother coming if I didn’t have something to ask. What, are you busy with something right now?” Candide swept a glance at Ares, then over at Han Shuo. He asked with a frown, pretending to not know who Han Shuo was at all.
“Hehe, nothing! The Babylon Academy of Magic and Force just produced a magic genius. It took him less than two years to go from a mage apprentice to archmage. This is truly a great thing! His records will become an important note in the Magic a.s.sociation.” Ares pointed excitedly at Han Shuo and introduced him to Candide.
Candide too was clearly shocked. He truly hadn’t expected Han Shuo to have reached the rank of archmage necromancer. His eyes glinted as he stared at Han Shuo a few times over before opening his mouth to speak, “Ares, if you don’t mind, I would like to have a private chat with this young magic genius.”
“I don’t mind, but I don’t know if he minds or not!” Ares glanced at Han Shuo, leaving it up to him.
Ares obviously didn’t know of the relations.h.i.+p between Han Shuo and Candide. Han Shuo understood what Candide was saying, so he turned to nod at Ares, “I have to wait for my doc.u.ments anyway. Since I have nothing to do, I don’t mind chatting with him for a bit!”
“Alright, then I’ll go upstairs first. The rest of you guys can go downstairs. I won’t allow anyone else to come up!” Ares ordered the people on the second floor before turning to Candide with a smile, “His archmage certificate will be completed by the time you two are done chatting. Just come up and let me know then.”
“No need to nag, I already know what to do!” Candide likely had a very close relations.h.i.+p with Ares, as he impatiently urged the latter.
Waiting until Ares and his group left, Candide looked at Han Shuo in an odd manner and said, “I’ve just got news from the Valley of Suns.h.i.+ne that you killed Ferguson from the Church of Light. I was going to find you to get a better understanding of the situation. I didn’t expect you to be here, with the ident.i.ty of a archmage necromancer to boot. You’ve truly given me a surprise!”
Han Shuo wasn’t able to suppress his heart’s desire during the chaos in the Valley of Suns.h.i.+ne. He had acted out madly, killing grand magus Ferguson of the Church of Light and heavily injured chief Adam of the House of Menlo. This news had spread all over the Valley of Suns.h.i.+ne. Candide had no reason to remain in the dark towards this matter as one of the Dark Mantle’s three heavyweights.
Han Shuo silently looked at Candide, knowing that he didn’t need to say anything about this matter since Candide already knew about it. On the other hand, he knew Candide would mention this, so he’d prepared something to say beforehand.
Seeing Han Shuo sink into silence and not say anything, Candide looked raptly at him, saying in a low tone, “I don’t know how you managed to kill Ferguson. I likely wouldn’t be able to kill him myself. Ferguson is dead now, but with the great influence of the Church of Light, you’ll meet an endless amount of trouble.
“Moreover, I heard that you cast the lost spell Corpse Resurrection? I think the Calamity Church will certainly try to recruit you. These two churches have a ma.s.sive amount of believers all over the Profound Continent. They have dozens of methods to deal with you, so how are you going to deal with it?”
“Different situations call for different measures. If they dare to act against me, I’ll kill all of them without leaving a single one behind!” Han Shuo’s face was ruthless. His body naturally emitted a killing intent as he said in a voice as cold as ice.
Han Shuo didn’t need to conceal anything since Candide already knew about this matter. When he released the killing aura from his body, a figure at Candide’s level immediately reacted.
Nodding his head, Candide replied with a grave expression, “I believe that your power is by no means weak. However, the Church of Light doesn’t only have Ferguson. They don’t even need to deal with you directly. They only need to pressure the king. I think His Majesty won’t run the risk of offending the church for a minor character like you.”
Han Shuo was even more silent upon hearing these words. With his current intelligence and Candide’s reminder, Han Shuo could naturally understand what he was trying to say.
Taking a deep breath, Candide said, “You’re someone that I brought into the Dark Mantle myself. I’m very happy that you have such a great amount of power. Now that you have the ident.i.ty of an archmage, I will give you an idea!”
Han Shuo’s thoughts raced, he asked in surprise, “An idea?”
Han Shuo had already been mentally prepared on how to live his life afterwards before he had killed Ferguson, so he wasn’t too worried. If the Lancelot Empire sold him out under the pressure from the Church of Light, Han Shuo was confident that he could use the cemetery of death to escape. However, it’d be more difficult to move around from then on.
Now that Candide had an idea, Han Shuo naturally wanted to know if there was a way to deal with this two p.r.o.nged attack against him.
“Be it the Church of Light or the Calamity Church, both are religious inst.i.tutions. Their power can’t dictate the movement of the Lancelot Empire, despite their widespread influences. The Church of Light is a little more difficult to deal with since they act in the light. However, if you can somehow prove your strength to be powerful enough to make His Majesty value you more than the Church of Light, given my understanding of him, the king won’t care one whit about the church’s pressure.”
“As long as his Majesty is willing to protect you, even the Church of Light wouldn’t dare to do anything to you within the Lancelot Empire. After all, they aren’t powerful enough to destroy the Lancelot Empire.” Candide looked at Han Shuo and voiced his advice.
Han Shuo was enlightened by Candide’s words. What a country needed most was indeed talented people. Those with potential were especially important to the future of the country. The Lancelot Empire had been able to maintain its strong standing for so many years due to the efforts of deity Ayermike Cotton.
A sacred magus could release a terrifyingly strong magic that could directly destroy a city. A deity at the demiG.o.d level was even more powerful and could create unimaginable destruction. It was precisely due to the existence and a.s.sistance of Ayermike Cotton that the Lancelot Empire became so prosperous.
After many years pa.s.sed, a supernaturally powerful figure was still the most important resource to a country, particularly holy existences, such as sacred swordmasters, sacred magi, and sacred knights. The number of powerful figures was the best basis on which to determine the strength of a country. If Han Shuo could prove to the king that he could reach such a level, the king wouldn’t be concerned about the threats from the Church of Light and would even wholeheartedly ensure his safety.
“Candide, do you mean…?” Han Shuo understood his advice, but hadn’t thought of a specific way to actually do it. After all, words alone weren’t enough to prove to others that one was very powerful, were they?
“The simplest way is to challenge others and prove your strength through challenging powerful people. I’ve heard that you’ve been hanging out with Lawrence in the city’s Northern Guard. What can Lawrence hide from me? It would actually be faster for you to obtain a n.o.ble t.i.tle through challenging others. When your strength arouses interest from His Majesty, you’ll be able to become a n.o.ble without any accomplishments to your name. Why bother with trying to achieve military feats?” Candide mocked, seemingly dismissive of Han Shuo and Lawrence’s plans.
“Challenge, challenge powerful people. Good idea…” Han Shuo muttered to himself. He then took a deep breath and sincerely thanked Candide, “Many thanks lord Candide. I know what to do now!”
Nodding his head, Candide said casually, “If it weren’t for the fact that you are under my charge, and you brought back Ayermike Cotton’s notebook, I wouldn’t go to such lengths for you. I already came up with this plan to help you once I heard that you’d killed Ferguson. Challenge the people listed on this scroll one by one. You can kill them all, as they’ve committed crimes worthy of death, but have managed to escape the punishment of the Empire’s laws. Even the Dark Mantle can’t find any evidence to catch them, so we want to borrow your ability to execute them.”
“Since you have the power to kill Ferguson, it won’t be hard to execute these people openly and fairly. I will help record your credit. You can quickly gain fame by killing these people. As for the king, I’ll be responsible for communicating with him and obtaining the t.i.tle of viscount for you if all goes well. Not only will His Majesty not exert pressure on you due to the Church of Light, but he can even warn them against you. As your position and fame rise, that kid Lawrence will be very excited. This is really killing many birds with one stone!”
Candide laughed craftily with a sinister face after finis.h.i.+ng his speech. It seemed like he had considered this for a long time, and was very smug about this idea.
“Master Candide, why do I feel like I’m being used?!” Han Shuo was flabbergasted. He understood that this method was good. However, upon seeing Candide laugh so sinisterly, he still felt that the old man helping him was only one aspect, and the main purpose was to use him to eradicate opposing elements.
Rolling his eyes at Han Shuo, Candide said, “Consider this a mission. I’ll record the credit under your name. These d.a.m.n dogs thought they could escape from my palm? Heh heh, this time, you’ll all die together!”
“Understood!” Han Shuo nodded in agreement. He knew from Candide’s insidious sneer that the old man already had some sort of plan.
“Good. I still have some magic knowledge to consult Ares about. Ayermike’s notebook is truly too profound. even I couldn’t fully understand and have to ask that old thing!” Candide complained and started walking upstairs. At the door, Han Shuo saw him release some magic to dispel the previous enchantment formed before their conversation had begun. Then Candide called out, urging, “Come, quickly give this brat his certificate! He’s very impatient!”
“Coming!” Ares replied as he came down with a slight smile. He walked over to Han Shuo and handed him the certificate before saying with a smile, “Congratulations Bryan, with this certified proof from the Magic a.s.sociation, you are now officially an archmage.”
“Thank you.” Han Shuo replied with a smile. He glanced at Candide, who was looking on with a sinister face, secretly cursing in his heart before walking downstairs.
“Congratulations, you’re something alright! Already an archmage necromancer at such a young age!” As Han Shuo reached the first floor, the receptionist offered her congratulations with admiration.
Han Shuo nodded and flashed a bright, radiant smile at the girl before taking a direct path away from the Magic a.s.sociation.
The girl blushed at his brilliant smile, her heart beating many times faster than normal. She secretly thought that he was so tall, young, and handsome!
Han Shuo was one meter ninety centimeters tall and possessed a natural evil temperament due to his practice of demonic magic. Him attracting the attention of the opposite s.e.x was simply a matter of course.
“First target – Colbert, a swordmaster who’s raped and murdered seven girls. Currently residing in the outskirts of the Empire’s Bimson City, mayor of Billow, t.i.tle of baron!” Han Shuo raked his gaze over the list that Candide had given him after leaving the Magic a.s.sociation. He smiled coldly as he walked towards the Empire’s transportation matrix.