"Save me, I'm not fatally injured," the shadow thief struggled to rise, pleading with the thin man for help. "I have a powerful healing potion; I just need five minutes to recover. Take me with you, I only need five minutes."

"The seed of a carnivorous vine has been planted inside you; there's no saving you," the thin man coldly sneered. "You can't even defeat a child, what use is saving you? If I had five minutes, I would have already abducted this kid and wouldn't be wasting words with you! Buck, you arrived quickly, I thought another decoy could delay you for a while, but his life couldn't even buy me a minute."

"In my territory, you seem to have no right to speak so loudly," Dean Buck emerged from the darkness, casually tossing a bloody head, coldly saying, "Make your last words. I give you one minute."

"Brandon!" The shadow thief recognized his companion's head rolling on the ground.

"I spared your proud student, now let me go!" The thin man pointed at Rody, calmly saying, "If I try to escape, I might get seriously injured, but you can't kill me. However, I'd prefer to leave unscathed. What do you think of my proposal?"

"Is that your last wish?" Dean Buck coldly replied, "I don't think it's a good proposal."

"In that case, I'll send him to hell first!" The thin man's hands shone brightly, striking heavily at Rody on the ground. The entire secret passage shook, walls collapsed, the ground cracked like a spider web, and rocks flew. Buck disappeared, and the thin man screamed, a long blood rainbow streaking through the darkness, vanishing at the end of the passage.

"Little Rody, you're not dead yet, are you?" Dean Buck stepped out of the dust, holding a bloody arm, casually tossing it aside, and looked down at the cratered rocky ground where the thin man had hit Rody, asking warmly.

"I'm close, dying," Rody suddenly appeared, floating above the original ground, then harshly fell into the pit, painfully saying.

"I'm also very curious, how did you survive a heart-piercing stab? And, this invisibility, did you hide yourself in a storage space? You know, usually, people enter a dormant state in a storage space. How did you release yourself from a thoughtless dormant state?" Dean Buck asked curiously.

"Dean Buck, did I ask how you tore off Ghost Stabber's arm?" Rody closed his eyes and said, "Everyone has their secrets. You have yours, and I have mine."

"It seems you're still a fake necromancer," Dean Buck saw Rody control Nicholas' severed head to carefully pick him up, wondering.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Which eye of yours saw me as fake? If I'm a fake necromancer, then you're a fake dean!" Rody, in pain, breathed heavily, drinking several gulps of a healing potion, frowning, "Can't this healing potion be sweet?"

"I'm a genuine dean, although with a low position, no doubt about it," Dean Buck chuckled. "As for you, who considers himself a genuine necromancer, Rody, do you know how your dark servants are different from others? Dark servants usually have their consciousness and require a somewhat equal magical contract to maintain the relationship between master and servant. Unlike yours, where dark servants not only lack consciousness but also unconditionally obey you."

"Dark servants have consciousness?" Rody was shocked, gaping in disbelief.

"You didn't know?" Dean Buck was even more astonished, both staring wide-eyed.

"What's going on?" Rody, unable to believe that necromancers' dark servants all have consciousness, blurted out, "Do the skeletons summoned by necromancers have consciousness? How is that possible!"

"Of course, temporarily summoned skeleton warriors don't, but dark servants and summoned skeletons are completely different. Dear Rody, you didn't even know this!" Dean Buck laughed strangely. "By the way, did you sign a contract with the Dark God to become a necromancer? Don't tell me you learned necromancy without signing a demonic contract."

"..." Rody was dizzy, hearing about the Dark God for the first time. Nicholas hadn't mentioned this in the magic notes.

"Congratulations, Rody, you might be the first person in history to use magical power without signing a contract with a deity!" Dean Buck clapped, laughing loudly. "I said you seemed odd, turns out you really don't know anything!"

"Dean Buck, which deity do you believe in?" Rody couldn't help asking.

"That's a secret," Dean Buck smiled mysteriously. "But I can reveal a bit. The strong in our Felik Principality believe in the Earth God, unlike other countries that believe in the Heavenly Gods."

"What happens if you use magical power without believing in a deity?" Rody asked again.

"I don't know, you're the first," Dean Buck laughed, shaking his head. "What you feel, the consequences, you should ask yourself. By the way, I'm curious, what does it feel like? Can you tell me?"

"It feels great!" Rody, seeing Dean Buck's envy, deliberately teased him.

"You might have some prospects, but it's hard to say. Without a deity's protection, you could die at any moment!" Dean Buck, disliking Rody's smugness, deliberately taunted him. Rody chuckled, not angry, pointing at his chest, "Killing me won't be easy. Do you want to know how I fooled Ghost Stabber's heart-piercing stab?"

"How did you do it?" Dean Buck was really curious.

"That's a secret," Rody mimicked Dean Buck's mysterious manner, smiling, "But I can reveal a bit. My heart can be temporarily controlled by mental power, unlike ordinary people."

"So, that dagger didn't hit your heart..." Dean Buck laughed loudly. "Good boy, you really have the potential to be a trickster."

"What are you doing? He's severely injured and dying, and you're just chatting with him, not even trying to save him!" A beautiful tutor flew in, an ice ball encasing the shadow thief on the ground, who was watching the dark carnivorous vine growing from his chest and refusing to die. Within three seconds, the entire body exploded into icy fragments, making Rody feel heartbroken. His carnivorous vine, grown from blood, was easily killed by the tutor.

"I, I don't know healing magic," Dean Buck, like a mouse seeing a cat, lost his spirit, only daring to answer softly.

"Apart from causing destruction, what else can you do! Go away!" The beautiful tutor scolded, then waved her wand, creating a huge, cool water ball around Rody, comfortably lulling him into a drowsy sleep, his wounds slowly healing.

"Weirdo, he has resistance to water magic, no wonder he's not afraid of poison," Dean Buck noted.

"Who said he's not afraid? If it's strong poison, he's bound to die!" The beautiful tutor huffed, "Take him back, and think of an excuse to make the students believe this is part of the test, to avoid panic."

In a dense forest on the outskirts of Felik City, the thin man, like a shadow, flew.

His right arm was broken, his left chest muscle gone, revealing stark white bones. If Buck's strike had been a little deeper, he would have died on the spot.

"That was close. Buck is indeed as terrifying as the legends say. This guy can't be provoked for now, I need to hurry back," the thin man looked behind, relieved to see no pursuers, and was about to drink a healing potion when he was surprised to find a drunkard lying under a tree, curled up, sound asleep.

"Drunk Swordsman, it's you!" The thin man screamed in fear.