Chapter 100.

PART 1.

Taking advantage of this time-stopping room, Hatori sits, which feels like days, but in reality, are just a second outside, designing the runes for modification. Finally, he can work on that in peace.

There is not much special stuff he can do for now. But he can improve his stamina and physical strength, which indirectly will make his magic more powerful. Other than that, some sensory improvements, like better hearing than he already has, and defense against loud sounds, which has been a weakness of his since his childhood.

‘I’m not sure whether this will let me face stronger mages, but I do think it is a good start. In particular, the sensory improvement bit is worth pursuing in the future.’

Theoretically, Hatori can take notes from the library, and use this room to improve himself for as long as he wants. But the room has some really bad effects when he lives inside of it for too long, which is surprising when he thinks about it. ‘I never thought I would run from isolation.’ He thinks since he enjoys his alone time.

But alone time is different than closing himself inside a room for days’ worth of time. no matter how little time passes in the world outside, you still feel as if you have spent days without human contact. ‘Curse the sociability. Why can’t I be like a cold machine working with its calculations to take out its enemies?’

Done with his designs, now it is time to test these runes. Symbols from the hearing improving section appear on his ears, where the runes take immediate effect. Hatori has to focus to keep them there, but he can test these runes this way. ‘Truly, Zeko handed me a mine of gold when he taught me his runic system.’ Done with marveling at the awesomeness of Zeko’s runic system, Hatori shakes his head. He can think about personalizing this system for himself later.

“Now, I need to test the volume defenses.” He said out loud because he needs to use his throat once in a while, lest it becomes weak from disuse.

Folding his notes carefully, he walks out of the room to find the perfect guy who could help him in testing those defenses.

PART 2.

The professors have gathered in Corvus’s office, and, unlike their weekly or monthly meetings (which are held on a smaller scale compared to the annual meeting which is held at the beginning of every year) this isn’t a peaceful occasion where a bunch of Academics are putting their thoughts forward. No, this is just an endless litany of complaints.

“Headmaster, you must do something about those unruly students.” Said one female professor.

‘Maybe I should have done something about you when I took over.’ He thought after hearing this woman.

“Headmaster, they interrupt my classes.” Said another professor.

‘Maybe you are not fit to teach?’ he thinks after hearing this man’s complain.

“Headmaster, they pick fights in the classrooms!”

“Headmaster…”

“Headmaster…”

“Headmaster!” said one professor very loudly.

“What?” thundered Corvus, silencing everyone.

“I mean, what can we do to solve this issue?” said the loud woman, after measuring her tone.

“Headmaster, that Arora boy is behind this. He dragged one student out of my class for voicing his thoughts about low-class students.” Said Amrita, the professor of history.

Corvus massages his head. These aren’t the idiots like Krishna Menon whom he can dismiss or bully. These issues are real concerns, no matter how vexing they might be. “Maybe we should bring equality among students?” he suggested.

‘Now that I think about it, what exactly is that useless moron up to?’ thinks Corvus.

“Maybe you have a point.” Said the professors. “It would certainly make teaching them easier.”

Corvus was expecting outrage, but this is a welcome surprise. “But what about their parents?” asked Bali. “They’ll complain.”

“Who do we teach, the kids or their parents?” asked Amelia. “If they are so outraged, they are free to send their kids outside of the Subcontinent.”

“Point.” agreed Bali.

“We should have never allowed the council to go out of control.” Said Dhiraj. This statement caused a lot of hem-hawing, and uncomfortable shifting in the room. Such bluntness is unexpected.

“I say we let them fight, and teach those who want to learn.” Said the woman who screamed just a few moments ago. “I mean, it is not our responsibility to drag them into our classes kicking and screaming, if they want to play politics and revolution at their ages.”

“True. True.” Said everyone. “I believe this is the best solution.” Said Corvus.

“Ignore the fighting and attacks, and teach those who are willing to listen to your lectures. Otherwise, use this time to relax or recharge your batteries. Let it be known that I Corvus, the headmaster, am a generous employer.” Everyone shook their heads. Corvus will continue to praise himself for a while now, so they ignore him and start to share the gossip to pass the time, or in the case of Dhiraj who is not inclined to participate in such activities, enjoy the wonderful tea.

PART 3.

While Hatori was initially out to find Shin to test his hearing sensory defenses, he remembers that he will have to prepare his body for the modification, before he can carve those runes on himself.

The preparation usually requires physical fitness, a relaxed mind, and rest before the ritual to make sure that the performer of the ritual won’t run out of magic in the middle. for it can have disastrous and dangerous consequences. So, sneaking inside of the library (the only place where the students haven’t chased him yet) he brings out the notes which do have the requirements of body modification, and how to fulfill them.

Since he already knows about the rituals, having taken the class for two years (though attended it in person very little) and having performed one last year, Hatori is confident that by the time he can fulfill the requirements in just two months or so.

‘Amusing. Once again, it will be the time of the festival.’ He smiled. ‘Maybe they should get used to me crashing the party every year from now.’

After all, why should they have all the fun, while he suffers due to their politics? ‘If I ever survive to my adulthood, I will boil the politicians alive if they ever bothered me.’

Going to the dwarves, he shared what has happened to him so far, and what he is planning to do about it. “That is good kid,” said Khansama, the head of the dwarves who cook for the Academy. “Never take anything lying down, because then it’ll cause your enemies to whip you even more.”

“I assume you will need the food arrangement from the last year?” asked the head dwarf.

“Yeah, can you provide me with that kind of food?” asked Hatori.

“Sure. Just tell us the place and time.”

‘Now, to find Shin. Come to think of it, it seems the school is going through some unrest. I hope they are safe.’ Thinks Hatori, sneaking out of the kitchen of the dwarves.

PART 4.

The attitude of this young pup-start is not appreciated. The older dogs which have been at this for a while, thought that they would be able to climb the ladder in their group, or maybe leave with a sizable following to form their group.

But the youngest brother can upset all of this. As a result, they surround him one day, to tell him where he belongs in the group. (In case it is not obvious, that is at the bottom.)

But this isn’t a normal puppy. He is possessed by a human (a very unwilling arrangement) and the human refuses to bow down. While the young puppy cowers from his older brothers and sisters, since their body language implies physical violence, Josh pushes him at the back of their shared minds and prepares to fight them.

The first attack results in the oldest dog among the puppies being sent flying, as one movement of his tail moves the water of the nearby hole, which hits him on his snout like a hammer.

Josh takes the initiative, deciding to attack them instead of waiting for them to make their moves. As he rushes them with swirling water around his body, they abandon their hope of teaching him any lessons and run after turning their tails.

But Josh is not willing to let them go so easily. a lesson has to be taught. He slams into one sister, throwing her and trampling her on the ground (and leaving her wet and destroying her carefully groomed fir.) while two brothers running in front of him receive a full blast of remaining water on their behind. One of them slams his head on a tree and is knocked out, and the other one is groggy. Josh is on top of him, and wrestles him to the ground, putting his teeth on his throat.

Taking the signs of whimpers coming from below as his win, Josh snarls at the older pup a few more times and walks away.

PART 5.

Though Daphne’s father has repeatedly told her not to get involved in the school’s drama, since they are from Albia, and looked at with distrust. Daphne couldn’t ignore the current events going on right now, since Ravina is heavily involved with them. What with being a girl from a low-class background, it was bound to be that way.

Unlike the boys, the girls are not fighting so heavily among themselves, at least when it comes to ambushes in the corridor. This gives Raven a nice way to spy on his enemies, because the high-class girls cannot shut up about the plans of their boyfriends, and those boyfriends cannot keep their tongue in control when they are around them.

‘I’ll make sure if I ever liked a girl, she is not a blabbermouth.’ He thinks to himself.

‘Now, where exactly has Shin disappeared off to?’ He looks around for him but does not find him anywhere.

PART 6.

Shin was returning from his music class, which is the only class that has continued in the school uninterrupted. Mostly because the students of that subject do not like to exclude anyone if they have musical talent, and they ruthlessly oust anyone who displays the usual characteristics of a noble family's arrogance. This is exactly why Shin was so easily accepted by the various groups over the years for performing at the festival.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Just when he was thinking about resting some since he had a free period, he was dragged by his collar, and any attempt at getting rid of that grip proved to be ineffectual. The bells in his hair jingle, and he is dragged to the secret ground, which makes him realize that this must be someone from their group. He kicked himself silently for forgetting that he could sense magic, and recognize his kidnapper.

He then finds himself going through a tunnel, and after going through several rooms, he finds himself in this strange plane room, where Hatori sits in front of him on the floor.

“Did you need to drag me like that here?” he asked eventually.

“You need to get paranoid.” Said Hatori, making Shin wince from his rather harsh voice. ‘Looks like he is not getting to talk with anyone much.’ he observes.

“Why have you brought me here? What is this place.” He asked.

“Usually, I would say that we don’t have time. but in this case, we have a lot of time,” said Hatori, and proceeded to explain what he was going through, what happened with Josh, how he found this room, and the properties of this room.

“That… Is… Awesome!” trilled Shin. “This is a treasure, you know that?”

“I know. But I haven’t scouted the entire place. There are some books, but I think there are traps in them. I feel pretty strong enchantments on them.” said Hatori.

“So that’s why there were so many closed doors.” Said Shin. “Also, I hear that the business of ahem. Finding old and rare magazines has taken a nose dive, ever since we stopped finding those.”

“I love to do that since it was making us good money. But I can’t step inside the Academy openly; the council would stop at nothing to kill me,” said Hatori.

“Anyway, I need you to test my defense against sound-based attacks,” said Hatori.

“Already planning to fix that weakness, I see.” Said Shin.

“Only a fool lets the same attack work against him twice.” Said Hatori.

His violins are still slung over his shoulder, so Shin brings it out. “Mind if I use this?”

“Go ahead. Don’t worry about the damage. I must refine my defenses; I cannot let any weaknesses remain.” Said Hatori, and sits down in a meditative pose to observe the performance of his symbols, making changes on the fly as Shin tries various sound-related techniques to confuse or cripple him.

PART 7.

James feels the lucidity coming to him slowly. Neha is in her room right now, so he takes this moment to write a note for Raven. Feeling the effects of the potion, he continues to write, even though his hands shake at this rebellion.

When Neha comes to get him for their “daily activities” like romantic walks on the ground, he collects flowers for her and follows her around like a lost puppy. James wanted to respond with violence. It would be so easy to take her head off. Just one fociless spell and his problem would be dead.

But he is unable to do this. And soon enough, after consuming the breakfast which she brought for him, James is under her control once more. “If it weren’t for me, you would look like a thin rail. You should eat better, love.” She spoke.

James hates every moment with her, and every bite of his food makes him want to throw up.

PART 8.

Later, Raven finds a piece of paper sitting on James’s bed. This is surprising since even after getting enthralled by a girl, James has remained neat, just like Josh. He also does not sense any magic from the paper, so he picks it up and reads what is written on it.

Crumpling the note, he rips it and lights the pieces on fire. ‘I would love to help you out, friend, but I’m stretched thin. Fighting the council, and keeping the lower-class students is eating all my time. Josh and Hatori are out of contact, and even Shin has gone missing.’

Raven resists the urge to cry. There are too many things for him to handle. But it looks like one thing will be off his plate, and he won’t be alone for too long. He listens as the familiar jingle of the bells gets closer, and Shin comes inside the room.

“Hatori is right, sensing people in advance is fun.” He says, giving him a strong hug.

“O…kay? I was with Hatori. He found this awesome place.” He whispers about the place, not giving much details.

The walls have ears, after all. But Raven gets the gist, and a wide smile stretches on his face. “And you say he is letting us have free reign over that place?”

“Yep,” confirms Shin.

“He is too generous for his good. I must disabuse him of that,” mutters Raven.

“You and your big words.” Said Shin. “But there is another concerning news.”

Shin tells him about what happened to Josh. “So that’s why he is out of contact. Well, until Hatori can find him, let his body remain with healer Slaughter. I’m sure he can guard him better than us.”

“Besides, I doubt that the dogs of the council would dare to go against him.” Said Shin. “I dig some info about the guy since you told me to find out more things about the staff. Needless to say, there is a reason why he is called Slaughter.”

PART 9.

After Shin leaves, Hatori has to rest to recover from everything he has put him through. Right under his nose, his friends are improving. ‘I can’t see them progress because I get isolated with them as soon as the year starts. The story of the past two years.’ He grumbles.

He also wanted to test how healing runes are performing, since Hatori expects that sooner or later, somehow his defenses will be breached. When that happens, and if he survives, he must heal his ears, and bring them back to optimum condition. Naturally, this works best while sleeping.

After the relaxing sleep (looks like he is getting used to this room) Hatori consumes two bananas, which the dwarves left outside for him. After that, he completes the final set of runes. ‘Once I have more time, I’ll enhance my other senses. I think smell would be the next natural step.’ He thinks.

Giving final touches to his runes, he folds the notes carefully (he has learned the value of paper the last two years) he meditates with the lightning element. Hatori enjoys letting this element run in his body. He feels like his body’s functions work better as the bioelectricity runs in his body, according to notes he has read on the element. It is fine if you use your energy reserves to produce this electricity, but if you try to import it from outside, it can disrupt the careful balance of your body, resulting in nasty shocks that can end up killing you.

He would like to work on the wind element. The room is perfect for this; there are no sudden gusts to disrupt his focus. But that element just refuses to come to him, and this upsets Hatori. “What did I do to you? Why has the wind forsaken me?”

“Because you’re a drama queen.” Comes the voice of Raven.

It sounded odd, coming from a different time flow. He enters the room. “Hmm. The place looks nice, though I don’t think we can expand it much.”

“Not unless you want everything to horribly implode on us.” Said Hatori. “I don’t mind the dangers usually, but I'd rather not play with one of the least understood forces of the universe.”

“Yes, of course.” Said Raven.

“Do you know that some people even call time an illusion?” asked Hatori.

“And I’m sure they have their reasons. Anyway, Shin said you’ve given us the free run of this place. Is that true?” asked Raven, sitting in front of Hatori on the floor, since there are no chairs in the room.

“Yep. But don’t bring the sixth person, unless necessary. I leave that up to you when that is since you usually have a better judgment for these things.” Said Hatori.

“Sure. So, Josh lost his soul, huh? I’m gonna be honest with you, given what kind of experiments you guys do. I thought you and James would be the ones who would have an accident like that.” said Raven.

“It was my fault. I shouldn’t have been experimenting then.” Said Hatori. “You haven’t talked about James much; I didn’t even sense him much when I went to find Shin. Is he okay?”

Raven takes a moment to think about this. Should he tell him the truth? But Hatori already has his problems. He decides that he will not tell him, and deal with the consequences later. He usually hates doing things this way, but he doesn’t have any other choice.

“He is fine. Misses you terribly.” Said Raven. “There has not been much going on, since the school is going through a revolution of sorts.”

“Shin has told me about it.” Said Hatori. “I would have helped you if I wasn’t trapped outside.”

“Don’t worry about a thing. Just find Josh, ask us for help, if you need us, I’ll be coming here from time to time to form some plans.” Said Raven.

“Sure.” Said Hatori, sensing as Raven leaves. This is so odd to feel as if the person in question has disappeared from reality entirely.

PART 10.

The last few weeks have been rough on Santosh. After his assault on Suraj backfired, the council tried to tamp the spirit of the lower class down. But the rest of the highborn students have distanced themselves from him. On top of that, Hatori is still alive, running around out of their control.

And despite his best efforts, he is unable to find him.

Santosh thinks about these things, as he goes with the council in the forest. After the urging of Krishna Menon, Ramesh has given orders to the rest of the council members to go into the forest, and find Hatori. While they did not find Hatori, they did find his circle.

“So, this is where he prepared that army of beasts.” Said one girl.

“He must come back here sooner or later,” said Santosh.

“What makes you think that?” asked a boy with a sneer.

“Because he won’t be able to face us without modifying himself. And the only place where he can do that is here.” Said Santosh.

“Then we will surround this place.” Said another girl, the second oldest member of the council. “We won’t let him reach this circle.”

Nearby, one puppy hears this entire conversation. Naturally, feeling no threat from the creature, they ignore the dog completely. But this is no ordinary puppy. Josh sneaks into the Academy. ‘I must find my friends; they must know about this.’

(End.)