Chapter 105.

PART 1.

Hatori feels great after sleeping in the morning. After his battle with his clone, Zeko has allowed him two days of rest, because he was badly exhausted, and needed some time to relax. He also talked about some letter sent by Slaughter, but Hatori ignored it as the muttering of an old man.

“Did you sleep well?” he asked, once Hatori arrived for his late breakfast.

“Yeah. I do think I’m done resting though,” said Hatori. “I miss my routine already.”

Zeko laughed. “Don’t worry, you can resume your routine properly tomorrow. As for today, I do have plans to give you some lectures on some things that I didn’t have time to cover last year.”.

Chomping on his apple, Hatori thinks about the new magic he might learn this year. The previous year was transmutation and animation, something which he still has trouble in his battle. It just doesn’t come to him so naturally.

“I hear that you dueled a professor this year?” asked Zeko.

Hatori decides to finish his juice before replying. “Yeah, he had it coming.”

“That was a dangerous and foolish move.” Said Zeko. “You’ve now shown your strength, strong people will come after you now.”

“Hardly.” Said Hatori. “I remember listening to the running commentary of the other professors. They knew that he was weak, even though he was holding the position of professor.” Said Hatori.

“That still doesn’t change a thing. A child beating an adult mage is big news, you need to be prepared for the attention that no doubt will come your way this year.” Said Zeko. “Anyway, I hear that you also tangled with the council?”

For a moment, Hatori’s control slipped, and the room was filled with the smell of ozone. “They got hold of my memories, and exposed everything about me in front of everyone.” He said after controlling his magic.

“I do hope you’re not planning to forgive them or anything.” Asked Zeko mildly.

“Of course not.” Said Hatori. “I will stamp them out this year completely.”

“Good. don’t underestimate them though. Even a dead snake has poison after all.” Said Zeko.

Hatori remembers the snake from the forest, his reptilian friend. “This year, I’ll teach you about shrinking or enlarging objects, and seals.” Said Zeko.

“Now, changing the size of an object requires us to take a detour to the physical laws. You are aware everything is made of matter?” at Hatori’s nod, Zeko continues. “Good. when we shrink the object, we reduce its matter. When we enlarge it, we add matter to it. of course, there is a simple spell to do that, but you should know that it can be dangerous. You can wipe out an entire city if you miscast this spell.”

Hatori takes a moment to think about it. at any given time, and at any given moment, thousands of mages are casting this spell. meaning, Hatori could be in the range of their miscast spell. meaning, he could be wiped out, through no fault of his own. His paranoia is in overdrive, which makes Zeko laugh.

“Just kidding brat. Do you honestly think everyone would use something so dangerous widely?” he asked.

“Yes, yes I think that,” he said, Hatori has learned that mages do not fear death at all.

He on the other hand, likes his life, thank you very much.

“Point. but this spell has been perfectly made safe over hundreds of years of research. You don’t need to worry about the explosion of pure energy wiping anything out. just a warning. If you ever meet someone who is researching about matter, do not mess with them. they often develop some of the most destructive and dangerous spells. granted, some of them do need teams to cast those spells, but they won’t have any trouble in fighting you on a small scale.” Explained Zeko.

“Got it,” said Hatori. Though he plans to not fight directly with such an opponent. Underhanded tactics do exist for a reason, after all.

Zeko shows Hatori the spell by performing it on different objects. A spoon was enlarged before it was brought back to its original size, the plate was made smaller, and the table was shrunken along with the fruits still present on it. Hatori thinks a bunch of oranges and apples reduced to the size of a pea is hilarious.

“Of course, if you eat them, you won’t feel like you have eaten a full apple. Because that is exactly what has happened. The matter has been removed from them, but it is possible to bring them to their original size, as you just saw.” Said Zeko bringing the table to its original size.

“However, this spell has limitations. It doesn’t work on humans or animals. But it is great for non-living things, including eatable things. This can allow you to take more supplies with you with less weight.” Said Zeko.

‘This would have been so useful in the last two years.’ Thinks Hatori.

“Now, the seals compliment this spell in my personal opinion.” Said Zeko. “These are runic symbols that allow you to store something inside of them. just like the normal runes, you can draw them anywhere. From a small paper to even your own body.” Zeko rolls his sleeve, exposing his wrist.

“Here, touch this.” Zeko shows him the rune drawn on his wrist. “This is an example of a seal on my own body. I can carry things inside of it, without feeling its weight, or carry it by hand.”

“What happens to the things if the seal is destroyed?” asked Hatori.

“Good question. in the case of paper or any other object, such as a rock, once the seal is gone, the objects it contains also get destroyed. But in the case of the seals on someone’s body, as long as the person is alive, they can retrieve those objects, even if the seal is gone.” Explained Zeko.

“Naturally, you won’t be able to store large amounts of things just yet. But as you learn more about them, you will be able to store large amounts of material in even smaller seals.” Said Zeko.

“Now, try to draw a basic storage seal on this paper, and once done, put one of these rocks inside of it.” Zeko conjures several small stones and gives them to Hatori. “Once you’re successful in drawing the storage seal, shrink the paper.”

PART 2.

George senior observes as both of his boys are dueling in the garden. His eldest is quite good with fire, as he is, while his youngest is good with water, as his mother is. currently, Josh is trapped in a corner, while his brother is wielding a chain of fire, which has boxed him, denying him movement.

“What will you do now, brother? You can’t exactly use water, there is none here.” He taunted with a smirk.

“Don’t be so sure.” Mumbles Josh, as the fire comes closer and closer, while he stands, focusing on something.

‘Why is he not using his foci?’ wonders George Senior, while George the Junior is ready to hear the sweet words of “I give up!” from his brother, signifying his victory.

But as the flames got closer and closer, Josh did not utter any such words. If anything, George Junior is surprised by the massive amount of water that suddenly appears around his brother, swirling like a whirlpool in the air.

Smirking, Josh releases this massive amount of water, and the resulting wave snuffs out the whip of fire. George Junior is carried outside of the garden by the force of the water, while a woman screams from inside.

“What did you do to my garden!”

Leaving his brother to suffer alone, Josh leaves, since George Junior is still dazed enough that he can’t run. George senior also makes a run for it. As far as he is concerned, it was the children’s fault, he wasn’t even there when whatever that was happened.

Though he fears his wife’s wrath, George Senior is happy to see the difference between his teenage son, and the grumpy boy he used to be. Of course, he is also proud of his growing power. ‘He conjured that much water without a foci. No wonder that he faced the council. he says that Hatori does magic without foci, maybe there is a point in the madness of Zeko.’

Because Zeko is the only one among the modern mages who insist that fociless magic has any point.

Meanwhile, the older brother is suffering the wrath of his mother alone. his father and younger brother have abandoned him. ‘Traitors!’ he screamed in his head. He expected that from his father, but not from Josh. It is surprising to see this rather ruthless side of his brother.

‘Of course, given a chance, I would abandon him to the tender mercies of mother, and run myself.’ He smiled at the thought.

“What are you smiling at? You destroyed my garden!” said the woman, pulling his ear. The smile dies and is replaced by a pleading expression.

PART 3.

“You will need to create your own spells now. You can’t use the ready-made spells all the time kid, use the runic system I’ve taught you, as well as the knowledge you have acquired so far to perform this task.” Said Zeko.

‘Easier said than done.’ Grumbled Hatori in his head. Besides, coming up with spells to create on your own is not easy. ‘Maybe I should look at some spells, and see whether I can modify them or not. That should give me an idea of how to do this.’

Happy with his plan, Hatori goes to the library. He once feared this place, since Zeko told him that the spirit of knowledge is very strong and very grumpy. Given his level at that time, he had no interest in challenging a strong spirit like that then. He barely survived against the Yaksha, and that was when he was holding back.

But now, things are different. He is strong. He has modified himself and gained a boost in power. he can take on any spirit, and though the victory is not certain, his chance of coming out of that battle alive has increased.

Entering the library, Hatori has to stop on his track. A floating book has stopped him from progressing any further. “Stop right there. You must—”

“Defeat you before I can get the knowledge I seek… or something like that,” said Hatori.

“Huh. and I worked so hard on that line. Anyway, you’re right, you must beat me to go inside, or use the facilities of this library.” Said the floating book. It is convenient to speak since it has a mouth on its front cover.

“Okay, but a question. a book, really?” asked Hatori.

“Well, a book is universally attached to knowledge. That is why they are so feared, and looked at with distrust by those who are less enlightened.” Said the book.

Stolen novel; please report.

“You should know that the challenge I will present you won’t be physical in nature. Violence will not serve you here.” Said the book.

“What kind of challenge then?” asked Hatori. “Just so you know, I don’t consider solving puzzles or answering trivial questions the real sign of intelligence.”

“Indeed? Then what is intelligence to you?” asked the book.

“The real intelligence is adaptation. Adaptation becomes easier with learning and experience. But adaptation requires another skill, the skill of careful consideration. If you apply your experiences from the past without taking some time to understand the situation you’re in, you’re not intelligent, you’re just a parrot who remembers specific phrases but can’t use them to form elaborate sentences.” Said Hatori.

“But remembering facts is considered to be the sign of intelligence.” Countered the book. “What do you say to that?”

“True. But the problem is, it is not about how much or how many things someone can remember. It is about how they used that knowledge to solve their problems, by carefully removing the bits you don’t need, and adding other bits from your completely unrelated experiences.” Said Hatori.

“What about emotions?” asked the book. “People always say that someone who does not experience emotions is very intelligent. What do you say to that?”

“Complete hogwash.” Said Hatori. “Intelligent people feel emotions, they feel happiness, sadness, and also anger. But the thing is, they just prefer to keep the stimulating world away from them because it makes thinking hard for them.” using his magic, Hatori brings two mirrors in the air.

“Among these mirrors, one is outgoing and prefers the physical world. other is inward-looking, and prefers their home or a library, where they can pursue their interest in piece.” The second mirror gets cloudy slowly, while the other mirror gets brighter. “That is what happens to them when they get stimulated from the world. whereas when the stimulation goes down,” the first mirror gets cloudy, and the other mirror gets brighter. “That is what happens between them.”

“I noticed that you did not call the first mirror average person, or some such.” Said the spirit.

“Because while it is true that intelligent people do prefer low stimulation, that is not always universal.” Said Hatori.

The book’s cover crinkles in a smile. “Did you know that we were just battling now? I think I’ll let you access the library.”

“Thanks. I didn’t know. I was waiting for you to attack in truth.” Said Hatori.

“Too much paranoia.” Said the book. “You can relax here, no shadows or spirits will attack you here. Also, please do come and talk to me every once in a while, I like to know you a little better.”

“Sure.” Said Hatori. Though he is confused. Why would a spirit want to know him better?

As the book disappears, he moves into the library. Though it is not as big as the library in the castle, or the gigantic library of the Academy, Zeko’s personal library is quite big. ‘Looks like he has amassed quite a collection over the years.’ Thinks Hatori, while looking for the books or manuals with spells noted down in them, so he can modify them for practice.

In his search, he comes across something else. The schematics of a yantra that can detect poison or other dangerous substances in food and drink. Remembering what happened with James this year, Hatori thinks this is a useful yantra. ‘But why hasn’t anyone created something like this? I think they can sell a lot of those if they wanted to.’

The paranoid mages would pay a fortune to have a yantra like this because this would mean no one could give them poison or mind-altering substances. but he has not seen any yantras like this one, not on Zeko, and not at the Academy.

Flipping through the notes, he is surprised at the author. “Master Zeko?” taking the schematics outside, he shows them to Zeko. “Did you work on this?”

Taking the notebook in his hands, he looked at it for quite a while before replying. “I worked on it as a joint project with my friends when I was in the fifth year of Academy,” he said.

“Who were these friends of yours?” asked Hatori curiously.

Zeko replies after several seconds of silence. “I rather not talk about that. but you’re free to use these notes. Give it a try with James. Let’s see whether you two can do it or not.”

“Okay. I’ll show him this when he comes here.” Said Hatori.

PART 4.

James observes as Slaughter tests the Suraj’s response. He first showed him his fingers, made him count those, followed by showing him different shades of colors, showing him some letters under different amounts of light (he didn’t need to read those, since he doesn’t know how to read), and finally, showing him a mirror.

James has seen these tests multiple times in these past few days, and in each of them, his artificial eyes have performed well. planting them was easy. They just removed Suraj’s eyeballs, put them in the empty eye sockets, and after a few minutes or so, they interfaced with his brain. Then, they have to test him for any abnormality, which so far seems to come back negative. James is also interested to see how well he adapts to his sudden gain in vision, after living without it in his life so far.

In the other room, James’s father is recovering from alcohol withdrawal. Apparently, he was put in the alcoholic haze as much as possible, which they learned after Slaughter did a blood test, and learned the symptoms from James.

“That doesn’t make any sense. True, alcohol does cause some loss of memory, and some emotional instability, but literal withdrawal like that is unusual. he should have expressed some anger, or maybe some times of lucidity when he didn’t drink.” Said Slaughter. “I think it is the result of some alcoholic potions. Add them to the food, and if the person is already dealing with alcoholism, they won’t even notice a thing. You can keep them in a drunk state, even without an alcoholic drink.”

So now, he must go through the painful process of withdrawal. Once he is in a good enough state to talk, he will try to get some answers out of him. Until then, he will keep monitoring Suraj.

Watching him smile while looking at the simplest things in the world makes James happy. ‘And next, it is your turn, my friend.’ Thinks James.

“Please do make him walk while using his vision, I believe that would improve his coordination.” Said Slaughter on the first day.

Ever since, James has taken him to walk outside of the castle every day. He never leaves him alone. the castle is full of nobles, someone might decide to harm him for being here. Once Raven and Josh come back here, things will get easier.

‘I must make sure that his family follows the instructions correctly, he must get used to his vision before the Academy starts.’ James knows that Suraj won’t learn to read and right overnight. But he must be comfortable with his vision by the time of the Academy. He also knows that when he leaves for Zeko’s house, Suraj must go home, for the castle is not a safe place for him, without anyone there to defend him.

‘If only he would find a violent bone in his body, maybe then he would start taking his defense lessons from us seriously.’ Thinks James.

PART 5.

Hatori is enjoying the evening with his friends. “So, I’ve noticed that you’re not getting attacked much,” asked Josh.

“What are you talking about? I think you’ve just gotten used to living here.” Said Hatori. “At least I won’t have to face a monster when I come back from Academy this year.”

“What? You never told us about that,” said Raven.

“We never talk about that in the past.” Said Hatori.

Josh looks around. “Anyone misses Shin?”

“Yeah.” all three answer.

“Our group is not complete without him. I miss his jingling bells.” Said Hatori.

“I found them annoying.” Said James, making everyone chuckle. “Do you know that he spent hours putting the bells on the top of his head like that until he learned a spell to do that?”

“I can imagine.” Said Raven. “Too bad, we never got the chance to make fun of him for that.”

“Spending time in a bathroom like a girl.” Said Hatori, making everyone laugh.

“Come with me brat, we need to have a talk.” Said Zeko, coming in the garden to call him.

“What kind of talk?” asked Hatori, as he followed Zeko inside.

“Why, the talk of reproduction, of course.” He said, and Hatori’s face turned white from fear. “Now, I won’t use any visuals for this, they are likely to be lost on you. I hate the phrases like “When a man and a woman love each other”. So here’s the complete version of it, with no sugar coating at all.”

Ten minutes later…

“And of course, there are magical implications of this as well, such as the fertility rituals. I’ll leave that for your professor to cover this year. Apart from that, some nutbars also use sex to establish magical dominance, especially during the moment of climax.” Said Zeko.

Outside, his friends sit rooted in their spots, unmoving. “Should…” Josh tries to say, but can’t go beyond the first word. He decides to try again. “Should we help him?”

“Nah. let him suffer.” Said Raven. “Some battles must be fought alone.”

They look at James. They are aware of his family situation, so they are thinking about what kind of talk he has. “My aunt gave the talk to me when I was eight.” Said James. “Trust me, what Hatori is going through is nothing.”

Raven and Josh shiver. “Isn’t she mad enough to call someone to give you a practice?” asked Raven.

“Unfortunately. Luckily, my father experienced some lucidity at that time, and put a pause on that,” said James.

‘Probably after that, his diet was made intense.’ Thinks James.

A few months later after this traumatic event, Hatori is ready to leave for the Academy once more. He will stamp out the council this year, but he is sure that they will cook something for him this year as well. ‘I won’t go spells blazing at first. But at the slightest chance of weakness, I’ll pounce, and get the submission!’

Meanwhile, his friends have made their own list of the improvements they want for themselves this year. Hatori offered them the lake and the circle he had, but they refused.

“If you don’t mind, we rather like to do it ourselves. We won’t get the complete experience as a result.” Said James.

“Sure. We’ll abuse that time room though,” said Josh, before his mouth was covered by Raven.

“Be quiet, even airships have ears!” he said to him.