Chapter 107.
PART 1.
While ambition is good, executing a plan to achieve that ambition is harder. Josh is thinking about what could he do to subvert the council. “Any ideas?” he asked Raven.
“Well, what have you got?” asked Raven.
“Not much. so far, I’m thinking of just going out in the public, and letting the students know that there is someone alternative to the council,” said Josh. “And of course, slowly tell them about the plans we discussed earlier.”
“Hmm. and what do you think would be the best way to communicate that?” asked Raven. “I doubt anyone will appreciate you giving a speech in the middle of classes.”
“True.” Said Josh. “I don’t want to do a speech anyway, I think the first announcement should be in a controlled environment, so we can plan according to the reactions we get.”
“I think I should give an interview to the school newspaper. It’ll reach everyone, and we will get a relatively controlled environment.” Said Josh.
“Yes, no one will throw eggs at you if you screw up your speech.” Said Raven.
“That too.” Laughed Josh.
“But you should know that once you start, you won’t be able to stop. There will be tons of opponents who will come out to bash you,” warns Raven.
Josh smiles, reminding Raven of Hatori before a duel. “I accept the challenge.” He spoke.
Raven is happy to see his friend be motivated so much. ‘Let’s hope he’ll succeed, and the public won’t grind him down. It’ll shatter his heart.’
PART 2.
Hatori finds a letter outside of the secret ground’s entrance. No one tries to open this strange rusty gate, but coming close to it is nothing new. Hatori often has to time his exit to make sure no one sees him opening or closing the gate. Although he is suspicious that at least someone has seen him coming out of the ground on the other side, for some strange reason, they have not made it known.
Seeing a piece of paper stuck to the gate made Hatori think that there was some strange rune that would activate if he touched the paper. His magic surged, and an explosion took place, attracting the attention of the students who were on the ground. When they saw that it was Hatori, and nothing else was happening, they lost their interest. The letter survived the explosion, though Hatori does not sense any sign of magic on it.
He opens the letter and reads it. his smile widens with each paragraph he reads. Burning the letter into ashes, he grinned. ‘Someone thinks they are a challenge to me, and my reputation is overrated? This should be fun. This better be good, or else they’ll suffer a lot before dying.’ He thought.
No one gets to make fun of him or walk over him. ever since his memories were stolen and shown to everyone, Hatori takes challenges to his dominance very seriously. ‘Come to think of it, those students I captured last year were really helpful.’ He thinks while walking away.
Studying them allowed James and Hatori to understand enough of the alchemic processes in humans that they were able to answer all the questions in the surprise test of Professor Dhiraj, who for some reason decided to test them, even though the class had only been started for a week at this point.
Carving runes on them also allowed Hatori and James to understand the flaws in their various designs. ‘Likely, he will use this knowledge to improve himself this year.’ Thinks Hatori. James is the only one who has that kind of knowledge besides Hatori. His remaining three friends are rather squeamish about human experimentation, even though it is happening around them constantly.
After all, do they honestly think that the professors teaching them don’t do that in their free time?
PART 3.
In the room of frozen time, James is working with the schematics given to him by Hatori. This is an incomplete project by Zeko and his friends from their school days, a yantra to detect poison or foreign substances in food and drinks. ‘This would have come useful last year.’ Thinks James.
While the theory is mostly right, Zeko and his friends never built a practical prototype to test it. as a result, they never solved the flaws in their schematics. But James has experience in building practical yantras, he is slowly refining this yantra’s theory. Soon, they will have a working prototype.
In the other news, James is thinking of proposing the name change for this room. frozen time implies that time does not move here. But it does move, given how it passes outside. which means that the name has to be changed. He’ll talk about that with Hatori. For now, he goes outside to train Suraj.
He is helping him train his reflexes, but it is proving to be hard. The boy does not take his training seriously. True, it will take time to get used to having eyes suddenly, and it also will take time to build hand-eye coordination. However, the process is slowed down when the user of the eyes is uninterested in improving them.
‘Maybe I’ll tell Hatori to do something about it.’ thinks James. But before throwing Suraj in the maw of the tiger, James does want to give it a try. Maybe he will realize the importance of what he is trying to teach him before he has to take drastic measures?
James can only hope for that.
PART 4.
Hatori arrives at the location of the challenge. He picked up Shin who was returning from his music lessons. Their entire group has acquired a reputation for skipping classes since they rarely attend classes, or are the only ones which interest them. when he told Shin about that letter, he was interested to see who exactly could it be.
“Maybe someone from the council.” he thought out loud.
“I doubt it,” said Hatori. “Now, be quiet. Here they come.”
A bunch of third-years arrive and look around. Hatori is not certain why they are there. Maybe they are brought here as an audience? But when one of them opened his mouth, it clued him in why they were here.
“No one is here, I think they got scared of you Bala.” Said the boy. judging from the flow of his magic, he is an average one, not very strong, but not a weakling either.
“Of course they got scared.” said another boy. “Who dares to face Bala? Not even the blind menace has the guts to do that.”
“Of course.” Said the final boy, Hatori presumes this one is named Bala. “No one dares to face me, for they know that all those stories are exactly that, stories.”
“Stories have a bit of truth in them, you know.” Said Hatori, standing beneath the tree, covered with the shadow of the massive tree.
“Who’s there? Come out here!” said all three.
“They sound spooked.” Said Shin, though given his tone is not that threatening compared to Hatori, the kids are not scared of his voice. still, having two unseen mages here is making them uncomfortable.
Hatori walks out from his position under the tree, and the kids are spooked by his appearance even more. Given his size, his thick muscles and neck, and his empty eye sockets, Hatori does look very scary. The scary factor is increased by the slowly setting sun, making him look even scarier like some monster coming out as the sun starts to set.
Compared to him, Shin looks like an angel. Though given his different colored eyes, and his strange hair covered by bells, there is some spooky factor to him as well. “Which of you was foolish enough to send that letter, hmm?” asked Hatori.
He punctuated his question with his magical pressure, making the kids hit the ground. “Pathetic. Master Zeko subjected me to stronger pressure than this, and even then, I didn’t flop to the ground like that.”
“Come now, they are just kids. Spair them,” said Shin.
“Yeah, please spare us.” said all three of them.
Before Hatori could say anything in response, he detects several magical signatures coming in the open, and one of them tosses something at him. Shin hums and a shield surrounds Hatori, and a viol of potion explodes on it. not a drop lands on Hatori, but Shin gets splashed by the potion, and he slowly starts to disappear. The pressure grinding them to the earth suddenly disappears, and the three kids witness the beast come out as the sun fully sets. Ten older students start to run, and Hatori starts to chase them. he kills them one by one.
But by the time he was done with them, he wondered why he got so angry. He senses more threats in the surrounding area, and finding nothing, he leaves. ‘I remember they attacked me. but why did I get so angry? Did they harm someone? But those three kids are not injured at all.’
Shaking his head, he motions them to follow him. “If you don’t want to be left outside in the night, follow me,” he said to them and started to walk to the Academy at a brisk pace. Bala and his friends have trouble keeping up with him, but they breathe a sigh of relief when they enter the Academy.
Hatori leaves them to their own devices, and he looks for his four friends. ‘Raven, James, and Josh. But who is the fourth one?’ he tries to remember, but his mind slides over the name as if it is covered in oil, and the memory is impossible to grip.
PART 5.
Before we can serve you this special interview today, we would like to make a note of something. The ranks of the council have depleted even further, as Jagdish the de facto leader, and his followers were found dead with other council members. They were all killed with electric shocks or in some cases iron spikes through their heads. Nearby, a shattered viol of potion was found, but the killer is unknown at this point.
Though accusations at Hatori Eagle can indeed be leveled, we should remember that elements of lightning and fire, and conjuring iron spikes are not his monopoly. Duelers display these tactics in every competition, and our prestigious Academy does have an impressive dueling seen, underground or above the ground.
In light of these latest developments, we encourage you to read this interview even more carefully. Now, the interview.
Interview of Josh Fernandes, written by Nidhi Parmar.
Josh Fernandes is the son of George Fernandes, the holder of the Fernandes City. His family is the most powerful one in the region of Saptasindhu and often ranks among the top families of the Subcontinent.
His father was an accomplished dueler in his younger days, and his older brother is already helping with the family business after his graduation. He is friends with the notorious Hatori Eagle, who has feuded with the nobility ever since he arrived in the Academy, with Shin, the music sensation, considered to be a prodigy by the music circle of the Academy, Raven, the son of a common soldier who has been seen in the company of our current chess champion, and James Flora, son of the previously influential Flora family, known for his experiments which do go out of control, and rampage in the school.
But how is Josh himself in person? First, he is very tall for his age. Despite having a body that seems perfect for intimidation, his lips are often curled up in a smile. His face is very expressive, often changing according to his mood. And though his size may suggest a tough and heavy voice, his voice is actually very light and pleasant to the ears.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
During this interview, I asked Josh many questions. Some of them were difficult enough that he couldn’t answer them. but he admitted that quite honestly, often saying he is always willing to learn and improve himself, and if need be, use the talent of the people, since it is impossible for one person to know everything.
Nidhi: So, tell us a little about yourself?
Josh: You’re not holding back, are you? this has to be the toughest thing. Describing yourself is not easy. But here’s a good try. I’m Josh Fernandes, a guy who likes math, and a little bit of music, who also likes to observe society, and who sometimes has to be kicked so he would stop being lazy.
Nidhi: So, you wish to embark on a political journey –more on that later—but what made you realize that you wanted to do that, despite your laziness?
Josh: Mostly because of two things. First, I saw how students in power just abused their privilege, while in reality their positions were created to help the students, not to degrade them or abuse them. it was certainly not given to them to be the lack of a dubious professor. Second, my father and Raven and James, my good friends, encouraged me that I could do this. And what better time than this, when the council is basically non-existent? My father told me that if not me, then someone else would take advantage of this power vacuum.
Nidhi: You are known to be a guy who seems to know everything going on at the school. Do you think that will come in useful in your bid for power?
Josh: Quite honestly? I’m not sure about that. yeah, I suppose I could use that to know the general mood of the student population and all, but more than knowing what is going on, I think I have to tell people what I am going to do. Be active instead of reactive, basically.
Nidhi: Now, let’s start with the real purpose of this interview. Why do you wish to go against the council?
Josh: as I’ve said before, the council was created so the students will have an organized body that can talk with the professors and the other authorities of the school, instead of being tamped down by their authority. I won’t go into the history of why that happened, the events were quite brutal and will take long to describe, but that council only existed on paper. I mean you can notice their activities for the hundred years of their existence. Never once did they fulfill their purpose. When I was coming here, my father told me that I should go to the council if there is a problem which I cannot solve by myself. Imagine my surprise as I saw that same council supporting a dubious professor two years ago, banishing a student just because they felt threatened by him.
Nidhi: Was the threat real or imagined?
Josh: At first, it was imagined. The reasons I think you all know, unclear and unknown elven prophecy, being a summoned child, being trained by Porus and all. But they turned Hatori into a threat when they used force to coerce him, trying to make him heel to their authority. After that, the threat turned into a real one, and things just kept getting spiraling out of control. Professor Krishna didn’t help any either.
Nidhi: Some people are going to accuse you that this is just a ploy of Hatori to discredit the Council. how do you respond to that?
Josh: Hatori does not need me to be his mouthpiece. And trust me, if he wanted the council to be gone, he wouldn’t have left any stragglers alive. After all, they did violate his privacy. Your newspaper did a piece on that if I remember correctly.
Nidhi: So, what are your plans?
Josh: first, make sure that the students have a body that they can trust. For all the machinations going on among us, they can come to us, and receive the help they deserve. Second, no distinction between the status of a student. it does not matter what is your birth. If you need help? then you should be provided that help, unconditionally.
Nidhi: You have big plans. But do you think you have the necessary support? You might have the connection, but Avinash Varma is liked in the school more than you. What do you say to that?
Josh: Hmm. well, I think I can gain the support. And if Avinash thinks he can do better than me, then he is also free to throw his hat in the ring. I don’t have any problem with it.
Nidhi: What about your friends? Do you think that your friendship will hurt your career? Especially since you are heavily associated with Hatori Eagle, himself a controversial figure in the school?
Josh: I don’t think so. Let’s be honest here, we are all mages. Scheming is in the blood. We all have shady friends, and at least I can say honestly that my friends are less shady than some other people I know. I do think though given their own respective backgrounds; my friends are going to help me in understanding the general diverse problems of the students better than anyone else.
Nidhi: What do you plan to do differently from the council? do you plan to take over the weakened organization, or create a new one?
Josh: As the things stand right now, the council has to go. I plan to create a new council. where the president won’t be chosen by the council members, instead the students will choose the president. That president will appoint the council members. While there are some other details to it, the basic process is like that.
Nidhi: You do not have any experience in running an organization. Do you think you will be successful, despite that inexperience?
Josh: Well, this is a school, right? What better time to gain experience? Besides, I do think I couldn’t do worse than the people who have already tried.
Nidhi: Some of your ideas will not be accepted by the students of the noble families. How do you plan to appease them?
Josh: To be honest, given my associations, they are never going to like me. but luckily, they are outnumbered in the school. And their base of power, the old council is unable to stop me from executing my plan.
Nidhi: You’ve repeatedly mentioned students other than the noble background. You come from a noble family. Do you not think that you trying to help them is condescending?
Josh: No. especially since unlike someone else, I won’t repeatedly remind them of that. I won’t say to them something like, “Hey, what a poor guy. here’s some help. remember that a noble guy like me helped you. do not ever forget this.”
Nidhi: as my last question, do you think that the new system you plan to create won’t be corrupted in the future like our current council?
Josh: That is impossible to predict. Besides, I do think every system has an expiry date. maybe a hundred years from now, my system will need to be replaced. However, I do plan to build several ways to safeguard from corruption and personal interests, checking the power of the individual students. I also think that the worst thing would be not to try.
PART 6.
“Wait, we have a newspaper in our school?” asked Hatori with an incredulous tone.
“Yeah, you would know if you actually pay attention to outside of your experiments and battles.” Said Raven.
Hatori takes a moment to think about it. “Nah, I’m good where I am.” Said Hatori. “Speaking of experiments, we have a new item to show to you guys.”
They all start to edge towards the door, as James brings out a ring. “A ring?” said Josh, coming close to see it.
While James explains the function of the ring, Hatori starts to read the interview with Josh. Judging from what he heard on his way to the room, this interview is proving to be quite popular. Given how the council hasn’t reacted, they likely haven’t recovered. ‘Me killing some of their members two days ago didn’t help either probably.’ He thought.
He still does not know what came over him, and why did he slaughter them in his rage. True, knowing the reason wouldn’t have changed his mind, he would have still killed them all. But knowing the reason would have made it so much better.
“So, this ring is the project of Zeko and his friends, which they left incomplete. This yantra detects poison and other harmful substances in the food and drink. This would have been really useful.” James muttered the last part. He is still not over everything that happened to him last year. Distracting himself seems to help, so he shakes his head and continues. “The yantra knows what is healthy for the humans and what is not, and if it encounters unknown materials, it tests with the model of the human programmed in it. it takes a while to give its results. Anyway, if it is harmful, it’ll vibrate, and project the info in front of your eyes for only you to see, and no one else can see that. and if everything is good, then its color remains green, and the words “Everything good here” flash in front of your eyes.”
“Quite a cutting piece of magetech.” Said Raven. “Let’s test it.”
James goes out to see the results of the tests. “You are coming?” He asks Hatori.
“Nah, tell me the results later,” he said, still reading the article.
Outside, James tells them how they can give the yantra any shape they like, from a ring to an earring, to a neckless, before his voice disappears completely.
PART 7.
As the potion splashed on him, Shin cursed himself for the foolishness. He should have covered them both, he easily could have done that. he prepared for the pain, but that pain never came. Instead, he slowly sees his hands turn into these wispy clouds, which are just like his hands. As Hatori is done expressing his rage, he tries to draw attention to his problem. “Um, buddy? A little help here?”
Hatori turns around, but he behaves like he can’t hear him. he looks like he is trying to remember something hard, but can’t seem to grasp at the memory. Shin knows that if he had eyes, he would have looked right through him like he wasn’t even there. When he orders those three kids to come with him, Shin tries to pursue after him.
“Oy, don’t leave me like this, listen dammit!” he tries to slap Hatori, but his arms passed right through him, and he did not notice anything strange. Not even a shiver.
Shin runs his hands through his hair. He realizes his bells are also missing. “Noooooooooo!” he screamed.
Going inside the Academy, he looked at himself in the mirror of his dorm room, where he saw nothing, even though he danced in front of it. when he went for dinner, he couldn’t eat properly, it was as if the food itself didn’t want to come to his hands or mouth. He had to slurp like a degenerate as a result, and even then, he was unable to eat a full meal. Even in a crowded place like the mess hall, no one noticed him, even when he bumped into people. Granted, since he passed through them it is hard to notice him, but Shin does not care about their difficulty.
He walks into math class taken by Josh the next day. He writes his name on the blackboard, but the professor whips it out with absent-minded ease. No one even looked at this strange occurrence, ‘Can’t they see a floating chalk right in front of them?’
He wrote another phrase on the board. “Josh, look at me, I’m Shin.” Still, no reaction.
“Josh, you son of a bitch, look at me!” wrote Shin, hoping that leaving out his name, and including curses would affect Josh’s sensibility, and maybe he might notice him then.
But that didn’t happen either. Dejected, Shin floated out of the class. Later, as James and Hatori explain the yantra, he sulks on his bed. No one can see him or hear him. they do not remember him. This is his personal nightmare. Ever since he got involved with this group, he felt included, like he belonged with some people.
But now? Even that is robbed from him.
The world suddenly seems a large and lonely place to Shin, a place which is also very hostile to him.