Chapter 113.

PART 1.

The time of the festival is today. Today is the first day of the twelfth month, and the entire month-long minivacation for the students will start tonight with a loud bang, after a string of month-long events like conventions and competitions, it will be concluded with fireworks on the final night of the year to start the new year.

Hatori has also learned that you can also find a master' for the two-year-long apprenticeship offered by the Academy, which is mandatory for every student. this time is used to learn a new discipline and handle its responsibilities out there in the real world. it is essentially like an internship process, where you have to work and travel with your teacher and work with them for two years.

And who told him all of this? Why Kangana of course! The girl who is making plans for him in this festival. “There will be a lot of public attention on you this year, not only because you are popular as a hero—”

“I’m not a hero!” denied Hatori.

“—But because of your stunts for the last two years.” She said, without missing a beat. “Also, you are a powerful mage. Power attracts people, so you better get used to it and learn to handle yourself in those situations. This will be a perfect time to practice your social skills. Do not lose your temper, got it?” said Kangana, with her hair starting to flame.

“Your hair is on fire.” Said Hatori.

She blushed. “Sorry, that happens to me when I get too passionate.” She spoke. The flames left her hair unharmed.

‘Looks like she has good fire resistance.’ Thinks Hatori. He rules out fire element spells against her when they end up in a fight. and given how she has been such a pain in the backside for him, it is only a matter of time before he explodes on her.

As for impressing a mage to take him on as his apprentice? Hatori is not bothered about that. ‘I’m not gonna cozy up to some egoistic old man. if need be, I’ll ask the professors, I’m sure they won’t mind taking another apprentice, given how they handle multiple apprentices.’ Thinks Hatori. He has already shortlisted a list of professors to approach.

Krodhatma is on top, followed by Dhiraj, and Bali is his last resort. ‘I’m sure I’ll learn a lot about living with a person who hates me if I end up his apprentice.’ Thinks Hatori. ‘But why does Kangana call me a powerful mage? Surely some students are better than me, and have more future potential than me?’

PART 2.

Looks like everyone has paired up. Hatori is sensing the partners of his friends, while he also is hearing some grumblings about himself, for actually being with two girls. Shin has come with Lavanya, which is not surprising. Though she is still rather cold towards them, these two have grown close to each other, spending a lot of time together. James is with Ranveer, which doesn't surprise him. He already knew this when Ranveer told him about it when Hatori was trying to flee from Kangana. Hatori didn’t think about it much. it is James’s choice after all. Raven is with Ramya.

“What?” he muttered, too surprised to keep his control.

Ramya Dhawan is the daughter of General Sundar, with whom Hatori had some altercations a few years ago. However aside from her attempt of giving him an itchy potion in the name of healing him during his first year in the Academy, Hatori has not heard about her, nor has he got in contact with her. The girl also kept her distance from him, which suited Hatori just fine. However, the next pairing is even more surprising.

Josh is with Kangana. But this time, he managed to control himself. ‘Weren’t they fighting a battle just a few months ago?’ wonders Hatori. ‘Whatever. It is not like everyone is going to spend their entire lives with each other, just because they came to this party with them.’ thinks Hatori. However, this pairing is proof that the world has gone mad, and nothing makes sense now.

The opening event of the festival started with dinner and some music, and the music was quite loud. Daphne, the girl with whom Hatori has paired up offers some food to Hatori, which the boy enjoys. “Hmm. quite delicious.” He said to her.

“What?” she screamed, unable to hear the reply of Hatori due to the loud music.

Hatori remembers that the music may sound normal level to him, but it is quite loud. ‘She can’t hear me.’ he realizes. ‘But I don’t want to scream just to be heard.’ He thought of blasting the stage, and lighting the speakers on fire, but decided it would be going too far. ‘I must practice restraint this year.’ He thinks to himself.

He then starts to modify his runes, and they get updated. His voice cancels the volume of the music entirely and reaches Daphne’s ears clearly. “It was delicious.” He said to her, sounding way too calm in this loud environment. He also protected himself from the sounds, the music did not thump on his chest as it once did. ‘It is good that I took care of that problem. Ears are not the only parts which are vulnerable to the effects of loud sound.’ He thought.

“Do you want something else?” she asked.

“No. let me bring something for you,” he said, summoning a glass, and poring the juice for her, displaying his ability to handle the liquid by putting it in the glass without using anything, and making it fly from the large bowls right over the heads of everyone.

Daphne watches this in awe, while Ravina sits at the same table, glowering at Hatori. ‘Show-off.’ She thinks. that the entire display was unnecessary in her opinion. ‘Everyone knows he can do fociless magic, he didn’t have to show it off like that.’

She has come as a chaperone to watch out for Daphne since her friend is clearly not able to think logically in the presence of this monster. But people have confused her for another date of Hatori, which causes her to glare at them until they find that they have to be somewhere else. She is not a second fiddle to anyone, least of all to Daphne, and certainly not a second date for Hatori.

PART 3.

While Hatori is meeting and handling the students and other mages who are here on a visit nicely (it also helps that Daphne is helping him out wherever she can), someone is watching them. this is Murli, the person who was a member of the old council, who debated with Josh and lost badly. Going into a public debate was the worst blunder he ever made, and this destroyed the council.

‘And now, the unclean thing even has the foreign witch.’ He thinks while eying Daphne. ‘True, she’s quite younger than me, but that hasn’t stopped me before.’

The girls were afraid of him back then, nobility or not, none of them ever said anything about his advances. True, the Academy is protected against that kind of activity inside, especially if it is nonconsensual, but outside, well… accidents do happen.

Having taken multiple glasses of an alcoholic drink (even though it is not allowed for the students), he got the confidence boost needed to approach Hatori. The buzz made him forget how this boy dueled and killed a professor right in this very hall last year. though if you look now, you will not find any traces of that battle in the grand hall.

“So, basically that sounds like a durable structure, built to stand for a long amount of time.” said an older student, talking about the runes with him.

“Interesting. I can already see the implications for the use in warding.” Said Hatori. “Though, have you encountered the dialect which is said to be like a living organism?”

“Oh, I have.” Said the female student who came with this guy. “Though I haven’t seen it used much—”

“Hey now.” Said Murli, grabbing the face of Daphne. “Why are you spending time with this unclean low-class beast? Come with me.” he tries to kiss her, but she resists him.

Getting angry, he grabs her arms and tries to drag her with him, but Hatori’s voice stops him. “I think you should leave her alone,” he said mildly, trying to defuse this situation, just like Kangana taught him.

That tone made Murli furious. He turns around, and slaps Hatori, sending the apple juice in his hand flying everywhere. “You just stay quiet, you hear me? she’s just a foreign witch, I’ll use her like a whore, and then she can come to you. until then, stay quiet!” he spits on Hatori. “Though I doubt she will ever come back to you. You’re nothing but an orphan, lifted from the streets by the king to make us the proper noble people look bad.” He spits on Hatori for the second time, and it lands on his cheek.

Every word Kangana has told him over the past month is coming back to him now, how respect can be earned, how violence is not the only option, and how he must control his rage. ‘Clearly, she was wrong.’ He said, uncoiling his magic, and rooting Murli on his spot.

‘Violence is the only way to gain any security. Fear is what I need, not respect.’ The two male and female students flee, as Hatori attacks Murli with a Thundershock, who tries to use Daphne as a shield, but she slips his sloppy grip. His drunken mind is not fast enough to handle two things, those being keeping a hold of Daphne and using her as a shield, and keeping track of Hatori’s next move simultaneously.

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“You will regret this, boy! I was the first choice to become the president, and you will learn today why!” he retaliates with a fire spell, which fails and blows up on his face, making him stagger.

“I can see that,” said Hatori, wiping at the two spots where spit landed on him. “Here’s a thing that your precious professor taught me. guess he wasn’t as useless as I thought he was.” Said Hatori.

He uses Thunder Shock again, but the properties of the spell change. It resembled the transmutation spell of Blood-to-Acid which Krishna Menon used on Hatori last year. this bypasses Murli’s protection against lightning, and since the boy has no resistance to that element (because he does not practice it), he gets a nasty shock. This sudden bit of pain is too much for his buzzed mind to handle, and he falls to the ground, unable to make his body move. Hatori advances on him, pinning him to the ground with chains that he just conjured, which are tied to a metal pipe that is buried in the ground halfway. No matter how much Murli tries to get out, the chains do not relent. Some students come to help him out, but the chains whip in a frenzy, attacking the students, and leaving them with bruises.

‘Zeko was right. Animation is useful.’ thinks Hatori as he looks down upon this pathetic worm who dares to assault his friend right in front of him. The elemental magic would have taken too much energy if he tried to conjure chains of fire, not to mention, kill his enemy before he could enact his next step. His magic is screaming for him to perform this act as soon as he can, but Kangana’s voice interrupts him.

“Hatori, stop. He didn’t mean it,” said Kangana. She has not seen the exchange between them, or what happened. So, she assumed that Hatori got angry at this boy for no reason at all. The students who witnessed Murli’s actions, and heard his words look at Kangana, but she ignores them and grabs Hatori physically when it becomes clear to her that he is not going to listen to her.

“Get off me!” he screamed and backhanded her. She is sent flying and lands on a table, and ends up getting buried in the wreckage of wood, steel, and plates. Now that the distraction is over, Hatori grabs Murli’s face. The buzz has faded now, and the terror is the only thing that is left in his brain. Hatori tries to put his fingers in his mouth, but he closes his jaws tightly. He regretted that he didn’t do that a little bit later, he could have bitten his hand and made him let go and then escape from these chains.

Hatori shocks him with raw lightning and makes him unclamp his jaws. He rips his teeth off with the sheer power of his fingers and then brings out his tongue. Murli tries to make Hatori’s grip slip his tongue, all the while screaming with his bloody mouth for help, but soon his screams are silenced, as his tongue starts to free. He felt pinpricks on his tongue, and after that nothing. Hatori crushes this frozen organ, causing him to scream one final time.

“All of you remember this scene.” Said Hatori. “I’ll make your life a miserable hell if you ever bother my friends. If you have a problem with me, then that is fine. But never dare to threaten someone close to me.” said Hatori, spreading his magical pressure in the room. while Porus could have easily brought everyone to their knees, Hatori cannot do that yet when he spreads the pressure like that. but it is good enough to send a warning.

His mood is now soured, so Hatori left for a shower. He has to clean himself off before he can forget that someone spat on him. ‘I’ll talk to Daphne once I’m cleaned up.’ he thinks, he leaves her near Ravina, who quickly embraces the shocked girl. “Do take care of her, I need a shower. I’ll talk to her after that,” he said to Ravina, before spinning on his heel, and walking out of the grand hall.

Ravina is happy to see Hatori defend Daphne. His words ensured that they knew that he was furious that his friend was threatened like this. Though his need to get a shower was a bit odd, she didn’t think about it much. After all, he was spat upon twice. The festivities resume once more, with an undercurrent of tension, which is heightened when Hatori comes back, wearing a fresh set of clothes. Gone are his clothes for this party, he is back to his usual normal blue-colored shirt, and black pants. She is unnerved at how easily he joined the festivities once more, coming to talk with Daphne as if nothing happened.

‘His mood switch is terrifying. At least it is good for Daphne, she needs to forget that entire incident.’ That is exactly why Ravina did not talk with Hatori about the incident earlier or his mood shift. Let her friend feel normal for now.

‘And maybe, I should admit that I judged him too soon.’ Thinks Ravina.

PART 3.

As soon as Josh saw Kangana grabbing Hatori physically in his rage, he just knew things wouldn’t end well for her. After his prediction came true, he helped her out of the wreckage of the table and handed her a glass of orange juice. “Here, drink this.” He said to her, giving her the glass.

She gives him the glass back, which Josh sent to the place where all the used plates, glasses, and spoons are gathered for the Dwarves to take and clean. Given the violence she experienced a few moments ago, seeing Josh perform that bit of magic without a foci is not as shocking to her.

Josh has talked to some other students to find out what happened, especially tracking down the pair who were talking with Hatori and Daphne before the fight broke out. he then talked to Ravina, and they all told him the same thing. “You screwed up,” he said to Kangana seriously.

“I did, didn’t I?” she said after taking a seat. “And he was doing so well too.”

“I’m not talking about Hatori here,” said Josh. “You made an assumption and a wrong one at that.” Josh proceeds to tell her what he has learned. With each new detail, the girl grows paler and paler.

“By old sorcerers, no wonder that he was furious.” Said Kangana. “And here I thought he was just raging as usual.” She shakes her head.

“Look, you’ve done a good job with him, I see how he deals and talks with people outside of his friend circle now. But sometimes, the diplomatic ways you favor do not work.” Said Josh, “As you have seen today.”

“Yeah,” said Raven, sitting in front of Josh. “And given his frustration, Hatori would have exploded in violence sooner or later,” he said. “Sorry for eavesdropping on you guys.” He apologized.

“Don’t mention it,” said Josh. “Look, you’re a good trainer. Clearly, you got a feel for this. Maybe you should pursue this further, go into mind healing or something. But just realize that everyone has limits.”

Kangana smiles. “True. Maybe I do have a knack for this, certainly more than politics.”

“On that, we can agree.” Said Josh, being gracious to his defeated rival.

PART 4.

Porus paces in the garden, enjoying the fresh rain in the night, and chirping of the insects. The festival will be kicking off in the Academy right now, some of his good memories come from this period. He used to be an idealistic kid, enjoying the time with his friends.

‘I used to think what a beautiful place the world is.’ thinks the king. ‘Though I suppose it is still a beautiful place, except for the humans who inhabit it.’

‘It is your responsibility to leave it better for the future generation.’ Reminds the consciousness at the back of his head. ‘Improve the world so the future generation can thrive, that is what a king does.’

‘Haven’t I done that for the last fifty years already?’ thinks Porus, but the voice does not reply. ‘Am I failing in my task?’

The voice offers no answer to his question. no criticism, no guidance for improvement. This makes Porus wish for the warm embrace of his mother, or to be a small kid, so he can just rest in her lap. However, he then remembers how the same woman threw him out so cruelly, just because he did not put his family in top positions after becoming a king.

Porus banishes all of his thoughts and decides to enjoy this night. He will not let the past make his mood sour.

PART 5.

Munshi arrives in the Academy, this time the mages who accompanied him two years ago are not with him. he thought of holding a convention, but decided not to do that. he doubts he will get any students interested in his craft that way, and become his apprentice. The older students might take an interest, but they already practice discipline, so there is no point in wasting his time explaining the details of necromancy or blood magic to them.

Much like all the qualified masters who come here to visit, Munshi has access to the scores and ranks of the students of the last four years, who are now in their fifth year and are ready to become the intern-apprentice to a mage. But these scores do not tell the complete picture. Necromancy is a dangerous profession, where you have to adapt to the changing circumstances, for the spirits go out of control, and cause havoc all the time. they have to be good with symbols, and of course, the combat.

But none of these students stand out. ‘Wait, one student is consistently passing the rune class on top, and he also seems to be possessing a high ability of combat.’ But he seems to have dropped the combat class. Munshi checks the name. ‘Hatori, apprentice of Zeko. That explains it. he doesn’t need classroom instructions to fight anyone.’

He decides to pursue this boy further, and talk with other professors, and see what they say about him before making any decision.