Chapter 130.

PART 1.

Hatori evades the whips of fire coming his way while sending some iron spikes at the spirit. He believes that the conjuration was performed at the right frequency, so these spikes could hit this spirit. and he was right. The spirit was hit, but it did not suffer much damage.

Instead of whips of fire this time, a cloud of fire descends upon him, heating everything in the surrounding area. They are still in the mountainous area, a little far from the entrance to the expanded dimension where the Academy is located. This area is known for cold and snow, but that is not what Hatori is experiencing right now, as he shields himself with a square-shaped symbol from the fire. The spell ends, and Hatori is left standing in the melted water, sweating from the heat, his face and hair singed, but no damage to his body.

He lets go of the shield with a sigh, while Munshi observes him from some distance. This entire fight is an exercise against a summoned spirit, called here to test Hatori by Munshi. “He seems to be good for your standards.” Said the spirit. “Though I don’t think he can go on any longer.”

“True. I have already paid the price for your services, feel free to leave whenever you want,” said Munshi to the spirit.

“Cool.” The apparition flies away.

“Come inside Hatori, you need a change of clothes and a shower.” Said Munshi.

Once Hatori is cleaned up, he comes out to see a table set in front of him with food. “Eat, while I tell you about summoning spirits.” Said Munshi. “But first, tell me, have you done anything about your visual impairment?”

“Yeah, how did you know?” asked Hatori.

“By observing your movements.” Said Munshi. “I am hoping you are not suffering from any adaptation problems?”

“Not really. I’ve gotten most of my reflexes good enough, and I’m quite used to moving around. Crowded places are still a challenge though, and I can’t seem to remember the faces properly.” Explained Hatori.

“And I also assume that you’re hiding your eyes?” asked Munshi, given how he does not see anything but empty eye sockets on his student.

“Yeah.” Hatori ends the illusion, showing Munshi the steel eyes.

“Good. keep them hidden, do not reveal them until it is necessary.” Said Munshi.

“Of course.” Said Hatori. He already planned to do that; he did not need Munshi to tell him that.

“Now, let’s talk about summoning the spirits. Pentagrams are heavily involved in the process. and summoning a local spirit is very easy, compared to a spirit located at some long distance. If you have a specific spirit in mind, then you can modify the ritual accordingly, but the ritual can take more power if the spirit which you seek is located far away.” Explained Munshi, as Hatori bit an apple.

“While the ritual is not difficult, you need to be careful while summoning the spirit. nothing is free in this world, and a spirit won’t help you just because you summoned it. they usually demand a price, which is often included within the ritual itself.” Said Munshi. “However, some spirits are dangerous and malicious. Proper price or not, they can and do attack their summoners, and even kill them.”

“That sounds dangerous.” Said Hatori. “Weakened from a ritual, and then facing a dangerous spirit.”

“It is dangerous. Therefore, be very careful while doing a summoning. Unless you are an experienced necromancer like myself, you should always have other necromancers ready to back you up if you need their help.” said Munshi. “This would minimize the chances of you dying by the nonexisting hands of a spirit.”

Munshi was proud of that joke, no matter how frosty Hatori’s face looked.

PART 2.

James reads about the old runic styles used in magic. just like the standard runes now, every mage who used these old runic scriptures gave them their own personal styles. However, James does not care about any of that. the main purpose is to copy the runes of the room of frozen time and translate them into the highly adaptive runic style that he and Hatori use. someone might argue, why not use the runes as they are? But James does not fancy setting up such an inflexible structure.

It cannot be moved. It cannot be improved upon. It just lies there, unchanging. ‘Not unchanging. More like slowly decaying.’ He thinks.

From what he has researched so far, the old runic styles have one thing in common. Their wards decayed very fast, once the rot started. And there is no way to stop or halt the process. The wards of Samay’s lab and the frozen time room are exceptionally well made for surviving this long. Otherwise, they would have disappeared a long time ago.

Though it is tough for James to manage his internship with Slaughter and research these runes, he is managing to cope. It is well worth it after all, as he gets a reminder of it each time, he uses the frozen time room to rest and recover.

‘I’ll talk with Hatori, and we’ll see whether we can truly make the time stop or not.’ he thinks. ‘It’ll be like going in one second, and coming out the other, and no more time has passed beyond a second.’

PART 3.

After the enjoyment of the festival, Josh is back with his internship under Professor Amelia, and his work as school president. Speaking of which, he is currently listening to a report from Suraj about an incident that happened today.

“So that is your report?” asked Josh.

“Yes.” Nodded Suraj.

“Three young students were beaten by ten older ones,” Suraj nods, “All of them were at least fifth year while the students who received the beating are first or second years,” another nod. “And they all targeted them specifically because they are outperforming the noble students?” one final nod.

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

“Honestly, just assign them the punishments we came up with.” Said Josh. “And if they complain, then tough luck. I do not tolerate this kind of behavior.”

“Right!” said Suraj. “Then I’ll tell the others the same.” He then leaves.

Josh hoped that his coup last year would help in stemming such incidents. But it seems that he is failing to stop them completely. While no one cares if a student is attacked in the Academy, since you have to defend yourself here, the younger students are kept off-limits up to the third year. not to mention, beating someone on ten-on-three odds, Hatori might be able to take on such odds, but not everyone is strong like him.

‘And mad enough to slaughter them all if angered.’ Thinks Josh. Sometimes, he is scared of Hatori.

PART 4.

Raven puts this trophy with the previous trophies he won. He has managed to defend his championship once again, and he plans to continue to hold on to it until he graduates.

“So, you will need a proper knife, not the ones which are used in the kitchen, a big bottle for water, tough enchanted clothing, and dry fruits for an emergency. Of course, an enchanted bag to carry these things with you,” said Magpie, helping Raven in packing.

General Sundar is sending him with some soldiers to observe something and take notes. Raven knows that it is just an exercise, the general already knows the things which he is about to see. But he plans to do this seriously. It is a good thing that he has his father to help him out with packing, given his long experience in the army. Speaking of which, he should thank him for helping him out.

“Thanks dad, I probably would have packed some useless things without you,” said Raven.

Magpie runs his hand over Raven’s hair. “Don’t you worry son; I’ve given you everything which you may need. However, don’t forget, the most important tool is here.” he taps his head.

“Of course.” Smiled Raven.

PART 5.

Shin has a performance coming up, where according to professor Sangita, he has to perform in front of the king Porus himself. Naturally, this is the kind of audience that can cause anxiety to anyone. Shin decided to get rid of his anxiety by practicing. The only problem is, he is currently unable to use this method to cope.

“But, but,” he tried to argue, as Sangita dragged him out, and took his instruments away.

“But nothing.” She said firmly. “You will burn yourself out if you continue like this. Go out, meet with people, or just walk in the parks in gardens. Go to sleep. I don’t care. But for the next two days, you are not playing or singing. You hear me?”

“Yes, mam.” Said Shin with a meek tone.

Thus, he found himself walking in the park of this small town where they are currently staying to practice for the big concert, pacing aimlessly.

He noticed how a lot of things in the world have beats, some of them which he never gets to hear in the standard music. ‘She can take my instruments, but she cannot turn off my mind.’ He thinks, imagining how someone may create an orchestra from the sounds of people walking, or the sounds of various vehicles and their horns.

PART 6.

After his battle with that summoned local spirit a few days ago, Hatori is once more on the road with Munshi. “So, where are we going?” asked Hatori. He feels like he asks that a lot.

“To Sindapur. There are some hauntings there,” said Munshi.

“Aren’t there always?” muttered Hatori.

“You are learning, boy,” said Munshi. “There are always hauntings. Anyway, a family has requested our services. They are about to have a marriage in their house, and they are hoping that we can solve this issue before the entire thing gets canceled.”

“Marriage.” Said Hatori. He has never thought about that topic. As a kid, it was the excuse to go and eat good food offered by someone for free. But he always hated the loud music, and the smoky rituals, where a priest who has gone hoarse by screaming and all the smoke constantly chants the godly names.

“By gods, I always hated that,” mutters Hatori.

“You should be careful with that,” said Munshi seriously, having heard the comment of his student.

“With what?” asked Hatori.

“Using the word god or gods.” Said Munshi.

“Huh. speaking of which, I have never heard mages use such phrases. It is always by magic or something along those lines.” Said Hatori.

“There’s a reason for that,” said Munshi. “We live in a world where we can summon a spirit or even souls. You can unknowingly perform a ritual on someone who very well might be God by our standards. And just imagine what could happen to you if they don’t like you or this world?”

“Point.” agreed Hatori. “But how can you unknowingly perform a ritual?”

“Because sometimes, words can have power,” said Munshi. “Mind you, not all the time. but in some cases. Besides, rituals are often built with a condition, which if it is satisfied, can fulfill the ritual. It is like entering into a contract without knowing that you signed one, or knowing the terms and conditions.”

Hatori remembers his father complaining about the people who signed contracts without reading them, apparently, the internet made this problem worse. “I’ll be careful then.” He spoke. He has no interest in calling a god-like being to this planet.

He wishes to make the world cry; how can he do that when it is destroyed?

PART 7.

Unknown to Hatori, aside from the hauntings going on within a family, there is something else waiting for him there as well.

Manoj Sharma watches the events proceeding, as people who agree with him and support him in the Sharma clan start the ritual. “This will be a long process,” he said to himself, “But the fruits of this labor would be just as delicious.”

He cannot control his smile when he thinks about how people will react once he has this weapon under his control. They will scream, they will beg, but one thing is certain. “They will all be under my heel.”