Chapter 135.

PART 1.

A car stops outside of a large house, which is actually even larger inside than it looks from the outside. nearby is a farm, where fruits and vegetables are being grown. This is, of course, Zeko’s house. Munshi is here to drop Hatori off, as the year has completed. Granted, it is a bit early, but given the cases they have solved, the things he has managed to teach the boy, and how they barely prevented a monster from the past from returning just a few days ago, Munshi thinks that the boy could use some rest.

“Now, before you leave,” said Munshi, deciding to share some final words with his student. “Remember that the vacation this year will be shorter, I’ll be here in a month and a half to take you with me. so don’t get too comfortable.”

“Yes, professor.” Said Hatori.

“Also, read this.” Said Munshi, giving Hatori a notebook. “I have written down ways to efficiently extract memories from the blood, it takes less energy. And of course, instructions to resurrect a soul. Do practice these things during your vacation, consider it a summer homework.”

Hatori gave him a contemptible look. Words like homework and vacation should not go with each other. And yet, here he is, suffering the unholy combination. “When will you teach me to raise an army of dead?” asked Hatori.

“You can learn that in your time,” said Munshi, walking to his car. “Just like how I did.” He murmured the last part. Hatori didn’t hear those words, because he was already inside of the house by the point he said that.

PART 2.

“So, what you’re saying that there won’t be any exams this year?” said Josh, walking with James to their dorms.

James asked about the exams to Slaughter, the same thing which he explained to Josh. “Yeah. it is up to our mentors to grade us,” said James.

“Cool.” Said Josh. “Meaning I don’t have to be below Raven, you, and Hatori in the ranking board.” Smirked Josh.

“Don’t be so happy.” Said James. “Those will be back for our final year.”

“Dammit!” cursed Josh.

He believes cursing is a sign of an unrefined person, despite his friends resorting to cursing more and more as they grow. But he believes that it is warranted in this case. James laughed at his reaction, causing him to chase after the boy. no one can laugh at him and get away with it.

PART 3.

The king listens, as the final notes trail off. The boy with bells in his hair played well. ‘If I remember correctly, he is friends with Hatori, isn’t he?’ he thought. ‘Speaking of which, I have not spoken with the boy in a long time. maybe I should check up on him.’

Everyone gave a standing ovation after this wonderful performance. Porus is no different. The king enjoyed coming to this event. He got to see something different than his castle, and people in their natural environment. None of the pomp which they displayed when they came to his court. ‘If only I could see more of this,’ he thought. ‘There is very little of my own country I have known or visited.’

He thinks about the responsibilities that keep him bound to one city. But he is a king, isn’t he? Shouldn’t he be free to survey his domain? Visit the places, and observe the lives of the people who live under his rules? To see whether his plans and policies have made any difference to their lives? Or whether they have reached them in the first place or not?

‘Really, there is no reason for me to put this off.’ Thinks Porus, as he leaves with other guests, after the event. ‘I’ll talk about this with Amarnath. Let’s see whether it is possible for me to get a tour or not.’ he smiled at the thought.

Maybe he will manage to control his urge to murder after this tour. Though he does not make any promises.

PART 4.

“You’ve done so well,” said Sangita. “It was easy for anyone to realize how nervous you were, but you handled it so well.”

“I could have done it better,” said Shin.

“Now now, none of that,” said Sangita, lightly slapping his arm. “You should realize that as a creative person, this feeling will haunt you all the time. but learning to quiet that voice will allow you to produce your best work in peace. So do not let this negativity affect your music, is that clear?”

“Yes, professor.” Said Shin with a grin.

“Besides, we’re at the end of our first year anyway. I will give you your results later,” said Sangita. “Use this time to relax and recharge your batteries. Okay?”

“Will do that, professor.” Said Shin, while thinking it was time to contact Zeko again.

PART 5.

“These are the reports you requested, sir.” Said Raven, carrying the stack in his arms. “Where should I put them?”

“Put them in the archive of the year 4000.” Said Sundar. “Always put the papers where they belong, that is a good habit.”

“Yes sir.” Said Raven, sorting the reports by month. The general likes the archive being organized. As he performs this task, the general decides to ask him a question.

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“Tell me, Raven,” said Sundar, “Why does a soldier fight?”

Raven thinks about it. fame? Glory? None of those seem right answers, at least to someone who is not mad about those two things. Money is not a good answer again, since there are a lot more things which a person can do, which would be less demanding on their mind and body, less dangerous, and make more money from those activities. Protecting someone might be the right answer, but Raven hesitates to give this answer. Everyone has someone they like to protect (discounting sociopaths), but that does not mean everyone ends up in the military. Maybe a certain kind of madness, which only a few possess?

“If you cannot think of a reason,” said Sundar, “Then go to your family. Relax. Spend time with your parents and friends. and that will provide the answer for you,” suggested Sundar.

“I understand sir, thank you,” said Raven.

“Good,” said Sundar. “Now, the final lesson before this year ends.”

Raven sits on the chair in front of the general, having put those reports in their right place, ready to listen to whatever wisdom Sundar is going to give him today. “Military does not have any place for politics. However, humans are what they are, it is not possible to avoid it completely. Egos have to be satisfied, popularity has to be considered, and above all, competency has to be considered before putting a person in charge. That is a difficult task for a general.”

“I understand, sir,” said Raven, “But why are you telling me this?”

The general does not answer and dismisses him. ‘You will get it one day, kid.’ He thought once he was alone in the archive room.

PART 6.

Jimmy waits for his son to return. He has made great strides in recovering this year, as his current activity of running on the treadmill shows. (Yes, even mages have those.) he will never regain his former fitness, but what he has managed to salvage after his life was wrecked sixteen years ago seems pretty impressive to him.

‘Unfortunately, it seems I won’t be able to give James a proper stable house.’ He regretted this failure.

The lawyers have told him that the evidence is quite strong, and his claim to the house is undisputed. The only problem they have right now is the research. ‘To hell with that research.’ He thought. ‘Giving James a stable house is more important. Sorry, dear.’ He apologized to his late wife.

But he really does not care about that research anymore. if Shakuntala wants it, she can have it. but that house belongs to him. Once he has all these things in order, he will slowly teach James to manage the businesses of their family and improve their financial condition. That should put the Flora family on the path to recovery.

PART 7: WHERE DOES THE MAGIC COME FROM?

Scholars have debated this for years, as it is clear that magic has been used by humans ever since they evolved into their current form. However, despite the theories given over the last 5000 years or so, none of them have managed to find solid proof of any of those theories. They, however, also have not managed to disprove them, aside from a few crackpot ones.

One disproven theory is about the magical cores, which states that every mage has a core in their chest, which allows them to perform magic. the size of the core determines the power of that mage. However, this theory was disproven, when people who never performed any supernatural tricks were taught magic late in their lives, and successfully pulled them off. True, their experience never compared to someone who used magic since childhood, but the fact that they learned magic later in life disproved this theory.

One reason why this theory was so easy to disprove is that it argues that not every human has these magical cores. However, people who are known to not have mages in their families, or never performed any magic themselves learned magic, and used it successfully. This means that the cores were not true. Another way to disprove this theory was to cut up human corpses, and again, no cores were found in the chest, or at any other body part.

After the creation of the magical dimension, these experiments stopped, since mankind isolated themselves from non-magic-using humans, and they cannot do such experiments anymore.

Later, other theories arose, such as magic being connected with a larger entity, and everyone drawing power from that entity. Some even theorized that the magic was conscious. These theories cannot be proven, but there is no way to disprove them either. Despite that, some general things have been found out about humans who use magic.

First, they use the energy of their body to perform their magic. genetics do play a role in determining the power of a mage, however, training is the more important variable in this equation, since a genetically powerful, but lazy mage is still weaker than a fully trained mage who constantly improves his magic and body, and is genetically does not have any advantage.

The body plays an important role as well, as a mage who has a fit body is usually able to perform more powerful feats of magic, as opposed to the unfit mage, and for longer duration as well. Zeko, who has trained many young kids, as well as soldiers, remarked the following:

“Using magic in a weak body is like trying to conduct electricity through a material of poor quality. You are likely to burn yourself from inside out.”