Chapter 176.

PART 1.

It is the first day of the first month of the year. the festival ended last night, and the result of the celebration can be seen in the sluggish behavior of the students and the school staff alike. Though alcohol is not allowed on the school grounds, the result of a wild night of partying is the same, minus the headache.

Despite this, the dueling team cannot rest. “You’ve made it. sadly, the challenge is just starting.” Said Dimitri, standing in the ring. Most of the team groaned after seeing him there. it means a sparring session with him, and Dimitri never goes easy on them.

“Now now, is that a way to behave when your coach is trying to get you prepared against various magic styles you’ll face?” he asked. “I won’t hold back today. Come at me, together.”

“Golden chance.” Said Josh and Shin together, and then the attack began.

The blast of wind made Dimitri stumble, but he was unaffected by the illusive song that came with it. he swished his stick, and the water sent by Josh parted before him and left him untouched. Daphne and Ravina tried using earth spells. the coach notes how well their symmetry is. it is such a shame that there are no team-based dueling competitions. While he thinks of bringing this to the international dueling conference, he jumps over their spells, and hammers them with large fist-sized stones, burying them in those stones.

Shin tries to put him under another illusion, but he summoned his violin to him and then knocks him out with a spell, Josh is encased in the stone, and he is unable to do anything. Tom and Hatori attack him, putting him in the middle of their fire and lightning spells, and Dimitri has to put up more of an effort to defeat them. he notes how they are the most composed in the group. Praduman and Avinash failed to work together, and it was easy for him to take them out.

As the team lays groaning on the ground, or trapped under or inside rocks, Dimitri speaks. “Nandan, give them the healing potions.” He spoke. “As for your performance, take this lesson. You won’t be in the best shape all the time, but you have to do whatever you can to win. Today you were lucky. Your loss didn’t amount to anything beyond a beating. But if you perform like this in the tournament, our team will be eliminated before you can say Knockback!”

“Now, here’s an assignment. Go research Europa’s style of magic. my different foci should give you a clue, so go study up on that, and come up with ways to deal with it, including advantages and disadvantages.” Said Dimitri, and then dismissed them.

PART 2.

The team trudges out of the dueling hall, having their morning ruined thoroughly. Though Hatori is not affected by it much. Dimitri is an experienced duelist, losing to him is not a big deal in his book. getting beat up the first thing in the morning is also nothing new to him. true, Zeko never duels him in the morning, but the module attacks him 24 / 7, and sometimes, Hatori fails to defend himself.

But what is making him angry, however, are the comments of other students. “Do you see their condition? I pity them.” said one girl.

“True. I can’t decide why Daphne and Ravina would join the team. Don’t they know that girls are not supposed to be looking like that?” said the second girl.

“Man. we enjoyed our sleep here, and these bozos are getting beat up in the morning. What a miserable life.” said a boy.

“Well, they are trying hard to win the league this year.” said the second boy, “But better them than us. eh?”

“True. True.” Agreed the first boy.

“Motherfuckers!” roared Hatori, scaring everyone, and clearing the entire area in an instant. “You think you can enjoy while we suffer, huh? you think you will celebrate, while we go out there and win the trophy for you, is that it? well, let me tell you. you won’t be enjoying your life for too long.” Lightning sparks across Hatori’s body, as he starts to laugh.

“But first, that damned research, then my work on the project, and then, I’ll deal with you. you’ll wish that you were never born. Hahahahahahahaha!” mutters Hatori, imagining the screams of pain and please to stop.

Ravina and Daphne are disturbed. Tom and Praduman are also disturbed, but they are hiding it better. “Is he…” Daphne tried to ask, as Hatori was devolving into muttering and unstable laughter even further.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Josh, not bothered by the state of his friend.

“Yeah, he gets like that sometimes,” said Shin.

“One piece of advice. Don’t get in his way when he is like this.” Said Avinash. “You won’t like what he will do to you if you do.”

Josh and Shin nod at Avinash’s words. Personally, they are happy that the revenge plan is not focused on them for once. However, if Hatori asks, they will help out gladly.

PART 3.

Hatori is in the company of Raven. They are both working on their projects. The mages in Europa use one exclusive focus, called a wand. It is created with the wood of a tree, some animal parts are used as the core, and some runes are carved on the wood for channeling magic. Hatori is confused about why certain trees are preferred for the wood, and why only a few animals are used for the core parts. But he decides not to focus on that, since it is not part of the assignment.

They cast magic by moving their foci in a certain manner, much like how it is done in the Subcontinent and Asia. But the similarities end there. the Europeans use these wands exclusively and do not use other foci at all. Whereas Hatori has seen many foci, from swords, and knives, to staves, or even musical instruments being used in this very school. Personally, Hatori finds this obsession with wands rather disturbing, because there are guides about how to keep the wand clean, and some of them even theorize that these wands are alive. though he is happy to note that this group of thinkers is on the fringes of society.

Hatori understands one thing clearly. The mages from Europa are ill-equipped to deal with someone like him. While some of them do have proficiency with fociless magic (or wandless magic as they like to call it,) they are nowhere near his level. For Hatori, a foci is a convenient tool, and in some cases, an annoyance. But for these people, it is the only way to cast magic.

“So, how are you feeling after that duel?” asked Raven, done drawing his map.

“Horny.” He points to the horns stuck over his head. after he loses the devil-like horns that he got because of a prank by Shin, he purchases the toy horns, and they are stuck on his head whenever he is not doing something strenuous.

Raven gets annoyed by that response, so he summons those horns and sends them to his bed. Hatori notes how easily Raven did this without using any foci. He doubts anyone from the Europa can replicate this foot.

PART 4.

Everyone is telling what they have found on their opponents. “What about you? what do you think about it, Avinash?” asked Dimitri.

“I think there are a lot of advantages for their spell casting. The magic is easier to handle, and the preciseness of the spells also increases.” Explained Avinash. “Having said that, their reliance on their wands is their biggest weakness. You can’t perform complex magic quickly either, as the motions for those spells are quite long.”

Stolen story; please report.

“Yeah, a long dance with a stick.” Said Hatori.

“Oh? What do you think then?” asked Dimitri.

“It is a crutch, nothing more.” Said Hatori. “It is true, we also use foci. But with these mages, they are limited with one focus, over-rely on it, and are virtually defenseless without their stick.”

“Do you call me defenseless as well then?” asked Dimitri.

“Not you,” said Hatori. “You’ve fought internationally. So, you’ve likely known about these weaknesses, and have also cured yourself of them.”

“Correct.” Said Dimitri. “Continue.”

“The thing is, if any of us lose our foci in the match, we won’t have to surrender before them. even you guys, even though you haven’t trained like me in the fociless magic can easily fight them without your foci.” Said Hatori.

“You sound really hostile when you speak about wands.” Said Avinash. “Why is that?”

“Because I hate how people use them as a crutch. I think Corvus did the right thing by denying the wand education in this school.” Said Hatori. “It will weaken us if we ever let them spread here.”

“European mages say the same thing about Asian magic.” Dimitri pointed out.

“I don’t care what they say.” Said Hatori.

“Very well. I do hope you will be able to back those strong opinions during the tournament.”

“I will.” Said Hatori. “And if anyone tried to shove this system on me, then I’ll embed their body with burning glass.”

PART 5.

The team comes out of the dueling hall. Dimitri has assigned them more homework on the various teams they will face in the league, and their magical traditions and practices. Hatori stops as a taunting voice comes from behind.

“Oh look, the laziest student has to work so hard.” Said Maya.

“Tell me, are you having trouble keeping up with your workload?” asked Chaya.

“I doubt he is having a good time, sis. He used to be such a lazy student, but now he has to work twice as hard. What a sad life.” they both laugh.

“I was always a good student, and I always had more workload than you,” said Hatori. “Because some of us don’t like to gossip all day long you know.”

“What did you say?” asked both twins, not liking that Hatori was daring to fight against them.

“I hear how you’ve got easy projects.” Said Hatori. “You likely completed them, and you spend the rest of your time just hanging around, or causing trouble for others.” Hatori looms over them. “That is not going to work on me. do you understand?”

They have trouble breathing due to his magical pressure. “C—Crystal.” Maya managed to gasp.

As Hatori walks away, they look at each other. “Perhaps we should not anger the bear?” suggested Chaya.

“You are right sister.” Maya agreed.

As for Hatori, this incident just accelerated his plans. The only thing he has to do is meet with Corvus. But before then, he has to meet with Professor Krodhatma.

PART 6.

Krodhatma looks at the runes presented by Hatori. “So far, they look to be correct boy. Did you use the teleporter I provided?”

“Yeah, it came in really handy.” Said Hatori.

“You might want to curl this one, and maybe include this in a function of its own. but generally, it is fine.” Said Krodhatma, after looking at the runes some more. “Now, the real test. Demonstrate to me whether this works practically or not.”

“Very well,” said Hatori. “Here, I will draw the receiver runes on this desk.” Hatori described the runes he drew on the desk. “And I will now link it to this teleporter.”

He brings out the small teleporter in the form of a small board. “Now, I will channel some magic to activate this teleporter.” Said Hatori. After he activates it, the desk comes to its location, resting on the floor as if it were there from the beginning.

“Good work boy.” praised the professor.

“Thank you. I nearly lost my balls trying to bring the object safely to my location.” Said Hatori.

“Indeed, it would have been an unfortunate accident.” Smiled Krodhatma. “I do think that you should make the runes more generic, as to make them possible to use with any object.”

“I will do that professor.” Said Hatori. “It will be the second part of this project.”

“Don’t worry if you don’t complete it. you’ve accomplished the main goal.” Said the professor.

“Of course. Thanks, professor, for your time,” said Hatori, and then excused himself.

Now that he is done with his project for the day, it is time to meet with the headmaster.

PART 7.

It is the time of evening, and Corvus is relaxing in his office. Reclining in his chair, he marveled at the piece of enchantment he laid on it several years ago for maximum comfort. Of course, the chair is also designed to show how he is the dominating power in the room. the door of his office opens, and walks in a student?

‘Now that is unexpected.’ He thinks to himself. Taking a sip of his tea, he asked. “What brings you here, mister Eagle?”

Hatori looks around. Corvus has an interesting office. There is a large bookshelf full of books, and the large desk takes up the space in the center, on which a skeleton is doing the paperwork. Then there is the headmaster himself, who is relaxing in his large chair.

“Are you trying to compensate for something?” asked Hatori, ignoring the question of Corvus.

Corvus coughed, as he took a sip while Hatori was asking this question. “Why do you ask that?” he wheezed.

“Because everything in your office is large,” said Hatori.

Clearing his throat, Corvus answers. “To answer your question, no I’m not. besides, at my age, it hardly matters, now does it?”

“True.” Said Hatori. “Have you read all those books?”

“Surprisingly, yes,” said Corvus. “And before you ask, there are ways to manage my time. besides, I’m getting more and more free time as I get older, since I’m not involved in some research or intrigue.”

“That helps. Anyway, I’m here for a reason,” said Hatori, and Corvus paid attention. “I want revenge. And you can help me in gaining that.”

“Depends upon why you want the said revenge.” Said Corvus not committing himself to anything just yet.

“The dueling team is mocked by every student, we’re the joke of this Academy, even though we’re training hard to perform at our best and win the league. This does not sit right with me. therefore, I want revenge.” Said Hatori. “For this, I’ll make their lives just as hard as ours. And I’ve got a perfect tool for it as well.”

Hatori brings out some papers, and Corvus gets a glimpse of his younger days. “I’ve found this module. Why don’t we give them a dose of what Master Zeko put me through? If you agree with me of course.” Smiled Hatori.

“I believe it would be an amusing end for the year.” agreed Corvus, taking the papers from him. “Anything else?”

“Not at all.” Said Hatori, getting up from his own chair. “Come to think of it, this is the first time I’ve spoken to you, or come into this office.”

“Any student is free to come here and speak to me,” said Corvus. “Only if they can conquer their fears.” He leans forward. “Tell me, mister Eagle, do you not feel fear?”

“Those who do not feel fear are idiots, or are dead.” Said Hatori. “Good evening to you, headmaster.”

“Good evening to you as well, mister Eagle.” Replied Corvus, watching Hatori leave.

He flips through the papers and goes deep inside the office. Looks like he will get to play with the wards tonight.