Chapter 177.

PART 1.

the second day of the year takes a chaotic turn, as during the breakfast, various shadowy figures come in and attack the students. Corvus watches in delight, unaffected by the chaos. Even the professors are not spared. His delight turns into fury when various professors pass out even with the weakest attacks. how will they defend the Academy if they ever get attacked? Forget saving the students, they need saving.

His fury turns to delight, as he observes Hatori’s group. They easily dispatch their attackers, and go back to their meals, as if nothing has happened. Corvus knows there will be complaints, but he is prepared to handle them. though he activated the module because Hatori wanted revenge, he realizes now that the students and the professors alike need this additional danger to keep them on their toes.

Josh bashes the shadow attacking him by levitating an abandoned chair and then dropping it over the shadow. He looks at Hatori. he knows he is responsible for this. He looks at the other three. they have the same realization.

But they decide to do nothing about it. besides, it is not like they are not used to it, or they can’t handle themselves in a fight. they turn to see their coach battling a large shadow, he is holding his own so far. They witness him exploding this shadow with a spell, and then going back to his meal.

They also go back to their meal. They have learned their lesson. If Hatori wants revenge, you either join him or get out of the way.

As for Hatori, he watches the students and staff running like headless chickens, with a sneer on his face. He observes Chaya and Maya knocked out. he will send them get well soon cards, as a reminder that they should never mess with him. ‘I can’t believe these weaklings dared to mock us.’ he thought.

Ignoring the shrieks and moans of terror, he goes back to his breakfast. No point in ignoring his meals because of these weaklings.

PART 2.

Dimitri is working with Ravina. Her overall understanding of dueling is good, but she does not hit as hard as she could. Whereas Praduman and Tom have the opposite problem. They put too much energy into their attacks, and thus end up losing a lot of their stamina in the spells which don’t even hit their opponent.

He is making her hit a sandbag with a Knockback spell, and making her call out “Harder! Harder! Harder!” with each hit.

Nearby, Tom and Avinash are sparring. Tom has improved his control, and this shows in his stamina as well. he can fight longer periods, and does the same amount of damage as he did before, but with better control. Shin is helping out Praduman with illusion, helping him recognize when he is in an illusion, and how to get out of them.

Josh is doing push-ups, and Daphne is doing squats. “Harder! Harder! Harder!” Ravina continues to practice.

“Stop,” Dimitri said to Ravina. “Take a break. Where is Hatori?” he asked.

“I haven’t seen him since breakfast, coach.” Said Josh from the floor, resting after his set of push-ups was complete.

“I’ve seen him going to the forest.” Said Shin.

“Daphne, you’re done with your workout?” he asked. when she nods, Dimitri continues. “I’m going to the forest. Help out Ravina, Okay?”

“Yes, coach.” Said Daphne, as Dimitri left.

“He won’t like what he’ll find there,” said Josh after gulping some water.

“I don’t care.” Said Shin. “Hatori has to deal with this on his own.”

PART 3.

Hatori is surveying the ground. He wants to plant a tree. He will leave the Academy in just a few months, so the tree has to be a fast-growing one. “I should have done it before.” He laments, “But I was busy with things.”

Whatever tree he decides to put in here, has to survive through winter. He will modify it some to deal with it better. he decides to plant another Jamun tree here, much like he did in his first year. but this area is different, so it is not guaranteed to survive.

Besides, where would he get a Jamun in January? “The different habitats. I’m sure somewhere summer is going on, and Jamun are blooming there.” he brings out the maps of the various habitats supported by the institute and finds the location where he needs to go.

After a lengthy walk, and an unusual experience of going from winter to summer, and then coming back to winter, Hatori finally has a seed. He plants it in the ground and provides some water. he manipulated the seed itself, to develop and bloom faster than the natural counterparts. He adds some water and waits to see the results.

While he is waiting, he senses the elephant approaching. ‘How’re you doing, buddy?’ he asked telepathically.

‘You’ve not lost your edge. Good. some of these blooming idiots can learn a thing or two from you.’ he replied. ‘I’m doing well by the way. I’ve become a member of older males, to keep the young ones in line after they leave their herd.’

‘Sounds like important work.’ Said Hatori.

‘And tiring. And the females never appreciate that, they always come to us bitching about young lads misbehaving with them or something.’ Complained the animal, his trunk twitching in annoyance.

‘By the way, I’ve planted a seed here. don’t stomp it, I’m looking forward to its growth.’ Said Hatori, and pointed to the ground where he planted the seed.

‘I’ll be careful. Now, defend yourself!’ the elephant comes at Hatori screeching, ‘I will test your skill, you fucking brat!’

It is not the first time Hatori has fought the elephant. But it is always a terrifying sight to him, to see such a large animal coming at him with the magical pressure twisting the surrounding area. Hatori has to dodge out of the way, as large boulders come at him flying, conjured by the elephant. he retaliates with the conjured wires, channeling electricity through them. the elephant steps on one of these wires, and gets a nasty shock.

But that is not enough to deter an animal of his size. So, he rushes Hatori once again. ‘I can smell your fear, brat!’ he screeched.

“What the hell?” the beast is now surrounded by fire. “That is just great. But I know a way to bring you down.” Hatori makes some signs with his hands, making runes of water and clouds through his finger in the air, and water rushes from the sky.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

In under a minute, the entire area is flooded. The elephant lost his fire, and he couldn’t rush Hatori so freely in the flooded ground. Hatori then channeled the current through the wires, shocking the animal, and the clouds above also discharged their load. The elephant is unable to handle this damage from above and below and loses consciousness.

Hatori checks on his seed. It has already started to bloom. He suspects it will become a small plant by tomorrow. He listens to the splash of water. “You came here to fight this battle?” asked Dimitri.

“Not my intention. It was just a friendly brawl.” Said Hatori. “I modified this elephant several years ago, you see.”

Dimitri blanched. Looks like those stories he heard about the boy were true. He carefully listens for the buzz to make sure he is not near a colony of bees. “Why did you not come to the practice today?” he asked, once he was certain that he wouldn’t be attacked by bees.

“What would be the point?” asked Hatori. “They need your training more than I do.” Answered Hatori.

“I thought you were a member of this team.” said Dimitri, “Why not train with them?”

“I do train with them,” said Hatori. “I spar with them, and I even helped Tom out with his control. But anything beyond that is pointless. You know my daily workout routine, I doubt you can add anything else to improve it.”

Dimitri acknowledged that point. “Still, you should be there,” he argued.

“Look, this is how I do things. and I am not going to change just because you don’t like it,” said Hatori. “My presence is pointless there unless we’re sparring. I’m not going to come there and sit just because I am supposed to.”

Dimitri nods, and leaves. He won’t get through the boy right now.

PART 4.

It is evening, and as Corvus expected, there are tons of complaints coming to him from the professors. “And the worst part is that our classes are disrupted!” said Professor Imrat.

“Do you think he will remove it?” asked Amarjit to Dhiraj.

“Hardly.” Said the alchemist. “You know how he is, once he has decided something, there is nothing we can do to change his mind. Better make peace with it, like I have.”

Amarjit sighed, as the argument continued to rage, and Corvus remained unaffected. Dhiraj is right, but handling a class is not easy during periodic attacks.

PART 5.

In the night, Bali and Dimitri are outside of the Academy, sharing a drink. “I understand your feeling well, I really do.” Said Bali, commiserating with the coach. “That boy is a big headache to deal with.”

“He didn’t disrespect me; he spoke to me politely. But he just won’t listen.” Complained Dimitri. “Should I remove him from the team as a punishment?” asked Dimitri.

“Don’t do that,” said Bali. “True, he is not cooperating with you. but there is no denying that he has a real talent for combat. If you remove him, you will weaken the team.”

Dimitri sighed. “You know what the worst part is? that he is right. his presence won’t change a thing.” Admitted Dimitri.

“To ego bruising students.” Bali raises his glass.

“To overtrained students.” Dimitri clinks his glass, and then they both gulp down their drink.

They won’t be sleeping in their quarters tonight.

As for Hatori, Bali is right. Hatori never shirks his training, he just hates attending classes where he already is familiar with the subject. Besides, they will need his talent, if he wishes to have a winning team this year. the final thing that Dimitri realized before he fell asleep is that there are no students who can replace Hatori. none of them are good with combat, and none of them have that killer instinct or ambition.

He decides that he won’t meddle with him as long as his skills don’t atrophy, something Dimitri doubts would happen, especially after seeing that battle in the afternoon.

PART 6.

Hatori is eating his dinner with Avinash. Josh and others are already finished eating early since they have their own projects to work on. “He looked very displeased when he went to look for you,” explains Avinash the day’s events.

“I know. He found me in the forest.” Said Hatori. “I told him the same thing that I said to Professor Bali.”

Avinash sighed. He knew things would go like this. “Did he threaten to remove you from the team?”

“Not at all.” Said Hatori.

“Huh. that is strange.” He said and went back to his dinner after a shrug.

“By the way, I think I’ve gotten good with my control.” Tom spoke then, “The coach praised me for my better use of energy during the match.”

“Good for you,” said Hatori, dropping his spoon, and levitating the food to his mouth, without using his arms at all.

Tom and Avinash watch this spectacle with open-mouthed shock, before going back to their dinner. “I see I have a lot to learn still.” Said Tom.

Hatori replied by levitating his juice to his lips, without lifting the glass. “Stop showing off already!” said Avinash furiously.

Hatori jerked from the sudden shock, and some juice was spilled on Avinash. “You invited this on your own. why did you disrupt my concentration?”

“Gaaaaaa!” Avinash leaped to stab Hatori with a knife, and Hatori defended himself with a conjured small shield.

Tom just continues to eat in peace. No point in getting involved with the crazy on the other end of the table.

PART 7.

A meeting of noble families is taking place. Though some Sharmas are here, the head of the clan is not here. Shakuntala is here, and other people from Banerji, Chatterji, and Reddy clans are also here.

“Welcome, everybody. Thank you for coming here at such a short notice.” Said Durvesh Banerji. “I have confirmed, Porus will be leaving in a few months for the league tournament. It is a perfect time for us to attack.”

“You sure?” asked Jeevan Reddy, “He will leave competent people to guard things in his absence.”

“True.” Agreed Durvesh. They may hate Porus, but none of them will ever call him incompetent. “But this time, we have inside help.”

“Then it is confirmed.” Said Shakuntala, “We go to war when Porus leaves.”

“Agreed.” Then the meeting is concluded.