Chapter 178.

PART 1.

Hatori is running a gauntlet. He is sparring with Daphne, Ravina, and Tom, in that order.

His spar with Daphne was pretty standard. During some exchange of spells, Daphne was unable to match the volume. Dimitri forbade them from using their shape-shifting elemental spells. As a result, he managed to beat Daphne.

His spar with Ravina was also pretty much the same. Accept she managed to create earth golems, and enchanted them in the middle of the fight to resist magical damage. Hatori resorted to conjuring stuff, and then throwing it to damage them, and those golems collapsed. Once they were gone, Ravina was also dealt with swiftly.

“Now, next up, Tom.” Said Dimitri.

The match began normally enough. But in this limited sparring, Tom proves to be an equal to Hatori. things also went in his favor since Hatori is tired from the first two spars, while Tom is starting fresh. Despite that disadvantage, Hatori fights for a long time, and Tom reaches his limits. But he is glad, since he won this match, since Hatori couldn’t continue.

“Good job.” Said Dimitri. “Next time, don’t push yourself so hard. It wouldn’t do you any good if you got injured before the competition itself, now would it?”

“Here,” Nandan pushes a viol of potion in Hatori’s hands. “Drink this.”

“Thanks.” He muttered and went to the bench to rest and recover.

PART 2.

A letter arrives from the Academy for Zeko. It is, of course, written by Hatori. he opens it eagerly. The boy used to be quite withdrawn, but he has opened himself up to him as he has grown under his roof.

> Master Zeko,

>

> I hope you’re doing well. I participated in the selection tournament for this year’s school dueling league, and I came out on top. Apart from that, my yearly project is almost done.

>

> I think Coach Dimitri is frustrated that he doesn’t have much to teach me, since you have prepared me so well for the combat, and my physical conditioning is superior to my teammates. Still, I can’t seem to duel the third opponent in the gauntlet sparring. I have to improve on this.

>

> Your troublesome student,

>

> Hatori.

Zeko chuckled after reading the last line. “Well done boy,” he said to himself. “You’re approaching the time when you will be able to face me.”

Although he is glad for the magical development of Hatori, and he is happy that his education is concluding as successfully as it can get, Zeko is still worried about his social life. though he does have four close friends, Hatori has not gone beyond his group for much of his school. Zeko suspects that his disability is one reason, and his childhood in an isolated environment also contributed to this behavior of his.

Unfortunately for Zeko, no solution comes to his mind for this problem. This is not the kind of problem which can be solved with better training, or vicious modules. This reminds him why he never wanted to take a long-term apprentice in the first place. Though rather than an apprentice, Hatori is more like a son to him.

PART 3.

After resting from his sparring session in the morning, Hatori is in the forest. It is the time of the late afternoon, and despite the different weather, and a battle near to its spot, the tree has bloomed. It is already at Hatori’s waist.

He carved some small runes on its stem, mostly concerned with better use of water and sunlight, and better resistance against winter, as well as heat and drought. Hatori has protected himself well against winter, though his protections will not be tested until he goes to a cold place. His next plan is to keep his body at a comfortable temperature, regardless of the weather.

He could have tested this on the habitats offered by the institute, but most of them are not easily accessible. And Hatori is unwilling to go through the academic bureaucracy for a permit. Honestly, who the hell thought it would be a good idea to combine an academic institution with bureaucracy?

He remembers how Professor Prakriti was angry at him for modifying the flora and fauna. But he disregards her anger. Besides, it is already too late. As he heals the latest carving on the plant, soon to become a mighty tree any day, he expects a long life for this tree.

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PART 4.

Raven is writing the final part of his assignment. He has to describe some small plans to deal with various scenarios, ranging from very possible to highly implausible. Such as Zhongguo deciding to invade, various wars with other Asian powers, civil unrest, rebellion, to the attacks of other races like Dwarves, Goblins, or Orcs. Elves are excluded from this list, because of their secretive nature, and how very little info is available to research about them.

The people who set these scenarios must have decided that it is unfair to ask the students to give possible plans to deal with Elves when even the best military and political minds on the planet have no clue about dealing with them, should they decide to take a hostile turn.

Nearby, Shin is tuning his instruments, and playing out the small parts of his compositions. After all, a musician has to listen to his own music before he can play it for others. how else is he going to judge whether something sounds good or not?

Shin knows that not many people will agree with his approach. But when it comes to his original music, he has decided to listen to his own music and see whether he likes it or not. if he likes it, then chances are that other people will like it as well. it is a flawed approach, he knows that. but he thinks this is the best way to create music, without worrying about whether people would like it or not.

Because it is not possible to please everyone, as Professor Sangita told him many times.

PART 5.

Josh has submitted his part of the group project. He is currently finishing up the explanation of how exactly he solved these problems. “Now, the distance changes, so I decided to use a variable there. when you use it, you have to measure it in real-time, since we can’t know it in advance. It would also affect some other things, but the rest are constant.”

“Good. This should speed up our work.” Said the older student running this project. “In a month, you’ll have your marks. Please do explain if we ask you some questions.”

“Of course.” Josh nodded and excused himself.

Now that he is done with all his responsibilities, he can focus on dueling full-time and also have some time to relax and enjoy the Academy for the last time. because he will never have this freedom ever again in his life until he dies.

‘What a morbid thought. I’m turning into Hatori.’ he thinks to himself.

PART 6.

“Here, hold him down while I cast the spell,” said Slaughter to James.

James does as the healer orders, and Slaughter slowly strips the infected skin off from the arm. “The potion.” Said Slaughter, and James handed him the vial with the bandages.

“Perfect.” He mutters, rapping the arm. “Now, I will cast the numbing spell. then we will give you a sleeping potion, alright?” the patient nods, and Slaughter casts the numbing spell.

“Good. Give him the potion.” He said to James, and James put the viol to the lips of the man.

Soon enough, the room is emptied. James has done this multiple times. the patient is not from the Academy, but instead a local from the surrounding area. This is also not strange for James.

“I might just let you perform some small surgery soon enough.” Said Slaughter, as they walked out of the room.

“Do you think I am ready?” asked James.

“Don’t worry kid, I’ll watch your back.” Said Slaughter.

James considers it to be a comforting thing. Going into surgery without Slaughter feels like going into a war alone, and without any backup or support.

PART 7.

Hatori walks into the office of Professor Krodhatma. “Professor, I am done.”

“So soon?” the professor opens his eyes.

“Yes. I’ve made these generic, and also expanded the range.” Said Hatori.

“Here, let me demonstrate.” He teleported his desk from his room.

“Impressive.” Said Krodhatma, taking a look at the new runes. “Leave these with me, I’ll let you know your grade soon enough.”

“Thank you, professor.” Said Hatori, walking out of the class, and teleporting his desk back to his room.

“So, it works in reverse as well, huh? quite useful,” mumbles Krodhatma. “Maybe I should ask him whether I can use these runes for myself or not, it would make my life much easier, and perhaps, less angrier as well.”