Chapter 200.

PART 1.

Raven gets back into the castle and goes directly to the general to report. “The Academy got invaded again.” He reported. “But they managed to repel it once again.”

“Any news about Corvus?” asked the general, knowing that fighting at his age could not be good for the old mage.

“Not as such.” Said Raven. “Besides, the entire thing took place a week ago.”

The general sighed. He always gets the news last, and it is too late for him to do anything about it, given his own position. Though given how there is not any talk about Corvus, Sundar speculates that he might be injured or dead. But since there is no way to confirm this, he can only speculate.

“What about the areas we have taken control of?” asked Sundar.

“They are stable.” Said Raven. “Attempts have been made to retake them from us, but they all failed.”

“Finally, some good news.” Said Sundar.

True, it is nothing much when compared with the city. But given that he has very few forces to start with, most of which are inexperienced, taking over the areas near the castle is still an achievement in his mind. He must count it as such, to keep his own confidence up, as well as the people under him.

“Go take a rest.” Said Sundar. “Be ready for your patrol in a few hours.”

“Yessir!” said Raven, saluting the general, and then left to rest from his scouting mission.

PART 2.

“Very well,” said Dhiraj, after everyone had gathered in the office of the headmaster, leaving the chair of Corvus empty. “Let us begin the council meeting. Professor Prakriti, how goes the news about this invasion?”

“It is as we planned.” She spoke. “The news about our successful defense has spread, and the condition of Corvus is still a secret.”

“If I may add something?” asked Amarjit, and after getting a nod from Dhiraj, he spoke what was in his mind. “Though we need to keep the condition of the headmaster secret, people are beginning to ask or speculate about his condition, since we have deliberately left out his condition.”

“That is a concern.” Said some other professors.

“I propose we choose a new headmaster.” Said Professor Shantanu.

“Yeah, right. and you consider yourself to be the best candidate for that, no doubt.” Said Bali.

“You—”

Before the situation could devolve any further, Dhiraj spreads the pressure of his magic in the room, silencing the argument. “We can have that discussion later. for now, we need to stabilize things, and run day-to-day operations smoothly.”

Dhiraj was expecting more resistance, but they agreed and calmed down. Until a new headmaster is chosen, this council will continue to run the Academy. Dhiraj is hoping to avoid the race to become the headmaster since that would end up becoming a violent war within the Academy itself, during which they would end up losing the mages who they need to defend the institute from outside attackers.

A few days later, however, the situation has devolved further, and Dhiraj is unable to stop this argument from raging on again. ‘Didn’t Corvus choose me for a reason? I’m the deputy headmaster for five years. Doesn’t that count for something?’ he thought.

Just when he is about to remind them of his authority, the door is opened, and Suraj marches in, with other members of the student council in toe. “What’s the meaning of this?” asked several professors, outraged by this blatant invasion of the office.

“As this affects students as well as professors,” said Suraj, “I believe we have the right to be present in such meetings. Particularly when you are discussing about the successor to our current headmaster so loudly that almost all the school can hear you.”

“Didn’t you put up the silencing wards?” asked Bali to Krodhatma.

“Why should I?” asked the professor angry in return.

Before any more objections can be raised, Dhiraj welcomes Suraj into their group. “He is correct. Until the headmaster is chosen, they do have to right to be present in this meeting.”

“Fine. Then tell us boy, who is a better candidate for the successor of Corvus?” asked Shantanu.

“First, tell me. was Corvus grooming somebody for that position?” asked Suraj, taking the chair next to Professor Bali.

“He was preparing Dhiraj.” Said Shantanu with a grudging tone.

“I hear the healers say that he is about to wake up soon.” Said Suraj, reminding them of the update that healer Slaughter gave them this morning. “Do you think he will be pleased if you went against his wishes? True, he is not as strong as he once was. But I doubt any of you would want to face his wrath. Am I right?”

The council of professors exchanges a look among them. “The boy has a point,” said Bali.

“Agreed. I would not like to face his wrath.” Said Prakriti.

“Neither do I,” Amarjit said.

“Then it is settled I think.” Said Bali. “We will wait for Corvus to wake up, and until then, Dhiraj will be considered his successor. No more discussions will be had regarding this matter.”

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After everyone nodded to that conclusion, the meeting came to an end, and both students and the professors walked out of the office. Dhiraj stayed behind to take care of some other unrelated matters. He is glad that the solution did come without violence. He wants to differentiate himself from Corvus and do the work of the headmaster without violent retributions, or raw intimidation as much as possible.

PART 3.

Hatori is getting tired of being detained all the time. it wasn’t fun the first time, and it is not fun the third time either if he remembers his counting correctly. At least this time, they got released quickly, after they showed their documents. Good thing they stored them in the runic arrays supplied by him. imagine trying to explain to this bunch about their situation, they are likely to throw them in a cell and then forget about them.

Once more, Avinash worked his magic, presenting the sob story to earn some sympathy for themselves. Even Dimitri helped out this time, presenting himself as someone who has not gone to his home, and as someone deeply committed to seeing these kids to their own homes, before he returns to his own country.

They got a ship afterward, for which they did not ask much. Hatori did some warding and rune-related jobs to safeguard against spirits and souls, and Shin entertained the sailors with his music in return. The ship is likely useless to them, which is why they gave it to them so easily. But it is large enough for all of them, and it is sturdy enough to take them in the ocean for a long hall, which is what matters to them. it also has some weapons to defend them should they need it, though these are nowhere near strong enough to deter a military vessel should it decide to attack them.

Now sitting on the deck of their new ship, and slowly making their way to the Subcontinent, Hatori gets a feeling down his spine. “Our problems are not over yet.” He muttered.

This unsettles Avinash, he has learned in recent times that Hatori tends to be right about these things, but given they have no idea of what is going to happen, he decides he will deal with the problem when it presents itself.

PART 4.

“The ship is sailing mam.” Said the captain. “The boys are there and the coach is also present.”

“Excellent.” Said Amelia. “Looks like you will get the chance to fix your mistake soon enough, daughter.”

“Yes.” said Emmeline. “They will regret ever crossing me.”

No one is going to survive on that ship, and they will never reach with the victory prize to their home.

PART 5.

“We are close to Kemet.” Said Dimitri. “We can get supplies here.”

It has been a few days since they sailed from Vinland. They have to stop for supplies, as food and water are not exactly available in the middle of the ocean. “We’ll dock the ship at the coming port.” Said Avinash.

However, this peaceful journey does not last long. A ship appears close by and quite brazenly shows off the flag of Albion. Once Avinash saw this, he knew what this meant. Cannonballs coming their way are not that surprising for him as a result, though the wards installed by Hatori deflected them in the water, where they exploded.

The team gathers on the deck to see what is happening, while Hatori informs about the wards. “I did not design them to take assaults like this one, they are designed to stop the boarding!” said Hatori.

“Curses.” Said Avinash. “We have to abandon this ship again?”

“Maybe not,” said Dimitri. “We are close to the land.”

More cannonballs come their way but are deflected. But the wards are getting weakened, and the cannonballs are coming closer and closer to landing on the ship, and destroying them along with the deck.

“Josh, Ravina, prepare the ice construct.” Said Avinash. “Hatori, store the ship. Everyone else, supply the power to these two.” Avinash snapped out the orders.

As soon as a massive ice structure is created, they all jump on it, and Hatori stores the ship in the runes carved on his wrist. Ravina and Josh focus, and they move as fast as they can to the land, arriving there with a crash. Leaving the breaking ice, they all quickly disappear beyond the seashore into the deeper desert.

PART 6.

“The ship disappeared mam.” Said the captain.

“I can see that,” said Amelia with a frosty tone. “Target that ice structure.”

“Yes, mam.” Said the captain.

Unfortunately, the iceberg created by Josh and Ravina is small enough that it keeps getting obscured by the waves, and it is also moving faster than their ship. Their attacks failed to hit it, and before long, it crashed to the land. As the ship got closer to the land, they saw various figures running away and disappearing into the desert beyond.

“Prepare a search party.” Said Emmeline. “I want that team, alive.”

“Yes, mam.” Said the captain, lamenting his bad fortune to be trapped with these two on his ship, and surrendering his control to them.

He gets the feeling that none of them will be coming out alive from that desert.