Chapter 27.

PART 1.

Hatori limps into the house. Though he was horrified by the news of the formal dinner, he is glad that it doesn’t have to take place immediately. He has a few months to prepare himself, according to Zeko.

“You will need that time to not embarrass me, boy.” Said Zeko to him.

Hatori is also glad to return to the house. Though he did enjoy relaxation, without getting attacked, he is happy to live in a room while training, instead of living in a moving vehicle.

Since it is the time of the night, and they have just returned to Zeko’s house, there won’t be any training. Hatori thinks he needs to get used to his physical activities once more. His body is taking a while to get back to its former intensity, though Zeko did say that they did not lose much progress. According to him, it is not enough to lose your progress in a month, unless you are injured badly, or don’t move much during that entire month, both of which did not apply to Hatori.

As he enters his room, looking forward to the rest, he is halted on his walk towards his bed by a voice. “Master Hatori, this is Central Yantra.” Said the voice.

Hatori senses a ball of light hovering over his bed. Why a ball of light is hovering, is too much to think about for his tired brain. “I remember you.” he replied, groggy from exhaustion.

“I’m glad, sir. We have detected that your abilities have gone through some improvements. As a result, we yantras would like to inform you that your difficulty will be increased tomorrow.”

“You increased the difficulty previously, without telling me. What has changed?” asked Hatori, this news has cleared the cobwebs of exhaustion from his brain.

“Because the next level is going to be quite tough.” Said central yantra in a mild voice, which Hatori feels is unsuited for the grave news.

“What kind of things can I look forward to?” asked Hatori, fishing for info.

“Mainly, you must prove yourself for the use of the facilities of this house in combat, every twenty-four hours. For example, eating, bathing, sleeping.”

“Great. I can sleep in peace for now?” asked Hatori.

“Yes.” Answered, the ball of light disappeared after saying that.

Hatori soon realizes that the Central Yantra is a liar, as he has to dispose of two shadows before he can sleep. At least nothing else bothered him for the remainder of the night.

PART 2.

The next morning, Hatori had to fight the curtain of the window near his table in the hall, before he could actually eat breakfast. It is considered inhuman to make children do things like that just for their food.

As the curtain tries to choke him, Hatori levitates a knife from the table, and the curtain receives a hole. Hatori then slices a few more holes in the curtain, and sits on the table after it falls limp.

Putting the knife back on the table, he sighed. “Curtains these days, won’t even let you break your fast in peace.” He complained. “If I were me, I would demand a refund.” Zeko roared with laughter after hearing that.

“Now, you will see different utensils on your plate kid.” Said Zeko, once he calms down from his amusement. “You will use these for eating.”

“Is it about that upcoming dinner?” asked Hatori.

“Yes. Besides, I think it’ll build your motor control, something which you’ll need in the future. Now, pick up that fork.” Orders Zeko.

Hatori wonders whether he would be able to eat at all in the coming days or not. Thankfully, the breakfast concluded without him spilling anything. But at this rate, it is only a matter of time.

‘Why can’t I use a spoon?’ He thinks. ‘Not that it is easy to eat with it. but it is easier than a fork.’

Because the world is an unfair place kid.

PART 3.

After the breakfast is concluded, and the morning training and reading, along with the homework sent from the school is done, Hatori is waiting for his next instructions from Zeko in the garden. There are some wooden logs scattered around, which Zeko has recently brought in.

“Today, you will learn another spell.” He spoke. “Now, sense this.”

Hatori feels the magic of Zeko. It condensed at the tip of his index finger, and then released in a blade like shape at a wooden log, piercing it, and coming out from the other side. Hatori goes to touch the hole in the log, finding it smooth, and without any roughness.

“Shouldn’t there be some roughness?” he asked.

“Yes, when you don’t have control.” Explains Zeko. “This spell is the next step in acquiring control over your magic, especially when it comes to external effects. We've already covered them, but here’s a quick refresher. These are spells which do affect the outside world in some fashion.”

“I remember. While spells like my Radar spell affect me personally, internally.”

“Correct.” Zeko nodded. “This spell also can be dangerous if performed on a human. Unlike the Knockback spell, it is not harmless. It can cause serious injuries, and fatalities. So be careful of that.” warns Zeko.

“I will.” Replies Hatori.

Zeko then watches Hatori focus his magic on the spell. It requires concentration to make the magic appear in a shape like that. ‘Master this spell boy, because you'll be learning combat magic this year.’

Zeko feels it is necessary that he get Hatori started on that. His recent kidnapping reminded him harshly that he does not have much time to instruct him. For now, he might be safe. But there won’t be any safe place to hide in the academy. True, children ages ten to twelve don’t suffer any fatalities. But you don’t need to kill someone to make their life miserable.

Cruelty comes to children easily. He should know, he suffered it, and inflicted it on others. The fact that those children will receive encouragement from their families to cow Hatori just makes things worse. ‘But you won’t suffer, if I have to say anything about it.’

In the evening, after the days training is done, Hatori is sitting at the dinner table, having no need to fight for his dinner, since he already fought for his food in the morning. He is warned out though, since he has to fight for using water, and getting attacked in the bath after he nearly fell asleep there.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Master,” he asked. “You have mentioned an academy in the past. What exactly is it? You never told me anything about it.” he asked, while trying not to spill his dinner.

He is considering levitating his food, bypassing these difficulties entirely. In the opinion of this handsome narrator, he is completely right to do so.

“Hmm.” Zeko stroked his chin. “The academy which I refer to is called Magecraft and Sorcery Academy. It is run by the Institute of Magecraft and Sorcery. It is the world’s premier school of magic, among the top five.” Zeko stops to take a sip of his pineapple juice.

“In the Subcontinent, kids receive schooling before the age of ten to prepare them for the academy. For it is a magically intensive course, and it gets difficult each year. However, there’s a dark and dangerous side to it.” Zeko puts his empty glass down. “You could die by the hands of other students there, before you ever complete your graduation.”

“What?” Hatori is shocked.

“Yes. I am not kidding.” Zeko tries to impress the seriousness of the matter on his student. “You see, the students start doing politics there. But instead of forming cleeks and taunting each other, they actually kill each other in combat, or poison each other to avoid combat.”

“But why?”

Zeko thinks for a moment. “Did you read stories in your dimension?” asked Zeko, taking the topic in an entirely different direction.

“Yes, but I don’t understand, what they have to do with it.” said Hatori.

“Were there mages in them?” asked Zeko.

“Yes.” Hatori decides not to question Zeko this time.

“Hmm. were they living in some isolated tower, where they would divine the secrets of the universe, uncaring of the politics, and only rewarding excellence?” asked Zeko.

“Now that I think about it…” Hatori trailed off. When he consider it like that, those fictional mages did behave like that.

“The reason why I asked these questions is that I’m sure the academics of your own dimension, though lacking in magic, have the same reputation among the people outside of that circle.”

“How can you say that so surely?” asked Hatori.

“Because, we’re not exactly cut off from your dimension, remember? Or how else do you think the king sent some people to your house?” reminded Zeko. “My point is, though, that academics have this reputation, with or without magic. And it is totally false.”

“I think those professors won’t like to hear that.” said Hatori with a smirk.

“What’re they gonna do. Turn me into a lab rat?” Zeko smiled in amusement. “For all their ivory tower reputation, Academia has a dangerous politics, and on this magical side, it manifests like this. Instead of stopping someone’s grants, or discrediting them in the eyes of piers and colleagues, they fight, and either by hook or by crook, remove the people standing in their way.”

“Of course, there’s other side to this coin.” Said Zeko, sliding Hatori’s finished plate away, and filling his glass with sugarcane juice. Let it be known that when it comes to feeding his students, Zeko the cruel never thinks twice.

“I’m afraid to know that side.” Said Hatori, after finishing his juice. Zeko shook his head. The boy needs to learn how to savor the nice things in life.

“And you should be.” Said Zeko. “Magic is a dangerous force. Mages are often experimenting with it, finding new uses for it, or sometimes, re-discovering the old ones. Naturally, when you use a knife, you are bound to cut your finger. It can happen today; tomorrow, ten years later, it doesn’t matter. It will happen, sooner or later. As a result, mages feel that they walk with danger and death their entire lives, and if they get to unlock the secrets of magic, so be it. For that, if they have to remove people in their way, so be it. And if some weaklings, who can’t even defend themselves in their teenage years, or lose control die, then so be it. The sooner they remove themselves from the gene pool, the better.”

Usually, by this point, Hatori would have deposited his dirty dishes on the stand. But this explanation has forced him to sit on his spot, and think about matters which he never considered.

Zeko walks up to him and pats his shoulder. “Don’t worry kid. By the time you are in your third year of Academy, it’ll appear normal for you as well. For now, you should go and sleep. I believe a battle is waiting for you in your room.” Said Zeko, snapping Hatori out of his shock. “Here’s some friendly advice. Be sure to try your Piercing spell.”

PART 4: ZEKO’S LECTURE ON MAGIC AND POLITICS, THE SEAT OF POWER.

The next morning, Hatori is practicing his piercing spell. Despite his battle in the room with a large shadow, he still hasn’t gotten the spell down pat. Zeko assured him that it’ll come to him after enough practice. While taking a breather, he decides to ask a question.

“Master, what is this seat of power?”

“You remember that too?” asked Zeko, sitting in the shade, writing something on the notebook on his lap.

“Yeah. But it is also mentioned once or twice in schoolwork.” Said Hatori.

“To put it simply, kid, it is where a mage, or the family of mages are the strongest. Their spells are much more powerful, and these places are protected quite well.” Said Zeko, turning a page in his notebook. “Though it is not necessary to have generations of wards laid down on a land to make it a seat of power. For example, this very property is my own seat of power.”

Hatori opens his mouth. “And yes, we will talk about wards some other time.” Hatori closed his mouth. “These seats of power are also political statements, that you are strong, and you have plenty of resources. As such, they are an excellent way of finding some poor shmucks who are easily swayed with power. however, the most powerful of such seats is the throne itself.”

Hatori sagged in relief. He does not enjoy listening to politics. Not in his dimension, and not in this dimension. ‘I must strive to become so powerful that stupid things like that don’t bother me.’

(End.)