Chapter 48.

PART 1.

“Alright, today we will find the answer to our question.” Raven is saying, pacing back and forth in the room like a general about to go on a campaign with his men. “We will have the results of all the laborious tracking we did—”

“How did you learn that word?” asked Josh.

“—And we will finally know where Hatori disappears too. Are you with me?” he asked with a roar.

“Aye, aye, captain!” said James, Shin, and Josh together.

“Can we do this?” He asked.

“Yes, we can!” said the three boys.

“Then let’s go!” They all march out of that room, ready to conquer the world.

After they all come out of the mess hall after breakfast, Hatori leaves in a different direction, just like usual. However, they find Hatori confronted by Maria. He has an annoyed expression on his face. But they are too far to listen to what they are talking about.

After Maria leaves, they hoped to follow him. But he just disappears right in front of their eyes before they can do so. “I knew we should have studied invisibility breaking spells.” lamented Raven.

“Don’t worry about it, partner.” Assures Josh. “I’m sure we’ll get more chances.”

PART 2.

After enjoying his breakfast (He even got a piece of guava at the end!) Hatori is ambushed by Maria. “So. You don’t have your friends around you anymore. You won’t escape me this time!” she declares.

“What?” Hatori is confused.

“I want a game from you, now!” She reminded him. “You bragged about your skills in chess, didn’t you? Let’s find out how good you are. Stop running away already!”

“Didn’t Raven beat you already?” asked Hatori.

“That is not important. My challenge was to you.” said Maria, not willing to relent.

“Fine.” Said Hatori in an annoyed tone. “We’ll play tomorrow. Now leave me already!”

“Don’t run this time.” she shot back, and left.

Breathing to calm himself down, Hatori uses the invisibility spell, and makes his way to the library.

PART 3.

Lucie and Swaraj wait for Hatori in the library with their followers. These are the students whose families are either aligned with them, or are currently under debt to their families. They observe him going to his usual place in the corner, taking notes after reading a book. After an hour or so, he gets up, deposits the book in its place, and moves to the exit.

They followed him outside. Swaraj runs ahead, where he sees Hatori disappearing into thin air. He reveals the knife under his sleeves, and begins to cast the revealing spells from it. Much to his surprise, he did not get anything out of them. He followed the direction which he saw Hatori take when he was visible.

Hatori loses focus for a moment, and the spell runs out after a few seconds. At that point, Swaraj sees him, and they surround him. Hatori curses his luck. His spell ran out right in the middle of the ground and the library. Now he is trapped in a corridor, a closed space with no room to run away.

For a moment, Swaraj entertains the suggestion of Ishwar. But he sneers at him in his thoughts. The boy will listen to him whether he likes it or not. Gripping his knife, he gets close to him. ‘Or else, I can always relieve him of a limb or two.’

“Now—”

“I know, I know. I’m not joining you. get lost!” said Hatori.

For a moment, everyone freezes at this bold declaration. “Looks like some leg-breaking is in order. Right boys?” His lackies chuckled at the thought.

Hatori fishes for the potions on his belt. He brings out the blasting potion and throws it in the middle of the group so fast that no one has any time to react. He then lops the blinding potion at them as well, which enhances the reflection of light so much that the observer goes blind.

Dazed by this combination, they are unable to stop Hatori from breaking their circle and getting away. Still, they pursue him. He Slices one of the lackies legs with a Slicer spell. But he senses Swaraj is preparing for some big spells. He finds the first potion on his belt, and throws it at him. It landed on his face, and he screamed.

The wild spellcasting going on at that moment stopped, as everyone went to help their boss, leaving Hatori to limp away. Though Zeko’s clothes and shoes protect him from damage, each time he ends up in a tangle like this, he always comes off with a large collection of bruises and cuts. It is only the underestimation of him by older students, and his trained reflexes that he avoids the damage to his face and unprotected areas of his body.

Lucie watches the skin on Swaraj’s face melt with horror. She never thought that a firstie could do this much damage. She shook her head. ‘Maybe we should have listened to that Chandravanshi boy.’

PART 4.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

An informant tells the entire disaster to Ishwar. So he comes along with Bhanu and Ajay to check out everything for himself. “Looks like a lot happened here.” Said Bhanu. Apart from blood and broken vials, there is an acidic potion which is melting through the floor.

“Do you think he brewed it himself?” asked Ajay to Ishwar, after taking a look at the acidic potion.

“It isn’t hard to brew.” He said. “The boy seems to be fine. I’m glad we didn’t try the heavy-handed approach for ourselves. This, more than anything, proves why Zeko has his reputation.”

“Yeah. Every student he has is just like this. You don’t want to tangle with them.” agreed Bhanu.

PART 5.

“There he is!” Said Raven, having seen Hatori on the ground. They follow the direction he is going in, and arrive at the old rusty gate before he gets there.

“Here? He comes here?” said Shin.

“Sssshhhh. He is coming.” Shushed Raven.

After his ambush, Hatori is on edge. So when he senses magical signatures near the gate, he fires a Stinger spell, thinking there are mor ambushers waiting for him there. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy there, buddy.” Said Shin, raising his hands in the universal gesture of harmlessness.

“Why did you come here?” asked Josh.

“And what’s up with all those injuries you have?” asked James.

Ignoring their questions, he focuses for a moment. After confirming that there are no more people around here, he goes to the gate, and pushes it open. “Come in.” He invited them in.

None of them expected a large ground on the other side. Aside from Hatori, it looks like no one has been here for years. Aside from a large palm tree, there are no trees there, unlike the ground beyond the gate, which is filled with large trees. there is a grassy section, and a rocky platform at a corner.

“I found this place when I felt like I needed to step up my training.” Hatori shows them the yantra which he acquired from the school. “I use it to spar with it physically; it lets me practice the holds which you saw me apply on Praduman in the class.”

“During that duel.” Remembers Raven.

“Yes.”

“But why did you feel it so necessary to find such a place?” asked Shin.

“You see these injuries?” Hatori pointed to the cuts on his faces, as well as bruises on his arms, and legs. “I’ve got ambushed. Some families want to recruit me to their side.”

“Just like you’re kidnapping before.” Raven connected the dots.

“Yes. But this time, Zeko isn’t here to save me.” Said Hatori. “Do you remember how there was a student killed earlier this year, but no one knew how?” At their nod, he continued. “I did it. I struck him with a branch while he was standing over an old ritual well--”

“Ah yes, he was found in one.” said Shin.

“But I don’t think that’s the whole truth, is it?” Said Josh, standing nose-to-nose with Hatori. “I’m sure there’s some other secret on the ground which you’re not telling us about.”

“What? There’s no other secret here.” Protested Hatori. “I’ve told you everything, apart from the books I found.” He added the last one.

“We figured.” Said Shin and Raven together. “Given how much you spend your time in the library, we figured you found some books to help with your training.”

“I don’t believe you!” Josh rushes at Hatori. He will throttle the answers out of him if need be.

Hatori shook his head. Josh might be physically strong, but he has no technique. He grabbed his wide stretched arms, turned him around, and pulled on them. “Enough. There’s no secret.”

“I don’t believe you!” said Josh, trying to kick Hatori’s legs off him.

Everyone else watches this brawl, ready to interfere if things get nasty. Hatori lets go of Josh’s arms, and makes some distance. Josh rushes at him, unable to remember any spells in his rage. Hatori grabs his wrist, and throws him to the ground with a large thump, making everyone wince in sympathy. But it seems Josh is still not out of his angry fog, so he attacks him again.

Again, Hatori throws him to the ground, ruthlessly, not showing him any mercy. He couldn’t afford to, given what state Josh is in. “Snap, out, of, it!” He slapped his face with each word.

Hatori waits for Josh to move. When it is clear that he is not going to attack him, he relaxes, and breathes a sigh of relief. “You guys are free to come here for training. Just don’t share it with anyone. This is my safe place. I’m willing to share it with you. but not anyone else.”

“Yeah, we’ll take you on that offer.” Said Shin.

“I’m sorry.” Mumbled Josh from the ground, still haven’t gotten up from the last time Hatori threw him.

He goes to pick him up. “Don’t worry about it. What’s a little beating among friends?” he said, making them laugh.

He also plans to get Josh trained in the physical methods of magic, and teach him some hold-ups. He will be a great sparring partner, much better than any yantra.

Meanwhile, his friends leave for their dorms. They never realized how much danger Hatori was facing alone. Now, they all wish to become strong, to protect their friends. Maybe if they did that, he wouldn’t have to withdraw to himself, and cut them off from his life.

(End.)