Chapter 64.

PART 1.

Professor Bali and another, unfamiliar professor are distributing maps and ribbons to the teams. “Who is that, professor?” asked Hatori, when his team’s turn came up.

“He is a professor mad—”

“Angry! I’m an angry professor!” Said the mad professor. “I said I’m angry!”

“His name is Krodhatma; he teaches runes. You’ll get that subject next year.” Said Bali, giving the kids pitying looks.

“Interesting.” Said Hatori.

Professor Angry comes out of his fog. “You think so?” He said, looking at Hatori. “Have you already tried some?”

“I have.” Said Hatori. “Some of them were disastrous, to say the least.”

Avinash remembers the wars in the castle. “Hah! Do you see that Bali? That is a true sign of a runemaster!”

“Whatever. Take this map of the forest. You must reach the black tower once you collect all the colors. Your ribbon is black.” Said Bali.

“Black tower?” asked Hatori. “Why does a school need a tower in the middle of a forest?”

Annoyed, Bali replied. “They perform rituals there. For now, they have loaned us the tower. Now leave, and quit wasting everyone’s time!”

“Someone needs a hot drink.” Muttered Hatori, while walking away.

Bali grumbled while Krodhatma laughed. “That boy knows how to get on your nerves.”

“Next!” Bali wants to get away from this responsibility quickly.

“Um, professor?” asked a student. “What are we supposed to do for the food in the forest?”

“Forage the food yourself.” Replied Bali.

“But we don’t know how to do that.” protested another student.

“Tough luck. What were you doing in your first year, then? Did you think of checking out the library? No? Did you ever think of studying up on things different from your classes? No? Then forget it. You have no hope of being a mage. This Academy encourages self-study, but clearly, we’re failing to spread that message!” ranted Krodhatma, while the students scurried away to avoid his rebukes.

“Maybe it would have been better if we didn’t put restrictions on harming younger students.” Lamented Krodhatma. “Maybe we wouldn’t have to do this handholding otherwise.”

“Talk to Corvus about it.” Said Bali. “I’m not a fan of it either.”

PART 2.

Much like Raven predicted, the whole group is separated. Raven considers himself lucky that he did not end up in the team of some noble child. Those would have made his life much harder than it had to be. Already, going to the forest is hard enough. He doesn’t need some spoiled child with him in the way.

“Alright.” He said after reading the map, he is happy to see that his teammates are listening to him. “I’ve taken a look at the map. Here’s what we should do—” he then begins to tell his plan, changing it according to the feedback of his teammates.

Shin is not lucky enough, though. He has ended up in a team where two of the members are from high families, and due to his orphan status, he has been given the status of a pack mule. He must carry their stuff, and not get in the way. He is allowed to entertain them with his music if they need it.

So, he listens to their planning session, while standing away from them, already feeling terrible without his friends. He realizes how much his life has improved ever since he met his four friends. The pain of isolation is much less when people give you attention, and consider you their equal.

James is in a similar situation, tuning his yantras to the side, while his team planned. He claimed to them openly that he is no good when it comes to planning strategies, but he can provide them with a numbers advantage. So, they left him alone with his yantras.

Josh is not the only noble child on his team, but through cajoling, bribes, and threats, he has effectively taken over the leadership of his team. “So, what’s our plan?” asked the female member of his team.

Josh realizes how large he is compared to his whole team. “Well, we’ll take all the ribbons we can, and then use them as bargains.” He spoke. “That should give us an advantage in trades.”

While his friends are working with their teams, or in Shin’s case, hoping to get rid of them, Hatori is with Avinash. They both are on the same teams.

“Okay, let’s get the first thing out of the way.” Said Avinash. “Are we going to have problems?”

“No,” replied Hatori. “As long as you listen when we tell you you’re making a bad decision, I’m fine with you as a leader.”

“Him?” Said Kalidas, “Why should he be the leader? I should be the leader.”

“Forget it.” Said Tulsi. “I should be the leader.” She spoke.

“As if. None of you deserve that position. I should be the leader.” Said Praduman.

“And you’ll lose just like you lost that duel to me last year.” Said Hatori.

“About that. I need a rematch—”

“Besides, I do think Avinash would be a great leader. I support him.” Said Hatori. “We can solve this matter by dueling, of course.”

They are all from the same class, so they saw how handily Hatori beat Praduman last year. So, they have no interest in fighting him. judging by his eager look, it won’t end up good for them.

“Nah, I’m fine.” Said Kalidas.

“Yeah, I’m fine with it as well.” nodded Tulsi.

“Good. Then our objective is to complete our set as fast as possible, and then go for the tower. Any questions?” When no one said anything, Avinash walked into the forest. “Then come, our victory is waiting for us.”

They all followed him, thinking this brat talked like a king. ‘Maybe I should bring him down a peg or two.’ thinks Hatori.

PART 3.

“Halt!” Said the voice of a girl. James and his team have to stop, as Maria appears along with her team.

They thought they had them surrounded, and the numbers would be equal since every team has five members. But Maria takes a step back in shock when she sees all those yantras with James. James’s team decided to sacrifice stealth for numbers.

“Show me your ribbons,” said Maria. “If they are different colors, then we fight.”

“And if they’re not?” asked Mohit, the leader of James’s team.

“Then we ally.” Answered Maria.

“What do you think?” Mohit asks his team.

“I think you should take the deal.” Said James. “She is a good strategist. We can use her help.”

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“Fine then.” Turning to Maria, Mohit speaks. “We’ll show the ribbons to each other on a count of three. Ready?”

“One, two, three!” they show the ribbons, and both ribbons are blue.

“Well then.” Said Maria, pocketing the ribbon of her team. “Welcome to this alliance.”

“It will be profitable for us, I’m sure.” Said Mohit, pocketing his ribbon.

PART 4.

Avinash’s team is having a problem.

“I refuse to put up a camp, that is beneath me,” said Tulsi.

“I refuse to forage for food. That is a servant’s job.” Said Kalidas.

“I refuse to be awake in the night; a warrior needs his sleep.” Said Praduman.

Correction. Avinash’s team is having lots of problems. The troublesome three just refuse to do any task assigned to them, either calling it below their station or just lazing around, ignoring Avinash.

“What am I supposed to do?” he said with his head in his hands.

“Giving up so easily?” asked Hatori. “I thought you wanted to become the king. Well? Do you think Porus would let them walk all over himself like this? Would you let them walk over you?”

“You are a dangerous guy, you know that?” mumbled Avinash. “Whispering in my ear like that. but you know what?” He gets up and assumes a confident posture. “I like what you’ve just said.”

“Listen up, you damned burden on mage kind!” He roared, startling the troublesome three. “Do you know that in the rules, there’s no penalty for kicking out your teammates?”

“What? That is impossible.” They said together. “How will you manage without us?” asked Tulsi.

“Like I’m doing right now.” Fires back Avinash. “You have done nothing. I told you to scout out the area for our competitors. You refused. I told you to prepare a base for us; you refused. I am done dealing with you, you hear me?”

“You won’t be able to manage it alone,” said Praduman.

“Are you so confident?” asked Avinash, glaring at Praduman. “I’m sure I and Hatori have enough fighting skills to take out any team. We will also manage to survive among both of us.”

“Then what do you want us to do?” asked Kalidas.

“Contribute.” Said Avinash. “Listen to me, call me out if you think I’m doing something wrong, and work with us, instead of against us. I want to win this, and if you get in my way, I’ll drown you in the nearby stream myself.”

Avinash said those words with such certainty that they all believed him; he will do that.

“Okay, I’ll go put up camp.” Said Kalidas.

“I’ll go gather the firewood.” Said Praduman. “I’ll also keep the watch.”

“I’ll go scout the area for more teams.” Said Tulsi, walking away.

“Is there a way for us to know the color of the ribbon of our opponents?” wonders Avinash.

“You should not worry about it.” Said Hatori. “We should take all the ribbons we can. Even if we get the same colors, those will be useful as bargaining chips later.”

“You’re right.” Said Avinash.

Tulsi returns fifteen minutes later. “There’s a team nearby; they’re not guarding themselves at all.” She reported.

“Call the two.” Said Avinash. “It is time for our first battle.”

Avinash and Hatori work on trapping the team, while Tulsi and Kalidaas provide them with backup. Praduman watches out for other teams. True, using underhanded tactics like these is beneath a warrior, but he recognizes that a warrior should not be inflexible. Besides, watching out for threats is better than participating in deceit, in his opinion.

When the team comes near the tree where Avinash and Hatori are hiding, they are ambushed. They did not stand a chance. “Tell me, which one of you has the ribbon?” asked Hatori pleasantly. “If you refuse to tell me, I’ll drown you in this very stream.”

Shaken badly from this attack, they gave up their ribbons easily. “Good.” Hatori shows the white ribbon together with their original ribbon. “Now, say goodbye.” He prepares a Slicer spell to cut their heads, while Tulsi, Praduman, and Kalidas watch in horror.

“Easy now.” Said Avinash, putting down Hatori’s arm. “I know a better way to get rid of them.”

“What?” asked Hatori. “They’ll follow us for revenge.”

“No, they won’t,” said Avinash, knocking out the five helpless kids in front of him.

He then hangs them upside down from the tree, from which they sprang to ambush them, and burns their map. “With this gone, they won’t have any way to track us. They’ll be lost.”

“That’s fine.” Said Hatori, and followed after Avinash to their half-prepared base.

After helping Kalidas put up the camp, and lighting the fire, since none of them know how to do that yet, Hatori leaves and comes back with a rabbit. “Hey guys, look what I found.”

Tulsi draws away in horror, while Avinash’s arms shake from watching the dead animal in Hatori’s arms. “Zeko did teach me about lighting a fire and putting up a camp, but he didn’t tell me how to clean up the prey.”

“I’ll help you with that,” said Praduman with a sigh.

Really, why was everyone behaving like Hatori killed some human? This isn’t their classroom where they are protected. Though saying kids are protected in Academy is a bad joke in Praduman’s opinion.

For dinner, everyone gets a piece of meat and some fruits which were found by Avinash, and Avinash and Hatori have the first watch. “Did the killing change you so much?” asked Avinash over the fire.

“Are you disturbed by today’s events?” asked Hatori in return. Not waiting for an answer, he continues. “It probably did. But let me tell you, ending a life is a miserable experience. Not only do you feel bad, but people cringe away from you as well, no matter the reason.”

“You guys are very lucky that you did not have to kill anyone in your lives yet.” Said Hatori.

Though Avinash feels a lot of things for Hatori, rage for his disrespect, respect for his strength, and pragmatism, here’s a new feeling. Pity.

PART 5.

Let’s take a look at the other teams. Shin’s fortunes haven’t improved any; he still has to carry the things of his team like a pack mule. He is scared to protest this treatment.

Raven’s team is doing well, having established a base, though they have not gotten any ribbons on their first day.

The alliance of Maria and James is doing well, overwhelming the two teams, and acquiring ribbons for themselves. Those teams were carrying multiple ribbons, so they had a lottery of sorts. Now, aside from having ribbons to complete their colors, they have one ribbon to use as a bargaining chip.

Josh also found a team with multiple ribbons. When he asked for their ribbon, which his team didn’t have, he beat them up and took that ribbon anyway. sparing the remaining ribbons they had, he offered them to join him, to which they agreed after getting thrashed by his team.

(End.)