Chapter 70.

PART 1.

Porus is worried. If his son somehow ends up in the hands of his opponents, his performance could suffer. Not to mention, the throne would not like his hesitancy. Thus, he took steps to secure him. He sent Zeko to pick him up and take him to his house. With all the protection there, coupled with Zeko’s presence there, his boy will be safe as he possibly could be.

After making the long trip, and another long return trip, Zeko arrives at his home. He is happy to see the house is still standing, and Durve is not chained like the previous babysitter. Though given the difference between them, Durve would have punished Hatori hard if he dared to be impetuous with him, unlike the babysitter he hired, he is not a pushover.

“How’re you doing, boy?” asked Zeko, looks like he arrived just in time for breakfast.

“Zeko,” greets Shyam with a nod.

“I hope the kids didn’t bother you too much?” asked Zeko, taking his seat.

“Of course not; they were perfectly fine.” Said Durve. “Now, with your permission, I must leave.”

“Sure, go ahead.” Said Zeko.

“As for you kids, I’ve got a special guest to introduce to you today.” Zeko gestures to the man sitting with him, who looks like he is in his mid-thirties. His friends think he looks familiar, while Hatori thinks his magic feels familiar, yet different.

“Meet Doom Ketu, son of Porus.” Zeko introduces the man.

“You can call me Ketu for short.” Said Doom Ketu.

Now the children realize, why he feels or looks familiar. Even his voice sounds like Porus, though much softer compared to the king. “Are you a prince then?” asked Hatori.

“Oh sorcery no,” Laughed Ketu. “I’m just the son of our current king. We don’t have princes or princesses on Subcontinent, for which I’m thankful.”

“Ah yes,” said Hatori. “You use what you call the tiger system. Challenge the king, and if you win, the throne is yours.”

“Correct.” Said Zeko. “This does not mean that family members have not claimed the throne in the past. They just defeated the former king, and claimed it.”

“Though that is very rare.” Added Ketu.

“But we haven’t seen you before.” Asked Josh. “I mean, I’ve spent most of my life in the castle, but we haven’t seen you there, not even for once.”

“Because I left the country as soon as I graduated from the Academy seventeen years ago.” Said Ketu. “I’ve returned because I kind of had enough of the traveling, but I won’t stay here for long. My feet start to itch if I stay in one place for too long.”

Hatori and Josh think that there is more to this than what Ketu is telling them, but they do not wish to pry deeper. Sometimes, it is best not to reveal the secrets of others.

“Speaking of challenges for the throne, there is one tonight.” Said Zeko, surprising the kids. “We’ll watch it together.”

‘How convenient. Son of the king appears, and a challenge that very day.’ thinks Raven to himself.

“But how will we see the duel?” asked Hatori.

“Why, on television of course.” Said Zeko.

“Television? You have a television, and you didn’t tell me?” asked Hatori.

“I didn’t want you to laze around all day long. Besides, that room is under the control of the spirit of entertainment; you can defeat it and watch the TV all you want.” Hatori just shook his head.

PART 2.

Ketu has spent a day with Hatori and his friends, and they are now watching the duel on television. The spirit has permitted them to watch it for now, temporarily.

During his day, Ketu observed one thing. How much does Hatori get attacked? He is aware of training modules, but for the first time, he is seeing a child of Hatori’s age go through them. What’s more, with elemental magic no less! It is a wonder that the house and surrounding area is not destroyed already.

Of course, being a guest, he keeps these thoughts to himself. No need to anger Zeko. He suspects not even being the son of the current king will save him from his wrath, if he pisses him off.

On television, the announcer is introducing the challengers. “To my left, the current reigning! And defending! King of the subcontinent, Porus!” The crowd cheered. The nobles may not like Porus, but the public adores him.

“To my right, the challenger! The self-proclaimed archmage, Bhavar!” The response was lukewarm, and outright frosty in certain sections of the audience.

“Greetings citizens, it is me, Surendra Sharma, coming to you live from the royal arena located at the City of Throne. Both men have been introduced, and the crowd does not seem to favor the challenger in the slightest.” Said the commentator.

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“He’s the father of Samudra, right?” asked Hatori to James, since he is familiar with the families.

“Yes.” Confirms James.

“Now, the rules are simple.” The rules appear on the screen, and Surendra reads them out loud. “Both duelers will fight to death or incapacitation. No magic is restricted. If you can use it to kill your opponent, then use it. there is no time limit for this duel either.”

“Now, begin!” said the announcer in the arena, and the fight begins.

Clapping Hatori on his shoulder, Zeko speaks to Hatori. “Feel free to ask me if you don’t understand something, alright?”

“Okay.” nodded Hatori.

PART 3.

In the ring, the duelists exchange some elemental attacks. From all the water he is using, Porus thinks that Bhavar is a heavy water user. Which is apt for his name, since his name means whirlpool. He is also impressed that Bhavar doesn’t need a source of water nearby, conjuring up all the water for his attack by himself.

However, this is not enough to defeat him. Porus turns all the water coming his way into steam, only getting hit by enough water to make his clothes wet. Bhavar was expecting the king to be carried away in his torrent, but that did not happen. This calls for a new strategy.

Porus do not give Bhavar any chances. He conjures oil, and with a flick of his wrist, with just a small flame, lights him on fire before he could surround himself with a shield of water. Despite his injuries, Bhavar is in good condition for a man who was just lit on fire. He surrounded his body with a thin film of ice, which melted when he was lit on fire. The only injuries he has are due to boiling water, and some flames which did manage to get past his protection. But this is not enough to stop him.

This time, Porus is the one who does not have enough time to react. The king expected to finish his opponent with his last move; his survival is unexpected. So, he fails to react when Bhavar slams his foot to the ground and shackles Porus with chains made of rock to the rising pillar from the earth.

He brings out a candle, some salt, and sealed purified water from his clothes, and puts them all in the middle of a circle which he drew from the salt. Porus watches along with the audience, as they did not expect a ritual right in the middle of the battle.

PART 4.

“This is taking time, right?” asked Hatori, remaining quiet so far.

“Yes, all the rituals take time. You will learn about them this year.” Said Zeko.

“But Porus should be able to stop him, shouldn’t he?” asked Hatori.

“Usually. But rituals are unpredictable when they are interrupted in the middle. That and Dad doesn’t feel any threat from it.” Said Ketu. He is sure that a mere ritual is not enough to defeat his father.

PART 5.

Once the ritual is completed, a spirit appears in a swirl of water, a cloud-shaped monster, who attacks the shackled king. Porus breaks out of the chains, and the pillar is destroyed by the attack of the water spirit.

Then, Porus shows that he is no slouch with water either, fighting with the spirit head-to-head with its element, overwhelming it with waves of liquid, destroying the cloud shape, and dispelling the spirit. Bhavar watches all of this happening with a shocked expression.

“How did you do that?” he asked, unable to contain the question.

“Simple.” Answers the king. “The spirit lacked experience in battle. Maybe give it a hundred years or so, then it might defeat me. But now? It does not stand a chance. Much like you.”

Bhavar tries to get out of sight to avoid the next coming attack, but he does not have a chance. With a swish of his rod, Porus changes the ratio of hydrogen and oxygen, and once more, lights a fire with a small flame. But this time, on a much bigger scale. The whole ring is on fire this time, and nothing remains of his opponent beyond the ashes.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Porus has successfully defended his reign!” Along with that announcement, trumpets are played in the arena, and soon a whole orchestra is playing in the stadium in the celebration.

PART 6.

The children sit in quietly after watching that battle. This duel was on an entirely next level to what they watched last year when they had the chance to watch Nandan duel in the Academy. Compared to this, Toofan and Nandan come off as amateurs.

Then, they begin to discuss it excitedly, telling each other which was the best part. “I especially liked beating the water spirit with its element.” Said Hatori. “That showed his complete dominance.”

But Ketu is disturbed to see this behavior. “Shouldn’t they be horrified by the death they just saw?” he asked Zeko.

“We live in a brutal world.” He answers. “These children are the reflection of that. A mage should not be concerned about death, because using magic is dangerous. It can backfire at any time.”

(End.)