Chapter 89.

PART 1.

For these past few months, Krishna Menon has been tormented. His things are moved just enough that he ends up banging into them, creating bruised shins in the process. His clothes are washed with a soap which has hardened them; now he can give papercuts with the sleeve of his shirts; most of those cuts were to himself. And most important of all, someone tampered with his fruit, because of which he is right now in the care of healer Slaughter, while Corvus has come to watch in the guise of a caring headmaster. but they both know it is gloating.

Every day during his breakfast, Krishna takes a fruit, either an apple or a banana. Today, though, when he bit into his apple, the fruit pieces were transmuted into blades, lacerating his mouth in the process. “Uhhhhhh!” he tried to say.

“Of course, I won’t cut your pay. After all, it would be bad form.” Said Corvus.

‘No, you idiot! Punish that impudent brat!’ He screamed in his head. But of course, Corvus couldn’t hear his thoughts. So, he tried to communicate with his hands but failed miserably. After all, someone in his position wouldn’t do something impolite and useless as a hand sign.

“As amusing as it is to see you flail around, I must get back to work. Healer Slaughter will release you when you’re better. Right, Slaughter?” asked Corvus with a smile.

“Yes, of course, headmaster.” Said the healer with a smile.

Krishna feels he is trapped between two crocodiles.

PART 2.

Hatori is followed by crows everywhere. In class, in the secret ground, and even in their dorms, those birds are always there. Though only one crow appears in the room at any given time. Hatori has also heard that other birds in the surrounding area are also considering joining this avion group, currently consisting of only crows for now.

“Dude, those are creepy as hell,” said Shin, finding no other way to say what he is feeling, falling back on the language of the streets.

“Well, I like them.” said Hatori, “So get used to them.”

“An eagle being followed around by crows.” Said Raven with a chuckle.

“Trust me, the joke occurred to me long before you said it,” said Hatori.

“Yeah, but those eyes are observing us,” said Josh. “It is creepy.”

“I can’t go to sleep if someone is seeing me like that,” said Shin.

“I would,” said Hatori. “It is good to know someone is watching out for me while I rest.”

“Indeed. It is good to know that someone is watching out for you like that,” said James in agreement.

“Both of you are mad.” Said Josh.

“You must be madder than us, for hanging around us, then.” Said Hatori.

In other news, professor Krodhatma is happy to see the results of Hatori’s work on the fountain he created. “Good rune work.” He spoke. “Though I suspect you do not know every single detail, do you?”

“No professor.” Said Hatori. “I mostly focused on things I needed, and discarded the rest.”

“This is the same thing engineers sometimes do to organize their tasks.” Said Krodhatma. “Of course, this doesn't mean you shouldn’t look into deeper details, or Find some room for improvement.”

“I think I’ll use a better approach if I had to do this same task again.” Agreed Hatori.

The school is still not free from the terrors of the creatures, since new animals are getting their modifications, and they often end up wanting to test themselves against the mages. Hatori grants their wishes by teleporting them, though he refuses to give access to the Academy to them completely.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Hatori and James are back with their experiments, causing additional terror. Having separated this year caused them to slip their schedule, but they are recovering nicely, and they are finding that sometimes it is good to take a break to generate new ideas.

Hatori got the ward sensing down. He already has been practicing it, but since he was away from the school, where wards are everywhere, it restricted his practice. After that, he finds a ward in their room, where some older students hid some books. “These books were here the whole time?” said Josh with outrage.

“Look at the positions.” Said Shin.

“Hmm. Why would anyone waste money on books with women without clothes?” asked Hatori.

“Never mind.” Said Raven, taking the books away.

“Don’t damage them.” Said Shin. “We can sell those for a nice profit.”

“Are you serious?” asked Josh. “You want to spread that filth?”

“I can’t help but notice that you are taking glances at the said filth.” Said James.

“Shut up!” said Josh.

“Filth or not, money is money. You don’t let it go to waste.” Said Shin.

“Find a buyer.” Said Hatori. “Let’s see whether I can find some more treasures like this one.”

“Why not build a yantra to do that for you?” asked James. “You won’t have to walk around the school then.”

“I know I kept you around me for a reason,” said Hatori.

“Of course, if you find any more of such… interesting material, I’m sure students will pay a lot for that,” said Shin.

“I’m so glad that we could create a business already,” said Hatori. “We’ll decide the profit margins later.”

“What about us?” asked Josh.

“What about you?” asked Hatori.

“Count me out.” Said Raven. “Unless you find some good tactics related to war or chess, I’m not interested.”

“Give me anything related to politics or math.” Said Josh.

“Fine. But we will sell those once you’re done copying them,” said Hatori.

PART 3.

Hatori is with Avinash; the boy is looking at his rank. “For once, you’ve taken a hit.” He spoke.

Hatori has done wonderfully in runes and rituals, but he has taken a hit in math since a forest is hardly a place to practice your equations. Potions is slightly better, overall; his score is better than he expected. He thought his score would be trash this year.

“Well, given how things worked out this year, I’d say it is a wonderful score,” he said in reply.

“How?” shrieked Mira. “How can this barbarian who was thrown out of school for most of the year, score better than me?”

“Because I’m better than you,” said Hatori, unwilling to let that barbarian comment slide.

Mira gives a wordless snarl and leaps at Hatori to attack him, bringing out her foci. Hatori slaps her hand, and her foci clatter away. He then shocks her with his touch, throwing her on the ground while her body is wracked with electricity. “I’ll let you go this time. But remember, I’m a barbarian for a reason.” His body sparks. “Next time, you’ll be dead, no scores to worry about in the afterlife, eh?”

When they were leaving, the professors, and the students who were working on some research with the professors celebrated with drums, songs, and bells. “This sounds familiar. Are they celebrating us leaving?” asked Hattori, remembering how the castle celebrated their leave a year earlier.

“Probably.” Said James.

While planning to relax for a few days, they promise to gather at Zeko’s house. Hatori prepares himself for a battle, since each year he had to defeat a strong shadow to enter the house, whereas the four boys plan for other improvements they can do this year.

They must improve and become strong. Their enemies are growing, after all.

(End.)