Chapter 93.

PART 1.

Today is a special day. Hatori’s neckless which puts more resistance on his body while moving, is going to be removed. Hatori acquired this neckless despite the protests of healer Slaughter when he was in his first year of Academy. and according to Zeko, he does not need it anymore.

Unhooking it from his neck, Hatori puts the neckless aside, feeling like a bird, ready to fly at any moment. “Now, the other important thing.” Said Zeko with a grin.

That halted Hatori’s imaginary flight. That grin never means anything good. “We will spar today. So, brat, dodge!” Zeko casts a Fire Blast spell, and Hatori scrambles out of the way of the flames.

He realizes how easy it is to move now. He quickly turns around and casts his spells, though none of them are fire spells. He has no interest in challenging Zeko on his terms. Then, Zeko reveals his second element. “Did you think I was only good with fire?” he said, while a wave of water comes at Hatori.

“That is unfair.” He protested while avoiding the water. “They are supposed to be opposite elements; you can’t have them both.”

“Look who’s saying that?” Said Zeko, slamming Hatori down with a wind spell. “There’s no limit to a mage, except time.”

After that spar was over, Zeko gave Hatori new clothes. “These clothes will incorporate the same thing as the neckless, but it’ll be harder. You will feel like you’re moving through molasses instead of air.”

“Is that necessary?” asked Hatori, not keen on this resistance training.

“Of course, it is. You can’t let your body become weak. It’ll keep you strong without making you do tons of pushups and squats, and will give you a speed advantage when you remove them.” Said Zeko. “Now, I have left some space for you to put your enchantments; you are good enough to do that. Make sure you use it wisely.”

Wearing the new pants and shirt with the resistant enchantment, Hatori sits down to modify the rest of his clothes. His entire wardrobe from the Academy has to be replaced, and some of the clothes which he did not take with him do not fit him anymore. Though Zeko said that the clothes could be expanded, he has no interest in doing that. Instead, he bought him these new clothes.

He puts some fire and lightning protection enchantments on these new clothes. “Next time, temperature control. I’m sure it’ll be useful.”

Just imagine, everyone around him sweating or shivering, and yet he is the only one who is comfortable. Wouldn’t that be something to lord over everyone else?

PART 2.

It is a tradition by this point that Hatori’s friends spend their vacation at Zeko’s house. The owner of the house doesn’t mind, since these kids are very driven, and they are always looking to learn new things and share knowledge, and of course, they don’t bother him either. It is always important to have guests who do not bother you much.

But there is another reason. Zeko wants Hatori to have friends who would stand with him when he needs them. Because in the future, he will face big problems which he won’t be able to solve by himself. True.

Someone might think that Zeko would be angry that his four closest friends didn’t stand up against his banishment. But Zeko is not angry at them for that. It is not easy to stand up against public opinion; and besides, they did help him by keeping him company, and supplying him with notes and food when he needed those. If they would have completely abandoned him, then he would have never let them enter his house. He won’t let Hatori suffer as he did, just in the name of human company.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

His thoughts of these kids and their relationship is interrupted by Josh. “Sir, you won’t believe what I saw today.”

“Try me. I’ve seen everything in the world.” Smiled Zeko.

“Well, I was sparring with Hatori today in the morning, and he just didn’t give anything away.” Said Josh.

“Elaborate.” Said Zeko, now interested in this development.

Josh takes his time to think of the right words. Zeko waits for him. “You know how when someone moves, they give tells? Like when you go to punch someone, your body reveals what you’re gonna do? But Hatori didn’t have those tells at all. It was really hard to judge what kind of spells he was gonna cast next as a result, especially when he wasn’t using his foci.”

“Hmm. probably because fociless magic doesn’t have much movement unless you talk about hand signs, which your friend James uses.” Said Zeko.

Zeko didn’t notice anything like that. Because at his level, tells do not matter much. You can cast fociless magic without moving, and yet your flow of magic will give your intentions away. Still, this is worth investigating further; it can be potentially useful in many situations.

PART 3.

Shin is teaching Hatori about the wind element. Despite trying, and accumulating theoretical knowledge of this element, Hatori still has trouble with it. Sometimes, he can produce a breeze; but that, too, is unpredictable, and uncertain. In short, the undefined behavior, as his teacher back on the non-magical side used to call it.

Since Shin is the actual user of the element, Hatori is following his advice of him, ignoring the theory he has learned. “Go with the flow, bro,” he said to him.

“That isn’t helping.” He sighed, unwilling to give up.

“Maybe I’m not cut out for teaching people.” Mused Shin.

“Nah, maybe you have a bad student,” said Hatori.

“Probably.” Smiled Shin. “Would you mind if I played something here?”

“Go ahead. At least I’ll get to hear some good music.” Said Hatori.

Hatori is always ready to enjoy the music of his friend.

PART 4.

Suraj is practicing the fociless magic. He has seen Hatori and his friends do this a lot, and he has picked up the basics from them. His family is unlikely to pay him any attention to his developing talent, given how they are still shaken up from their house getting burned down over a petty matter.

‘I understand what Hatori feels sometimes now.’ He thinks to himself, having heard the rants of another blind mage more than once, about the bigoted nature of humans.

But that understanding did not bring any relief, or wipe the tears of his mother. Suraj admires his father for staying strong in this situation. The man has shed no tears and has remained the pillar of the family.

‘But I bet he would like to sit down and cry for himself sometimes.’ Thinks Suraj.

The official stance is that the people responsible for this crime are at large, and the police are unable to catch them. It is likely, though, they are hiding nearby, and the law is too chicken to catch them.

At least they got some support, as the local administrator of the area has given them enough money to rebuild their house. But this memory will always stay in his head, when Suraj came home, to find that there was no more home to be had, his mother crying, and his younger brother and sister huddled outside, distraught.

(End.)