Chapter 94.

PART 1.

After Zeko bought him the necessary things for the next school year, Hatori goes back to the castle. Josh and Raven do their shopping after arriving here, while Shin and James receive their things through a courier. In the case of James, his parents settled everything for him before their family was struck with tragedy, so he won’t have to rely on the mercy of others for his school stuff.

‘I bet Shakuntala is fuming because she’s unable to punish me.’ he thought while looking at his new clothes.

He already has clothes that do expand with his growing height, but they have their limit, and they will get worn out due to his training. Getting new clothes is important as a result.

While James is inspecting the things which are delivered to him, Hatori runs into Porus. The king was just returning from his afternoon tea session. “Good afternoon, Hatori.” Said Porus in a greeting.

“Good afternoon, your majesty.” Said Hatori, with a salute taught to him by Zeko in these past few months.

“I see your master is teaching you military etiquette.” Said Porus.

“Yeah, he thinks I’m unable to handle anything more serious than this.” Said Hatori.

“True. But I don’t think you have much of a future in the army if you ask me,” said Porus.

“Why is that?” asked Hatori.

“Because you won’t take orders. You will always question them, and even refuse to follow them if you don’t like them personally.” Said Porus, having reached his office. “The military breaks you and molds you anew. But I don’t think you can be molded into anything new.”

Resting a hand on Hatori’s shoulder, he continues. “But you don’t need to get into the army to service a nation.” He smiled. “You’ve gotten tall boy; soon, you will surpass me in height.”

With that comment, the king goes inside his office, leaving Hatori standing outside, thinking about his words.

PART 2.

The travel to school was uneventful. You can only be excited about flying ships and self-driving carriages when you get to fly and ride those every year. However, when Hatori tries to step inside the school’s grounds, he is sent flying, as if one of those statues he has faced in the past at Zeko’s house has suddenly appeared here, and punched him.

“Hatori!” said his friends in concern.

They are right to be concerned, for getting thrown out of the ground is just the start. Lightning congeals in the shape of a whip, and Hatori is whipped repeatedly by it, though he refuses to let out more than a grunt. Besides, getting shocked is making it hard to scream for him.

Once the whipping stops, he lies on the ground shuttering. His clothes protected him from the worst of the shocks, but getting electrocuted before he could even start his year in school is not on his to-do list. The laughter of the other students is not making things easier for him.

“Hahahahahaha! This is the guy who invaded the festival last year? Pathetic!”

He gets up, looking like a possessed man. He brings his hands together, and then spreads them apart, bringing flames into existence. Those flames are not hindered by whatever ward is stopping Hatori from entering, and the students realize that they are in the range of this destructive spell. A stampede starts, and the ground is emptied quickly. Still, some students failed to escape at the right time; their groans of pain echoed on the ground.

Taking a deep breath to control his anger, he speaks. “You guys should leave without me. I’ll come inside once I break this ward.”

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“You sure about that?” asked James.

“Yeah. Go on without me,” said Hatori.

His friends listen to him and leave him standing outside. He tries to find the weakness in this ward and finds it pretty quickly. It was put here in haste; it shouldn’t have been this easy to break it. He listens to his paranoid instincts, and senses for the more wards around him, but finds nothing, aside from the wards of the Academy itself, which silently hum with power.

PART 3.

In the crowd, Santosh observed the behavior of Hatori. When the stampede started, he was the only one who was calmly leaving. He got it for what he came here for.

‘Quite prideful, quick to anger. I can use this.’ He thinks, quietly adjusting his plans.

PART 4.

Hatori joins his friends, and after quickly stuffing some food down (he was hungry) he tells them about the ward. “It was easy to break. Probably created hastily.”

“Yeah, but who would do that?” said Raven.

“This is just a continuation of the last year. Probably someone from the student council.” Said Hatori. “No doubt egged on by the useless professor.”

“SSSHHHHH. Do you want everyone to hear you?” said Josh.

“Yes, I do.” Said Hatori. “This is a war. Why hide it?”

“speaking of war, I think you guys should not live around me. maybe find a different room—”

Raven cut Hatori off in the middle. “What am I hearing?” He spoke. “You think we’ll leave you just because some council is threatening you, is that it?”

“Look, I get that we couldn’t help you much last year.” Said Josh. “But it won’t be like that this time. we will support you, no matter who is coming after you.”

“So, forget the talk of different rooms, and just enjoy the time we have together.” Said Shin. “I’ve learned to play a new melody. I’ll play for you all once we’re in our room.”

“And of course, you will bunk and live with us, whether you like it or not.” Said James, cracking his knuckles.

“Yeah, let’s not brawl in here.” Said Hatori, not wanting to face James right in the mess hall.

He has learned in his summer vacation that James has gotten strong; no wonder that he trounced Raven and Josh together, despite being outnumbered.

PART 5.

Unknown to these five boys, someone was observing them while they were having their conversation.

Neha Desai is a sixteen-year-old seventh-year student, who has survived the Academy by cunning and through her looks. But now, she finds that the future is looming over her, and it does not look promising.

She is the middle sister among her siblings, just another daughter to be married off to the family’s advantage. She won’t have any control over her life after she graduates.

Not unless she manages to entrap some young rich boy with a weak will. She looked around at various tables until she looked at Hatori’s group. She discarded Josh immediately; his father is terrifying. The other three are not good options either, as one of them is low-class, the other one is without a name, and Hatori is a disaster in the making. Just look at the rampage last year, he destroyed the festival for his own selfish needs.

But James fits her criteria. Relatively influential family, weak will, and no one to control the family fortune. She is sure that if she could align herself with the Mathis matriarch, and take control of James, she could set herself up for a comfortable high lifestyle.

The Flora family is currently run by the Mathis family since James’s father married the woman of that family. But after some events about which no one is sure, the family fortune dipped, and Mathis took over. James’s mother disappeared, and his father stopped appearing in public.

‘Looks like I’ve got my prey.’ She thinks with a wide smile.

(End.)