Chapter 97.

PART 1.

Shin and Raven have come back after discretely spying on James and his date. Whatever guilt they may have felt for this action is immediately quashed by his return, talking about the girl all the time.

“Man, Neha is so beautiful. I never thought that a girl like her would pay attention to me.” Shin grunted in response.

“She has some interesting stories. I come off as boring compared to her. But still, she asked me on a date. Neha is wonderful.” Raven grunted.

“Neha is so intelligent.” Raven and Shin had enough of this, so they excuse themselves and leave to walk outside.

Though they did not leave the dorm section entirely. They wanted to see whether James would come out of the room or not. “Neha this, Neha that, what happened to him?” said Shin.

James used to be a rather silent calculative guy, interested in the things with which he was tinkering. He was happy that he had another spirit in his fellow tinkerer Hatori, even though they caused problems now and then, it was clear that James was much happier with his experiments than anything else.

But now? Now he can’t even go two sentences without mentioning his new “love” Neha. “He called her intelligent. I doubt she has even a fraction of his intelligence.”

“Maybe. But certainly, enough to give him a love potion.” Said Shin.

“You’re right.” Raven thinks about their problems. Josh hasn’t returned ever since he went to find Hatori. James has been besotted, and they are left to solve all these problems by themselves while living in a hostile environment.

After all, two low-class boys like them would be prime targets in the divided Academy. “We need to fix our problems quickly,” mutters Raven.

“But where do we start?” asked Shin.

“Good question. I’ll tell you when I know myself.” He answered.

PART 2.

Santosh hears about how one group got killed while pursuing Hatori. He is not affected by this failure, however. First, it was only one group. He has more of them running around in the forest to track him. Second, he has just sent his weapon, a bloodthirsty student Gulam.

Gulam is a student whom he subjugated in his second year after defeating him. He was known for his rising combat prowess, but he came from the lower class, and Santosh didn’t like that. So, he ambushed him, brutalized him, and after a strict diet of mind-altering potions, he turned him into his loyal dog, a living weapon who attacks his command. Through his strength, he has risen in the Academy, dispatching the students who got in his way with the use of his living weapon; and now he is about to be in the council.

He changed the original name of his living weapon to Gulam, meaning slave; for that is what he is. One might wonder how exactly Gulam passed his exams in the Academy; the answer lies in his dealings with professors. Corvus will blow his top if he ever hears of this, heads will roll literally. That is why, Santosh keeps it a secret. Corvus hasn’t caught up yet, sometimes he wonders whether he deserves the position of headmaster or not.

‘Just one dead blind boy and I will be on the council.’ Thinks Santosh. ‘Then I’ll take out that smiling bastard, and take the position of president.’

Feeling good about his future, he finds Suraj walking from his recent class. He stops him by putting his hand over his shoulder and turns him around. “Strip.” He commanded.

“No,” responds Suraj, and tries to wriggle out of his grip.

Grinding his body, Santosh tries to remove his clothes, but Suraj responds with a slamming viol of an acidic potion that Hatori gave him to use in these exact situations. Santosh is unable to avoid this, and as he clutches his face and rolls on the floor in pain, Suraj runs as fast as he could. He is not Hatori, who can take on multiple opponents with more experience than him. but he is good at running.

He resists the urge to cry. Wasn’t that enough that they burned his home, now he must suffer through this as well.

PART 3.

Just when they thought they could relax, Hatori and Josh have to run once more. “I’m not enjoying this, just so you know.” Said Josh, trying to keep his nerves together.

“Neither do I,” said Hatori, having the nerves of steel.

Thankfully, the chase has to stop once they end up in the forest where Hatori camped last time. As soon as they enter, the animals become active. The initial response is curious, and once Hatori is recognized, they leave them alone. But the chasers do not have such an easy time. the entire animal population is hostile to them, and they are all outnumbered and outgunned in the magic department.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

While most of the chasers stop at the edge of the forest, Gulam runs inside, uncaring of the danger. “Hey, wait!”

“Forget it.” sighed another student. “He won’t listen to anyone.”

“Sometimes, I wonder. Why must we serve highborn people like this?” said another student.

“SSSHHHH. Be quiet. The trees do have ears, you know.” Shushed their leader.

Gulam ends up in the ritual circle which Hatori created last year. Thinking that the enemy is hiding in the water, he pounds the water with some spells, but only a crocodile comes out. Roaring like a gorilla, Gulam is grabbed by the reptile, and after throwing him around like a ragdoll, the crocodile goes underwater to rest, leaving a half-dead Gulam on the bank of this artificial lake.

The students at the edge of the forest are shaken by the screams that they hear, as the mad unfortunate soul is tortured by an unknown creature. “That is it. Death is preferable to this.”

“I agree.” Said everyone, even the leader.

Josh is also shaken up by the screams, but Hatori is unconcerned. They made their way to Hatori’s camp last year. “It is all gone.” Said Josh in disappointment.

“Only on the surface.” Said Hatori cryptically. He shows Josh the underground entrance, where Josh backs off when he finds a whole group of hissing snakes so close to his face.

‘Who dares to enter here?’ asked the snake which scared Josh.

‘This is our domain. Begone!’ said another snake telepathically.

‘This is my camp. I created this last year.’ Said Hatori. ‘You will give me my place, either peacefully, or in pieces.’

‘Foolish human. You don’t stand a chance!’ They lunge at him, but Hatori throws them back with his magical pressure alone. Josh watched all of this happening with open-mouthed shock. Despite being exhausted and injured, Hatori is not scared at all.

‘Honestly, you guys can be so foolish sometimes.’ Another snake uncurls from the corner. Josh thought it was the part of the walls. ‘How are you, my friend?’

‘Good. Will you please let us rest here?’ asked Hatori.

‘It is your place. You do not need to ask permission.’ Said the snake, named snake. This is kind of getting confusing for this narrator.

‘As for you, you will respect him, for he has given us our strength.’ Said the snake to the other snakes, after which they all quietly slither out of the camp.

‘Where will we find such a Batcheler pad?’ complains one.

‘I know a place.’ Said another.

Josh does not hear this exchange, and he is still concerned that this large snake has decided to stay while others have left. But Hatori doesn’t seem to mind. “Come in. I need to clean up this place, and make some plans.”

“Tell you what, I’ll find some food.” Said Josh, and leaves after Hatori’s nod.

PART 4.

Ramesh watches the wounded Santosh with distaste. Given how quickly he was brought to the school hospital, his wounds won’t be scarring. He remembers how Hatori did the same thing, but since the Joshi family is a virtual pariah, their sire didn’t receive the attention on time. But things are different with Santosh.

‘But to think he thought of violating someone like that.’ thinks Ramesh in disgust. ‘I’ll kill him once he dispatches Hatori.’

‘But I can’t allow the unwashed masses to get too uppity.’

An hour later, a decree comes from the student council. From now on, the students of the low class won’t be allowed to sit on the tables and chairs in the presence of the highborn students, and this will apply even in the classes.

PART 5.

Hatori is considering several plans to modify that ritual circle. The problem of specially prepared potions won’t bother him, since the water of the lake is imbued with those properties already. But he has to choose the modifications to be done to him and the right symbols for those modifications. It gives him a strong reminder of the programming he used to do back home.

Nearby, a small puppy watches the symbols float around Hatori, fascinated by the phenomenon. Hatori doesn’t have peace for much longer, though, as Gulam manages to find him. Bleeding severely and despite several bones being broken, he attacks Hatori, disregarding his safety. In his pitiful state, he is no match for Hatori, even though he is not in his best shape. In his rush, he meets a face full of flames and gets burned alive.

Listening to screams, Josh comes running. “Seriously, can’t you do anything without getting in danger?” he asked.

“No, step back!” said Hatori, as Josh stepped in on one of his unfinished symbols.

Quickly discarding his work, Hatori runs to him and quickly catches Josh’s lifeless body in his arms. “Dammit.” Cursed Hatori.

Meanwhile, Josh finds himself in an unfamiliar environment. His sense of smell seems to have increased; there is more hair on his body, and why does he have four legs instead of two? and what’s up with the tail?

(End.)