Chapter 26 Returning to Akademy Part 1

"A few weeks tops, I came across a Ghoul Mana Beast in the Dungeon at the Akademy. It did not go well for me. AS far as it being defeated, it was a matter of circumstance and.. some Rat."

"Rat?" The third one with features similar to that of a Bat Falcon showed interest. "Did it look no different than a typical Rat Mana Beast? No special hair or anything like that?"

"Correct. Did some weird movements that seemed to give it the ability to command or influence the Striped Hyena there. The weird Ghoul Mana Beast even talked about vermin in its home. Whatever that meant." William found himself having trouble moving even his head. Something painful passed along the center of the back when he forced it. "How about you just let me get out of here and we go our separate ways?"

"Nonsense. We have much more to discuss." Captain Colotyl smiled then reached out touching William's face. A brush of the thumb that could cut through wood did nothing of course. "Your Body is coming along nicely. You defintely are wasted at that Akademy. Why not turn sides?"

"Hehe, your joking?" William's eyes looked defiant but the notion crossed his mind once already. "I know nothing of your people and not to mention we have been killing each other recently and the few I have killed myself already family may want revenge."

"Nothing a new face can't fix." Captain Colotyl looked at the other member giving a small gesture. "Rizen, give him that old thing to help. Nothing wrong with helping our youngest brother here."

"He hasn't said he will join." Rizen pulled out a leathery piece of paper. It was made of flesh and some strange black ink. Defintely very worn and in a language, William couldn't understand for the life of him at first glance. "Open your mouth for me."

William of course did know such thing. Rizen pried his mouth open with ease and jammed the skin paper downward. Despite gagging reflexively, the body was responsive to the material.

*Shine!* Glyphs lit up on William's wrists where the bomb left marks. The words that once were written appeared all across the skin. However, it filled in in deeper detail as a brief moment William's cultivation restored.

"Really something!" Captain Coyotl applied force knocking William out cold. Enough force that the other's skull was fractured and defintely concussed. "He shouldn't be able to have unsealed himself! Are you sure the applied seals are working Izel?"

"They are damaged and leaked through a little. What Cultivation he uses for his Soul is troublesome. I can't breakthrough anytime soon. Not without causing serious harm." Izel was impressed but not as into keeping William alive like his leader was. "I say we just bring him back to camp."

"Can't do that, he is a Lancaster still. If not in name.. in blood. If not for that group we just saw a few hours ago, then maybe I would agree." Rizen was the more thoughtful of the group and understood that would be a bad call to make right now. "We have that Control Device picked up from that Akademy Patrol, we could put that on him."

Captain Coyotl took it under advisement but the smell William gave off was to demanding of attention.

"Try to Mark him."

Rizen and Izel eyes went wide before they nodded and agreed to try. With a cut of blood dripped into a bowl, they infused their mana into it. With another cut, they severed some flesh mixing it inside.

If William was conscious, he would recognize the Recipe. It was that of the AShbone Elixer but augmented at least several times from the core recipe. But the prep and display of the Elixer at the end were the same.

"Gulp!" Forcing feeding it down his throat, Coyotl rubbed his throat to force muscle memory. "Ughh!" William groaned as his body wracked into a seizure. ENough force that he broke free and moved about on the ground wildly.

"It's not rejection." Izel circled around checking for anything of concern. "The adaptation is way to fast. The Lancasters are not the cause. Not with that shit Bloodline and mixture with Royal's down the line."

"What of his mother?" Rizen put his foot on William's stomach stopping overall movement. He didn't like all the dust that was kicking up. "Maybe she is one of our kind and the kid is lying."

"No, the scent doesn't lie. The Striped Hyena is inside him to a high level. Might be a Progenitor now." Captain Coyotl waited to the fussing stopped then picked up William's body. Teeth bared, the man bit down hard ripping a chunk of flesh out of the shoulder. "Mmmhh, delicious."

The other two not wanting to be left out took a bite as well. One from the calf and the other from the forearm. The look of ecstasy had them so consumed they didn't feel the change in the air.

Knowledge System: 3 External Devices autodetected. Downloading updated drivers.

As they feast on what they obtained from William improving their bodies higher, William was gaining improvements to techniques he currently had. The first very visible with his Blood Mana flowing at a rapid pace to heal the wounds.

*Boooooom!* An explosion sounded far in the distance. The trio broke out of their revere reluctantly. A slight change in regards to Williams as his flesh had did more to them than they would know anytime soon.

"He is waking already." Rizen smirked at William's rapid recovery. "Make sure to get the technique back from him." Izel reached down grabbing the top part of the back and then ripping off like a scab. "Could have been gentle with him."

"Ahhhh!" William screamed as his back was on fire. Mind foggy but pain completely felt. "I'll kill you!" Whipping his arm around, he was about to attack with the 36 Strikes. But the seals shut off everything faster than thought. "What is wrong with you bastards!?"

"Nothing, you will be fine soon." Captain Coyotl looked at the skin and how pristine the writing now was. He hadn't studied it in a long time but knew the words were now more legible. His brother in arms catching that as well. "The Akademy is in for some tough times, best to grow stronger to hold your own and survive. Especially since you lost the backing of the Lancaster Family."

"Yeah well.. things are tough everywhere." William tried with all his might to stay angry when looking at them. But something had him confused in the air. 'Why can't I stay angry? They are not my friends!'

"The "Hunting" will continue for awhile, the Mine incident is of no real concern to our Kingdom, just an overall means to determine if the neighboring Duchies are worth taking over and bringing in. Such small gains to deal decisive blows later."

"Why tell me all this?" William hated that he felt at ease, and hated the men looking at him as if he was a comrade and fine meal. The burning on his back kept feeling from the bite marking from transmitting. 'I want to move freely again!'

The Marking that was done by Izel and Rizen started to show a deeper effect. They couldn't take over on an instinctual level but enough to mess with the seals on him and cause doubt.

"If there is anyone you care about in the Akademy, you should warn them. War is coming and it will not be pretty." Captain Coyotl spoke with an edge in his voice and a tone that finally caused William's instincts to respond normally. "None will be spared and the Akademy is not prepared."

"Yeah well..." Several powerful Mana sources were heading to the current location. One William was very familiar with the rest... cause his heart to throb in a weird way. "Hey!?" Lifted up by the neck like a newborn pup was not fun at all.

The trio dashed off towards the borders of their kingdom with him. But it was just a game of chase. 3/4 of the way there, William was thrown into a gorge to provide ample escape time.

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Rescue-

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Hanging from a cliff half dead was not the best thing in the World. Especially when he could barely move and had to eat worms in the dirt just for nourishment. The lack of rain was just a pain at this point.

It was a few days later when Health Coordinator Bailey and a few soldiers he didn't know of found him dehydrated. He was immediately arrested and hoisted up.

William had struggled against the restraints as much as possible and would have been free in another hour if given the time. The old tie-up methods were trash compared to modern ones.

"What did they do to you?" Coordinator Bailey didn't like this at all. The scene painted they were trying to take William back to their Country but then discarded him.

"Very weird interrogation." William watched them closely and wished his Mana worked again. 'I break these Seals.... I am getting out of here.'

"All of his Apertures are healed but sealed. It will be painful to unseal them right now. Three large bite marks that are healing and 78% of the flesh on his back was removed. Signs of torture are evident."

"Do it!" Health Coordinator Bailey ordered as they needed to move on and take care of the skrimish still. "You have to be ready in another hour, no exceptions!" Annoyed that William was the target on Military Inquiry before arriving, she hated to write the report as this would defintely mark him as a possible deserter at best.

"Coordinator Bailey!" One of the soldiers held up a stone choker attached to William that slowly drilled into his skull. The feeling was still focused on his back. That and the breaks from getting thrown down a Gorge. "He hasn't been compromised!"

The Stone Choker was defintely the one the Akademy used in the past. A few had been found mixed in some of the Faculty and Draftees.

"Run a full check! Make sure the Lancasters have no ammunition to take him in either!" Coordinator Bailey held a box that contained the bodies of several dead Lancaster soldiers preserved. After killing most of them herself for getting in her way, the woman kept the bodies out of weird self-preservation to get stronger. 'I will need him to make those Elixers to help me grow stronger and recover. This should be a good payment for him to do so.'

"Are you planning to protect him?" The voice of the Vice Roy of House Amalienburg spoke up from a clearing. Walking with a full retinue, known sought to cause trouble for the group. Suprised she didn't answer quickly it was only slightly embarrassing. "Princess Bailey...."

*Bam!* A Palmprint shot out slamming into the man's front guards. Almost killing them all instantly on the spot. The other 10 members were on guard but would attack given the order as they reconfigured.

"Painting a target on my back... could be considered treason. Even you won't come out without an issue." The steely silver look in her eyes made the Viceroy remember how dangerous the Princess was before she received an injury and moved to the Akademy. "AS punishment for a slip of the tongue, you will assist in this matter."

The Viceroy nodded grimly. The gorge was search if anything special was there. But nothing was found no matter how much they searched.

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Returning to the Akademy-

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William was not that thrilled about the injuries he sustained. But the rewards from the Kingdom were nice. A home in the city with a tiny military position that allowed him to stay off campus. A non-commissioned officer answered to Coordinator Bailey.

"3 months on that Battlefield was more than enough to understand the difference in combat potential. For War, the Body is the best of the 3 if you are a soldier." A few of the Draftees from other classes said among each other. "My Mind just kept getting in the way I swear."

The student they spoke to just nodded while listening.

"Welcome back student-teacher William." The students said one after the other. He returned waves and gestures back to each of them. Even a few students greeted him warmly.

"SO class.." William stared at his students in the area in shock. They were very diligent in his absence and did not slack off in the least. "Congrats on all of your accomplishments while I was away."

The first question however was on what happen to him. William had Silver blond hair and his eyes seemd almost feral at times. No change to his facial features besides a scar across the throat.