There was a reason for the recent absence of Teacher Lee. There had been a few troubles at the clan. There were communication devices that could be used at the academy, and Lee was currently using one of them.
A square device that looked a bit like a small box was placed in front of him. Coming out of the top, there was an oval-shaped object attached. Pressing one button would play noise, and pressing the other would record.
This was what would be used to speak with each other, so there were gaps between responses at times. But if the two were on the device at the same time, they could continuously press the buttons and wait to hear and listen to each other's messages.
Lee pressed the button to his left side, and a message played.
"I wish I could send you a message harbouring good news, but I'm afraid the situation is quite difficult for our clan at the moment," The voice said. "There have been no registrations of new students. At the same time, work has trickled down to next to nothing. The Lethal Bite Clan has taken up nearly all of the work."
Just listening to the voice of the current elder, it pained Teacher Lee greatly. The situation at the Pointed Head Clan was in rough shape before Lee left. He had done so hoping that he could somewhat showcase the talents of his Clan and convince some students to move over.
As for the reason for the current situation of the Clan, it was all due to the Lethal Bite Clan. Another Dark Faction clan, but not just any clan, it was one of the five main clans that made up the Dark Faction.
Most of the issues stemmed from these two clans operating in the same city. With larger cities, it was quite common for there to be more than one clan. They would have their own territories that they covered. Due to the nature of Pagna warriors being quite competitive, they would often do something to the other Clan to stop them from growing, thus keeping the balance.
However, at some point during the Clan's history, the Pointed Head Clan fell while the Lethal Bite Clan rose, becoming one of the five major clans. This meant that the Pointed Head Clan no longer stood a chance. Year after year, the situation was worsening, and they were at the breaking point.
"I'm afraid if we don't see any results this year, our clan might no longer exist."
The message ended there, with nothing else further being said on the situation.
"These messages keep getting shorter and shorter every time," Lee's head was sunk into his chest. He felt like the messages were similar to the time they had, which was also getting shorter.
Standing up from his seat, he pressed the button on the right side.
"I will... try my best," Teacher Lee answered and walked away.
If he wanted to do something, he needed to do something now. Going through the vast amount of hallways in the main building, Teacher Lee was heading to a particular place. He eventually stopped just outside a grated door that was painted black. Inside the grain of wood was a white sheet of paper allowing one to see shadows as they moved.
"I told you to come see me if you had troubles. I didn't expect to see you so fast," The voice said from the other side. "You may come in."
Sliding the door, Lee stepped in and bowed down. He then took a seat, sitting on top of his knees as he looked straight ahead at a man surrounded by several candlelights. The candles were placed on large black sticks in a circle formation, and in the center was the one known as the Vice Principal Amir.
"Has the reappearance of the no-name given you any trouble?" Amir asked.
"No, sir. The Blue headbands appear to be doing fine. Unfortunately, I have come here on a personal matter," Lee paused for a few seconds, waiting to hear a reply. But since none came, he continued.
"My Clan is in need of help. The Lethal Bite Clan has taken over all of the work in our city. They have used force in some cases with a long-time partner of ours. The only thing that was keeping us going was the funding we received from our students' parents, and even now, that has stopped."
"Allegedly," Amir replied. "You do know that saying such things without any proof can cause you a great deal of trouble."
Lee, of course, knew that, but it was pretty common knowledge. There were merchants that owed great debts that had been paid with blood to the Pointed Head Clan, and yet they suddenly broke off contracts with an apology stating there was nothing they could do. It was quite obvious, but who could stand up to a main clan other than another main clan.
"I will help you with your situation, but it comes with a condition." Amir lifted up one finger and blew out one of the candles to the side. "Your students, the Blue headbands. In the upcoming assessments, they are to show vast improvement. You see, for this event, I plan to invite along some guests. I won't divulge the details, but this will be your chance to save your clan."
Lee was trying to think of the possibilities, but if these guests were the children's parents or something along those lines, then as long as he could pull this off, there was a chance that he could pull it all together.
That same night, it was 3 in the morning. All of the lights were out in the entire academy, and only the moonlight was what was left lighting up the area.
'I waited for this time, I waited until no one would dare to be awake, all so I could get to you,' Mada thought.
His footsteps were silent as he walked across the outside of the building. The first thing he needed to do was locate what room Raze was even in. He couldn't just slide each door open.
'You keep making a fool out of me, and I can tell, if I don't get rid of you, you'll just continue to haunt me! I know I can already beat you in a fight.'
When having this thought, he remembered the scene at the dining hall again. How Raze had avoided the kick. When his foot passed his face, he could see Raze's eyes carefully tracking it.
'Since I know I can beat you... I know I can.' Mada repeated to himself. 'I will just kill you.'
Jumping up, Mada grabbed onto the small ledge of the letterbox window each student would have. With a single arm, he would pull himself up and peek inside the room. It would be hard to see on the inside for a normal person, but Pagna warriors weren't normal people.
At each stage, their senses were incredibly heightened, and Mada was proudly a stage 2 warrior. With his eyes, he could make out the faces and quickly moved onto the next.
He jumped up, checking room after room until eventually, he had come across a room where the letterbox-sized window opening was blocked. Using his other hand, he carefully gathered Qi and sliced through the cloth until he could see.
'It's him! That's definitely him, but why would he have his window blocked out ?' Mada thought.
Ignoring it, Mada had counted how many rooms he had gone past because now he needed to do the hard part. Swiftly entering the base, Mada carefully treaded on the floorboards and finally found the right room.
He lifted up the mask to cover his face, just in case he would get caught. He was fully disguised in just black clothing with no emblem of sorts.
Sliding the door ever so gently, he closed the door behind him and could see Raze right there.
'Hahaha finally,' Mada thought to himself. Reaching behind, he pulled out a dagger and started to inch closer and closer.
Now up close, he noticed something, though. Raze's lips—they were quivering, and his body, he was covered in sweat. His bed sheets were a shade darker.
'Is he sick?' Mada shook his head. 'I can't care about that. I have to get rid of him; I have to get rid of him now!'
Sprinting in, Mada was aiming right for the neck. He was still a meter away when he felt something grab onto his wrist firmly. It was a tight grip.
'What the... what stopped me?'
Looking at the wrist, Mada could see long slender fingers that were completely covered in blood. Droplets were dripping onto the wooden floor.
"He's... Mine..." A voice gently whispered, sending a chill into his ear and shivers through his whole body.