278: Punishment

Punishment

Author's note: I changed last chapter a bit. Please go back and reread/skim.0

"I'm sorry," Thomas coughed as he hoisted himself to his feet. "What did I do wrong?"

"General, if you would please hear me out," Jackal stepped forward. "I had worked for a long time setting this trap up." He pointed back to the bunny skeleton. "I had good bait filled with valuable sedative and was patiently waiting when your disciple burst out of the brush like a wild beast. I was waiting for so long. I figured that no human being would fall for a trap this obvious but apparently, I was wrong. Also, may I ask what that is?" Jackal pointed to the gun.

Alexander yanked the gun out of Thomas's grip and put it in his spatial ring. "First of all, shut your mouth. You didn't see a damned thing, you understand me?" He didn't even wait for a response as he followed up with: "Second, don't ever insult my disciples in my presence. Third, get the fuck out of here. You're not allowed this far in the Demon Pit. No one is." He turned to see Kilot emerging from the bushes and sighed. "Sorry to worry you. Everything is under control now."

"Oh," Kilot breathed as he leaned against a tree. "That's good. I can't run like the old days."

"You must be Kilot," Jackal's smile widened. "I've heard a lot about your blacksmithing skills. I am surprised to see you here. Was it that strange device that brought you here?" He raised both eyebrows. "Oh I see what this is. Don't worry. My hunting group has tight lips."

"Your group?" Alexander asked just as dozens of students emerged, all adorning charcoal-like masks. Alexander slowly scanned through them all and scowled. "All of you leave, now. No one is allowed to hunt this far in, and you won't find demons near my residence."

The students all looked to Jackal, who turned and walked away. They followed closely behind. "Kilot," Alexander whispered, still facing their direction. "I'm escorting you home tonight, no questions asked."

"Why?" Kilot scowled, but as Alexander turned to face him with a concerned expression, the Dwarf raised an eyebrow.

"For the last week," Alexander said. "Jackal and his crew have been dodging around tests by exploiting the rules and utilizing foreign tactics. It's as if he knows exactly what we're going to be throwing at him. His father is no doubt telling him."

"And your point?" Kilot urged.

"Before Initiation," Alexander continued. "The Von Trike family were responsible for scouring this area. They searched through the ruins, but they didn't have the time to search through all of them. I think that the Von Trike family found something, and whatever they found, there are more. Something is happening here, and I believe it to be more dangerous than the demon army. Thomas, you and the other disciples are never to come down here again." He grabbed both Thomas and Kilot. In the blink of an eye, all three of them were back at the training grounds.

Alexander sighed and went around shoving the crates into his spatial ring. Thomas went over to help but the general just scowled at him. "Why does it seem like I'm in trouble when I'm the one who got stabbed?" Thomas asked.

"Why the fuck did you stuff an entire rabbit into your mouth?" Alexander wiped around and shoved him. "Why did you go off on your own?" With another shove Thomas nearly tripped over some roots. "Why did you show dozens of bystanders an extremely secret project?" With one last push, Thomas's back hit the tree. "Screw listening to me, a damned general, you need some common sense. You revealed your hand to a possible enemy, out of hunger. If you are that hungry, let me know and I will give you more food."

Rabbit blood trickled down Thomas's chin, and the adrenaline pumped through him as he searched in his mind for any excuse, something to get him off the hook. "Showing the gun isn't really that bad," he shrugged. "We just proved the guns are useless. So what if they know? Jackal even flicked away the bullet."

Alexander pulled Thomas's gun out of his spatial ring and held it to the young noble's forehead. "What is this?"

"A gun." Thomas said.

"Wrong," Alexander cocked back the hammer. "What is this?"

"A weapon." Thomas shrugged. "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say that you messed up." Alexander pressed the barrel harder on Thomas's skull. "Guns won't go to Knights but the Acrin Kingdom's people. Guns are now crutch for them now. That is what makes guns powerful. No skill is required to pull a trigger. A regular person can be a soldier, a soldier helpful for fighting wars. Jackal now knows that we plan to arm our people with guns. That is a weakness made known because of a single slip. You could have pulled out a crossbow or any other weapon but you chose a gun. Luckily, that loudmouth father of his probably told him of guns so he was able to block the bullet, or this matter would have escalated."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know," Thomas apologized. "I promise that I'll stay away from the other students. I won't do anything like that again. Am I…still your disciple?"

Alexander pat him on the shoulder: "You won't have a problem staying away from the students, because you are not to come down here ever again. You are to stay at the mountain and never leave."

"Never leave?" Thomas's heart sunk, remembering how many hundreds of thousands of times he had heard that very phrase while within the confines of his own home. "I'll get a little cramped up there."

"Deal with it." Alexander shrugged. "Because if you can't, if I find you down here, you will no longer be my disciple. I'll send you back to your home. That goes for the others as well. Not that I don't trust them, but I'd rather not risk anything when I can just investigate this matter personally. Of course if you know anything, that might change things." He paused. His hand remained tight on Thomas's shoulder.

Thomas looked to Kilot, who had hopped on his Amphiboard. The bandaged arm still felt so familiar, yet foreign. Thomas took a deep breath. He fiddled with his spatial ring behind his back, which had several notes of forewarning. "No. Sorry I don't know anything."

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