"Leave!"

The one who said this was a boy in his middle teens. His facial features were not mature but not entirely childish either. He had black eyes that shined with a mysterious brilliance and short black hair. The black robe that he had on his body was extremely simple but it only added to his elegant bodily features.

Almost anyone who saw him would undoubtedly define him with the term, "pretty boy". But only a select few of them would be able to look past his looks and feel an icy and dominating aura that could pierce the hearts of even the most fearless of warriors. They would instantly define him with a single word, "dangerous".

This boy was none other than Sesha. He was fifteen this year and had grown up to be a formidable person. If only he were to smile a little, with his looks, any girl his age would instantly lose her heart to him. But he was not smiling at all. Rather, his face had a look of annoyance, the reason of which was a beast that was currently blocking his path.

"I said leave!", he shouted a little this time. His voice instantly reverberated in the surroundings.. But it had no effect whatsoever to the one who was barring his path.

"Grrr!!", it roared back furiously.

It was a bear. A Horned Bear to be precise. The animal that was at the top of the food chain in this forest after Nagini had left. Like its name implied, it had a horn on it's snout, which, coupled with his extremely large build, gave him a vicious and fearful appearance.

His growl annoyed Sesha even more but he suppressed it.

"Sigh! It is the third time already! Tell me, why must you always block my path?", Sesha inquired.

The reason he said anything at all to this Horned Bear was because he knew, it had high intelligence. All beasts in the Dark Forest, given enough time to mature, would naturally possess intelligence that increased with their age. This bear was no exception. But even with its intelligence, or perhaps precisely due to its intelligence, it growled even more in Sesha's response.

"Fine! It looks like I really have to teach you some lessons before I leave this forest.", seeing that the bear would listen to no other argument, Sesha ceased his attempts of negotiation and instead assumed a fighting stance, inviting his opponent.

Seeing Sesha's invitation, the Horned Bear charged at him with a loud roar!! With a speed that belied its humongous stature, it came at Sesha with its head lowered to gore him to death. All this while, Sesha remained unmoving which further irked the beast. It increased its speed and hit Sesha with an enormous force.

"WHAM!", the blow landed.. But not at Sesha's body.

With a great noise that shook the land the bear came to a stop but the horn that had descended upon Sesha with entire might of the Horned Bear was stopped by him with his single hand. He absorbed the entire force behind the blow and yet didn't move even an inch.

The bear was stunned. To think a tiny human entirely neutralized its charge, that could comfortably destroy five trees in succession, with his single palm and without even retreating back! Even the mere notion of it was entire ridiculous!!

The bear tried to pull back its horn but no matter how much force it would exert, it couldn't. It looked at Sesha, confusion and fear written all over its face. Sesha had a light smile on his face this time. He was maintaining a strong grip on the bear's horn. It was a while before the bear realised that it should have been impossible for Sesha to maintain a grip on its horn because it was clearly much larger than Sesha's little hands. After taking a careful look again, it realised, to its horror that Sesha's finger had dug on its horn almost crushing it in process. Only now did the bear realised that it shouldn't have picked a fight with this boy. But it was too late.

"Two times! Two times I let you go! And that was only because master ordered me to not bully the animals of the forest! But apparently, you thought that I was running away in fear. Hmph! Who would fear a little bear like you?", Sesha snorted with a voice filled with disdain.

But it had an opposite effect on the Horned Bear. Seeing the contempt that Sesha held for it, the fear that was on his heart was instantly replaced by an extreme anger. For it, who was a mighty existence in this forest, to be treated like a trash was unacceptable.

"ROARRRRR!!", it gave an earth shattering roar to the child who made a joke of him !! With a newly found energy from his anger, it gave a mighty pull. This pull was capable of dragging weights that were thousand of pounds with extreme ease..... Sesha remained fixed at the ground!!

At this point, Sesha's weight was comparable to a mountain. He was using an art of the Earth realm, Mountain to increase his weights. This wasn't a special art, in fact, any practitioner of the first realm could use this art to increase their weight to thousand times their original. But they couldn't have stopped this Horned Bear on its track like Sesha did. The reason was pretty simple. With the strengthening they got from the opening of first chakra, they couldn't use this art in its full capacity. In fact, any average practitioner could only bear a hundred times of their weight. Any more and their bones would snap and muscles would tear, crippling them in the process.

Sesha was different. His prana was purer and his meridians larger than any other cultivator at his level. This, coupled with the godly strength bestowed upon him by the Elixir of Basilisk allowed him to use the full capacity of this art. At this very moment, Sesha's weight was ten thousand times his original weight. Ten bears like it could labor all day but they wouldn't be able to budge Sesha from his place.

This single bear had no chance at all!

"Hmph! Quit making noises you loud-mouth!", Sesha said angrily and yanked his hands downwards.

"SLAM!"

With a huge noise, it fell down on the ground. The bear should have already realised that there was no chance it could even scratch Sesha, let alone defeat him but the the rebellious look on his face was still not gone!.

Sesha couldn't decide if he should praise its tenacity or deride its foolishness.

"Sigh! It was you who came to challenge me you know.. Now that I've beaten you, why don't you accept your defeat and go your way?", Sesha proposed.

The bear responded with a looks that clearly said "I will fucking kill you boy!!".

Truth be told, by now Sesha was quite exhausted. Not physically of course, but mentally. He simply didn't want to deal with the bear anymore.

"Chhe! You truly are an annoying one! Fortunately, I won't have to deal with you from now on.", saying these words, Sesha swung his arms with great force and hurled the bear across a great distance. With a loud *BANG*, it crashed on the ground, destroying many trees. It wasn't going to get up any sooner.

Having dealt with the annoyance, Sesha quickly escaped the scene and went on his way.

* * *

Sesha arrived at the clearing at the center of the forest. At the middle of the lake, Sesha's master, Rudra was meditating, his body floating above the water.

Sesha approached the lake. He didn't stop even when coming in contact with the water, rather, he kept walking.. on top of it!! With steady steps, he approached his master who was still meditating at the center.

"Sesha greets his master.", he lightly bowed.

His master opened his eyes.

"You are late."

"I apologize master, an annoying bear simply refused to let me pass so I had to teach him some lesson."

Sesha narrated his earlier encounter.

"Too proud for its own good", his master remarked after Sesha had concluded his narration. "Unfortunately, there are many others like it littered across the world and you will undoubtedly encounter a significant number of them."

His master continued, "It's best if you avoid getting in trouble with them but if it comes to a fight, you should swiftly finish them or they will continue to pester you. Pride is a dangerous thing young Sesha, it makes even the best of men unreasonably stubborn.

"But let's not discuss that now, tell me, did you retrieve the herbs that I asked you of?"

"Yes master.", Sesha opened a pouch that he had on him. He retrieved some herbs from inside and handed it to his master.

His master took those herbs. Out of nowhere, a porcelain bowl and a pestle appeared on his hands. Without much effort, he ground the herbs into a powder and adding some water, made it into a paste.

"Take this mixture young Sesha and draw the demonic seal of suppression on you with your naval as the center.", Rudra handed the mortar to Sesha.

Sesha took off his clothes and with swift motions, drew a complicated circular formation with many ancient symbols drawn on it. The formation had five circular placeholders drawn inside it in various places.

After he had drawn the formation, his master placed his fingers on those five placeholders of the formation and channeled his prana onto Sesha's body. The formation glowed with a magnificent light. When the light subsided, the formation was no longer present in Sesha's body. His master showed a satisfied expression.

"Master, you ended up spending more than third of your prana!", Sesha asked with a concerned expression.

"Of course! This demonic seal is one of the secrets of Aghor yoga, there is no one beside me who can activate this formation in this world!", his master proclaimed with a proud expression.

"But is it really necessary? I already know how to suppress my aura!", Sesha protested.

"Young Sesha, when your chakras are open, the circulation of prana naturally generates aura around you. With your talents at the art of suppression, those who are at or below the fourth realm, i.e. the Air realm will absolutely fail to detect any aura from you. But you can not completely stop your aura from showing. Those at the fifth realm or the Void realm and above can easily perceive even the faintest of your aura so you can never hide from them.

"With this demonic seal, however, even if one is in the sixth realm, i.e. The Knowledge realm, he will not be able to perceive your cultivation.", Rudra explained.

"But master, why must we go to this length to hide my cultivation?", Sesha asked again.

"Young Sesha, you truly do not know how ruthless the world can be. You have already opened your third chakra, the Manipura. This is already an unimaginable feat for a fifteen year old. And on top of that, you have your Ajna open. Do you understand what will happen if others were to know about it? They will kill you, especially if they were to find out that you practice demonic yoga.

"This master of yours has already lost his one disciple in the past in the past.", Rudra said bitterly.

"You have never told me of this master.", Sesha's voice was one of surprise.

"Yes, young Sesha. In the past I had a disciple. Although his innate talent couldn't compare to you but he truly was an outstanding pupil. I cherished him like a son, much like how I do you now.

"But one day, a greedy king found out about him. At first, he invited my disciple to serve as his personal guard but how could my disciple serve a lowly king? He ended up refusing. The king took an offense on his actions. He gathered every single warriors of his court and killed my disciple in an ambush."

Rudra paused for a while.

"He hadn't even been on this world for thirty years..", his master's complexion was extremely sad.

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"When I found out of my disciple's fate, I instantly vowed to obliterate the entire family of that filthy king. I did get my revenge on him but sadly, I had to fight his entire army in the process and I ended up killing millions of innocent people. To repent for that crime, I secluded myself in this forest but I'm afraid even a million years worth of penance won't clean me of it."

Sesha had never heard of his master's past before so this revelation came as a big shock to him. He couldn't find appropriate words to console his master.

"After I had secluded myself in this forest, I gave up on rearing another disciple. I was afraid that Aghor yoga would become lost after me. It would have been a great sin to discontinue this heritage that my master had passed onto me and his master to him. My dilemma at that time, you can't possibly imagine that young Sesha!

"But then, you came along and not only did you inherit this yoga from me, but you also healed my heart that was wounded thousands of years ago. For this, I am truly thankful to you."

His master was kindly beaming at him.

"Please master, this Sesha is already fortunate to have a master like you. It is me who should be thanking you.", Sesha bowed again.

"You truly are an outstanding child, young Sesha. To think that I had the fortune to teach you, ah, Shiva truly have been kind upon me."

His master continued,

"But this is exactly why I must take extreme precaution young Sesha. If I were to lose you too then I don't know what I'd do this time. Although this is extremely selfish of your master but young Sesha, until you open your fifth chakra, the Vishuddha, you must exercise extreme precaution while using your strength. Since your sixth chakra, the Ajna is already open, when your fifth chakra opens, your chakras from the Muladhara to the Ajna will be connected and you will step into the Soul realm. Only then are you permitted to openly exercise the full extent of your power.", he warned.

"Sesha understands master."

"It is now time for you to leave young Sesha but before that, take this.", his master gave him a talisman.

This talisman that Rudra had taken out was a simple circular disc. It had some ancient symbols carved into it that Sesha recognized instantly as the formations of Aghor Yoga. When he took it on his hands, he could feel a boundless prana that was contained inside it. The power of the prana that was surging inside was unlike anything he had ever felt before!! And yet, it emitted a faint warmth that Sesha had often felt when he was in his master's presence.

"This talisman was first upon you when you were picked up by Nagini. It is a rare talisman which can store the arts of a yoga. It had a barrier art of the Fire realm when it was upon you.

"Although I do not know which sect it is from but it once saved your life. And in the hopes that it continues to do so, I have altered this talisman and stored the art of Shiva's fire into it."

"Shiva's fire!! ", Sesha was alarmed!

"Yes young Sesha. In the event of danger, you only have to channel your prana into it to activate Shiva's fire. It will obliterate anything that you wish. You can use this talisman for only two times, so you must be careful ! Only use it when your life is truly in danger."

"But master!! How can this be !?? Shiva's art is forbidden!! To use the art of Shiva's fire, you have to expend the essence of Ajna Chakra!! And two times? Master, this will push your cultivation at least two hundred years behind! And you are only a few years away from facing your tribulations!!" Sesha had a look of horror on his face.

Shiva's fire was the legendary forbidden art of the sixth realm, the Soul realm, in Aghor yoga. It burned anything and everything into obliteration and didn't stop until it eventually burned everything down until the yogi stopped it himself. Entire countries could be obliterated by using this art if the yogi willed it. This art was among the top demonic art !!

Naturally, this art was not without cost. To use it, a yogi had to expend the essence of his sixth chakra, Ajna. Prana could be replenished from the surroundings but replenishing the essence of any chakra was not that easy! After using it once, the yogi would lose his hundred years worth of cultivation. To go to this length already showed that Rudra cherished Sesha extremely.

"Do not worry young Sesha. Even if I lost some years of cultivation, I have enough to overcome the tribulations. Besides, this will put my mind into ease. It wouldn't have been good for me to face the tribulations with other concerns on my mind anyway."

His master gave a little smile. If Sesha had any remaining doubts regarding his master's instruction to hide his cultivation, these words from his master blew them away. To ensure Sesha's safety, his master had put his own life into risk. How could he even think of going against his master wishes?

"I understand master.", Sesha said with extreme respect.

* * *

"Before you go out to venture into the world, young Sesha, I have one more gift for you."

"Please, master. How can this Sesha even think of accepting anything more of you! This talisman is already enough!!", Sesha protested.

"Do not worry young Sesha, although this gift is extremely rare but it isn't anything outrageous like the talisman."

With these words, Rudra took out a bracelet that he had on him.

"You already know that I am going to face tribulations in order to ascend into the upper realms, so I truly do not have need of any material thing. This bracelet is a hidden space. You can store anything in this hidden space with a mere will. Quickly, bind this with your prana and see for yourself."

Sesha reluctantly took the bracelet from his master and infused his prana into it. After that act, it was like he could feel a place which was far away but simultaneously near to him. This feeling was quite inexplicable. He could suddenly feel the presence of many *things* that were inside this space. He noticed something and after he had only willed it, a single of golden coin appeared on his hands.

"These are the currencies of this Hind continent young Sesha, or at least it was until a thousand years ago. Believe it or not, your master was quite a rich person. Apart from money, the hidden space also contains some rare herbs and books on Aghor yoga.

"I have no need of any of it, so everything belongs to you. Young Sesha, do not let others know that you are in possession of the hidden space. And do not flaunt your wealth to everyone. People will naturally get envious of you and any unwarranted attention will be harmful to you.", his master cautioned him.

"Okay master.", with a mere will, the coin was encompassed by the hidden space and they vanished from his hands.

"This is everything that I have to give you. Now, you must travel outside this forest and gather experiences young Sesha. I will only be on this forest for two more years after which I will face the tribulation that would either kill me or ascend me into the upper realms."

"This Sesha will come to visit you master."

"No, you do not need to. In these two years, I must recover my entire strength and besides, tribulations are something that one has to face on his own."

Sesha felt a pang of guilt on his master's word. If not for his master worrying about him, how could he lose two hundred years worth of cultivation?

As if sensing his disciple's worry, his master said again,

"Do not feel guilty child. Even if I had not lost some of my cultivation, the tribulations wouldn't have been any easier. The continuation of Aghor yoga is worth more than my life. So you must not be careless. And when the time comes, you must choose a worthy disciple to pass your knowledge on to him.

"Young Sesha, this Aghor Yoga's is the most destructive amongst all other yogas, so you must be careful when choosing a disciple."

Sensing the seriousness in his master's voice, Sesha said with sincerity,

"Of course master. This Sesha will ensure the continuity of Aghor yoga! Please be assured."

"Good.", his master said with a satisfied smile.

"Young Sesha, there is a last thing that I want to say to you."

"Please speak master."

"If you happen to meet Nagini again at some point, then please apologise to her on my behalf."

"But why master?", Sesha asked with a perplexed expression.

"Because I have wronged her. It was due to your master that her father died.", Rudra said.

"But master, you said that you were good friends with him!!"

"Indeed, I was good friends with her father. To be honest, this clearing was bestowed by him to me so that I could practice my cultivation without any interference."

"Then..", before Sesha could continue, his master interrupted him.

"I didn't say that I killed him, I only said that I was the reason of his demise. When I first entered this forest, he and I had a huge fight. It was a misunderstanding really. He thought that I had come to steal the elixir, like countless before me did. The bout resulted in a tie and later we cleared this misunderstanding but he couldn't recover from the injuries that I had given him. It ultimately caused his death.".

"If it was a duel, then I don't see any reason for you to apologize to her, master. Surely Nagini also understands this.", Sesha argued. To him, his master was the most venerable existence in this entire world so he couldn't accept his master apologizing without a mistake.

"Sigh.. The death of one's father isn't a light matter young Sesha. To Nagini, her father was the only family she ever had. How could she forgive me so easily? All these years, she endured in silence as she shared this forest with the very person who she believed to have killed her father. Her heart must have been bitter. I should have apologised to her long ago but this master of yours is really a stubborn person.."

"If master insists, then this Sesha will apologise on your behalf. I am sure Nagini will forgive you master."

His master smiled at his disciple's response. He already knew that forgiveness didn't come easily to the Basilisks. If it wasn't for his tribulations, he wouldn't have even bothered to ask Sesha to apologize on his behalf. But since his days on this earth were numbered, he truly wanted to resolve this hatred between him and Nagini.

"It is now time for you to go young Sesha. Walk this earth and gain all sorts of experiences. Perhaps, I'll meet you again in the upper realms."

"This Sesha bids you farewell master.", Sesha bowed again at his master who had not only taken care of him but also imparted the knowledge of an extremely powerful yoga upon him.

He looked at his master one more time. This was almost certainly his last look at this ancient existence who was like a father to him. This sudden realisation ended up moistening his eyes. He abruptly turned and left as if hiding his tears.

Unbeknownst to him, his master too was looking at him with two moistened eyes.

* * *

Author's Note:

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