The old woman and the girl looked at the cave ahead of them by the countryside.

“This is it,” said the old woman, taking hold of the girl’s hand and headed inside the cave.

“Irawati!” said an old man, with silver hair with a top knot and a long silver beard. “It’s good to see you after a long time!”

“Preceptor, honoured to be in your presence again,” the old woman smiled and bowed her head clasping her hands to her heart.

The old man’s eyes shifted to the girl standing beside the old woman, the girl was looking at him with her sizing eyes.

“Your eminence,” said the preceptor addressing the young girl and bowed in return to her. “It’s my life’s great honour to meet you.”

The young girl narrowed her eyes at the respect she was being given.

He seems to be a person with significant spiritual power. But, I must be someone more powerful or well-respected than him, she thought to herself.

“You are?” the girl asked him.

“I’m the Preceptor of Heavenly Conduit,” said the old man with a wide smile. “I receive the heaven’s mandate on Bhu-loka.”

“I see,” said the young girl.

“And I am?” She asked.

The preceptor chuckled.

“You must find that out for yourself, your eminence,” said the preceptor. “My duty is only to aid you to the extent of the heavenly mandate.”

The girl puckered her eyebrows in annoyance.

“What does the heavenly mandate say?” said the girl.

“Irawati,” the preceptor turned to the old woman. “May I have a private chat with her eminence?”

The old woman nodded, looked at the girl to reassure her that it was alright and stepped outside.

The preceptor gestured the girl to be seated on a flat rock and he himself sat down on the raised platform in the cave.

“Some rouge pretas and rakshasas are roaming the Bhu-loka, your eminence,” said the preceptor. “You are tasked with capturing them and restoring order till the barrier between Swarga-loka and Bhu-loka is unsealed.”

“Hmm,” pondered the girl, somehow the news though alien to her did not surprise her, it was as if she had known about it but had forgotten the matter. She knew without hesitation that the task was something she should be doing.

“How am I supposed to do that?” asked the girl.

“I will help you, of course,” said the preceptor. “Your spiritual core is removed, I am not sure why. Irawati, probably trying to help you, transferred her spiritual powers to you but your body has not been able to process and use them. You also may have lost your memories as an unintended side effect.”

The girl listened closely to what the preceptor was saying. It seemed possible. Losing a spiritual core was not a small matter, her powers would be severely curtailed as a result.

“How can I get my spiritual core back?” asked the girl.

“I believe it may slowly regenerate by itself if you cultivate properly and open up all your chakras and have the spiritual energy flowing through them,” said the preceptor. “But for handling the present matter of the pretas, the refined spiritual powers of Irawati and the spiritual artifacts I have would suffice.”

“You would show me how to refine the spiritual powers?” said the girl.

The preceptor smiled impishly. “Better yet, your eminence,” he returned. “I would do it for you.”

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“You see,” continued the preceptor. “The body of a young girl is not conducive to exercising Irawati’s spiritual powers. It needs at least the shell of a young woman to properly expand its powers. And to utilise the powers to their fullest, the shell must also have the same infirmity as Irawati - that is the shell must also be blind.”

“I see,” said the girl. “So you would be able to turn me into a blind young woman?”

“Of course,” said the preceptor. “But I cannot cause any kind of infirmity to your eminence’s precious body.”

“Hmm,” said the girl. “Then how can I use avva’s powers to their full potential.”

The preceptor thought about it for a while.

“One workaround I can think of,” he said and waved his right hand into the air. A strip of white cloth that glowed with radiance appeared and levitated in the air where he waved. “This blindfold can temporarily make you blind.”

“That’s convenient,” said the girl taking it from him and tying it around her eyes and head. Immediately, she could sense the spiritual powers of Irawati surging in her.

She assumed the lotus posture and asked the preceptor to transform her shell from its present form to that of a young woman.

The preceptor sat in front of the girl, closed his eyes and made a mudra with his right hand. Channelling spiritual energy into the mudra he extended it towards the girl and at once she was surrounded by a vortex of bright radiant energy completely engulfing her. The preceptor held the energy vortex for a while and then it dissipated into the air like bright speckles of dust. In front of him now saw a young woman with the white blindfold, long and lustrous black hair, clad in white robes that covered her whole body.

The girl-turned-woman sensed the spiritual energy trapped inside her being released and flowing unimpeded inside her body. It felt freeing as if she could finally move and use her limbs at will.

“I detect lust in your gaze, old man,” said the young woman irritated as she sensed the preceptor’s rapid heartbeat and uneven breath.

“It’s impossible to be by a beautiful flower and not be captured by its fragrance,” the preceptor replied sheepishly.

“Hmm,” said the girl-turned-young-woman. “This will create unnecessary inconveniences.”

She channelled her spiritual powers by making a mudra and a bright halo ring appeared on top of her and slowly went all through her body, transforming it into a male skin.

“Would definitely suit your purpose better, your eminence,” said the preceptor. “But do remember that the rays of the full moon can penetrate these illusions and your real self as a young woman becomes apparent. The moon's rays may even cause chakra imbalance. And if you were to remove the blindfold for some reason when your spiritual powers have not reconciled properly you may even revert to your original self of the young girl.”

“I will take note of this,” said the young woman.

“The white robes,” continued the preceptor, “will help you absorb nearby spiritual powers.”

He waved his hand into the air and conjured a compass, it was made of a lustrous metal and had gemstones embedded in each of the four directions.

“The is the Luminous Diksuchi,” said the preceptor. “It’s an ancient artifact that can help you detect all kinds of energies in your vicinity. The gemstones will glow differently depending on the energy. Purple is for spiritual energy, golden is for cosmic energy, red is for demonic energy and it turns black if it cannot detect the source of the energy. You can sense all of this through your mind’s eye.”

“Got it,” said the young man, the compass flew to him and hovered in front of him, he raised his hand to it and tried to get a feel of it without touching it.

“It also opens up a map of Bhu-loka,” said the preceptor.

The young man gestured to it and the compass projected a map into the air above it.

“This is useful,” commented the young man. He could see the map through his mind’s eyes as the artifact was made with spiritual energy.

“You can see the red energy in this nearby village,” said the preceptor showing a spot on the map. “Your first task is to investigate and capture any rogue elements in that area.”

The young man nodded.

“The ley lines can be of particular use,” said the preceptor pointing to the lines on the map. “They are conduits of energy, you can replenish and amplify your spiritual energy if you cultivate near those ley lines.”

“Got it,” said the young man, he waved at the compass. The map vanished and the compass disappeared into her.

The preceptor waved his hand again and this time an urn carved with intricate patterns hovered in the air.

“This is the Pretabandana,” said the preceptor. “You can capture the rogue pretas in this and they will not be able to escape or cause havoc as long as your spiritual energy seals the urn.”

“Would they escape if my spiritual energy is tampered with?” asked the young man.

“Naturally,” said the preceptor.

“Not that useful,” commented the young man.

“It is what it is, your eminence,” shrugged the preceptor. “I can only provide what I have access to.”

“Alright,” said the young man.

“Since you do not remember your name,” continued the preceptor, “Please grant me the privilege of naming you, your eminence.”

The young man nodded to give his consent. It didn’t really matter to him what he was named.

“You shall be, Svetavastra on this Bhu-loka, your eminence, the one clad in white.”

“Very original,” remarked the young man dryly.

The preceptor gleefully smiled to himself for his creative sense of naming.

“I notice that I’m tasked with fighting rakshasas too but I have not received any weapons. The heavenly emperor doesn’t seem to be keen on me having weapons, does he?” reasoned Svetavastra.

“I dare not comment on what the heavenly emperor wishes,” said the preceptor. “But I shall have an answer for you the next time we meet.”