Svetavastra spread the mat on his chamber floor. Moonlight seeped into the room from the open balcony, bathing the space in a soft glow of twilight. Svetavastra sat down to meditate.
“Why do you keep wasting your precious spiritual energy, No-god God?” said the preta in the bracer. It had noticed that Svetavastra had discreetly transferred some of his spiritual powers to General Pushya after the end of their fight.
“They can be regenerated,” replied Svetavastra calmly.
“Won’t you need to speed more time in cultivation for that?” asked the preta.
“Naturally,” said Svetavastra.
“If you spend all your time cultivating, who will teach me?” said the preta with a grimace on its make-believe face.
Svetavastra chuckled for a moment and closed his eyes under the blindfold. His spiritual powers currently were indeed limited. He had been using the spiritual powers lent by Irawati, the blind old woman. Since she was only a human and had been cultivating only for about 87 years, though impressive they were like a fledgling sapling compared to Svetavastra’s original powers. His own innate spiritual powers were slowly growing within him - if he could cultivate for a few months on his own, it would be possible to increase their speed of regeneration but the undead crisis was looming around the human world like a never-ending haunting. Maybe if he trained the crown prince well, he could take a reprieve and focus on accelerating his spiritual powers.
From between the gaps, a silver snake whose skin shimmered like moonlight on water, slithered slowly into the chamber and coiled itself in front of the cultivator.
“Serpent!” shouted the preta from the bracer. “No-god God, there’s a giant serpent in front of you!”
Svetavastra was not alarmed. He did not sense any danger. He faced the silver snake that shimmered in the moonlight, its eyes gleaming with intelligence and sensed its aura.
“Greetings, Your Divinity,” spoke the snake bowing and then raising its head to meet the level of Svetavastra’s blindfolded eyes. “Presenting self, Nahusha, King of the Southern Serpents to Your Divinity.”
“Greetings, King Nahusha,” said Svetavastra with a smile.
“It’s been a long time since I met a God on Bhu-loka,” it said.
“I’m only a cultivator at the moment,” said Svetavastra.
“No matter,” said the serpent king. “You are the only one who can help me, Your Divinity.”
Svetavastra waited for the serpent king to continue.
“I will briefly tell you my story,” said the serpent. “After the Great War between the Swarga-loka and the Great Serpent Dragon of Patala-loka, we of the Naga Clan were persecuted throughout the human world because of our association with the Great Serpent Dragon. We fled to the underworld and lived there for many centuries. However, during the last few centuries, a dark miasma started to spread through the subterranean realms, it plagued our people and drove many insane. I even lost my daughter to it.”
The serpent king paused for a moment, his eyes welling up with tears as he recounted the tragic past of his clan.
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“To save the people, I curtailed their naga powers and turned the into humans and we have been living peacefully in the forest land of Ashesha, south of Dayita since then,” he continued. “A few months back, General Pushya of Dayita started his campaign to capture the southern kingdoms bordering Dayita. He got to know about the Nagamani, the famed Naga crown jewel and captured me for it.”
A resplendent pearl red in colour floated above the serpent king’s head.
“The Nagamani holds immense power,” said King Nahusha. “It can amplify spiritual powers, heal fatal injuries, grant dominion over the serpents and act as the key to the gates between Bhu-loka and Patala-loka.”
“Of course, General Pushya, being a human cannot access these powers, only a true naga can realise the nagamani’s full potential,” said the serpent. “But the constitution of the possesser affects the Nagamani - it can amplify their emotions and increase their natural powers. I cannot let it fall into the hands of someone as power-hungry as the general.”
“Which is why, this humble serpent king requests Your Divinity to take the Nagamani,” said the serpent. The red glowing pearl moved and floated in Svetavastra’s hands. It immediately became translucent.
King Nahusha smiled as if seeing evidence of his good judgment.
“My powers have weakened over the years as I sustained the transformation of our clan to human form,” continued the serpent with some effort, the loss of the crown jewel weakened it significantly. “I only had enough power for one last transformation to my original form, if I perished without finding someone who is worthy of the Nagamani, all my efforts would be in vain. The Nagamani would be left unprotected and open to plunder to whoever found my body.”
“When I saw you fight with General Pushya, I thanked my good fortunes, I knew you were the one.”
“Why me?” asked Svetavastra finally.
“In my long life, I have met many people,” said the serpent king. “I met kings, demon lords, and even Gods. None of them could completely get rid of their desires. Myself included. I’m not worthy of this Nagamani, even though it’s generated from me.”
“Once a desire takes root, and if the mind is weak, the Nagamani can turn even the simplest of desires into eternal greed and drive the possessor insane. That is why the red pearl is always clouded. Except for you, you have no greed, you have no desires of your own and thus it has turned translucent.”
“Hmm,” said Svetavastra pondering it over as he sensed the red translucent pearl floating in his hand. He could feel its immense power. He felt the weight of its responsibility on his shoulders, which slightly drooped.
“I thank you for your trust in me,” said Svetavastra. “I’m not sure if it’s entirely earned but I will try my best to safeguard it.”
“It’s my honour, Your Divinity,” said the serpent king. “Hmm…there’s a caveat, the Nagamani’s power can be harnessed the most during a full moon but they can drain your spiritual powers since you are not a Naga.”
“I understand,” Svetavastra nodded his head, he waved his hand and the red pearl disappeared into his self.
“I entrust you this responsibility as well as the lives of the nagas in Ashesha,” said King Nahusha. “Ever grateful to Your Divinity. I request Your Divinity to relieve me of this life of endless suffering.”
“As you wish,” said Svetavastra in a gentle tone. He made a mudra with his right hand and generated a radiant mandala, which scanned the serpent king from top to bottom - as it did so, the silver serpent turned to silver dust and disappeared into the air.
Svetavastra sighed. He felt the serpent king’s torment as he relieved him of his attachment to this world. May you rest in eternal peace, Svetavastra thought.
He got up and walked to the balcony to get some air. Somehow the room felt stuffy as he took on a new responsibility he hadn’t wanted. This has been the case for a while, as he recounted the tasks given to him by the Preceptor of Heavenly Conduit. Svetavastra wondered if it’d become a pattern he couldn’t avoid.
“Maybe I should start saying no,” he said to himself.
“No to what, No-god God,” asked the preta in the bracer.
“Just a simple no,” said Svetavastra.
“The Nagamani is a great addition to your arsenal,” said the preta excited. “You are in luck, No-god God!”
“No,” said Svetavastra.
“No?” repeated the preta confused.
“No,” said Svetavastra.
“Why not—
The preta wanted to ask more but shut itself down noticing Svetavastra’s movement. He summoned the Luminous Diksuchi, the radiant compass was floating in front of him pulsating with urgency and the gem on the East dial had turned black.
Svetavastra opened the map and studied the area affected by this unknown energy with his mind’s eye - it was a border city on the eastern edge of Dayita.