As the first light of dawn touched the treetops, Aryaman began his drill for the day, he stretched his body with a few basic exercises and started the practice with his sword. The swoosh of his blade echoed in the early morning quietude. He had spent half of the previous day building his cultivation through meditating and the other half dissecting his fight in the preta simulation orb and mulling over the guidance Svetavastra had provided.

He corrected his posture based on Svetavastra’s suggestions and refrained from any continuous bursts of energetic movement. He pulled back his shoulders ever so slightly and his stance became more balanced. He slowed his sword movements such that each strike became more deliberate and controlled. He avoided the rapid high-energy burst from the fight in the orb. He could already feel the difference of technique and the solid grounding it provided.

He grinned as he swooshed his sword into the air feeling the power of the strike. Once in a while, he glanced at the cross-legged Svetavastra deep in meditation, his eyes shining with gratitude.

Sweat soon formed on his brow, trickling down his face despite the morning chill. His muscles strained and flexed with each precise movement, the rhythm of his breathing syncing with the flow of his sword. The physical exertion was intense, but Aryaman relished the challenge, pushing himself harder with each pass.

As the sun ascended in the sky, the forest awoke with the soft glow of morning, revealing the dewy leaves and fresh blooms, Aryaman’s drill culminated in a final, powerful swing. He stood for a moment, the weight of the sword balanced perfectly in his hand, his chest rising and falling with deep, controlled breaths. His skin glistened with sweat, and his muscles ached with a satisfying fatigue. Aryaman sheathed his sword, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face.

Svetavastra broke his meditation shortly thereafter.

“Good morning Arya, that’s a good sweat,” he said.

“Good morning gurudeva,” said Aryaman. “Thank you.” He wondered how the blindfolded Svetavastra was able to determine how much and how well he sweat.

“We will start the journey towards the nearest ley line intersection,” said Svetavastra as he pulled out the luminous diksuchi from his self. The spiritual artifact emitted a soft glow as it levitated on Svetavastra’s palm. The gemstone indicating the north direction had turned black.

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“Ley line intersections have a surge of spiritual energy,” continued Svetavastra. “They would help us in improving our cultivation. But of late, they seem to be getting corrupted with dark energy. Let’s start following this trail of dark energy and see where it leads.”

“Is that way the forest had the miasma and the boar got affected?” asked the prince.

“Quite possible,” said Svetavastra scratching his chin.

The preta in Svetavastra’s bracer was also awake by now.

“Those rogue pretas are no joke,” it said. “I get shivers whenever I think about them.”

Of course, only Svetavastra could hear these comments and the prince had no idea there were three of them in the conversation.

“If we cleanse the ley lines would it stop them from getting corrupted again?” Aryaman asked, curious.

“Good question, Arya,” said Svetavastra and he waved his hand and his purple spiritual powers formed a globe showing latitudes and longitudes and certain nodes that flickered with energy - these intersection nodes were few in number and dispersed across.

“You see these flickering intersections?” said Svetavastra. “These are the energy ley line intersections. Most of them are usually near a portal to Patala Loka, the underworld.”

Aryaman looked at the globe with in wonder.

“Seven portals to the underworld exist,” said Svetavastra. “Scattered across the world.”

Aryaman tried to absorb this information as his eyes reflected the spiritual globe.

“I believe the root cause for the spread of darkness is the weakening of the barriers of these portals,” continued Svetavastra.

“Ohh,” said Aryaman and he was silent for a moment.

“So, unless we seal the barrier themselves, cleansing the ley line intersections would be a temporary measure,” he said.

“Precisely,” said Svetavastra. “One of these portals is sealed.”

Svetavastra pointed to an area near Dayita kingdom.

“I didn’t know we had a portal near Arang!” said the prince. “Oh wait! Is it in Dandakaranya? Is that way we had such an influx of the undead?!”

Svetavastra nodded in the affirmative.

“But gurudeva, how do we know that the portal is sealed?” Aryaman asked.

“Because I sealed it,” Svetavastra said simply. During his stints of deep mediation, he had been able to recover some of his past memories including the sealing of the portal.

“It must have been difficult, right gurudeva?” said Aryaman.

“Indeed,” said Svetavastra. “It cost me my entire spiritual base. And I’m yet to recover.”

Aryaman felt a shiver run through his spine. If it proved so difficult for Svetavastra to seal just one barrier, what chance did they have realistically to stop the darkness?

“Does that scare you?” said Svetavastra reading Aryaman’s expression from his mind’s eye.

“Ahh,…no…,” stammered the prince. “Well, I’m a little concerned, would we be really able to stop the dark energy?”

“Yes,” said Svetavastra simply without any hesitation.

“How can you be so sure, gurudeva?” asked Aryaman.

“Because, this time,” said Svetavastra with a short smile. “I’m not alone.”