{A month later}

[WOOSH]

An arrow surrounded in green energy rapidly moved towards a glowing red target.

[BOOM!]

Before the arrow could connect, the red target swiftly moved out of the way, resulting in the arrow blasting through several trees.

[WOOSH…..]

Another three arrows were fired towards Arav,

[BOOM!]

Arav again dodged all three of them by swiftly maneuvering around them, while he rapidly flew towards Yaksh who had another arrow nocked on the bow;

[BHUM!]

“Ugh!!!” The red target suddenly appeared in front of Yaksh. And with a powerful gust of air, Yaksh got thrown away.

[TCHIK!]

The red aura surrounding Arav dissipated, while he slowly descended on the ground. His eyes stayed on motionless Yaksh, who silently stared at the sky;

“Haha..” Arav chuckled and stretched his arm towards Yaksh, who was lying flat on the ground with a blank expression that showed his expectations regarding their current situation, he grabbed Arav’s hand and stood up.

“Haah…I’ll see where Marichi is gone..” Yaksh said while placing the bow on his back.

“You don’t need to worry about that..” Arav said with a smirk;

[WOOSH!]

As if waiting for Arav’s words, Marichi appeared with an eruption of black lightning right in front of Yaksh.

“Hooh…Where were you little guy?” Yaksh sat down and began rubbing Marichi’s back, gently moving his fingers through the dark fur;

“We are almost there..” Arav said while walking past Yaksh and Marichi and he headed towards the dense trees ahead of them.

A serious expression washed over Yaksh’s face, he stood up and began following Arav without saying anything. They both appeared out of the trees and arrived right next to a small wooden boat that was tied to a log embedded on the river bank.

[TTK!]

Due to the constant flow of water, the boat moved and occasionally collided with a stone in front of it, causing the few bundles placed on it to hit each other . Arav leaned towards the river, he joined his palms and dipped them in the flowing water.

Yaksh climbed on the boat and rearranged the bundles, creating space for a person to sit.

“Can you remember something about the black creature…What kind of mantra did it use?” Yaksh asked in a serious tone, while his eyes calmly gazed at Arav washing his face.

“...My memories were erased, I require something more than intense brainstorming to recover it.” Arav replied while moving his wet silver hair behind his forehead. He moved towards the boat and sat on the space Yaksh had cleared for him. He gazed at Yaksh, who’s eyes hinted towards him deeply thinking about something.

[HUM!]

A small amount of yellow energy surrounded the boat and it began slowly moving forward.

“From what he said, I think that creature wasn’t using mantra…”

“Why do you think that?” Yaksh asked with a curious expression,

“I used my dragon tongue to seal Digvijay’s soul inside his body…It is not possible for a mantra to output enough energy to negate dragon tongue’s effect in that short amount of time..”

Yaksh’s brows expanded followed by his eyes getting darker, while his gaze towards Arav changed;

“You…sealed his soul…doesn’t this mean you saved his life?” Yaksh asked in a serious expression, but to his surprise, a smirk appeared on Arav’s face;

“I sealed his soul to keep my promise to Drona…while also trying to find the source of his strength, and it turned out that Digvijay was using a demonic technique….an elite one at that. Dragon tongue always leaves a mark….that I can sense no matter the dimension…but in case of Digvijay’s soul, I can’t..so, It means his soul wasn’t just removed, It was completely erased…Something similar to what was occurring to your sister after death.”

Arav’s explanations caused Yaksh’s expression to get serious even further, he clenched his fist with visible anger in his eyes.

“We are here..” Arav spoke while standing up in the boat. Yaksh was startled by his sudden voice, causing him to snap out of his rage filled thoughts. Upon looking at the surroundings, he realized that the river had gotten thinner with forest left behind for a while. There was a small stone bridge connecting both sides of the river’s bank. A faint smell of newly prepared food tingled Yaksh’s nose, while his long ears captured low voices of chatter and other sounds hinting towards a busy place.

“Hmm…” Arav’s expression turned serious, he floated out of the boat and landed on the left side of the river. Yaksh lifted a wooden log from the boat and threw it towards the river bank with a great force;

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

[BHUM!]

The log quickly impaled the ground, causing the boat to shake momentarily and finally coming to a halt. Yaksh jumped out of the boat and landed right beside Arav, who was still staring towards a large gate in front of him.

“What happened?” Yaksh asked, while quickly nocking an arrow on the bow.

“This place is using magic to mask itself..” Arav said while forwarding towards the gate.

“Should we do the same?” Yaksh asked,

“Might as well..”

[WOOSH!]

As Arav replied, Yaksh’s eyes shone green with a similar coloured energy appearing out of him. The energy rushed toward Arav and turned his hair black, while changing the clothes to a dark attire similar to the ones Yaksh saw people wearing in front of the open gate. Yaksh’s bow changed into a small bracelet around his hand, while the quiver turned into an over-cloth covering his shirt.

“Is that magic similar to ours?” Yaksh asked while he intensely stared towards the gate and the soldiers guarding it, failing to notice anything unusual described by Arav;

“No…This magic is far less potent than that…elvian magic directly affects the subject and changes its appearance, this magic is diverting our vision,….while the place is unaffected..”

“Huh?..How’d you know tha…..Oh ....” Yaksh turned towards Arav and asked, but his question was answered as he saw Arav’s red eyes brilliantly glowing;

They both stayed silent while making their way near the gate. By standing behind a group of around a dozen others entering, they both stayed unnoticed by the soldiers, and successfully made their way inside. The inside of the city had blue houses and shops selling various necessities. The roads were filled with men and women, some of them walked around while eying the objects being sold, while others stood in front of the shops negotiating with their keepers. Yaksh instantly noticed the difference between here and Padma kingdom, this place had completely different clothes and appeared less glamorous if compared to Padma kingdom.

“One..”

Yaksh’s exploring gaze was suddenly startled, he confusingly looked at Arav and found him staring forward;

“Three..”

Yaksh looked around, but he again failed to sense anything unusual.

“......”

“Seven..’’

Yaksh’s eyes became restless, he scanned the surroundings with even greater speed.

“.....”

“Nine..”

He stepped right, getting closer to Arav. His sense of vulnerability towards the unknown alarmed his instincts;

“Eleven..” Arav said again, with his gaze staying still in front.

“What is going on?” Yaksh whispered while he looked in the same location as Arav;

Then suddenly, Arav pushed Yaksh and made him fall on his back;

[BHUM!!!]

A powerful shockwave caused dust to fill in the air, while Yaksh was forced to close his eyes due to the impact.

“Twelve…” Arav said with a smirk, while his hand was raised towards the left while holding a small dagger in his hand. He slowly lowered his arm while his eyes stayed on a shop in front of them. Within moments, the citizens around them quickly fled the location, while the shopkeepers hastily closed their shops.

[TAK…TAK…TAK]

Dozens of soldiers instantly appeared out of the same shop and pointed their spears towards them. Yaksh stood up from the ground, he gazed at the soldiers with a serious expression while moving his hand as if holding something.

“No need..” Arav said while stretching his hand in front of him. Yaksh got confused, as he felt the angry soldier’s gazes trying to pierce his heart.

“Who are you?” Someone spoke from behind them in a tone filled with authority. Arav slowly turned back and found the soldiers moving away, revealing a man forwarding towards them. He wore black attire, including the cloth that covered the lower half of his face, with a sword attached on his waist in a black sheath, while his red eyes scanned them thoroughly as the distance between them kept decreasing. Yaksh got goosebumps all over his body, he sensed a threat from the man that had a striking resemblance to the one he sensed from Drona. Arav’s smile widened even further, he moved towards the man without hesitation.

The soldiers got alarmed, they stretched their weapon at Arav, but stopped as the man in black clothes raised his palm. He had already halted his steps as soon as Arav began moving. Arav arrived right in front of the man;

“Hmm…Interesting...” Arav placed his hand on his chin and slightly tilted his head, while his eyes gazed at the man’s red eyes.

“......” The soldiers looked at each other, while Yaksh got confused even further.

Then an even more surprising thing happened, that almost caused Yaksh’s brows to fly off his forehead. The man got on his knees and placed his right hand on his chest, followed by his lowered head.

“The Chandra kingdom humbly welcomes your arrival…Young master Arav.” The man’s respectful tone echoed around the area, followed by the sound of the metallic end of spears hitting the road.

[WUMBH!]

The place around them began waving and morphed into a luxurious city in an instant. The previous cheap looking buildings were nowhere to be found, as they were replaced by large architectural marvels proudly radiating blue light. Yaksh’s eyes widened, as he himself failed to fathom the rate of the change occurring right in front of him. They stood on a perfectly symmetrical stone road that led towards a large castle deeper in the city.

“His majesty is waiting for your arrival.” The man spoke again;

“......”

“........”

“..........”

‘What is this guy thinking?’ Yaksh felt the awkwardness in his bones, as he saw the man on his knees in the middle of the road while Arav stared at him.

“....Young master Arav,…It is inappropriate to make the king wait..” The man spoke without lifting his head;

“Fight me..” Arav said while pointing at the man.

‘WHAT?!’ Yaksh felt his brain somewhat overheating by the constant streak of surprises thrown his way.

The man stood up, he gazed directly at Arav;

“Unfortunately, I can’t accept your challenge..”

“Why is that?” Arav asked in a curious tone;

“I am prohibited from hurting someone of the royal family.” The man answered in a humble tone, but Arav instantly sensed confidence and a warning in his words.

“Well then, I’ll ask the king for his permission.” Arav turned towards the castle and began moving forward. Yaksh gazed at the man, who stayed still while the soldiers began following Arav. Yaksh turned towards the castle, but his curiosity caused him to look back, which resulted in another surprise as the man had disappeared in thin air.

Yaksh’s feeling of animosity was elevated further by the man’s strange abilities.

[Chapter 21: End]