It didn't even take a minute. The four armed monster, it's better to call him that only, appeared in different intervals and at different locations, crushing through the protective Kavach layers that Vihaan had applied around the bodies of the Rakshaks with his bare hands. They simply collapsed like crumpled paper. His thick gray arms covered with a composite Kundalini formed from energies originating from multiple chakras were merciless. They crushed bones, disfigured limbs and sent my seniors flying, tumbling across the cavern. Vihaan took a lot of hits, but still stood tall, but Laksh and Saiyan were in the receiving end of quite the harsh beating. Shreya, Trisha and Yashvi fell back, as soon as they lost their shields and supported the three guys from behind, distracting the monster with long range bombardment. Trisha started her treatment of Laksh, while Shreya managed to bring back Saiyan to safety providing him with medicines for faster healing. Vihaan's rectangular shield broke making me lose count of how many substitutes he actually lost today. Saiyan and Laksh didn't waste time and again rushed the monster after their legs were good enough to be somewhat working.
Recovery, Recovery... I sent appropriate auxiliary healing to them, while taking note of our condition. Dweep, being unable to single handedly endure the incoming barrage of condensed fog weapons gave up and fell back, forcing us to spread out.
Now the single stream of weapons turned into four, that slammed against our shields turning into foggy particles which again flowed back to meet the cocoon.
These weapons, were not deadly as before. Is Charulata trying her best to interfere with them so that we weren't fatally wounded?
Something about the way the weapons dissipated bugged me. After losing their forms, the cloud of Kundalini stayed for a while, floating around our shields, before going back. My brain started going into overdrive. Is she teaching us something? With minimal interference and no direct advice, being unable to tell us the secret to defeating her because of the third party controlling her body, isn't this the only way she can communicate with us? A few more weapons clashed against my shield, sending cracks all over it. The first layer is going to break soon.
I tried to look at my surroundings carefully, whenever the fog appeared, to understand the mechanism behind its working. If only Esha was here. With her eyes that can perceive even the faintest streams of Kundalini, she would have been able to understand the underlying trick to this overwhelming power.
The party chat window suddenly blinked, asking me to start converting my party mates' Prana into Kundalini. Laksh cloaked himself with a gentle yet constantly transforming orange energy that extended to his long spear. Long phantom orange colored spears appeared over his head, six or seven in numbers that pointed towards the four armed monster. Yashvi sent her blossoming arrow which burst out creating a space between the monster's arm and the energy covering him, exposing his raw skin. One of Laksh's phantom spears shot forward and impaled the monstrous figure right at the same exposed area. Yellowish blood flowed out from the four armed figure making his divine origin quite apparent. No wonder why we were struggling like this. After the first attack, the enemy simply swatted away Yashvi's arrows with extreme precision, hitting their shafts from the side at the correct moment. Vihaan and Laksh somehow held on, with bruises and internal damage slowly accumulating over their bodies.
Let's trust them. I decided to focus on what was in front of me. If they can't hold on with 6 people, I won't even have a fighting chance against that monstrosity.
Focus. Focus. Focus. I could feel my mental passives strengthening my mind, allowing me to perceive things in a detailed format. Spreading out my own Kundalini Tethers like a spider web, thin enough to cover the area around me like a cocoon following Charulata's current condition, I tried to sense for any types of signals that the fog could feed me with. Another weapon deflected off my shield and dissipated, and the fog surrounded me as if it was alive. My tethers felt the presence of another net like structure that meshed together with mine. My Kundalini net got invaded by a third person trying to take over my energy but Charulata's will held it back, rendering it unable to spread further.
"Good job, finally." I heard a whisper, "I was wondering if there was anybody who could understand what was happening. Fight for your control over your energy, do not give in. I'll slowly walk you through the process."
It was Charulata. She was giving me lessons in real time. I fought a tug of war against the foreign presence that threatened to take over my spider web like tethers and somehow prevailed.
"Dweep, Jhanvi, and Anik! Go help the other team. I'll take care of things here." I shouted, getting their attention.
They responded with worried expressions.
"Atleast let Dweep stay with you." Anik suggested.
"No. I've said what I needed to. Go away now. I need to focus." I insisted. 9 people will give much higher chances of survival against the four armed monster. Is this why villains in stories introduce themselves at the very beginning? I'm now short on words that can describe the enemy with my relatively constrained vocabulary. Education is indeed important. I thought while realising that I haven't even reached my classroom yet back in Alik, the very thing I arrived in the Gurukul for. My mom will surely faint knowing the things I've faced in just a single day.
Jhanvi lingered for a while, maybe feeling duty bound after I saved her from getting insta-killed, but soon followed Anik and Dweep who joined the other team to help them in their fight against four armed descendant of a divine being.
"The Munika is strong, but she has a time difference with this region." the foggy Kundalini that was now meshed together with mine, had some of Charulata's consciousness in it that now allowed her to communicate with me.
"By the time she receives information of current events and sends back new instructions, a lot of things will have already happened, since three days here equates to one day back in Satya. Take control of my Kundalini slowly and consistently. You started all this by fighting against the Prince to protect your friends, and now you have to end this yourself by seeing it through, until your friends have returned back to the Ashrama safely." Her mind channel kept informing me of the situation.
I was unsure whether I had enough mental Fortitude to handle the load of such a huge and intricate network but I had no choice other than diving into it head first.
"There is an intricate balance that maintains the difference of Fortitudes between me and Subhra Munika, making me unable to control my own Tethers. But with the interference of a third party, we might be able to wrest her authority away. I'll help you through it, lessening your burdens, so get bolder and delude yourself that you're only taking back what's yours. The more you believe in it, no matter right or wrong, you'll get enough mental strength to turn it into a reality." She explained what I needed to do. "Like a crazy person who believes in his own fantasy, no matter what the true reality might be."
More and more weapons shattered against my barriers, creating a cloud around me. Two of my layers had already dissipated.
Spread it out. More and more. Make it thinner. I kept creating newer Tethers in the form of imperceptible spider webs that slowly extended, covering a huge surface area around me. My perception slowly increased, making me cognizant of the true nature of Kundalini fog. Innumerable minuscule spheres of kundalini were floating all around me, which was like a long pearl necklace, the thread being the Tethers.
"Yes. You're getting a hang of it. Try making them yours. Sew your own Tethers through the beads of energy floating around you." She kept encouraging me. "Faster... Her next set of instructions will soon be arriving."
I closed my eyes putting faith in her and Vihaan's Kavach, controlling my external Tethers to move around and pierce pearls of kundalini one by one. The back side of my brain felt an immense pressure already. It's not even the second weapon!! There are still so many left...
"Nice. Take control of another!!" She exclaimed with excitement.
The next weapon dissipated and got caught within my ever extending net. The more weapons I caught, the bigger my mesh got. Once I introduced my will into the Tethers, me and Charulata successfully wrested away control from whoever this Subhra Munika was.
The pain inside my head grew in intensity. My eyes started hurting at their backs, right where the optic nerve was. I felt a hot liquid trickling down my left nostril, giving me a metallic taste as it flowed down my lips.
Extend.
Sew. One pearl after another.
Make the longest necklace ever.
Willing my tether to fold within itself, I brought a mass of floating kundalini pearls in front of my body, as it strengthened itself into the shape of a circular shield according to my imagination.
The next pair of weapons arrived and broke down after meeting my new shield that I had created from the kundalini fog made from five weapons that were under my control.
I created a sphere from this fog around me like a Kavach, that only Surakshaks had access to and finally reached the tipping point of my Fortitude.
"Tsk." I heard Charulata clicking her tongue. "You did good considering your age. But this will no where be enough to defeat me or Devantak."
"I can go on. Send me more." I muttered weakly.
"Time's up." She said regretfully, "Her next instructions just arrived through those violet Tethers. My body will now start attacking the other team. Can you keep them safe?"
"I have to. I don't have a choice..." My head started hurting as if someone triggered a Brahmastra inside my skull. It felt like all my brain matter was getting constricted into a singular point right in my forehead.
Go!! Surround the right side of the cocoon, don't let any weapons through towards the other team!! I commanded the fog around me worth eight or nine weapons and started spreading out my tethers fiercely. The end points of it were like hundreds of needles, ready to poke and pierce through any bead of energy in front of me.
My Prana reached single digits as I converted more and more of it, to create a huge fish net covering the battlefield, isolating Charulata's cocoon and myself on the left side, Devantak and the nine members on the right.
Spread. Catch. Absorb. Make them yours. Protect.
These words kept repeating in my aching brain, the only things that were somehow keeping me conscious.
"I'm sorry, I can't share my skills with you all anymore. I'm taking back my tethers connected to you." I sent a party message and withdrew my tethers that were connected to the others. I'm sorry, but I needed as many Tethers as possible.
Converting the newly gathered and created tethers to finer threads, I aggressively attacked the gradually decreasing fog around Charulata. The net I had created, that divided the battlefield into two parts, now caught and absorbed some weapons sent by Charulata that intended to harm my teammates. I realised all this wasn't possible by myself alone. Charulata was closely monitoring which parts of Kundalini had my ownership but not my attention and acted herself to control them properly to cover for my lacking authority.
My vision was bloodshot, my mouth felt the taste of iron, my mind threatened to collapse as the load got bigger and bigger. How was she controlling this much of Kundalini all by herself? It's impossible!!!
How long did she train for to be able to control all these simultaneously?? Even when her body was being controlled by someone else, she was still fighting making sure I was safe, changing the trajectories of the incoming weapons slightly to reduce their impact on my shields or my tethers.
She just became my first practical Guru. She literally spoon fed me this new application of my existing skills. It would have probably taken me years to understand and try it out first hand, for a project of this scale.
"Isn't it cool? So flexible, yet so strong." Her voice communicated how pleased she was with her own capabilities.
"Yes it is. I would have taken multiple enlightenments to come up with something like this." I managed to form the words somehow, as it made me wonder how much longer I could retain my consciousness.
I realised there were about 32 weapons that were being circulated from the very beginning. I now had ownership over 18 of them, with 8 under my direct control in the form of a shield around me or as an extended section of my spider web kundalini net that was responsible for catching newer fog weapons that were not yet under our control. Rest 10 were being controlled by Charulata.
I had no idea what was currently happening on the right side of the battlefield, as I was totally isolated with both my senses and my mind. Only Charulata's voice was there, encouraging and teaching me.
"What if we were both on the same side from the very beginning? How much more could I have learnt from you?" I mumbled the words, regretting the fact that things turned out like this. Everything was going fine until the violet Tethers appeared.
"In my next incarnation, I hope to get friends like you have currently. They are quite mature, supportive and understanding. Manavas get more complex with time, so these relationships will slowly change in nature, but still to have experienced a pure companionship like this is something I'm truly envious of. Get ready, it's time for you to reach me. Follow it, I'll make a way for you. Be bold. Don't get swept up." She gave me the next set of instructions.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
I could feel a tugging sensation in one of my Tethers at the next moment. It was a meshed out network made from both my original and Charulata's Kundalini that I had taken control over. Nothing of this sort would have been possible if she hadn't relinquished her control over to me.
My mind was slowly getting used to the burden. I can do this. I told myself wiping off the streaks of blood flowing down my nose and eyes. I have no idea how battered I currently looked. I didn't want to find out either.
"Come. Follow the way." I heard a gentle whisper and followed the tug. We moved through the fog, dodging and passing through the gaps between the Tethers currently under the Munika's control.
Then the end of my Tether touched her solar plexus.
The experience was horrible, as if a Tsunami of emotions washed over me in an instant. There were two energies already inside her body, both fighting to get control over the aspects of Charulata's existence. Being able to command such an authority while staying in a completely different dimension was kind boggling. It was also the only Achilles' heel we had. The time gap between her instructions was the only thing we could exploit, turning the tables slowly but steadily.
I tried to sense all the Tethers that were coming out of her body, worth 14 weapons. We have to get the control over it right after the next instruction arrives.
The fog around her cocoon suddenly got restless. It was combining together to form a huge longsword that pointed towards me. This was her next instruction. To annihilate me.
I called everything back to my surroundings, folding the Tethers and twisting them to create a multi-layered shield as the beads of energy combined together to gain mass and thickness. The only tether left outside the shield was the one connecting me and her.
16 weapons in the shield versus 14 in the longsword.
I should be able to hold on.
Without giving me the luxury to calculate any more of my chances, the longsword darted towards me, crashing and shattering my multi-layered shield, forcing me to jump away, but the damage had already been done.
I was missing everything below both my knees. I was able to save my main body, but the sword ran through the lower part of my legs, leaving me crawling on the ground. If my agility was lower, it would have been much more serious.
"Now!! We don't have much time. Send your will through my Kundalini vessels. We have to take control over everything in one go!!!" She instructed, not mentioning anything about my current condition. It was not important considering the instruction that might be arriving in a few minutes.
Through her solar plexus I crawled my way inside her being, following her distribution vessels into her chakra point. It was giving me a sensation of putting my hand into a sand mound at a beach, making my way inside while pushing away obstacles to my sides.
My consciousness was slowly drifting away, I realized, losing myself among the two other massive presences. The obstacles got stronger and increasingly stubborn, as the backlash from forcibly gaining back control from the more powerful being weighed on my mind. My head was now feeling atmospheric pressure capable of flattening metal cans from all directions.
I shouldn't die from this much right? Doubts began to form inside my mind.
Be bolder. Everything here is mine. I am just letting the others know of the true owner. They are just borrowing power from me. The vessels, the kundalini... Are all mine. They all belong to me. I kept telling myself, but I didn't believe that. The kundalini network was something Charulata had developed painstakingly over all these years. How can I even claim her hard work to be mine???
No. I don't want to think like this.
"This is the result of Charulata's hard work. How dare you try taking control over it??" I sent my will through her Kundalini vessels.
I don't need to deluded myself with false facts. I can't believe in fallacies like them. I just need to state the truth.
"This is all her's. Get away from her body. You are not worthy of controlling someone like her." I put myself as an interface between the two energies that were already within the body, within every bead of her energy.
"What are you doing? Taking it for yourself will be the best course of action." Charulata complained.
"I have already reached my limit with 8 weapons. I can't control anymore of that. My only bet is augmenting my will over yours, giving you the edge over the Munika's Fortitude. Do it yourself!! Take control of what's truly yours. Delusion never works. You can never believe in it whole heartedly. But I know the truth. This can't be developed by anybody just because they envisioned something. You need extreme hard work, and diligence to form a skill like this. Not anybody can come and take control over that. Tell me where to go, tell me where to disrupt. Show me the way like you did while helping me connect with your being." I almost shouted, letting her know what I truly intended and my resolve.
She pushed my will through multiple channels as I finally left her body following the Tethers.
"Go away, witch. Give back her body!!" I revolted at every Tether I entered separating the two energies further by putting myself in between.
The fog around her was again rolling and awakening, the huge sword which had dissipated had now returned and was taking the shape of a huge vine, that clasped itself around the violet Tethers. They probably had a predetermined function incase something like this happened. The violet Tethers tried to free themselves away from the grip of the cloudy vines which kept condensing around it, holding it in place. Shouldn't she try to free herself? Why is she holding the invading Tethers back??
"Only one thing is left. The Munika's Tethers have already absorbed half of my experiences and levels, transferring them to the Prince. All this hard work over these years, only to be turned into food for someone like that... What a shame. I realised being bound to your Tethers that the kundalini you have created has originated from your life energy. You seem to be able to do that for your friends too... Can you do that for me?" She asked me with a soft and gentle voice. It sounded as if she was coming to terms with her fate.
"The final point of Prana is often called the Seshya Prana. The Prana of sacrifice." She explained, "Through out history, by the act of self sacrifice, Manavas have been known to exert powers much beyond their means, essentially carrying out miracles. I will get rid of the limiter, so use up all of it. The energy within my body will then implode, followed by an explosion, so make sure to keep your friends safe. Can I trust you with that?"
"Is that the only way?" I asked, preparing myself.
"There might be other ways. But nothing else is coming to my mind right now. When you get more experienced as you grow up, maybe you'll learn something that will make you look back and wonder whether you could have saved me if you had that power now. But don't regret or blame yourself. We are all a victim of circumstances. People who are utterly powerless. There are so many people like me in Satya, who keep living for others, unable to make decisions for themselves. Spending our lives for the sake of others and dying like a dog in the streets after being abandoned. They say it's the influence of Kali. But I know, the corruption that runs deep within the veins of the powerful people in Satya, simply originated within themselves. They renounced their morals and humanity to become the monsters that don't care about the lives of common people like us. Be powerful, Dhruva. Strong enough that no one can push you around to do their bidding. And if you feel like it, save the unfortunate people who are stuck in life like me. Use my power, only if you wish, to save a few of them. You can never save everyone, but you can atleast try. I'm sorry for asking you this..." She stopped, thinking that she was only cursing me with responsibilities for the rest of my life. "Forget what I asked. Just become strong, and make decisions for yourself."
Skill Transfer. Prana to kundalini conversion.
"Thanks for your lessons. Right now, I'm not still sure what I want to do with my life, but taking up on others' wishes is a good place to start. Maybe someday, I'll come around to make them mine, something that I truly wish for, not because someone told me to, but because I really wanted to." I said, hoping my feelings of gratefulness reached her properly. "Goodbye then. Next incarnation, hope we meet on the same side instead."
The Kundalini fog around her grew thicker and transformed into healthy vines that crawled around the violet Tether. Once the Seshya Prana is sacrificed, everything connected to her will be pulled in during the implosion. More and more Prana was converted, as the violet Tether tried its best to yank itself free from the vines' clutches, but only to end up in vain.
Then I hit a small barrier, through our connection, that stopped me from converting any more Prana.
"It's okay. I'm ready now." She gently pushed me forward.
Honestly, I wasn't feeling much. It was something that needed to be done. Yes, I am grateful to her for imparting to me an important application of Aksharas and Tethers before she disappeared, but the amount of time we interacted was so less, that I couldn't become emotionally invested in her. It was good in a way I guess, but it still felt bad, thinking the kind of life she could've lived, had she been able to return to the Ashrama with us. Her fate was sealed, the moment the violet Tethers arrived. They absorbed half of everything she had built herself for all these years to provide the prince with undeserving experience. The next time I meet him, knowing that he won't leave me alone, I will surely put him in his place. Charulata was only attached to the Prince because her family's reputation and her future depended upon him. But there were never any feelings involved. To live your life like that, how pathetic was that?
I realised the hypocrisy in my statements. Even in Alik, people moved around to work for powerful people who owned companies, for the sake of their own futures and the well being of their families. It was kind of same for her... Who am I to judge?
Without thinking twice, I converted her Seshya Prana, severing my tethers as soon as possible right after that. My shield which had dissipated was called back, but only a part of it appeared.
If only I could have controlled all 32 weapons, i could have....
With a shock I realised Charulata had used the final remnants of her will to surround my teammates with her fog Kundalini shields.
"Guess this is it. Keep your friends safe. This won't be enough to take down Devantak so give your best. Good bye." She said, and I imagined her smiling at us with a sad look on her face.
The cocoon, the violet Tether everything started twisting as if caught in a whirlpool. Charulata's body glowed yellow, as it collapsed within itself. It looked like a black hole had been summoned inside her body, absorbing everything attached to her body without fail.
I brought 8 weapons worth of Kundalini and surrounded myself with it, creating my own version of a Kavach and braced myself.
Devantak realised what was happening and crouched, bringing his body closer to the ground, preparing himself for the incoming impact.
The violet Tether which was struggling suddenly turned limp, as an unending strand kept rushing into the section from the dark tunnel until it finally ended, its end looking like something had cleanly severed it away from the source.
A powerful aura covered Devantak, the four armed monster, as he tried his best to defend himself.
Charulata's body disappeared into a single point in space, stayed like that for a few seconds and expanded in a single millisecond. The energy that spread out from the point in space was devastating. The layers in my condensed fog shield rattled and cracked, shattering to pieces one after another. My tethers and kundalini pearls all vaporised away ceasing to exist, especially the ones that were exposed directly to the blast. The ground shattered and created a huge crater around the singularity, sending a wave of mud and water travelling across the whole section.
Devantak's Kundalini cloak dissolved unable to endure it anymore, his thick gray skin moulting away to expose reddish pink muscle and skin right below it.
A pang of guilt clutched my heart as I saw 6 more level ups in my Panna's status, and 3 in Kalpa's.
My legs were probably lying somewhere behind me, but I had no time to crawl up to recover them.
By the time the blast subsided, the water around us had evaporated, and the landscape was destroyed. While I only had two weapons worth of fog Kundalini left surrounding me.
My friends were looking around confused, but they soon recovered watching Devantak standing up, brushing away the dust from his now bare upper body. They were filled with operation marks and stitches.
Well well well. Now are they experimenting on normal people with divine blood and limb augmentation??
I didn't waste time, and spread out my tethers again, to gather up whatever Kundalini fog left from the remnants of the shield that protected my friends. It now came up to six weapons worth of energy. Converting them to thin javelins, I shot them towards Devantak who crossed his arms to block his vitals.
Dweep and Saiyan rushed towards me, when they found out that my legs were missing, fearing that Devantak would come for me next.
Yashvi sent her own Kundalini arrows that pierced his ribs and blossomed, ripping out flesh and blood from his torso.
My javelins punctured his shoulders and legs leaving him limping as he started making his way to the dark tunnel.
"Keep attacking! His protective skin has been removed. Don't let him leave!!!" Vihaan shouted, his voice filled with rage and revenge.
"Help Laksh... He's in a really bad condition!!" Saiyan almost pleaded to me.
I relaxed as Vihaan, Anik, Yashvi, Shreya and Trisha followed the limping experimental by product aka Devantak, bringing out a tether to connect myself to Laksh.
Dweep, Saiyan and Jhanvi all had bruises and wounds all over their bodies. Trisha was somehow managing by herself, handling all eight people. I extended more tethers and connected myself to them, providing recovery energy to them. Their internal injuries were also serious. I wondered how they were even managing to stand up straight.
Jhanvi collected my tattered legs that were blasted away by the Seshya Prana explosion and held them to my knees and saw me shaking my head.
I had already put a film over the wounds to stop blood loss. It wasn't an emergency yet. Laksh and the others with failing organs needed much more attention.
I brought out several of my healing medicines, and distributed them. One high level medicine was used on Laksh.
They sat around me and slowly got treated in silence.
Suddenly a voice boomed inside our heads.
"The cost of killing a Prince will always haunt you. Our watchful eye will forever follow you in Satya. May you never have a proper sleep in your lives, making sure you feel guilty over the sins you have committed." Grayish Aksharas appeared around all our bodies, imprinting themselves on our skin and disappearing, as if branding our very souls. Having a curse from Ashwatthama already, this didn't make me tensed like the others. After a few minutes, the emergency exit option reappeared in our status, confirming that the gate to Satya had been destroyed.
"Things went downhill after you took away your tethers. I realised how much I was lacking... And how dependent we had become on you." Saiyan confessed sitting beside me. "I keep disappointing you guys. I'll try to get stronger so that one day you can rest easy leaving these enemies for me to deal with alone..."
"Do you guys have a limiter over your Seshya Prana?" I asked while treating them concurrently. Only 5 more Prana points were left in me.
"I'm not sure. I'll try checking now that I know something like that exists." Dweep answered instead while Saiyan closed his eyes and semi meditated, probably looking for an answer.
"What about you?" I turned to look at Jhanvi who was sitting on my right.
"I think we all have an intrinsic limiter over that. From the very beginning. I heard about it from my elder sister while discussing about do's and don'ts before coming here." She answered.
Well, you never know where you might get information from.
"Which standard she's in?" I asked, curious about her sibling. I also had an elder brother, who was eight years older, and our dynamic was something I didn't quite like. He was pretty much like an extra parent, always lecturing over what to and not to do. I envied my friends who had siblings with much lesser difference in ages where they looked like the best of buddies. If I shared anything with my family, they would just worry and ask me not to do stupid things again. So I would refrain from telling them what I was doing at school. And in response they would say why I didn't have anything to share during dinners. Why I didn't have any stories to tell.
I indeed had a lot, but why would I say them to you? Knowing I'll be in for a lecture for the next thirty minutes?
I wondered how much worse things will get in the future, since these things will be all I knew. I can't share stories of Satya and Ashrama with them...
"She's currently in the ninth. A mace wielding Yoddha. She's really cool and my idol." Jhanvi expressed way more than she usually did. Guess situations like these truly opened people up to each other.
"You look like you have a wholesome relationship with your sister. My brother is so much older than I can't share much with him. He always...cough..." I looked down to find out blood flowing out of my mouth at an incredible pace.
My vision started twisting as I somehow pulled out the rest of my Kundalini to make a randomly shaped Akshara.
Healing. Constant Convert. Until exhausted.
I placed it on Lakshya to make sure he is the target of healing before losing consciousness.