I met Saiyan on my way back.

His red eyes were understandable, so I didn't poke further. We walked silently with other students and followed one of the wardens to the dining hall.

It was an old building with wash basins on either side of the entryway. Inside were tin-plated tables with benches that lined the hall's walls. Two rows ran from left to right through the middle part of this hall.

As we occupied the seats randomly in the further two rows, our seniors entered the hall and sat in the rows closer to the entrance. Three students stood on the left of the hall, now my right, since we were facing the door, sitting in the furthest row, and kept talking with two of the wardens.

Those three looked like they held some amount of authority among the students. Then, another set of seniors arrived and started distributing the food table by table. There was an egg wrap with milk and some biscuits.

The food was a bit bland, but it felt terrible to waste it. Right on the last bite, I crunched onto some eggshells as a weird taste filled my mouth. I was at an impasse; I couldn't spit it back out or walk out suddenly in the middle while everyone was sitting and eating silently.

"Use your wrap paper!" Saiyan whispered from the side. My face told enough about my situation, I guess. The egg wrap came with transparent paper to hold it together in a rolled position. I had taken it apart strip by strip to reveal the egg roll inside. Gathering them back, I slowly started to empty my mouth bit by bit stealthily, looking around to make sure no one was staring at me.

I was only halfway done when the three seniors came up to the middle of the hall and started praying to the Gods, thanking them for a wonderful meal.

I tried to maintain my poker face throughout the ordeal and was about to get up when one of the two wardens came up and started talking. He looked like all the world's worries were crushing him to a pulp.

I bet people were thinking about whether he was constipated. He had a thick mustache and a pot belly, the typical model of an unfit body. But his voice was surprisingly deep.

"I'm Baagh, your chief warden. I know you are excited about the synchronization ritual but listen to a few things you must remember beforehand. I'm aware many of your seniors have already found loopholes to talk about it outside the Ashrama and that many of you already know bits and pieces of information that will speed up your awakening. I still want to forbid you from talking about it in your classrooms where the teachers present are not from Satya Marta." He stopped and scanned through our faces.

"Follow what your mentors tell you; you'll soon get familiar with everything. There is always enough time in the Ashrama. Try to learn as much as you can in the first four days. Your seniors will appreciate even a little bit of help. Don't forget to be grateful since 'they' are coming for you, young bloods." He dropped bombs and left the hall.

This Baagh gets down to business right from the beginning.

I couldn't control the grin that appeared on my face. This was crazy. I knew something was not adding up.

I looked around quickly to see if anyone was missing information, just like me. A few seconds after checking my surroundings, I realized something was really wrong.

No, I was the only outlier here.

Lots of questions flooded my mind: Satya Marta? From Marta Loka? The world between heaven and hell? Is there a real and a fake version of that? Marta Loka meant the world for humans, so the teachers are not from this real version? That means I'm also not from the real version.

Is this what they meant when they called the world a simulation? What was this synchronization ritual? He also mentioned awakening... Is this some fast shortcut method to bypass all the training you need to become an Awakened?

I needed details about awakening and synchronization since, from Baagh's speech, it felt like they were the first things that I'd face right now.

There was also the matter of 'they who are coming for us new bloods'. I decided not to dwell on that since the seniors were already involved in that case. They can go by without any if they only appreciate a little help.

"Hey, it's our time to leave." Saiyan nudged me with his elbow, pulling me up from the bench. They sent the students sitting on each bench one at a time to prevent crowding. The three student authorities were basically traffic policemen then.

"You don't look okay." Saiyan inspected.

"Yeah, just an overload of information. I'm fine right now." I tried to give an excuse after rinsing my mouth at the washbasins outside. Saiyan walked silently beside me until we arrived right outside our room.

"You seemed like you didn't understand a thing, didn't you?" His face suddenly went serious.

"Who attended the Ashrama before in your family? I was mildly surprised when you were the only one who kept talking about mundane things while everybody used cryptic terms to discuss Ashrama. Wait, you really don't know anything??" He saw my clueless face and understood at once.

He looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds with such intensity that it made me wonder whether he was trying to remember his grocery list items from his first-ever errand.

"For now, think about what you can do best in front of the mobile tower. I can't say anymore outside Marta. Some binding Maya prevents us from taking the names. Meet me at once after the ritual. I'll give you some pills for instant sleep; you can't come late in your condition." He whispered, scanning our surroundings.

My heart was about to burst in excitement. Who attended in my family? The only answer can be my grandfather.

'I now needed to think about what I could do best in front of some mobile tower?' What did he mean by that?

I remembered those transmission towers in every locality that were responsible for better network connections. I need to get rid of one riddle at a time. Worrying too much will only exhaust my brain.

As I entered my room, I finally met the other two guys who were supposed to be my roommates. After exchanging pleasantries, I decided to throw a pilot question at them to judge their knowledge of this synchronization ritual.

"What kind of changes are you guys expecting after the ritual? I have been waiting years for this!" I said, feigning a bit of enthusiasm. Saiyan smirked by himself at my sudden question.

"Exactly," the guy named Anik joined in.

Considering the weather and heat here, I had no idea one could be that fair-skinned.

Considering his pale and scrawny appearance, Anik looked like he never got any Vitamin D from the Sun. His face was unfortunately filled with acne. Otherwise, he could have easily been called a good-looking dude.

"I heard about it five years ago. Hopefully, my skin will get better after awakening. I can finally see what my stats are after the training I got from my father for all these years." He revealed casually.

Were these people getting personalized training? I need to catch up a lot. I have only been fooling around all this time... My grandpa is in Swarga. Why did you have to leave early?

Wait, isn't this why he had been teaching chanting to my mother from an early age? She was 11 when he passed away, so she couldn't get through the proper procedures to enter Ashrama.

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Again, what is this Ashrama? From clues, they seem to mention a different place within Satya Marta. Is it the place from my dreams?

Does that mean there are different entry points to Satya Marta, and this Gurukul is one of many? Why didn't my grandfather teach his eldest daughter? Is there some compatibility checking that takes place before deciding whether a child is taught?

My grandmother also said that she only experimented on me after seeing my steady hands. It was an experiment, not a deterministic approach. Our connection to this Ashrama could have gone cold without my grandmother's insistence. Her experiment was based on Chitram; is it also some training? Where did she learn it from?

I remember her mentioning that my grandpa had taught her the correct way to chant only once. And the techniques he taught my mother were a simpler version.

Doesn't this mean that whatever grandfather managed to pass on was inferior?

A feeling of anxiety started building within me suddenly. What if I am deemed incompatible and forced to leave this Gurukul? All my hard work till now will be in vain. What if they find out all I have learned are just mere imitations?

Saiyan suddenly grasped my shoulder.

"Calm down!" He whispered, but the emotions within his words were urgent. He pulled me outside and rambled, "You can't lose your mind over this. Calm down; we only know these things because they were communicated to us illegally. Being a clean slate is the ideal condition. When we started training beforehand, our paths were set according to what our parents wanted us to be."

He sighed, taking a short breath, "On the other hand, you have been given freedom, which is no longer attainable for us, to become whatever you want. Once you arrive here, they won't send you anything back. There are 108 students in every batch. You'll need them all to complete the transmigration ritual to Satya Marta. Not more, not less. So relax!!!"

"Are you reading my mind?" I asked, horrified, hoping it was not true."How did you know I was terrified thinking they'd send me away?"

He put a hand to cover his expression ridden with guilt. "I'm sorry, I did it without thinking..."

So, you were reading my mind!!!! I wanted to die.

Did he also hear those inner monologues where I kept describing people??

"Don't worry, I can't hear everything. Only when someone gets overly emotional, as you did some moments ago, do their emotions tickle me like a bug. For the rest, I can figure it out from the situation. I was taught this to predict what my opponents are thinking. Usually, emotions burst out with different intent when you fight others." He kept defending himself.

Fight? Opponents? The package is now finally complete.

If I had to go to some battlefield with my level of preparation, I would die within the first few minutes.

"How long have you prepared for?" I asked, "What was the path your parents chose for you?"

He looked embarrassed, "I have to become a Rathi for now. I'm still at the normal disciple stage. I started when I was four years old."

An awkward silence followed.

Saiyan shook his head, "There are seven warrior stages in the myths. The first stage is a disciple. Then warrior. After that comes Rathi, AtiRathi, MahaRathi, AtiMahaRathi, and finally MahaMahaRathi. Which was in the realm of the three Great Gods. It is said that a Rathi can take on sixty thousand normal warriors, and numbers get crazy and unbelievable after that."

He has a long and arduous path ahead of him. I wonder what stage he needs to be in the future to take down giant snakes like the one in my dreams solo.

"You have a bright future," I said without excitement.

Remembering him all alone in that dim wasteland made me sad. But who planted those future memories within me? I refuse to take them casually, thinking they are only dreams after all this. I must remember the exact details of what I heard or saw there. Who were the people that were talking to me?

My dreams were from different people. I wondered whether they were using some device to talk with me.

Things were slowly falling into place. I need to gather info as soon as possible. I am already way behind other people. I can't stop using my brain and miss clues, getting surprised at every little thing anybody with common sense can see coming from a few miles away.

"Since I can read emotions, I know you're someone I can trust. I rarely feel negative emotions towards others from you. They only seem to be directed at yourself, which is admirable. I have my own things to do, but I won't turn you away if you need help. Maybe one day you can also view me as someone you can trust." Saiyan stated with a gentle smile.

Negative emotions towards myself? Yeah, I have only thought about how inferior I was for the last few hours compared to the others here. All my achievements before coming here, which I was quite proud of, suddenly didn't matter in this world I deliberately stepped in.

I need to get better, adapt, and keep self-reflecting. That's what I have done before and what I'll keep continuing.

I also felt warm when I heard someone trusted me and wanted to be trusted back.

He surprisingly has a way with words. Someone is going to be popular with the ladies in the future.

"I think it was my grandfather." I answered a question he had asked hours ago."The one who attended Ashrama before. Things are slowly falling into place for me. I'll tell you all about it after we get enough time. I think you will be able to fill the gaps in my understanding. Just a question; don't overthink about it. Did you guys dream about the Ashrama and have a conversation with someone?"

"Ohh, that? Yeah, everybody did. Lord Ashwatthama and the other immortals often use the mobile tower to look at the new students. As you can guess, we get teachings from one immortal every year. The Ashrama looked awesome. I can't wait to visit it tonight. Remind me to give you the pills before going to sleep, okay?" He tapped my shoulder and went inside to wear his traditional clothing for the ritual.

Suddenly, a bunch of seniors entered our corridor, holding white papers. I followed four of them inside our room as they started calling names.

I faced the senior who called me.

"Let's get you ready for your big day. I'm Roop. Don't get me into trouble, okay?" He smiled and beckoned me to bring out my traditional wear.

There were two pieces of long white cloth. The first one went around my waist with me in the middle. Two knots were made at my waist, followed by folding the left portion and tucked behind. The right portion was also folded to be tucked at my front.

The other cloth was wrapped from my shoulder to my waist and crossed twice over my body with a free end at the left side. It reminded me of the Sages depicted in carvings or murals in ancient temples.

All the seniors made us follow them to the third floor of our Bhavana, where a colossal corridor supposed to contain 6 to 7 rooms was converted into a hall by removing the walls in between.

Orange carpets were laid on the floor, and a tree-like sculpture carved out of bluish luminescent stone stood at the furthest end of the hall. Its trunk was hollow with a Shiv Ling inside, which looked like a geometrical cylinder with a hemisphere on top of it made out of solid black granite.

We sat in columns on the left side of the hall till the middle, and our seniors occupied the right side.

After the conches were blown thrice, the seniors started chanting, realizing my fears till now. It was nothing like the chanting I had learned. I knew each pronunciation was correct, but the frequencies were not.

On closer inspection, the frequencies were about a few levels lower than the one I had learned.

I heard for a while to make out known words and compared the differences between the two frequencies, the one I knew and the one being chanted right now. Soon, I understood that my chants were a few frequencies higher than the actual ones.

Was it because my mother taught it to me?

Women usually have a higher pitch than males, so maybe the method was modified accordingly as it was passed down. Thank you, Mom, for atleast teaching me the correct pronunciation. I can take care of the frequencies myself.

One of the problems that was plaguing me was now solved. Next, I needed to see the skill sets of the other students here.

How many could be learned starting now, and how many were impossible? Saiyan's mind-reading skill was probably impossible to imitate. There might also be some skills that only select families knew and kept them secrets. Other skills might arise from their bloodlines.

I need to gather a list of skills to learn that will arm me with enough options to guarantee my survival. If what Saiyan said was true, we might be fighting some entities, whether humans of Marta Loka or evils from the myths.

As the chanting ended, my batch mates sitting in 6 columns and nine rows got up one by one from the first row. They went up to the tree sculpture and touched the base of the Shiv Ling. Many fell right after touching it, looking around dazed as if they lost their bearings, garnering snickers from our seniors.

I'm sure they did the same thing last year.

Some jerked away their hands as if a bee had stung them, and some outright fainted and had to be carried back by the seniors to the back of the hall towards the entrance.

This is fun. I thought about what kind of reaction I'd have.

Right on time, as if to make things worse, I felt the need to relieve myself and got nervous with worry.

Just don't release it all in the hall. Otherwise, I'll have to wear a mask for the rest of my life.

I wished Saiyan luck as he got up from my right and walked to the shrine.

As soon as he touched the black stone, it shone with a golden light enveloping the inner part of the hollow. Surprised reactions burst out from the students and wardens.

"Silence!" Baagh roared like a tiger and told Saiyan to meet him after the ritual ended.

"What was that?" I asked Saiyan as he sat down, embarrassed. "It's my turn now. Tell me about it later."

I walked up to the shrine and remembered his words. 'Think about what you can do best.'

Think what you can do best... I kept repeating.

I took a deep breath and touched the base of the black stone. It was as cold as refrigerated ice. I braced myself, waiting for whatever mobile tower to arrive in my vision.

But I was transported to a mango grove instead, with a murky ash-gray monsoon sky, filling me with nostalgia. Okay, there are no mobile towers around. I thought while scanning my new surroundings.

A soft voice whispered from my right, capturing my attention.

Following them, I arrived before a little sapling that had just broken through the earth and spread its first two little leaves.

"We finally meet!" The sapling whispered right into my head. "We don't have much time. Quickly follow what I tell you to, and never mention about my existence to anybody. It will be better for both of us."