I'm in a significant dilemma right now. I somehow managed to make another group of strands for a new weapon, but the curse was killing me and my brain.
Every time it activated, I had to take one movement at a time, reverse it in my mind, repeat that for all the other movements, and put them together to form a set of actions that would achieve the same effect without the curse.
If I'm making a bead by pressing it from two sides and moving my palms in a clockwise direction, under the effect of the curse, I had to mentally pull away my hands and move them in an anticlockwise direction.
It took some time for my brain to adjust.
Now, the problem is: what happens during a fight? What if I attack my friends or myself instead of the enemy?
I should have considered the options properly before accepting the curse. How long am I going to be such an immature short-sighted idiot?
After converting the group of strands to a hammer, I tried moving it around along with the spear.
It didn't exhaust my mental energy, but it ate up most of my Kundalini reserves within ten minutes.
I'm missing something fundamental in my design. Charulata had a lot of energy to work with. Until I get to her level, it will be challenging to use the same strategy.
I need to develop something that will work with my current capabilities. I just needed to sit and think through it carefully. Some kind of inspiration is required to break through this deadlock. What can possibly be a solution to this problem?
The cave was already lit up from the dull sunlight emanating from the hidden sun that had risen a few hours ago. Far away, I could hear the bells ringing, signaling the start of breakfast timings.
I'll think about it later. Let's have breakfast and join the Skills 101 classes for now.
--------------------------------------------
"There's a new person here today." The instructor, named Sage Sarvajnana, translating to 'one who has knowledge of all,' greeted me.
I'm also named after the pole star, but that didn't mean I'm a literal ball of nuclear gases burning far into the space.
If he indeed stays true to his name, it'll be me only who'll get the most out of it.
"What made you join this course? He asked after inspecting the two other faces who were sitting with me and then finally resting his gaze on me.
These two guys seemed a bit disoriented. They must have gone through some shit recently.
"Because everyone seems to know how Skills work, but when asked, they can't properly explain." I said, apologizing mentally to Dweep and Anik for putting them under the bus.
"That is usually the case for most people. They should at least go through the basics once." Sarvajnana looked dejected.
Well, every instructor thinks that their course is always the best.
I'm in the same purple box as yesterday; the only difference is that a different person made it.
Multiple of these boxes were laid out all across the empty spaces in the Ashrama; some were purple, some green, some red... Maybe the colors signified something.
On a closer inspection, it seemed dependent on sizes. The purple ones were the smallest, while the red ones were much bigger.
There were probably more number of students attending those courses compared to ours.
"Since there are only three people here, I'll give an extended summary of what I talked about yesterday." Sarvajnana seemed like a patient guy. "And yeah, make sure to go for lunch today; Lord Ashwatthama said there is some wonderful news for you guys. You'll be experiencing something the eighth graders do at the end of their year."
We nodded like obedient little pups. Let's get on with the summary. It would have been great if we sat on a Shakti Rekha during classes. Should I choose a course based on their cube's position?
"Yesterday, I talked about what skills inherently are and what my course will teach." He said, looking at me and the others one by one. He has good public speaking skills.
"Have you ever used a knife? To cut fruits or vegetables back home?" The sage asked.
"Nah. My parents didn't allow me to touch one, thinking I would chop off my fingers." One of the guys muttered in a disinterested tone.
"Hmm... Then have you seen them using it?" Sarvajnana asked next.
"That I have." The same guy answered.
"Don't they use it effortlessly? Like they aren't even thinking about it while moving the knife?" Our instructor asked and continued, "They get the feeling using their senses. The way they are holding the handle. The pressure they are using is different for different kinds of vegetables. They already know how much effort to give in which case. Before, when they were starting out, they were careful, making sure not to hurt themselves and remembering the details, but now it comes off as second nature to them."
We nodded again.
"It's the same with skills. You don't get them overnight. I'm talking about the ones that you can actually count on. The ones which are efficient, familiar, and the best when you consider most of the factors." He stopped to take a breather.
This is basically what Dweep had been telling me the day before yesterday.
Do I think about how to move my legs while walking? Do I need to remind myself to breathe? Do I need to put pressure on specific points voluntarily to take a shit? Yes, in fact, I actually do. This example won't work, I guess.
"In this course, I'll teach you how to convert basic movements to reliable skills effectively. I'll show you how you can string together multiple such skills to create a new pattern of movements that can produce a newer skill. Ultimately, I'll teach you how to integrate your Kundalini into the sets of movements to make your skills more powerful. Kundalini makes everything better. Like spices in a dish." Sarvajnana said excitedly.
"Do all the people not attending this course get by without the basics? I'm wondering whether people understand the basics while working on hands-on projects instead." I asked just in case to check if I was lagging behind, wasting my time by a lot.
"Don't compete with others on basics. Try to compete with yourself. Once you have the necessary foundations, you can think about that. So just focus on yourself right now. That kind of enlightenment is also viable, but there's no guarantee that you'll get the basics using that method." Sarvajnana lectured in a monotone.
I guess he's right about that. Let's not think about how others are doing.
"I'm sorry. I'll remember what you said." I replied, bowing my head once.
He tilted his head with a smile. "That was polite of you. Good, I'm finally getting some enthusiasm to teach you guys better."
From the expressions of the other two students, it seemed that they just wanted to complete this course and move on to the next as soon as possible.
I didn't anticipate this course to be this unpopular. I guess most people do have a basic idea about things before entering here.
The next three hours were honestly fun. Sarvajnana was a master of analogies. He would bring up real-life activities to give examples and a different perspective on things that would make no sense if simply described by words.
It was productive. I hope the afternoon lessons from Vishwajeet will be like this too.
During lunch, I kept thinking about what I heard in the class.
Why aren't handling a spoon or simply eating considered skills? These are things that I have been doing since early childhood.
Motive. Design. Repetition. Modification. Combination. Augmentation. Expression.
These are the phases that an action needs to go through to become a Skill.
Let's take my Akshara skill that I had developed while manufacturing drill earthworms as an example out of Chitram.
I needed something made out of Kundalini that would mimic the design of real-life entities.
I kept releasing and kneading my energy hundreds of times, repeating the process.
I had modified the head of the earthworms, combined the drill head, its body, and the Tethers that will control its movements.
I had augmented another layer of kundalini over the drill to help the worms dig through the energy skins of the Asuras.
After going through all these steps, my Akshara skill appeared and consequently leveled up.
If I'm repeating any actions from now on, I should take precautions and add these stages to them, converting them into skills.
Currently, my network-making movements can evolve to become a Skill. But since one group requires five strands having eight beads each, it will need 5x8x4 points of continuous Kundalini release to make a fog weapon simultaneously. Which is impossible, since no one can hold that amount of Kundalini in their body at once.
I've learned that if it is considered as a single skill, I'll need to release continuous energy to give it effect. That is why the network-making process has been divided into consequent actions of low Kundalini requirements.
I currently have 8 points of energy. After I use up those 8 points, there will be an interval where my chakra won't produce any more Kundalini for a while until its filtration process is done, breaking the skill release midway.
But when I had my Prana to Kundalini Conversion skill, energy was converted instantly, and there was no gap in energy release, allowing me to use high-requirement Aksharas.
Now, I have to break the functionality of an Akshara and tackle the individual features one by one with a max allocation of 8 points.
In such a composite Akshara, having separate elements worth 8 points each will also make it powerful in a way.
With only two auxiliary chakras, my Kundalini capacity at max can be 128x2x2 points. That is not a small amount by any measure, so one day maybe, I can use the Network making Skill all at once effortlessly. But thinking about what I could have achieved only makes me bitter.
Why does the capacity get multiplied by two every time? I theorize that it might be because we are only able to awaken a new chakra and its corresponding distribution and absorption vessels after Kalpa's vessels have grown enough. Enough here refers to double the previous size.
We have to extract the grown parts and create a new knot and its vessels again, increasing the complexity as well as the number of connections among the chakras that it has to maintain.
Every time, the new chakra will need to connect to the previous ones, and the required amount of sap keeps increasing exponentially.
Coming back to the topic of skills, I will talk with Sarvajnana about the ones I want to cultivate and ask for his directions. Make them the classwork itself.
The other two guys can complete the course quickly if they aren't interested that much. Then, I'll have the instructor all to myself.
It kind of came out wrong, on second thoughts.
Like any other announcement, Mr. Baagh and his colleagues from other Gurukuls stood at the east side end of the dining hall, while the dorm mothers stood on the west end of the girls' side.
"The Devatas on Kalpa's request, have decided to aid the Rakshaks from the very first year at the Ashrama. But there's a catch. There are supposed to be 756 of you. Many were unfortunately Forgotten. Out of 627 Rakshaks, only the top 65 students will be given Divyastras by the Gods, who will be impressed by your performance. The ones who won't be that lucky, will be given Astras by the sages, so don't despair. You'll get loads of chances to show your worth and receive the grace of the Gods. Kalpa seems to be taking good care of the Rakshaks from this batch." The announcement ended from the side of the wardens.
"What kind of performance are you talking about?" Someone asked a good question. I almost ignored that part.
"What else? Like you have a sports festival back at Alik, we'll have a Divyastra Utsaav here. Compete with others and show off your skills. Even if you don't win, there's always a chance to grab the attention of some Devata who got amused by your feats." One of the wardens answered. He might be in charge of the student who asked the question, coming from the same Gurukul.
"When is it?" Another student raised their hand.
"This is your second week here, right? During the last four days of the seventh week, you'll have to participate in the Utsaav. You can give your parents awesome news when you meet them next time." This time, a female warden answered.
So it's on the Saturday night. Not much time is left. Divyastras require Prana sacrifice to the Gods, to be able to activate them. If I can somehow manage to entertain some God sitting up there, I might finally get a way to use my Prana points. They are just rotting at full capacity within my body.
Oh, how I miss that almost floating state I used to reach whenever my Prana hit 1 point. As if my soul was leaving my body. Good times.
"Excited?" I asked Anik and Dweep, who were sitting on my two sides.
"As a Dhanurdhar, Divyastras are the best thing I can possibly get at this point." Anik's eyes were glittering with anticipation.
"What about you?" I looked at Dweep.
"I don't require an Astra. If the Gods are generous enough to reward me with a Divyakavach instead, I'll be happy." He said.
Like the Golden Armor of Karna from Mahabharata. It was some legendary-grade equipment that he had. Dweep will probably be happy even with some high-grade item at this point.
Where are those ancient artifacts, anyway? Did they just get lost? Or are they rotting in the collection of some wealthy king in Satya?
Getting their hands on even one of them will set people apart from the masses, by a considerable margin.
It will be interesting if they are locked behind trials and tribulations within unique Dungeons. But for that, we'll need information, and the freedom to leave Ashrama and traverse across the lands of Satya.
Maybe someday, we'll get access to Vimanas and go on adventures like that.
Wait, what about the other teams from the seven who had decided to go to the battlefield? Did they even return? Or are they still there?
One team got eliminated, with Somi missing and her three teammates getting Forgotten.
Two teams stayed. And the rest of the four teams should be at those four temples. The ones Asuras are trying to invade.
Who knows what's happening on that side?
Did Saiyan and Shreya go there without telling us?
After lunch, the excitement in the Ashrama was palpating. Rakshaks gathered inside the arenas to start individual training. Some even started dueling.
The sounds of metal clashing with each other echoed throughout the area.
"Are you curious? About how everybody is practicing?" Vishwajeet asked me while inside the purple cube.
"A little. But I have things I need to do. It's best not to get distracted and waste my time." I said instead.
"Can you show me what you're trying to achieve? I'm trying to get an idea of the scale of manipulation you want to achieve. When you controlled Charulata's whole network, how many weapons were you controlling?" He asked.
"53, to be exact. But not all of them were in weapon form all the... time." Suddenly, it clicked inside my head.
The cloud form. Moving the groups of strands in weapon form required a vast amount of Kundalini. But her fog form helped reduce that burden.
Even though there were 53 weapons hidden inside the fog, only 12 or so were in their weapon form at a time.
"It seems like you achieved a sudden realization." Vishwajeet smiled. "Take note of it and keep it for later. Let's continue the lesson for now."
I did as he told me and showed him the weapon movement and transformation schemes.
"I remember you also fought for control over the network for a while. That should have taken quite an amount of mental strength. I think we should train using that method." He extended his hand and summoned a massive ball of indigo-colored Kundalini. A few threads extended out from his fingers and attached themselves to it slowly.
"Try wresting away the ownership of this energy ball. We'll be playing mental tug of war."
I nodded and connected my control tethers to the ball.
A rush of energy hit me from the opposite side, incapacitating me for a few milliseconds until I could regain my bearing.
"It seems she was truly going easy on you. Give your best. This is a good exercise that we need to do every day. Think that this ball will burst within 15 minutes if you can't gain control over it." He encouraged me.
Every time my consciousness met his, I felt a sharp pain in my temples. Closing my eyes, I imagined a tug-of-war competition between me and him, but even in my imagination, it seemed he could win effortlessly.
After a few minutes of struggling, my eyes felt like they were popping out of their sockets.
A tremendous pain started at the front part of my brain, where I kept hammering with my fists to give myself some relief.
A nosebleed soon followed, my vision started to swirl, and I felt like someone was taking over my body.
I fought hard to keep it at bay. I imagined all the energy in my veins pushing themselves out like the water from an open dam. But the energy kept encroaching within my vessels.
I soon started releasing my energy in bursts and felt the energy getting pushed back. But every time I stopped, it inched closer to my chakra.
Is he planning on killing me? I panicked for a second.
Sensing my condition, the energy withdrew itself, lifting the immense pressure my body was in.
"That's it for today. Take some rest, and we'll meet again tomorrow after lunch. You did better than expected, so don't get disappointed in yourself. This is just the beginning." Vishwajeet walked away after dismantling the cube, leaving me lying on the ground again.
Popping out two bottles of Brahmi made by Trisha, I chugged them down.
The pain inside my skull wasn't subsiding.
Ultimately, taking one medium-grade medicine over that helped quite a lot. Did I pop some blood vessels inside my head??
Looking up at the blood-red numbers in the sky, I opened Kalpa's status in front of me. Both my curse resistance and mental fortitude had reached double digits, thanks to my Gurus. I need to keep this up every day.
I brought out my notes and kept going over them. Cloud formations of Charulata's skill were a bunch of Kundalini beads floating together, helping to retrieve the weapons used as projectiles.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
If I use a cloud formation to send the weapons toward the enemy and then activate the weapon transformation command, what will happen?
The spear and hammer will have zero momentum to even do minimal damage.
I need something that can get an instantaneous acceleration... Springs?
I remembered the pressure plate traps in a game I had played. Whenever the character steps over the trap, metal spikes would come out of contraptions and pierce the player.
Hmm... This is an excellent way to proceed for now. I will see what kind of troubles I'm facing to implement that later.
I should suspend the weapon-making strands for now.
I'll need to readjust the Kundalini beads that make up the building blocks of my network.
"Ohh. For the first time, I saw a message getting received." I mumbled to myself and read the text Anik had sent me.
"Dweep went to confront that Nikhil guy. Come, we must ensure their team doesn't gang up on him."
"Okay. Sword Arena, right?" I replied while running towards the destination.
"Yeah, come fast. Things are not looking good."
The arena looked like a small-scale stadium, with fences and gradually rising steps for seats around an elliptical central ground.
The actual ground had rows and rows of scarecrow-like training dummies made of some reinforced grass or straw, which seemed quite sturdy.
They were robust enough to keep standing even after getting hacked continuously by the Rakshaks.
A crowd had gathered surrounding five people. Dweep on one side and four on the other.
"The Utsaav is around the corner, and these idiots have to start shit disrupting our training." I heard a few complaints here and there as I made my way towards Dweep. Where is Anik hiding?
"Dhruva. Sorry for this, but I'll need your help. I don't think I can hold off four people at once." Dweep smiled but kept focusing on the four Rakshaks in front of him.
"Here comes another member of the famous record-making team. Good to see that you didn't run away like your friend." Nikhil said, standing in front of his three buddies.
"Can we just talk once about what your problem is? You've been acting awfully from the very beginning. I get that you want to test your skills, but people also have their own shit going on. Not everyone can make time whenever you want. Especially if you're asking for time from one of the Seven." I calmly stated, standing beside Dweep.
"It's been three days already. I thought doing what I did would bring him out of wherever he's currently hiding." The guy replied nonchalantly.
"Your parents never told you 'no' huh?" Dweep suddenly lashed out.
"Don't bring our parents into the discussion." Nikhil sneered back at us, his voice getting deeper, "The way your team has been going around as if we are all beneath you pisses me off. Because of the warning the seniors in charge of you sent, we couldn't even experience a dungeon crawl. That was a nice strategy to keep yourselves ahead of the crowd. Had we gotten a chance too, we could've cleared the dungeon much faster than you guys. With only a few weeks left until the Utsaav, we had to forgo our chance to get stronger just because you guys couldn't handle an invader from Satya."
"That's a nice perspective you have going on in your head. If you wish to think that you can take care of the princes of Satya, you can ask one of the sages to open a portal. Best of luck. Why the hell are you giving us a hard time?" I was confused getting new information from him.
Did Ashwatthama ban people from going into the beginner Dungeon for the time being? I, too would have been frustrated if I missed a chance like that.
"It's easy to say. But with so many of us already getting Forgotten, like hell will the sages take risks like that. I have talked with them a lot of times to give us a chance, only to end up getting rejected. Ashwatthama told me to show that I was strong enough to enter one with my actions, and what better way is there than to defeat the people who have actually cleared one?" Nikhil said, his voice getting a little lighter this time. He's relaxing a bit, since I didn't show any hostility towards him like Dweep.
"That... Is actually a logically viable option to take. But can you wait until he comes back? I can assure you that he's not hiding. He probably has gone to one of the four temples that are being fought over right now. It will be great if you can take back what you said in the groups that you're in." I'm this close to extinguishing the flames, considering the reaction of the Rakshaks before and around me.
"I can't wait anymore. My final option is to fight against the rest of your team members. Every day I waste waiting for him only puts me further behind, when I could have spent two days inside the dungeon. I'm going to defeat you three, and go earn my right to enter one." He unsheathed his sword.
Okay. This went the other direction. If we are going to fight anyway, I have to make sure that I participate in a winning battle. For that, I needed time to set things up.
"Anik, wherever you are, come at least ten minutes later." I quickly sent him a message through KalpaYaal.
"Okay. I just called our third member. Wait for a while. Then again, you keep saying 'I' and 'Me'. Are you going to fight the three of us alone? Will there be any judge here? Or some safety precaution, that won't let us die even if we're critically injured?" I heard people laughing around me right after I asked the question.
"This might be his first time coming here." I heard someone snickering behind me.
"Yeah. I don't use a melee weapon, you see. And I don't go around places looking for drama. I have things to do, unlike you guys." I didn't like others laughing at me. They should also try to understand my perspective if I'm trying my best to understand theirs.
But yeah, not everybody thinks like that. The provocation was a good distraction though.
My hands were continuously working, creating very tiny beads, that can quickly move through the air without taking up much of my energy.
I knew myself. I won't be able to hold up in a head-on fight with other Rakshaks right now. All I can do is set things up in advance, to make sure I can take them out in one fell swoop.
"Dhruva, the arenas are made in such a way that it can prevent deaths. And somehow, the field also emanates Shakti for us to create Kundalini while training our skills. It's a great condition for you." Dweep explained to me.
He suddenly glanced at my hands and gave a slight smile. He knew what I was up to.
I realized what he said about the arena was true. The rate at which Kundalini was getting filtered from the Shakti that my body was continuously absorbing was much lower than back at the cave.
"Don't worry about the judge. Our batchmates here will take up that role. It would have been best if all your members fought against me. But I don't think my friends here will allow me to do that." Nikhil finally replied after some discussion with his teammates.
I started making the beads larger in the meantime. If my Kundalini can get refilled fast inside this field, I have a lot of options to work with.
I'll show them that they are no competition at all. No one will come to disturb us after that. We are already stressing over our own situation; we have no time to take care of these wannabes.
"Let me give you a counteroffer. I'll fight against all four of you at once." Suddenly, Dweep announced. "If I'm defeated, you can fight with our healer next. Since we are a record-holding team, we ought to give you that much of a handicap."
"Ufff." Some people around us reacted.
The spectators now started looking at our opponents to see their reaction.
"I won't hesitate to take up on that offer." They said, "You'll need to come with us and vouch for our skills if we manage to win against both of you. What about your third member?"
"He's taking a shit. Guess you guys are not even worth his toilet time. You guys can start if you want. I have been looking forward to this." Dweep stepped forward, taking out a Parashu in his left hand and holding a dark brown-colored shield in his right hand.
That was a violation Dweep. They are surely going to find out who the third member of our team is. I was this close to snorting, thinking of Anik's reaction when he finds out what had transpired here.
"I'll make some time for you. Hopefully, you won't need to come down." Dweep said and faced his opponents.
The crowd settled themselves on the seats, while I stood at the edge of the field.
"Things escalated beyond your control it seems." I suddenly found Jhanvi beside me.
"I tried not to go into it directly. But it didn't help. Maybe I should have used a different approach?" I asked her.
She was looking at me from the corner of her eyes with a smile. It seems that her talk with Esha and Aditi went well.
"You at least tried conversing, unlike starting with a murder like that time with the prince. Yashvi was a good influence on you, it seems." She laughed. "It was a try worth praising. Get ready, in case you need to fight."
My scheme was already taken care of. Drill earthworms are fantastic and all, but they require quite a bit of energy to move underground. Airborne diseases are much cooler and trendy right now. The moment I step into the field, all hell will break loose.
"I try not to participate in losing fights." I said and was going to smile back when I remembered my conversation with Anik.
"Is Anik actually skipping?" She asked, watching intently at the field. The fight was going to start.
The crowd started cheering, counting down from five. I joined in with a smile.
"I told him to come late, in case it took me time to set things up. Things didn't take long, so we moved ahead with the fight." I replied, looking around to see if Anik had already arrived. If he sees me now with her, he might get unnecessary thoughts.
"I have another thing to take care of, will talk to you later." I acted like I suddenly remembered something and scooted away from the area.
The fight started with a loud clang. Nikhil had smashed his longsword against Dweep's brown high-grade shield.
Dweep stood there like a wall, without even flinching or stepping back.
With a swing of his right hand, he pushed Nikhil back and swiped his axe, Parashu, at the tanker flanking him from the other side.
The tanker knelt down, trying to cushion Dweep's heavy strike, only to find the pressure getting lifted suddenly.
Dweep had left the scene already, leaving the two melee attackers behind and rushing like a rhino at the Dhanurdhar and Vaidya duo of their team.
It was like a scene from a football match, where a striker fools a defender and invades their line, running full throttle towards the goalkeeper with people following him frantically.
Their Dhanurdhar stood in front of their Vaidya, and let loose four Kundalini reinforced arrows, two of which got stuck in Dweep's shield; one pierced his left open knee and the other his left shoulder.
Without taking note of his damage, Dweep jumped, taking down the Dhanurdhar under his shield and throwing his axe at the Vaidya.
Their Vaidya jumped away but got hit in the waist by the Parashu's handle. He jumped back, calming himself down as a healing aura covered his abdomen.
Our opponent Surakshak slammed his shield against Dweep's ribcage, pushing him off the Dhanurdhar, who was getting pressed helplessly under Dweep's heavy weight. His left arm seemed broken, bent in a weird 270-degree angle. 'Seemed' was an understatement; sorry about that.
Their Dhanurdhar with the help of Nikhil fell back towards the Vaidya, as their Surakhshak confronted Dweep.
He now had no weapon in his hands. Suddenly, a warm red aura covered Dweep's shield, and disappeared in an instant, as if sucked up by his equipment.
He slammed the lower end of his shield on the ground, starting a local earthquake. Granite spikes forced their way out of the soil and ran straight toward our opponents.
It must be the effect of the Shield he got from Ardhaguna. He must have used all his Kundalini on that one, judging from its scale.
Their team again got divided into two. Without taking a break, Dweep again rushed towards the Vaidya and Dhanurdhar duo, who were busy healing.
That was actually an excellent strategy. Good job, Dweep.
The spikes dividing the field into two parts suddenly burst out, before Dweep could reach his Target.
Nikhil and his Surakshak teammate, their weapons now glowing in the energy of their Kundalini, stepped in between from the other side.
Wait. I suddenly lost two beads that were nested on Nikhil. Did the Kundalini on his sword get rid of them?
Now I realised what the problem was with my strategy. It might work on low-level enemies, but those who have a Kundalini Covering to begin with, will be easily able to neutralize my energy beads.
Let's try experimenting. Dweep can still hold on for a couple of minutes.
I sent out three beads this time. They had two, four, and six points of energy within them.
The bead with two energy got neutralized, but the four and six ones remained. Okay, so I need to make it denser in these cases.
Dweep was getting attacked from multiple sides and slowly getting overwhelmed. Cuts and slashes appeared on his back and left side as he juggled his shield to protect himself from the attackers.
He tried bashing shields, kicking, and rolling away, but the two melee fighters kept hounding him, not allowing him to catch his breath.
But... I smiled. He was slowly yet steadily inching his way toward the injured members.
The crowd seemed really excited. They were actually rooting for Dweep.
In 1v4 situations, you just can't help but support the underdog.
They gasped whenever a new injury appeared on Dweep's body, and they cheered whenever he successfully blocked his opponents' attacks.
"What are you two doing??" Suddenly, their Vaidya shouted out while grabbing the Dhanurdhar and pulling him away, "Take him away from us!!"
Nice try Dweep, but it seems your fight will end here. Your performance was impressive. I felt proud to have him as my teammate.
Little did I know that he was not going out like this.
Something shifted within him. I felt the atmosphere surrounding him change. A red lava-like aura tainted his skin black as he stepped back once and slammed down his shield again. Right over the spiky landform, he had summoned from underneath.
Some of the pointy ends broke and pierced his body, while the rest shot out like shotgun bullets toward Nikhil and the Surakshak.
A sudden cheer erupted in the crowd as their Surakhshak guarded Nikhil and himself, clearing the way Dweep needed to take to reach their injured members.
Within a split second, a badly injured and bleeding Dweep rushed, holding his shield in one hand and a broken-off spike in another.
Nikhil sprinted after him, trying to save his teammates, covered his sword in Kundalini, and sent out two slashes of traveling energy arcs toward Dweep.
They struck him in his back and shoulder, separating his arm holding the shield from his body.
Dweep grimaced in pain, looked at his falling shield still attached to his severed arm, and kicked it at the Vaidya.
The Vaidya jumped away from the Dhanurdhar to save himself, allowing Dweep to plunge the earthen spike into the Dhanurdhar's stomach, spurting out a geyser of blood.
Their Surakshak tackled him away again, slamming his shield on Dweep's chest, making him vomit blood from his mouth and nostrils.
Dweep struggled underneath their Surakshak and kicked him away to free himself, but before he could get away, Nikhil slashed his sword across Dweep's thigh, sending his legs flying into the air.
Just when I thought they were going too far with this, Dweep and their Dhanurdhar disappeared in flashes of lightning and reappeared instantly outside the field, under a shed, at my 3 o'clock.
They now looked fine, as if nothing had happened to them just a while ago. Now I realized why Jhanvi had gone under the shed beforehand.
She handed Dweep water and told him something. Dweep nodded and found me, giving me a wry smile.
I gave him a thumbs-up and a salute while entering the field.
Nikhil and his teammates turned around to look at me while getting healed by their Vaidya.
"You seem awfully confident, letting us heal like that." Their Surakshak said, taking deep breaths and calming himself down.
"After you struggled like that against a single opponent, I don't mind you guys healing up. Make sure to give your best. I'm just a healer, after all." I said, standing with my hands behind my back. I was this close to smiling maniacally.
Still, I made sure to keep a few beads floating around in the air, just in case.
Maybe when these very people awaken a few more chakras, they can perceive the beads of death floating around them, but right now, I don't think they have the capability to do that.
I'll try asking Sarvajnana or Vishwajeet how to use Kundalini Cloaking over the beads as I do with my body.
That's a good idea.
I brought out my notes and started writing about it while standing on the field.
"Now that's some disrespect." Someone shouted from the gallery.
I looked up to find my three opponents glaring at me.
"Sorry, I just got an idea I needed to write down. Don't mind me." I said, and the crowd burst into laughter.
"He's like, these guys are not even worth my study time..." Someone made a comment at my 5 o'clock.
I put my notebook away and walked over to the shed, where Dweep was resting.
I found Jhanvi, Esha, and Aditi standing there too.
"You guys made up." I noticed.
"Yeah." Jhanvi only gave a shy smile.
"You sure you can take them all out?" Dweep suddenly asked. "Letting them heal was not a good idea, I think."
"Your and my fights are different. You performed your duty splendidly. Your job was to let them know about our apparent strength. My job is to stop others from bothering us." I said and glanced at Esha.
She had her fingers on her spectacles. Judging whether to remove it or not.
"Don't. You'll get sick." I told her gently.
"Okay." She pouted and readjusted her specs.
"We are done. Thanks for allowing us to recover. This is all I can say right now." Nikhil now seemed pretty tame. Perhaps Dweep's performance left a significant impact on him.
"Yeah." I nodded, "Let's start the countdown."
"Five." The crowd started cheering.
It felt weird, to be honest, standing in front of so many people. It's been a while since I had been on a stage, but those were for artistic reasons. This time, I'll be depicted as a cold-blooded butcher instead.
I need to send a message though. If people approach me after this, they'll already know what to expect from me.
"Four!!"
I had shown them that I try to settle things by talking. And now I'll show them that I have no mercy for my opponents.
In all the stories I have seen, whenever someone gets away with their life intact, whether a villain or a hero, they always come back to create trouble.
That four-armed guy from Satya will surely come back for revenge. It's required to always take care of the loose ends to avoid unnecessary headaches. It was an unexpected save that Varsha came out to be relatively amicable.
One second thought: where is she?
"Three!!"
Let's stop thinking and focus.
If they rushed me before I could click my fingers, all of this would have been for nothing.
Wait, isn't it wrong that I don't have a plan B?
Bring those bad boy beads near me, the ones that are floating around.
I'll activate them if my opponents somehow manage to reach me.
"Two!!"
"ONE!!!!" The crowd burst into a cheer as Nikhil and his front-line partner sprinted toward me.
I extended my left hand and clicked my fingers with a smile.
Screams erupted in the audience.
The view was not for the faint-hearted. Spikes of a dark red stone erupted from their bodies, puncturing and bursting out organs from their insides.
Blood flowed out like a fountain from multiple points of their stomach, chest, and neck.
They looked like voodoo dolls with numerous needles covering their frames. The Vaidya fell down helplessly. Nikhil's body, which nested the 6-point bead, was now beyond recognition, tattered like a decade-old rag.
Their Surakshak had punctured lungs with his innards spilling out of his body, but he kept running towards me.
I stepped back, summoning the floating beads near me, and activated them as soon as he was in range.
One bead tried to pierce his shield but failed, while the other made its way inside his skull from a point beside his left nostril.
But by then, he had already jumped towards me, swinging his shield at me in the same moment.
I ducked and summoned my training javelin from my dimensional box, stopping the shield with its extended shaft while guiding its tip into his falling body.
I jumped away from my ducked-down position, but my legs got caught under his falling body, which now looked like a meat skewer.
Pain shot up my spine as I crawled away, pulling my leg out from underneath him while using Recovery on myself.
In just a few seconds, my legs were repaired, allowing me to stand again.
The arena had gone quiet by now.
Three flashes of lightning appeared soon after, at different areas of the field, as my opponents with their injured bodies got teleported and repaired under the shed instantly.
I picked up my javelin and held it up once in the air to find the crowd still looking at me, utterly confused.
Putting my weapon away, as soon as I stepped forward to reunite with Dweep, the crowd suddenly started clapping. It began at random places and then spread to other areas like a forest fire.
"What the hell was that Black Magic? Is that even allowed?" Someone shouted among the confused clapping.
"Was that all? What an anti-climatic ending!"
"You got videos of that, right? I need to understand what happened."
"That was horrifying. I can see myself having nightmares tonight."
"What kind of skill is that? In which course do they teach that?"
"What is his name? Which course is he taking? Is he really a Vaidya?"
"Vaidyas are supposed to have skills based on Kundalini. But I don't think anyone should be able to use them this soon."
"Imagine having those two guys on the same team. Along with the highest leveled Rakshak. No wonder they got a record."
I kept hearing all kinds of responses as I walked back to Dweep.
Nikhil was mortified, sitting around with an empty look in his eyes.
But I knew. It's only a matter of time. Soon, they'll get to use their skills that are locked behind Kundalini requirements and surpass me easily. I have to ensure that I also get more tricky and unpredictable by that time to keep up with them.
"The prince and his two minions had utterly destroyed us. There is a reason why our seniors sent that emergency message. We lost six lives in total inside the dungeon. We are not ready for them yet." I explained my views to Nikhil and his team.
"I understand. We're sorry as well, for underestimating you guys. I have got no complaints. Thanks for showing me where I stand." Nikhil said with a dejected look.
"Make sure to apologize in all the groups where you've badmouthed our friend. I want it done by tonight." Dweep got up and ordered them. "Let's go. I got enough training for today."
I suddenly felt someone pulling my shirt from behind.
Esha was standing there with a massive smile on her face. She wasn't wearing her specs.
"It was beautiful, like the fireworks during Diwali. I thoroughly enjoyed it." She said with an innocent smile.
This girl... She's got some screws loose, it seems. However, I wonder, what she actually sees through her eyes.
"Don't tell others what you saw then. Deal?" I asked.
"In turn, permit me to imitate what you did. I want to try it out by myself." She demanded in return.
"Okay." I said and shook hands with her, sealing the deal.
By the corner of my eyes, I saw Jhanvi approaching, reminding me of Anik.
"Let's go find where Anik is shitting around." I wrapped one arm around Dweep's wide shoulder and walked away.
"That was impressive." I heard Jhanvi say from behind.
I waved my free hand without looking back and walked out with Dweep from the arena.
"You never fail to surprise me, Dhruva." Dweep suddenly muttered.
"You made me proud today. That was a great fight you showed us all. Makes me relieved to have you watching over my back." I smiled back in return.
Dweep visibly blushed. He is really weak to complements. What a cute bear he is.
"But if you're trying to avoid Jhanvi, stop making it so obvious." He suddenly dropped that out of nowhere.
"Was it really that obvious?" I asked, convinced that I had acted quite well.
"Trust me, if I'm seeing it, then it's guaranteed that she has also realized it by now. Did you do or say something awkward to her? What happened? Things seemed wrong after the final boss fight." He's quite good at observing minute details. I have to praise him for that.
"Things had become a little awkward, but we had talked it out after the boss fight. Everything is back to normal from her side, but Anik... He." I stopped wondering whether I should continue or not.
"He's wary of you. I guessed it. Did he say it directly?" Dweep asked.
"As direct as one can be."
"I'm not sure what to say." He said, lowering his tone.
"It's fine, I treasure our friendship more."
"But don't do it like today. If someone acted like that towards me, I'll either be mad, or really sad. She considers you a good friend. We are the ones making things complicated, and she doesn't deserve that." Dweep advised me politely.
Dweep. He turned out to be a thoughtful person. His respect level increased quite a bit in my personal rankings.
I patted his back. "Thanks for the advice. Really appreciate it."
I opened my message window and sent Jhanvi a message.
"Sorry, I needed to dip out like that. Turns out I was really nervous inside. After the battle ended, many things inside my body relaxed... I couldn't say that publicly since I needed to make a cool exit."
She sent an emote. One that's shedding tears while laughing.
"Make sure to take your time clearing things 'inside' properly. That was an impressive fight you showed us though. People always think that battles are usually long with multiple powerups and inspirations mid-way. But they happen like the one today. Things get decided before the fight itself, and it ends in an instant. One mistake, and you're out. What a terrifying world we live in." She sent a long message in just a few seconds.
"How do you reply to messages so fast? I don't even know when they arrive." I thought back and sent her a new one.
"You don't have your notifications activated, I think. Try to find it out in the settings. Since you know about it now, I will expect you to reply within an acceptable timeframe." She sent another quick message.
"Yes, ma'am." I sent a salute emote and closed the window for now.
Like hell am I activating notifications. One alert and my mind will force me to open the message window. I won't get anything done like that.
Tonight, I decided to have a peaceful dinner and a good night's sleep.
My curse activated a few times during dinner, taking away the peaceful part though.
Anyway, I have to focus on classes from tomorrow properly. Can't get sleepy like it happens after a full-nighter.
Four weeks are left until the Utsaav. I need to impress a Divine Being in that festival. Higher Beings are quite enigmatic; who knows what can entertain or insult them? It's better to act like one always does instead of taking too much pressure.
For the first time this week, I slept where I was supposed to, in my dorm.
-------------------------------------------
I wanted to believe that the dream I was experiencing right now was an effect of the first curse that Ashwatthama had administered me.
I was standing on a hill-like terrain, and the ground seemed to be made out of a polished and smooth black stone.
Multiple such hills lay across parallelly, meeting the horizon in a layer of fog. The sky was like lava, flowing around unobstructed, giving me the feeling as if I had already drowned underneath a magma pool inside a volcano.
Other than the slight orange light coming down from the magma-based sky, the rest of my surroundings were pitch black.
As the lava flowed above, the polished stone underneath reflected some of that orange hue, giving poor visibility for only a few seconds.
Suddenly, the ground started shaking. The hills awoke like a massive dormant being, moving in opposite directions as if the earth itself was uncoiling.
A bright light appeared from the ground to my left, spreading its brilliance all over this world as it kept rising and rising.
Like a rocket being launched in the dead of the night.
Underneath the light, I could finally see... Thousands and thousands of heads.
Snake heads. All were moving as if they had their own individual will. The scene brought me down to my knees. It was majestic, horrifying, and... It made me unable to think.
Suddenly, a female voice erupted inside my brain.
"O' descendant of the Interloper. Please do not participate in the Utsaav. Otherwise, all our efforts will be..." She couldn't end the sentence. Why am I not even surprised??
Why is the connection always like this? I woke up wide-eyed in frustration.
Shit. I'm not even sure if this was a genuine communication or a fragment of a dream.
What the hell was that colossal snake? I kept getting shivers just remembering the scene.
If it looked so big while being so far away, how massive is the thing in actuality?
I again laid down, thinking about the voice. It seemed regal and had a snake-like hissing touch to her words.
If she communicated with me like this, she might try again.
I don't have any leads regarding it, so there's no use overthinking.
Next time, hopefully, we can have a better conversation.
Calming myself down in the darkness and on the woolen Asana, I started counting backward from hundred to invite sleep into my body.