Today's the second day of Divyastra Utsav. There will be a total of 7x4 events spread around seven days of this week, with four on each day.
That translates to 1 event for each position of a team: Dhanurdhars, Vaidyas, Yoddhas, and Surakshaks, per day.
Yesterday, for Surakshaks, we had a defending game, where every two minutes, the number of enemies remaining on the field doubled.
I managed to stay on the field for ten to twelve minutes before ultimately getting overwhelmed.
The shield, healing, and the 'one-way blossoming spikes' Aksharas that Dhruva had provided me, along with my secret Parashu training, greatly helped me in getting rank four at the event, right after the three highest leveled Surakshaks that went to the Temple battlefield instead of the dungeon.
If everything goes well, Father and Mother will be pleased. I can finally meet them after five more days. It's been two months if we consider all our trips here and there.
"What do you think our events will be like today, Dweep?" Esha asked while walking beside me.
I looked down at her petite frame, complete with spectacles and small freckles over her nose. She's so tiny and cute that it makes one want to protect her.
I now realize why Aditi, their team's Surakshak, keeps hanging around her. It's been a while since I have seen her around, though. She might be busy with her own things.
"We will manage it. Whatever that is. Try to come up with efficient ways while watching others go through the trial first." I encouraged her.
I suddenly realized that having Dhruva as a common friend helped cross our paths quite a few times.
Apparently, she's learning things by watching Dhruva, and I usually go watch his Siddhi matches every time.
That feeling of frustration others get while fighting him helps quite a bit in inspiring myself to do better.
I want others to feel the same helplessness while they fight me too.
His contraptions are the peak of what a Surakshak can do at this point in time.
Only twice was his shield breached in over forty fights. He's like an impregnable wall, standing tall despite his average build, allowing nothing to get past him.
Had he participated in the Utsaav, he would have aced both the Vaidya and Surakshak trials.
But the very reason he isn't participating is what makes him different. Had he always gone for shortcuts, he wouldn't have been this powerful. I have seen him going out at night for full-night training sessions, then powering through the classes next day without sleeping.
I wonder what he thinks about us. He might seem aloof most of the time, living in his own world, but he's caring in his weird ways.
My frequency matches with him the most. No wonder I've been mostly hanging out with him for the last few weeks.
I watched how our Gurukul fared in the league yesterday. Our seniors were really impressive. All the tricks Dhruva had employed in the last three weeks were surely implemented from the knowledge he had acquired from them.
"The Dhanurdhars are up first." I noticed from the schedule today. "Do you want to go watch?"
"Yeah." Esha grinned, "Let's see how Jhanvi and Anik are doing. On second thought, we have been hanging out all the time, haven't we? You sure you won't mind walking around with a weird girl like me? My classmates always whisper behind my back when my teammates aren't there, saying I should be in Mareechi instead since I have freak eyes." She looked sad for a second, "I would hate it if they started bothering you too."
"They won't mess with me. So don't worry now. By the way, it's a little too late to say these things. I don't mind at all since all my friends are more or less... weird. In a good way."
"That's... true." She giggled, covering her mouth.
I know she does that because she feels insecure about her elephant's tooth, which looks like a fang sticking out from her mouth's right side.
It's not even that big to begin with. It just adds to her charm.
"Let's go sit somewhere quietly in the stands. Anik and Jhanvi got stage fright, especially around people who know them." I suggested, walking southwards.
The whole area, starting from the lower edge of the sword Arena in the west to the archery arena in the east, was allocated for this festival.
It seems the Dhanurdhars today have to take out moving targets that will slowly increase their speed with every minute passing by. Their turn will end after a certain number of targets are missed.
One after another, the Dhanurdhars got up onto the podium and pierced through figurine-sized grass mannequins that circled around them, with the arrows provided by the sage standing at the podium's base.
After the targets revolved around the Dhanurdhar twice, they vanished, counting as a missed target. An application of Maya, perhaps?
It would be funny as hell if someone missed and put an arrow right in the back of the sage's bald head.
On second thought, it's okay since everybody was using the arrows prepared by the sage, but was it written anywhere in the rules that they can't use their own arrows?
Yesterday's test was also like that. They just said that the remaining enemies will double. That you can also attack and reduce the enemy numbers was just implicit information.
It's crazy how many people got eliminated with subpar scores before the others even started killing the wild dogs.
People always tend to follow rules down to the book while going over the top when they have a lot to lose. Not risking things is an implicit characteristic of human nature.
Only people who can break through such a barrier tend to be really successful. With the mentality I've cultivated from my experiences back home, I tend to get happy with even average outcomes and not risking them further. I won't be able to catch up to my friends with an attitude like that.
Anik came up on the stage after thirty or thirty-five people. I've honestly lost count. He managed to last seventeen minutes before missing 25 targets, which seems to be the constraint of this event. It was pretty long when compared to his peers. But I'm sure there were a few people who surpassed twenty minutes.
After a handful of participants, Jhanvi came up with her menacing bow, probably a higher tier of equipment than the one I got. She kept going and going without rest.
The sage kept handing her quiver after quiver in hopes that she would finish soon. People got bored and started gossiping among themselves, but both of us kept watching.
She was graceful. The way she turned around to take out high-priority targets, the way her fingers held the arrow and released it... Everything gave off an elegant feeling.
Esha was totally entranced; in the same way when she watched Dhruva kneading his Kundalini to create his Aksharas whenever he gave her demonstrations.
After a while, the targets ran out, awarding her a full score. The crowd cheered and clapped when they realized just how impressive it actually was after they got over their daze.
Next up were Surakshaks—me and Aditi.
The arena now had one of the guns I had seen on the Vimana that rescued us from Sutala, installed on the west side of the field.
"Shit." That is all I could mutter before my fellow Surakshak batchmate got obliterated by the cannon's energy blast. It will be impossible for a common training shield to stop an energy ray like that.
A deathly silence encapsulated the arena.
"Do they really want us to defend against that?"
"Thank God we don't lose lives inside the arena. Even hundreds of them wouldn't be enough for this!!"
People started panicking.
But there were some Rakshaks, a number you could count with one hand, that managed to defend against three such blasts, which increased in intensity after each round.
If we are getting evaluated based on our skills, isn't allowing people to use their own equipment kind of unfair?
I found myself in the defending position about twenty minutes later. Hopefully, what I've thought of can get me through 4 or 5 such blasts if I'm lucky enough.
First one. It dissipated after clashing against my shield without any Kundalini Augmentation.
Second. Let's push my luck. It again got neutralized successfully.
Wait. Isn't equipment giving too much of an advantage??
Third. Let's still risk it.
Just when the cannon fired, I realized it would be too much for my shield alone. I put about 0.5 points of my Kundalini to augment it. Success.
After the third one, the crowd started getting excited, wondering whether I could create a new record that surpassed the previous one.
Let's put 1.5 points in the next. If the power doubled every time, I would probably need at least this much.
Fourth.
Success?? I got pushed back two feet even though my feet were planted firmly on the ground.
Suddenly, a sage appeared on the field and checked my current position.
"I didn't know there was a limit on how far we can get pushed back." I expressed my concern.
"No worries, unless you get further than 5 feet, you'll be safe." He smiled reassuringly.
Watching the sage's clear signal, the crowd burst into cheers.
"Once more!! Once more!!" They shouted.
It reminded me of a meme from a really popular soap opera, forcing me to stifle a smile. It's a decent one, not with the glass-shattering PowerPoint effects. How my Mom and grandma keep watching the other ones and still get entertained is a mystery.
The eternal rivalry of a mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law in these soap operas easily surpasses the one the Devatas and Asuras have.
Shit, focus!!! From now on, with my Kundalini exhausted, it depends on Dhruva's Fog Shields and my shield.
If we take the usual rarity index that contains: Common, Rare, Unique, Heroic, Epic, and Legendary; My shield will fall around Rare category, while Jhanvi's bow should be in the Unique class.
Saiyan and Shreya's curved swords that were looted from the Prince of Satya were probably Heroic Grade. They had three options, according to Saiyan, while mine only had one. Jhanvi's bow, on the other hand, has Quick Release and Multiple Release options, but it gives very low attack and penetrative power.
That's why she's acing these time-bound figurine target-hitting events.
I pressed the 'authentication beads', as named by Dhruva, that were attached over my right ribcage area.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Three spherical shields covered my whole body instantly.
If only I had some energy manipulation technique... I could have changed the shapes to make them thicker and cover only one direction according to my current needs.
Should I also start taking classes from Dhruva, like Esha?
The fifth energy beam obliterated the first two shields that were created from Dhruva's Fog contraptions, while the last one was left half-cracked. It won't last another hit.
The crowd was going nuts.
"Once more!!" More people chimed in, cheering for me.
The atmosphere sent an electric shock down my spine, making me feel like I could do anything.
I brought out my Parashu and kept it on the ground beside me.
"Bring it on." I whispered to myself, preparing to take on the next blast.
"Six!!" The crowd shouted, counting down to my disqualification probably.
The blast came and broke through the flimsy final fog barrier, crashing into my shield like water released from a massive dam.
My arms went numb, and my legs lost their feeling, trying to keep myself planted on the ground. I could feel my heels digging themselves in, as my body got forcibly pushed back from the enormous force the blast was emitting.
Were the durations of the previous blasts this long??
Will my shield even survive this?
Wait... I activated the one-way blossoming spike activator beads on my right arm to provide some buffer between the energy blast and my physical shield.
The energy from the spikes and the blast fought against each other for a while, after which the Kundalini outgrowths over my shield shattered away into dust like ground glass.
Again!
Again!
There were four such spike activators attached to my body, which were supposed to be used only when there was a powerful enemy in front of me. Yesterday I had already used up three of these contraptions.
Sorry Dhruva, it was of great help, but I might have to ask you to make these for me again.
Something told me he'll be happy to see his creations being helpful to others.
The sixth blast was still not stopping.
Is this the final blast? Will they calculate how long I managed to stand against it to evaluate my performance?
I picked up the Parashu using my free left hand and put its blade between the shield and the incoming blast to further provide some kind of buffer.
It also turned to dust after a while.
Finally, after exhausting all the options that came to my mind, I deactivated my shield fearing that it too would meet the fate of my training Parashu.
I flashed away as soon as the beam hit me, and found myself inside the resting lobby at one corner of the rectangular temporary arena.
Returning to the stands, I was congratulated by Esha, Jhanvi, and Anik.
Except for Anik, the other two were thrilled.
"Are you satisfied?" Anik suddenly asked, without looking at me.
"I guess so. This is the best I could do at this point in time." I replied, unsure what he was getting at.
He gave me a disappointed look.
This guy... He's getting on my nerves right now.
"I defended against four blasts by myself. Only the Fifth and Sixth ones needed a bit of external help. Finding people who can help you is also a Skill." I gave my reasons.
"You'll just stay like this? Getting help from him forever?" Anik kept blabbering instead.
You don't need to remind me. It's frustrating yet infuriating, but the way he said that didn't sit well with me.
"What can I do? I'm not the honorable Rakshak Anik who does everything by himself. Who's so self-absorbed that he can't even come watch his friends' matches. You got no right to lecture me, Anik. Participate with a common bow like most of the others and then spout this bullshit. You got that only because of Jhanvi and Dhruva. You can laugh at my incapability, but don't rope him into this. He always looks out for us. If for all this time you didn't like that, you could have asked him to stop helping you, especially in moments of danger. Not when you're sitting here in the safety of the Ashrama." I sneered at him.
Anik only gave a condescending snicker.
Why am I even getting angry? Because I know I've been too dependent on our friend and that he's right?
I calmed myself down. This argument is not worth it.
"I hope that whatever you're trying to do comes out to be fruitful. I can only give you my regards." I said and faced a different direction, signaling the end of the discussion.
He left the arena without a single word after that.
Did the fact that he only had a single life left adversely affect his mental condition? Did we fail to discover the problem early? Is it too late for him to come out from whatever hellhole of negative thoughts he's currently in right now?
"Everything fine between you two?" Jhanvi asked, looking worried.
"I was also wondering that. What happened?" Esha seemed curious as usual.
"I'll say 'Nothing' anyway, so there's no use asking." I replied to them.
They didn't ask further, being the sensible people they were.
Next up were the Yoddhas, who had to fight off an Asuran clone... That had been manufactured using a special grass with magical properties called Kusa.
It can mimic the physical and magical characteristics of a particular living target, having 40 percent of its efficiency and strength.
It's supposedly a complicated process, and it requires one to knit the grasses carefully, followed by imbuing commands and enough Kundalini to power its functions.
This Asura was a six-armed, yellow-skinned malevolent being with long elephant-like tusks and round bulging eyes.
But I knew, that it was Maya at play.
The Asuras are actually the elder brothers of the Devatas. Both look humanoid enough.
But their existence is so influential, that it bends the Maya around them to express their Atman's true nature. After my experiences at Sutala, I've talked with a lot of sages regarding this. They were surprised at first, but also made sure to answer my doubts patiently.
Beings that have given in to the negative influences come out to be looking like that, while the ones who are in control of their emotional and spiritual aspects look like they are covered with a divine halo.
The Yoddhas struggled quite a bit, getting tossed around after being hit with punches or kicks.
If this is only the second day, how difficult are the rest of the days going to be?
It'll be a while until Saiyan comes up, and Dhruva's league match should be going on now.
Let's stream it from here.
Opening the status and going over to KalpaYaal, I searched up Inter Gurukul League.
"What the hell." My jaw dropped on the floor.
The whole area inside the deep blue dimensional void was like a wasteland. Mountains of spikes littered the field, jutting up from the ground, obliterating everything in the process.
A curtain of dust and sand enveloped the whole area. Ruins that somewhat resembled a fort lay in shambles, with most of its structures falling into ruin, breaking apart like a sand castle on a windy beach.
Something had been triggered inside the fort, giving rise to long twelve to fifteen-meter spikes that had destroyed the building from within.
I remembered the spikes that had destroyed the Godzilla-like Makara in the final level of our dungeon. Dhruva had said that the arrows Jhanvi used to vanquish the boss contained 16 points worth of Kundalini inside.
These flowers with spiky petals were almost or even bigger than twice the size when compared to the ones I had seen during the looting process of the Boss' corpse.
In the leaderboard, Vashisth now had two wins topping the list. Our Gurukul must have won again.
In the last match, we had been almost eliminated by our opponents from Angiras, who had used massive explosives to blow our fort into smithereens.
This time, it seems Dhruva and his teammates used the explosive technique instead. What can't kill you only makes you stronger, I guess.
Dhruva had described to me how the blossoming arrows worked, trying to give me a visualization demonstration of what he imagined while creating his contraptions.
He found it out by himself, but it had long been taught to us by our parents.
Imbuing Kundalini with properties requires a few stages: Finding out your motive, the image or design you want to come up with, and your will. It sounds corny, but your wish has enough strength to shape Kundalini into a form you like.
When you look at it from a different perspective, it makes sense: If you want to have a good physique, then you need to wish for it. Is your wish strong enough to make you endure the pains of a restricted diet, a good routine, and daily physical strenuous exercise?
Some people can do it year after year, while some can only manage it for a few weeks.
Ofcourse, the former person is much more impressive, having a stronger wish and the tenacity to work towards making it a reality.
I'm someone who'll probably work on it for a few months and then get satisfied at the first sign of well-built muscles. Then move on to something else.
Dhruva suggested that one day, when I'm coming up with my own Kundalini-based skills, it will require proper visualization of the inner workings of the Kundalini we were working with.
But the thing is, the way I have designed the vessels inside me was taught to me by my father. It was an optimal design for strengthening a body that could handle a massive weapon like the Parashu. It was not optimised for releasing Kundalini.
Will he be disappointed if he finds out that I was made a Surakshak instead of a Yoddha? I shivered, remembering the very few times I had disappointed him throughout the years.
In general, I have always tried to be a good kid, trying to meet their expectations, but it's not always possible...
Let's not think about this right now.
The process Dhruva described was like working on a small old-school wristwatch. Within a basic spherical blob of energy, there are smaller beads that have different functions, which are again connected to other beads whose purpose is to activate those former beads.
Quite a complicated design that left much to be desired for simplification, but it was impressive nonetheless.
Since he can't release a continuous stream of energy of more than eight points, he has to manufacture the same thing with a lot of smaller parts.
Eight points. That's already on par with the energy capacity of seventh graders—no wonder they consider him an equal. After mingling with them, his designs have grown more complicated externally but simpler internally. He must have gotten a good mentor.
Vashisth's match was the second one out of the three today, and now the field was being reconstructed for the next match. Dhruva might be free now.
"Congrats. I saw the end result of the league match today. Will check out the game when I get time. Take rest, and don't overwork yourself as usual." I sent a message, not waiting for his reply.
Considering how he uses KalpaYaal, I would be extremely lucky even to find a reply from him within the next three hours.
A notification suddenly arrived. Whoa, he replied... Really??
"Too sleepy now. Pulled a fun all-nighter. Will talk to you in the evening." He sent back.
I wondered whether I should ask him to create some one-way blossoming spikes for my shield but remembered Anik's insinuation.
Let's see how far I can go with the one-time supplies that Dhruva had prepared for me.
I don't know whether he gave some Kundalini fogs to Esha, Saiyan, and Jhanvi since I haven't seen them using it. But thanks to it, I have been ranked first in today's Surakshak event.
I will just consider Dhruva's fogs to be some high-grade equipment like the one Jhanvi uses. No one bats an eye when she brings out her Unique bow to destroy her competition. Why should I be the one feeling guilty? Equipment it is, then. Yes.
Anik can go suffer with his honorable ass. He's not going to impress anybody if he treats his own friends like that. At least not Jhanvi.
"You were watching our match today? What was the result?" Esha leaned in to watch the stream from my right.
"Our?" I mumbled to myself and saw which Gurukul Vashisth competed with today.
Ohh. It was Pulah—their Gurukul.
"We won." I felt a bit sympathetic saying that after seeing the destruction our opponents might have faced.
"Is this the condition of the field after the fight?" Jhanvi leaned in from the other side to watch, leaving me a bit uncomfortable. I leaned back to give their shoulders space.
Jhanvi was interested in the video until she saw the outline of the enormous earthen spikes dotting the field through the smog of sand and dust.
She turned pale. I have never seen her reacting like that.
"Sorry. I'm going to take a quick trip to the washroom." She smiled weakly and bolted away.
"What's wrong with her?" I asked Esha.
"Hmm. Dunno. She'll tell us if she isn't feeling okay. Don't worry."
I knew for a fact after getting acquainted with my friends that things didn't work like that. We never said it out loud if something was bothering us. We would only think that we are imposing upon others too much.
Or maybe they did share things among themselves, unlike us. Only they would know.
Next up were the Vaidyas, who had to rejoin a whole limb that had been severed from a wild animal's body.
Last time, they had to heal a few burns until their Kundalini ran out. Their exams were simple and primarily based on efficiency and quantity compared to the other roles. How many can you heal and how fast can you heal with a minimum amount of energy seemed to be their themes.
I wonder how their trials will evolve in the upcoming days.
Esha sailed through the challenge since she was already taking lessons in a Vaidya course. But there's a limit on how much one can do with only two internal energy points.
The performances of all the Vaidyas were more or less the same, other than some, including Esha, who seemed to have exceptional knowledge of muscles, nerves, and blood vessels. They rejoined the arms much faster than the others.
They probably wanted to be a Vaidya from the very beginning and had studied accordingly beforehand.
This league opened my eyes to so many new people who were just as impressive as my friends. After that week-long hunting spree, that the other Rakshaks got to participate in, the differences between us had mostly dwindled in terms of levels.
The only thing that made someone stand out is an original idea, exceptional fundamentals, or peerless skill. Precisely what the Gods are looking for to bless.
After today's events ended, our little gathering started to disband in front of the dining hall.
It was time for juices, fruits, and some fried snacks that were given as participation rewards for today's efforts.
"I heard from my cousin that we can sit together in the dining hall. Apparently, it took quite a while before people started that during their time." Jhanvi dropped a random piece of trivia.
"Is that true? We can start the trend then. It's cool to be trendsetters." Esha chimed in, looking at me expectantly.
"I'll ask Dhruva then. It will be a bit awkward on my part if I'm the sole representative." I suggested, my voice getting a bit shy.
I wondered how they managed that if people were going to sit side by side on a bench anyway.
"Saiyan and Shreya again disappeared somewhere after their trials. Their levels just keep increasing." Aditi, their Surakshak who was like a phantom till now, wondered.
"Yeah. I've been sleeping alone for some days in my dorm. Saiyan and Anik keep disappearing somewhere, while Dhruva has been sleeping over at the seventh standard section."
"Our big boy here seems to be lonely." Esha teased, "I usually stay awake till late at night. You're free to send me messages."
The other two girls gave her weird stares. She's going to get scolded saying things like that out in the public.
"Naah, I routinely go to sleep early. It's better to follow proper timings when we're growing." I tried to mend the situation, drawing a clear line.
"See you guys tomorrow. I'm gonna go meditate for some time before dinner." I excused myself after a while.
"We will be going for a chat with Varsha after the dinner. She didn't even come out from the dairy today. You wanna accompany us?" Jhanvi extended an invitation.
"It's been a while since I've seen the Asuran child. I heard she's growing up quite fast. I'll let you know later if I feel like going."
It's been so long since I saw my parents and sister—five more days to go. I can't wait for my mom's hand-cooked meals after so many days. Maybe I'm the only one among my friends who missed home dearly.
I wonder if the others also feel homesick like me. Despite having such a huge body, I'm still just a little immature child, wishing for the comfort of my home. I hated myself for that.
My mother and father probably wanted me to get a good job in Alik as well as an essential position in one of the Kingdoms instead of thinking about useless shit like this.
But what about me? What do I even want for myself? Seeing them happy is one of my dearest wishes, but I feel I'll lose myself if I follow that path.
Even if I decide to live for what I truly want, how would I start if I don't even know what that is?
How do people even find that out? I sighed out loud while meditating alone in our room.
Ohh, I have to ask one of the sages to give me a training Parashu. My earlier one got obliterated too... Ugghh, why do so many thoughts flood my mind every time I try to meditate??
Breaths. In. Out. In and out.
Concentrate on the darkness... The little lights dancing within it. Go deeper into one of them...
Sigh. Emptiness.
This is good now.
In and out.
Darkness. Emptiness.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo