I stood in front of the colossal mountain like an idiot.
Do I now have to climb this whole mountain after coming this far?
I'm sure as hell that it was not possible for me. I inspected the pool's boundary to discover if some secret chamber was hidden in the fog behind the waterfall, but I couldn't find anything, much to my disappointment.
Let's follow the mountain face and find an inward groove to take me closer to the Shakti Rekha.
Wading through the dense shrubs southward, I finally found what I wanted.
"We still probably need to go inside by more than a dozen meters from here. Try finding another one like this." Panna suggested.
"I have walked enough; it's time to try my active skills. Hopefully, they'll also increase in level through repeated usage." I said, rejecting her suggestion.
Taking a long breath, I whispered, "Wood Flesh!!"
Nothing happened.
Panna interrupted with a sigh, "You'll need Kundalini to use your active skills. To generate it, you'll need chakra centers to purify and convert the divine Shakti absorbed from your surroundings into your internal energy. You're putting the cart before the bullocks."
"Can't I get Kundalini differently? What about Prana? I have enough of it. Can't I use skills by consuming it?" I said, looking at my status, which mentioned Prana having ten stat points.
From Saiyan's warning about sacrificing something to heal others, I noticed that he was talking about Prana. It quantified the amount of life force I currently had inside my body.
"You surely want to die!! Don't use your Prana recklessly! Never!!" Panna got agitated, "You'll die if it depletes to zero!!!!"
"What if I keep just enough of it? Teach me how to convert Prana to Kundalini." I kept persuading her.
"Fine, I know you're stubborn. My sap on your left hand will take care of it. Remember to use skills with your left hand while using Prana. I'll work as an intermediary who will manage the conversion. I'll stop the skill forcefully after your Prana count reaches One. Give me your permission." Panna seemed angry.
"Yes, I allow you to take care of the mechanism you described." I said, getting motivated.
"Wood Flesh!" I said out loud as the skin on my left hand turned dark, wrinkly, and ugly.
I lost all sensations from it and felt like someone had shoved a metal rod up my shoulder joints.
It was inflexible and lifeless. Without wasting my precious time, I started hacking away at the base of the groove.
After a while, I made a proper hole because of the soft earth conditioned with the water of the falls over hundreds of years; I used my Bonk skill that strengthened and accelerated my attacks to make it deeper.
"Don't use this skill. It takes away quite a lot of Prana. Wood Flesh requires only a little to maintain, so use only that."
"No shortcuts then," I muttered and continued scraping away at the soil from the mountain.
I kept hoping to find only the sediments brought down by the waterfall, not hardy granite.
"How far inside do I need to go from here?" I asked like a little child waiting for a long journey to end.
The sun had set two or three hours ago, and I heard the distant echoes of a bell ringing back at the Ashrama.
"Only a couple of meters more. Let's call it a day for now. Now that I think about it, undertaking this whole ordeal wasn't reasonable for us. We should have gained some Shakti from the dorm first before coming here. But... Whatever. The grass is always greener on the other side. You might have taken two days to understand how to absorb Shakti. Let's have dinner and return here. Prana is replenished by consuming life energies from other living entities. The fruits here must be teeming with Prana. Hopefully, we can recover all the Prana we lost."
The journey back to the Dining Hall was excruciating. Three hours took away nine out of ten points of my Prana, leaving me with only one. You could say I'm a zombie right now.
"You knew what you were getting into." Panna said with a faint hint of affection and worry in her voice. "But I loved seeing your determination today. Made me glad being bound to you."
She's so good with words, I thought, while melting from inside from her wholesome attitude.
"I'll work hard for us, so keep supporting me." I whimpered, soliciting a laugh from her.
"That didn't come out as cool as you wanted it to be." her voice appeared amused.
"I know, no need to say it aloud..." I said, suppressing an embarrassed smile.
I had never felt so famished before. Even Saiyan was surprised to see me devouring my food, considering he had seen before how I often struggled to complete whatever it was.
I had never eaten such juicy fruits before. A single bite from the Apple left my hand covered in juices.
I felt guilty eating the mangoes since Panna was a mango tree herself, but she didn't seem to mind much.
The litchees were my favorite. The ones I often had back home had big seeds and little flesh, but these were heavenly. Nothing came close.
I glanced at my green status screen to see that my Prana was around 7 out of 10, recovering two hours' worth of manual labor.
Raising my hand, I asked for some more litchees as people around me snickered, subconsciously labeling me as a glutton.
I felt the boys in the hall were quite agitated after I inspected my surroundings a bit more carefully.
They kept glancing towards the side where the ladies were sitting.
But I found my mind full of thoughts about breaking rocks instead. I guess you have no time for leisure when you have mining work. Carving mountains was more enjoyable than I had previously thought.
I should visit the Kailasa temple in Ellora sometime. I have heard that it was carved out from the mountain in a top-down fashion. Impressive feat.
When the Maya barrier separated Marta into two, these techniques failed to make their way into our Alik dimension, forever lost to our architects and masons.
"Did you guys already create your Chakra centers?" I asked Saiyan, wondering what kind of extra training they were getting.
Everyone here knew which path to follow, being taught from a very young age. Hopefully, with Panna's help, I can keep up with them. My top priorities now were finding the hidden Rekha and learning the fundamentals of Charm Creation.
I'm sure the others were also doing something like that based on their needs and visions for the futures they want to achieve for themselves.
"Naah, usually it takes four days. But the seven of us might be able to create one tomorrow. Try to create one as soon as you can. I think something crazy is going to happen at the Rakshak Vrata ritual. This time, both the sixth and seventh graders will be coming to protect us. I'm also getting a weird gut feeling. Something is happening in a place hidden from us. The Asuras might be plotting something. Atleast learn the recovery skill before the ritual as an insurance." Saiyan replied, clearly worried.
We waited for our turn to leave the Hall. Anik and Dweep approached me afterward, asking where I was all this time.
They hurriedly left, asking me to come to our room if I still hadn't found a place. As I snuck away to my mining spot again, I wondered how awesome it would be to create a Chakra point by tonight.
"I think it will be possible with my help." Panna confirmed the faint possibility of my wish. "But it will be painful. The feeling of having raw, unhindered Shakti rushing into your body will be excruciating, but you'll need to grit your teeth and endure. When I grew my first leaf and felt the Shakti in this world, I felt like dying but somehow managed to hold on. You'll also be able to, so trust yourself."
She must have also gone through her struggles even before she met me.
I again started breaking down the earth of the groove, creating a small cave inside, using up only two points of my Prana.
I realized mid-way that whatever active skills and knowledge I had currently came from Panna. Without her, right now, I was nothing. She's been working so hard for me unconditionally and without any complaints.
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"Thank you..." I whispered under my breath.
Panna stayed quiet, sending complex emotions through our mental bond. It brought forth a slight smile on my lips.
I worked for four hours this time, consuming only two of my Prana points. Maybe there is some conversion factor that keeps getting higher the more you use it, increasing the efficiency of consumption.
The cave was vibrating with so much energy that, for a moment, I hesitated.
It was as if I was preparing to touch an electrical wire, all the while knowing that it could lead me to my death.
Sweat broke out all over my body.
"Trust me." Panna whispered, trying to console me, "You know you must do this. I'll keep you safe."
Steeling myself, I sat on the ground, shifting until I felt like my body was starting to break down.
"I didn't think it would be...." I failed to form coherent sentences anymore.
I felt the Shakti, which was intruding on my body, disappear after reaching my left hand, making me realize Panna was doing what the sages were supposed to.
She was taking some of it herself, balancing the amount within me. Once dormant within me, I felt the Sap Vessels come alive and start twisting around like an injured snake.
I might die, I thought for a second as Panna's voice rang deep and clear inside me.
"Please hold on, Dhruva. If you give up on it right now, it will be all for nothing. You have already come this far; only a little of the path is left. Remember why you started. You need to win. Create a Chakra before everyone else. When did you start leaving things as they are??"
This was the first time she spoke my name. I thought as her scolding jolted me back into focus.
I desired to awaken a Chakra. Before everyone else.
Since I got admitted here, I have been slowly losing myself. The drive I had that made me study hard for the admissions had disappeared somewhere.
Finding myself lagging behind everybody sent me into a path of self-doubt, sub-consciously accepting that I could do nothing about everybody who had an early start before me.
I decided to move forward slowly, taking time to learn things.
But that won't take me anywhere.
I won't be able to catch up with everyone with a mentality like this. I now had Panna with me. With her help and knowledge, I can match their level and even surpass them if I work harder and smarter than everybody else.
Deciding to take control, I imagined invisible hands traveling within my body. The pain was making me unable to even think about the image of a hand. What is the concentration passive even doing??
As soon as a hand materialized in my mind, I imagined it to be holding onto the necks of snakes that were wiggling inside my body.
Imagining the sap vessels as snakes, I made them bite my skin from the inside. Their heads will be the points that would swallow Shakti from the outside.
I slowly made another hand with the earlier one still clutching onto the snakes' heads and keeping them in place. With the new hand, I took hold of their tails and attempted to tie them together in a knot. That knot will be my chakra center.
"That's a good way to visualize your Kundalini vessels. Now let the Shakti decide where it wants to nest in your body. While accepting Shakti, your thoughts dictate which chakra center will be created. You will feel a sudden rush of incoming energy, so prepare yourse....."
Panna's voice was replaced with the shrieking scream of a woman, as if I was standing right in front of a massive tornado. It felt like the dying cries of The Primordial Goddess, reminding me of the tragic story once again.
My ears started ringing, and my body almost broke its formation as the weight of the world crashed onto me from above.
Invisible bullets entered my body through the mouths of the snake-like Sap Vessels.
The base of my spine grew hot, trying to burst out as if wanting to create a tail. A red glow appeared behind my back, right where the tailbone was supposed to be, dyeing the cave walls with a vibrant red sunset.
I felt a solid organ materializing there, suddenly twisting and turning. The snakes in my body began to grow wild, swallowing Shakti from the surroundings like their lives depended on it.
I could feel hot liquid trickling all over my body, flowing down and meeting the organ to be stored there.
It reminded me of the chilling sensation of cold water traveling down the throat and chest as it reaches the stomach on a hot summer day. I felt the organ getting filled up, which slowly overflowed even to fill the snakes that were feeding it.
Just before the hot liquid could burst out of my body, it stopped, leaving my body with the sensation of a filled stomach.
As if taking in any more would burst my body into a hundred pieces.
As the pain subsided, I fell back and stared up at the cave walls. The outside of the cave had a bluish hue, heralding the arrival of sunrise.
We had dinner about three hours after sunset, and it was already dawn. It didn't even feel like so much time had passed.
"You did it, Dhruva, you did it!!!" Panna cried out in excitement. "You got the root chakra as your first one. I saw in your memories how you came to accept your shortcomings. You acknowledged that you were lagging behind everybody."
I could feel her pride and excitement flowing through our bond.
"And despite all that, you decided to work harder than anybody else to catch up with them." She continued, "You were arrogant before, being able to achieve in just a year what your peers couldn't in two. But after coming here, you were grounded to the earth, realizing you were just a frog in a well."
"Thanks, Panna..." I somehow mumbled while lying on the cave floor.
"Good job, Dhruva!! This realization often comes very late to naturally gifted people who can learn things at a glance or those who have been learning specific things from the beginning. I think it's better to go upwards one by one in terms of awakening your chakras. So the next in line will be..." she suddenly stopped awkwardly.
"Yeah, I know. I still haven't felt the effects of testosterone yet, but within the next year, I might, as we usually hit puberty around twelve or thirteen. The next one will be tough for me, considering I've been exposed to quite several things from hanging out with my elder brother's circle of friends."
I remembered how the only thing in my mind today was mining and creating a chakra point. Being able to have such single-minded thoughts was awesome.
I was intimidated by thinking that my mind would soon be filled with useless clutter.
"That is just a part of growth, I think." Panna added, "Being able to feel those emotions while also controlling them will make you a better person overall."
"If I ever start acting in a way not expected of me, make sure to put me back into my place. Can I ask you to do that?" I asked her for a favor.
"I will stop you before you can even think about it. Watching you act like that will only make me want to die of embarrassment." she said with a lively chuckle. "Let's go back and take some rest. You deserve it."
As I walked back slowly, Panna started a small talk.
"Just hypothetically, why do you think we are learning all these things? I know a lot, but there is also so much more that I don't. These things are all meant for fighting. Are you going to fight someone just because the people here are asking you to? Or will you just indiscriminately kill whoever shows you hostility? How will you decide who to kill or whom to save?" she asked quietly.
"Are the ones we have to fight mindless beings bent on destruction?" I asked back.
"More often than not, there will be beings with a genuine reason for fighting unless you choose to be totally blind to their motivations."
"Standing at this point with no information, I'll just predict the consequences of their actions. If they serve to destroy what I cherish and have acknowledged as important to me, I'll fight them with whatever I have, whoever it is." I said sternly.
"Hmm..." she mumbled, so I decided to add more to it.
"I don't care what the bigger picture is; I'm fine as long as my family, you, and the friends who'll be close to me in the future are safe. It might be a selfish answer but I'm not a great hero, sacrificing myself for the sake of others I don't even know. If I have to do charitable work, it will always start with people close to me."
Panna didn't say anything after that. I wondered if my answer made her upset. Maybe she expected more out of me.
"Did my answer disappoint you?" I asked her.
"I'm not sure, to be honest. Maybe I'll be glad someday when I'm in trouble, and you arrive to save only me, disregarding other people who also need help. I might feel sad for the others, but I'll also be happy that you came for me." she paused for a while to collect her thoughts.
"Maybe everything in this world is like this. You get something by losing another, save one by sacrificing others. I feel like this question will often come up in your journey. I hope we can come up with a satisfactory answer together." Panna tried her best to answer my query honestly.
All I could do was agree.
I exited the cave and moved northward through the thick alpine jungle.
Reaching the pool, I sat on its edge, dipping my feet in and staring at the snow-capped peak above.
Continuous drops of water dotted the pond's surface, leaving concentric waves all over. I sat there quietly until I felt the pressure to relieve myself.
The pain at the base of my spinal cord had transformed, traveling further below, threatening to come out right then and there. The sap vessels twisting and turning inside might have also played a role in churning my stomach to create such an outcome.
Just as I turned around after getting up, I saw someone entering the clearing infront of the pool, crossing the boundary of shrubs, signifying the perimeter of this area.
"Are you a student here? Which Gurukul are you from? Answer fast, or I would take it that you're someone not supposed to be here." A beautiful voice chimed in.
"Yes, Vishwamitra!!" After fumbling, I answered with the name of one of the most renowned sages. The name of my Gurukul indeed started with a 'V'.
Her hand kept pulsing with a warm green energy before dissipating away gradually.
"Vishwamitra?" She snickered, "Ohh, okay... sorry for getting hostile. I thought you might be an Asuran scout." she had an excuse ready for her actions.
"Yes, your imagination must already be at level 10. I'm so jealous." I retorted back.
"I also wish it was. But unfortunately, I haven't expressed the skill yet." She responded instantly.
Does she already know what her skills are? That means...
She slowly walked towards the edge of the pool where I was sitting.
On second thought, I needed to leave. Soon. Or I would be faced with the embarrassment of a lifetime.
The light blue color of dawn when the sun was still below the horizon lit up her face, which was dark under the shadow of the trees just a few moments ago.
I realized she was one of the seven people who were chosen.
"So I guess you and the other six people have already consumed the Sanjeevani Amrita. And you have also awakened your first chakra center judging from the green Kundalini you activated moments ago, probably to kill me." I deduced from the information about Rakshak Vrata I got from Saiyan.
"Well, good for you. Considering you achieved all these in a single day while others might need a week for it." I observed as I started walking back. "That is quite an elaborate way of bragging that you demonstrated. I need to hurry up and go take notes."
My walk broke into a full-on sprint as I got dangerously close to the point of eruption.
I wanted to stay and probe her for more information, but nothing could be done now.
I also realized that I was getting quite irritated from holding everything in my stomach back and unnecessarily teased her, making me now feel guilty.
She was only taking caution, and I definitely overreacted.
I could have worded things differently to interrogate her to get an idea of where Saiyan and the other chosen people were currently standing with their chakra creation.
It might be safe to assume that many more people have already created their first chakra centers, maybe much earlier than me.
I decided not to give it any more thought.
I have decided to atleast try my best and leave the results to Providence. My efforts in that cave were the best I could give, and I was satisfied with it. That is the only thing that mattered.
I cleared my stomach at one of the bathroom stalls and took a bath. It was so hot inside the stall that I sweated buckets.
Freshening up, I returned to my room and took a small nap.
I must have been exhausted to feel sleepy in this place where people usually stayed awake, training for seven continuous days. Lying on the yoga mat, I succumbed to the threats my brain made of shutting down.