I dragged my zombie ass to the Dining Hall and started eating.

I waved at Saiyan when our eyes met from far away. Maybe he was making sure that I atleast came for breakfast after skipping dinner.

Within the dining hall, one-third of the students who didn't know about cloaking their kundalini stood out like Power Rangers in the wild.

Most of them were either green, orange, red, or yellow. The higher chakras are certainly hard to awaken, it seems, from simple statistics.

There were other people who probably have also walked the same path of self humbling like me.

After breakfast, I waited around to talk with Saiyan.

"You've also learned to cloak. Someone else is helping you other than me, right? I feel jealous now." Saiyan teased me with a smile.

"It was just a tip from an acquaintance." I dismissed it like it was something insignificant.

"You met her, didn't you?" his face dawned with realization.

This damned mind-reading skill of his...

"I guessed so," he giggled, "Only us Seven know about cloaking right now. So someone who's an acquaintance other than me, and from the seven people is only her. I was surprised to find you not shining among all the other students. The energy inside you will slowly get more unstable, so don't get surprised if you end up with red hair and eyes."

It suddenly crossed my mind that Soovam also wasn't emanating anything when we talked yesterday. He too must be friends with one of the Seven.

"Oh, by the way," Saiyan continued, remembering something. "Yesterday, you were asking about skills, right? If you like drawing, you can start with Aksharas. You know cave painting style stick figures right? You can imbue Kundalini into the symbols to realize them in the world. Charm creation will be derived from it in the future."

"I can do much better than stick figures."

"But then, they will require more Kundalini to manufacture. As more of your chakras awaken, you can get creative and your runes can also get more complicated with more functionalities. People stick with simple drawings to be able to activate them faster. Just try drawing something by emanating your kundalini like you're using a pencil instead of spreading it everywhere. You can also imagine it as a process of handling clay to make a pot out of it. Anyways, try it and let me know of the results tonight."

"Got it. I hope your training is also going well. By the way, what are you guys planning to do during Rakshak Vrata?" I asked, looking around to make sure no one was around us. "You have already drunk that Amrita, no? Will you consume it twice?"

He got surprised for a moment, but came to terms with it real soon. He might be wondering how I came to know that.

"We are supposed to help the seniors from the sidelines to farm as much experience as possible. Don't tell it to anybody, but just getting a hit will give you enough exp for leveling up at the beginning. It will get progressively harder later on, but right now, the faster we level up, the better."

I felt like the fact that he was getting such undue advantages over us was making him feel guilty.

That's why he was giving me these bits of information to make himself feel better. Who cares? As long as I'm getting the benefits, I'm fine with it.

We again parted and went on our ways.

Two more days were left before the Vrata. I needed to start preparing.

That 'getting a hit' information was as precious as a diamond. To develop a method that will maximize the number of hits I can deal to my enemies, while also optimizing the amount of kundalini used for each of them should be my top priority right now.

I activated automatic mode where Panna took care of retrieving the stored kundalini while also activating my skills, as I started drawing shapes in the air with my ring finger, trying to imitate what the wardens had done.

Think up something I can make lots of while also expending as little Kundalinias as possible.

Ants?

I tried drawing an ant with two dots, one small and one longer, followed by six bent lines for legs.

The kundalini left my body and started floating away instead of staying together like those videos of water I have seen floating in the space station. The two dots didn't stay together and moved away like those two actors driving away in two different directions in that famous music video with the most amount of views on youtube.

"It's really been a long day." I thought to myself right after breakfast, wondering how to crack this new problem.

Controlling the kundalini within our body is manageable, but after it went outside, it felt like the connection between us was severed forcefully.

I have to try with a small problem and build up upon it, not dive in head first.

I released a fist-sized red kundalini from my ring finger and let it float around in front of me. I tried establishing a mental connection with it like I have with Panna.

No response.

Next, I tried touching it, but it deformed and floated away from me.

I observed that the blob of energy stayed as it was instead of regaining its previous almost spherical structure.

Is this like 3D sculpting and not 2D drawing? I thought while touching it again.

I pinched at one end of the kundalini sphere with a bent side and made a pointed end. I chuckled, "Looks like a really huge bee."

If different blobs of Kundalini repel each other, I will have to make something from the same blob of Kundalini, it seems. Or try joining them with another string of Kundalini.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Continuing with the shape of a bee in my mind, I pinched and pulled from the top of the shape to bring out two deformed wings. Then, twisting six threads by pulling from the sides, I made two indentations for the three body sections.

I got confused from being unable to recall a few things.

Are there three sections or two? In the body of a bee?

Well, let's go with what's already done. I finally made an antenna on each side of its head and ended my sculpting project.

The bee kept floating like a dead fish in an aquarium, the water being the air around me.

Okay, let's try again.

I slowly released Kundalini again, trying not to push it during the process so that it kept floating near me, then tried making an elongated snake.

It also floated around my body like a satellite.

By this time, my auxiliary chakra point was already depleted and it started vigorously borrowing energy from the root chakra.

Float, float, float, two indentations, six legs, big mandibles, and done.

Next!

Pinch top for the beak, two wings extending out, flat tail, two thin stick legs, bird model done.

Dead Kundalini animals kept floating around me without a sign of life.

Some were completed, and some were half done, being too hard for a small blob to take after its shape.

It's not working.

Something was missing in my own understanding.

It's tough to gain an understanding with only bits of clues every time. I stopped everything and, this time, activated the field of protection, recovery, wood flesh, and bonk to make the space inside the cave bigger.

I needed to see how many bonks I could use before getting empty.

It counted to about 23 times.

Not enough, and I doubt people will let me come to the front lines to get hits like that from a close range.

Should I learn to use a bow?

I don't think it's possible to learn it properly within two days either. It was really frustrating.

I went back for lunch to replenish Prana and came across Somi and her three friends while walking out of the hall after I was done.

She flicked her wrist, extending out two fingers without raising her hand as a greeting, and I returned a slight nod. She looked pretty cute with a ponytail.

The end of her hair was now dyed with a few strands of green from Kundalini's instability already.

Not again, I thought, hurrying away.

I should also take a look at my features in the mirror once. It will be cool to have red eyes, though.

"I think you need help." Prana chimed in.

My mind was quite lonely, I realized, as soon as her voice intruded my mind like bright sunshine.

I decided to take a bathroom break and freshen myself up before returning to the cave. As suspected, a few strands over my ear had already turned slightly red. Let's just hope these phenotypes were not transferred over to Alik.

The teachers and parents there would give us hell otherwise.

"That is actually something I think I might really need." I answered after my bathing routine.

"See, your root chakra purifies Shakti into Earth-based Kundalini. Different chakra points have different attributes. Try to make Earth-based animals, ones that stay within the Earth, preferably. They'll do whatever you think about while creating them." Panna explained, stopping me in my tracks.

Oh, she was talking about this kind of help.

On a different note, what was I thinking while creating those animals?

All I have been thinking while creating them was that those creations were simply Kundalini, not animals.

I have been wanting them to float closer to me so I can modify them. That's why all they have been doing is floating.

"Yes." Panna agreed, steering my guesses toward the point she was trying to make. "Small clues actually go a long way. Don't you ever underestimate them."

"Thank you, Ma'am!!!!!" I started running towards my spot with ideas flowing into my head.

Think about what you want them to do while creating them.

Make creatures living within the earth for better efficiency.

I knew what I had to do now.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I came out of the cave, soaking wet with sweat and my hair close enough to pass off a crow's nest. Someone would suspect whether I was suddenly caught under a Himalayan cloud burst.

I've been isolated for a significant period, but that time was well spent behind finger-numbing hard work.

All this time, I have been holed up within the cave, drawing out kundalini and absorbing shakti continuously. I didn't expend my Prana for conversion and only used up a little whenever I felt hungry to get rid of that distraction.

Today was the fifth day of coming to the Ashrama and the day of Rakshak Vrata.

It is a day when we take a Guardian's vow to protect this Satya Marta from the invasion of Asuras who want to conquer the Lokas above Patala for themselves.

One would think, why would they even do that?

Ofcourse, both the Asuras and Devatas have some conflicting self-serving reasons.

I was just born on one side. Technically, in between the two Species.

But if I see someone coming to kill me, will I not defend myself?

From Saiyan's warnings and the information that both our senior classes are arriving to protect us, it might be a large-scale invasion. I can predict that much.

What kind of enemies will be there? Will my idea even work? Where will the enemies even come from when we are surrounded by mountains on every side? I've been juggling such questions within my mind for the last few hours.

We'll see when it's time.

After taking the Vrata, we will be provided with the Sanjeevani Amrita, which, from its name, seems to be some version of the elixir of life that came out during the Samudra Manthan episode of our history.

I might get to know the specifics later on during the ritual itself.

The pool was chilled enough to provide a nice, refreshing atmosphere. I sat down on its edge to drink some water, and as expected, there she was, staring at me from the edge of the clearing. She, too, had just arrived.

Today, she had a braid coming down her right shoulder. Looking carefully, she had some light brown streaks along with her green ones over her pitch black hair.

I sat about 3 meters along the circumference of the pool, away from where she settled down.

"You are now able to hide your kundalini perfectly. Good job!" she started the conversation.

I would be lying if I wasn't looking forward to this meeting-up fiasco we have been engaging in.

"Thanks to you," I said as I lay down with my legs still inside the water.

I could feel little drops of water pecking at my face from the waterfall above. My usual body is pretty susceptible to cold. Whether that weakness would carry over to Satya is an experiment that needs to be done.

We stayed like that for more than ten minutes. The silence wasn't awkward at all. It felt just right not to make a sound right now.

Bird. Flap. Wings. Beak. Legs. Tail. I repeated in my mind as I kneaded my Kundalini to make a bird out of it. It shone bright red in the orange sunrise.

There was a hidden command there, too, as it glided through the air and perched right beside her.

Somi stretched out her hand, opening her palm and allowing the bird to hop on. She scratched it under the beak twice and let it go with an upward motion with her hands.

It was only after so many tries that I was able to create something that didn't have the properties of Earth.

The bird flew up against the waterfall and dissolved after all its energy was depleted.

"Best of luck. Have fun leveling up today," I said, still looking up.

"Yeah. Thanks."

We stayed like that for ten more minutes, after which I got up and left the scene.

Need to make sure I don't get any distractions during the whole ritual. I have no idea how long the invasion will last, so I need to clear everything in my system thoroughly.

Not drinking water for one and a half days almost made me dehydrated. So much pain accompanied my short toilet release.

I should often go to the pool and drink some water from now on. I can't keep neglecting my body.

After freshening up, I somehow stumbled to my room to find a new set of clothes there for the ritual. Changing into them one by one, we all went for breakfast. The whole team was back together now.

"How are you guys feeling right now?" Anik asked before everybody.

"Pretty good." Saiyan acknowledged.

"Hopefully, my preparations will be enough," I mumbled.

"It'll be fine," Dweep said with a trembling voice. "The Asuras attack every year. It's just a formality at this point. I'm not afraid at all."

We had some Poha with eggs and chai for breakfast. The eggs shot up my Prana points really fast. I was also surprised that I wasn't as exhausted as I used to be when my Prana points depleted sharply before.

After breakfast, we gathered infront of the huge Banyan tree where all the sages had gathered.