1.9 Rakshak Vrata (Guardian's Vow). (9k)

// Sorry, this chapter is a bit(a lot actually) long. I felt it difficult to stop midway as the words kept flowing out. I didn't want to break the chapter somewhere undesirable. Thanks for reading!!!//

I found myself relaxing with my feet dipped into the pool again.

This time opposed to the cloudy skies that the Ashrama usually has, the night sky was filled with stars, the patterns of which dotted the surface of the water like twinkling precious gems.

The waterfall was descending at a snail's pace, reaching all the way down instead of floating away like it usually did.

Its water shone like molted silver, adorning the heavenly glow of the full moon. I felt something touch my shoulder and saw the girl from dawn sitting by my side, softly leaning against me, paddling her legs in the water and looking up at the waterfall with a sense of wonder.

I hadn't taken a closer look before, when we had first met, because of 'reasons', but now, under the moonlight, her face lit up with a sense of mysteriousness and divinity.

Suddenly, the moon started getting dim, as if devoured by a Celestial Being. I glanced up to see a lunar eclipse occurring at an unbelievable speed.

By now, I had realized it was a dream and prepared mentally to open my eyes, the same feeling you get when your dreams get too outlandish even to be real, and you consciously separate yourself from the scenario, trying to change things as you wish.

"Yo, let's go for breakfast." Anik was patting my shoulder right where I had felt that stupid feeling.

"Well, it's embarrassing." I muttered and went to the washroom, preparing to freshen myself.

"That was quite a dream, wasn't it?" I heard Panna teasing me through her connection. "As soon as you awakened one chakra the dormant ones nearer to it have started acting up."

While the Muladhara chakra (root chakra) creation process requires you to be humble, in tune, and accepting yourself, the Swadhisthana chakra lying below the navel is responsible for 'emotional' control and stability.

Unless I awaken this chakra, my thoughts and focus will start to waver, making me unable to concentrate.

We need a different yoga pose for awakening different chakras too. The only one I knew properly, the tree pose, where you sit with your legs crossed and your palms on the knees was a method for awakening the root one.

For the sacral one, we have to bend our legs like a crab, making sure that the thighs are parallel to the ground while the shin part is perpendicular. I have to continue doing that until I gain enlightenment on emotional stability and create the chakra as a result.

Now the question is how long I needed to do that. Usually, each chakra center requires a year to open after the first one. So, one chakra between two classes till the twelfth.

This time, the four of us shared the same table while having our meals.

"How far are you guys?" Anik asked, peeling a banana, the question being directed specifically to Saiyan.

"We already awakened it yesterday evening right after dinner." Saiyan said truthfully. "What about you guys?"

"I'm still working on it." Dweep replied nonchalantly. "These things usually take time for me."

Dweep was surprisingly quite perceptive of where he stood. He can also open the root chakra if he wants, I felt.

"I'm almost there." Anik replied this time, "Probably by tonight, I'll be done with it."

Then they all looked at me next.

"Uhh, I've been trying the Shavasana but fell asleep midway." I couldn't stop myself from lying.

Saiyan stared at me for a while before looking away.

Do people who have awakened their chakra sense when other awakened people come near?

It felt bad to deceive my teammates. But I didn't want others to know about it yet. What if my secret spot gets discovered? I need to use it to the fullest and build myself up before others get an inkling of what happened.

"Shavasana..." Anik snickered, "You were twisting and turning while sleeping instead of lying still like a dead body."

Shavasana is actually derived from the word 'Shava', which means a dead body. We have to stay still with our backs to the ground, facing upwards in a relaxed manner, for that yoga pose to work.

After having some bread and butter, bananas, a glass of milk, and a boiled egg, we came out of the hall to wash our hands and rinse our mouths.

Washing the butter off my fingers took time, so Saiyan waited for me to finish.

"I have two things to ask of you." I suddenly asked of him, "I want to know what you're doing now that your chakra is awakened. And I need you to ask the girl with shoulder length hair, with green kundalini, to give me some time today. I've been rude to her this morning, and want to apologize. You don't have to do anything if there are two girls with green kundalini. Things will get complicated otherwise."

"You must be talking about Somi. She was the only one who awakened the heart chakra among us yesterday. I'll let you know the time and place if she agrees. Ah, just a warning in case you're interested in her. Awakening the heart chakra requires coming to terms with the feelings of love and compassion. It is possible her heart is already set on someone else. Just saying to keep you away from unnecessary heartache."

I wondered if reading my emotions gave him some cue for adding those unnecessary details at the end.

"Yeah, puberty is right around the corner, and the hormones sometimes make you think about unnecessary things. That doesn't mean I'll act upon it. Thanks for the heads up." I didn't deny it incessantly like an idiot.

If he felt something, knowing his trait, there might be something dormant within me that I haven't realized properly. Whatever it is, the heart chakra comes later in the list. I have got other things to do right now.

"What about the next phase of training? Is it allowed to tell someone else?" I asked, coming back to the topic. "Is there also some skill where I can use my drawing skills? It is one of the things I'm confident about. I was really fascinated with Charm Creation, too. What kind of basics should I train with to create a good fundamental for that?"

Saiyan stared at the peak of a mountain for a while like he often does while thinking.

"Right now, we are sending our stored Kundalini through the sap vessels like an express train without any stops. They said that it will increase our kundalini conductivity, reducing the time to activate skills. Next we will try consuming the kundalini that have been filtered by the chakra centers and repeat it to increase the efficiency of Shakti to kundalini conversion."

"Okay, now things are making sense. Even though it's a different kind of energy, the principles are the same."

"Exactly. Not all the Shakti we absorb gets converted to the same amount of kundalini. We lose some in the process. The less we lose, the better. Finally, the last task will be activating our skills to increase their proficiency. We have three days left before the Rakshak Vrata, so we must try completing one task daily." He explained carefully.

No wonder he took some time to organize the words.

"That was surprisingly informative. I really appreciate you telling me everything. Ughh, now I feel guilty of lying to you guys." I said with a face painted red with guilt.

"Yeah, I thought you would be telling it to only me after letting them go on their way. I was this close to getting disappointed when you started asking for favors." Saiyan said with a smug face. "Muladhara, isn't it? I awakened the one on the solar plexus, Manipura chakra."

It was a chakra you awaken when you find your purpose in life.

It gives you tremendous power whenever you are focused on your goal. It totally made sense, considering his character. The first chakra you create often reflects who you are at that instance.

"Meeting you made me realize how inexperienced I was and gave me a new motivation to work harder. Thanks." I wasn't lying this time.

"I didn't know I had such an effect on you. I'm glad that you let me know. I'm honored." he said, staring back with a serious look.

"Now, now, no need to butter me up like that. I'm still far from being capable of helping you. But considering how you've helped me without asking for anything in return, I'll never hesitate to do the same. Remember that." I tapped his shoulder and went on two different paths.

He towards God knows where for the special training, probably inside some barrier, and me towards the waterfall.

I entered my personal cave and sat down in the tree pose on the Shakti Rekha.

This time, the rush of Shakti was quite bearable. I felt Panna watching me. I was grateful she didn't intrude into everything I did and let me try things out by myself before offering her advice.

Three things to do.

Activating skills.

Circulating the kundalini within my sap vessels. Emptying out Kundalini and filling it up again after filtering the Shakti we absorb.

My 'Field of Protection' active skill will be quite handy in a fight. Let's activate it for now.

As soon as I muttered the words, green light enveloped the cave walls, and my Kundalini started depleting at an alarming rate.

Holding my breath and using Wood Flesh on my left hand, I vigorously rubbed it on my right hand, scratching and tearing away my skin and muscles in the process.

The blood loss might be a problem if the Recovery skill only mended my wounds by closing them up without regenerating the blood I lost.

I tried simultaneously activating the Field of Protection and Recovery as my brain started heating up.

Wow, I felt like a worthless desktop setup with 1 GB RAM, struggling to open multiple tabs in the browser.

This is how I formulated my training method.

First, I'll activate all important skills while hurting my body in different places. Chest, abdomen, shoulders, hands, thighs, shin, feet, back, and waist; Nothing will be missed.

It will allow my Kundalini to travel to different parts of the body in order to heal it.

The field of protection will be responsible for making the mouth of the sap vessels more active, as during the skill, I keep emanating kundalini from my body.

I realized my skills, being gifted by Panna, had a green-coloured base. When I have my own skills, they might be red in color when activated.

If you imagine the seven Colors of the rainbow, each chakra represents one color, starting with red at the bottom to violet at the top.

Seeing the colors, we can guess which chakra has been awakened for newcomers like us. Right now people will think that I have activated the heart chakra instead because of the green coloured skills.

Next, after my kundalini gets fully depleted, I'll use up all my Prana points to convert it to Kundalini, except the last point. I wanted to do this manually without the help of Panna. I'll repeat step one after the conversion is done.

Finally, after Prana and Kundalini are almost depleted, I'll absorb Shakti from the Rekha, start filtering it to Kundalini, and again go back to step one.

Since I can recover my Prana points only by consuming food, I can do it once after every meal.

"Let's start." I said, preparing myself as I started hurting myself in different places.

I also made sure to go naked; otherwise, all my white clothes would be stained red.

Hoping that no one found out about this cave. Finding me all naked, hurting myself, and bleeding all over will only traumatize people if they ever peek inside.

I continued it for three and a half hours until I heard the sound of bells coming from a distance.

The walk back was much easier than last time but tiring none the less. I had to squeeze out whatever energy I had just to reach the Dining Hall for lunch while being on the verge of almost blacking out.

I didn't fail to get awkward glances from them by wolfing down on all the fruits served, sitting at a table with randoms.

"Bro, you okay? You look like a horse on its last legs. What have you been doing?" one of them asked.

"Bro, this Kundalini circulation isn't just working. I thought activating skills might help, automatically moving the Kundalini towards various parts of the body, but it's different than willing the energy actually to flow through your vessels the way you want." I revealed a lot in my lightheaded condition.

"Ah, I get it." He agreed.

I felt a bit guilty, thinking I was blatantly bragging in front of these random people, but someone at the table had created a chakra already.

I could instinctively feel it now.

"The sages should atleast check up on us to see if we are already done with our assignment or not. The people who have already created a chakra are just sitting around, having no clue what to do next. We are just going around giving tips to other people, helping them to awaken theirs. The faster everybody creates one, the quicker we can get the teachings for what to do next." The guy said.

He was very tanned, with a big nose and thick lips. But his voice was really deep.

It was hard to imagine him as a 12-year-old who hadn't even hit puberty. What happened with this guy?

"I'm Dhruva, by the way. Nice to meet you. Let me know if you need more people to help others awaken."

"Will do! I'm Soovam. Hope we can help each other in the future." he nodded with a sign of acceptance.

I checked my status to see how far my Prana points had accumulated and was pleasantly surprised. The upper cap of my Prana stat has increased to 14 from 10. That means more Kundalini. Nice!!!

I need to give a thorough check to my status properly, it's been a while since I've done it.

I have to crack the problem of distributing Kundalini and Shakti simultaneously through my vessels. I needed some advice from Saiyan.

Finding him in one of the tables, sitting far away from me, I matched my time with his to leave the hall, breaking the order of emptying seats. Some people gave me "what is he doing" looks, but I was hungry for clues.

Maybe finding the actual answer itself was part of the training. But a little clue might help in quickening the process.

"Look at you! So eager to learn what she said." Saiyan said with a teasing smile.

"Oh, there was that too. I had a different question, actually."

"Unfortunately, she said that it was fine. She didn't mind what you said. No need to apologize directly." Saiyan recalled the news, giving me a sympathetic look.

"Seriously, bro? What's that look for? It works better for me, actually. There is no need to waste time thinking about how to frame sentences for the apology. If she's cool with it, I don't need to burden myself with unnecessary worries."

He gave me a suspicious side-eye with a slight disappointment. "What other question did you have then?"

"I was just doing it for the peace of my mind. But on a different note, tell me whatever is allowed to share regarding circulating the Kundalini to increase the conductivity. I'm not able to consciously make the energy flow through the vessels in a way I want. I'm using the skills but the vessels aren't getting faster in carrying Kundalini. Also, you're absorbing Shakti and circulating Kundalini through the same vessels, right? So we can't do both at the same time, right?"

"That was actually a good question. One of the many we had asked the senior sages when we started out." Saiyan said with an apologetic smile. "We are supposed to figure out all this by ourselves. Apparently, this training will create the differences within the structure of the vessels between two individuals. Not everybody has a similar internal structure of Kalpa's sap vessels. The sages refused to give us a set way as it would only bind us to a pre-existing method, leaving no leeway for evolution or innovation. So try different things out. What works for you or me won't work for others and vice versa."

"Well then, thanks for the tip. You might feel that it wasn't helpful,, but your talk about flexibility immediately fired up my brain. I'll try some things. See you at dinner." I said, and we separated again for the day.

There was this idea that suddenly came to my mind from Saiyan's words. I couldn't wait to try it out.

Hurrying back to my cave, I sat a bit away from the Shakti Rekha. It wasn't time yet. I needed to rearrange my vessels in a way that suited best for me.

Watching the wardens perform Charm Creation also gave me this idea.

I also needed Panna's sap for this to work. So without her, again, this idea won't come to fruition.

"If you can accomplish whatever you have planned out, it will be crazy. Let's try once and see what happens." Panna supported me positively.

"Okay, let's go. Hopefully, I can do it better this time since I can focus, unlike last time when my mind was in shambles, being unable to persevere the intensity of Shakti. I can change the location of your sap in my body, right?" I confirmed with her.

"I'm not sure, atleast you won't die if you try, so feel free." she replied back. "If things go south, I'll take the reins."

"Yeah, thanks." I said and started focusing to make numerous mini hands inside my body this time.

I heard from my brother one day, who was studying biology a few years ago, that we have two types of blood vessels, one for good blood and the other for the blood containing impurities gathered from different parts of the body.

I will learn about it in detail after some years, but this will be enough context to move forward.

The sap vessels were only a few dozen in number before, but now I needed more as their functionalities will be divided.

Imagining two mini ethereal hands stripping the sap vessels into thinner and smaller ones, as if tearing away thin strips from a piece of paper, I gradually increased the number of sap vessels.

They weren't budging before, but after Panna advised me to simply ask them gently, the vessels complied. Now, there were hundreds of thin snakes floating inside my body, wondering where to go and waiting for me to lead them properly.

I slowly moved the mass of Panna's sap from my hand to the place right above where my muladhara chakra was. What I realised from before was: The Kundalini flowing through Panna's sap can be controlled by both me and her.

If I'm too focused on something, Panna can help me with the automatic activation of skills.

Both Panna's sap and my chakra points awakened using Kalpa's sap will be responsible for holding kundalini, which theoretically should allow me to store twice the amount compared to others.

Since Panna's sap within me was very small in amount, it was best to use it as a small Auxiliary chakra point instead of making vessels from it.

I took a little less than half of the snakes inside me, made them bite my inner skin at newer places to cover as much surface area as possible, and joined their tails to the main root chakra point.

After that, whatever less than half amount I kept aside, was separated into smaller length pieces, which connected my auxiliary chakra to the root chakra.

This part was hard, working with really thin and small vessels. I had to focus quite a bit as if I was threading a needle. The other half went around, traveling within my body and returning back to the auxiliary chakra point. A Kundalini circulation network.

The setup was now complete. I shifted closer to the Shakti Rekha and started feeding my intake vessels.

With a sudden jolt of excruciating pain, I fell back, retreating away from it.

"No, no, no.... the amount of Shakti was too much for my now thin vessels to handle." I started panicking.

Was it a wrong approach??

I probed into my body and found torn-away pieces of sap vessels floating around in my body. A feeling of horror clutched my heart...will I not be able to absorb Shakti again??

I was too impertinent, not thinking about this simple thing ahead. I just assumed the sap vessels were almighty.

"Calm down!" Panna's voice was hard and definite. "It will take some time, but you need to make the smaller snakes bite the tails of the others to create bigger snakes, leaving a few that will be attached to your skin. Don't panic and restart it at once. Everything is fine!!"

Yes, I needed to rejoin them. This time, I'll join three snakes to make the vessels thicker. I'll end up with a lesser amount of Shakti absorption vessels but it's fine.

Concentrate. Concentrate.

Taking a deep breath, I again started the excruciatingly long process of making the vessels longer and thicker.

I heard the bells for dinner but skipped it.

I haven't used any Prana points yet, so I'll handle a little hunger. The setup was complete after who knew how many hours. My clothes were drenched in sweat, making me wonder why I didn't go naked beforehand.

I was so excited with my idea that I forgot to take care of even the little things. How careless can I even be?

I was honestly disappointed with myself, losing so much time over nothing. I should have considered a trial run with a single intake vessel, making it thinner slowly to see its breaking point.

Then, I should have applied it to the other ones. Just a simple solution, but it totally skipped my mind.

"I didn't imagine the consequences properly before taking the path." I still have a lot to do and so much more to learn.

"Let's try again." I again sat over the Shakti Rekha, letting the energy carried by it enter my body.

Please don't break.

I had already tried it out once with three snakes. Hopefully, it'll apply to others, too.

This time, about a dozen more broke away, but it was still successful. I made six vessels, joining together pairs of broken vessels from the dozen that were broken away and reattached them to the outside.

A few vessels broke away from a different area next, yet I kept repeating the cycle. By now, I could definitely feel both my chakra points getting filled up slowly.

The auxiliary chakra point made from Panna's sap won't be able to filter kundalini from Shakti, being different from a Chakra anatomically, so as soon as some of it was filtered by the Root Chakra, she intervened and started sucking up kundalini from it.

Once it was filled up, I overflowed the distribution vessels.

And then, the root chakra was left to do what it was meant for, storing and creating kundalini while filtering out Shakti.

Now, we have to try it out while simultaneously activating multiple skills.

I activated both The Field of Protection and Recovery skills, got naked, and started abusing myself. I realized that whenever the mouths of the intake vessels were wounded, they stopped taking in Shakti and retreated into the body, waiting until they recovered.

Which places are least likely to get injured during a fight? I gave the intake vessels new positions over my body.

It ranged from the armpits to my inner thighs, places that were really personal.

If someone ever scanned my vessels, they would label me as a pervert.

There was one vessel that remained default throughout all the trials and tribulations of my training. It wouldn't budge no matter what. It connected my main chakra to the outside world through the little finger of my left hand.

There must be some reason, but I had no clue about going deeper into the topic.

This time, it took much longer than my earlier iteration to deplete both my chakra points while using the skills.

I was concentrating on absorbing shakti, while Panna was responsible for transferring filtered kundalini from the main to the auxiliary, as well as activating my skills.

We exchanged roles after some time but realized she couldn't force the main chakra to act as she wanted.

So, she was given the job of only making sure that the auxiliary one kept feeding itself from the root chakra.

Taking care of two things at once was tough but somehow manageable. I would often stop taking Shakti or deactivate my skills subconsciously, being unable to concentrate.

Even though my intake vessels kept growing thicker gradually, the increase in conductivity of my distribution vessels increased at a snail's pace.

But to make me satisfied enough, the green light of The Field of Protection Skill grew in intensity within hours.

Thinking that I didn't even need to convert my Prana because of the efficient system, I decided to activate wood Flesh all over my body to use up the energy faster.

Wood Flesh, I found out, grew stronger the more kundalini I fed. At Max capacity, it burned through whatever was left within five minutes.

I converted 13 points of Prana into Kundalini over the next three hours, in tandem with Shakti intake and filtering, whenever the filtration process of Root chakra couldn't keep up with the energy expenses.

After my Prana points reached 1, I started the chakra-filling method again without expending any of it instantly.

It was in order to judge how long field of protection, recovery, and wood flesh could be used together when I start with a full capacity. I was surprised with the results.

Only expecting it to work for ten or fifteen minutes, I was shocked when it crossed twenty-five minutes.

Did I unknowingly come up with a really efficient system? But all this is possible only when I'm standing over a Shakti Rekha. From common sense, it's unlikely that we will have battles right over one.

I decided to finally take a nap, all naked still, until I heard the bells for breakfast. It felt a drag to wear my clothes again.

Now I realized why all the sadhus in the Himalayas moved around naked.

There was something liberating in donning my birthday suit, but...now I'm embarrassed by even thinking about it.

Am I starting to get really weird? I wondered while dressing up and reached the pool to wash my face in the cold water.

I skipped a step as I saw the girl from yesterday, Somi, sitting with her bare feet paddling in the water.

Remembering my dream, I cursed my stupid hormones. Out of all the dreams I could remember, why was this one the most vivid?

I nodded as our eyes met for a millisecond while I knelt down to slap the cool water over my face.

Should I apologize? She said there's no need, right?

I'll just go back for breakfast since my stomach is killing me with hunger. I didn't feel the pressure yet since I had skipped meals yesterday.

I'll try sitting in the stalls for a while after breakfast.

As I started walking away, I heard her voice, "I thought you wanted to apologize?"

"And I thought you were cool with it."

"I thought I was, but I suddenly got curious when thinking about it after training. I came here getting a gut feeling that I would come across you like yesterday. Just a bonus over my self-reflection time."

I stepped back to where I was kneeling down and also sat with my legs dipped into the water.

"Honestly, I was on my way to relieve myself. The longer one. And you stopped me suddenly, accusing me of something I wasn't. I probably also got angry that my body features in the dark made you think I was an Asura. That probably hit me the most. Did you think I was a goblin or something? So yeah, both the feelings of irritation derived from holding something back and the insult made me use harsh words unnecessarily." I was surprised at the flow of words coming out of me, one after another.

This was unlike me.

"I totally ignored the hard work you might have put in, assuming you were simply talented just because you were one of the chosen students. Ah, also, the fact that you could already materialize your kundalini made me jealous. That was all I guess. So yeah, I'm sorry for acting like that."

"That was a believable answer. And a genuine apology. I will accept it. But why are you jealous? You aren't lagging behind at all."

"You can see my current condition? Do people also have Skills like that? This is so unfair."

She chuckled brightly. "It's not a power. You have activated your chakra but haven't learned to hide it properly yet. Yesterday, it was only like a little thin film covering your body. But a fierce red fire is burning around you now. People who already have awakened their chakra will easily notice it. You are continuously circulating your kundalini within your vessels, right? You have to stop doing that. Try it."

I closed my eyes and concentrated. In semi-manual mode with Panna helping me a little bit, I was the one responsible for the kundalini movement within the distribution vessels.

I gently willed the kundalini to stop wherever they were and stay stagnant inside the vessels.

It hated to be bound like that, but Kundalini inherently was better at listening than Shakti.

It slowed down and stopped in its tracks.

I filled my intake vessels with Shakti to the brim to make sure more of it couldn't enter, stagnating the intake vessels, too.

It was quite easy to do, but without the information, you wouldn't even think about doing it.

"Thanks for the tip," I said, getting up.

It's been a few minutes since the breakfast bells rang. I needed to recover my Prana points, too, so skipping it wasn't an option.

"Let's go." she, too, stood up from her position.

"It will be better if you go first. I don't want to put a target on my back by entering late together." I said and waited for her to leave.

I heard a slight giggle as she disappeared into the jungle. She was as fast as a gazelle.

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.

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.

"Just a fleeting thought. We don't know any of our mentors' names, right? Or is it just me?" I asked timidly.

"That's just you. Most students already know who they are going to study under." Anik answered nonchalantly.

I guess I'll know their names once I start taking lessons.

There was a massive sacrificial fire in the middle of the gathering. Crackling flaming whips kept lashing out at the hanging roots of the Banyan Tree, but they didn't catch fire. Did it gain fire resistance from such rituals being conducted underneath it for thousands of years?

Various leaves, flowers, offerings, and utensils dotted the space around the fire. We sat in the same row and column formation, boys to the right and girls to the left, as denoted by the position of our dorms.

I heard hymns being chanted from the sages and the name of Agni Deva being repeated. Were they summoning the God himself?

The flames suddenly turned to a pillar of magma as a three-meter humanoid being emerged from it.

Forget about describing his features; it was hard to even look at his immediate surroundings. It reminded me of the way my eyes used to hurt while looking up at a sunny sky after pulling off an all-nighter.

"Don't worry, I'll protect the place. May my fire be your strength. And let it burn away all your enemies. I bless this Ashrama with my divine flames. Let none be able to cross it with the intention of harming the precious Guardians." Agni Deva's noble voice boomed across the Ashrama, akin to a warning for any hidden invaders daring to raid this place.

Still, by squinting my eyes, I tried to get a look at God's noble form. It's not every day we get to see a Divine Being like Him.

His whole body was on fire; red, undulating hair floated above him like the flames erupting out of a fiery, active volcano. His eyes shone with the vigor of a hundred suns.

I shut my eyes forcibly, fearing I might go blind. It was too much for me.

An orange-yellow, fiery divine wall rose from the ground in a 2-kilometer radius around the Banyan tree.

It made sure to put every facility within its boundaries.

Vertical eye-shaped violet cracks formed in the space all around us, along the perimeter of the flame barrier.

Seniors walked in through those portals with determined eyes, clad in their white battle robes sticking out of their metal armors and surrounded with the aura of multi-colored Kundalini. It makes sense since they have already awakened two or three Chakras already.

It was epic.

Damn, I can't wait to get one year older to make an entrance like that.

"We are short on time. Let's complete the ritual first!" The head sage with a knotted white beard announced. "Sanjeevani Amrita is an artificial elixir we have created using the Amrita as a base and the Sanjeevani Mantra as a catalyst. While pure Amrita is not compatible with mortals, this formula has been gifted by the Devatas in return for a vow to protect the upper Lokas from vicious Asuras. Be pure in your intentions and feel the blessings of the Gods. As soon as you're done with the ritual, make sure to return to the dorms and not interfere with your seniors. You are not ready yet, despite what you wish to believe."

I felt a bit irritated at the blatant bias that was unfolding in front of me.

The seven chosen were somewhere in the crowd of seniors, farming exp, while we were supposed to sit back at our dormitories quietly.

I triggered the command that prompted my experience farmers to start making their move.

I also wasted no time and started kneading my kundalini, following my muscle memory that I had trained for hundreds, no, thousands of times in the last two days. I need just a hit for it to give me enough experience to level up.

As the ritual started, students got up and moved towards the fire.

They were given a three-leaved stalk dipped in ghee, which was to be offered to the fire.

Their fingers imitate the pose you do when creating a shadow deer.

Suddenly, the earth underneath trembled with a disastrous earthquake as if something was forcing its way out.

Huge four-meter to five-meter humanoid life forms appeared along the edges of the mountain peaks.

There were some ten to fifteen-meter giants among them, too.

They carried metallic rods glowing with a blue-black hue, and their skin glowed like the recently awakened students who didn't know how to cloak their energy but with an intensity multiplied by a hundred times.

The frightening pressure they released from all around us gave me the same feeling as sitting on that Shakti Rekha brimming with energy.

It was so suffocating that many of the students started gasping for breaths or vomiting.

"Continue. Don't get distracted." The sages shouted with a bold voice. "Your seniors will protect you; believe in them."

"How long do you think you can continue these practices? Ashwatthama???" A loud voice boomed somewhere from the north.

A huge 40-meter red-skinned guy rose above the peak, bringing out gasps from even the seniors.

To be honest, I was just giving a rough estimate.

If he looked that big from this far away, he might actually be much larger.

"You imprison us in that barren wasteland, leaving us to die, while you enjoy the riches of Swarga. And you rob these young children of their innocence by making them your prison guards. I will destroy everything you deceptive Gods stand for." The huge giant's voice kept booming, sending tremors within our ribcages.

His bass was turned up to the max.

"Enough of your deceptive words, Ahara. A glutton such as you is only meant for destruction. Don't even think about stepping into the sacred Lokas. Stay where you are meant to be. You who devoured your own kin to satisfy your hunger are by no means qualified to perceive the beauties of the upper Lokas. Begone, Demon!!" A voice appeared from inside the Banyan tree.

I snickered for a second, remembering the meme of the guy holding a crucifix.

But as a weird red binding filled with ancient Akshara appeared around the eyes of Ahara, I shivered.

To see a high-level curse attacking such a massive enemy out of nowhere disturbed me greatly.

If mere words contained so much power, how can I even defend myself against it?

The Danava fell from a huge height being unable to perceive its surroundings as a result of going blind, lifting us up by a few centimetres into the air with a massive shockwave as soon as it made an impact.

The other Asuras, which is a collective term used for representing most of the Patala Loka's beings, started wall running down the mountains as if defying gravity itself.

I was surprised at the fact that most of us stayed calm under the circumstances.

The mountain slopes filled up with innumerable massive beings, hurtling towards the barrier at breakneck speed, leaving not a speck of snow or greenery on it. Wherever I looked, were colorful humanoids, Nagas, mutated bulls, elephants, various other monstrous predators, and huge giants; all trampling everything on their way toward us.

The ground rumbled continuously, unable to withstand their thunderous steps. It was finally my time.

"Come out, my cute little farmers." I commanded.