Blessings

Later that night, As per Aarv's instructions, all of his guards gathered in the courtyard. All of them had serious expressions on their faces.

After waiting for about 15 minutes, Aarv along with the 3 instructors arrived in front of them. Aarv looked at the disciplined guards in front of him with satisfaction.

'Good… Now they are showing signs of a real army…'

Aarv thought as he looked at the guards in front of him.

"Let's go…" After confirming that all the soldiers were there, he led them toward one of the main temples inside the fort of Chittod.

The Eklingi Mahadev Temple..!

It was said that the Eklingi Mahadev temple was built by the legendary warrior of Rajputs, Bappa Rawal. It was one of the 'Jagrut' temples of Lord Shiva.

When all 100 men reached the outskirts of the temple, Aarv suddenly turned around while looking at all the guards following behind and said,

"Before going any further, I want all of you to choose for yourself…"

His plan B was a dangerous plan. So, he wanted his soldiers to have a choice.

"The mission that we are headed to is dangerous. I cannot guarantee your life's safety. So, I will let you choose. If you want to turn around, you can return. Only those people who are willing to give their life will stay…"

The guards in front of him stood there without moving as they looked straight ahead with an unyielding attitude. They knew that they had trained all day just for this one moment. If they go back now, how could they show their face to the rest of their subordinates…

Aarv looked at them with a happy expression and said, "let's go then…"

Aarv turned around and started to enter the temple. But he stopped midway and looked back while saying, "If any one of you dared to run on the battlefield, I will personally kill them all…"

And then only he entered the temple. All guards looked at his back with shivering expressions as they walked inside the temple one by one.

---

Inside the Eklingi Mahadev temple,

When Aarv entered the temple, he saw no one but a single lady inside. The lady was tying red strings to all of Lord Shiva's "Trishuls…" that were placed inside the temple. The lady was so concentrated on her work that she did not notice anyone coming in at all.

Aarv ignored the lady and walked towards the 'Eklingi Mahadev Shivinga.' he joined his hands together and prayed for lord shiva.

"Om Namah Shivay…!"

When the guards entered the temple, they also prayed for Lord Shiva. Aarv looked at them and said, "475 years ago, our king, our aradhya came to one of Lord Shiva's temples and vowed to create "Hindavi Swarajya…" At the time, Hindu religion was threatened…"

All the guards listened carefully as Aarv started to tell them the story where Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj took an oath to create their kingdom where all Hindus would live without any fear.

"Today, we also face the same situation… The enemy is in front of us… while the future of all India is in our hands…"

His loud voice started to roam throughout the temple…

"Who is going to fight with me to kill the enemy…"

"Who is going to protect the future of the whole of India…"

"ME….!!!"

All the guards hollowed at the same time.

"Take oath…"

Aarv said as he drew his Talwar out of the scabbard and slit his hand with it. Blood flowed out of his hand but, he did not care at all as he placed his hand on the Shivlinga. The rest of the guards also followed him and slit their hands and placed their hands on top of Shivlinga.

Blood flowed on top of the Shivlinga dying the Shivlinga scarlet red. Aarv looked at the Shivlinga in front of him and prayed in his mind,

'Mahadev, we are going on a dangerous mission… Mission to protect our motherland… Please help us…'

After pleading, Aarv bowed down to the Shivlinga and touched it with his head. As soon as his head touched the Shivlinga, one of the Trishuls which was placed at the back side of the Shivlinga fell mysteriously right in front of Aarv.

Aarv looked at the Trishul, which dropped right in front of him with joy. All the guards looked at the scene with amazement for a second, then the temple was boomed with thunderous sounds of Guards chanting.

"Har Har Mahadev…"

Amongst the chanting, Aarv lifted the Trishul in front of him. As soon as he took it though, he received a message from the system…

[Congratulations Player Aarv…]

[You have received blessings from Eklingi Mahadev…]

[

All lord stats +2

All Soldier stats +1

Duration: 2 Days.

]

Aarv looked at the system notification with astonishment. This meant that temples had hidden features built into them.

While Aarv was still in his thoughts, the rest of the soldiers stopped their chanting. They also felt changed in their body.

"Why do I feel like I am stronger now…"

"Yeah, I also feel like my strength has suddenly increased…"

All three instructors also felt their strength increase. They looked at Aarv for an explanation but, Aarv did not look at them as he directly kneeled in front of the Shivlinga and said,

"Thank you for your blessings Mahadeva… we will protect this land with our lives…"

He then turned toward his guards and said, "Tomorrow night, we will set out for our mission…"

Author Thoughts:

Aradhya means someone whom you pray to daily...