Chapter 11 : Andaman islands (1)

"What have you found till now?" Said Abid khan sitting in his Delhi office trying to eat lunch in between his work and with work. Rusjeet singh had been called in Delhi 7 days before the internships started to give in his personal report of his mission which had updated largely to a very different one from their original one but their main goal was still there.

"As we suspected Anika has shown immense growth in congruence to our findings. She will be joining lions for her internship so we expect major growth strides in her."

"hmm...Anything else? something on your main objective? Anika may have potential but she has not killed that S3 for sure."

"Yes sir, that is for sure. I have been telling Jia to monitor on things but she is facing some difficulties in sensing. I seems that here tournament injuries have had some permanent damage on her sensing abilities."

"What kind of difficulties?"

"Her senses have been getting dull during the day time somehow mostly during college but she still managed to get some details by getting closer to subjects and following them. It would appear that not just Anika but even Reema and Rajdeep have gone through some interesting changes."

"Stop beating around the bush Mr singh, I am not a slow eater and I don't have the whole day for your report."

"Reema seems to have healed but her foundation has grown tremendously, not as close to Anika though."

"Could Anika's presence have influenced her?"

"That's what I thought too but it doesn't explain Rajdeep's change. unlike these two his Aura seems to have gone through a qualitative change. She could not explain how but she feels like something terrifying and sinister has been growing in him."

"Interesting...What about your main target, do you have any leads?"

"Not much, We have a baby cam from one of the fallen buildings that seems to have captured a very blurred picture. I doesn't give us much but we have the dimensions of his body at least. We tried getting some street cam footage but the power was cut when the gate appeared as per protocol."

"This situation reminds me of something H.P.Lovecraft wrote. If only we could piece together all the information...Keep working on this and report if you find something. Also, what are the heroes going to do?"

"The association has arranged for their training as you know but the 4 major guilds have been trying their best to get to talk with them."

Abid put down his spoon and rubbed on his chin, "Why don't we lax our security a little bit, I won't hurt them to train from the best."

_____

Krishna was on the way to college in the bus with Anika as always but she was carrying big bags as she was leaving today with Reema and Rajdeep for her internship with the lions to one of the islands in Andaman Nicobar where a woman named butterfly was waiting for them.

It was interesting to him how someone can let themselves be named butterfly and be ok with it but he thought that the girls might like it. 'would Anika like something like that? she is different from the other girls so who knows'.

She was still carrying way too heavy bags for a trip where people would fight for the most part, thought Krishna but he got curious enough that he asked, "What is in all these bags?"

"Nothing much, my clothes, blankets, sleeping bags, a lot of food and some amenities"

"Won't they have most of it there?"

"Well, yes but you have to be ready for anything, That's what being a Gujarati has taught me."

Krishna shrugged as he understood it. When he was a kid his parents used to take these massive bags too for a 2 day trip, he thought maybe he had been away from Home for too long.

When they reached there Reema was waiting for them and Rajdeep had just arrived with a car. one of the executives of the lions was there too. he was waiting for a go as they were to go in a private jet so time was a bit flexible for them. they got into a chopper which would drop them just at the airport.

They were barely able to load all the bags from the girls. Rajdeep took a nap as he had trained a lot the other day and had forgotten to pack. Reema took the opportunity of privacy and said,"So...did something happen? you will be out for 2 weeks so it must be a good opportunity to say something."

Anika shook her head giving the only answer Reema had heard since the beginning, she really wanted to talk too much about things but these two were just too reserved sometimes she felt that she is thinking more about their relationship than those two.

In the plane they were given info on Andaman Nicobar in a booklet that described things for visiting raiders who had their permits. about 4 years ago Andaman nicobar had a gate breakout from an anomaly type 2. it was one of the most powerful gates India had faced till then but they did not have their most powerful heroes.

A raiding party was made from 10 heroes and 20 high level A rank raider. only 5 heroes and 2 raiders managed to escape alive. since then the island has been on lockdown. the demon infestation was still there on the Andaman islands. Indian government had taken back nicobar islands that had not been infested too heavily. currently the Ten degree channel that divided Andaman and Nicobar islands was the line of control with most security.

International community had put a lot of pressure on India because of this massive and ongoing failure. many attempts were made to reform a team to recapture the islands but the bureaucracy of politicians and the general loss of power in the last raid prevented that from happening. China was especially interested in taking over the island with its massive and powerful Raider army second only to US and EU in terms of raw power. So to curb these attempts small parties were sent from landfall island from the northern end every now and then as a show that attempts of recapture were on the way but it was now mostly a training grounds for Raiders that had permits and enough level to handle the job. Lions obviously had enough hold to get a permit.

They were to stay at the base on Landfall island which was not open to all, generally a Raider would come from car nicobar islands where there is an air-force base that is now operated by the association but when someone like butterfly makes a request it was in association's best interests to give her the best treatment.

Their room was massive considering the size of the base. Butterfly was already dressed and ready for fight with Giant sword unbecoming of her own size hanging on her back.

"Get ready with your stuff we will start hunting right away."

Reema said in a wimpy voice "But we just got here can't we rest for a few hours?"

"We are not on a vacation here, every hour is important, get down to the port in 20 minutes"

She left promptly after this to arrange for the boat. there was a clear sign of disdain on her face as if she did not want to be there.

"What use is this room when you can't even stay here, A closet might have been good enough."

_____

Krishna was playing a game on his console at home leaned into the sofa sipping at soda and eating snacks.

"I don't understand, how does your lifestyle maintain that tout body of yours. I might have had a heart attack by now if I was you." Said Ganesh who was irritated but Krishna had nothing to do for 2 week. it was like a paid vacation for him.

Ganesh turned off the power to the TV and console as Krishna gave no reply. Krishna stood up and took out the portable console and started playing on it.

"You lazy bum, I don't get what Anika sees in you."

"I don't nag and irritate her all the time, ever tried that?"

Ganesh dropped himself into the sofa too giving up on making Krishna get up.

"Why do you not fight, with your calibre you can do so much good."

"Nothing good can come from fighting."

"What if someone attacks Anika there or me if I matter to you?"

"She can defend herself and I am here to protect you BOTH."

"But you are not there with her NOW."

Krishna paused the game and kept his console down. Ganesh had the face of a winner now.

"What are you getting at?"

Ganesh moved away his head and shrugged "I mean idk, god forbids if something were to happen and someone was to attack her and she could not defend would you be satisfied with your last conversation?"

Krishna was put into thought. He was too had been avoiding thinking about the subject matter. Anika had made her move and it was not like he had rejected her, he actually felt good about it. He had started playing games a lot more than before since then, was it avoid confrontation? He had been playing games a lot before too to avoid remembering things that made him uncomfortable.

"Well, my job here is done. Enjoy playing your game." Said Ganesh as he left.

_____

Anika and the group had entered the forest area of second level. the areas were divided into levels with each progressive level meaning more danger and powerful monsters. butterfly was expecting to reach level 3 by evening and then return but it was still an hour before high noon and they had been smashing through levels one and two. she had no chance to even raise her sword.

"where did you learn to fight like that? generally any new fighter needs practice to get used to new kinds of demons."

the demons were more fierce than common fodders. these demons were humanoid but were quadrupedal. the deeper they went the more these demons had changes in them with harder skin and more shell like mutations which acted like armours. these were not too drastic yet but the power difference and skill difference after the first level was drastically different.

These 3 had been fighting each day with Krishna. His speed and skills were ever increasing and so they had to step up their game every time. compared to that these demons did not hold a candle. there were still some aspects that they were getting used to that was the terrain and the fighting against multiple targets instead of just one.

"Let's say we just have a very good teacher." Said Rajdeep as he retracted his gauntlets that had transformed till his shoulders.

they made it midway through level 3 ate nutritional bars that though not palatable were very effective as camping in such a dangerous site was out of options. it was not like these were some feral animals that would stay away from the fire, they were more like moths that loved the flame.

It was getting harder but as the demons were not teaming up it was still not much of a problem, it was butterfly that was making them move slowly to avoid any accidents.

"seeing that you guys are so good why don't we go till level 5 today. I will only help in time of need but if you think you can't fight at a certain level you just tell me and we will stop."

"I was just curious" Said Anika also being vigilant of her surroundings, "how many levels are there?"

"100, but the highest allowed level is 20 which is till saddle peak."

"Do you know what is there at 100?"

Butterfly's face turned grim for a second, what was at 100, was it even describable?

"It doesn't matter."

"Aren't you ever curious?"

"No." Said butterfly stopping and turning around,"Are you ever curious what hell is like? consider whatever it is that sits at 100, is worse"

_____

Krishna was binging a TV series which he had missed in the seven years. Ganesh brought popcorn because he too had nothing much to do, he worked as a small time Raider joining with smaller guilds whenever there was some low level anomaly gate and worked as a support but the work was dependent on the availability.

"Why do I even have to work? you earn enough for the whole house."

"Yes, but it's my money why would I give it to you?" said Krishna taking some popcorn.

"You stay here, eat food made by me and I don't know about other private arrangements with my daughter."

Krishna held his head and said "look old man. I pay my rent, almost all of the groceries come from my pocket and whatever private life I have is what you are ruining right now."

Ganesh took a fist full of popcorn into his mouth and mumbled "You are not making a good impression on the father-in-law for future."

"What?" Said Krishna moving his head towards Ganesh with a frown. Ganesh in reply shook his head and offered more popcorn.

_____

Reema and Anika were tearing through Demons, Anika duel wielding her fiery swords which she thought suited her better than a sword and dagger because of the balance in weight and Reema was slicing and dicing demons in half with her katana which she had mastered even more in training.

Rajdeep on the other hand was working alone and one shoting every demon regardless of the power or shell armour. The new boxing moves he had learned were very much useful to him in taking care of demons that were now attacking in small hordes. His new gauntlets were quite powerful and he knew there was a lot more untapped potential left for him to uncover beneath the tip of ice that he was working with.

Butterfly was feeling like having a stroll through the beautiful landscapes of Andaman, except for the dead bodies of the demons of course. something which she thought she could very well have on her own power too but then actually getting to do it was a different thing.

Training against demons was very important to gain more aura and the stronger the demon more the aura one would get so it was imperative for them to move deeper to gain more. They were already at level 19 in day 3 and this was more than impressive for people who did not even have the title of hero attached to them. there was no doubt about this, these 3 would change the status of lions for the good in the future if she could rope them in.

"let's go back, it will get dark soon and you don't want to fight these black hordes in the dark."

The horde they were facing had just ended and everyone was sheathing their weapons. Even though Rajdeep was fighting alone with similar amount of enemies he was also the first one to finish them off.

"What happens to these dead bodies? do they keep rotting here?"

"Good question, but humour me, did you see any dead bodies on you way here? these levels have been reached before and so shouldn't it be riddled with bodies?"

"Didn't occur to me before I guess"

"Now I am equally curious." Said Reema as both she and Anika also finished their part.

"It is because they disintegrate on their own. we tried storing them or destroying them but nothing works and eventually the levels reset in the morning. We are utilizing it for our good by using these to train and gain more levels."

_____

Krishna was sleeping after he stayed awake the whole night thinking 'Just one more episode'.

Ganesh came and dropped a bucket full of water on him.

"You should not sleep till so late in my house. if you are so free might as well help me clean the house."

Krishna who was shocked by the sudden cold splash said,"No, I have some work at college today." He didn't.

Krishna left the home after changing clothes because he knew Ganesh would not let him be in peace, he might as well sleep in his office in college. Ganesh was a lot more free lately, I would seem that the frequency of gates was slowing down.

When he got to college Ram found him in the hallway and asked,"Why are you here? You can take off for the 2 weeks till the students come back."

"I...I came to arrange for some tests for them when they come back."

"I see, I like your work ethics. explains why you look so tired, you need to give your body some relaxation. Why don't you join me?"

Krishna thought Ram would be going for relaxation to some pool or maybe a club so he decided to join and have some fun instead as his sleep had already been disturbed by Ganesh.

6hours later...Ram was shaking Krishna as he woke up.

"Your meditation skills are amazing, you had achieved the state of Zen so easily. you must teach me your methods."

"Yeah...why not"

_____

Anika and the other 2 had surely made massive strides, they could feel their aura pools growing a lot already. it took them till lunch time to reach back to level 19 again but there were finally going to reach saddle peak the highest mountain of Andaman after which the levels were put arbitrarily only by satellite readings as nobody was allowed to go there.

When they reached saddle peak though it was a totally unexpected site. There was no mountain there. only signs of fierce battle that had eroded the mountain away to a plain where even till now no tree had dared to set foot only a few scarce patches of some courageous grasses and weeds.

"Wow, how can you still call this a peak?" Said Anika. Butterfly looked over the destruction that brought back some of her old memories.

"This is where the gate broke out, it closed after 7 days but what it left still resides on this archipelago."

Anika was just astonished by the thought of what could have been the scale of such a battle. She had seen butterfly not even flinching an eye when the hordes focused on her but what could be this Demon that had defeated a party containing her.

"You were a part of that raid, right?"

"I wasn't just a part, I was the leader of this raid." she took a deep breath and sighed "I was too late in retreating, it was because of the sacrifices of the Raiders that stayed back that even half of the heroes made it out, including me. The name Hero gives me pain ever since, we were never the real heroes."

"What is beyond level 20, has nobody tried going there?" Said Rajdeep.

"There have been tries definitely, once a small guild tried to go there but only a single one returned, he didn't make it through the night."

"Nobody even tried to retrieve the bodies?" Asked Reema.

"Nobody even thought about it, except for me. I went there alone but they had been devoured by then. I returned without a fight, my mission was finished but maybe I was still afraid."

"shouldn't we try defeating those demons? The more levels we can get cleared up the better right?"

"NO!" Said butterfly with stern and authoritative voice,"you can grind here till level 20 for as long as you want, I will see to it if there is something new for you 3 after this week but till then master this region and gain as much experience as you can."

_____

It was already close to a week and it seemed like Krishna had already exhausted his options. Ganesh was ruining his vacation by bringing up the relationship talk every time. He did not mind it that much initially but now it was creeping up on his mind if Anika might need help, he was her teacher anyway, it was his duty.

He hadn't thought if something could happen but if it did could he take on another burden. it was he who gave her a chance to fight, would he not be in blame if anything was to happen or she got injured? He commended Ganesh mentally for winning against him clearly, He knew Ganesh wanted this and no matter how much Krishna resisted, Ganesh had obviously succeeded. winning against Krishna was not something a lot of people could claim these days.

Krishna packed a small bag with 2 pairs of clothes and some basic things and went into the living room where Ganesh was watching TV in boxers and sandos. He thought to himself how did he raise a girl like that but then he understood where Anika was getting some of her quirks from. "Hey old man, I am gonna be back pretty soon."

"Ok. Just tell Anika, Ganesh said hi."

Krishna frowned at Ganesh "You are going somewhere else?"

Krishna just walked away without replying. Ganesh ate a fist full of chips and mummbled "Things a father has to do for hitching his daughter."

_____

At night when butterfly was sleeping Anika, Reema and Rajdeep were getting ready with their equipment. "You sure this will work?" Said Reema worrying.

"We have been practising at night for about 2 days now don't worry we will reach at 21 by the morning."

"I am not talking about that. I am asking about that demon at 21. Are you sure we can defeat it?"

"I have tried sensing it, it isn't that weak but together the 3 of us can defeat it for sure. If we want to get stronger we need to challenge ourselves. I can't sit while I can still fight."

Anika looked at Rajdeep and asked "Do you have any doubts?"

"None.", Said Rajdeep putting on his gauntlets.