“Eh?”
Adarsh’s anger suddenly cooled. His brows twitched in confusion.
The seed thrown by Vishesh was floating right in front of him in mid-air. It was right in front of his eyes, and it felt as if time itself had slowed down, he could see the seed drifting toward him in the air.
His body moved forward on its own, reaching out to catch it. But, Something about this felt strange in his mind.
A thousand questions ran through his head.
Why was Vishesh giving him the seed? And that too for free, without asking for anything in return?
Why?
Did he have some hidden motive? Adarsh couldn’t understand anything. But in that moment, his body acted on its own.
Pak!
He caught the seed in his palm. He looked at it carefully it was exactly the seed he had been searching for.
He felt a rush of happiness, but anger as well. Happiness because he finally got the seed.
Anger because he hadn’t found it himself, someone else had handed it to him. It felt as if Vishesh had come from heavens to give him the seed, and Adarsh hated that feeling.
His pride refused to accept such an act of pity. But right now, he didn’t have the luxury to reject it. His situation was too critical.
Clench!
Adarsh gritted his teeth. He clenched the seed tightly and started following Vishesh.
After walking a little further, he found Vishesh near the edge of the swamp. He was doing something there.
This edge looked different from the rest; because right in front of it was the backside of the statue of Maa Kali.
“Vishesh!”
Adarsh called out, and Vishesh quickly turned around. But before he could say anything, Adarsh stepped closer and spoke sharply:
“What exactly are you doing? No—forget that. First tell me what your purpose is. From the start, you stayed close to me, talked to me, even though we’re strangers. And now you’re giving me your seed? What is your motive?”
Hearing his loud voice, Vishesh gestured for him to be quiet.
“Shuuu! Just stay silent for just two minutes. Let me finish something first.”
He said this and then bent down, plunging his hand into the swamp, as if searching for something. Adarsh held his forehead in frustration:
“Answer me! What do you want? Why are you helping me!?”
“I said two minutes, didn’t I? Just keep quiet…”
“Tch!”
Adarsh clicked his tongue and was about to speak again when,
“Ahaha! Found it!”
Vishesh exclaimed, pulling his hand out of the swamp.
‘!!!’
Adarsh’s eyes widened.
‘How…?’
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
In Vishesh’s hand were three seeds! He had found three seeds in a single attempt!
“Hmm… I only need one.”
Vishesh said calmly, and then tossed the remaining seeds back into the swamp.
Adarsh stared at him in disbelief. Finding even a single seed was so difficult in this swamp, people were ready to kill each other for them.
And yet Vishesh had found three… effortlessly. How?
Questions flooded Adarsh’s mind. His curiosity about Vishesh grew even stronger.
“You’re wondering how I did that, right?”
Vishesh stepped out of the swamp and looked at him. Adarsh snapped out of his thoughts and climbed out as well.
“Y-You… this… How? Who exactly are you?”
Vishesh laughed.
“There’s nothing surprising about it. It's all related to this swamp, you see… this swamp it’s fake. It isn’t a natural swamp.”
“W-what do you mean?”
“I mean it wasn’t created by nature, it was made by people. I guess it was specially built for this trial only. It feels like a real swamp, but it isn’t one. And don't know why, but its water content is also much higher than a normal swamp.”
“…”
“And if it’s man-made, that means there must be something fishy about it.”
With great difficulty, Adarsh asked,
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“Fishy about it? What?”
Vishesh smiled.
“Just put your hand inside the swamp and try touching it's inner sides. You’ll understand.”
Adarsh hesitated, but Vishesh insisted, forcing him to comply. He pushed his hand into the muddy, watery mess.
“I can't fell anything!”
“Just keep pushing towards the egde...”
Adarsh felt as if he was doing something stupid, he was about to remove his hand when...
‘…!’
‘What’s this?’
He felt something… something solid, and hard. Like a wall.
‘!!!’
He suddenly remembered Vishesh’s words that this swamp was artificial.
And this solid metallic boundary… it might be present along all edges. Maybe even at the bottom.
‘So this swamp is inside a giant container, a solid iron container buried underground!’
Adarsh realized, and his guess was completely correct.
“Now do you understand? About this Swamp? The thing is, there are some tiny holes in the inner walls of this swamp. Through those holes, the seeds mixed with swap content keep entering inside. I just happened to find one of those holes by accident. That’s where I got these seeds from.”
Vishesh said. Adarsh pulled his hand out and replied,
“Yes, I understand now. But... I still have one question…”
“Eh? Okay then tell me. I'm listening.”
“Why are you helping me? Why me of all people? For what reason? What do you actually want?”
Hearing this, Vishesh went silent for a moment, then said,
“Umm! Ahh! To be honest… I don’t really have a reason. But while talking to you, I found you very interesting.”
“Interesting?”
“Yes… I’ve talked to so many people. I love talking. But out of all of them, you seemed the most interesting to me. I don’t know why.”
“What?!”
Adarsh was stunned. Vishesh’s words were going straight over his head.
“You found me interesting? And just because of that, you decided to help me? Do you think I’m an idiot?”
Vishesh quickly explained,
“No, no; nothing like that! You just seemed interesting to me, that’s all. And I thought it would be nice to be friends with someone like you. We’d make a good duo, don’t you think?”
“But when did I ever agree to be your friend...”
“Heheh! Don’t worry. With time, we will become friends one way or another. You may not talk much, but your behavior tells me a lot. I can tell, Adarsh… you’re a kind person.”
“Kind? And me? Humph! How can you say that?”
“You don’t know, but I do. I’ve talked to so many people; I understand people and their words quite well. No matter what someone says with their mouth, their behavior tells the truth far better.”
“…”
“You may not understand this now, but you will someday.”
“Yeah, yeah… let’s see when that day comes in my life.”
Adarsh said while rolling his eyes.
There was a strange charm in Vishesh’s voice; Somehow, he could draw anyone into conversation without even trying.
Adarsh too was getting pulled into his words, though he was still unsettled. No matter how much he tried to ignore everything, there was one thing he could not ignore:
“No matter what someone says with their mouth, their behavior tells the truth far better.“
Adarsh’s eyes were fixed on Vishesh’s clothes. It was stained with blood.
‘I can’t trust him...’
***
‘Sharv! There’s someone on the tree!’
Vijay’s voice echoed inside Sharv’s mind, followed by his master’s voice as well.
‘A girl is on the tree. Judging by how she climbed up, I think she’s here to steal your seed. This girl is among those who joined the trials midway like you, a wildcard participant.’
- Huh… strange. I didn’t sense anyone’s presence though...
‘She must have used an impressive footwork technique. That’s why you couldn’t sense her. But she can’t escape my eyes.’
His master said firmly, to which he replied.
- Footwork technique?… I want to learn that too. It’s extremely useful for killing someone.
‘Yes, disciple, don’t worry. You’re my disciple; I’ll teach you that as well. But for now, just focus on cultivating your Lunar Energy.’
- Alright. And about the girl on the tree, how much internal energy does she have according to you? More than me or less?
Sharv’s master thought for a moment and replied softly,
‘In my opinion, it’s less than yours. But not very less, just slightly. From all the children present here, only you and that girl have the highest internal energy.’
- So that’s how it is? Interesting…
Sharv’s eyes were still closed. He lay calmly below the tree, as if he didn’t care about anything happening around him. In front of him, other kids were fighting in the swamp for seeds.
Some children who had already gotten seeds had hidden far away from the swamp, trying to protect them.
But no one among them tried to go near Sharv, this girl is the first and maybe also the last one to do so.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
A faint yet incredibly fast sound appeared above the tree, a shadow leaped down toward Sharv!
It's target was Sharv’s head!
However...
Tak!
Sharv lifted his hand and caught the shadow’s wrist before it could strike his forehead. And the moment he grabbed her hand...
Sharv’s eyes opened.
In front of him was a girl, her face wrapped in white bandages just like his. But near her right eye, there was a scar.
Her face was very close to his; almost above his own. Her eyes reflected worry and confusion.
‘He wasn’t asleep?! But how did he even notice?! I used Frost-Leaf Glide technique!’
Sharv was lucky he had Vijay and his master, who could sense the things hidden from him. Otherwise, he would’ve become the girl’s prey.
Sharv’s eyes remained calm, but he wasn’t looking at her face. His gaze was somewhere else…
‘Her hairs?’
Her long brownish hair, tied neatly in a small bun.
‘So beautiful…’
Sharv thought. But at that moment...
Tak!
The girl kicked the tree and leaped away, pulling her hand free from his grip.
‘Disciple, why did you let her go? You had such a perfect chance to kill her!’
His master’s voice echoed in his mind.
“Haa!”
Sharv exhaled deeply and said,
“Sorry… I got distracted. This won’t happen again.”
He stood up. The girl had her guards up, she stared at Sharv with killing intent. Sharv now, looked at her eyes, and finally said,
“You want my seed? Humph! You’ve made a big mistake, tryi..."
But before Sharv could finish...
“Only a little time remains! Anyone without a seed after this will die!”
Death Hall Master’s loud voice echoed.
Hearing this, the girl’s expression changed dramatically. She needed a seed; but there was very little time left.
‘If I try to steal from him now, it’ll take too long.’
She shot Sharv one last sharp glance, then turned around and ran away. She realized that stealing from someone else would be easier than from Sharv.
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
Using her Frost-Leaf Glide technique, she fled.l, disappearing from his eyes like a shadow.
Sharv could only watch her flowing hair disappear. He wanted to kill her right then, but he knew he couldn’t catch her. Her speed was greater than his.
***
The time for the trial ended. The incense stick in Death Hall Master’s hand had completely burned out.
“Time is up! Do not move from your positions!”
Death Hall Master ordered, then signaled the black-clothed guards behind him.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The guards vanished swiftly.
Slish!
“Ahhh!”
Slash!
“No! No! I—Ahhh!!!”
Swish!
“Gwahhh!”
They started killing one participant after another, anyone who didn’t have a seed. Many had no seed, and very few had one.
Sharv watched calmly as death unfolded in front of him. He wanted to absorb their death prana into himself, by using Samavesh. But he couldn’t.
‘If I do it here, then everyone will see it.’
And with the Death Hall Master present, if he saw Sharv’s strange technique… who knew what would happen after?
The killing continued for a while. The last boy without a seed was slain.
“Congratulations to those who survived. You have successfully passed the first trial of the second stage of the Entrance Trials.”
Death Hall Master declared.
The remaining children those with a seed, stepped forward.
‘All the wildcard participants passed.’
Death Hall Master noted.
‘But…’
From the original 110 children, added with the wildcard participants, only 68 remained. All others were dead or had failed.
Death Hall Master took a long breath and said,
“Now we will move to our next trial!”
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