Step! Step!

  “...This path is really terrible...”

  Avantika’s soul had said that the road was dangerous, no one came or went through here—yet now Sharv was walking on that very path.

  Drrr!

  “Ugh?!”

  One of Sharv’s feet sank into the mud.

  He pulled it out, only to find that the road was full of hidden pits of mud and rocks beneath snow and soil.

  ‘I need to hurry…’

  Sharv quickened his pace. And after walking for a while, he finally found the cave.

  “So here it is…”

  From the outside, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary cave.

  “Let’s see if the herbs are here or not.”

  Sharv entered the cave.

  Inside, it was dark. Only a little light from the entrance faintly lit a small part of the cave.

  But Sharv didn’t mind, he kept moving forward. The darkness inside was complete.

  Sharv moved his hands along the walls, and soon he found a tree root clinging to the stone. He broke it off and lit it with some leaves, and stones.

  Shrrrr!

  The fire flared, lighting up the cave again, and Sharv continued deeper.

  After walking for some time, he noticed something.

  ‘What…?’

  The barren ground below was now covered with small plants. But how could such plants grow in a cave where sunlight never reached?

  The thought came to Sharv’s mind, but without pondering further, he went on.

  As he walked, he saw more and more plants, some large, some small. But so far, they were all the common plants he saw every day in the mountains.

  Still no sign of the Blue Rose Herb or anything resembling it.

  ‘?!’

  Then something fell to the ground in front of him. When he looked down, his eyes widened in shock.

  There lay a human skeleton. And when he looked closely, he saw not one but many scattered skeletons.

  Does this mean some beast lives here?

  Sharv grew cautious. If a beast truly resided here, he should leave quickly or else risk his life.

  But he couldn’t leave without exploring the cave properly and searching for the herb.

  Taking a deep breath, he pressed on. Further inside, he began seeing strange plants and flowers.

  “Are these some kind of herbs too?”

  He only knew about the Blue Rose Herb other than that, he had no knowledge of herbs. Still, who knows? These might prove useful.

  Pluck! Pluck!

  He picked a couple of them.

  Their scent was like honey, their leaves pure white, and their roots small but pearl-like, shaped almost like carrots.

  Then he continued onward, feeling as though he was climbing upward somehow.

  Suddenly, he noticed a large opening in the cave wall. It was big enough for a man to crouch and walk through.

  Sharv paused to think, but in the end…He didn’t enter the hole. Instead, he continued forward.

  ‘I never know what might happen to me here…’

  Why take unnecessary risks?

  He kept walking, until suddenly, he stumbled upon an unbelievable sight. The cave had reached its end but…

  The ground was covered with countless flowers, plants, and herbs of different kinds.

  Most of them he had never seen before. But Sharv didn’t care about any of those. He only sought one thing.

  The Blue Rose Herb.

  If he found it here, it would be wonderful. If not, at least these other herbs might prove useful or he could sell them for money.

  Just then, his fire burned out, and darkness swallowed the cave once again.

  He scraped the wall for another dry root, broke it off, and lit it. With light again, he began plucking one sample of every herb he could see.

  Pluck! Pluck! Pluck! Pluck! Pluck! Pluck!

  Soon, he had at least six or seven herbs, all completely different from each other.

  But…

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  “None of these are Blue Rose Herbs, are they?...”

  He searched carefully, but nothing matched the description Varsha had given him.

  “Haa!”

  He exhaled sharply.

  Perhaps the Blue Rose Herb truly was extremely rare. That’s why he couldn’t find it here either. But still he has these other herbs, what they might be of some use?

  Sharv began retracing his steps back.

  Step! Step!

  On his way out, he saw the same hole again. He hadn’t found the herb, so should he enter it this time?

  He thought for a while. He had reached the end of the cave already, and yet he had encountered no beast.

  So perhaps, if there had been one, it had long since left. He turned his steps toward the hole.

  Step! Step!

  Crouching slightly, he slipped inside. As he entered, a strange feeling came over him, but he pressed forward.

  After walking for some time, he saw a figure. Someone was sitting with their back facing him.

  ‘What’s this?’

  Could someone actually be living here?

  Sharv crept forward carefully and stood right behind the seated figure. The person made no movement.

  Sharv slowly placed his hand on the man’s shoulder, when suddenly...

  Crack!

  ‘What?’

  Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

  The man’s body crumbled, and Sharv realized, he was already long dead. The cracking sound was of his bones breaking apart.

  Sharv looked around, searching for the man’s spirit. Maybe it was trapped here?

  But the cave was empty. Even here, no spirit appeared.

  That meant his soul must have already departed, perhaps because he had no lingering regrets, moving on to his next life?

  Then Sharv looked ahead and saw an ancient Shivling. The man must have been meditating while gazing at it.

  And beneath the Shivling, on the ground, Sharv spotted something an old book. He picked it up. The title read:

  “The Wall Between Spirit and Man.”

  Sharv flipped through the pages and tried to read them. The book was written in Sanskrit.

  To be more precise, in Vedic Sanskrit a form barely used in current times.

  But Sharv could read and understand Vedic Sanskrit, because both his mother and his uncle had taught him, his mother in his early childhood, and his uncle some years later.

  “This book has been compiled by combining knowledge from the world's most ancient texts, particularly concerning spirits… It will attempt to explain the relation between the soul and human beings, etc and also… the methods to control a spirit.”

  ‘!!!’

  If what was written in it was true, then it would be of immense benefit to Sharv.

  Why?

  Because he could see spirits, hear them, and even converse with them something no ordinary human could do.

  He knew spirits could be immensely useful, and if he learned to control one, perhaps he could become slightly strong.

  Even if it doesn't means real muscle strength, so what? In real fight, who wins that all matters!

  He carefully tucked the book inside his clothes and turned to leave. After a short while, he emerged from the crevice and returned to the cave.

  Straightening his back, he thought he hadn’t expected to find something like this here.

  So what if he didn’t get the Blue Rose herb?

  Now, Sharv had obtained something far more precious. With a satisfied smile, he began walking towards the cave’s exit.

  However...

  ‘?!’

  He felt something behind him. His eyes widened.

  Sharv was rarely caught off guard, but now he had to be. For when he turned back, he saw three light blue coloured wolves.

  Grrrr!

  The wolves stared at him, baring their sharp teeth.

  ‘But how?…’

  Sharv had checked the entire cave, even that mysterious hole, yet he hadn’t seen a single beast.

  Then where had these wolves come from?

  And what was even more shocking was that the wolves were much larger than normal ones.

  So large, in fact, that ordinary wolves would look like dogs in comparison. Sharv took a step back, then another.

  He thought that instead of fighting these wolves, it was wiser to escape. But the moment he took a third step back, all three wolves leapt at him.

  ‘Damn it!’

  Sharv didn’t stop. He turned and ran.

  Thump! Thump!

  Sharv was running, and the wolves were chasing right behind him.

  At first there was quite some distance between them, but soon that gap began to close.

  ‘Looks like I’ll have to take down one or two before I can escape.’

  Sharv, then threw the fire he had in his hand onto the ground, extinguishing it.

  Darkness once again spread throughout the cave. Only the glowing eyes of the wolves remained, searching for him.

  Tak!

  A noise echoed something had moved. The wolves pounced toward it, only to find a small stone that had fallen.

  But then...

  “Ugh!”

  With a groan, Sharv lifted a large rock and hurled it at one of the wolves’ heads.

  Tak!

  The heavy rock struck directly, crushing its skull, and splating it's blood and brain matter outside on ground.

  Seeing this, the other two wolves hesitated, stepping back in fear.

  But just then, Sharv lept behind one of the two wolves, and then grabbed one of their tail.

  “Agh!”

  Sharv pulled hard, the veins in his arms bulging.

  The wolf sensing something on his tails began to growl and tried to kick back, but then sharv swung the wolf sideways.

  Paaaak!

  The wolf crashed against the cave wall. The intensity at whish he got slammed was very great.

  Sharv was just about to think about the third wolf when...

  Swing!

  “Ahhh!”

  The wolf slashed his back with its claws.

  Drip! Drip!

  Blood began to drip from the wound.

  Sharv quickly reached inside his clothes, checking the condition of the book and herbs he had taken.

  Relief washed over him, they were undamaged.

  He turned toward the third wolf, which was staring back at him.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Sharv noticed the wolf he had slammed into the wall—it wasn’t dead, merely unconscious.

  Which meant it could get back up at any moment.

  ‘I need to end this quickly…’

  The wolf in front of him lunged, swiping its claws. Sharv dodged, but he couldn’t keep it up for long.

  He kept doging for some time but, then the wolf snapped its jaws, aiming to bite him.

  GROARRR!

  The beast roared and lunged, its sharp fangs flashing. This time it was too fast, Sharv couldn’t dodge.

  But then, he acted.

  Grab!!

  He caught the wolf’s open jaws with both hands, forcing them apart, stopping its bite.

  The wolf thrashed wildly, clawing at him.

  Growl!

  The wolf tried to chop off Sharv's hands with his fangs, but shrav had extraordinary strength with him.

  Seeing that the wolf was helpless, he swung it's claws.

  Swing! Swing!

  Its claws slashed into his shoulders and arms.

  Drip! Drip!

  Blood trickled down, but Sharv ignored it, tightening his grip.

  ‘Just a little more…’

  Rumble! Rumble!

  But then—the unconscious wolf, which he had slammed began to stir. If it also joined and attack Sharv now then he'll be dead.

  ‘No…’

  He had to finish this now. Sharv gritted his teeth, and summoned all his strength.

  The jaw of the wild was strong, but not stronger than Sharv's strength.

  And just then...

  Tear!!!

  The wolf’s jaws began to year apart under the pressure of his grip. Blood began to drip, the wolf screamed in agony.

  The beast sensed danger, fear flashing in its eyes. It lashed out, clawing harder, but Sharv didn’t relent.

  Finally...

  Crack! Tear!!!

  The wolf’s upper and lower jaws snapped apart, breaking entirely, as if they had never been one.

  The creature writhed in agony and then collapsed, twitching and bleeding horribly, until it died.

  Sharv let the body drop.

  “Huff! Huff!”

  He himself was in bad shape—his shoulders and arms bleeding heavily from the struggle.

  His arms were numb, he needed rest, but there was still the other wolf left. Sharv can't even lift his hand completely, because of the strength he just used there.

  If he didn't had that physical strength, then he would have been dead, like those skeleton on the ground.

  The second wolf which was unconscious, woke up Sharv looked at it, he saw fear in its eyes.

  Trembling, the wolf turned and fled deeper into the cave. Sharv exhaled in relief. He sat down for a moment, catching his breath.

  “Ha!”

  He let out a sigh and examined his wounds. They were deep, but nothing too serious.

  Still, once he returned home, he would have to get them properly treated. Thinking this, he rose and walked towards the cave’s exit.

  As he left, a faint chuckle escaped his lips.