[Ahahahahha!... I never thought someone would free me.]

  A horrifying voice spoke.

  [So many years… I don’t even know how long I was here… But now I'll be free… That’s it, enough. Now I just need a body, and look at my luck, a body is standing right in front of me.]

  That mysterious being was talking about Sharv.

  [Now, I just need to find a way to kill this child’s spirit from within.]

  ***

  When Sharv’s body closed its eyes, he found himself in a place. And this place was none other than… his home.

  Not the one he lives in now with his uncle, that home was made up by woods, but this one... it's built with bricks. It's the one—where he lived with his mother and father.

  “Me? How did I come back here?”

  He looked around.

  Yes, this was the same place where half of his childhood had passed, he also noticed that he was now a small kid not a late teenager.

  Then he suddenly heard a voice from behind:

  “Sharv…”

  The voice sounded very familiar to him. When he turned back, what he saw completely stunned him.

  “Mother?..”

  His mother was standing behind him. Beautiful, tall, wearing a red sari and her hands filled with light red bangles.

  She gestured for Sharv to come to her, and Sharv couldn’t stop himself, he ran toward her.

  “Mother!!!”

  It had been years since he last saw his mother.

  “What happened to you? Why do you look so sad today?”

  “…No, Mother, nothing happened to me. I just… I thought I was dreaming.”

  “Don’t worry… this is not a dream… come let's go for a walk...”

  Behind Sharv, in the corner of the room, stood a black figure. Its eyes were entirely white, and it was staring at Sharv.

  [This is… moving a little too slowly, isn’t it? Let’s speed things up…]

  Snap!

  And suddenly, before Sharv, it felt like a flood of memories burst forth.

  Many memories flashed by.

  It was as if time was passing very quickly. Most of those memories were of his mother, and a few of his uncle.

  Memories of his father were almost nonexistent. But it didn’t bother him.

  Some memories were good, some painful.

  The Black entity neede good memories, as many good memories there are it's easier to trap his consciousness within those good memories and kill him slowly.

  But if there a very big bad memory...

  Then that's even better, because if there's a very very immense bad memory within this kid, then killing his consciousness would become very easily.

  Memories kept flowing through, and one thing became clear, his mother had raised him with immense love and care.

  Time was flowing quickly, but he felt like he was slowly living through those memories.

  And soon, he found himself 8 years old again. And finally… that day came.

  ‘No… this can’t be…’

  “Sharv, your mother is no more…”

  Someone said to Sharv. He couldn’t see the face clearly, but he knew who it was. Yet he didn’t focus on that only the words struck him.

  Tears flowing down his eyes, he felt as if his spirit was broken from within. His mother who lived and cared for him, was dead.

  He felt hopeless.

  ‘Mother…is gone? Dead?...’

  [Hm. Well, that's a good, bad memory for this boy...Tch! Tch! I guess it’s time to finish off his consciousness. Once that’s done, his spirit will disappear on its own…]

  Consciousness—one of the most vital things of a human, the force that keeps him alive, and reveals much about his personality, habits and inner being.

  But if this very consciousness were to be destroyed?

  Then the human’s spirit itself would vanish, and he would die along with it.

  [Heheh!... I feel bad doing this, but I too am bound by my own compulsions…]

  The strange black figure said this and was about to vanish, when suddenly,

  Sharv turned his head back, this time his lifeless eyes gazing directly at the dark figure.

  And at once, the whole scene stopped.

  ’!!!’

  The figure trembled for a moment What just happened?

  [He?... He can see me?...]

  But he was an evil spirit—so how could this be? The 8-year-old Sharv asked the black figure in a cold tone,

  “…Was it you who did this?”

  The figure said nothing. Sharv asked again louder,

  “WAS IT YOU WHO DID THIS?!”

  The figure didn’t understand, but then he glanced back. And saw… behind him, at the door, stood a woman smiling.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  [Oh! So he was looking at her… I got scared for nothing. Damn…]

  Half his work here was done; now he had to leave and finish the rest elsewhere.

  Snap!

  The figure vanished.

  [Alright… now let’s see his consciousness and quickly kill i…What?!]

  He froze.

  Because in front of him appeared a strange sight.

  It was breathtakingly beautiful; a valley surrounded by mountains, completely covered in snow. The snow on the mountaintops carried a calming, serene energy.

  Even as an evil spirit, seeing this sight made the black figure feel… a little peace. He then saw the boy Sharv, standing amidst the snow.

  His eyes were closed.

  [Looks like… this is his consciousness…]

  The figure approached him and began to examine him… It studied him carefully from head to toe.

  [Huh?! What’s this… this human has not a single trace of internal energy;prana at all…]

  But how that could be?

  First time he saw sharv, he knew that this boy has less internal energy compared to other people.

  So the evil spirit though that must be because he was a normal person, and not a martial artist.

  But he was wrong.

  Because here, Sharv's entire body is completely empty; there is no internal energy at all!

  However even more shocking thing was that...

  If a person doesn't even have even a single trace of internal energy then how the fuck is it still alive?

  Humans have to first open their chakra, then could they start cultivating internal energy.

  Because of this many normal people who couldn't open their chakra for some reason are referred as ‘non-cultivators’ or ’people who don't have internal energy’.

  But the second statement is completely false, as every living being has some amount of internal energy in them, even if it's as small as as grain of salt; it is present in them.

  But Sharv... he has nothing in his body, no chakra, no internal energy, nothing!

  The Black figure couldn't believe what it was seeing, so he tried again to observe his consciousness.

  But this time, not from outside… he decided to look within, more deeper to get a better understanding.

  Placing his hand on the center of Sharv’s forehead, closed his own eyes and peered inside his consciousness.

  [A little deeper… a little more…]

  At first, he didn’t notice anything. But then…

  [What?!]

  What he saw shocked him.

  Because inside Sharv’s consciousness… there was another consciousness.

  But two consciousnesses co-existing in a single human? That was something he had never heard or seen before.

  [Is this even possible?]

  And within that second consciousness, he felt…

  [Death prana?...]

  But not just Dead prana… there was also:

  Lunar Energy

  Solar Energy

  But both Lunar (Shakti) and Solar (Shiva) energies existing together in a single body?

  That meant,

  [The unity of Shiva-Shakti energy?!]

  The unity of Shiva-Shakti meant the union of both 'Ida and Pingala(1)' Nadis.

  But this was not something an ordinary human could achieve.

  People spend lifetimes trying to unify them, even great sages fail, in the process, yet this…

  This was just an 18-year-old boy. And in his consciousness, it was already unified!

  [This consciousness…This body...I can never find a better body than this!]

  He resolved, he must have this second consciousness, no matter what.

  But then…

  ’!!!’

  What he saw shook his very soul!

  Inside that consciousness, there were other things:

  Hatred

  Rage

  Sorrow

  Pain

  Suffering

  Darkness

  Death

  Killing Intent

  And lastly... Nothingness.

  Seeing all this...made the spirit’s head spin.

  Even an evil spirit did not carry such overwhelming evil emotions in such vast measure.

  [Is this boy… even human?...]

  Now he began to doubt, had he touched something that was far beyond him?

  While he was lost in thought, something unbelievable happened.

  ’!!!!!!!!’

  That second consciousness inside the boy… opened its eyes. And looking at the black figure, it said:

  “Annoying...”

  At once, the Black figure's vision went dark. And he was forced out of the boy’s second consciousness.

  He returned to the first consciousness, lifeless and still, eyes closed.

  [Those… those eyes of the second consciousness?...]

  Now those eyes frightened him, eyes completely black, except for a single red eyeball at the center.

  Everything else was swallowed by darkness.

  [Asura!!!]

  No better word could describe it.

  On the other side, the first consciousness looked human.

  But that second consciousness…

  That was no human at all!

  [What… what on earth have I just witnessed!?]

  “What have you witnessed?”

  ‘!!!’

  The Black figure's eyes went wide in shock. Because the boy's consciousness has now opened his eyes.

  [But how?!]

  This made no sense.

  He was still inside the boy’s consciousness, yet the boy should still be trapped in illusion of his memories.

  Then how could his eyes open, inside his consciousness?

  For the second time, the spirit felt fear.

  Because the boy’s eyes that stared at him… carried no emotions. It was as though… those eyes weren’t even alive.

  Now the Black entity couldn't even differentiate if this was really this boy's first consciousness or his second consciousness?

  But at this moment, something else also snapped in his mind,

  [If his consciousness has returned…]

  That means that black figure is now in huge trouble.

  For a human, consciousness is not only necessary, but also extremely powerful.

  And if an evil spirit like that enters someone’s consciousness while they are awake, it’s no different than striking an axe on its own foot.

  [Th-this can’t be…]

  “Yes...Now I remember, you were also standing right there when I turned back and looked at that woman.”

  ‘!!!!!!’

  How did he find out about that black figure? This thought made that figure even more afraid.

  [I-I must run away from here…]

  It turned around and began running frantically like a madman.

  Seeing this, Sharv’s consciousness smiled and spoke:

  “...annoying.”

  ***

  Meanwhile, outside, Sharv’s body was still the same. Standing still like a puppet.

  But then, footsteps echoed nearby. From the bushes, a man stepped out, saw Sharv’s body, and smiled.

  “Finally, I’ve found this boy!”

  That man was a guard of the Five Lotus Sword Manor.

  In fact, all of the guards and martial artists of the manor were searching for Sharv.

  And this man was the first one to find him.

  ‘If I show his corpse to the manor mistress and the young master, then…’

  Praises and rewards were flooding his mind.

  Manor mistress Atikansha had warned every manor guard and Martial artists to not go after that boy, but some guards didn't followed her request. And secretly came here in search of the boy.

  “Hehe! Today is truly a lucky day for me!”

  He drew his sword and advanced toward Sharv.

  ‘Looks like he’s in some kind of trance.’

  How fortunate—now he could strike him down easily. That guard had never killed anyone before, but now it seemed this would become his first kill.

  He raised his sword and lunged at the figure.

  Swing!

  But just as he swung his sword toward Sharv, Sharv suddenly shifted to the side, dodging the strike that was meant to cut him down.

  He guard looked at him at shock and saw, Sharv's eye's opened again.

  Sharv had regained his consciousness.

  To him it felt as though no time had passed at all, but in reality much time had gone by.

  Now he could clearly sense the presence of enormous amounts of people around him.

  ‘There are some people nearby…’

  They were all men from the Five Lotus Sword Manor, looking him. He looked at the shocked guard in front of him and said:

  “Strange Spirit… kill everyone within fifty meters of me.”

  And then, something strange happened. Before Sharv, the figure of a tall, thin man appeared.

  On his face, just below his lips, was a mole. He was neither very young nor very old.

  His face was good looking, though nowhere near as handsome as Sharv’s. The figure spoke to Sharv:

  ‘My real name is Vijay Prakash Rai. Call me Vijay,bnot by the rank of my spirit.’

  “Yeah, yeah, alright Vijay. Now go and do what I said.”

  ‘Haa!’

  The spirit took a deep breath and vanished.

  The guard couldn’t understand what was happening, for he couldn’t see the spirit at all.

  But instead of paying attention to all this, he blew a loud whistle.

  ‘I thought I could handle this myself…’

  At the sound of the whistle, many men began moving in their direction.

  “Hmph!... Boy, I’m telling you, even now you have a chance—surrender and come quietly with me. Otherwise, more than fifteen men will soon arrive and drag you away in chains.”

  “...So what?”

  Hearing this, the guard’s anger flared. This boy didn’t even have internal energy, yet he was still so arrogant.

  But he suppressed his rage, because he knew he couldn’t capture him alone. He had to wait for reinforcements.

  He could already hear the footsteps of his men, they were getting closer. But then…

  “Kuak!”

  “Ahhhh!”

  “No… what, ahhh!”

  He heard the screams of many men.

  ‘W-what happened?!’

  The guard couldn’t understand. One after another, his comrades’ agonized cries echoed.

  ‘Did this boy do it?’

  No, he was standing right there, motionless. Then who?

  As he wondered, he suddenly felt a cold terrifying presence approaching him. Fear gripped him. But he couldn’t see what it was.

  “Y-you… what did you do?”

  He asked Sharv. Sharv smirked and said:

  "You don't need to know..."

  As soon as he said this,

  The spirit named Vijay struck his hand, which held a peacock feather, directly at the guard’s chest, and slashed his chest.

  “Kuak!”

  The man screamed in agony, blood was pouring out of his chest, but he couldn't see who has attacked him.

  Then again another cut appeared on his body, this time in his hands, and then in his face, and then in his throat.

  “Cough! Cough!”

  He coughed up blood, and died on the spot.

  Sharv had a satisfying smile on his face and looking at Vijay's spirit, holding the peacock feather.

  1. IDA & PINGALA (???? ?? ??????) -