‘Sorry to say, but using or cultivating that energy require prana.’

  “Uh?”

  Sharv who was overjoyed by this, thinking he couldn't finally make up for his lacking of internal energy.

  Become sad again after hearing from Vijay.

  ‘You need Prana... Internal energy, you need it.’

  “...are you telling truth?”

  ‘Of course. Why would I lie to you? Just think about it yourself, without prana how would you cultivate it; use it in the first place?’

  “Is there no other way?”

  ‘Definately not, you Internal Energy; Prana in order to cultivate it. Cuz it is the ultimate life force, without it you can't cultivate it.’

  “Tch! Doesn't that means this energy is completely useless in my body?”

  ‘Yea... You can say that.’

  Sharv was angry, he wanted to ask the heavens just why the fuck they couldn't give him a internal energy.

  But he composed himself.

  “Haa!”

  He has lived 18 years without internal energy, he shouldn't be angry. It could be his fate only.

  ‘But still... There's no problem in trying right?’

  Sharv sat down on the ground in the cross-legged posture, and started cultivating.

  ‘What are you trying to do?’

  “Can't you see? Prana Cultivation... Don't disturb me.”

  ‘Tch!’

  Vijay wanted to say that it's completely useless. But he didn't.

  He didn’t even remember how many years it had been since he had last sat like this.

  Since childhood, he could never contain the prana within himself, so he didn’t even know what that feeling was supposed to be like.

  Something that only females had and almost very little men possessed. And now it was inside Sharv’s body, but he can't use it?

  Thinking of this, his focus to atleast try it once got even high.

  Just as he had read in books, and seen others circulate their prana, he too began to try the same.

  ‘A long breath in… empty the mind… focus on mainly on Muladhara (Root) Chakra…’

  Sharv followed this, inhaling and exhaling, focusing his mind.

  At first, he felt the same emptiness inside himself as always, as if there was no prana in him at all.

  But he didn’t stop—he continued meditating. And then suddenly...

  ‘!!!’

  He actually felt something!

  From his lower abdomen, he sensed a coldness. That sensation was completely new to him, something he had never experienced before.

  Slowly the cold energy tried to go upward from his charkric cycle from his left side, but in between it stopped.

  ‘?!’

  Sharv couldn't understand why?

  Just then, the coldness that he was feeling disappeared.

  “…uh?!”

  But...

  He felt somewhat changed, and even noticed a very faint stench from his body.

  ‘So...What happened?’

  “That… that lunar enegry... coldness just left my body… it went away into the air.”

  ‘Yeah! That's because, first of all that coldness, Lunar energy is originally not yours. It was mine. So to make it yours and use it, you can it harmonize it with your body.’

  ‘‘...’’

  ‘And for harmonizing it, you need to cultivate internal energy; prana.’

  “and I don't have that...”

  ‘...yes’

  Then suddenly Vijay remembered something and said...

  ‘Ah! Wait...There is another way...’

  Sharv looked at him and asked.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “What way?”

  ‘If you begin cultivating Death Prana, then perhaps…’

  “Death prana… Are you really trying to kill me?”

  ‘No. No. What i mean is that, since you don't have life prana, then what about death prana?’

  “No... Leave it, I'd rather live without prana lifelong, then dying right now.”

  Sharv completely denied it.

  And so, the two of them continued walking again—Sharv leading while reading his book, and Vijay following silently behind.

  They were climbing the snowy mountain, their destination now not far away.

  ***

  The sun had almost set, the evening was about to end, and another cold night was about to arrive.

  After reaching back home, Sharv hid the book The Wall Between Spirit and Man inside his clothes.

  ‘Is this your house?’

  “Yes, and not really.”

  Vijay didn’t understand what Sharv meant. But seeing Sharv going inside, he too entered the house.

  Once inside, he glanced toward his sister, who was lying on the bed. She was resting.

  But…

  ‘Where is Varsha?… Did she run away?’

  No, her she was wounded, and her legs were too weak and shaky from exhaustion. Running away was impossible for her in such short time.

  Srrrh! Srrrh!

  But just then he heard weird sound from another room.

  When he went near and opened the door, he saw...

  The room was filled with white smoke.

  And in the middle of that smoke sat Varsha, with a pot in front of her, cooking something.

  When she heard the door creak open, she turned back and saw Sharv standing there.

  Sharv asked her,

  “What on earth are you doing?”

  “…You came. You, cough! really, cough! cough! took your time coming, didn’t you?”

  “Answer my question. What exactly are you doing?”

  “…cough! cough! I was making a pill.”

  “A pill?”

  Sharv raised an eyebrow.

  He had heard of martial arts pills and other elixirs, which were said to do many things for martial artists, granting them prana equal to years of cultivation, boosting their powers, healing their wounds, and so on.

  But Sharv’s mind was stuck on one question:

  But what kind of pill is she making?Before Sharv could ask, Varsha said,

  “… Don’t worry. I’m not making anything deadly. Just a simple healing a pill that can heal my leg injury quickly. I need to leave this place as soon as possible, so I must recover quickly.”

  Still, Sharv didn’t fully trust her words and continued watching her with suspicious eyes.

  ’Ahh! Doesn’t this boy doubt others a little too much?…’

  Varsha carried on with her work, making the pill. Soon she finished. The pill was green in color.

  After making it, Varsha swallowed it. Then she sat down in cross legged and began digesting the pill.

  ‘I think that’s just a normal healing pill, the kind that helps heal the body internally and externally.’

  Vijay said, looking at her.

  And sure enough, some of the smaller wounds on her body's leg began closing.

  Sharv also felt a slight rise in her internal energy, very little, but it was there. After some more time, Varsha opened her eyes and stood up.

  And she found Sharv staring at her. She asked him.

  “So, tell me, did you find the Blue Rose herb?”

  ‘Blue Rose herb?… Oh! So that’s why you went into that cave. But finding that herb isn’t child’s play.’

  Sharv ignored Vijay’s words and said to Varsha...

  “No, I didn’t find the Blue Rose herb…”

  “See! Didn’t I tell you already? Finding it is not easy at all, you wasted your time. Tch! tch!… It would’ve been better if you had just stayed with your sister and taken care of her instead of being so stubborn…”

  She kept going on with her lecture, but then Sharv spoke,

  “I didn’t find the Blue Rose herb, but I did find something else instead.”

  From inside his pockets and clothes, he pulled out 7–8 herbs.

  ‘?!’

  Varsha looked at them, and her eyes and mouth opened wide in shock.

  “W-Where on earth did you get these?!”

  “…Why, are they useless?”

  “No! Not at all…these…these…”

  She couldn’t even finish her words.

  Because in front of her, Sharv had placed herbs that left her dizzy just by looking at them.

  Brown Healing Herb.

  Tree Bark Herb.

  White Honey Plant.

  And more...

  These herbs weren’t as rare or as precious as the Blue Rose herb, but obtaining them was still extremely difficult.

  And here he had brought 7–8 rare herbs, all of different types.

  Even vijay shouted at full speed,

  ‘Huh?! You’re calling these useless?! Do you even know what these are?!’

  Sharv ignored him and asked Varsha,

  “…Tell me, will these help my sister heal faster?”

  “Ah! Yes!…Yes, they will!”

  Varsha replied quickly.

  “...Then it's alright.”

  She still couldn’t understand how Sharv had managed to get them.

  Greed began to rise in her mind. After all, what physician wouldn’t be tempted seeing such rare herbs?

  She asked Sharv,

  “Listen, can you…give me just one of these herbs?”

  “Not at all.”

  Sharv replied directly, but Varsha insisted,

  “Ahh! Please, at least give me one. I’ve been helping your sister so much… can’t you give me even one?”

  “I already said no. Forget that, just tend to these wounds of mine.”

  He pulled away the cloth on his arm and shoulder, and back showing the injuries he had received while fighting those wolves.

  But Varsha stopped and said,

  “No! I won’t do it… not until you give me at least one of those herbs. I've been helping you yet you can't give me one herb?”

  “What?..”

  Sharv thought for a while.

  He had no intention of giving her the herbs, but seeing her so desperate and eager, he placed an offer before her.

  “Fine. I’ll give you not one, but two herbs. But… in return, you’ll have to do something for me.”

  “For you… do something? But what?…”

  Varsha thought.

  Something for him? What could it be? After all, she had already cared for his sister and treated her wounds.

  And Sharv’s own wounds weren’t deep enough that he couldn’t heal them himself, or even if he didn’t, it wouldn’t be life-threatening.

  ‘…So what does he even want?’

  She looked at Sharv while thinking. She bit her index finger lightly with her teeth as she pondered.

  Then her eyes drifted to the window. She saw that night had already fallen, and the cold was settling in.

  Remembering the previous night, she felt a shiver run through her body.

  ‘…If only there were some warmth tonight…’

  Suddenly, a thought struck her.

  Cold night? Warmth?

  And then this boy asking her to do ‘something’ for him, after she had already done so much for him.

  So what else could it be?

  ‘Does he want… have se—N-no…’

  Yes, Sharv’s face was handsome, and his build was impressive compared to boys of his age.

  But Varsha wasn’t ready for such a thing.

  Sharv spoke.

  “Look, it’s nothing difficult. You just have to…”

  Before he could finish, Varsha trembled, clutched her body tightly, she stepped back and said to him.

  “I-I can’t do that…”

  Sharv frowned and said.

  “...But I haven’t even told you yet what it is I want…”

  “I-I know what you want. But I’m not that kind of girl. I won’t give my body away for a herb! I’m a martial artist too, not some prostitute! Keep your offer to yourself! I’ll never do it!!!”

  “...What the hell are you talking about?”

  “…I know what you mean. All boys are the same. But I won’t sell my body!”

  Sharv stared at her after a while he opened his mouth.

  “When did I ever ask for your body? What I was about to say was, if you want two of these herbs, then you’ll have to teach me your medical and alchemy knowledge.”

  “W-What?”

  “Yeah...Your medical and alchemy knowledge.”

  Varsha's her face showing a strange expression. She had completely misunderstood because of her overthinking.

  ‘…Fuck! It's so embarrassing!’

  Thinking this, she turned away and hid her flushed face from Sharv’s eyes.

  But Sharv’s face showed no change of expression, just as always calm, and his eyes emotionless.