In the beginning of, ‘The Wall Between Spirit and Man’, there was nothing particularly extraordinary written.
It only gave basic information about spirits and their world—things that some people could already learn from stories, folklore or through the teachings of monks, tantriks, local Shaman or other spiritual masters.
So Sharv couldn’t understand; why would Vijay sacrifice his and his disciples life, just to save a book?
That was the question Sharv wanted an answer to. And In the end...He did found the answer.
Because when he had read halfway through, starting from the fifth chapter, the book revealed things that even Sharv himself was astonished to see and read.
It described powers that went far beyond human capabilities.
One of them was called Samavesh(1)
A power through which a person could attract any object of this world towards themselves. And the biggest advantage of this was that, to use it a person does not requires prana.
Only the correct chant; the correct mantra is required that's all. No prana, no internal energy.
And so Sharv wondered,
‘If anything can be drawn towards oneself with this, then… can a spirit also be drawn?’
***
Vijay understood that technique the moment he saw it,
‘Y-you used the power of Samavesh?!’
“...”
‘And in just one try?...But how?!...You only read that book once, and then you burned it! Then how did you manage?!’
Sharv himself didn’t understand what Vijay was talking about.
Yes! He had read the book only once, but in that one reading, he had memorized most of the important things in it.
That’s why this power remained in his memory.
From childhood, since he was not qualified for martial arts, he gave time to other things. Because of this, his power to memorize things improved at a great extent.
“I succeed in one try? Humph! Look at this guard. I tried to attract its spirit, after hitting his heart's vital point. He’s dead, but even then, his spirit could not be drawn out by the power of Samavesh. Isn't that a failed attempt”
Vijay raised his voice?
‘Are you mad?! How can you say your attempt failed?! You’ve already succeeded!!’
“What?! I succeeded? Then why didn’t that man’s spirit come out?”
Vijay hesitated for a moment, but then explained:
‘Because a spirit is not an object of your world. Remember, the book said you can attract anything from this world. By this world, it meant the human world. Your world—not the world of spirits. Your power of Samavesh can only pull things that belong to your world, not from the outside world.’
“I see…”
Now he understood why he had failed to pull the man’s spirit out. As he was thinking this over, Vijay said,
‘Anyway, please don't tell anyone about this, please.... This power needs to be away from normal people!’
“Yeah! Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about it. We have our agreement.”
‘Sigh! By the way shouldn’t you be moving ahead? That girl named Varsha must have already slipped inside the village by now.’
“Oh, right! let’s move ahead. We’ll continue this talk later.”
‘Fine, but hey...’
Before Vijay could finish, Sharv pulled him back into the sacred thread.
‘At least let me finish what I was saying, you asshole!’
Sharv smirked and replied,
“Oh? So you even know how to curse. I thought teachers never used foul language.”
‘We are humans too, you know. Sometimes it just slips out.’
“But you’re a spirit.”
‘…’
Sharv chuckled lightly and went on,
“Anyway, continue what you were about to say. I’m listening.”
‘Yes… so, that time you couldn’t draw out the guard’s spirit. But you did manage to draw something else out.’
“What? What did I pull out of him?”
‘Prana.’
‘!?’
‘Yes, Prana’
Prana—internal energy?
The very thing he lacked most in his body… and he had drawn it out from that man? But how is this possible?
Because prana is a life force of all the living beings, which is present in the living beings from their start to end.
Scholars say that, prana—internal energy could neither be created nor be destroyed. Only increased by rigorous cultivating methods.
Prana is just present in the universe from it's very beginning.
But pulling Prana from someone else's body? That's something that Sharv has never heard or read about.
And that was the most shocking part, for him.
‘But the pra...’
“An intruder has entered! Everyone, attack!!!”
Suddenly a loud voice rang out. It sounded like one of the bandits shouting.
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Sharv murmured to himself,
“Looks like Varsha’s been spotted by the bandits.’’
He started running faster.
***
“Now who has come to our hideout?! There’s never any peace here, always someone barging in!”
A large, muscular man growled as he rose from his bed.
This man was none other than Abhimanyu, the chief of the White Frost Bandits.
As Abhimanyu sat up, a panicked bandit burst into his chamber and cried out,
“C-Chief, a big problem has come up!”
“What kind of problem?”
“A…an intruder is cutting down our men.”
“An intruder? Who is it?”
“I-It’s… it’s a girl.”
“What? A girl?!”
The bandit lowered his head in shame, unable to say anything more. Abhimanyu lay back down on his bed and muttered,
“You shits deal with her yourselves. Don’t call me out for these petty matters.”
“B-But… Chief…”
“Tch! What days have come to this, huh? We're fucking bandits! And now we're trembling before a single girl? You fucking weaklings!!!”
“C-Chief… t-that girl is very strong. I-In just some clashes she completely wiped out... t-three of our groups.”
‘…!’
Three groups?
Each group had at least eight men. Who are extremely stronger than an average person.
That meant the girl had already slaughtered at least twenty-four of his bandits.
Currently, the White Frost Bandits had nineteen groups. At their peak they had twenty, but one group had once chased after a girl to capture her—only to vanish without ever returning.
Abhimanyu had already considered them dead. And now again, a girl had launched a direct assault on their hideout itself, and in moments had crushed three groups.
‘Could it be… the same girl?’
As the thought flashed in his mind, the chief rose from his bed and strode toward the exit. He ordered the bandit,
“Take me to where that girl is fighting the others.”
Abhimanyu and the bandit stepped outside the house and moved in the direction where the loudest clash and uproar echoed.
From afar, Abhimanyu could already feel an overwhelming presence of internal energy and her murderous intent.
***
Slash! Slash! Slash!
She was cutting down bandits one after another with her blade, not even winded, not a scratch upon her.
Because of that, her movements remained sharp, her strikes merciless.
“This damned girl!”
A bandit roared. He rushed at Varsha, swinging his sword down at her.
Clang!
But Varsha blocked it with her own blade. Without wasting even a heartbeat.
Pak!
She kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him sprawling, and then,
Slash!
Sliced off both his arms.
“Aahhhh!”
The bandit screamed, writhing in unbearable pain, until at last he died there in the dirt.
“Hmph! Such weaklings…”
Varsha flicked the blood off her sword and looked around.
More bandits were gathered around her, ready to strike, but she didn’t flinch. She knew she could cut them down just as easily.
Only one thought worried her—their chief.
She had heard rumors that the White Frost Bandits’ leader was a man of terrifying strength, one who had once slain an elephant with his bare hands.
“I won’t be able to defeat him alone. I’ll need Sharv’s help.”
Varsha muttered under her breath.
Sharv had a strong body too, and if the two of them fought together, perhaps they could bring the chief down.
Swish
‘..!’
While she was thinking, an arrow whistled toward her.
She twisted her head aside just in time, narrowly avoiding it.
“Keep firing! Don’t go near her, she’s Dangerous! Attack from a distance!”
More arrows rained down upon Varsha.
Some she sliced in midair with her blade, others gazed past her body parts like hands, cheeks, waist, and elbow missing by mere inches.
But she couldn’t dodge them all, one or two arrows scraped against her waist, and elbow drawing blood.
“Tch! Cowards! If you’re a man, face me head-on!”
Varsha roared, but of course the bandits would not.
They weren’t warriors bound by honor, they were thieves and killers who preyed with cowardice and cunning.
If they fought by the code of martial artists, they wouldn’t be bandits at all.
“Keep firing!”
Swish! Swish! Swish!
‘Ugh! Looks like I’ll have to use that…’
Varsha loosened her grip slightly on the hilt of her sword.
‘Eclipse Sword Art: Solar Shroud.’
Whoosh!
Her body surged forward at terrifying speed, a blur rushing into the cluster of bandits.
Swish!
In a single strike, five heads flew from their shoulders, tumbling to the ground as fountains of blood sprayed across the dirt.
Seeing this some bandits took a step back.
Varsha's speed had risen to such an extreme that none of the bandits could even follow her movements with their eyes.
“W-What…what is this?”
“Th-This girl…just who is she?”
The remaining bandits, shaken to their core by her display of power, stumbled back a few steps in fear.
A bandit saw Chief Abhimanyu approaching. He quickly ran to him and said,
“C…Chief, please help us…”
But before he could say anything else,
Grab!
Chief grabbed the man’s head with his huge hand.
“Useless, all of you!”
The Chief shouted and began crushing the bandit’s skull with his grip.
Grip! Crack! Crack!
“C-Chief!… No… Aghhhh!”
The bandit’s eyes widened in fear, tears streaming down his face.
Crush!
The Chief crushed his skull with sheer force; his blood along eyes and brain matter spilled out onto the ground.
Thud!
Seeing their comrade’s crushed head and mangled body, the other bandits trembled.
They knew their Chief’s rage well. But this much?
“…He’s here.”
Varsha spoke, but not while looking at the Chief—she was looking behind him.
Because, from behind the Chief, Sharv was rushing forward.
Varsha shouted.
“Sharv! The one standing before you, body as strong as a beast—he is their Chief!”
Sharv stopped in his tracks and looked at the Chief. The Chief’s body was as strong as a bear’s, but…
“Is he really their Chief?”
Sharv whispered.
Because, unlike the leaders of other bandit groups, who possessed some amounts of internal energy, this Chief’s internal energy seemed rather... low to Sharv.
Hearing Varsha’s voice, Chief Abhimanyu also looked at Sharv. His brows furrowed.
Before him stood only an eighteen-year-old boy, and he couldn’t sense even a shred of internal energy from him.
The Chief was still pondering this when,
Bam!
Varsha dashed forward, slipping past the stunned bandits, and launched her attack on the Chief.
‘Eclipse Sword Art: Twin Horizon!’
Slash! Slash!
With her sword, Varsha unleashed two powerful sword trajectory toward the Chief.
Tak!
“Ugh!”
But the Chief blocked both with his massive arms.
His arms were left with shallow wounds, and he was forced a few steps back.
‘Ah! His body truly is monstrous!’
Varsha appeared composed on the outside, but inside she was exhausted. After defeating bandit after bandit, and using two martial arts moves, fatigue was setting in.
She realized—only by fighting together with Sharv could they defeat this Chief.
Sharv carefully watched Varsha’s movements; it was his first time seeing her fight.
And he realized, this girl was incredibly strong.
As he thought this, Varsha called out.
“Sharv! Listen, if we fight him together, we can defeat him easily!”
Sharv was just about to reply.
But then...
“Wahahahah! Girl, I see—your swordsmanship is quite interesting. Fighting you will be fun!”
The Chief shouted and said loudly in the area so that everyone could hear him,
“Listen, White Frost Bandits! No one interferes in my fight with this girl!”
The Chief declared.
The remaining bandits obeyed without question. They were certain their Chief would defeat her.
Varsha turned to Sharv.
“Listen, let's strike toge...”
Bam!
But before she could finish, Chief Abhimanyu charged at her, launching an attack.
“In battle, one must never take their eyes off the opponent, girl!”
Bang!
“Ughhh!!”
Crash!
Varsha was hit by his massive fist. The force sent her crashing back.
Thud!
“Aghh!!”
She managed to withstand the blow, but its intensity was overwhelming.
Varsha tried to stand again, but her hands were numb from the impact.
Grip!
She could barely lift her sword. The Chief looked at Sharv and sneered,
“Boy, I don’t know who you are. Consider yourself lucky, I’m letting you go. Leave now, or else, in the chaos of battle, you might die too! Wahahaha!”
Sharv looked at the Chief and asked, “Do you know the Black Spear King?”
‘..!!’
Cheif Abhimanyu raised his brows.
“You… how do you know about him?...Ah! I understand now! Wahahaha! Life is truly strange.”
Sharv didn’t understand what the Chief was saying, but his next words made his blood boil.
“You must be connected to that middle-aged man the Black Spear King was hunting for. What was his name again? Can’t recall—Ah, yes! Harshvardhan Aditya Sahay. The Black Spear King had been searching for him for a long time. I’m sure he killed that Harshvardhan like a dog. I don’t know how you escaped the Black Spear King’s grasp, but...hehehehe, coming here was your greatest mistake…”
“…”
“…I’ll capture you alive and hand you over to the Black Spear King. I’m sure he’ll pay a fortune in exchange for the relative of man he was hunting for so long! Wahahah! All of you, seize the boy alive!”
Fury flared within his whole body. Through his face was calm and eyes emotionless.
Harshvardhan Aditya Sahay—that was his uncle’s name.
Shing! Clink! Clench!
The other bandits slowly raised their weapons and slowly advanced toward Sharv.
Step! Step! Step!
He didn't had any internal energy and felt an easy target to them.
At that moment, Sharv spoke to Vijay:
“Vijay, start killing all these other bandits. Leave not a single one alive.”
Vijay emerged from the sacred thread and looked toward the approaching bandits. He asked Sharv,
‘Will you handle the Chief yourself? He looks quite strong.’
“…Don’t worry about him, I'll rip apart his body myself.”
1. SAMAVESH (??????) -
