‘Eh? This boy… has lunar energy?’

  ‘…!!’

  For a moment, Sharv’s heart began to pound violently. He hadn’t expected that spirit to figure it out.

  ‘No… calm down… calm down!’

  Somehow, he forced his racing heart to settle and continued lying still on the bed, pretending to sleep.

  The spirit of the middle-aged woman hovered above Sharv, staring at him intently.

  ‘Don’t tell me I sensed a trace of negativity within this boy’s lunar energy. Tch! What a waste of time!’

  She muttered to herself and drifted away.

  Whoosh!

  Sharv felt her spirit leave the room but even then, he didn’t move an inch.

  ***

  ‘She’s left this hallway… Ah! Looks like she’s exited this entire floor.’

  Five minutes later, Vijay’s voice echoed inside Sharv’s mind.

  Vijay was capable of sensing negative energy and spirits throughout the entire floor.

  Even so, Sharv didn’t open his eyes. He merely shifted slightly on the bed, continuing to pretend he was asleep.

  Spirits did not belong to the physical world they could freely pass through walls and objects of the human realm.

  ‘What if she suddenly comes back through the lower floor…?’

  That single thought kept Sharv tense and alert.

  ***

  ‘That spirit is no longer here.’

  Almost fifteen minutes later, Sharv’s master spoke. Only then did Sharv open his eyes and sit up.

  Among Sharv, Vijay, and his master, the one with the widest range of perception over spirits was Sharv’s master, followed by Vijay, and lastly, Sharv himself.

  Sharv got up from the bed.

  Phew!

  He let out a long breath of relief and asked his master,

  “She’s really gone… right?”

  ‘Yes. She’s gone. You don’t need to worry.’

  His master’s sensing range for negative energy and spirits extended across nearly the entire building.

  “What rank was that spirit?”

  Sharv asked immediately. Before his master could respond, Vijay spoke first.

  ‘I think she was a Monstrous Spirit.’

  Sharv’s master snapped sharply:

  ‘Huh?! A Monstrous Spirit? Have you lost your mind? A spirit with that level of negative energy can’t be merely Monstrous. At the very least, she was a Mythical Spirit or somewhere between Monstrous and Mythical!’

  Vijay immediately tried to argue back.

  ‘Eh? But based on what I felt—’

  ‘Humph! And what does your feeling amount to? Are you implying that I misjudged her? You lowly spirit?’

  Vijay clenched his jaw tightly.

  Ever since this woman had appeared alongside Sharv, she had constantly referred to Vijay as a lowly spirit, something Vijay absolutely despised.

  But he couldn’t say anything. Her rank was higher than his. She was stronger.

  No matter how much he wanted to protest, he was bound by his circumstances. He had plenty he wanted to say but reality left him powerless.

  “…between Monstrous and Mythical…”

  Sharv murmured.

  That spirit’s negative energy; Lunar Energy (Shakti Energy) and Death Prana was extremely dense. At the very least, it rivaled that of the Death Hall Master.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Spirits like that are incredibly rare. I think she sensed Master’s negative energy and came closer, hoping to kill and absorb her Death Prana and become even stronger.”

  Sharv said thoughtfully.

  ‘Yes, you may be right.’

  ‘I agree.’

  Neither Vijay nor Sharv’s master objected. That explanation made the most sense to them as well.

  ‘A Monstrous Spirit… if I could make her mine…’

  A dangerous thought crept into Sharv’s mind, the idea of turning that spirit into his Spirit Servant.

  There was no greed visible in his eyes, but the desire had already taken root in his heart.

  ‘No. No. Don’t think like that…’

  Sharv forcefully cast aside that temptation.

  There were far more important matters he needed to focus on right now.

  He glanced around the room and noticed a water pot resting in the corner.

  ‘First, I need to confirm that…’

  Taking a candle, Sharv walked over to the pot.L The water inside was clear enough to reflect his face perfectly.

  His gaze locked onto his eyes. They were emotionless. Not a single trace of human feeling could be seen or sensed within them.

  Sharv closed his eyes, then guided his internal energy;Prana toward the nadis connected to his eyes.

  Compared to other parts of the body, channeling Prana to the eyes was relatively easy.

  After a while, he opened his eyes again, and when he looked in the reflection...

  ‘?!’

  His eyes widened in shock.

  His eyes...They had turned crimson red.

  ‘So Vijay and Master were telling the truth back then… my eyes really have changed.’

  It was hard for Sharv to believe but now that he had seen it with his own eyes, he had no choice but to accept it.

  He turned to both his master and Vijay.

  “Do either of you know why my eyes became like this?”

  Both answered at the same time.

  ‘No…’

  ‘Not at all…’

  Hearing their replies, Sharv’s expression grew even more serious.

  Vijay was a teacher when he was alive, even if he wasn’t a martial artist, his knowledge far surpassed Sharv’s.

  And on the other hand, his master; that women is from the era before the current Kali Yuga, she from the Dwapara Yuga and a true Martial Master. She possessed vast amount of knowledge and experience.

  Yet even she knew nothing about the mystery behind his red eyes...

  ‘Maybe… this has something to do with your family's bloodline...’

  Vijay said thoughtfully, he continued to explain,

  ‘For example, in the Northern Plains, there’s the Kashyap Clan where every descendant possesses an inheritable gene in their eye, that allows them to see others’ nadis in the human body and understand the flow of Prana.’

  “...”

  ‘And in the Western Desert, the Sisodia Clan has the innate ability to manipulate sand at their will, which is also passed down through their bloodline. So perhaps yours is similar…’

  Sharv’s master nodded, saying,

  ‘Yes. It’s possible that either your mother or father possessed eyes like these and you inherited them.’

  But Sharv lowered his head and replied quietly,

  “No. You’re both wrong. Neither my mother nor my father had eyes like these. In fact, no one in my entire family line ever did.”

  ‘…’

  ‘…’

  Silence filled the room.

  Both Vijay and Sharv’s master fell deep into thought. If this wasn’t an inherited bloodline trait—then what exactly is it?

  “Haa…”

  Sharv let out a long breath and stopped the flow of his internal energy; Prana toward his eyes. His eyes returned to how they were before.

  ‘As long as these eyes don’t become a problem to me, it’s fine. Otherwise…’

  He pushed that thought aside and focused on something else.

  “Now I have plenty of time, plus I'm alone. I can practice that martial art here, properly.”

  Sharv directed his awareness toward his nadis, that ran from his shoulders down his arms, through his forearms, wrists, and finally into his fingers.

  Once he identified those channels, he began guiding Prana from his chakra into those designated pathways.

  ’Yes, exactly like that. Let it flow smoothly...’

  His master said as she watched him.

  Sharv could feel the Prana flowing through his hands. At the beginning, guiding it through the correct channels was easy but the further it traveled, the harder it became.

  Slowly, the flow of Prana reached the nadis in his fingers.

  ‘That’s it! Now you can do it!’

  At her words, Sharv raised his left hand and shaped his fingers like the claws of a beast.

  Then...

  Thak!

  He lightly struck the wall.

  Crack! Crack!

  ‘?!’

  Cracks appeared on it, through which his fingers got inside the wall.

  ‘But… I didn’t even use that much force!’

  Sharv was stunned.

  If he could do this with this little strength, then with full power, he might be able to shatter the entire wall in four to five strikes.

  He was feeling happy when...

  ‘?!’

  He sensed the flow of Prana in his fingers slowing down.

  “Did I mess something up?”

  Sharv wondered, when his master’s voice reached him.

  ‘Disciple… this is enough for a beginning. You did very well for your first time. Now you just need to memorize the pathways of those nadis in your heart and mind. The more you use them, the easier it will become.’

  “…”

  ‘And one day will come when you won’t even need to focus on your nadis. You’ll be able to do it with a single thought, as if it is a default feature of your body.’

  “Really? I’ll be able to do that?”

  Sharv asked, pulling his hand away from the wall.

  ‘Humph! Of course. You’re my disciple. I’ll make you capable enough to do it.’

  She said proudly, laughing softly. Encouraged, Sharv asked,

  “Then can I learn more moves now?”

  ‘No. Not yet.’

  “But why?”

  ‘Right now, you should focus on improving your basics and strengthening your foundation. You can learn moves later, there’s no hurry.’

  “…”

  ‘Disciple, remember this well. Martial art technique's moves, formations, stances are meant to exhaust your opponent and weaken their strength. They help you win a fight…’

  “…”

  ‘But when it comes to killing someone; taking someone's life, then nothing is better than solid basics. Martial arts moves are most of the time predetermined. At the final moment, there’s little you can change. But when using pure basics, you can adapt them to time and circumstance. That’s why it’s better to focus on your fundamentals more than flashy moves, formations, or stances.’

  Sharv was silent, he listened carefully. This woman had years of experience in martial arts.

  She knew exactly what Sharv needed to focus on and what he didn’t. That would save both of them a great deal of time, allowing them to reach their goals much faster.

  “Alright… I’ll do exactly as Master says.”

  Sharv replied.

  Hearing this, his master was pleased. Sharv seemed quite mature in her eyes.

  ‘At least this boy isn’t making the same mistake I and almost everyone else did.’

  She thought.

  If it were anyone else, they would have mostly ignored the basics and rushed ahead. Because Martial art moves looks flashy and cool, while on the other hand basics and fundamentals were boring and very repetitive.

  ‘!!!’

  Suddenly, Sharv sensed something and turned around.

  Cut!

  But before he could react, a shallow cut appeared on his neck. A drop of blood flowed from it.

  ‘?!’

  He then felt something cold against his throat... A dagger. Small, but razor-sharp.

  Sharv couldn’t see the person standing behind him with the dagger, but by sensing their internal energy, and this dagger he knew exactly who it was.

  “Death Hall Master…”