The waterfall roared endlessly, its thunder echoing through the valley like the breath of something ancient and awake. Cold mist drifted through the air, clinging to skin and clothes, settling into hair and lashes. The ground beneath their feet was cracked and scarred—silent proof of the training that had already pushed them beyond their limits.
At the center of the clearing stood Skanda.
Calm.
Still.
Unshaken.
Opposite him, Lioran, Sharin, and Aishwarya stood in uneven stances, their bodies tired, their minds overwhelmed—not just by exhaustion, but by realization.
Lioran's gaze kept returning to one thing.
That transparent purple shield.
The way it had formed.
The way it had stopped Aishwarya's Flame Impact.
The way it had stored power… and returned it.
Something about it felt fundamentally different from everything he had learned so far.
Lioran took a slow breath.
"There's something different," he said.
Skanda glanced at him. "Different?"
"That shield," Lioran continued, choosing his words carefully. "I know it was made of Prāṇa. But the lightning inside it… that wasn't a Prāṇa attribute."
The waterfall seemed to grow louder.
Skanda turned fully toward him.
"You're right," Skanda said calmly. "Lightning is not a Prāṇa attribute."
Sharin's brows furrowed. "Then how did you create it?"
"Lightning," Skanda replied, "is not an attribute—but it can be produced using Prāṇa attributes."
Aishwarya crossed her arms. "Which ones?"
"Air and fire."
The three of them stiffened.
"How?" Lioran asked immediately.
Skanda lifted a finger.
"First," he said, "I accelerate air to an extreme velocity."
As he spoke, the mist around them subtly twisted, spiraling for just a moment before settling again.
"When air moves fast enough," Skanda continued, "friction is created."
He lifted a second finger.
"Then I increase the heat within that compressed air using fire attribute."
The temperature around them seemed to rise slightly.
"When heat reaches a critical threshold," Skanda said, "it converts into unstable energy. That energy discharges as sparks."
He lowered his hand.
"That is lightning."
Silence fell like a heavy curtain.
Lioran stared at him.
"You're saying…" Lioran said slowly, "…you did all of that in seconds?"
"Yes."
Sharin shook his head in disbelief. "That's not simple."
"For someone to achieve that level of control," Sharin continued, "they'd need years. Decades. Maybe an entire lifetime."
Aishwarya nodded. "That's not physical training anymore. That's understanding on a completely different level."
Skanda scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Oh, I'm not that special," he said. "Anyone can do it."
All three stared at him.
"Anyone?" Lioran repeated.
"Given enough effort," Skanda replied.
Sharin leaned toward Lioran and whispered, "Hey… how old do you think he is?"
Lioran glanced at Skanda. "I don't know… maybe forty?"
Skanda's head snapped toward them.
"WHO are you calling forty?!" he shouted. "I'm thirty-two!"
Lioran and Sharin froze.
"…Thirty-two?" they echoed.
Aishwarya blinked. "That's it?"
Skanda crossed his arms. "It's not that shocking."
The boys exchanged looks.
While they were still processing that revelation, Aishwarya's expression sharpened.
"Wait," she said. "I understand the lightning part now. But when I hit your shield—how did it reflect an attack as powerful as my attack at me.?"
Skanda went quiet.
The wind passed.
The mist drifted.
Then Skanda smiled.
"That," he said, "is because of my Prāṇa-tability."
"Prāṇa-what?" Aishwarya asked.
"Prāṇa-tability," Skanda repeated. "It's what makes every Prāṇa warrior truly different."
They didn't understand.
"Everyone has a Prāṇa Core," Skanda continued. "That core generates Prāṇa. But it doesn't generate the same nature of Prāṇa in everyone."
Lioran frowned. "Nature?"
"Your personality," Skanda said. "Your mindset. Your emotions. Your experiences."
He placed a hand over his chest.
"All of these shape how your Prāṇa behaves."
"That behavior," Skanda said, "is called Prāṇa-tability."
Understanding slowly began to form.
"So Prāṇa-tability…" Sharin murmured, "…is the personality of our Prāṇa?"
"Yes."
Aishwarya looked back at the memory of the shield. "Then how did your Prāṇa-tability work there?"
Skanda's eyes softened.
"One of my core traits," he said, "is balance. If someone treats me with force, I respond with equal force—returned."
He lifted his hand slightly.
"That mindset shapes my Prāṇa. So when your attack hit my shield, my Prāṇa responded by returning it."
"You fused attributes and Prāṇa-tability…" Lioran whispered.
"Yes."
"That sounds impossible," Sharin said.
"It's not," Skanda replied. "But it requires immense mental training."
He looked at them one by one.
"To master Prāṇa-tability, you must understand yourself."
Aishwarya hesitated. "How do we do that?"
Skanda smiled faintly.
"For this," he said, "we rely on something deeply rooted in our culture."
He turned and began walking.
"You already know it."
"What is it?" Sharin asked.
Skanda stopped.
"Yoga."
"Yoga?" Lioran repeated.
"Yes," Skanda said. "Follow me."
They returned to the Ashram.
Skanda led them deeper than they had ever gone—past familiar halls, past training rooms, past places even Shourya had never shown them.
They stopped before a massive painting of a meditating figure.
"Why are we here?" Lioran asked.
"Wait," Skanda said.
He raised his hand and pressed two fingers into the painted eyes.
CLICK.
The wall trembled.
RUMMMMM—
The painting slid aside, revealing a dark underground passage.
"What…?" Lioran whispered.
"A secret passage," Skanda said.
"I've lived here my whole childhood," Aishwarya said, stunned. "I never knew this existed."
Skanda glanced back. "Because you weren't ready."
They descended.
The passage opened into a long corridor lined with sealed doors.
"What's behind them?" Sharin asked.
"Weapons. Technology. Dangerous knowledge," Skanda replied.
He stopped before one door.
"This is where your real training begins."
He opened it.
They stepped inside.
And froze.
The hall was enormous.
At its center stood three massive containers, each pulsing faintly with energy.
"…What is this place?" Lioran whispered.
Skanda turned to them.
"This is the Dimensional Chamber."
The air felt heavier. Alive.
"This is where you will face yourselves," Skanda said quietly.
The containers hummed.
TO BE CONTINUED…