I learned something important today: Your own blood weighs a lot.
"Increase to 2.5 Gs," Vikram's voice commanded over the intercom.
"Vikram, wait—" I started to protest.
HUMMMMMM.
The machinery inside the walls groaned. The air pressure in the white room spiked instantly.
My knees buckled. It felt like an invisible sumo wrestler had just jumped on my shoulders. My stomach dropped to where my ankles used to be.
"Gah!"
I slammed onto the metal floor, face first. My cheek was pressed against the cold steel, and I couldn't lift it. Even blinking felt like a workout.
"Pathetic," Vikram criticized. "2.5 times Earth's gravity. A trained Hunter can withstand 4. You are folding like a lawn chair."
"I am... not... a Hunter..." I wheezed, spit drooling onto the floor because I couldn't swallow. "I am... a student... with a cool watch."
"Stand up, Aryan," Riya's voice joined in. She sounded bored. "We're missing the premiere of Detective Conan. Hurry up."
I gritted my teeth.
Stand up. Just stand up.
I pushed against the floor. My arms trembled. My muscles screamed. The Astra-Chakra on my wrist felt like a ten-kilogram shackle.
< WARNING: EXTERNAL PRESSURE DETECTED. >
< SUGGESTION: ENGAGE AVATAR: AGNI. >
"No," I grunted.
If I use Agni, the explosive power will let me stand up, sure. But that's cheating. Vikram said I have to do this in my base form, or at least trigger a defensive reaction.
I pushed harder. Veins popped out on my forehead.
With a roar of effort, I managed to get on my hands and knees.
I looked like a baby learning to crawl, if the baby was being crushed by a hydraulic press.
"Good," Vikram noted. "Now, stay there."
"Stay?" I choked out.
"Prithvi is the Earth," Vikram lectured. "The Earth does not run. It does not attack. It simply is. It bears the weight of oceans, mountains, and cities. To unlock it, you must stop trying to lift the weight, and learn to be the foundation that supports it."
"That sounds... like philosophical nonsense..." I muttered.
My arms gave out. SLAM. Face to floor again.
Hour 4: The Break
They finally turned the machine off.
I rolled onto my back, gasping. Normal gravity felt amazing. I felt light as a feather.
Vikram walked in and threw a towel at my face.
"Hydrate. Round two starts in ten minutes."
"You're a sadist," I groaned, sitting up and chugging a bottle of water. "Why does Prithvi have to be so stubborn? Why can't it just be 'Press B to Rock'?"
Riya walked in, holding a tablet. "Because the Astra-Chakra responds to Dharma—your nature. Right now, your nature is flighty. When things get hard, you use Vayu to dodge or Agni to blow it up. You never just... sit and take it."
She tapped the screen. A holographic diagram of the Chakra appeared. The Brown Icon was flickering weakly.
"It's at 18%," Riya noted. "It spiked when you face-planted earlier. Apparently, the system likes it when you suffer."
"Great. My superpower is masochism."
Vikram sat on a bench opposite me. He looked serious.
"Aryan, do you know why St. Lionheart Academy wins every year?"
"Because they have better funding?"
"Because they are ruthless," Vikram corrected. "Their Captain, Isha, doesn't dodge. She creates ice fortresses. She forces you to come to her, and then she crushes you. If you fight her with Agni, she will just wait until you burn out. You need an immovable defense to counter her absolute offense."
He stood up.
"Get back in the center."
I sighed, dragging my sore body back to the middle of the room.
"Can we at least start at 1.5 Gs?"
"No," Vikram smiled. "3 Gs."
The Breakthrough
The pressure came back, harder this time.
My vision blurred at the edges. The sound of my own heartbeat was deafening. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
I was on my knees again. The pain was sharp, electric.
I wanted to quit. I wanted to activate Vayu and zip out of the door. I wanted to go home and sleep.
Why am I doing this?
I looked at the reflection in the polished floor. I saw my sweaty, pained face.
I remembered the festival.
I remembered the Necromancer's spear flying toward Vikram.
I remembered the feeling of helplessness when the concrete beam fell.
If I had been stronger... if I had been sturdier... Vikram wouldn't have gotten hurt. I wouldn't have had to rely on a risky gamble to win.
I don't want to run anymore, I thought.
I don't want to burn everything down.
I just want to stand here. I want to be the wall that nothing can get past.
I closed my eyes.
I stopped fighting the gravity. I accepted it.
I visualized roots growing from my knees into the steel floor. I visualized my bones turning into granite.
Let it crush me. I won't break.
"Vikram," Riya's voice cut through the intercom, sounding surprised. "Look at the readings."
The pressure was still there, but... it felt different.
It didn't feel like an enemy attacking me. It felt like a blanket. Heavy, but grounding.
A deep, rhythmic thrumming started in my left wrist.
THUM... THUM... THUM.
It sounded like the earth shifting.
I opened my eyes.
A soft, golden-brown aura was leaking from the bracelet. It wasn't wild like Agni's fire or erratic like Vayu's wind. It was solid. It coated my skin like a second layer.
I placed one foot on the floor.
STOMP.
The metal floor dented slightly under my foot.
I placed the other foot.
STOMP.
I stood up.
My back was straight. The 3G gravity was still active, pushing down on me with the weight of a car, but I stood there. Unmoving.
< SYNCHRONIZATION: 40% >
< AVATAR: PRITHVI >
< STATUS: PARTIALLY AWAKENED >
I looked at my hands. The skin hadn't fully turned to obsidian yet, but my fingertips were dark and hard as stone.
I looked at the observation window. Vikram was grinning.
"System," I whispered, my voice sounding deep and gravelly. "Hold."
I crossed my arms.
I stood there for a full minute, immovable, unbothered.
Then the lights flickered, and the gravity machine whined and shut down.
"Overheat," Riya announced. "You broke the simulator."
The aura faded. I collapsed onto my butt, exhausted but smiling.
Vikram walked in, slow clapping.
"Not bad, Torch-Head. You're barely a pebble right now... but one day, you might be a boulder."
He offered me a hand.
"Go shower. Tomorrow, we meet the enemy."