Eklavya crashed onto the floor of his room with a thud that knocked the breath from his lungs. "Ahhh!" he hissed, curling slightly as he clutched at the small of his back. The spatial rift above him shimmered for a second before closing as if mocking him.
He groaned, rubbing the back of his waist. "Oou… can't that damn demon open the rift above my bed at least once?" His voice was half complaint and half genuine pain. He was certain Dashirsur did it on purpose.
He pushed himself up, dusting his clothes, and walked toward his bed. The familiar wooden frame and warm sheets felt like the only thing normal in his day. He sat cross-legged and exhaled deeply. The chaotic events he had just gone through were still swirling in his chest, but he needed calm. He needed to refocus.
Slowly, he shut his eyes and let his breathing steady. His consciousness sank inward, descending until the physical world vanished behind him.
Inside, he stood upon a vast, endless sea.
The water beneath him was dark and unmoving, stretching into infinite horizons. Though he stood upon its surface, it did not ripple. The sky above was an eternal twilight, lit only by a pale glow that illuminated everything and nothing at the same time.
He took a few steps forward, each one silent on the ocean's still surface.
Floating high above him was the strange sight he had grown familiar with since he first learned to sense his inner world: a large mass of land suspended in the empty sky, connected to five smaller floating islands by thick metal chains. The islands drifted slightly, as if swaying in a wind that did not exist.
Eklavya tilted his head, the same question surfacing again, as it always did. 'What is that thing? Why is it here?' No matter how many times he looked, the sight never felt normal. "It's been here since the first time I entered my sea of consciousness," he muttered softly. "Just floating… like it's waiting for something."
He bent his knees and jumped with all his strength. The world blurred beneath him as he soared upward, landing on the central island with a soft thud.
But what met his eyes was not soil or stone.
It was a pool — a deep, circular pool filled entirely with blood. Thick, viscous, metallic, and dark, it reflected his face in a distorted ripple. The air around it smelled faintly of iron despite the fact that this was not the physical world.
At the far end of the pool grew a bizarre tree. Its trunk twisted like a serpent, forming an S-shaped curve before branching upward into pale, leafless limbs. It looked ancient, almost alive, as though it breathed with him.
Eklavya took a cautious step back. He had seen the tree before, but each time he saw it, something inside him stirred violently — fear, curiosity, and something else he couldn't name.
Still, he walked around the edge of the pool and approached the tree. The closer he came, the louder an instinctive whisper echoed inside him. A primal command. A pull. To Absorb it.
He froze. "What…?" He didn't understand why, but the urge grew stronger, beating in his mind like a second heartbeat. He felt as though someone else, something else, was whispering inside him.
He hesitated, swallowing hard. Despite the uncertainty, he lowered himself beside the twisted tree and sat cross-legged. His fingers trembled slightly as he extended two of them toward the surface of the blood pool.
A single drop rose, suspended in the air. It floated toward him with slow, deliberate motion and stopped between his brows.
The moment it touched him — agony erupted.
His entire body convulsed. Pain surged through his veins like molten metal, crackling and snapping as if every bone were being shattered and reforged. His breath left him in a silent scream as he fell forward, clutching at the invisible ground beneath him.
His throat chakra burned fiercely — then his third eye chakra opened completely, and in the same moment, the seal between his brows burst apart. Ki rushed into him from all directions, flooding into his core and spiraling through his channels. Before he even realized it, he had broken into the sixth stage of the chakra opening realm. Chakra opening realm are divided into nine stage– first is root chakra opening, followed by sacral chakra opening, solar plexus chakra opening, heart chakra opening, throat chakra opening, third eye chakra opening, crown chakra opening, divine chakra opening and then comes divine gateway chakra opening.
When the pain finally faded, leaving only a deep ache, Eklavya gasped for breath and stared at the bloody pool in disbelief.
"One drop… just one drop did this?" His voice shook with a mixture of awe and fear. If this amount of power existed inside his own consciousness… then what exactly had he inherited from those two beings? But on the second hand they never gave him blood. And he saw these floating islands before he met them in his sea of conciseness
For a moment, he considered taking a second drop. The temptation lingered like a whisper. But before he could decide, a sharp knocking echoed from outside his room.
Eklavya jerked back to reality.
He opened his eyes and blinked a few times. Sweat clung to his forehead, and his breath was still rough. Standing, he walked across the room and opened the door.
Ashish Rudra stood there — his older brother, tall, calm, and always composed. Unlike Eklavya's messy state, Ashish seemed neat and refreshed.
"Eklavya," Ashish said with a soft smile, "come on. Dad is calling for dinner today."
"Dad… calling everyone for dinner?" Eklavya muttered. "That's unusual…" He wondered what it meant. Their father rarely called the entire family unless something important had happened.
But he didn't question further and followed Ashish through the corridor.
Inside their parents' room, a small round table had been set up. Their father—Ishant, and their mother–Aashi both sat waiting patiently. His mother smiled warmly the moment she saw him.
"Congratulations, dear, on your breakthrough," she said with genuine pride glowing in her eyes.
Eklavya blinked in surprise. "Thank you, Mother."
They all sat together. The dining table felt unusually warm tonight — Ashish asking him small questions, his mother fussing over whether he wanted more food, and his father mostly silent but watching him with sharp, assessing eyes.
When the meal ended and they cleaned their hands, Ishant finally spoke, his tone strangely steady.
"Eklavya, follow me."
Eklavya exchanged a quick glance with Ashish and his mother. Both looked calm but carried a hint of expectation in their eyes.
He nodded quietly. "Good night," he said to the two of them before following his father.
Ishant led him through corridors, taking turns Eklavya rarely walked. His father's pace was steady, thoughtful, almost heavy. They entered the clan's treasure room — a place Eklavya had seen before but never fully explored.
Then, without a word, Ishant pressed a square-shaped stone on the wall.
The ground beneath them shifted silently. A section of the floor sank down smoothly, revealing a dark opening without any grinding or cracking of stone. A staircase descended into the earth.
Eklavya felt his heartbeat quicken.
His father stepped onto the stairs first. "Come."
Eklavya followed.
The passage spiraled downward for some time, lit only by faint white lantern flames that burned without smoke. When they finally reached the bottom, they stood in a spacious chamber supported by towering pillars. The faint white flame-light flickered across ancient carvings etched into the walls.
At the center of the hall was a stone platform.
Above it floated five jade stones — each carved with runic patterns that glowed faintly, rotating slowly in the air. Eklavya stared for a long time.
His father walked onto the platform and extended his hands. The five jade stones lowered gently as though recognizing him. Ishant picked them up and turned to face Eklavya.
"These belong to you."
Eklavya blinked, completely confused. "What do you mean?"
His father's expression softened, but only slightly. "Now that you have reached the sixth stage of the chakra opening realm, it is time. You will understand one day. These techniques… are yours to master."
Eklavya couldn't respond. Today felt like a wave of unexpected events hitting him again and again. He accepted the stones with both hands and stored them carefully in his storage ring.
"Go," his father said as they left the treasure room. "Rest and cultivate."
Eklavya nodded, still dazed, and returned to his room. The silence felt heavy. He sat on his bed and exhaled deeply.
"What is happening today…?" he whispered.
He took out the five jade stones and placed them neatly in front of him. Before he could examine them, the stones suddenly floated upward on their own. They hovered for a moment — then shot directly into the space between his brows.
He felt them sinking deep into his consciousness.
Eklavya immediately closed his eyes and entered his sea of consciousness again.
He appeared near the twisted tree. Above the five floating islands, the jade stones hovered, glowing softly. They arranged themselves above each island, perfectly balanced, as if they had always belonged there.
"So… these stones were connected to this place," Eklavya murmured. "No wonder Father kept them hidden."
His mind filled with countless questions. 'What did his father know? What were these floating islands? Were they connected to the inheritance?'
But Eklavya forced himself to push the questions aside. For now, he needed strength.
He sat beneath the tree and drew two more drops of blood from the pool. The moment they touched him, an enormous surge of power rushed into him. His crown chakra burst open in a flood of light — but his realm didn't stabilize enough to advance.
He clenched his teeth.
Four more drops rose from the pool.
This time, when they entered him, something inside him snapped violently.
His divine chakra opened — but again, he did not advance. Instead, a sharp, stabbing pain exploded in his head. It was beyond anything he had felt before — as if someone were driving burning spikes through his skull.
He grabbed his head with both hands, screaming. His consciousness flickered, and the scene around him twisted.
Suddenly, he was no longer in his inner world.
He stood in the body of a five-year-old child.
Everything around him was burning. The ground trembled beneath his small feet, throwing him off balance again and again. The sky was dark, filled with roaring clouds. Powerful figures clashed above him, their blows sending shockwaves through the air.
People screamed — men, women, children. Buildings collapsed. Flames devoured everything.
Eklavya's small body trembled, and tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. He didn't know why, but the overwhelming sense of loss crushed him. Then everything went black.
He jolted awake in his room, gasping — but only for a moment before his consciousness slipped away entirely. His limp body fell to the floor.
Moments later, his father, mother, and brother burst into the room, panicking on their faces.
Ashish rushed to his side. "Eklavya!"
Ishant knelt and lifted Eklavya, placing him gently on the bed. He checked his pulse. After a long moment, he exhaled.
"He's fine," Ishant said. "Just exhausted. Something drained him."
His voice was steady, but his eyes held concern. Aashi let out a shaky breath of relief and brushed Eklavya's hair from his forehead. "I'll stay with him tonight."
Ashish and Ishant nodded and quietly left the room.
The lantern light dimmed, casting long shadows across the room as Eklavya lay unconscious — unaware of the storm his awakening had just begun.