'That Bhondu always embarrasses me!!', I cursed at him as I exited the police station.
Not only did I not lose any money, I even received something free-of-cost at a government-run office, it was a nice and new experience to have.
I looked at the temporary ID card that was issued by 'Jan Sena'. The name 'Vihaan Puru' was strikingly standing out for some reason.
"Go to the Sage Academy, Huh?", I repeated Bhondu's word.
He was rather reluctant while handing me his 'letter of recommendation', maybe because it was one of the declining Sage Academy among the Sapta-kul.
Among the countless small, mid, and large sage academies of Akhanda Bharat, the top seven were known as the 'Sapta-kul' (Family of Seven). As for the reason why they were exactly seven academies was deeply linked with the legend of this world.
In the beginning, there were seven Sages who were the progenitors of all human knowledge. According to the legends of Bharat, these seven sages were created from the will of the Creator - Brahman, and are representative of his will, as well as encompassing all the knowledge that exists in the Universe.
[ A.N: The cyclic period in Hindu philosophy is known as [Manvantra] meaning 'Interval of Manu'. Manu (kinda like Adam) is the originator of mankind and also the first human. In every Manvantra, Manu, all the major/minor gods, as well as the seven sages get replaced by their new counterparts.]
'This world surely resembles the ancient Bharat, even their legends are similar', I was talking to myself as I entered the street from where I had first come.
The 'Main Street', as it was called, had many small private-own businesses and traders on both sides of the long street.
~What is a Jaymi doing here?~
~No, he might be a Bodhi.~
~Anyhow, why is a poor fellow like him here in the market?~
I heard whispers from the traders calling me Jaymi and Bodhi. Earth didn't have these words and I had mastered many different languages in my past life.
Although the common tongue in Akhanda Bharat was Hindi, the writing style and grammar largely coincided with Sanskrit. Everything seemed very strange, but at the same time very cohesive. I was at a complete loss of what to make of this world.
I neared a fancy looking store, a few of the only ones that had a see-through glass to showcase their product.
'It's my clothes.', I facepalmed heavily, looking at my own reflection in the glass.
I was still wearing the tattered clothes in which I was discovered by my father in the Jungle. If not for my clean face and maintained hair, I would have looked like a beggar to the most.
Without further ado, I bought some simple attire similar to what I had seen people wear on the street.
The [Space Bead] given by my father was a small pocket-dimension wallet (a common Yantra*), and it had enough money for me to spend a few months without worrying about food. I felt like I received pocket money from my father.
[A.N: Yantra = artifacts/device. Yantras are created by engraving ancient symbols and Mantras on compatible material by a high-level Sage.]
"Let's do shopping then!!", I exclaimed in excitement.
---------------
** After Few Hours (In the Evening)
"Dammit! Why are these Yantras so expensive.", I screamed after I exited the busy street.
I scanned the [Space Bead] again to check how much money was left after buying all the souvenirs.
[Space Bead]
- Copper Coins x 50
- Silver Coins x 10
- Gold Coins x 2
[ A.N: Each 100 lower coin is equal to 1 higher one. 100C = 1S, 100S = 1G.]
Every banknote of 10 Gold coins or higher was spent purchasing various Yantras.
In Mahismati, the cost of one night stay at an Inn was about 1 Silver. So I still had enough to go around for a week, but I would have nothing remaining after that.
"I need to figure out a way to earn money, if I want to stay in the city." The allure of the city life after spending the whole day shopping was really pushing me towards settling down in the city, however, there was much to see of the world outside Mahismati.
-----------
[*Lights Dimming*]
As I was walking busy in my own thoughts, I noticed that the oil lamps on the street were running out of fuel.
"I should find a place to stay tonight!"
I looked around and the street was rather empty. I hadn't noticed earlier but there was quite an eerie feeling coming off from the neighbourhood. As if somebody was creepily monitoring me.
"I should have bought a city guide or something!!", I facepalmed again.
'Should I go back to the main street?', I was still debating about my next course of action when suddenly the environment turned grim.
(*whoosh... shing...*)
I heard a couple of different sounds coming off of the dark alleyway.
"Who is there?"
"..." There was no response. It was as if I was the only one in that street.
I concentrated all my focus on my hearing. I had the best hearing out of everyone on Earth, and although it wasn't as good right now, it still boosted my hearing potential by a little bit.
~Sshh! He will find out.~
~Brother, let's get out. I don't want to get caught by the police.~
~Don't worry, he is just a rich kid.~
~He looks like he is from an important family, it will bring more trouble if we were found out.~
The whispers were so quiet that I could only hear few sentences, and it was hard to guess whether the talking voice was of a man or a woman.
"Oye! Come out! If you listen, I won't hurt you, I promise." I shouted in the general direction from where the whispers originated.
(*silence...*)
"You cannot run away from me anyway! (*woosh...*)"
I channelled my Prana into my hand, transforming it to become liquid like water, and before the minute was over, I had a sharp lucid blade extending from my left hand.
~shit! we are caught.~
~Stop it! he doesn't know where we are. He is just bluffing.~
"I'm not bluffing. I will give you a last warning, come out!", I was actually bluffing. Even though I could hear the whispers, it was hard to find the point of origin only based on that clue.
"Ok! Ok! We will come out. Please don't hurt us!"
When I heard the voice, I immediately knew why the voice didn't sound like a man or a woman's, it was because it came from kids.
"Who are you? and What were you planning to do by attacking me."
Three kids no older than 8 years old came out wearing tattered clothes which exposed more of their skin than it covered.
Their hair wasn't groomed, nor did they look like they had eaten in a long while. I could feel the pain their legs were feeling by only watching them walk barefoot on the rough stone road with pointy stones all over the place.
"We weren't going to attack you!" One of them shouted, he looked like he was the leader.
"Then what were you planning to do?"
"That... NOt.. Nothing...!"
"Tell me now, or we are going to see Police."
"Wait! Wait! I'll tell you. Please don't take us to the police. They will kill us.", this time it was the youngest that stuttered trying to ease into the conversation. He was already on the verge of crying but somehow managed to hold his tears off.
"Don't worry I won't, unless you lie to me.!", I must have looked like a villain to these kids, even though I wasn't much older than them.
"We just wanted to steal your stuff and sell it to buy some food. We weren't going to hurt you! I promise"
"and how were you going to do that with just the three of you?"
"That..."
"I'm warning you.", I threatened them once more.
They were weak. Weaker than the kids their age are supposed to be. They didn't have any weapons and I couldn't sense anyone else nearby.
'They must have had a plan, if they were so carefully approaching me from the shadows.', I tried to scan all three of them with my third eye.
'Ughh!!! WHAT!?', I grabbed my right eye and felt my fingers getting wet. It was blood.
[*jumps back...*]
I instinctively created some distance between myself and the kids. As soon as I activated my third eye I saw the most horrifying thing in my whole life.
My vision was covered with a veil of red and black as if I was watching death itself.
The third eye which was invincible in the previous world was causing me to bleed through my eyeballs.
~What a stupid child! Using the sixth sense without any training.~
~Kekeke! Indeed. Stupid! Stupid! I haven't met such an idiot in a long time!~
~kaekaekae!! (*snicker) I think he can hear us. Kaekaekae!!~
'What !?', I tried to get my act together.
(*splurt...splash*)
I quickly wiped the blood coming out of my eyes and scanned the area around me.
There was no one but the three children.
"What are you? Show yourself!", I shouted in the direction of the three kids, and an existence that I thought couldn't exist in any world showed itself.
~Keke! He is a feisty one, isn't he? Even threatening us Yakshas!!~
~kaekaekae! Yes Yes. (*snickers) He really threatened us. Kaekaekae~