It was a day after the incidents, that the clone of Karna had finally spotted a herd of katsuri deer. Successfully spotting an old katsuri deer, one of the clones popped out to return the memory back to the original. Soon analysing the memories, Karna hunted down the deer.
Mission! Rookie Explorer
Rank- C
Hunt a deer and impresse your mother
Condition: Follow the teachings of Dharma
Reward:+10 talent points
[Congratulations for completing the mission]
[Congratulations for obtaining 10 talent points]
Seeing the notification and going through the memories, Karna realised that it is finally time to return. Carrying the dead yet now firmly trimmed deer in clean cloth bag wrapped around his back, he returned to the outskirts of ashram for one last time to thank and say farewell to everyone. One of the volunteer noticed him and asked him to come inside but Srivastav just asked him to summons others outside. Looking at the bag strapped at the back and from the demeanor, the volunteer understood the implications which saddened him but sure followed.
Some time later, all the volunteer leaving whatever work they were doing came to the outskirts. Pandu and Pritha followed behind them. In just few days, Karna had closely bonded with everyone. The news of his possible departure pained their hearts as with Karna's arival, for past days the environment have been quite lively especially after yesterday's incident. Karna then went on to personally say his farewell and in return got blessed by everyone. In the end, when he went up to Pandu and Kunti, both blessed him while asked him to let them walk up to the forest. Karna agreed as he had no reason to deny them. Before Srivastav left both wished him for his safe journey. Karna said his goodbye to them and before leaving, he pulled out from his system shop gifted them with Kunti, a beautiful B- rank slick finish platinum ring and Pandu with a B- rank radiant Wooden bow with all the 10 points he recently obtained in his hunt. Pandu and Kunti wanted to return them but Karna insisted.
"Thought I am only a single person, if you both truly consider me as your son. Then as parent, let me as son gift you both with these things. Through I know that I can't return this debt of your worry and whatever I gift is meaning less, please still accepted them as these are all I can gift to you both."
Listening to his word, Panda and Kunti were moved to nearly tears, especially Kunti on whose mind, her abandoned son and Karna's images kept overlapping.
"Son, through I don't know who your parents are but they truly are blessed to have you as your son." said Kunti with partially teary eyes.
"Devi, the ring now in your finger is made up platinum, a uncommon mineral found in alloys with the ability to nullify all poison found on prithvi lok. As for the bow in shreeman's palm, is a bow twin to my bow" holding his own bow," with the ability to sharpen the sense once wielded and heighten the instincts to danger. A deadly weapon when wielded by an Archer against enemies."
Looking at Pandu, Karna continued," In near future, if you ever want to increase the speed of recoil ,you can simply adjust to string to achieve better results."
"And a advice for the future, if you ever decide to hunt a deer. Make sure, the one you hunt is a deer as most of people cursed in this world are the one that accidentally killed some sage or etc walking around in disguise of a deer. Also whether in battlefield or in life, look underneath the underneath as sometime things may have greater meaning than it seems."
Karna then turned around and started jumping along the trees like a ninja he was. Pandu and Kunti stood there especially Pandu dumbfounded under shades of the trees looking in the direction of Satrunjaya, slowly disappearing in leaves.
Mission! Make your appearance
Rank- S
(|)Play the role of matchmakers for both Pandu and Kunti
(||) Give Pandu a advice
Reward:1x stamina boost portion, 1x dungeon key and 1x random skill card.
[Congratulations on completing the mission]
[Congratulations on obtaining 1x stamina boost portion, 1x dungeon key and 1x random skill card.]
Karna mentally commanded the system to used random skill card. The card began to shine for 5 second before revealing it.
[Skill obtained: Black Flash]
[ Black Flash: Black Flash is a distortion in space that occurs when cursed energy is applied within 0.000001 seconds of a physical hit. When a sorcerer is able to achieve this, their cursed energy (Yin Chakra) flashes black, and the destructive power of their strike is equal to a normal hit to the power of 2.5. ( time limit removed)]
Back to the present,
He was shocked to see the miserable conditions of his family. He tried to put them in bed, but their conditions were getting worse. Suddenly he heard some commotions from outside. Coming out he saw that his uncle and aunty brought the entire neighborhood near their house. Seeing him unharmed they were shocked.
Tantrik (thought), 'How is the boy still unharmed?'
Vikram whispered to the tantric, ''No worries, we are going to blame him for witchcraft. Then the villagers themselves will kill him.'' Then Vikram started accusing Karna.
Vikram, ''I know this boy is a bad omen. I am sure he did something to kill his foster family, which is why my brother is suffering.''
Karna tried to prove his innocence but Vikram and his friends along with that tantric blamed him relentlessly. The other people also believed them and decided to punish him. Karna tried to request them to help his family first and then they could do whatever they wanted to do to him but nobody paid attention to his request. Vikram tried to hit him with an iron rod then suddenly they heard a voice, ''Stop this madness, what do you think you are doing?''
Everybody stopped to see a sage was standing in front of them. The aura around him itself depicting that he was not an ordinary person.
The head of the village, ''Who are you? Why did you stop us punishing this boy? Don't you know this boy tried to kill his parents with witchcraft?''
The Sage roared ''Are you out of your mind? You are accusing a five years old boy of witchcraft? This boy is innocent. Whatever happened here was done by this tantric. This wretched man along with Vikram and Renumati conspired against Adhirath and his family.''
The tantric, ''How dare you? Do you know who I am? And who the hell are you?''
The Sage, ''I am Rishi Durvaasa. I came here for alms and to protect this innocent child''
Actually, Sage Durvaasawas praying in his ashram while Devi Sangya and Devi Chaya appeared in front of him and requested him to protect her son. Listening to the entire incident Durvaasa used his divine power to appear near Adhirath's house. After getting his identity everyone was scared as everyone in Aryavart was familiar with the name of the great sage Durvaasa who was famous for his anger and tendency to curse. The village leader apologized to him and they freed Karna. Karna fell on Durvaasa feet and begged ''Please cure my parents O Great Sage.''
Durvaasa entered the house and a few minutes later he came out. In the meantime, The other villagers tied up Vikram, Renumati, and the Tantric.
Durvaasa ''Karna, for now, I stabilized your parents and siblings but that Tantric used a very powerful spirit to kill them. You have divine protection because of that the spirit was unable to harm you. But no one can save your family when the sunrises...unless.'' He paused.
Karna ''Unless what Prabhu? Please tell me, I will do anything to save my family.''
Durvaasa ''My son, the curse of a spirit can only be freed when the spirit itself is freed from the mortal attachment by performing his last rite. The remaining of this spirit's mortal body is still present inside the Kumbhila forest (near current day Telengana area) . If you can go there and cremate that body before dawn, only then your family will be saved. That tantric protected that body with evil curses, so many Rakshasas and ghosts are guarding the body. Only a kid with a pure soul can liberate the spirit from the curse or someone who can purify spirits.''
Karna, ''I will go there and perform this ritual at any cost. But Kumbhila forest is quite far away from here. How am I supposed to go there and return home within one night''?
Durvaasa ''I will teach you a mantra. Chant it with the name of the place you want to go to, it will take you there within a few minutes. But let me remind you again. That place is haunted and no one will protect you there.''
Mission! Be the shield !!!
Rank- S
(|) Exorcise atleast 20 Pretas and kill a rakshasa
(||) Save your family from the curse
Reward: 10 talent points, curse energy, basic domain.
[Yes/No]
Definitely Yes!!!
Karna ''I don't care, either I will save them or die trying.''
Then Durvaasa taught that mantra to Karna and he left the place taking his bow and arrows.
Durvaasa (in mind) 'I know Putra that you are very brave. This is your first test. I will pray to all Gods above to protect you.'
Kumbhilla forest
When Karna opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a forest. The forest was dense and dark. But Karna knew that he had to be brave for the sake of his family. He used two stones to make a fire and lit a stick with it. Then he entered inside. The entire place was scary, there was no sound except for the rustling of the winds and cries of the nocturnal animals and birds. Sage Durvaasa told him that in the middle of the jungle there was a banyan tree and below that tree, he would find the body of the spirit reminding him the story of vettal. Karna used the light of the torch and his Chakra sensing combined with Observation haki to find the mentioned banyan tree. Experiences from past life and template sure came in handy in this situation. Suddenly he heard a sound coming from the right side. Since obtaining template, Karna's senses are very sharp. He could listen to any sound however faint it might be now more precisely with Observation haki. So, he kept the torch in the ground and put an arrow in the bow, and aimed. Then he saw some movements inside the bush and without thinking much he released the arrow. The arrow hit the target and suddenly a tiger roared and jumped out of the bush. Karna's arrow directly hit one of the eyes of the tiger. The tiger roared in pain and ran away from there. He released some of his conqueror haki to make the tiger flee.
Karna sighed and started his journey again.
Suddenly he felt something slippery was stuck on his feet and before he could comprehend anything, an invisible force threw him in the air. Karna fell on the ground. He was hurt very badly as it caught him off-guard and when he tried to stand then again someone threw him against the trees. Karna's entire body started hurting. He felt that he was badly bruised. But then he remembered Durvaasa's words 'Remember my son, however stronger your opponents will be, don't get scared. Fear gives strength to your enemies. Stay strong and brave in front of your enemy and don't lose hope. There is always a way to every situation.'
Karna then tried to concentrate his mind. His opponents were invisible so if he had to fight then he needed to know about their positions. He then realized that even when the entities were invisible but there was a faint hissing sound coming from them when they moved. Karna used his sharp instincts to realize the positions and the next time when those entities tried to grab him, he took out one of his arrows and stabbed it. There was a shrill cry of pain and suddenly those entities moved away from him. Seeking this opportunity, he ran from there.
Karna was exhausted. He was running continuously for day before returning home and had no time to take some rest even before coming here. He spread his sense to his best to locate but cannot find the way to the banyan tree. During his fight with the torch fell from his hand, so he lit another one. In the dark, it was really difficult to find the ways, but Karna tried hard. But it was not an easy task for a four-years-old body through with additional experience to find the right path, especially in the enchanted forest full of illusion. Karna realized that he was moving in a circle as returned to the same place.
Karna was walking continuously, he was tired. Then suddenly he saw a baby monkey was attacked by a giant serpent. The baby monkey was crying while the serpent coiled around it. Karna thought, 'Shall I help the monkey? No, it will waste my time...No I will help him. One shall always help others no matter what.'
Thinking that he released an arrow on the snake and the snake released the monkey. The monkey though tired but came in front of Karna and signed to follow him.
Karna thought 'Will it be wise to go with the monkey? Maybe it's a trap of the dark forces.' But then believing in his instincts he followed the monkey. After walking for a while, they reached the clearing, and then Karna saw the banyan tree in front of him. He was overwhelmed with joy and when he looked at the monkey to thank him, he realized that no one was there.
In Kailash
Lord Hanuman stood in front of Mahadev.
''Mahadev, I did whatever you asked me to do. I took his test and guided him to the right path.''
Mahadev (smiling) ''Kalyan ho Pavanputra. You may leave now.''
Devi Parvati, ''But swami what about Rakshas and pretas that is guarding the body? Can Karna a seven years old child kill that Rakshas or pretas?''
Mahadev, ''Have patience, Devi. To win a fight one should use not only strength but also intelligence. This is the test of his intelligence.''
Kumbhilla Forest
Karna came in front of the tree. Durvaasa have told him that there were a Rakshas who guarded this tree along with several Pretas. So, he was moving towards the tree with caution. Suddenly he heard a huge roar and saw a huge Rakshas stood in front of him.
Rakshas ''I am Mankasur, owner of this tree. How dare you come near this tree. Today you will die.''
Saying that he threw a huge mace towards Karna, but he was fast enough to duck the weapon. Karna also tried to send arrows towards him but Mankasur kicked him and fell to the ground. Kick of the asur felt like being hit by 160 km/hr fast truck . Even he was in great pain, Karna managed to stand up, but his bow and arrows fell from his hand. Karna took a stone, charged with some energy and threw it towards Mankasur leading to a large explosion. Soon the dust cleared and Mankasur stood unharmed started laughing. Karna then took out the small dagger he had in his waist and stabbed Rakshasa's feet. Mankasur screamed and in anger, he breathed fireballs from his mouth. Each time spat fireballs, karna would dematelize and rematerialize somewhere else. This cycle continued till Mankasur suddenly realised something that he had been doing the same thing again and again. He had been in a illusion.
Suddenly, the world shattered like mirror. Karna can be seen standing in front of pile of bodies that are being seperately cremated in fire. He also prayed to Yama, the God of death to rest the spirit in peace. Looking back at Mankasur, he calmly stated," So you have broken free. Man, you can surely pack a kick you know. But you are just all muscle and no brain kind."
"You !!! You brat!! How dare you mock your superiors. I am Mankaasur. I am immortal. My body is made up of fire. I have blessed that no living being can harm me or even kill me. But when...when was tricked by you into your maya. I am immune to Maya ,then how??" roared Mankasur in rage.
" Oh really! You pitiful thing, you make me laugh 🤣 🤣. You were into my illusion the very moment I laid my eye on you. All this time you were into my illusion or Maya you say. But that doesn't matter does it?! Your little minion, Pretas were little trouble some but few black flash sure does the job as in theory, they are surely some random curse spirit... hehe"
"You!! You brat "rushed Mankasur towards Karna. Karna had no time to duck the punches and the fireballs reached to him. Karna closed his eyes. And once again his image in front of Mankasur shattered.
Mankasur was taken aback. He asked, '' Who are you, you are not a human? But it won't change your fate. I will kill you ! KILL YOU!!"
"🤣You surely know how to entertain, don't you!!? Well let me give you a hint, May be you are still in a illusion???"
''You cannot do anything as to kill me you have to catch me first. But I don't think with such a fat body you can even catch a mouse.'' Karna said in a single song voice adding salt to Mankasur wounds came from behind.
Mankasur though very strong but also full of ego. Karna's words like adding fuel to the fire. He roared like a mad bull and chased Karna who was running towards the pond. When he reached the pond, he stood there calmly and when Mankasur reached there and tried to hold Karna, he jumped away. Mankasur with its large body cannot control the momentum and fell into the pond. Only water can extinguish the fire. The cool water of the pond instantly killed Mankasur.
" That fool revealed his own weakness. Well I am exhausted and I smell quite awful. After this, I sure need to take a good bath and a long nap."
Karna sighed looking up at the mission panel and the rewards.
Mission! Be the shield !!!
Rank- S
(|) Exorcise atleast 20 Pretas and a Rakshasa
(||) Save your family from the curse
Reward: 10 talent points, curse energy, basic domain.
[Congratulations on completing the mission]
[Congratulations on obtaining 10 talent points, curse energy and basic domain.]
In Mrityulok ( realm of death),
God Yama smiled at his young brother. He was proud that his brother was so compassionate that he was praying for an evil spirit as well as for his victory.
In Champanagri,
To everyone's astonishment, Adhirath and his family came back to their senses. Through passed from exhaustion, they were now safe. Everyone was relieved but there was one question in everybody's mind.
''Where is Karna?''
In Kumbhilla forest,
Karna was so exhausted that he could not even stay awake. Well traveling and his battles with Pretas or Rakshasa. Though he was stronger than a normal human being, this adventure was too much for his four years old body even with his character template. Somehow he chanted the mantra and thought about his home.
To be continued...
(A/N: Hey guy please comment below and send me vote along with your love to keep continuing this fanfic 😁😁😁)