Several million years ago, gods died while protecting us from the dark dominations of hell "The Asuras" and their 7 demon lords but they died leaving behind a great gift for mankind "The Mantra". Mantra are enchantments or spells that are used to enhance one's capabilities. To cast Mantra, you need spirit energy that comes from your soul. The more you connect to your soul, the more powerfull your soul energy would become. For many millennials the mantras have cherished the entire mankind and human bodies also adapted to the change. Mantras can be casted by both speaking in mind or speaking physically. There are total three types of Mantras :- Dhyan Mantra, Yodh Mantra and Vedic Mantra.

Dhyan Mantras are used in meditation, to enchance and improve your soul energy.

Yodh Mantras are used for fighting and for brutal combat. They are generally combined with Hasth Veda.

Vedic Mantras are used in healing and in other medical purposes.

Yodh Mantra users are called Aarwans and they compete against each other in order to become the greatest and to achieve wealth, Fame and power. They travel and explore the mysteries that are hidden around the world. Vishonava, the land of powerful Aarwans, is the place where the first Mantra script was found. Since then, this land has been flowing with wealth and fame but, in this society of powerful beings, weak people who cannot caste Mantra, were considered non-humans and were also declined to all privileges. As the world keeps progressing day by day, no one knows what's next to come

- ( The Great historion of Vishonava "Zaleb" )

In the midst of afternoon, Rudra dragged Asthav by his dresses' collar and bumped him into the wall and yelled "Who do you think you are, huh??" with an irritated tone. "I worked three fu*king years for this moment and I wanna make my parents proud unlike you, whose parents abandoned thier own son because he was powerless" Rudra said with his tone more distorted than his previous one.

"I also wanna make my parents proud" Asthav replied with a calm voice.

"Ha! Don't make me laugh! your intentions are more powerless than you!!" Rudra said and tried to punch him but Asthav dodged and freed himself from Rudra's grab.

"Oh..I see, so you wanna fight, huh?" Rudra snapped with a sharp tone.

"I have to acknowledge your powerless courage. You have guts but soon after, they are gonna disappear, just like your brother" Rudra tried to ignite Asthav's anger.

"C'mon Asthav, this is not the time to get angry! You have to think through this situation" Asthav said to himself.

Asthav, a 16 year old boy that was born in the family of 5 brothers, with each one possessing a strong Mantra but, he was an exception. His parents left him alone in the temple of Haruma village when he was 7, not because he do not posses any mantra but, because he will remain safe there and will live in peace and harmony through his entire life but, it was not the case. Asthav was ths weakest one in the temple and was bullied by many strong students, that were far better than him. His family members did not wanted to have any connection with him, hence it will effect his emotions but he had a loving brother that came to see him every month but he also disappered eventually and asthav was left all alone.

Dispite having no mantra, he trained his body to the limit and perfected his "Soul Armour". Soul armour is an armour that surrounds your soul. Soul armour prevents the overflow of your spirit energy and protects your soul from all soul based Mantra attacks. The more strong spirit energy you will have, the more strong soul armour you would need to contain that energy. You can make your soul armour strong by training your body and honing your fighting style and physique to perfection. He had the best physique in the entire temple of Haruma village. He had the perfect athletic figure but, he was still powerless.

"You need to stay calm and think through this situation, Asthav" he said to himself.

They were in an open grassfield and the temple was just right ahead of the field.

"If this is what you want then don't blame me, if I accidently killed you" Rudra said with a smirk on his face.

"Bring it on, Rudra I am ready!!" Asthav said with a high voice.

Rudra closed his eyes and focused on his soul, then suddenly the ground where Asthav was standing on, started becoming hot as the seconds passed.

"W-what is this?? The ground is unbelievably hot, I cannot stand on two feet!!" Asthav thought to himself.

"What's the matter Asthav?!? It's getting too hot. Huh? that's only a piece of my full power. I've got more to show y-"

Before Rudra could complete his sentence, Asthav rushed and punched him in the face with an intense power.

"You're too stiff, Rudra" Asthav said. That punch was thrown at an intense power, that blood started to come out of Rudra's mouth.

"HOW DARE YOU!!!" Rudra got up from the ground and yelled.

"I AM GONNA KILL YOU!!" he said angrily, with an intense tone.

A huge amount of steam covered Rudra's body and his sorrundings. Asthav was standing 7 meters away from him but still could feel the heat, rushing out from his body and coming towards him.

"What is this steam?? Oh! I get it. So, he's using that form. What a monster!!! He sure do know, that if he uses it for too long, then his body would erupt but.......still, he is using it!?" Asthav thought to himself.

"I AM GONNA KILL YOU!!" said Rudra, who was covered in steam.

"This is bad! I have to get way from here as soon as possible" Asthav said. The steam that was coming from Rudra's body was getting hotter and hotter by each second, that the soil around Rudra started eroding.

"I AM GONNA KILL YOU!"

-(Episode 1 end)-

Rudra stood fifteen metres away from Asthav, with his body fully covered in steam. Asthav felt as if the atmospheric pressure is crushing him down to the ground. He felt a slight sense of horror shadowed by his realisation of getting killed instantly.

He realised that it was no use fighting Rudra, so he gathered all of his strenght in his mouth and tried to convince Rudra to stop the fight.

"Why are you doing this?!? Do you really want me to die that badly!?! An Aarwan's job is to travel, fight the terrors and to explore the unknown, not to take someone's life for their own sake!!" Asthav said with all of his pride but, it was as if Rudra was swallowed by his anger and envy.

Rudra took a step forward and yelled "FULL SPIRIT RELEASE!!". He launched himself towards Asthav through the help of his gathered steam. He was moving at a high speed as if he just broke the sound barrier. "

"This is bad!! If I get hit by his steam then he will blow off one of my organs. Is there no way I can dodge his attack?!?" Asthav thought to himself. "

"Wait, there is!! I just need to remember my Indra Style martial arts training. If he has released all of his spirit energy at once then this could mean that he would only be able to land one hit, and if I neutralised this one then I could gain an advantage in this fight. This theory of mine may be wrong but, I have to go with this one for now. I have to trust myself". Rudra approached Asthav aggressively and tried to land a hit.

"Indra Style : Soul Rotation" Asthav said and rotated his arm and then dislocated his right limb with intensity. The fist of both of them collided with each other, producing a loud sound that could be heard within the temple. The sound was like if two metal bars were colliding with an extreme intensity, that they were melting each other apart. An immense shockwave of exploding steam passed through the field and faded away in the nature leaving behind a huge impact on the ground that could be seen very easily from the temple.

The whole field was covered in steam accompanied by a sizzling sound. Guru Ji (Master) of the temple came running in the field, worried and anxious. As the steam of the intense battle cleared, the identity of the standing figure revealed itself. It was Asthav with his right limb completely crushed and twisted, with an overwhelming amount of blood dripping from it. His limb was connected to his body only by a small remaining piece of his joint and looked like that it was about to fall at any moment. All of his fingers were mustered within his palm. The further clearence of the steam uncovered Rudra, lying on the ground. He was exhausted, and was huffing intensly with a little bit of injury.

All the students came to the field, accompanied by their Guru Ji and Pratham Guru. Everyone was shocked just by seeing the aftermath of an intense fought battle. Both of the Guru Ji were stunned as if they're seeing something like this for the first time in decades.

"Guru Ji, look!! There's Asthav!!" a student pointed his finger towards Asthav's position.

"Call the Aacharya Immediately!! Vaibhav, help me hold him!!" Pratham Guru Ji commanded.

Guru Ji nodded and held up Asthav that was unconscious at that moment. "They're complete monsters!! Releasing an attack that is so dangerous that even we think a million times before performing it!! who do they think they are!!?!" Guru Ji yelled furiously.

"I can't believe that Asthav survived Rudra's full spirit release. Even official Aarwans would struggle immensely to avoid or even absorb an impact that strong. The shockwaves must've travelled a few kilometers. Good thing that they're aren't many humans living around here. Indra Style is really impressive by the way. Vaibhav, You should keep an eye on your students, otherwise I will throw you out of the temple!!" Pratham Guru Ji yelled at him.

"Apologies!! Prathma Ji!! I promise that this type of scenario won't happen again!!" Guru Ji Vaibhav bowed down slightly, showing a sign of apology. Aacharya rushed towards them and took Asthav to the infirmary immediately. Rudra was taken into his room because his condition was not that serious as Asthav's.

-(Episode 2 end)

"Where am I?!?..........wait a second!?!infirmary?!?" Asthav woke up and found himself lying on the infirmary bed.

"What was I doing?!? Oh, I remember now. I was fighting Rudra. My right ar-" he shifted his sight towards his right arm and suddenly became stunned. His right arm was trapped in a cubodical iron container.

"What is this thing!!" Asthav shouted.

"Hey hey Keep it cool, you idiot!!" a person appeared from the corner.

"Sahil!!" Asthav recognised him. Sahil was training to become an Aacharya.

He has been interested in Vedic Mantras since he was a child.

Sahil came close to Asthav and puts his palm on his forehead.

"You're cooled down finally" he said with a relieved tone.

"The steam has been running down your body since you battled Rudra. I am glad that it stopped finally." Asthav now remembered everything.

"What happened to Rudra?!?" Asthav asked.

"He has been taken in custody by the Royal Hawaldaars." Sahil replied.

"Royal Hawaldaars!!!" Asthav snapped. "You mean those scary guys with black masks on their faces and a hat on their head!?!".

"Yeah. They look cool, aren't they?!?" Sahil responded.

"Hell no!! They"re scary as f*ck!! Your taste weird! By the way, why they have taken Rudra for custody!?!" Asthav asked.

"First of all, Performing a full-on spirit release is a big matter. And second, he tried to kill you. When a person does a full spirit release then his spirit energy comes from the deepest parts of his soul. His emotions and senses disappears and the person becomes a complete monster, ready to kill anyone but it differs on the person's Mantra type. You could've died just now but I don't know how you survived that attack that destroyed the field."Sahil exclaimed with a bit of confusion.

"I guess that my soul armour was strong enough to endure that attack." Asthav replied.

"Yeah, I guess that you are right" Sahil said. "But why is my right hand trapped in this?!?" Asthav questioned.

"I was trying to heal your hand. I am glad that your hand was still connected to your body, if it wasn't then you would've lost your right hand forever" Sahil replied.

"So...how long would it take to fully heal my hand!?" Asthav asked.

"It would take at least 6 months" Sahil responded.

"6 MONTHS!! ARE YOU CRAZY?!! I HAVE TO GO TAKE THE AARWAN EXAMS NEXT MONTH!!" Asthav yelled.

"WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING, YOU IDIOT!!" Sahil replied back with a loud tone.

"I know that, that's why Aacharya has gone to buy some metals so that he could make an alloy that suits your mantra type. You see, he would make a prototype of your hand and combine it with your plaster so that you could still use your metal right hand while your real right hand would be able heal inside it." Sahil tried to explain it to him.

"That's soo cool!! It's like having a metal arm!! I can't wait!!" Asthav said with excitement.

"Don't get too excited. You should'nt strain your hand too much because your hand is still healing and if the plaster broke then you'll have a lot of trouble repairing it, that's why I suggest that you should let your hand fully recover first." Sahil adviced.

"No way!! I gotta go take the Aarwan exams next month!!" Asthav said.

"Have you lost your mind or something?!! You could literally die if a situation like this ever happened!! The rules of being an Aarwan are completely harsh." Sahil said.

"What rules?!" Asthav asked.

"Did'nt you know? There is a rule that Aarwans could kill each other in a fight if they want to and the second rule is that once an Aarwan left for the Aarwan exams, he can ever return. Neither his home and nor The Temple." Sahil said with a serious tone.

"Awww man!! Why is it so harsh?!" Asthav asked.

"Well you see. 20 years back, Vishonava's economy crashed and the country's GDP received a massive decrease. The country went into a massive recession. The reason was that people were becoming Aarwans and the other jobs began to disappear, both of the things were happening on a large scale. Then these rules were introduced and after that things went back in control. Nowadays, very few people wants to become an Aarwan" Sahil explained.

"Oh I see, but how do you know all of that?!?" Asthav asked.

"Jeez!! How many questions do you have?!? That's why I told you to pay attention in class more than that training you do in the woods!" Sahil yelled.

"Ok Ok. I get it. You don't need to get angry." Asthav replied.

Then suddenly two people came to the door and entered the room.

"Yo! Asthav Bhaiya. How's going!!" a girl with long hair and a cute face appeared.

"Oh, hey Radha!! Long time no see!! How's going?!?" Asthav replied with a smile.

"Hey Asthav!! How's your right hand?!?" her brother showed up beside her.

"Oh, hey Laksh!! Yeah it's fine now, I guess".

Those two people were friends with Asthav. Radha and her brother Laksh. Laksh was in the same class with Asthav and Sahil, while Radha was a class behind them. Radha was always cheerful and passionate about her work. She wants to become a chef and she is soo focused about, while his brother is always covered with a serious atmosphere. He does smile very often but seeing him fully laugh is a rare thing. He remains focused all the time and is the topper of maths in his class. Radha stands 5ft 5 inches tall while Laksh stands as same height as Asthav, 5ft 9 inches.

"You call that okay!?! That is messed up!! But you were soo cool at the field!! You survived that big *** explosion of steam and defeated Rudra, the strongest student in all of the temple!! You really are amazing!!" Radha said with a tone of excitement in her eyes.

"Hey!! Mind your language Radha!!" Laksh said.

"Oops!! My bad!" Radha replied by showing a cute expression accompanied by a smile.

"Hahahaha! So, what are the Guru Ji saying, are they mad at me?!?" Asthav asked.

"Well, certainly. Some, are but most of them are not." Laksh replied.

"Oh, I see." Asthav said.

"Hey guys, it's almost night time so I think that we should let Asthav rest for now. So, let us leave" Sahil said.

"Yeah, I think that you are right. So, bye Asthav!" Laksh said.

"Bye Asthav bhaiya!!" Radha said with a cute smile, waving her hand in the air.

"Yeah, bye guys! See you tomorrow." Asthav replied.

His friends left the room. He lied down on his bed and began thinking about an incident that happened 3 yrs ago. A student ran away from the temple 3 yrs ago and the next morning, his bashed skull was found at the gate of the temple and rest of his body was hanged with the help of a strange looking locket. That locket had a design of Swastika with a solid white paint on it. The locket had a strange wibe to it, as it felt unhumanly. After that incident, everyone was shocked and terrified in the temple except the students because the news never reached to them. It would've created chaos around the temple and the government had been involved with it. The locket is stored safely in the basement of the temple where other historical manuscripts are kept. Asthav came to know about this incident while he was passing by the main hall and came across two Guru Ji talking about it. He was stunned after that.

"I need to examine this locket to see if it could help me in some way" He thought. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and fell asleep. Waiting for the next day to come.

-(Episode 4 end)-

Next Episode's Quote :

"Masked people are more mysterious than the darkness"