Two Days Later
It was early morning when Hamsa woke up. The sun had only risen halfway, its light still soft and a bit dull, not strong enough to fill the room completely. The air still had a slight chill from the night, making everything feel calm and quiet.
The room itself was silent. Nothing moved, nothing made a sound.
Except for the steady presence beside him.
Chotu.
He was sprawled out like a log, completely still, in a position Hamsa was pretty sure was not even biologically possible. One arm was twisted under him, the other stretched out at an odd angle, his legs somehow crossed and bent in a way that didn't make sense.
Hamsa just stared at him for a moment.
"…How are you even breathing?" he muttered.
Chotu didn't respond.
Of course he didn't.
He was sleeping like the world had ended yesterday and he had decided to ignore it.
Hamsa rubbed his face and slowly sat up, the blanket slipping off his shoulder. The cold air hit his skin a little sharper now, making him fully awake.
He glanced back at Chotu again.
Still not moving and in that same impossible position.
"…Yeah, no. That's definitely not normal."
Hamsa sat up right now, his body responding without resistance but without energy either, as if it was simply following through on habit rather than intent. Without wasting time, he ordered food—specific dishes, drawn from memories of his old world.
Though many ingredients were missing, and some absences surprised even him, he adapted, improvising where needed. By the time it arrived, the table held an assortment of items that vaguely resembled what he remembered—close enough.
Now, he sat eating a chicken sandwich, something far from ideal after nearly forty hours of sleep, but right now, practicality mattered less than simply getting something into his system.
A familiar presence appeared.
"Leave."
Hamsa didn't turn as he spoke.
The dasis and the two guards present immediately withdrew, the room emptying without question.
Hamsa finished the rest of his food quickly, without lingering, then leaned back, letting himself settle again.
--------
White Room.
Adi and Hamsa were sitting opposite each other. Adi had been talking for a while before he finally stopped.
Hamsa didn't speak immediately. He stayed quiet for a few seconds, thinking.
"So that's why I can't use my mana… or your mana inside me."
Adi nodded slightly.
Hamsa looked down for a moment, then back at him. "So is it complete… or do I still have time?"
Adi scratched his head. "Well… for now, I've put a barrier around my soul. Your growth should stop and stabilize. Unless you let my mana flow freely inside you… you should be fine."
Hamsa stayed silent again.
"And you're sure this is what you went through?"
Adi let out a small breath. "I'm not 100% sure. I've lost my memories. But that's also one of the main reasons I came up with this theory."
Hamsa leaned back a little.
"Well… it is what it is. We just have to live with the consequences."
Adi looked at him, really looked this time, searching for something—shock, anger, even a crack in composure—but found nothing.
This kid is practically unfazed… I don't think I'd be this calm if I were in his place.
"Alright, leaving that aside," Hamsa said. "What happened while I was out cold for almost two days?"
Adi blinked. "Nothing much. Though… one thing. That Acharya at the temple here… what was his name again…" He scratched his head.
"Acharya Ram."
"Yeah, that guy." Adi nodded. "He came to visit you and talked with your parents. I couldn't listen—I had to keep my distance. That man has some serious sensory capabilities."
Hamsa let out a quiet breath. "What do you expect? He's over a hundred. Around one-fifty, from what I know. This is the least you should expect from him."
After that, Hamsa casually conjured a cup of tea and a cigar. He lit it and took a slow drag.
Adi, on the other hand, looked a bit uneasy. A little sweat showed on his face, like he still had something left to say.
Hamsa noticed.
"What did you do?" he asked, his tone slightly annoyed.
Adi stiffened. "Well… it's not what I did. It's more like what happened."
Hamsa didn't respond. He just looked at him.
"Your mother entered your mental space," Adi said. "This place we're in right now."
Hamsa stopped mid-smoke and looked at him, waiting.
"You kind of let your mana rest in its natural state when you went unconscious," Adi continued. "Uncompressed, unsuppressed. And your subconscious didn't reject her… so for a very brief moment, she entered it."
"And."
"And nothing happened," Adi said quickly. "I've been watching her. She doesn't seem to suspect anything… I think. The only time I didn't have eyes on her was when Acharya Ram came. I couldn't risk him finding me, so I stayed away."
Hamsa exhaled slowly.
"Mather chode, agar ye mere chehre pe aake phata to tere lunga."[1]
He is more concerned about this. Adi though to himself.
After this Hamsa sat there in silence there after and finished his tea and cigar.
Then he stood up. The white space around him shifted, forming into a room with everything he needed.
Adi let out a breath and immediately conjured a sofa, a bowl of snacks, and a large TV. He dropped onto it like he had been waiting for this moment his whole life, already scrolling through something.
"Finally…" he muttered, stretching. "Time to binge."
He paused, then looked toward Hamsa, who was sitting at a desk that had just formed in front of him, a computer and holograms flickering to life.
"Hey, I'm going to binge an anime and then maybe one or two TV series," Adi said. "What are you going to do?"
"The Mahadevi is pregnant," Hamsa said without turning. "And even though I don't remember everything… I know that I know enough." He rested his hand on the table. "I'm going to sit and go through those memories. Clean them up. Make them usable here."
Adi blinked. Confusion clear on his face.
"Huh. I thought you were a virgin." He leaned back into the sofa. "From what I've seen, you never dated. And the one girl you liked married your best friend. So why do you know anything about preg—"
He choked.
An invisible force grabbed him mid-sentence and dragged him off the sofa. His body snapped upright into a chair that hadn't been there a second ago.
Hamsa didn't look at him.
"You see," he said calmly, "I had idiots for friends."
The pressure tightened slightly.
"And one particular pair… more idiotic than the rest."
Adi tried to move. Nothing responded.
"They had a child while still in their teens. Legally adults, sure—but that didn't make them any less useless." Hamsa's fingers moved across the keyboard. The TV in front of Adi turned on by itself. "Circumstances forced my hand into helping them out."
Hamsa didn't say anything after that. He simply turned away and began going through what looked like a vast library from his old world, endless rows of stored content stretching out in front of him. His gaze moved steadily, not wandering, but searching.
More specifically, he was going through the watch history.
"Oh. Interesting. You don't like romance… or tragedies." Hamsa said, eyes still on the screen. "Horror… I've never really watched it, so I can't say much about that."
The TV flickered.
"I wonder why…" he added, scrolling. "Oh. You did watch one… maybe two." He pause. "And then you stopped."
The air shifted.
Adi felt it before he even understood it. His back stiffened, sweat forming almost instantly.
"Hamsa…"
Hamsa's gaze didn't change.
"For some reason," he continued, almost casually.
Adi swallowed.
"Hamsa… wait—"
"So," Hamsa said, standing up.
The screen turned fully dark.
"Enjoy this."
He walked away.
The TV lit up.
Adi started sweating harder.
"Hamsa—"
The door closed.
----
Several Hours Later.
Outside, Hamsa's body was still asleep, completely still. Chotu, on the other hand, was awake and busy eating, not paying attention to anything else.
Inside the White Room, Hamsa sat in a closed room he had created. A computer screen glowed in front of him, surrounded by several hologram projectors and other devices, all running at once. Lines of information moved across them as he worked, writing things down and organizing them.
After a while, he stopped. A printer beside him started pushing out sheets, one after another. Hamsa stretched his arms and legs as he watched it.
"Maybe I shouldn't have subjected him to horror," he muttered.
The papers kept coming, stacking up quickly.
"Well… I did queue a comedy and a romance right after," he added, pulling the sheets together.
He placed them into a machine with a basket on top. The papers slid down, and the machine started up with a low hum, gears moving as it processed everything.
Well… depending on how he takes it, he might end up depressed. Hamsa though as he watched it without much reaction.
After a few moments, the machine stopped. A single book slid out.
He picked it up and looked through it briefly, checking the pages.
Then he turned around as room around him disappeared, everything fading away until only a door remained.
"Well… not that I care," Hamsa said as he walked toward it.
He reached out and opened the door. As he stepped inside, a familiar ending theme played softly from the screen—one he had heard countless times before. His gaze shifted down from the screen to Adi.
Adi was sitting there, completely still. His eyes were empty, his face marked with clear tear tracks.
"You monster," Adi said, staring up at him like a betrayed younger sibling. "Why would you show me all that?"
Hamsa frowned. "Why are you looking at me like that? It was punishment. And I even added comedy and romance after. I balanced it."
"That wasn't balance," Adi said flatly. "That was emotional sabotage."
Hamsa folded his arms. "Oh, come on. The horror built character."
"The horror almost made me lose control of my bladder."
"You didn't, though."
"That's not the point."
Hamsa shrugged. "And the comedy? You laughed."
"I laughed," Adi admitted. "That part was good. It helped me recover from the near-death experience you call 'character building.'"
"See?" Hamsa said. "Well-structured experience."
Adi stared at him. "You're ignoring the last part."
Hamsa didn't reply.
"The romance…" Adi exhaled slowly. "What was that?"
"Romance," Hamsa said. "Very popular genre."
"It made me feel empty."
Hamsa blinked. "Empty?"
"Empty," Adi repeated. "And somehow… insulted."
"That sounds like a you problem."
Adi narrowed his eyes. "I don't even experience emotions properly. I don't form connections like normal people. So explain to me—why did that make me feel lonely?"
Hamsa opened his mouth, then paused.
"…Alright, fair," he said after a moment. "That one does hit harder than expected."
"So you knew?"
Hamsa did not respond, he just looked up as if remembering something.
A few moments later Hamsa started walking.
"That data you collected. Get a map ready by the end of the month." Hamsa said as he vanished into thin air.
Adi wanted to protest but before he could respond, Hamsa was gone.
Slave driver.
_________________________________________________
The Next Day.
Temple Complex; Acharya Ram's Home.
Acharya Ram, Mahadevi Bhadra, and Yuvraj Hamsa sat together in the room. Matha Durga had been with them, but after a few words she excused herself and went to the kitchen, leaving the three alone.
For a brief moment, no one spoke.
Hamsa broke the silence.
"I know this isn't just for lunch. Why am I here?" His tone was calm, respectful, but direct.
Acharya Ram chuckled lightly. "Straight to the point as always. You really are like Savitri—not just in looks, but in behavior."
Mahadevi Bhadra cleared her throat, gently pulling the conversation back on track.
"Hamsa… three days ago, when you fainted," she said, her voice steady, "I found myself in a white, empty space."
Hamsa listened without interrupting.
"I don't know what it was," she continued, "but I am certain your mana was there. It felt like… I was inside it. Like being submerged in it."
Her expression remained composed, but there was a slight tension beneath it, something restrained.
Hamsa let out a quiet breath as he had expected this.
Lying would only make things worse if it happened again. Better to show them—control what they see.
"It's better if I show you first… then explain," he said, glancing between them. "May I?"
Acharya Ram studied him for a moment, then gave a small nod. "Very well. Show us."
Hamsa inclined his head.
"Close your eyes. And don't panic."
They did.
Hamsa remained seated, his posture unchanged, as his mana spread outward—slow, controlled, wrapping around the three of them without resistance.
There was a slight pull. And then—
The room was gone.
Only white remained. Endless and silent.
------------------
White Room
Mahadevi Bhadra and Acharya Ram stood in a white, endless void. There were no walls, no ground they could truly define—only an expanse that stretched in every direction. Their eyes moved constantly, searching for something to anchor themselves to.
"Welcome," Hamsa said, standing a few steps ahead of them. "This is my mental space."
After that they spent the next several minutes asking questions. Hamsa answered what he could. The rest, he left as it was.
"So… this is like your mana zone?" Mahadevi asked one final question.
"Not exactly," Hamsa said. "This is a separate space. And it's inside my mind."
As mother and son talked, Acharya Ram studied the space more carefully, he had gone silent half way through their talks, and now he spoke. "When did you first come here? I know of this state, but I've only reached it once—during deep meditation."
"I don't know the exact how or reason," Hamsa replied after a moment of thinking. "But I started entering this about two years after my mana circuit fully awakened."
That was only part of the truth.
He had touched this place—around the age of seven—but he couldn't control it back then. It wasn't until two more years later, after certain experiences he chose not to mention, that he could remain here consciously.
Acharya Ram fell quiet, thinking.
Then he asked, "How large is your mana well?" His tone unusually serious.
Hamsa turned slightly. "Hard to explain or tell directly. I'll show you instead."
Turning around, he raised his hand.
The space shifted instantly.
A transparent platform formed beneath their feet—smooth like glass, yet solid. At the same time, the endless white around them began to collapse inward, folding into itself until it settled into a vast circular dome. The color drained into a muted grey, enclosing them in a space that finally felt contained.
Hamsa lifted his hand again.
Now a glowing sphere appeared in front. Though from where they were standing it looked small, but in reality it was as large as a Grand Palace Complex.
"This is yours," Hamsa said, glancing at Mahadevi.
Then the sphere expanded.
The space around it stretched with it, accommodating its growth until it became nearly ten times larger.
"This is Garuda."
It expanded again—faster this time. Heavier. More intense. Around fifty times the original size.
"This is father. Though his mana is denser than this, so the real amount is bit higher."
The sphere grew once more, surpassing a hundred times its starting scale.
"This is you, Acharya. Though like my father's, your also is a bit larger then this."
Silence followed.
Mahadevi's gaze remained fixed on the massive form. "And yours?"
Hamsa didn't answer immediately.
Instead, the space shifted.
The three of them began to rise.
Higher.
And higher.
The spheres below them shrank rapidly, until even Acharya's—once overwhelming—looked no larger than a pebble.
Hamsa raised both his hand.
A new sphere formed.
At first, it seemed manageable.
Then it grew.
And didn't stop.
It expanded outward, swallowing the space itself. The void stretched to contain it, but even that felt insufficient. The scale quickly surpassed everything they had seen before—dwarfing all previous comparisons as if they had never mattered.
It finally stopped just short of Hamsa's feet.
"This," Hamsa said quietly, "is the mana I can control."
He paused.
"I can draw more when I need to. From natural sources. But this is what is mine."
He hadn't turned around while any of it happened.
When he finally did, he saw them standing still.
Neither of them seemed aware of anything else anymore. It was as if his and their own presence had slipped out of their perception entirely. Their eyes were fixed ahead, unblinking, their bodies unmoving.
They had even stopped breathing. Though in this place, that didn't matter.
They were staring past him.
At something they could not comprehend.
Something far beyond anything they had ever imagined possible.
Hamsa seeing this snaps his finger.
---
Now they were back in Acharya's house, seated exactly where they had been before.
Hamsa's expression was calm.
Acharya Ram and Mahadevi, however, sat in silence. Their eyes were unfocused, their posture stiff, as if they were still trying to process what they had just seen.
Hamsa understood.
He had gone through the same thing once—when he first met Adi. Back then, his own mana well had only been slightly larger than what Acharya possessed now. And Adi's… it had made his look insignificant.
Like comparing the moon to the sun.
Even now, Adi was still stronger than him. But not forever.
As this all went through Matha Durga came in. And soon they left for lunch.
After changing room they sat down, mother and son sitting side by side as Acharya Ram sat across them. Soon the food came by and they begain to eat.
As they ate, the Acharya and Mahadevi were running their heads, both having different trains of thoughts but both were common in that they were caused by and were about Hamsa.
Though the person in question had a blank face and mind.
[1] Basically means. Mother Fucker, if this blows up on my face I will take it out on you. _________ I know its weird to use Hindi here and just for a second time. But this is just to show hoe frustrated Hamsa is that he is going back to using Hindi from his old world instead of talking in this worlds language.