Karma sprinted across the small courtyard, his heart hammering against his ribs. He threw open the front door of his house, gasping for air.
"MOM! STOP!" Karma yelled, bursting into the modest, cozy living room.
But he was too late. The damage was already done.
Kanha was sitting on the floor, leaning against the sofa with a plate piled high with hot, crispy samosas and sweet jalebis.
(#samosa and jalebis :- a popular Indian street food )
He was treating the house exactly like his own, happily chewing away. Sambhab sat properly in a wooden chair, sipping a cup of hot masala chai, though the corner of his mouth was twitching with a suppressed smile.
(*hot masala chai:- "spiced tea"—Masala means spices, and Chai means tea. It is a traditional Indian beverage made by brewing black tea with a mixture of aromatic spices)
And right there, sitting comfortably on the center couch, was Daizy. Beside her was Karma's mother Aarti, a gentle woman with kind, tired eyes and a warm smile. Between them lay a massive, dusty family photo album.
Daizy was covering her mouth with both hands, her shoulders shaking as she giggled uncontrollably.
"And look at this one, Daizy dear," Karma's mother said, pointing at a faded photograph. "This is Karma when he was six years old. He insisted on wearing a towel like a superhero cape and jumping off the dining table. He completely knocked out his front tooth!"
Daizy burst into bright, musical laughter. She looked at the photo of a tiny, chubby Karma missing a tooth, striking a ridiculous hero pose. Her cheeks were flushed pink with joy.
Karma buried his face in his hands, groaning in sheer agony. "Mom... please. I am a Rank 1 Elite student. I fight monsters. You are completely destroying my reputation."
Kanha swallowed a huge bite of samosa and laughed loudly. "What reputation, bro? You're 'Toothless the Towel Hero' now! I am never, ever letting you forget this!"
Even Sambhab adjusted his glasses, a rare grin on his face. "I must say, Karma, the towel cape was a very bold tactical choice."
Karma glared at them, his face completely red. "Swati! You planned this, didn't you?!" He looked around for his mischievous little sister, but she had conveniently disappeared into the kitchen.
Aarti chuckled softly and closed the album. "Alright, alright, I'll stop teasing him. Karma, beta, go to the kitchen and bring some more sweet chutney for Kanha. He has an amazing appetite."
"I love you, Aunty!" Kanha cheered.
Karma sighed, accepting his defeat, and dragged his feet toward the kitchen.
While the boys were distracted by the food, Aarti gently placed her hand over Daizy's. The teasing smile faded from the older woman's face, replaced by a look of deep, profound gratitude.
Daizy looked up, surprised by the sudden warmth. "Aunty? Is everything okay?"
Aarti's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "I just wanted to say thank you, Daizy. Secretly."
Daizy blinked, confused. "Thank me? For what?"
"For bringing my son back to life," Aarti whispered softly, her voice filled with emotion. "Since his father passed away, Karma... he locked himself away. He was always angry, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He didn't smile. He didn't have friends. He thought he was weak .
Aarti squeezed Daizy's hand. "But today, seeing him walk through that door... he was flustered, embarrassed, and so full of life. He has friends who would fight for him. And he has you. I see the way he looks at you, Daizy. You are his peace. Thank you for changing my son's life."
Daizy's breath hitched. Her heart swelled with so much emotion that her 3rd Chakra core pulsed warmly in her chest. She gently squeezed Karma's mother's hand back, her own eyes watering slightly.
"You don't need to thank me, Aunty," Daizy said with a soft, determined smile. "Karma is the bravest person I know. He protects all of us. I promise you, I will always stand by his side. Always."
Scene Shift: The Hidden Box
A few minutes later, the emotional moment was interrupted by a loud clatter from the hallway closet.
"Oye Karma!" Kanha yelled from the back room. "Where do you keep the extra blankets? We're crashing in your room tonight, and I need a soft pillow!"
"Top shelf of the closet, you giant baby!" Karma shouted from the kitchen.
Kanha reached up to the top shelf, pulling down a heavy stack of winter blankets. As he pulled them down, something heavy slipped from behind the blankets and hit the floor with a loud THUD.
Kanha looked down. It was a dusty, heavy metal box, covered in rust and secured with a thick, ancient-looking iron padlock.
Curiosity taking over, Kanha picked it up. "Hey guys! Come look at this!"
Karma walked out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. When he saw the metal box in Kanha's hands, he froze. "Where did you find that?"
"It was hidden behind the blankets," Kanha said, shaking the box. Something inside rattled slightly. "It's locked tight."
Karma walked over, his eyes wide. He remembered the journal he had just been reading in the dojo. His father's secrets. "Let me see that."
"No need for a key when you have me," Kanha smirked. He tapped the heavy iron padlock with his index finger. His orange 3rd Chakra flared slightly. "Matter Manipulation."
The heavy padlock instantly shrank down to the size of a grain of rice, falling out of the latch completely.
Kanha popped the lid open. The four of them gathered around, peering inside.
There was no gold. There were no weapons. Lying at the bottom of the box was an old, thick piece of leather parchment. Karma carefully took it out and unrolled it on the living room table.
It was a map. But it wasn't a normal map of the city. It was drawn with strange, glowing ink that pulsed faintly with Pran energy. It showed thick forests, jagged mountains, and a large red 'X' marked deep inside an area labeled The Howling Valley.
Kanha's eyes widened, practically turning into stars. He slammed his hands on the table. "OH MY GOD! IT'S A TREASURE MAP!"
Sambhab immediately leaned in, pushing his glasses up his nose. His analytical mind went to work. "This isn't a game, Kanha. Look at these coordinates. This is far beyond the safe zones. The Howling Valley is a completely uncharted Class-A Danger Zone. It's filled with high-level mutated beasts and toxic terrain."
"Even better!" Kanha grinned wildly, bouncing on his heels. "A secret map hidden by Karma's dad? We have to go! We are totally going on an adventure!"
"Absolutely not," Karma said firmly, crossing his arms. "Sambhab is right. It's too dangerous. Plus, the Inter-Academy Tournament finals are coming up. We don't have time to go chasing ghosts in a death zone."
Kanha puffed out his chest, flexing his muscles. "Bro, are you kidding me? If it's dangerous, who cares?! I am here! I just dropped a hundred-ton pillar on fifty people! I am the most dangerous thing in any valley!"
"Kanha, your ego is bigger than your pillars," Sambhab sighed. "Karma's right. It is an unnecessary risk."
"I agree with Karma," Daizy added softly, not wanting him to get hurt again.
"You guys are so boring!" Kanha groaned.
Suddenly, Swati popped her head around the doorway, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "A treasure hunt?! I want to go too! Take me with you!"
Karma spun around, glaring at his little sister. "Absolutely not. Go to your room, Swati. This is Pranist business. It's way too dangerous for a normal kid."
Swati pouted, crossing her arms. She looked at Karma, then at Kanha, then at Daizy. Slowly, a devious, evil smirk spread across her cute little face.
"Oh, okay," Swati said, her voice dripping with fake innocence. "I won't go. But you know, Karma... yesterday, when I walked past the bathroom while you were taking a shower, I heard someone singing."
Karma's face instantly went completely pale. "S-Swati... don't."
Swati ignored him, turning to Daizy and Kanha with a bright smile. "Yeah! He was singing that super cheesy romantic pop song! How did it go again? 'Oh my darling, you are my shining star~!' And he was singing it so loudly—"
"I AM READY! LET'S GO!" Karma practically screamed, his face turning as red as a tomato. He grabbed the map from the table, rolled it up aggressively, and shoved it into his pocket. "WE ARE LEAVING RIGHT NOW! PACK YOUR BAGS! TO THE HOWLING VALLEY!"
For a second, the room was dead silent.
Then, Kanha burst into uncontrollable, hysterical laughter, falling onto the sofa and holding his stomach. "BATHROOM SINGER! HAHAHA! OH MY DARLING!"
Sambhab tried to maintain his serious expression, but he failed, chuckling softly and adjusting his glasses to hide his smile.
Daizy's face turned bright red, realizing the romantic song was probably about her. She looked down at her feet, a massive, foolish grin spreading across her face as she tried to hide her giggles.
Karma stood by the door, completely humiliated, sweating profusely, and glaring daggers at his little sister. Swati just gave him a cute peace sign and skipped away.
"is this life of a hero ," Karma muttered under his breath.
Chapter 33: The Lost Navigators
The Howling Valley did not look like a normal forest. It looked like a nightmare painted in shades of gray and dark green. The trees were massive, with twisted, jagged branches that looked like skeletal fingers reaching into the sky. A thick, eerie purple mist clung to the ground, hiding the roots and making every step feel uncertain. There were no birds singing. The only sound was the cold wind whistling through the branches, sounding almost like crying ghosts.
And walking right through the middle of this terrifying Danger Zone were five teenagers.
At the very front of the group marched Kanha. He was holding the ancient, glowing leather map high in the air, his chest puffed out with absolute confidence.
"Don't worry, guys! We are making excellent time!" Kanha announced loudly, stepping over a rotting log. "My grandfather always said I have the inner compass like a dog . Just follow me. I know exactly how to read these magical coordinates."
Behind him, Sambhab pushed his glasses up his nose, his blue eyes narrowing in deep suspicion. "Kanha... you have been looking at that map for two hours. The glowing red 'X' has not gotten any closer. In fact, I am mathematically certain we are walking away from it."
"Nonsense, Sammy!" Kanha laughed, waving his hand dismissively. "The map is ancient! You have to read it with feeling, not math!"
Karma walked closely behind them, keeping Daizy and his little sister, Swati, safely between himself and Sambhab. His right hand never left the hilt of his dark wooden sword. His Kinetic Vision was constantly scanning the purple mist.
"Kanha, stop for a second," Karma sighed, rubbing his temples. A massive headache was building behind his eyes. He walked up to his friend and grabbed Kanha's wrist, forcefully turning the map around.
Karma stared at Kanha dead in the eye. "You are holding it upside down."
The entire group stopped walking.
Kanha blinked. He looked at the map, then at Karma, then back at the map. "Ah. Well. That explains why the mountains looked like they were floating. Minor miscalculation!"
"Minor miscalculation?!" Sambhab exploded, his calm demeanor finally snapping. A tiny spark of black Hell Fire flickered at his fingertips from pure stress. "You dragged us into a Class-A Danger Zone, and you don't even know how to hold a piece of paper! We are completely, hopelessly lost!"
Daizy let out a nervous little laugh, trying to calm the tension. "It's okay, guys. We can just turn around and retrace our steps..." She looked behind them, but the purple mist had completely swallowed the path they came from. Every single twisted tree looked exactly the same. "Oh. Never mind."
Karma let out a deep groan, burying his face in his hands. "I am the worst older brother in the world. I brought my fourteen-year-old sister into a death trap because I couldn't handle a bathroom joke."
"Hey! Don't panic, amateurs!" a confident voice chirped up.
Swati stepped forward, her hands on her hips, radiating absolute teenage confidence. She snatched the glowing leather map right out of Kanha's hands.
"Hey! Give that back, kid!" Kanha protested.
"Quiet, giant," Swati huffed, adjusting her baggy yellow hoodie. She studied the map for a few seconds, nodding her head as if she completely understood the ancient ink. "You guys are totally useless without me. Don't worry, don't take tension. I know exactly where to go. Follow the master!"
With a bright smile, Swati confidently marched forward into the fog.
Karma looked at Sambhab. Sambhab shrugged. Having no better option, the Rank 1 Elite team of Vedas Heritage Academy followed the middle-schooler.
They walked. And they walked. And they walked some more.
An hour passed. The purple mist grew thicker, clinging to their clothes and making the air feel damp and heavy. The silence in the forest was becoming unbearable.
Finally, Swati stopped. She looked at the map, scratched her head, and looked around. She took a few steps to the left, then a few steps to the right.
Directly in front of them was a massive, weirdly shaped boulder that looked exactly like a giant skull.
Kanha crossed his arms, a slow, highly annoying smirk spreading across his face. He leaned down until he was eye-level with Karma's little sister.
"What happened, little master?" Kanha teased, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't we pass this exact same skull-shaped rock an hour ago?"
Swati's face turned bright red with embarrassment. She pointed an accusing finger at the boulder. "T-The map is broken! Or maybe... maybe the tree moved! Yeah, the tree is following us!"
"The tree is following us?" Kanha burst into loud laughter, holding his stomach. "Oh, sure! And maybe the trees are dancing too! Face it, kid, you have no idea what you're doing!"
"At least I didn't hold it upside down, you oversized gorilla!" Swati yelled back, stomping her foot.
"Who are you calling a gorilla, you tiny little—"
"Quiet."
Karma's voice cut through the argument like a razor blade. It wasn't loud, but it carried an intense, chilling seriousness that made both Kanha and Swati instantly freeze.
Karma had already drawn his wooden sword. His dense, teal 2nd Chakra energy was slowly leaking out, blowing the purple mist away from his feet. His eyes were locked on the twisted trees surrounding them.
Sambhab instantly felt the change in the atmosphere. He pushed his glasses up, his blue aura flaring to life. "Karma... what is it?"
"Swati wasn't lying," Karma whispered, his grip tightening on his sword. "The map isn't broken. We aren't walking in circles."
Daizy quickly stepped in front of Swati, her hands glowing with pale green light. "Then why are we back at the same rock?"
"Because," a new, cold, and entirely unfamiliar voice echoed from all directions at once.
It didn't come from Karma or his team. The voice seemed to slither out of the purple mist itself, bouncing off the trees so it was impossible to tell where it was coming from. It was a smooth, mocking voice.
"Because the trees are moving," the voice hissed.
Suddenly, the ground trembled. Kanha gasped as the massive skull-shaped rock in front of them violently shifted to the left. The giant, twisted trees around them began to drag their roots through the dirt, physically rearranging themselves like a giant wooden maze closing its doors.
Within seconds, the Core Four and Swati were completely trapped in a tight, circular clearing surrounded by an impenetrable wall of cursed wood.
From the shadows of the trees, a figure slowly walked out into the clearing.
He was a tall, incredibly thin man dressed in a dark green cloak that seemed to blend perfectly with the forest. His face was covered by a wooden mask carved into the shape of a screaming demon. He wasn't carrying a weapon, but his body radiated a sickly, toxic-yellow Pran energy that made the air smell like rotting leaves.
"Welcome to my garden, little elites," the masked man laughed. "You are a long way from the safety of your academy."
Kanha stepped forward, pulling out his iron toothpick and expanding it into a full-sized staff. "Who the hell are you? A forest ranger with a bad fashion sense?"
The masked man slowly tilted his head. "I am a Hunter of the Shadow Cult. And I have been waiting for someone to bring that map here for five years."
The man pointed a long, bony finger directly at Karma.
"Hand over the map that leads to the Lightning Storm Sword," the assassin commanded, his yellow aura flaring violently. "Do it quickly, and I will only kill the loud one. Resist, and I will bury all of you under the roots of this forest."
Karma's teal eyes narrowed. He took a slow step forward, shielding Daizy and Swati entirely. The wild storm inside him was waking up. They had finally found their villain.