The toxic yellow aura of the Shadow Cult assassin illuminated the dark, purple mist of the Howling Valley. The atmosphere was incredibly tense. A 3rd Chakra master stood before them, threatening to bury them alive.
Any normal first-year student would be shaking in their boots.
But Kanha simply cracked his knuckles. A loud, popping sound echoed in the quiet forest. He casually stepped forward, standing in front of the group, and tilted his head backward with an impossibly arrogant smirk.
"Oye, jungle boy," Kanha called out, pointing his iron toothpick at the terrifying assassin. "I am their boss. And to be honest, my hands have been itching for a good fight all week. Come on, let me scratch that itch on your masked face!"
Standing a few steps behind him, Swati stared at Kanha's broad back. Her fourteen-year-old brain was working in overdrive. She looked at this giant, loud guy with the bright orange aura, and she honestly couldn't figure him out.
Is my brother's friend actually a hidden powerhouse? Swati thought to herself, squinting her eyes. Or is he just a complete, absolute moron?
Swati leaned over and gently tugged on Daizy's sleeve. Daizy bent down slightly to listen.
"Hey, Sister-in-law ..." Swati whispered, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Is his brain damaged? Why is he yelling at a tree-demon?"
The moment the word "sister-in-law" left Swati's mouth, the entire forest seemed to freeze.
Daizy's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Her face, her neck, and even the tips of her ears turned as red as a ripe tomato. "s.....sis....sister-in-law?!" Daizy stammered, steam practically blowing out of her head. She covered her face with both hands, completely losing her composure.
Karma heard it. His jaw dropped in pure horror.
"SWATI!" Karma yelled, completely forgetting about the deadly assassin standing twenty feet away. "What is wrong with you?! Do not call her that! Have you lost your mind?!"
"What?" Swati shot back, putting her hands on her hips. "Mom basically confirmed it! Why are you yelling at me? Yell at the loud guy!"
"Hey!" Kanha turned around, pointing his toothpick at Swati. "I am the vanguard! Have some respect for the Rank 1 Elite!"
"Rank 1 Idiot, you mean!" Sambhab chimed in, adjusting his glasses and sighing heavily. "Can we please focus on the tactical threat in front of us?"
"Oh, shut up, Sammy, you're just jealous because Swati likes me more!" Kanha argued.
"I don't even know you!" Swati yelled back.
In the span of ten seconds, the highly intense, life-or-death confrontation had devolved into a massive, noisy family argument. Daizy was hiding her red face, Karma was scolding Swati, Kanha was yelling at Karma, and Sambhab was complaining about all of them.
Completely ignored, the Shadow Cult assassin stood in the background. His wooden demon mask twitched. His yellow aura sputtered.
He was a feared killer in the underground. People begged for their lives when they saw him. But these... these children were arguing about family titles right in front of him!
"ENOUGH!" the assassin roared, his voice echoing with absolute fury. "You disrespectful brats! I will turn you into fertilizer!"
The assassin slammed his hands onto the dirt. His 3rd Chakra exploded outward.
RUMBLE!
The ground beneath Swati violently cracked open. Five massive, razor-sharp wooden roots, each as thick as a tree trunk, shot out of the earth like deadly spears. They moved at terrifying speed, aiming directly at Swati's tiny body.
"Swati!" Karma yelled, trying to dash forward, but he was too far away to block it in time.
But Kanha was standing right next to her.
He didn't panic. He didn't even draw a weapon. As the massive, deadly wooden roots came within inches of Swati's face, Kanha simply reached out his bare hand and lazily tapped the closest root with his index finger.
"Matter Manipulation"
Zzzzt.
In a fraction of a second, the terrifying, massive wooden spears violently shrank. They went from the size of tree trunks to the size of tiny, harmless toothpicks. They lost all their momentum and harmlessly fell onto the dirt with a soft pat.
The forest went dead silent.
The assassin's jaw dropped behind his mask. "W-What the...? How did you..."
Swati's eyes were sparkling like stars. She looked at the tiny twigs on the ground, and then looked up at Kanha. The "donkey" had just effortlessly stopped a 3rd Chakra attack with a single finger.
"Woah..." Swati breathed out, completely amazed. "What is that power? Can you make anything big or small?"
Kanha proudly puffed his chest out, crossing his arms. He gave Swati a confident, heroic smile. "Of course, little master. I am the grandson of the Mirror King. Matter Manipulation is my playground. I can shrink mountains, and I can make tiny things massive. Nothing is impossible for my aura."
Swati's mind started racing. A brilliant, highly mischievous idea lit up in her eyes.
She reached deep into the pocket of her baggy yellow hoodie. After rummaging around for a second, she pulled out a small, round object wrapped in thick green thread with a short fuse on top.
It was a classic, heavy-duty Diwali firecracker. A "Sutli Bomb"(a type of fire cracker) that she had secretly saved from last year's festival.
Swati held the small bomb up to Kanha.
"Hey, giant guy," Swati whispered, her voice filled with pure, chaotic excitement. "Can you make this big?"
Kanha looked at the little firecracker. He looked at Swati. He realized exactly what she was thinking.
Slowly, Kanha's heroic smile twisted into a dark, highly menacing, and completely evil grin.
"Oh, little sister," Kanha chuckled, a scary orange aura igniting around his body. "I can make it very big."
Kanha took the Diwali bomb from her hand. He channeled his dense, raw 3rd Chakra energy into the small explosive.
VWOOM!
Right in front of the assassin's terrified eyes, the tiny firecracker rapidly expanded. It grew to the size of a football. Then the size of a boulder. Finally, it stopped growing when it was the size of a small car. It was a massive, highly compressed explosive, sitting right in the middle of the clearing.
Sambhab took one look at the giant bomb and his face went completely pale. "Kanha... Swati... you do realize the explosive powder inside also multiplied by ten thousand percent, right?!"
"Karma, daizy, Sammy! Get behind my shield!" Kanha yelled happily.
Swati pulled out a small matchbox, struck a match, and confidently tossed it onto the massive fuse.
Fisssssss! The giant fuse sparked to life.
Kanha and Swati slowly turned their heads toward the Shadow Cult assassin. They both wore the exact same, terrifying, evil smile. They looked like two absolute demons.
The assassin looked at the car-sized bomb. His mask couldn't hide the absolute panic setting in. "Wait... wait, wait, wait! Are you insane?! You'll blow up the entire forest!"
"Happy Diwali, tree-boy!" Kanha and Swati yelled at the same time.
(Diwali is a festival celebrated in india.)
Kanha slammed his hands on the ground, throwing up a massive, thick stone dome to cover his friends.
KA-BOOOOOOOOM!
The explosion was not just loud; it was deafening. The sheer force of a Diwali firecracker, magnified to the size of a car by Kanha's 3rd Chakra, created a shockwave that literally shook the foundations of the Howling Valley.
A blinding flash of orange and white light erased the shadows of the forest. The toxic purple mist was instantly blown away by the hurricane-force winds. The cursed, twisted trees that formed the assassin's maze were snapped like fragile twigs, splintering into millions of pieces and raining down across the valley.
As for the Shadow Cult assassin? He didn't even have time to scream. The shockwave launched him so high and so far into the sky that he became nothing more than a twinkling star, completely blasted out of the danger zone.
Underneath Kanha's massive, protective stone dome, the Core Four and Swati covered their ears. The ground vibrated violently beneath their feet for a full ten seconds before finally settling down.
Slowly, Kanha lowered the stone shield.
The dark, terrifying forest clearing was completely gone. In its place was a massive, smoking, perfectly circular crater that looked like a meteor had just struck the earth.
Swati peeked out from behind Karma, her jaw dropping as she looked at the sheer destruction. She slowly turned to Kanha. "Okay... you are definitely not a donkey. That was awesome!"
Kanha dusted off his hands with a proud, heroic grin. "Told you, little master. We make a great team."
"Are you two completely insane?!" Karma yelled, his heart still beating out of his chest. He grabbed Kanha by the collar. "You could have blown us all up! Swati is just a kid, Kanha!"
"Relax, Brother," Kanha laughed, patting Karma's shoulder. "I had the shield up! Look on the bright side, we don't have to fight with that evil pranist anymore."
"He has a point, Karma," Daizy said softly, stepping forward and placing a gentle hand on Karma's arm to calm him down. She pointed toward the very center of the smoking crater. "Look over there. The explosion uncovered something."
Karma let go of Kanha and looked down. The blast had completely shattered the top layer of bedrock. Resting at the bottom of the crater, completely untouched by the fire, was a set of ancient, spiraling stone stairs leading deep into the dark underground.
Scene Shift: Vedas Heritage Academy
Miles and miles away from the Howling Valley, the morning sun was shining peacefully over the academy grounds.
Professor Agni was sitting on a quiet wooden bench in the professor's courtyard. He was enjoying his rare day off, sipping a cup of hot herbal tea and reading a thick, relaxing book about historical Pranist architecture. The birds were singing. The wind was gentle.
Suddenly, his teacup rattled violently against its saucer.
The birds stopped singing and flew away in a panic. The wooden bench vibrated, and a low, distant, thundering BOOM rolled across the sky, rattling the academy windows.
Professor Agni slowly lowered his book. He turned his head, looking far off into the horizon, toward the direction of the uncharted Howling Valley. A faint, distant pillar of smoke was rising into the clouds.
Agni let out a long, exhausted sigh. He rubbed his temples, feeling a massive headache forming right between his eyes.
"Please... let me have just one peaceful weekend," Agni muttered to himself, his eye twitching slightly. "What in the world was that? Don't tell me... is it those first-year Elite kids again? If Kanha dropped another pillar on someone, I swear I am going to retire."
Scene Shift: The Underground Cave
Back in the Howling Valley, the team had decided to descend into the darkness.
The air grew cold and damp the deeper they went. Sambhab walked in the middle of the group, holding up his index finger. A small, concentrated ball of Hell Fire hovered above his fingertip, acting as a torch to light their way down the ancient stone steps.
"Stay close, Swati," Karma whispered, keeping his wooden sword drawn. His Kinetic Vision was scanning every shadow. "We don't know what kind of traps are down here."
"I'm not scared, I have the giant guy to protect me," Swati whispered back, walking right behind Kanha.
Finally, the staircase ended. They stepped out into a massive, cavernous underground chamber.
Sambhab threw his blue fireball high into the air, illuminating the room. It wasn't a grand, golden treasure room like they had imagined. Instead, it looked like an ancient junkyard. The room was filled to the ceiling with literal scrap mountains of rusted armor, broken iron spears, shattered stone statues, and rotting wooden chests.
"What is this?" Daizy asked, looking around in disappointment. "It looks like a graveyard for broken weapons."
Kanha kicked a rusted helmet out of his way, looking highly annoyed. "Scrap We blew up a forest for a pile of bhangar?! Where is the gold? Where are the legendary artifacts? Where is the treasure box?!"
Kanha angrily marched forward, completely ignoring a particular pile of scrap metal to his right.
But as Karma walked past that same pile, something strange happened.
Sticking out from under a pile of rusted, broken iron chains was a sword. It was covered in dust, and its scabbard looked dull and old. But the moment Karma stepped within two feet of it, the sword faintly hummed.
Karma didn't notice the hum. He was too busy looking ahead at Kanha.
But suddenly, a tiny, microscopic spark of bright blue lightning arched out from the hilt of the forgotten sword. It crackled silently through the damp air and gently struck the back of Karma's hand.
Zzzt.
Karma flinched, stopping in his tracks. He looked down at his right hand. The skin wasn't burned, but he felt a strange, thrilling warmth rushing through his veins. Deep inside his abdomen, his dense teal 2nd Chakra core suddenly pulsed rapidly, as if it was reacting to an old friend.
"Karma? Are you coming?" Daizy called out, turning around to look at him.
Karma shook his head, snapping out of his daze. He looked at the pile of junk, but the sword had gone completely silent and dark again. "Y-Yeah. I'm coming. Just felt a static shock."
He hurried to catch up with the group, leaving the ancient, lightning-infused blade hidden in the scrap.
At the very back of the cavern, Kanha suddenly let out a massive, echoing shout of pure joy.
"FOUND IT!"
Karma, Daizy, Sambhab, and Swati rushed over.
Sitting on top of a raised, smooth stone pedestal was a pristine, heavy iron chest. Unlike the rotting wood in the rest of the room, this chest was untouched by time. It was covered in glowing, intricate Pran seals that pulsed with a faint, golden light.
"The treasure box," Sambhab whispered, adjusting his glasses, completely captivated by the ancient seals. "It perfectly matches the coordinates on the map."
Kanha cracked his knuckles, a greedy smile on his face. "Stand back, nerds. Let Papa Kanha open the loot."
Kanha reached out and grabbed the heavy iron latch of the glowing treasure box. The entire team held their breath, their hearts pounding in anticipation.
The underground cavern was dead silent. The only source of light was Sambhab's floating blue fireball and the faint, pulsing golden seals on the ancient iron chest.
Kanha stood in front of the stone pedestal, rubbing his hands together like a greedy merchant. He took a deep breath, his orange aura flaring slightly to give him extra strength.
"Alright, everybody," Kanha whispered, breaking the silence. "Get ready to witness history. Papa Kanha is about to make us all very, very rich."
"Just be careful," Sambhab warned, adjusting his glasses nervously. "Those golden seals are ancient Pran locks. We don't know what will happen when they break."
Swati was standing on her tiptoes behind Karma, her eyes wide with excitement. "Open it! Open it! Open it!".
She is excited like a puppy.
Kanha reached out and firmly grabbed the heavy iron latch. He channeled a tiny bit of his 3rd Chakra into his fingertips.
CLACK.
The sound echoed loudly through the cavern. The glowing golden seals suddenly flared with a bright light, and then shattered into a million tiny sparks of energy that dissolved into the damp air. The lock was broken.
Slowly, Kanha pushed the heavy iron lid upward.
A bright, pure white light spilled out from inside the chest, illuminating the faces of the Core Four and Swati.
"Woah..." Kanha breathed out, his eyes widening.
But before anyone could even see what was inside the chest, a tiny pebble fell from the darkness above and hit Kanha right on the head.
"Ouch," Kanha muttered, rubbing his hair. He looked up. "Hey Sammy, is your fireball melting the ceiling?"
Karma's Kinetic Vision instantly kicked into overdrive. The pran energy in his abdomen violently pulsed, sending a massive warning signal to his brain. The air pressure in the cavern suddenly dropped.
"It's not the fireball!" Karma roared, his eyes widening in pure terror. He turned around and grabbed Daizy and Swati by their arms, forcefully pulling them backward. "EVERYONE, GET BACK! NOW!"
CRACK! RUMBLE!
A deafening, terrifying roar tore through the cavern. The solid stone ceiling, fifty feet above their heads, didn't just crack it violently exploded inward.
A massive shower of jagged rocks, dust, and debris rained down upon the room. The moonlight from the outside world poured in through the massive hole, cutting through the darkness like a spotlight.
"Matter Manipulation !" Kanha screamed. He threw his tiny toothpick into the air. In a fraction of a second, it grew into a massive, twenty-foot-wide iron umbrella, shielding the stone pedestal and the open chest from the falling boulders.
Sambhab reacted purely on instinct. His hands blurred into ancient signs. "Hell Fire: Black Dome!" A swirling vortex of pitch-black fire erupted above him, instantly vaporizing any falling rocks into fine ash before they could hit the group.
The violent earthquake lasted for ten terrifying seconds. The cavern filled with a thick, choking cloud of gray dust.
Karma coughed, waving his hand in front of his face to clear the air. He stood firmly in front of Daizy and Swati, his dark wooden sword already drawn and glowing with a dense teal aura. "Is everyone okay?!"
"I'm fine!" Daizy coughed, her hands glowing with pale green healing energy just in case. Swati was hugging Daizy's waist, trembling slightly. The fun adventure had just turned into a nightmare.
"My beautiful iron umbrella has a dent in it," Kanha complained from the center of the room, slowly shrinking his staff back to normal size. "What the hell was that? An earthquake?"
"No," a cold, metallic voice echoed through the dusty cavern. "That was us."
Through the settling dust, four dark silhouettes smoothly dropped down from the hole in the ceiling, landing flawlessly on the piles of scrap metal surrounding the room.
The Core Four completely froze.
These weren't simple thugs. These four figures wore sleek, dark-grey combat cloaks. Their faces were entirely hidden behind featureless metal masks that had only a single, glowing red horizontal slit for eyes.
Their Pran energy were absolutely suffocating. Unlike the toxic yellow aura of the forest assassin, these four radiated a deep, blood-red energy that smelled like rusted iron and absolute death.
They were an Elite Execution Squad of the Shadow Cult.
"Well, well," the leader of the assassins chuckled, his metallic voice echoing through his mask. He casually stood on top of a mountain of rusted armor. "We followed the sound of that massive explosion, hoping to find the idiot who set off a bomb in the Howling Valley. Imagine our surprise when we found five little academy mice doing all the heavy lifting for us."
Kanha gritted his teeth, his orange aura bursting into flames. "Mice? You just ruined my treasure unboxing, you masked freaks! I'll show you a mouse!"
"Quiet, Kanha," Sambhab warned, sweat dripping down his forehead. His analytical mind was calculating the threat level, and the numbers were terrifying. "These aren't normal fighters. All four of them are peak of 3rd Chakra . Their pran energy is synchronized. This is a professional kill squad."
The leader of the assassins slowly drew a pair of jagged, curved sickles from his cloak. The weapons dripped with a terrifying red poison.
"The boy with the glasses is smart," the leader mocked. "We have been searching for this underground vault for months. You opened it for us. Now, leave the chest, step away, and we might let the little girl live." He pointed a sickle at Swati.
Swati squeezed her eyes shut, completely terrified. Daizy stepped slightly in front of her Bhabhi-mode activated, her emerald 3rd Chakra thorns ready to strike.
Karma didn't say a word. The air around him suddenly grew incredibly cold. The wild storm inside him wasn't leaking; it was compressing.
"If you want this ," Karma said, his voice dropping to a terrifying, deadly whisper, "you will have to step over my dead body."
The assassin leader laughed. "Gladly."
In the blink of an eye, the four assassins vanished from their spots. Their speed was monstrous.
"Incoming!" Sambhab roared, launching a massive wave of Black Hell Fire toward the left flank.
CLANG!
Karma didn't even have time to blink before the leader was right in front of him. The assassin swung his poisoned sickles at Karma's neck. Karma barely brought up his wooden sword to block.
The impact was like getting hit by a speeding truck. Karma's boots slid backward in the dirt, his arms vibrating from the sheer force.
"You're fast for a kid," the assassin hissed, pushing his sickles harder against Karma's wooden blade. "But wood cannot cut steel!"
Across the room, Kanha was struggling. Two assassins were attacking him simultaneously, moving so fast they looked like red blurs. Kanha was swinging his heavy iron staff wildly, trying to keep them away from the chest, but they were expertly dodging his brute force.
"Take the box!" the leader yelled to his fourth squad member.
The fourth assassin ignored Sambhab's fire and sprinted directly toward the stone pedestal. He reached his hand out, his fingers inches away from the glowing white light inside the open chest.
"NO!" Karma screamed.
He pushed the leader back with a burst of teal energy and tried to dash toward the pedestal. But the leader immediately swept Karma's legs, forcing him to block another deadly strike.
Karma was pinned down. Kanha was outnumbered. Sambhab was pushed back.
The fourth assassin grabbed the heavy iron chest and lifted it off the pedestal with an evil laugh. "The treasure is ours!"
Karma hit the ground hard. His wooden sword felt impossibly light against their heavy steel weapons. He looked desperately across the room. His eyes landed on the pile of scrap metal near the back wall.
Right there, sticking out from under the rusted chains, the forgotten, dust-covered sword suddenly let out a massive, brilliant spark of blue lightning.
It was calling to him.