Desert Anomaly

The temperature was getting hotter and Ajay was sweating. He felt uncomfortable and he was worried about the animals. He asked Tarsh to take them into his space to which they refused cleanly. He knew they didn't want him to face the situation alone. He was very much thankful for this. His previous missions weren't so bad. He had to catch a criminal or rehabilitate some refugees. He even participated in some peace missions. But this was entirely in a new category of its own. There wasn't a living thing in his sight, only the endless desert. He sighed at his luck. First, a heaven-defying system appeared, and then his life wasn't the same anywhere.

Dhvani also tried to make sense of the desert. But she couldn't find any flaw or defect on its surface. And then suddenly she had an idea. Because Ajay kept their communication open while traveling, she could talk to him.

["Can you check out the magical energy remnants here? Maybe we can find some clues."]

Ajay thought that it was a wonderful idea and began to sense his surroundings. He found that earth, fire, and air magic energies that should have been abundant but were actually in deficit. The desert was just like a hollow shell, which could shatter with a click. Seeing his expression, Tarsh who happened to come out of his space was stunned.

Dhvani found that Ajay hadn't noticed Tarsh's stillness, so she called him to her system space.

"Why did you look scared?" She asked him.

The boy made himself at home. He jumped on the sofa and bounced for a while before remembering to answer. Dhvani patiently waited for him to finish playing.

"Brother was looking scary," he replied before going back to play. He jumped like it was a trampoline and because he had his magic, he couldn't fall and get hurt. That made him do more dangerous jumps. Still, Dhvani felt the need to remind him. It was fine if he had magic but what if someday his magic fails? He could get seriously hurt. She was very worried about this boy.

"Tarsh, baby, you shouldn't jump like this. This isn't a trampoline. It's a narrow sofa. What if you fall? It would hurt you, you know. Wait till I get you, a children's playing area. Then you play to your heart's content."

He stopped for a while. Then he pondered for a while. The struggle across his face was quite funny. He looked like he was making a major decision. Then he agreed. Dhvani put him on the bed and allowed him to watch cartoons.

Then she concentrated on his words. He said Ajay's face looked ugly. This was a major downside for her. She couldn't read her host's emotions from his face so she could not know exactly what was happening outside. She wanted to level up so she could remove some of her restrictions. In this way, she could also help Ajay and she could know about the outside world more. Because sometimes she couldn't read her host's emotional temperature from his words. Though the guy was pretty much straightforward, she couldn't find when he was sarcastic.

So she decided to keep talking with him. At least his answers could be analyzed.

["What did you find, host?"]

"Here, though the earth, fire, and air magic are low, something seems to hold them all together. Isn't this mysterious?"

She felt everything in this world was mysterious and incredible so what could she say?

["What are your plans then, host?"]

"I think we should stay here for the night to observe the changes. Mostly the changes would happen at night. So wait and see," he answered.

When Ajay was busy with the tent, Dhvani and Tarsh had a pillow fight. When he was busy making food for himself and the animals, Dhvani and Tarsh were nibbling their respective snacks. Because Dhvani had no body, she ate energy which was made like food. Tarsh could eat her food and also real food while Dhvani couldn't eat real food. So Tarsh enjoyed himself immensely in both ways. She felt the only quirk of herself wearing the system was that she did not need to work. Looking at Ajay who was still working to maintain the tent in the air that blew around them very fast, she felt infinite sympathy.

But when the sunlight faded away, the desert changed and slowly turned into a meadow. There was a hut in the center of it. Ajay decided to wait. He didn't want to enter the lion's den in a hurry. He could wait till this phenomenon subsided and then he could go out to check. Why should he be nosy and get himself in trouble? He liked being like an idle landlord without any trouble, just waiting to count money.

The hut had a small chimney that released smoke periodically. It looked like its owner was cooking. Based on the fragrance, it should be very tasty and mouth-watering. But Ajay still held himself. The Wolf and the Eagle weren't as powerful as him so they curiously sniffed and tried to control themselves. Just as her concentration was on the outside situation, Tarsh slipped away. She understood how her parents felt when she and her brother were busy making mischief.

Tarsh being the gluttonous guy immediately ran to the hut. Ajay also reacted and ran after him. But the call of food seemed to have woken up infinite potential in Tarsh and he ran faster than Ajay. Ajay was very exasperated and worried about his guy. If he ran like this whenever he was tempted by food, he would be easy to catch. After this was over, he had to give the little guy some life lessons. Both Ajay and Tarsh reached the hut and then came the Wolf Param. The Eagle Tej also perched on the wolf's back and they looked like best buddies.

Dhvani took a picture of them for her scrapbook collection.

Ajay knocked on the door and soon the door opened.

It was opened by an old lady. She looked tired and her face was pale. She seemed surprised looking at the odd combination of visitors but quickly changed her face. She gave them a small smile and asked Tarsh directly.

"Little guy, are you hungry?"

Tarsh, who had already eaten his dinner with Dhvani, nodded quite enthusiastically.

The old lady invited everyone in. The hut which looked rustic and small from the outside was a world of its own from the inside. There were lawns, ponds with fish, large oak trees, and a large mansion.

Dhvani stopped taking pictures and directly started recording them. The video was full of Tarsh's laughter and the lady explaining the details of the mansion. The mansion had pillars carved with many trees, animals, and also some humans. They were majestic ad Dhvani noticed one that was very distinctive. It was a scene of war where a general sat on a horse with a sword in hand commanding his soldiers.

Then beside it was a carving where it was a back view of a man and a woman, They looked happy and surrounded by beautiful flowers. She found it difficult to look away from it and others also felt the same. Dhvani had to marvel at the art and skill of the sculptor because she wasn't present there in person but a stream of virtual data could be affected by the emotions in the carving.

The lady noticing everyone's interest in carving, explained its origin.

"This is the reincarnation of our gods in the mortal realm. When there were still gods because of their presence, this world was different. This carving was made by the demigod Shourya for the fallen gods. The gods chose to give up their god power for all the world to thrive. So they had only a half-life in each of their reincarnations. This was their last reincarnation. The general and his lady were a well-known couple but when the general died protecting the country, the lady waited for him. When his body was found back, she cremated him and then organized the affairs of the family and soldiers properly, and then died in her sleep. She went one day later than him. Their story was well known among all demigods. But now only a few demigods are left. All the worlds are waiting for the gods to reappear. God's light is diminishing and the world is changing for the worse. Lord Shourya is still waiting in this dimension for their return."

She sighed and then stopped. She seemed to remember something and then her face became sad.

Ajay felt that he shouldn't ask too many questions to not make that old lady sad. So they moved along and entered a large room. It had many dishes on a long table and the fragrance just kept wafting asking them to eat regardless of anything.

Ajay felt something was wrong but he didn't want to find out why. Dhvani felt the strangeness of the current atmosphere and wanted to stop Ajay. He moved forward like he was under control and it was impossible to stop. She decided to minimize the losses. She forcefully pulled Tarsh into her space. A confused Tarsh looked at her aggrievedly. She had no time for his actions so she asked I'm to take the spirit animals back to space.

Then she yelled at Ajay to stop but was he listening? No.

She turned in the system mall and searched for appropriate items. She found a shocker which woke up the soul from any control for three seconds. It was enough for her.

And now came the major problem. She could not hurt Ajay in any way, even if it was for his good. So she had to think even faster and then she found a quick but very painful solution. She couldn't hurt him but she could hurt herself. This was going to be very painful.

And it was. More than thousands of times painful. She wasn't in any control so she could feel pain more acutely. And Ajay also felt an electric shock that freed his mind. He woke up and quickly confronted the old woman.

She was shocked and then overjoyed. The lady felt happy that she was defeated. As fast as this fight started, it also came to an end quickly.

"I am sorry for testing you. You can call the little guy out. I wouldn't harm him," she said.

It indirectly translated to she would never harm Tarsh but she had no scruples about harming Ajay. Very funny, she was. She managed to harm both Ajay and her. Dhvani felt like she was hit by a bus. She had to get some bonus for her self-sacrifice.

She let Tarsh out who came out looking very wrong. The old lady immediately knelt at his eye level and apologized.

"Little Emperor, I did this so you can find your kind quickly. This world is to be inherited by someone who could take it to the person who had a chance to become a god later. You are also related to gods. Your birth is a good omen to all of us. Your arrival made us start living again. The death which was hanging on our necks is gone. We have some time so that we can establish rules for the world before the event of a return of gods."

Dhvani felt she was crazy but no one asked her opinion. So she helplessly watched Ajay get a temporary owner card of the world. This could facilitate him to enter the world when he was in danger. He had a small house here where he could store his own thing. A small portable space. This guy was really lucky. He turned the deadly situation into a blessing. But this space wouldn't work for the time being. Dhvani didn't understand its working rules. Someday when the world does something, she will find out.

"This world will detach from you when it finds someone with a godhead. You are just a carrier for it. I'm going to fall asleep to stabilize my situation. I hope the next time I wake up, I can finally see the gods."

Dhvani felt that her work here was done for the day and then, she fell asleep for self-repair.