Rise: The City of Amravati

The city of Amravati Was the 1st city to have been established in an apocalyptic world. It had grown To span almost half of the Indian sub continent and was the oldest city to exist.

But it Had not developed as Something close to a futuristic City even after all these years, or so it appeared. There were changes in the basic pattern of living of the people but that was it.

It was a huge city that was separated into two sectors, the southern slums and the northern nobility.

The city itself was protected in its entirety by huge towering walls acting as a fence that extended up to 500 meters in height and were 100 meters in width and they were enforced with magic.

There were small devices mounted on top of these walls that shot turquoise rays up into the sky and were met with other such rays, casting a protective energy barrier from above, preventing any aerial attack.

The city had its fair share of devastating aerial attacks as a result the development of magical engineering was pushed to its peak.

This gave birth to a new era of scientific development that brought about drastic change in warfare strategies and the fire power of the nations but that remains a tale for another time.

Amravati was fueled completely by the resources gained from monster and demon hunting. It had high rises and even apartments but none of it seemed to have been planned properly.

There was a lack of proper network of roads. The roads were nothing more than red mud lined in between the buildings.

There were large vehicles that went around carrying all sorts of things from waste, to broken robots to sewage to dead bodies, to be disposed of into the incinerator.

There was no stability in the water supply. People would shed blood to gather around the water plant to get their share and more.

The northern part of the city was, however, a different sight to look at. It had many white marble palaces connected by well paved roads. The streets had high end shops for all items of need and beyond.

The shops were manned by robots that could easily be mistaken as humans. There were expensive eateries and the streets were decorated with extravagant lamps fueled by a strange yellow stone that floated within its glass head.

There were parks with fountains and flowers. The roads were lined with blue stones that glowed in the night lighting up the roads.

There were opera houses, theatres, movie halls, clubs and many more recreational avenues that the residents of the northern sector would indulge themselves in after sundown.

There were vehicles that the people in this sector travelled in. They were aircrafts by nature and were powered with magic stones.

***

The bhavani temple was at the edge of the slums and so was Arya's home.

Arya's uncle was moving around the house, gathering some clothes for Arya to change into.

"Change into these." he said, handing a hoodie and track pants to Arya. "After you have changed, wear this ring." He gave Arya a red stone studded golden ring.

Arya was obedient throughout the process but the questions in his mind were piling up. Everytime he would open his mouth Rudra would say, "AHH!! Tut tut…not a word."

Rudra went into his room and opened his almirah. Arya had finished getting dressed and followed his uncle into the room. The almirah was nothing extraordinary.

Rudra, joining the tips of his index finger and thumb, traced out a circle on the almirah's wall and it shone golden. He pressed the centre with all five fingers of his and a doorway appeared.

There were stairs that led down somewhere.

Rudra started descending the flight and Arya followed. Rudra didn't seem to care about Arya following him. It was dark and the darkness seemed to grow thicker as they descended.

At first it was difficult for Arya to see but his eyes slowly got accustomed to the darkness. He was not sure how Rudra was able to climb down in this darkness without stopping or faltering.

Maybe he was used to it or maybe something else. But Arya dismissed it.

They descended into complete darkness.

Arya could now make out certain things in respect of the room that they had reached. There seemed to be a long passage in front of him. But he didn't have to guess for long.

He saw his uncle pull out a knife from somewhere inside his clothes and with a controlled slashing sound made blood drip out of his thumb.

"Pravesham kuru!" Rudra muttered.

Suddenly a pair of torches lit up on the two walls of the passage and it continued on until the entire underground room had been lit.

Arya was shocked with what he saw. The passage continued and there were glass enclosures on both sides. Each enclosure was as big as a room, enshrining a specific armour set and weapon set.

One was red leather jackets, one was just simple black overall but the one stood out among all those was the golden set...which even had a name written over the enclosure.

"Surya's Grace" it read.

It was a brilliant golden coloured armour with a head set too. It had been exquisitely carved up on with images of the Sun God showing grace up on devotees and blessing life.

The weapons that came with it included a golden scimitar, a shield and a golden spear.

Arya could not believe what he was seeing.

"You are my uncle, right?" Arya asked, stressing on the my part of his sentence.

Rudra looked over his shoulders at Arya. He smirked and said, "Follow me."