ÚDBŌDHÀNÀM

Suvan was moving towards the deeper parts of the prison through a hallway. There were prison cells on both sides of it. Most of these cells were empty, and even if there were one or two prisoners here and there, they were none of his concern. He was here for the purpose of freeing his friends. Soon he reached a corner where he found a staircase going down. But before he could start his descent, a voice called him.

"Look who we have here," Keshi, who was standing some distance behind Suvan, said. "Vice-Commander Suvan of the City's Rebels, this is not your hidden base where you can take a stroll whenever you want. This is the City Jail."

"I am glad you know me," Suvan said, turning around. "But I am not here for greetings. This prison holds some people that I am about to set free." Suvan brought out his Mace immediately. He was neither messing around nor probing; he was all about a full-scale battle.

Keshi brought out his spear, at the same time activating his Earth, Water, and Fire Chakras. He lowered himself and gripped the spear in his right hand. Suvan simply put his mace on his shoulder and waited for Keshi to make a move, all while probing with his senses to identify a plausible exit. He activated his Earth Chakra in anticipation.

Keshi used a movement technique unique to a few, as he seemed to slide on the ground but at a speed comparable to flying. The spear in his hand directly targeted Suvan's heart but was deflected with a mace strike coming in an arc, down to up. What was a single probing strike from Keshi transformed into an unending strike sequence by Suvan. He spun on his feet, swinging his mace in circles. He would swing his mace in an upward arc, then rest it on his shoulder, change the trajectory, and swing it back downwards. Again the mace would rest on his shoulder, and then it would be swung horizontally, using the shoulder as a pausing or resting position.

Suvan's unusual movements looked like a dance or a practice session, but Keshi was forced to move back. All his strikes would be deflected by the heavy swings of the mace, and he would be forced to block or move backwards for the next few exchanges. Frustration was slowly seeping onto his face. Suvan was like an impenetrable turtle shell; going anywhere near to find a weakness would bring a devastating blow upon his opponent.

Keshi, agitated by the situation, moved back and created a distance between them. He gripped the spear with both his hands in front, his Fire Chakra glowing fiery red. He moved forward, fuming from his nostrils and closed mouth. The spear was burning red, flames enveloping it, but that was not all. The spearhead looked like the hood of a snake.

'An unnamed Chakra technique,' Suvan thought to himself. He activated his Water Chakra. Keshi reached him just in time, his spear extended to strike. Suvan didn't take any risk and blocked the spear head-on with his mace, which was covered in a blue water layer. The weapons collided, creating a hissing sound as if water were poured on a hot rod, but the snake hood on the spear moved ahead. It rounded around the mace and its handle, moving forward, and struck Suvan straight in the chest. It scorched his clothes along with a little of his skin. The exchange was small but created a lot of mist, covering the area nearby.

"You can't escape this," Keshi shouted, again holding his spear in both hands.

"SLITHERING SERPENTINES"

As he chanted, multiple merging snake hoods appeared on his spear.

Suvan looked at it with intrigue; he held his mace in both of his hands, straight upwards. His Water and Earth Chakras both glowed at the same time, one blue and the other one slightly golden brown.

"GOLDEN MACE WAR ARTS"

Suvan chanted, covering his body and mace in golden armor designed like that of a Knight. His head was now covered with a golden helm, complete with two bull horns. Another layer of water covered his armor.

Both Keshi and Suvan finished their upgrades in a blink and collided again. This time Suvan was prepared for a scorching attack. But once they collided again, the very first strike left Suvan awestruck. Multiple snake heads slithered ahead of the spear with open maws, then struck Suvan from multiple sides.

Wherever the snakes hit the golden armor, despite it being covered in a water layer, it turned slightly red. Such was the heat in those attacks. Keshi and Suvan were now entangled in a death battle.

Vrat looked at Sharv with admiration, but there was no mercy present in those eyes. "Get ready for the real battle," he said, activating all five Chakras. Sharv didn't do anything else but waited. Vrat brought both his hands together; the blades on each of his hands combined, creating two extremely sharp blades, one for each hand.

Vrat swiped his blades horizontally, creating a crescent green blade of air which moved towards Sharv, gradually increasing in size. In under a second, Vrat slashed his blades more than twenty times, each resulting in a similar projectile. All these blades hit Sharv, seemingly, at once. Each of them was as powerful as Vrat's direct attack. But once the blades hit Sharv, they were destroyed, creating winds so powerful that Sharv lost his footing. This was more troublesome for him than the real damage caused by the blades.

Soon Vrat moved ahead and started attacking directly. Sharv dodged and blocked most of his attacks, but he was getting wounded every time Vrat struck. Suddenly, Vrat's Space Chakra glowed mid-slash, and his blade lost its green hue for a black one. Sharv had already positioned himself to block, crossing his arms over his chest. The blade cut both his hands at their forearms and left a deep vertical gash on his chest, as he was unprepared for the sudden change.

Sharv's face turned red from pain, but it didn't show any expression except a frown. He backed off at extreme speed, leaving Vrat alone in the middle of the battle. The next moment, Sharv appeared atop the boundary wall.

"You lost. What are you up to now?" Vrat called out.

"A little bit of healing?" Sharv replied in a sarcastic but serious tone.

"You know, we were in a death battle. Why would I give you a chance to heal?" Vrat moved even before he finished his sentence.

'I didn't want to kill you, old man, but you made this a death match,' Sharv thought to himself.

He put both his forearms to his neck, bathing in his own blood. He let out a sigh then spoke in a deep voice. He spoke in a very low voice, but it reverberated throughout the prison.

"ÙDBŌDHÀNÀM"

{AWAKEN}

The incantation traveled through space, it seemed. All his activated Chakras condensed to the size of a water droplet, a sign of their awakened form, and his Space Chakra activated in an awakened state, looking like a black hole at his Adam's apple.

At the same time, Vrat felt himself losing some of his control over his Chakras for a moment but gained it back once he focused. The same was true for every single person present in the prison grounds.

'Affecting others' Chakras even before reaching the sixth Chakra? Well, I would not expect anything less from you, Sharv,' Vrat thought with a smile. 'The child with the strongest will that I have met.'

"PRĀNÀ EKÀTWÀ"

{ONENESS OF PRĀNÀ}

This time the PRĀNÀ shell appeared around Sharv, just like before, but the PRĀNÀ grew denser in a larger area, and its pressure was felt all over the city. Vrat lost his flight and had to land. Even Marshal Khar was forced onto one knee as he had no Chakras active. All the other prison guards were feeling the same pressure and suffocation. It was as if the World PRĀNÀ had found a master to serve and was suffocating everyone else.

"SHÀLYÀM"

Sharv enchanted, and the wounds caused by Vrat's attack healed simultaneously. First, bones regrew, then muscle fibers, and then tendons, layer by layer. The PRĀNÀ suffocation vanished as Sharv disabled the breathing technique after healing himself, but the pressure he emitted from all his awakened Chakras was enough to keep anyone below the rank of Marshal at bay.

Sharv now drew Kràntàk, his sword, which hummed and shone black.

"I have never seen that kind of sword. And it's sheathed in a dagger sheath?" Khar mumbled, looking at Vrat with mercy.

'The curse is still active. I will have to create a new technique to cure this,' Sharv thought looking down at his chest. He was still covered in armor so the wound was not visible to others.

"Get ready, Old Man. There is not much time left until sunrise. I need to wrap this up."