The southern part of the village was half in ruins. Not a single house remained unharmed. Most people were repairing their damaged houses while some were mourning deaths of their loved ones. Sharv walked past them and headed straight to the south.
At the southern crossroads, the little girl he had saved the previous night ran up to him. "Voidheart, are you going away?"
Sharv looked at her smiling face and offered a small smile in return. "Yes, I have a journey ahead. Are you feeling better now?"
"I'm perfectly fine! Thank you, Voidheart!" she said cheerfully.
"You don't call someone who helped you a 'Voidheart,' sweetie," her mother said, stepping out from the half-burnt house, her face still smudged with ash. "I'm sorry about her words... and truly grateful. You saved our house and her life."
Sharv looked at the damaged house—charred walls, a caved-in roof, ash everywhere. The woman was still trying to clean it.
"But everyone calls him Voidheart," the girl said softly. "I thought it was a good name... it has the word 'heart' in it."
"It's alright. You can call me that," Sharv said gently. Then turning to her mother, he added, "I don't see your house as saved. I'm not coming back—maybe never. You can shift to my house. It's better than letting it rot."
He paused, thinking about the attackers. "But wait at least half a month, unless it's absolutely necessary."
The woman's eyes welled up. She had been living alone, working in others' homes to survive since her husband's death. For her, this was nothing short of a miracle.
"How can I ever repay this?" she asked, her voice thick with emotion.
"You don't need to," Sharv replied. "Just don't let my house die alone."
Without another word, he turned and walked down the southern road, toward the next kingdom: Avanti. The forest welcomed him like his home. He walked without rest and stopped once the night fell. Wildlife had gone silent and no sound could be heard except for the sound of flowing water and rustling leaves.
Sharv had chosen a lake for his stay. The full moon reflecting in the pond, combined with cool breeze and greenery created a mesmerizing scenery. He took out the unnamed book. The very first line warned him to use different names along his journey. As he moved to the next page, his face turned much more serious. It talked about the cursed technique of Voidhearts and another breathing technique which would help him.
' This says that my community fuses PRANA with our vessels after mastering the Five Primordial Elements. Apparently it helps them heal the vessel from outside slowing the cursed technique.' Sharv sat down in the lotus position.
' What if I merge my PRÁNÀ with the outer world's?' He thought, 'Will it give me endless PRÁNÀ or counter cursed technique completely?' He started practicing the technique with his own tweak and noticed it was harder than the book said. But he could feel something changing in his body just in one session, so he followed his own technique. Nothing eventful happened in the following days. Sharv walked by the day and practiced his breathing technique by night.
After three days of journey through the forest, Sharv was finally on a dirt road leading south out of the forest. His wavy, shoulder-length hair was floating with the hot wind. His chest bore a strange tattoo of a woman in a red saree, draped from her right hip across her left shoulder. Her face, though, was unclear. He wore nothing but a black dhoti, a dagger sheathed at his waist, and a leather pouch tied to his hip.
He was lost in thought—perhaps a memory.
~~~
8 years ago
"Father, who is a Voidheart?" a young boy asked as they sat in an open yard.
"Why do you ask?"
"I beat the other kids in wrestling today. One of them started crying, and his father called me a Voidheart. He said I should've let his son win."
The boy's tone was flat, unemotional.
"I'll talk to them later," the father said. "For now, you should rest."
"But... what does it mean?"
The father hesitated. "Are you sure you want to know?"
"Yes."
He sighed. "Voidhearts are people said to have no human hearts as they have very subtle or no pulse at all. They are said to be emotionless killers."
The boy looked down. "Then... they were right. I don't feel anything in my heart."
"But you do have a heart," the father said gently. "And you do understand emotions, even if not fully. Right?"
"Yes, since I don't feel them from my heart," the boy said after a pause. "I can't understand them clearly, but... I'm learning."
~~~
"Hey! Hello, fellow traveler!" a voice snapped Sharv from his memory.
He turned to see a ragged boy stumbling toward him from a dirt trail leading through the western forest. The boy's breathing was heavy, and he was covered in dust and bruises.
"Do you need help?" Sharv asked, concerned.
"Water... Do you have any?" the boy gasped.
"No," Sharv replied. "But I can make some."
The boy stared. "What? Just give me, please!"
Sharv pulled a bowl from his pocket bag and placed it on the ground. He brought his hands together above it and focused.
Very faint blue, yellowish red, and silver green subtle luminescent lights began to glow—starting from his lower abdomen, then his solar plexus, and finally, his heart.
A sphere of clear water began to form between his palms, and then it started spinning with a whooshing sound. As it spun, steam rose from it, a fast wind passed through his hands and sphere, and soon a thin stream of water began dropping in the bowl. In a few seconds the bowl was filled. The stranger boy was looking at him and then his hands and bowl, with wide eyes of surprise.
" Drink it. " Sharv said, handing him the bowl. After finishing the bowl, the boy calmed down- somewhat.
" Let's move under that Banyan tree. " Sharv offered.
The boy just nodded and started moving.
When they sat down in the shade, the boy said," What is your name, Mister ?"
' I should use the name my mother called me.' Sharv thought.
" Àrì Màrdàn ( Destroyer of Enemies)." He spoke.
" That sounds powerful." Kant complimented, but couldn't understand its meaning completely.
" Yes, it is." Sharv accepted in a flat tone.
' He looks and acts emotionless. Maybe ...' The boy started thinking something but Sharv interrupted his thought process.
" What is your name ?" Looking at the boy's brown oval face, with dirt filled brown hairs and tired brown eyes, he added, " And where are you going?"
" My name is Kant and I am going to the next kingdom - Avanti." The boy answered with closed eyes.
" Looks like you had a hard journey ?" Sharv asked.
" Yeah. Got attacked by some wild boars. Even though I could defend myself, thanks to my mastery of Earth Chàkrà, it left me thirsty and tired." Kant spoke in the same tired voice.
" So why didn't you carry any water?" Sharv asked while filling the bowl for himself.
" I am mastering Water Chàkrà. So I thought I would just create water and drink it. But the created water had a metallic texture and taste." Kant spoke, looking down, like a child who had made a mistake, " But how did you create drinkable water?"
" Have you awakened Fire Chàkrà ?" Sharv questioned.
"No"
" Hmm. The water you generally create has some impurities, depending on your mastery level and the presence of other elements. You need to vaporize it, using Fire Chàkrà, to make it drinkable . Then either collect the purified vapour, let it cool down itself or cool it down by using Air Chakra." Sharva explained.
" I can't do that." The boy, Kant, said to himself.
" You are travelling in the same direction, it seems. Can I travel with you?" He then asked Sharv.
Sharv looked at him, from head to toe, inspecting his intentions, " You can."
" Thank you so much. I will pay you back, definitely." Kant spoke, cheerfully.
Sharv didn't say anything else.
After a little rest, once Kant had healed and restored himself, they restarted their journey to Avanti.
*****
Meanwhile in an office in the next city.
" So Karn's information was true?" A middle aged man with a goatee and thick moustache, and a scar running down his bald head, spoke. He was wearing a black military uniform, with several golden badges on his chest. The office was sparsely furnished but the golden hue of the walls and furniture illustrated wealth and luxury. Even the chair the bald officer was sitting on was golden coated. There was a Purple peacock painted on the wall behind him.
Standing in front of him was a shadowy figure, wearing a black cloak. Even though his face was hidden behind the cloak and shadowy aura, his chest bore a blackish golden badge with an insignia of Purple Peacock.