The rain began just as Amrit stepped back into the shade of the banyan tree, though the sky overhead remained cloudless. A strange, shimmering mist fell gently, unnoticed by the world around him, glinting faintly like motes of golden light. The campus was still—eerily so. Footsteps no longer echoed. Voices seemed muffled. It was as though he'd stepped into a quiet layer of reality invisible to others.
Then, his vision blurred.
A flicker.
For the briefest second, the sky overhead split open.
He wasn't on campus anymore.
Instead, he stood at the edge of a colossal river glowing with silvery light. No sun. No sky. Just infinity stretching across the horizon, where gigantic floating symbols—ancient, fiery Sanskrit mantras—burned in the air. And standing tall at the far bank of the river was a massive lotus temple, its petals carved from cosmic obsidian and adorned with statues of the Trimurti—Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva—each thousands of feet tall, staring into eternity.
The river was not made of water. It shimmered with streams of memories, lives, karmas—souls.
Amrit stumbled back, gasping—and blinked.
He was back under the banyan tree.
Soaked, but not wet. Heart hammering. Breath shallow.
"What the hell…?" he whispered.
And that was when the voice spoke.
[Awakening Sequence Initiated]
Welcome, Amrit Kumar.
You are marked by the Cosmic Lotus.
Designation: Bhakta-Class Initiate.
System Binding in Progress. Do not resist.
Amrit's knees gave way. He caught himself against the tree trunk. A surge of warmth rushed up from the lotus mark on his palm, traveling through his veins, wrapping around his spine, climbing behind his eyes. It wasn't painful—it was transcendent. It felt like being rewritten.
In his vision, a golden interface unfurled.
A holographic Sanskrit inscription formed midair:
Cosmic Dharma System v1.0
Class: Bhakta (Devoted)
Alignment: UnknownKarma Seed: ActiveAstral Circuits: LockedDivine Authority: Unassigned
Initiate has not completed the Trial of First Awakening.
Quest: Survive the "First Yagna."
Time Limit: 3 hoursStatus: Initiated
Suddenly, he wasn't in IITM anymore.
He stood barefoot in the center of a blazing yagna mandala—a sacred ritual circle drawn in silver and fire, floating midair.
Around him, eight shadowy priests stood, their faces hidden behind golden masks shaped like mythological beasts—Garuda, Nandi, Simha, Kurma, and more. They stood in a ring, chanting low mantras that buzzed in the air like wasps.
"Let the devotee walk through Agni.""Let his soul remember its first vow.""Let karma awaken."
The air cracked.
And from the center of the mandala, flames erupted.
The fire wasn't ordinary. It glowed with memory. It licked at Amrit's feet but didn't burn flesh. Instead, it burned fear, lies, and ignorance. Every flicker whispered truths—some his, some from lifetimes unknown.
[Warning: Karma Surge Detected.]
Initiate must stabilize emotional resonance.
Initiate must survive the Trial.
Amrit dropped to one knee as a tidal wave of memories not his own crashed over him.
A battlefield from another era.A student seeking truth under the Bodhi tree.A warrior in saffron robes leaping across a cosmic chasm.A weaver creating galaxies from threads of mantra.A child standing before Shiva himself, asking to borrow Time.
His head felt like it would split.
"I am… Amrit Kumar!" he screamed into the fire.
Something inside clicked.
The lotus on his palm ignited—not with pain, but power. A spiral of golden mantras erupted from the sigil and wrapped around him in bands of light.
Karmic Resonance: Synchronized.
Initiate Identity: Confirmed.
Trial Progress: 43%
The masked priests raised their arms, and the fire flared higher. A shadow leapt from the fire—twice his height, horned, with smoke for a face and arms that ended in blades. Its body was carved with mantras in reverse.
"Face the reflection of your ego," the priest of Nandi whispered.
"Defeat the False Self."
The entity lunged.
Amrit barely dodged.
His instincts screamed, but his body moved faster than it ever had. He rolled under a swipe, the mantra-blades slicing the air just above him. The ground under him—a floating stone etched with runes—cracked under the force.
He stood, breathing hard.
The shadow circled him. No eyes, no voice. Just presence. Just pressure. Its aura felt like drowning in his own weakness.
"You were never enough.""Always afraid to stand out.""You hid behind data and code."
Each of its attacks carried doubt, insecurity, and self-hatred—his own thoughts, thrown back at him.
Amrit gritted his teeth. "You're not me."
He held up his hand—and the lotus pulsed.
Skill Unlocked: Sutra of the Inner Flame
Description: Burn away illusion. Manifest will.
He instinctively activated it.
Golden fire erupted from his chest.
The shadow screamed.
Not with voice, but with a collapsing aura. Its blades dissolved into ash. Amrit didn't hesitate. He rushed forward, leapt high, and punched through the specter. A sonic crack exploded behind him.
Silence.
The flames of the yagna dimmed. The priests lowered their hands.
[Trial Complete.]
Karma Aligned. Ego Dissolved.
Title Gained: One Who Steps Through Flame
+10 Karma Points+1 Astral Circuit Unlocked
Then the world folded.
Amrit gasped awake on the steps of the Ganesh temple, back in the real world, as rain poured down hard now—real rain this time.
His shirt was soaked.
His hands trembled.
The lotus on his palm glowed faint gold, then faded. But it remained etched there, like a secret tattoo.
And hovering before his vision again:
Cosmic Dharma System Interface Active
Access [Karma Ledger] | [Astral Tree] | [Mantra Codex]
Warning: Your first vow has been remembered.
You are now bound by Divine Contract.
A notification pulsed red:
You cannot escape this path.
Amrit stood slowly, shaking.
This wasn't a dream. It wasn't a delusion. He had survived a trial… and awakened something far greater than power. A system that did not merely offer levels or skills—it judged his soul, his choices, his intention.
And there was no turning back.