The monster that had burst into where they both were was a part ape and a part crocodile rakshasa, with its jaws open wide.
Sanit's arm rattled as he held up the beast by its throat, pushing it back and away from them both. He glanced around in the dust to check on his partner.
Where the hell is he?
There, a few meters away sprawled on the ground was Dipan, coughing and sputtering.
"Stay down, Dipan."
Dipan looked around waving his arms to clear the dust before his eyes fell on Sanit, widening in fear then in disbelief.
There had been a fair reason as to why Dipan had suddenly broken down like that.
The rakshasa of this type had been classified as a very ferocious beast capable of immense violence and against weaker Awakeners nearly infallible.
But to see Sanit handle it like that, that too by being an inborn was the equivalent of having the world Dipan knew crash down around him.
Sanit felt his arms ache from holding the rakshasa at abeyance. The beast was unrelenting, snarling and gasping as Sanit pushed back every time it tried to gain ground.
This feels like old times.
"Fuck," he grunted and shifted his leg before pummeling the beast in its throat. It got knocked away but Sanit didn't stop, following up with another heavy blow.
This time the Rakshasa crashed into the half-crushed wall and fell back into the wider corridor.
Dipan just stared. Half in awe, half in envy.
And then in mute disgust as Sanit broke the rakshasa's skull by stomping on it.
"You can either continue to wallow in self pity or decide to do something about it Dipan...urgh!" Sanit clenched his teeth as he spoke while rubbing his fists together.
"Just remember that it's the regret that'll hit you the hardest after your indecision," Sanit said as he eased the muscles in his legs and his arms.
Sanit handed him his phone, "I'll be back for that."
Then he threw his cap down, "and that."
He jumped once, then twice from the ground, almost floating and smiled to himself.
Yeah, yeah.
He crouched low, locking his leg to get into a running position and took off with such a speed it left a dust cloud behind him.
All one would be able to see was a fast zooming figure, almost like streaks of light as Sanit ran through the caverns. Exploring. Discovering himself.
There you are.
He came across a pair of Rakshasas hunched over and lumbering about. Before they could register, he had picked up speed and traversed the side walls to get in front of them as they slowly turned back.
He lashed out with his right leg, cracking the skull of the one on his right and dove down as its mate lunged and punched it in its abdomen.
Needing more force he ran backwards as the second one charged snarling.
Then he changed his direction and flew headfirst into its skull.
The sickening sound of bone meeting bone rang into his ears but he was on a roll now.
This feels close to what it was like in the realm. So friggin' close.
The rakshasa collapsed to the ground and he crushed its skull for good measure before taking off once again.
This time flying instead of running.
His body surged with the low wind as he weaved and turned in the corridors, passing by several empty pockets while seeking out more monsters to hunt.
The Gandharva had aided him throughout his time in the realm, giving out tactics, techniques to withstand hordes upon hordes of those unthinking beasts in his first years there.
This felt like a homecoming to him. He didn't look down but he could feel the mucky insides of the monster's brains staining his lower legs, getting into his shoes and pants. It felt warm and it had been oh so easy doing it here, compared to back there in the realm.
Maybe they're weaker here? Or did I adapt to the Realm like they do?
He felt a bit weird to leave Dipan behind but he shrugged it off, knowing well enough he would only hold him back, so he kept flying through the place, not knowing when he had already started to get into the inner depths of the Mausoleum.
His flight wasn't smooth though as the corners came too fast and too quick, usually ending in him hurtling into the walls in a bad crash or grazing through sharp edges that made him howl in pain.
He finally stopped and examined his shirt. All torn up, the scars in his body healing through the gaps but he didn't wanna waste time.
"I should probably stop flying," he muttered to himself and then looked around.
Except for the settling dust from his recent fall it was silent. Quiet. He was all alone. No one around him. Just like back then. Him and his thoughts. And his powers.
"Well where's the fun in that huh?"
So he took off flying again.
--
Up above the entire enclosed depths of the Mausoleum, was the control room where several monitors tracked the fighters through a system of interconnected cameras. The first few were manned by drones while the rest were through CCTV cameras.
The local 3A force's leader, Bagchi squinted at the screens with a pencil in her mouth.
Being in this kind of job meant a lot could go wrong. News of fatalities were commonplace as was member to member brutality to acquire stones but right now morality was out of the question.
For the 3A nothing mattered more than recruiting and securing talent, not just for the country but to also prevent meddlesome parties from getting involved. It was more like a policy now that everyone worked with.
"Are you seeing this?" she pointed to the screen of a particular corridor to her colleague, Anuj who was chowing on a roll. He wiped his face and stood by her before his face fell.
He grabbed the chair of one of the employees in front of them, "you there! Zoom into that and concentrate on that sector—what in the hell is moving like that?"
He turned to Bagchi who was still watching, "Have you ever seen something like that?"
She shook her head, "does it remind you of anyone from the big factions?"
Anuj frowned, "why would they send their members here when they could very well serve in the fronts or other more lucrative hunting grounds?"
"Yeah there's a point there." Bagchi agreed. "Can you even see him pause anywhere? He seems like he's high on something."
"You're assuming it's a 'he'?" Anuj questioned his partner.
"For now I am."
"How much time is remaining for this batch?" Anuj asked the room and someone raised a hand, "yeah?"
"It's been 30 minutes, sir. They have another 30 minutes with an added 15 minutes as grace time for the ones who have gone too deep."
Bagchi finally stopped fiddling with her pencil and turned to them, "I want the records of the first batch who went in immediately. Start compiling them and get them ready before they finish. Quick."
"Yes mam," the group said in unison and furiously began to work on their systems.
"You think he's recruitable?" Anuj questioned.
"I don't even know who this person is at the moment, but if I can I definitely will."
Bagchi gave a frustrated sigh before continuing, "the agency desperately needs a win now more than ever, Anuj. Everyone knows that."
Anuj nodded and turned his attention back to the screen with a squint.
"What do you think he's doing? I don't see him collecting stones."
"This will sound wrong, but I think he's just enjoying himself in there." She paused then tugged on Anuj's sleeve, "look, look he's coming up on a Rakshasa now."
"All by himself?" Anuj saw the screen and blinked.
The boy they were following repeatedly flew right into its chest, extricating itself from its grasp and went back in more force, then flew around it to smash his knee into the back of his neck to bring it down and elbowed its skull to cave it in.
"Holy hell, that was epic."
Bagchi stayed silent but she did not find much to disagree with her colleague's statement.