"Are you serious? We are here to train ourselves," Lioran snapped, his voice carrying a sharp edge.
Shourya, leaning lazily against a stone, only smiled. "Relax. Playing a game will cool your body and sharpen your mind."
Lioran narrowed his eyes, hardly amused. A game? At this hour?
"Don't worry, Lioran. Playing a game isn't such a bad idea," Sharin chimed in with a grin, his cheerful nature cutting through Lioran's skepticism.
Lioran exhaled sharply through his nose and shook his head. "Fine. But this better not be a waste of time."
"That's the spirit," Shourya said with a clap. "So what are we waiting for? Let's play."
Lioran folded his arms. "Which game?"
Shourya's grin widened, his voice dropping into something almost dramatic. "A game that requires spirit, instinct, and most importantly—courage."
For a moment, both Lioran and Sharin leaned forward, excitement glimmering in their eyes. Maybe this was going to be something intense, a true test.
"That game," Shourya declared, pausing deliberately, "is Hide-and-Seek."
Their excitement collapsed instantly.
Lioran's jaw went slack. Sharin blinked, almost offended.
"You're joking," Lioran muttered.
But Shourya was dead serious. "Rules are simple. You both hide within a hundred-meter radius. I'll find you."
"A hundred meters?" Lioran nearly shouted. "That's enormous!"
"Don't worry," Shourya said coolly, "I'll still find you both in less than a minute. Now, go hide. I'll count to fifty."
With that, he turned, closed his eyes, and began counting aloud, his tone slow and steady, echoing through the forest.
Sharin gave Lioran a quick smirk. "Looks like fun after all." Then he dashed into the undergrowth.
Lioran groaned but finally sprinted in the opposite direction, vanishing behind thick trees and brush.
By the time Shourya reached "fifty," silence had reclaimed the woods. He opened his eyes, and for a while, he did nothing. Just stood still, inhaling the forest air. Then, with deliberate calmness, he closed his eyes again.
"Alright… time to cheat," he whispered to himself.
A faint glow sparked around his body. Prāṇa gathered at his core, spiraling upward, flowing through his veins like liquid fire until it reached his eyes. When he opened them again, his irises had transformed into orbs of radiant white. His vision shifted; the forest no longer appeared in mere shadows and shapes, but in outlines of glowing energy. Every living creature pulsed with Prāṇa, a distinct shimmer in an otherwise dull world.
He saw insects crawling beneath leaves, the faint aura of a squirrel darting along a branch, and farther ahead—two larger energies trying desperately to remain hidden.
He chuckled. "Oh, well done. I really wouldn't be able to find you both… if I didn't have Divine Prāṇa."
His gaze sharpened. Lioran's presence glowed like a sun behind the thick trunk of an oak tree. With unhurried steps, Shourya began walking toward him.
Unaware, Lioran crouched low, adjusting his breathing, convinced his hiding spot was perfect. Then, suddenly, Shourya's voice came from behind him.
"I found you."
Lioran spun around, startled. Shourya stood there, grinning, his glowing eyes unsettling in the dim forest.
"Wha—How did you…?" Lioran's words trailed off, confusion and frustration colliding. "How do you know I'm here?"
"Call it my hidden talent," Shourya teased, tapping the side of his temple.
Only then did Lioran notice the unnatural brilliance of his eyes, gleaming like polished crystal. "What happened to your eyes?"
"I'll tell you later," Shourya replied. "First, we still have to find Sharin."
He turned sharply, his white-glowing eyes focusing through thickets of bush. Sharin's aura flickered like a dark ember, curled tightly inside a dense whoosh of shrubs.
Inside his hiding place, Sharin smirked to himself. He'll never find me here. Too much cover.
A moment later, Shourya pushed aside a branch and looked directly at him.
"Found you."
Sharin stumbled out of his cover, wide-eyed. "What!? But… how?"
Shourya said nothing at first, just let his eyes dim back to their normal shade. Then, with both Lioran and Sharin staring at him expectantly, he finally explained.
"It's all thanks to Divine Prāṇa Energy."
Both boys looked utterly lost.
"Divine what now?" Lioran asked flatly.
Shourya clasped his hands behind his back, walking slowly in a circle around them like a teacher before his students. "When I concentrate my Prāṇa into my eyes, my vision changes. I can see the flow of life energy itself—every living being has it, and nothing can hide it. That's how I found you both so easily."
Sharin's brows furrowed. "So you're saying… we can do this too?"
Shourya nodded. "Yes. Before we begin your true training, you need to learn how to channel Prāṇa into specific parts of your body. The eyes are a good starting point."
Both Lioran and Sharin exchanged eager glances.
"Alright," Lioran said. "How do we do it?"
"Simple," Shourya said. "Close your eyes. Imagine your Prāṇa flowing through your body like blood, coursing through your veins. Then, guide it upward, press it into your eyes. Visualize the pressure building there, as if you're trying to light a fire behind your vision."
They obeyed, sitting cross-legged on the forest floor.
Minutes passed. The woods grew darker, and fireflies began to emerge, blinking softly around them. Lioran and Sharin strained in silence, brows furrowed, sweat forming on their foreheads.
After nearly ten minutes, both exhaled in frustration.
"It's not working," Lioran muttered.
"Yeah," Sharin added, shaking his head. "I can't even feel anything."
Shourya watched patiently, arms crossed. "That's because you're not visualizing properly. You're treating Prāṇa like raw energy, when in truth, it's more like… art."
"Art?" Lioran echoed, confused.
"Yes," Shourya said firmly. "Creating art begins with visualization. A painter first sees the masterpiece in his mind before his brush even touches the canvas. In the same way, you must see Prāṇa within yourself before you can shape it. Visualize it as liquid light flowing inside you, like blood in your veins, like the very breath you take. Then, concentrate it into your eyes."
The boys looked skeptical, but his words carried weight.
Shourya's gaze turned to Lioran. "Do you remember the fight with the gang members? And that Narvan?"
Lioran froze. His memory flashed—the nightmarish brawl, the surge of energy that had erupted from beneath his leg, a luminous circle that had given him explosive power to strike.
"Yes," he whispered.
"That," Shourya said, pointing at him, "was you unconsciously channeling Prāṇa into your leg. An advanced technique, done instinctively. All you need to do now is repeat the process, but with intent. Focus on your eyes. Press the energy there until it awakens."
Something clicked within Lioran. He inhaled deeply, shut his eyes, and tried again.
This time, he imagined his Prāṇa like molten gold, swirling through his blood, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat. He guided it upward, squeezing it into his eyes. Heat built behind his eyelids, a pressure that grew sharper, brighter.
Beside him, Sharin was doing the same. He imagined his Prāṇa not as gold, but as shadow—dense, flowing ink that curled and stretched through his body before concentrating at his vision.
Moments passed, then—
A flash.
When they opened their eyes, the forest lit differently for them both.
Lioran's eyes glowed with a golden radiance, bright and fierce, reflecting the courage burning in his spirit. The world appeared sharper, every leaf edge traced in brilliance. He gasped softly.
Sharin's eyes, however, darkened into a deep black glow, yet within that darkness pulsed countless sparks of light—the life energies of insects, animals, and even Shourya and Lioran. He blinked in awe.
"I… I can see everything," Sharin whispered. "Not shapes, not details… but energy. The life force itself."
Lioran grinned, wonder sparkling in his golden irises. "It feels like… I'm staring into another world."
Shourya's lips curled in satisfaction. "Well done. Both of you."
He placed a hand on their shoulders, pride evident in his tone. "You've just taken your first step into a deeper realm of Prāṇa mastery. Vision is more than sight—it's awareness. Remember this: the eyes of Prāṇa will reveal truths hidden from ordinary senses. With them, you'll never be blind in battle, never fooled by illusion."
The forest around them seemed to hum in agreement, as if the very air acknowledged their awakening. Fireflies drifted lazily, glowing faintly, yet to Lioran and Sharin's newly awakened vision, each tiny creature blazed like a miniature star.
They sat in silence for a while, marveling, until finally Shourya straightened, his tone sharpening.
"Now that you've unlocked this ability," he said, "the real training begins."
His words hung in the cool night air, heavy with promise.