In village, children start with mind training long before they ever touch a weapon.
Before age ten, they aren't considered ready for physical combat. Instead, elders and mentors teach them how to fight in their minds also known as mental training. It helps develop their brain faster and helps their will to grow stronger .
This is done through stories, guided exercises, and visualization. But once children turn ten, they are put into demo fights under supervision, as the real fight feels more thrilling, more physical, more practical most children begin to see mind training as useless or boring, compared to swinging a blade in real fight.
Slowly, mental practice fades into the background, and only a few practice it.
Vayu was one of them, after watching the beast up close he knew how it looked, as if it was printed in his mind.
Six months had passed since Vayu first set foot beyond the boundary, and as he slipped into the forest, he met the beast.
The creature was not merely a wolf. At first glance, four-legged, furred, his scythe like teeth built for hunt, but the longer one looked, the more terrified they got, its size was the first thing that shattered all sense of familiarity. It stood taller than a horse, its shoulders leveled with Vayu's chest even while crouched. When it moved, the ground shook beneath its weight, as though the earth itself recognized this predator.
Vayu had always trained alone. The boys in the village preferred the demo fights, where they could test their strength against each other. To them, that felt real. But Vayu knew better no ONE in his village was stronger than the beast.
So while the others left behind the old mind training, he returned to it. What use was sparring with someone who could never kill you? He needed to face the thing that could KILL him. As he faced the wall he knew to get stronger there was no way better then this.
That night, he lay still on his mat, eyes closed, and drew the forest into his mind. He pictured the crooked trees, the damp soil, it was silent, no wind nothing. The kind of silence that pressed against his ears until even his own heartbeat sounded loud.
He crouched low in the brush, just as he had that day, the dirt cool beneath his fingers. Across the clearing, the beast lay resting. Its sides rose and fell with slow, steady breaths. Its ears twitched, but its eyes stayed shut.
For a moment, Vayu thought he had done it . He had created the scene only to watch the beast from safety. But then suddenly the beast stirred, One ear flicked then the muscles in its shoulders tensed.
And then it opened its eyes, DARK RED eyes filled with bloodlust, hungry to kill.
Even in his imagination, the weight of that stare made his chest tighten. The beast turned its head slowly, not sniffing, not searching looking straight through the brush, straight at him.
Vayu's caught his breath, he was hidden, just as he had been in the real forest, but in here hiding meant nothing. The beast's eyes locked on his, and as it rose to its feet, every part of him wanted to run.
First Encounter
The first time, he wasn't ready at all as he beast rose up he tried to run, as he ran he heard a rustle behind him, the kind that crawls up your spine and tightens your chest and when he turned to look back, the world blurred red eyes, glistening fangs, and a body made of fury launched at him.
He can't even scream before it was over. Claws dug into his chest, his ribs cracked like thin twigs, and his body was thrown across the forest floor. He remembered the smell of his own blood mixing with damp leaves. He remembered his heart hammering so fast he thought it might burst.
And then, nothing. Death came sharp and fast.
He woke screaming, drenched in sweat, thankfully it didn't woke up his mother.
But the real horror started after that night.
Every time Vayu closed his eyes, those red ruby eyes appeared. They burned in the dark, waiting for him, pulling him back into the forest. It didn't matter if it was day or night the moment he tried to rest, the beast was there waiting for him.
He told himself many times it wasn't real. That it only his imagination. But dying, even in a dream, was still dying. He felt those teeth, those sharp claws, the weight crushing the air out of him, his body remembered everything. His mind replayed it again and again.
Soon he stopped sleeping. He lay awake through the nights, staring at the ceiling, afraid that if he blinked too long, those eyes would return. His hands shook when he held a cup. He barely ate. He had lost the fire inside him no, more than that he was getting haunted.
and just like that A month passed.
One evening, as he came back home in evening to eat dinner. Vayu forced down a few bites of rice, then pushed the bowl away. As he was about to stand and leave when his mother's voice stopped him.
"Vayu" she said gently, "is someone bothering you?"
He shook his head quickly. "No why ?"
Her eyes studied him, for a long time "You look like a boy who is scarred, that something will jump out of shadows and eat you alive".
FOR A MOMENT his eyes wavered, his throat tightened, but no words came out.
She reached across the table, her hand resting over his. "Son," she said, her voice firm "Men are not born brave, They choose to be brave."
"Now," she whispered, "it is up to you to choose what you are".
that night while sleeping in his bed he kept thinking about those words now it up to him, does he want to run or face it.
He clenched his fist and closed his eyes.
It took him a month before he dared step back into the forest.
Second Encounter
This time, he tried to be braver. He reimagined the whole scene again stabled his breathing but he was just a kid his hands trembled around the knife, but his legs still carried him forward. The silence of the trees felt heavier, it like the whole forest was holding its breath, waiting to see what would happen next.
Then came the growl, low, hunting.
Before he could think anything his body reacted itself, he ran. His lungs burned, branches whipped at his face, tearing his skin, but this time he didn't dare look back. He made it farther than before every stride carried the desperate hope of survival and yet it didn't matter because he was the prey
The wolf was faster. It pounced, its jaws closing around his neck and in one single snap he tore his neck from his body, the last thing he saw was his headless body running some more steps then kneeled and then fall down, that was horrifying .
He woke up again and just like that .... Sixteen days passed before he came again.