Chapter 7: The Burden of Inertia
Descent into the Tamasic Core
Having successfully calibrated his Guna manipulation on the vibrant, Rajas-dominated fields of the Gandharva Loka, Nitya immediately set his sights on the opposite end of the spectrum. His Insatiable Drive demanded complete systemic understanding, and that meant confronting the principle of decay.
"The ultimate goal of stagnation," Nitya relayed to Saraswati via the dimensional anchor, his voice crisp and clear despite the spatial distance, "is represented by Tamas. I require an environment where that force is dominant and pure. I have selected the lowest realm of the lower Lokas: Patala."
Patala, the netherworld, was the realm of the Nagas (serpents) and the Asuras (demons) who had sunken into the deepest levels of illusion. It was a place of darkness, decay, and profound, crushing inertia.
Saraswati's faint, silvery response was cautious. "Patala is ruled by the Rājasic-Tamasic—beings driven by malicious ambition, yet blinded by delusion. Their energy is impure and highly toxic. You must maintain maximum detachment, Nitya, or the Tamas will smother your drive."
"Understood," Nitya acknowledged. Risk assessment: High. Potential resource: Large, untapped pool of high-Tamas energy, potentially useful for later system-level degradation.
He activated the dimensional anchor and, using a concentrated burst of his own controlled Rajas-Prana, forced the transition.
⚙️ SYSTEM STATUS: Nitya, Son of Brahma (v1.0.6)Attribute Status Description
Origin/Class Divine Hybrid / High-Tier Vampire Deploying to high-risk environment.
Core Traits Emotionally Detached Critical: Must maintain 100% detachment to avoid system corruption by Tamas.
Insatiable Drive Set to prioritize Tamas Analysis and Siphon Calibration.
Calculated Predation Calibrating the siphon for toxic energy filtration.
Key Abilities Prana Siphon (Lv. 2) New Function: Tamas Filtration Subroutine. Designed to extract the Tamas component while discarding the toxic Rājasic-Tamasic byproducts.
Knowledge Buffer (Lv. 1) Under heavy load from the transition.
Current Objective Infiltrate Patala. Acquire baseline Tamas data. Test the Tamas Filtration Siphon on a high-Tamas target.The Loka of Deep Delusion
The moment Nitya arrived in the realm of Patala, his senses were assaulted not by noise, but by an overwhelming absence. The environment was a vast, subterranean cavern lit by the dull, sulfurous glow of subterranean fire. The air was thick, heavy, and tasted of stagnation and unfulfilled desire. It was the antithesis of the vibrant Brahmaloka.
The primary sensation was weight. The psychic weight of accumulated delusion and inertia was so immense it felt like physical pressure. Even his Accelerated Jiva Growth felt sluggish.
Initial Assessment: Environmental Tamas level: 90%. System performance degrading. Requires immediate counter-measure.
Nitya immediately accessed his core Emotionally Detached trait. He didn't allow himself to feel the oppression, the fear, or the exhaustion the realm was designed to induce. He filtered it as simple environmental data, neutralizing its psychological effect. He then internally ramped up his own controlled Rajas—not for creative motion, but for sheer Willpower and Anti-Stagnation. The force kept his mind crisp and his small body moving.
He moved through halls carved from black obsidian, past massive, coiled Nagas sleeping in a state of self-induced, lazy malice. The energy around them was thick and putrid.
He soon located his target: a lesser Asura—a demon—slumped atop a forgotten pile of tarnished, illusionary gold. The Asura was not moving, his face frozen in an expression of bitter, frustrated failure. His ambition (Rajas) had completely collapsed under the weight of his own delusion (Tamas).
🧪 Siphoning the Stagnation
Nitya initiated the Prana Siphon: Guna Analysis Mode. The reading was stark:
[TARGET LOCK: Asura of Forgotten Gold. Prana Signature: Highly Contaminated.]
[Guna Analysis Results:]
Tamas (Stagnation/Ignorance): 95%
Rajas (Failed Ambition/Bitter Desire): 4%
Sattva (Clarity/Control): 1%
Analysis: Near-total Tamas saturation. The remaining Rajas is a poisonous residue of failed action. The objective is to extract the sheer inertial mass of the Tamas, leaving the Asura's core Jiva intact.
Nitya deployed the Siphon, focusing the Tamas Filtration Subroutine. The process was slow and painstaking. He had to metaphysically scrape the heavy, clinging inertia from the demon's Prana Signature, avoiding the volatile, poisonous residue of its failed ambition.
As the Tamas-Prana flowed into him, Nitya registered the sensation not as energy, but as Conceptual Density. It was the raw, heavy knowledge of what it means to stop existing. The profound, absolute certainty of no effort.
He fought an overwhelming urge—the instinct to simply cease, to stop thinking, to let the weight crush his ambition. This was the true corruption of Tamas.
[WARNING: Tamas Corruption detected in Knowledge Buffer. Counter-measure: Insatiable Drive override activated. System prioritizing data assimilation over energy absorption.]
Nitya intensified his internal Rajas to maintain the siphon's channel, extracting only a tiny, measured fraction of the Tamas.
The Asura, his inertia slightly lifted, did not wake up. He simply groaned—a sound of subtle, almost imperceptible relief. His Prana Signature, while still overwhelmingly Tamasic, had shed the paralyzing, suffocating weight of the excess inertia.
Nitya deactivated the Siphon. He felt no energetic rush; only a strange, cold, heavy Weight of Data lodged in his Knowledge Buffer.
Conclusion: Tamas Prana is not useful for energy or growth, but as a system destabilizer. The extracted data provides the raw schematic for achieving physical and conceptual stagnation. This is the Code for Destruction.
He looked down at the black, heavy bracelet on his wrist, which now felt slightly denser, contaminated by the surrounding atmosphere. He had the knowledge of creation (Sattva), motion (Rajas), and now, destruction (Tamas).
Nitya turned his gaze back to the desolate Patala. His detachment was absolute, but now, it was armed with the knowledge of terminal decay. He was ready for the next, inevitable step: understanding the ultimate interaction of these forces—Karma.