The forest breathed like a beast waiting to wake.
Leaves whispered secrets in a forgotten tongue, and birds fell silent just as the final words were spoken.
Yogini Maitri Kashyapi, standing tall beneath the ancient fig tree near Ram-Lalla Ashram, raised her right hand.
Her voice, soft yet absolute, echoed across the meadow like the strike of a ceremonial gong.
Yogini Maitri: "Begin."
A heartbeat of silence—
Then the ground thundered with sprinting feet.
Disciples surged forward like a wave of destiny.
Maruti Vanar launched first.
Not ran—leapt.
He sprang into the air with a roar of laughter, his tail snapping behind him like a banner of war. He soared over trees and rooftops, covering distances that left the others gaping.
Maruti (grinning): "AYODHYA, MY FEET WON'T BE TOUCHING YOU FOR LONG!"
Anand Yadav followed next, silent and sharp.
His Root Chakra flared with a soft hum beneath his skin, glowing faintly in his soles as he sprinted with frightening control. He wasn't just running—he was harmonizing with the forest floor.
Naimisha Vats ran after him—no chakra flaring, no tricks.
But she was fast.
Too fast.
Her movements were like water guided by instinct. Fluid. Unburdened.
The trees seemed to part for her, branches bending ever so slightly as if recognizing an old friend.
Ravi (huffing, beside Pralay): "Who—who—told her—she could be a damn gazelle?"
Pralay didn't speak. He ran. Measured. Quiet.
Not the fastest. Not the strongest.
But something behind his eyes had ignited.
The moment they entered the tree line, the world changed.
Bright skies were swallowed by dense canopy. The light turned green. The silence turned heavy.
Disciples scattered in all directions—some sprinting deeper, others pushing, elbowing, a few already drawing out their weapons.
And then—chaos.
Small fights broke out.
Chakras flared.
Mud and leaves tore beneath boots.
Some disciples began taking out their rivals before the real tests had even begun.
Maruti, mid-leap, looked down and saw two disciples brawling over a false mango already.
Maruti (laughing): "You fools are fighting over unripe dreams! There are real fruits ahead!"
Naimisha dodged a sudden flying blade thrown toward her legs, flipped off a tree root, and kicked the assailant into a bush.
Naimisha: "You were in my meditation group last week. Shame."
Anand, with precise breath control, used chakra pressure to glide across a stream. He slapped two attackers with effortless palm strikes, disrupting their balance and moving on like a breeze through silk.
Ravi and Pralay stuck together—more by instinct than strategy.
Ravi (whispering): "You know we're gonna get wrecked if we don't pick a direction, right?"
Pralay: "Then follow me."
As if pulled by some invisible current, a group of disciples—including Pralay, Ravi, Naimisha, Anand, and a few others—suddenly felt the forest pulse beneath their feet.
The path ahead blurred.
Branches twisted unnaturally.
Shadows bent the wrong way.
And then—they were inside it.
Test One: The Illusion Labyrinth (Maya-Marga)
The world turned blue-grey.
Fog slithered like serpents between roots. Trees distorted. Familiar voices whispered from nowhere. Disciples froze, unsure if they were still awake.
Naimisha heard a voice. Her mother's. Calling her name.
She stopped—just for a moment.
Pralay grabbed her arm.
Shook his head.
She blinked. The voice was gone.
Elsewhere, a disciple cried out—trapped in an endless loop, chasing a mirage of his dying brother.
Anand, recognizing the pattern, closed his eyes and relied on sound, not sight. With Root Chakra activated, he mapped the echo of footfalls and guided himself forward with cold precision.
Ravi (shaking): "Pralay. I… I think I saw my grandfather. He told me to go left. Should I—?"
Pralay: "Did your grandfather ever use a southern accent?"
Ravi (blinking): "…No?"
Pralay: "Then it wasn't him."
They emerged—one by one—into clearing light.
Test Two: The Silent Orchard
A strange calm had settled.
The trees were lower here, draped in white blossoms and golden light. Blue mangoes, five in total, pulsed faintly on five different trees spaced across the glade.
Other disciples had already arrived—but none dared act.
Because the orchard punished force.
One girl had already tried to yank a mango down—only for it to disintegrate in her palm like mist. Another boy stepped too quickly and vanished in a spiral of vines.
Anand, approaching silently, closed his eyes and centered his breathing. His Root Chakra pulsed softly beneath his feet. One tree shimmered—briefly acknowledging him.
He bowed. And only then reached out. The mango did not resist.
Ravi, staring nervously, turned to Pralay.
Ravi: "Okay, I'll just say it—this is freaking me out. They said 'orchard,' not 'ethereal judgment zone.'"
Pralay (watching quietly): "Let me try something."
He stepped forward. Closed his eyes.
Lowered his breath.
Not forcing. Just asking.
One tree rustled softly.
But the mango stayed still.
Ravi: "…I don't think it likes you."
Pralay (smiling faintly): "No. It likes you."
Ravi: "What?"
Pralay turned to him, serious now.
Pralay: "Clear your head. Forget the game. Think about your grandfather.
Not the illusion. The real one."
Ravi, blinking, breathed in deeply.
Then out. He stepped forward.
The mango shimmered blue.
Ravi (in awe): "…No way…"
And it fell, gently, into his hands.
Meanwhile—
Maruti, still leaping across the canopy, saw the glow from afar. He knew what it was.
Maruti (growling): "…Damn tests and tricks.
If the forest won't give me fruit—
I'll take it from those who have it."
He clenched his fists, chakra flaring.
Maruti Vanar was about to make the orchard… a battleground.
The orchard trembled.
Trees groaned. Branches rattled. Even the golden glow of the enchanted blue mangoes flickered—dimmed—as if nature itself had paused to brace.
Then—
BOOM.
The earth cracked.
A double-impact shockwave blasted outward, the force of it like thunder crashing through roots and trunks. Birds scattered in chaos. Leaves flew like shrapnel. The very ground beneath the orchard lifted as if slapped by the hand of a god.
At the epicenter stood a silhouette—his body wreathed in golden-red chakra flame, smoke coiling off his shoulders.
Maruti Vanar.
His chest heaved. Core Flame Chakra fully awakened—the lotus of ten golden petals blazing from his upper abdomen like a miniature sun. But it wasn't just the standard projection of fire.
This was advanced application. The chakra had coated his fists. It wrapped around his legs.
And with every punch to the earth, he'd launched compressed shockwaves of Core Flame chakra—energy projectiles fused with physical strength.
His fists radiated destructive pressure, and the ground was still burning where his knuckles had struck.
In the dust and ringing silence that followed—
A shape emerged from the smoke.
Tall. Calm. Still.
Unshaken.
Anand Yadav.
One hand behind his back. The other holding a single Blue Mango—glowing, untouched by the chaos around him.
Not a leaf disturbed on his robe. Not a scratch on his skin.
His eyes met Maruti's—deep brown meeting molten gold. Two worlds clashed in that single glance.
Anand (calm, murmuring to himself): "I've wanted to go one-on-one with you… for a long time now."
Maruti (grinning, cracking his knuckles): "Then this mango's not just a prize… it's the bet.
Winner takes it."
A soft wind cut between them, carrying sparks and silence alike. And in that breath of stillness, two giants of the new generation stood ready.
Chakras awake.
Will unshaken.
Only one would walk away with the mango.
For a heartbeat, the orchard stood frozen—caught in the tension between two titans.
Then—Anand moved.
The air shimmered around his torso as the golden flame of the Core Flame Chakra ignited across his chest. Ten glowing petals bloomed like molten fire, and with a sharp exhale, he hurled chakra blasts one after another.
Each orb crackled with condensed spiritual energy, trailing heat and pressure as they soared through the air like falling stars.
Maruti grinned.
And vanished.
Not from sight, but from where logic expected him to be.
He darted, twisted, tumbled—leaping and flipping like a beast let loose. He dodged every blast with uncanny agility, springing off tree trunks, diving beneath low branches, spinning mid-air, laughing as if the battle itself fed his soul.
Maruti (roaring): "You'll need more than shiny fireballs to cook this monkey!"
He launched himself forward, covering distance mid-air, arms pulled back, fists wrapped in blazing chakra.
BOOM!
His right fist, burning with Core Flame energy, crashed toward Anand like a comet.
But Anand's eyes flared.
In a blink, the chakra in his body shifted—Core Flame vanished, replaced by a subtle golden glow in the lower abdomen.
Sacral Chakra—activated.
His hips twisted with fluid grace as he ducked under the punch, his body rolling like water through stone. Then—another flash—his energy dropped to his feet, grounding him like a mountain.
Root Chakra—switched.
WHAM!
Anand vanished from his spot and reappeared behind Maruti, his right leg swinging upward with a root-powered chakra kick to the back.
THUD.
The kick connected. Maruti grunted, stumbled forward—but didn't fall. He slid with the impact, hands digging into the dirt, then spun to his feet in one fluid roll.
Anand's breath hitched. His eyes narrowed.
Anand (thinking): "Insane. That kick should've cracked a spine.
But he took it… like it was nothing."
He backed off, taking a defensive stance.
Anand (thinking): "Taking his punches head-on would be suicide.
The Vanar clan's Vardaan is physical strength blessed by ancient spirits…
And now he's coating those punches in chakra flame?
Even my Heart Chakra wouldn't heal fast enough from that."
He narrowed his eyes.
Anand (thinking): "Distance. I have to keep my distance.
Strike from angles.
Wait for the opening."
Maruti stood again, that same wide grin stretched across his face. His feet dug into the ground, and his body began to move—
—fast.
He circled Anand at blinding speed, chakra flaring at his back, burning trails into the soil as he created a living cyclone.
Leaves whipped into the air. Trees bent from the momentum.
Anand (thinking): "My eyes—he's too fast.
I can't—"
BOOM!
A chakra blast slammed into Anand's side.
He staggered, blocking just in time to avoid a direct hit—but the impact still knocked him off his center.
Anand (gritting teeth): "He's losing precision.
But even a wild blast hits hard at this speed…"
Maruti (thinking): "Keep him turning.
Keep him dodging.
He's burning stamina while I keep rhythm.
When the opening shows…"
He reared back his fist mid-run.
Maruti (thinking): "One punch. That's all I need."
Both warriors, circling the flames of their own rising wills, came to a halt—standing opposite again. Dirt torn. Trees scarred. Mango cradled between destinies.
Their eyes met.
And something cracked in both.
Their minds screamed in unison—echoing thoughts caught in the same pulse of adrenaline:
Anand (internally, his eyes fierce): "I can win this. I will win this."
Maruti (baring his teeth, almost laughing): "This fight's mine.
Let's finish it."
Their auras blazed.
The air tightened.
For a heartbeat, the battlefield held its breath.
Then Anand Yadav charged.
No hesitation. No feints.
Just pure, sudden acceleration—closing the distance with a single leap, his fist drawn back like a spear of fire.
Across the clearing, Maruti Vanar blinked in disbelief.
Maruti (thinking): "He's charging straight in again? No projectiles… no distance? This is madness. This is my domain."
His instincts didn't hesitate.
Maruti mirrored the move, his own massive fist pulled back.
And then—
CRACK-BOOM!
Their fists collided like hammers of divine wrath.
The shockwave that exploded out from their clash shook the orchard down to its roots. Trees groaned. The air split. Dust lifted in a ring around them as if the earth itself bowed away from their power.
Maruti (thinking, teeth clenched): "One more. I'll end this with the next one—
Even if it drains me completely."
They both stumbled back half a step. But something puzzled Anand.
Anand (thinking): "That punch… wasn't chakra-coated?"
Before he could analyze it further—
SssSHHHHH-WHACK!
A flash of gold. A crack through the air like a whip lashing thunder.
Maruti's tail, coated in golden chakra flame, shot forward and smashed into Anand's side, catching him completely off guard.
BOOM.
Anand was flung like a broken arrow across the clearing. He bounced off the ground, rolled, and came to a half-kneel—gritting his teeth, blood at the edge of his lips.
Across the smoke, Maruti exhaled heavily and dropped to one knee, panting. His chest rose and fell with heat-rippled breaths. His arms trembled. His chakra flickered and dimmed like a dying bonfire.
Maruti (between breaths): "I've… used too much… of my Kundalini Shakti…"
Just then—
A vibration.
Soft, at first. Then building.
A mantra began to fill the clearing like sacred thunder from the spine of the world.
Anand's voice, rising from the dust:
"HAM!"
The ancient mantra of the Vishuddha Chakra — the Throat Chakra — rang out with chilling clarity.
A swirling disc of blue light bloomed at his throat — sixteen petals, glowing with disciplined resonance. His voice felt like law itself echoing through stone.
Maruti (blinking, stunned): "You… how?!"
Anand (standing, calmly): "When our fists collided—
I activated my Heart Chakra."
He stepped forward, the glow from his chest still faintly visible beneath the swirl of blue at his neck.
Anand: "You were so stunned that I came in close…
So focused on reacting…
That you never noticed.
You hesitated. You didn't coat your punch.
Had you done it—
I might have lost."
Maruti grit his teeth. His fists clenched.
Anand: "But you were too risk-averse.
I wasn't.
I took the chance.
And began healing myself with Heart Chakra—before your tail even landed."
Maruti's face slowly shifted.
And then—he laughed.
A wild, echoing sound of disbelief and respect all rolled into one.
Maruti (grinning wide): "Hah! So… you got lucky."
Anand (steady gaze): "No.
I made my luck."
Maruti's eyes flared again. His body still trembling, he stood.
He roared and lunged forward again, chakra reigniting in faint streaks, fists ready to land one last blow.
But Anand didn't flinch.
He raised a single palm.
And whispered:
"Stop."
The Vishuddha Chakra pulsed.
The command wasn't loud.
But it hit like a divine order.
Blue glyphs shot out from his mouth, spinning like mantric seals, and wrapped around Maruti's body mid-charge.
Maruti skidded to a halt—legs bracing, muscles straining, fighting against invisible shackles of sound and spirit.
Maruti (growling, resisting): "You think you can bind me…?"
He strained—veins bulging, chakra flaring weakly, the weight of the curse dragging against his limbs like gravity.
Anand (softly): "No.
But I only need one opening."
He lowered into stance.
Core Flame Chakra ignited again—bright orange blooming at his chest.
The blue of Vishuddha merged with the heat of the Core. Maruti's eyes widened, sensing what was coming—too late.
Then—
A breath.
A step.
A word.
His voice rang out, this time not as a mantra…
…but as a blast of sound—a resonance born of purity and power.
"AGNINA SWAHA!!"
A blast of sonic energy, fused with chakra flame, erupted from his throat—a spiraling cone of sound-fire, pressure and heat aligned like a divine cannon.
BOOOOM.
It slammed into Maruti's chest like a tidal wave made of thunder.
The Vanar was launched backwards, spinning in air, crashing through roots, bark, and dust—finally coming to a rolling stop far across the clearing.
Silence. Leaves slowly drifted down. The wind returned.
Anand stood alone, chest rising, eyes locked on the fallen warrior. The glow from his chakra slowly faded. And still, in his hand, the Blue Mango pulsed gently.
Unbroken. Unyielded.
Claimed.
[End of Chapter]