Ch 7

  POV Amit

  The moment my eyes opened, I was met with a terrifying, absolute darkness. I tried to move, to feel my limbs, but there was nothing—it was as if my physical form had ceased to exist. I was a drifting thought in an endless void. Then, as I scanned the vacuum, seven distinct colors ignited before me in a vertical line.

  They were my Seven Chakras, glowing from the deep crimson of the Root to the ethereal violet of the Crown. I was staring at the internal architecture of my own Chakra. I let out a jagged, ethereal breath. I’m not dead yet.

  "So... I finally killed that bastard Stalker," I whispered into the silence. A jump to Level 12—my 81% contribution had paid off.

  "Just three points?" I thought. To kill a monster like that again for such a small gain meant I would have to walk the edge of death every single time I wanted to grow. But as I wondered how to escape this mental void, something moved in the darkness.

  A swirling mass of blood-red mist—the Life Essence of the Hell-Fire Stalker—drifted toward me. It pulsated with a savage heat, exactly like the essence cores described in the novels I used to read. But before I could reach for it, the System’s red warning windows began to scream across my vision.

  "God, what is happening to me?" I panicked, the reality of my situation crashing down. My physical condition was beyond catastrophic. That final Resonance strike hadn't just defeated the Stalker; it had turned my own body into a charred, crumbling ruin. I was trapped in this darkness, and if I didn't find a way out soon, this void would become my grave.

  I forced my racing mind to focus. I looked at the Seven Chakras floating before me. They were spinning with a sluggish, labored motion, a stark contrast to their usual vibrant rotation. They were failing to siphon Prana from the environment. My eyes fell on the Earth Chakra at the base—it was barely moving, flickering like a candle about to be extinguished.

  I realized then: my Earth Chakra was the anchor for my physical shell. If it stopped spinning, my body back in the real world would simply disintegrate into ash.

  "System!" I called out into the void. "How many unallocated Prana points do I have left?"

  I had forgotten about the accumulated points from the previous level-ups and the boss kill. Seven points. This was my lifeline.

  "System, allocate 3 points into the Earth Chakra and 3 points into the Water Chakra immediately!" I commanded, my voice echoing with a new-found authority.

  I chose Water because my body needed to heal—the internal fires were still cooking my organs. But as the points settled, something unexpected happened. That blood-red mass of Life Essence from the Stalker, which had been hovering nearby, was suddenly drawn toward my Earth Chakra.

  It didn't just drift; it was sucked in. My Earth Chakra began to devour the Stalker’s essence like a starving beast, gorging itself on the commander's power. The red mist spiraled into the crimson lotus, and for a moment, the entire void shook with the raw, predatory hunger of my own soul

  After the Stalker's essence was devoured, my Earth Chakra and Water Chakra began to spin furiously. They absorbed Prana from the void around me with an intensity that slowly increased, eventually reaching their optimal speed. I could feel the prana returning to my chakras.

  A moment later, a cascade began. The Prana from the Earth Chakra flowed upward into the Orange Chakra then into the Yellow Chakra—the Fire Chakra.

  The Fire Chakra ignited, spinning vigorously as it began to siphon ambient Prana itself. The flow continued, moving from the Fire Chakra into the Green Air Chakra, spinning it up to full speed. Like a perfectly tuned engine, the prana spread upward, chakra by chakra, through my Heart, Throat, and Third Eye.

  The Third-Eye Chakra paused its journey upward, satisfied with the prana it had received. It then channeled the accumulated power into my Violet Crown Chakra, the central repository of my soul-vessel. Only then did the absorption of ambient Prana from the void stop.

  I felt a profound sense of stability return to my being. The existential danger had passed.

  I focused my consciousness on the Violet Crown Chakra, drifting inside the center of its vortex. Once inside, I saw an endless expanse of divinity—a vast, divine lotus. Most of the petals were transparent and ethereal, signifying untapped potential. However, the lower 24 petals were now shining with a vibrant, colorful spectrum.

  Four petals were a deep, solid violet, while the other twenty were a pale, translucent shade. I watched as the Prana from all seven chakras began to flood into the lotus, feeding the petals. Then, the system notification appeared, and the numbers made my heart sink.

  I was stunned. Even after jumping to Level 12, my reserves were only at 20%. They must have dropped well below 10% during the final strike. I made a silent vow: I must never let my Prana fall below 10% again. Using that much prana is a suicide mission; I can only do it in a true emergency.

  I exited the Crown Chakra and observed the Seven Chakras again. I willed them to spin faster, commanding them to siphon ambient Prana from the void with greater intensity. I knew that I couldn't regain consciousness until my energy reached a safe threshold.

  I pushed myself, urging the chakras to rotate even faster. But then, the numbers began to fluctuate in a way that defied logic.

  "What is happening?" I shouted in my mind. "Why is it dropping?" I looked closer and realized that energy was being siphoned out of my Water Chakra into the Crown, and from there, it was being funneled out of my soul-vessel entirely.

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  Then it clicked. My physical body was so severely damaged that the chakra had triggered an Auto-Recovery Protocol. As soon as I had enough Prana in my Petals, the Water Prana was automatically consuming it to repair my charred skin, twisted bones, and scorched organs.

  It was a constant cycle of depletion and restoration. I kept pushing the chakras to absorb more, while the body kept demanding more to stay alive. I don't know how long I stayed in that void, locked in a battle between prana absorption and physical repair. Finally, the rate of depletion in my Water Chakra began to slow down. The healing was almost complete

  The drainage slowed down. I realized that my body had reached its recovery limit; there was no more critical damage left to repair. The internal fire had finally been extinguished.

  The moment my Prana of Petals hit 100%, the internal void went dark. The starlit Chakras faded, and I felt the heavy, solid weight of my physical form returning. I tried to move my fingers, then my arms, but my muscles felt stiff, requiring a massive effort to obey my will.

  Then, distant sounds began to filter through the silence. Muffled voices, thick with emotion, were calling out to me.

  "Amit! Amit, wake up! Amit... oh, thank God, you're alive!"

  I recognized them instantly—Maya’s voice, followed by the frantic calls of my brother and my friends.

  The crimson haze behind my eyelids was still there, but it was fading. I forced my eyes open. For a second, I was blinded by the brilliant, golden glare of the sun. As my vision adjusted, the first thing I saw was Maya’s face hovering over me, her eyes red from crying but now filled with a radiant, disbelieving joy.

  As my vision cleared, I looked closely at Maya’s face. My heart sank. Her skin was covered in angry, red burn marks—painful reminders of the Stalker’s lethal proximity.

  That bastard... How dare he do this to her? I thought, a cold fury rising in my chest. If I ever see another one of those Stalkers, I will erase their entire race from existence.

  "It’s okay... I’m here. I’m alive," I croaked. My voice was hoarse, the words scraping against my throat like sandpaper. The moment she heard me speak, Maya lunged forward, pulling me into a fierce embrace and sobbing uncontrollably against my shoulder.

  "You idiot! What would I have done if something happened to you?" she cried, her voice trembling. Hearing her words brought a soothing warmth to my heart, a stark contrast to the magical fire I had just fought. I hugged her back, noticing the red, blistered burns on my own arms. Though my internal Prana had healed the critical damage, my muscles still screamed with every movement. I gritted my teeth, hiding the pain to keep her calm.

  "Shh, quiet now. Don't worry. See? I’m fine," I whispered, trying to soothe her, but she refused to let go, clutching me as if I might vanish if she loosened her grip.

  "It’s good that you're awake, Bhai," Ajeet said, stepping into the room with a weary smile. "Otherwise, Bhabhi (Sister-in-law) wouldn't even have recovered herself. We had to practically beg her to believe that you were recovering before she finally agreed to treat her own wounds. I can’t even imagine what she would have done if you hadn't opened your eyes.”

  Hearing Ajeet’s words, I immediately checked on them. "Are you all okay? How bad are the injuries?" I asked, though the answer was written on their faces. Their clothes were singed, their hair was matted with ash, and their skin bore the angry, red marks of thermal burns.

  "We’re surviving," Ajeet replied, his voice tired. "I had some minor fractures in my arms and legs, but I’ve already finished healing them. You were only unconscious for about twenty minutes."

  "Only twenty minutes?" I muttered, stunned. It had felt like an eternity inside that dark void.

  I looked past them and saw Rocky’s father along with four or five other villagers sitting in the distance. They were deep in meditation, siphoning ambient Prana to mend their wounds. It was a relief to see that some people hadn't fled; they had stayed to fight when death was staring them in the face.

  I turned my attention back to Maya. Her sobbing had finally quieted down, replaced by shaky, rhythmic breaths as she leaned against me. I tried to comfort her, but as I moved, I felt something strange on my own face. I touched my cheek and felt the texture of fresh, new skin—raw and sensitive. My hands were in an even worse state; the flesh looked like it had been completely reborn after being incinerated.

  Dammit... that bastard Stalker, I cursed inwardly, feeling a sting of vanity. He really ruined my entire look

  I scanned the battlefield, my eyes searching for the remains of the Fire Stalker. Just a few meters away, I saw it—or what was left of it. The creature had been obliterated from the inside out; shattered fragments of obsidian skin, severed claws, and charred internal plates were scattered across the blackened grass. A cold shiver ran down my spine. I was terrified of my own power. What kind of attack did I unleash to reduce such a monstrous entity to this?

  I realized then that I hadn't been fully conscious during that final strike. I had been operating on pure instinct, a lethal synchronization between my spirit and the Silver Bow. I felt a faint vibration in my Space Chakra and realized my bow had already retreated there to stabilize.

  Then, the realization hit me like a physical blow. The second Stalker.

  There wasn't just one. I snapped my head toward the Market District, 200 meters away. My worst fears were confirmed. Thick, oily plumes of black smoke were billowing into the sky, and even from this distance, the faint, desperate screams of people reached my ears. The second Stalker was tearing the market apart.

  "The other one... it’s massacring everyone in the market!" I shouted, my voice rasping with urgency.

  "No! You are not going anywhere!" Maya screamed back, her hands tightening around my arms. Her eyes were wide with terror. "I can't see you like this again! I don't care about the market! I only care about you! You aren't going to play the hero and throw your life away!"

  I looked at my brother and my friends. I could see the same hesitation in their eyes. We barely survived a single Stalker; taking on a second one in our current state felt like a suicide mission. If I hadn't hit the Level 10 threshold during the fight, we would all be corpses right now. I stayed silent for a moment, my mind racing through the tactical possibilities, before I finally spoke.

  "Listen, I have an idea," I said, trying to keep my voice steady despite the pain. "We were at a massive disadvantage here because the fields are wide open. We had nowhere to hide. But the market... the market is full of narrow alleys, buildings, and cover. We can use the terrain to our advantage, strike from the shadows, and take it down together. What do you say?"

  Before my friends could even process the plan, Maya cut me off again, her voice trembling with anger and fear. "No! You are not going! Why should we throw our lives away for strangers? We’ve done enough!"

  I fell silent. A part of me knew she was right. Why risk our lives for people we don't even know? But my heart was pounding—the thought of the children, the elderly, and the innocent people being slaughtered just 200 meters away was clawing at my soul. My heart wanted to save them; my brain wanted to survive.

  I took a deep breath, and in that moment, I made my decision. "We are going to kill that second Stalker," I said, my voice resonating with a finality that brooked no argument.

  Before Maya could protest, I continued, "Listen to me, all of you. This was just the first invasion. If the very first wave was this lethal, imagine what the second, third, or fourth will be like. Right now, we have an opportunity—a chance to kill a high-tier target and level up. If we grow stronger now, we might survive the next one. We survived this time through luck and a breakthrough, but luck won't save us twice. We either get stronger now, or we die in the next wave.”

  "We must use every moment we have, or we'll all end up dead in the next wave," I said, looking intently at Maya. This time, she was silent. I could see the hesitation and fear lingering in her eyes. I pulled her into a comforting hug. "Listen, Maya. This is our chance. We have to take it. Besides, I'm at Level 12 now. I'm stronger than I was, and we have the advantage of terrain with the market buildings. We can take him down."

  Maya stayed quiet for a moment, then nodded reluctantly into my shoulder. With her agreement, I turned my attention to the rest of the group—my friends, my brother, and my uncle. They were deep in thought, weighing the immense risk. Finally, Ajeet stepped forward.

  "Alright, Bhaiya," he said, his voice firming up with resolve. "I will follow you."

  Ankit, Rocky, and my Uncle all nodded in agreement, their faces set in determination. I looked back at Maya.

  "Okay, I agree to go," Maya said, her voice strained. "But promise me this, Amit: if we are in too much danger, we run. We don't take risks. You especially."

  "I promise," I said solemnly.

  "When we're in too much risk, we run. Now, how many levels did you all gain?"

  "I’m Level 10," Maya said.

  "Level 9," replied Ankit, Rocky, and Ajeet in unison.

  "Level 8," my Uncle added.

  Their levels were reasonable, given the distribution of XP and their contribution. I looked at the few other villagers standing nearby; they lowered their heads, and I understood they weren't willing to follow us into another battle. We couldn't count on them

  I looked at Rocky’s father; his situation was dire. His leg was shattered, and he couldn't even stand properly without support. Our group was already crippled, and the problems were mounting. Right beside him was Golu, the bull.

  His head was drenched in blood, and his massive frame was covered in deep gashes, but I could see the faint shimmer of Prana as he tried to heal. His front legs were severely scorched, looking like charred wood, yet the beast’s sheer willpower kept him struggling to mend himself.

  Suddenly, a cold panic hit me. Lori! Where is my cat?

  I scanned the perimeter, my heart racing, until I spotted her a short distance away. My fear turned into grim satisfaction. Two of the lingering cats—the ones that had fled the moment the Stalker arrived—were now trapped. Lori, despite her size being only that of a small dog, was teaching them a brutal lesson in loyalty.

  She was a blur of fur and claws, her instincts shar

  pened by the earlier chaos. Those cats, who had shown their cowardice when the true predator appeared, were now finding no mercy from her. Lori was showing them exactly what happens to those who abandon their pack."