Episode 3: Awakening the Hunger
The dense forest loomed over Surya like a silent graveyard, the moonlight barely reaching the damp ground where he stood, exhausted and trembling. His body ached from the relentless sparring, yet Aditya stood before him, unfazed, his piercing eyes fixed on Surya with an unsettling calmness.
"If you can't land a single hit on me, you don't eat tonight," Aditya said, his voice sharp, unwavering.
Surya clenched his fists. Three days had passed since he had agreed to this brutal training. His wounds still throbbed from the past sessions. He had expected hardship, but this was torture. The hunger gnawed at his insides, his breath came ragged, and his vision blurred slightly. But more than hunger, more than pain, it was the humiliation that burned him.
His mind drifted back to the past. The laughter. The kicks. The taste of blood. The moment when the knives tore into his flesh, when they left him for dead. His fists trembled. I am not that weak kid anymore.
He charged.
Aditya moved effortlessly, his body like a whisper in the night, dodging Surya's attacks with minimal effort. Every swing, every kick, every desperate attempt met only empty air. Minutes passed. Then hours. His legs weakened, his arms felt like lead, and his throat was dry.
Aditya's gaze never wavered. "Is this all? The boy who survived death? The one who swore to never be weak again?"
Surya's vision swam. His stomach twisted. His body begged for rest. No… I won't lose. I can't lose.
Aditya stepped forward, flicking Surya's forehead with a smirk. "Sleep with an empty stomach tonight. You're still weak."
The words cracked something inside him.
A memory. His mother's gentle voice. His father's firm hand on his shoulder. Their bodies—lifeless, cold, unmoving. He had lost everything. Everything. Because I was weak.
Something ignited.
A pulse. A spark. Then fire. His body tensed, his pupils dilated, and a crimson haze clouded his sight. He felt it—raw, uncontrollable energy surging through his veins. His breathing steadied, his heartbeat thundered like a war drum, and his movements became faster, sharper.
Aditya's smirk faded as Surya's fists came dangerously close. His movements were no longer reckless swings. They were calculated. Deadly. His strikes carried a force that wasn't there before.
Aditya dodged but barely. He narrowed his eyes. "This... is interesting."
Surya didn't care. His body felt light, powerful, unbreakable. The hunger, the exhaustion, the weakness—they no longer mattered. The only thing that remained was his rage. His eye widden with a red aura full of anger he was behaving like mindless he only want to hit him once not for food for self respect , proving himself that he is no longer a weak bullied boy he something greater than anybody can thaught ever.. It was fight of his revenge not of food
He lunged.
The sky seems darken every thing become denser it was slowly going intense both of them are ready collapses each other but Surya still seems emotion less with sharp eye contacting suryas aggressive face.
And the night swallowed them in the storm of battle.