Episode 4: The Awakening Begins
The air was thick with tension. The forest stood silent, as if holding its breath for what was about to unfold. Aditya smirked, standing a few steps away from Surya, his stance relaxed, unfazed.
"Alright, I was waiting for this moment," Aditya said, his voice calm despite the storm brewing before him. Surya's breath was heavy, his eyes burning with an intensity unfamiliar to him. The red aura from before flickered around his body, like fire threatening to consume him.
Then, he moved. Faster than before. Stronger. Sharper.
Aditya dodged his first strike, then the second. A swipe of the leg, a feint to the left—Surya was relentless. But Aditya, with years of survival honed into his bones, moved with effortless grace. Every attack missed by a mere inch, his opponent remaining just out of reach.
"Good. But not enough," Aditya taunted.
Surya gritted his teeth. He wouldn't be toyed with.
He feigned another kick, making Aditya instinctively jump to avoid it. But at that moment, Surya twisted his body mid-motion, shifting into a tornado kick. The air whistled as his foot lashed out—Aditya was caught off guard. In mid-air, he couldn't shift his body in time.
The impact landed.
Aditya was thrown a few feet away, rolling to absorb the force. He stood up quickly, brushing dirt from his arms, a shadow of a smile on his face.
"Not bad," he admitted. "But don't get too excited. That was just instinct. Real combat is something else."
Surya stood panting, his body still tingling with the aftereffects of the aura. He didn't understand it yet, but for the first time, he felt something deep inside him—something dangerous.
They sat beside the fire after the fight, their meal laid out in front of them. Surya devoured his food, his body screaming for nourishment.
"This isn't over," Aditya said between bites. "That was the first step. Now, your real training begins."
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A Week Into the Training
The forest echoed with the sound of impact—wood against bone, fists against flesh, and heavy breathing cutting through the cold morning air.
"Again!" Aditya shouted.
Surya's body ached, his vision blurred. He had lost count of the days. His arms trembled with exhaustion, his legs nearly giving out beneath him. Every inch of him screamed in agony.
Aditya stood over him, arms crossed. "You're not dead yet. Get up."
Surya clenched his fists, his mind flashing back to a memory—blood on the school floor, laughter echoing, the sharp pain of a blade piercing his skin. The humiliation. The helplessness.
No. Never again.
He forced himself up, muscles screaming. The pain didn't matter. Only one thing did—he had to become stronger. Strong enough to never feel that weakness again.
Aditya watched with silent approval. "Good. But pain is nothing. What will you do when you're starving? When your body refuses to move, but the enemy is still in front of you?"
Surya didn't answer. He couldn't. He had no breath left.
Aditya threw a small knife at him—fast and sudden. Surya barely dodged, the blade slicing a thin line across his cheek.
"Imagine if I was your enemy. You'd be dead." Aditya's voice was cold. "Next time, don't react. Predict. Survive."
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The Breaking Point
Surya's training pushed beyond physical endurance. The nights were sleepless, his body bruised, his stomach empty for days at a time. He fought against wild animals, ran through the cold river with wounds open, climbed rock walls with bare hands.
Every moment was survival.
Every moment was pain.
And yet, he kept going.
Aditya saw it—the madness in his eyes. The desperation. The hunger for strength.
"Now you're getting it," he muttered, watching Surya collapse after yet another brutal fight. "But this is just the beginning."
And so the training continued. Through broken bones, through sleepless nights, through the fine line between life and death. Until nothing was left of the weak schoolboy who had entered the forest.
Until only a warrior remained.
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End of Episode 4