Sharv couldn't feel emotions from birth. But he had learned how the human body shows certain emotions. He had also studied why it acts in such a way to deepen his understanding of emotions so that he could come closer to being human. And at this moment, his blood was pumping faster than ever, his heart was beating rhythmically at a fast pace, and he felt a sensation rising through his spine. He took these as a signal of excitement.
But even this was a first for him. He had heard from his father that battles, duels with strong opponents, and near-death experiences always bring out one's innermost emotions and nature. And at this very moment, even though his mind was still devoid of any emotions and clear, something definitely had changed.
Standing among craters and broken structures, looking around at the DESTRUCTION he had caused, bleeding unendingly from his chest—a wound he couldn't heal—Sharv could clearly hear DEATH, the Queen of Darkness, giggling, sitting at her throne behind the veil of the dark sky. And he knew for a fact that DEATH was not laughing at him; rather, she was cheering him on, as if looking at her child's play.
It might have been his own imagination, but it still felt like a truth to him.
Vrat moved at a speed troubling even Sharv to follow, his silky white hair flowing majestically, his face showing no eagerness for the incoming battle. Sharv immediately brought up a dark-red earthen armor all over his body to defend, but once Vrat slashed, it was not enough to completely block the blades. Four clean cuts were visible on his abdomen, but the blades had not been able to inflict deep wounds. Vrat stopped, looking at his right hand and the four blades coming out from his fingers in dissatisfaction, as if he had not achieved what he wanted.
Sharv used this time to back off. He could feel Kràntàk humming even in its spatial sheath. 'Kràntàk, your time will come,' he spoke mentally. 'This is the first time since I first picked up a sword that I've felt the need to fight this seriously. Let me throw these hands properly.'
Sharv stood straight, put his fists against each other, took a deep breath, then spoke in a deep voice, directly from his diaphragm.
"BHŪ CHÀKRÀM: ÙDBŌDHÀNÀM"
[EARTH CHAKRA: AWAKEN]
With the incantation, a rumbling sound came from his body as all the red light coming from his pelvis region concentrated to a singular point, turning to the darkest shade of blood. The ground around him trembled as, with a scratching sound, the armor covering Sharv fell to the ground and was replaced by new armor of the new color of his Earth Chakra. And his Chakra light was now concentrated to a drop-sized area.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!" Khar exclaimed. "He is shedding armor like a snake changing its skin? Is he some shapeshifter?"
'ATTABOY,' Vrat said in his mind. Then he looked back at Khar with a smirk. "That's the real power of a KEEPER. He is going to fight seriously now," he said. 'I could not awaken my Chakras perfectly even after getting a chance. But sometimes, that's just how life is.'
Vrat pushed his hands down, stabbing the ground with his eight blades. He took a deep breath and spoke in a raspy old voice,
"EARTH CHAKRA: AWAKEN"
Similar to Sharv, his Chakra also concentrated, though only a little. His blades gained a luster, and he covered his thumbs with the same dark material.
"Boy, you might have more raw strength, but you still need to learn to fight efficiently," Vrat said. "Let me impart some knowledge." He added, activating his Air Chakra, which was green.
"I know, old man, it's my first real fight. And I am here to hone my skills before big battles," Sharv replied.
Khar and every other prison guard were flabbergasted by how casually these two were chatting. But soon the scene changed.
Both Sharv and Vrat lunged at each other at a tremendous speed only Khar was able to clearly follow. Sharv was using his fists as weapons while Vrat had four blades attached and merged to his fingers in each hand. Both of them collided head-on. At the beginning, Sharv was able to throw a single punch in response to a slash from Vrat. Sharv's armored fist would shatter one blade even as it inflicted a small cut, but the remaining three would then strike his hand or torso.
Soon he was covered in small wounds all over his body. But his earthen armor would immediately come back, not letting him bleed. And Vrat's blades would repair themselves almost instantly, no matter how many times Sharv broke them. He would look like a maniac to anybody who watched him fight.
'Would you look at that, he is now able to break two of my blades per strike,' Vrat thought to himself, amused by Sharv. He himself increased his speed as much as he could.
Meanwhile, Suvan had already moved to the broken outer wall of the prison, though he was underground. Similar to him, the other three Sector-Chiefs had also almost reached the City Jail. Once they landed, what they witnessed was something they could never have imagined. A young man was fighting Vrat on equal grounds.
Sharv and Vrat had been fighting in the same place for over a minute. The ground beneath them had turned red and black because of both blood and elemental manipulation to strengthen the ground. Neither Sharv had moved an inch backward from the beginning, nor had Vrat slowed down; despite this, no new significant wounds were now being inflicted on Sharv. He was now throwing an astonishing four punches for every slash Vrat would perform.
'This is what a real battle can do,' he thought. 'My body is now moving just as I want. I didn't know I was holding back till now. It's as if it's only now that it's functioning properly.'
But soon the status quo changed, as Sharv threw an extra punch after breaking all four blades, and something unexpected happened. Vrat gave him a thumbs up, literally.
But the real purpose was deploying a shield, which appeared from his thumb and blocked Sharv's incoming punch. Despite that, he was sent flying backward.
"Who the fuck is that young man?" said Jwala, who had reached in time to witness the last few seconds.
"I don't know, but he is extremely strong," Lohit spoke, looking at the destruction around him: broken walls, deep craters, numerous artillery casings; all of this told a story of an enormous battle. Khar strolled towards them. Meanwhile, Vrat landed, sliding backward after digging his blades into the ground.
"Impressive, Boy," Vrat said with a smile. "Was this your first battle using awakened Chakra?"
Sharv looked at his fists, then at Vrat with a little caution. "I don't know why you ask or how you know it, but you are right."
"You see, your body and mind need time to adapt to the power of an awakened Chakra," Vrat said. "But enough of that, get ready for the next round."
Sharv was surprised by Vrat's behavior, but the Sector-Chiefs and Marshal Khar were surprised even more than him.
"Is that old man teaching his enemy mid-fight?" Lohit said, looking at Khar.
"And why is he calling him a boy?" Jwala asked with frustration.
"Listen," Khar said. "I don't know what Vrat is doing, but that is really a boy, sixteen years old. He is a KEEPER, though. They're built differently. He didn't even fight me seriously, according to Vrat."
Khar's final assessment left Lohit and Jwala gasping in surprise.
"And if not for his armor, he would have died by now due to blood loss," Khar said.
All this time, Keshi, the last Sector-Chief, was observing his surroundings, standing atop a guard post. He now noticed someone moving inside the jail through the broken walls.
"I am going inside the jail to take care of something," he notified Khar, who simply nodded.