The monster's snarl echoed like thunder off the crumbling walls.
Eight feet tall. Bone blades for arms. Bloodstained teeth. It charged him like a nightmare made flesh.
He held his ground.
Iron rod gripped tight, legs trembling but locked. My breath caught in my throat as the beast closed the distance with impossible speed.
This is it. This is how I die.
My body screamed at me to run.
But behind me—just four blocks away—were the kids.
Meena. Sahil. Rina. The ones who called me Brother, who trusted me.
So I stood.
Even if I was powerless.
Even if I was nothing.
It lunged.
Time slowed.
He swung the rod with everything He had. Metal clanged against bone. Sparks flew. Pain shot up his arms like lightning.
The beast recoiled, just slightly.
Then it laughed—a sound so foul it made his skin crawl. As if amused by his desperation.
It struck.
One blow.
He flew backward like a ragdoll, crashing through a broken pillar.
Something cracked in his side—ribs maybe.
Vision blurred. Blood filled his mouth.
I can't win this.
I knew that.
But I wasn't dead yet.
So I stood.
Again.
The beast tilted its head.
Curious now.
Almost… puzzled.
"Why won't you stay down?" it hissed.
I spat blood. "Because you're not stepping foot near them."
It growled, furious.
And charged again.
This time, He didn't swing.
He closed his eyes.
And thought about Meena laughing.
Sahil asking for more rice.
Little Rina, who still slept with one shoe under her pillow for luck.
I thought about how no one would protect them if I fell.
And then—
Something broke.
No—something awoke.
It was like falling upward.
My heartbeat echoed like a war drum. Time twisted. The pain vanished. I was floating, then crashing, then burning—yet I felt nothing but clarity.
And then…
A voice.
"So… he is finally here."
Ancient. Gentle. Feminine.
Older than the sky.
Then silence.
I gasped awake—still alive. Still in the ruined temple.
But everything had changed.
The beast stood frozen mid-swing, inches from my face. Its eyes wide. Trembling.
"W-what are you…?" it whispered.
I blinked.
Wait… my hand—it was glowing.
Not just glowing. It was marked.
A symbol burned across my skin. A golden lotus surrounded by eight swirling arms, like a wheel of divine fire. The air around me shimmered.
I… I could feel everything.
The earth. The sky. The monster's fear.
No power scans. No divine readings. No rituals.
But I had awakened.
Not like the others.
Not as a Hunter.
But as something else entirely.
I didn't think. I moved.
The rod in his hand surged with golden light. It extended—shifted—no, transformed into a spear made of silver and flame.
The beast turned to run.
He didn't let it.
With one leap, Hi soared through the air—faster than real.
The spear pierced its chest.
A burst of light exploded through the ruins.
Then silence.
The monster dissolved into mist—like a shadow erased by sunrise.
I stood alone in the wreckage, panting. My ribs still hurt, but the pain faded faster than it should have.
And that symbol… it stayed.
Right there on my hand.
Still glowing.
I staggered back to the orphanage before sunrise.
No one had noticed the Gate.
The streets were empty. My clothes were scorched, but somehow not torn. My body ached, but I wasn't bleeding anymore.
I climbed back onto the rooftop, sat down, and stared at the sky.
I should've been celebrating.
I awakened.
But all I could think was…
What the hell am I?
The mark faded by morning. But I could still feel it.
Something inside me had cracked open.
I wasn't the same.
I wasn't just Aarav anymore.
And I didn't know what that meant.
The next few days passed in a blur.
I didn't tell anyone. Not the kids. Not the orphanage warden. Definitely not the Hunter Registry.
Because if they scanned me now… I knew it wouldn't be normal.
No "C-Rank" awakening. No elemental affinity.
Whatever I was—they wouldn't understand.
I barely did.
All I knew was that the Gate was gone when I returned to the temple.
No corpse.
No evidence.
Just a faint scorch mark where I stood.
But someone else had seen.
Two nights later, a man in a black suit came to the orphanage.
He didn't give a name.
Didn't have an ID.
He just said, "We're looking for a boy. Mid to late teens. Black hair. Was near the Hanuman Temple during the Gate event."
I listened from the stairs.
Warden Sharma shook her head. "You think one of my boys would go near a Gate? They're children."
The man smiled thinly. "So are the ones dying."
He left without another word.
I didn't sleep that night.
I wasn't stupid.
Someone knew.
Not what I was. Not yet
But someone knew I'd been there.
And they were looking.
I needed answers.
About the mark.
About the power.
About the voice that spoke to me in that… other place.
So I did what any rational idiot would do.
I went back.
The temple was still sealed, but I slipped in past the caution tape.
I knelt at the center, where the Gate had opened.
The ground still hummed faintly.
I placed my hand on it.
Nothing happened.
No voice.
No glow.
Just silence.
But as I turned to leave…
I saw it.
A carving. One I hadn't noticed before.
Faint. Ancient. Almost erased by time.
A man with a lotus in one hand… and a wheel of flame in the other.
Below it, in Sanskrit
"He walks among men. Unknowing. Unseen. Until the world calls him home."
I staggered back.
It couldn't be.
No.
That was just a coincidence.