Sajid told him that he wishes to stay in the village and make a living by hunting. He asked if this was possible for him. Ananya looked at him deeply, which made Sajid scared and confused. Annaya didn't tell him anything and started walking. Sajid took this as a sign of rejection, which made him upset and disappointed in himself. Then he noticed that she was signaling him to walk with her.
That made Sajid happy, which means he still had some hope. Sajid chased after her, and they both started walking side by side. While walking, Annaya asked him what made him choose this poor village and why he specifically wanted to join the hunt team.
Sajid thought for a second about how to answer that and told her that he was captured by the village people's hospitality, where even when they are poor, they still look after an orphan like him, and seeing Rajesh being so strong and capable of magic, he wanted to be like him.
Ananya smiled and officially introduced him to the village's other functions and those who were associated with which functions, including those who were associated with farming, those who were with the military, and so on. Ananya came to stop in front of a strange-looking campfire.
The campfire was burning without any wood. Beneath the fire, there was a black rock that was constantly generating heat with any other substance. She told him that this was their only source of fire in this village and all the cooking and other things that require fire come from this, which includes even blacksmithing. Sajid questioned himself in his mind that if this fire is the only source of fire in this village, how does everyone live with it?
Then she asked him if he was ready to live by the rules of this village, and if he was ready, then to swear it in front of this fire. She then proceeds to tell him the certain do's and don'ts in this village:
1)First of all, he should never walk out of his hut at night.
2) Secondly, He should always wear a black tabij, which will be given to him later if he swears the oath.
3)he should never tell anyone about this village and never utter the village's name.
4)The mystic knowledge that will be taught to him can never be shared outside.
5)never question about things that he is not supposed to. If he is proven worthy enough, he will be ready to hear the context.
After she told him all the conditions, Sajid became shocked and had a chill run down his spine. Now that he thought about it, she had never told him about the village name, and all the strict conditions already made him suspect a lot of things.
He thought about backing out, but before he could even register, they were suddenly surrounded by all the villagers looking at him smilingly. Sajid realized the truth that if he backed out, he might get killed. Though he is already dead and killing him might not achieve anything, Sajid was reluctant to get killed again and take a risk.
Sajid did the only logical thing he could think of at the moment and told her that he was ready to swear an oath and ready to abide by all the things. Instantly, a smile bloomed on her face along with everyone else. But this time, the smile did not feel warm, and the friendly vibe he was getting looked fake. Sajid reminded himself that not everything may look as it seems.
He was easily fooled this time and thought everyone was helpful and kind in nature. But beneath the kindness, there lies a twisted nature, even most veterans would fail to see if they had not experienced it themselves. Sajid remained himself to be careful and decided to go with the flow and would decide how to break the oath later.
Besides, He had an inkling suspicion that whatever oath they would make him do, breaking it would not affect him because technically he is dead and the oath should not work in dead people's souls.
She told him to stand in front of the fire, and so he did. Then she bought out a knife with strange engravings on the hilt, and asked him to open his palm. She told him that his blood was needed in the fire to complete the ceremony and the oath. Sajid opened his palm and she cut his palm with the blade and his blodd fell on the black fire.
The fire seemed to come alive, and it started to run even more ferociously. The fire and the people's shadow almost seemed to be dancing in an eerie rhythm. She then started to chant something in that obscure language, and the whole village seemed to have been enveloped in a strange darkness, though it was still morning at this time.
Then told him to swear by his name, repeat all the orders from before, and speak them out loud. Sajid did as he was told, and as soon as he finished speaking, some strange powers were trying to invade his body and bind his soul, but it kept dispersing as he was already dead. But the villagers and the priestess were looking at the fire and him as if they were expecting something. Sajid guessed that the strange power was supposed to do something to him, but he didn't know what.
Sajid quickly thought of something and decided to act that he was in pain, and he started acting like he was in tremendous pain. The villagers then looked relieved as they thought that the spell was working. Sajid then acted like he had fainted and acted as if he had lost consciousness.
Ananya then walked towards him to see if he truly had fainted and checked his heart. She found it his heart was not beating, and she found it odd that the pain should not have been so strong that he would be dead. Meanwhile, Sajid was listening with all his ears open and abruptly stood up to signal that he was alive.