The forge smelled of iron, ash, and old ghosts.
Shiva stood at the entrance of the ruined workshop, his hammer glowing faintly at his side. The walls were cracked but familiar — his marks still scorched into the blackened stone. Dust hung heavy in the air, disturbed only by the faint hiss of molten metal cooling somewhere inside.
He exhaled. "Home."
The word felt foreign on his tongue.
As he stepped in, the veins on his forearm shimmered green — faint patterns curling beneath his skin like molten veins. The ram's energy pulsed quietly inside him, wild but obedient. Ever since the fight, he could feel its heartbeat with his own — steady, primal, alive.
[Beast Bond Detected — Ashen Ram]
[Status: Dormant / Fused]
[Shared Traits: Enhanced Stamina, Heat Resistance, Instinct Link]
He flexed his fingers. The hammer vibrated softly, resonating with the same rhythm. Whatever happened during that battle, the beast was now part of him.
"Still with me, huh?" he murmured, brushing his chest. "Guess we're partners now."
A raspy voice came from behind the forge.
"You talk to yourself now, boy?"
Shiva froze. Then a shape moved through the smoke — broad-shouldered, wrapped in soot-stained cloth, a white beard catching the flickering light.
"Master…"
The old man grunted, limping closer. "Didn't think I'd see your sorry face again, Shiva. Half the city saw you die that day."
Shiva smiled faintly. "Guess I forgot to stay dead."
The old man — Master Manu — stared at him for a long time. Then he sighed. "You always were too stubborn."
They sat by the dying forge. Silence stretched between them, broken only by the crackle of coals. Shiva felt the weight of words he didn't know how to say.
Finally, he spoke. "Master… Aparna. What happened to her?"
Manu's eyes dimmed. He looked into the fire instead of at Shiva.
"She's gone, boy. Buried at the base of the Old Banyan — the one near the Sapt Kund ruins."
Shiva's throat tightened.
He'd expected it. Remembered her blood. Her scream. But hearing it from Manu made it real.
"She didn't deserve that," he whispered.
"No one did," the old man said quietly. "After you… fell, the world changed fast. The empires fell one by one. The rivers turned green, the skies cracked open. The beasts came first, then the corruption. Now, only Patliputra stands — and even that's half cursed."
Shiva clenched his fists. "Five years… gone?"
Manu nodded. "You vanished in that forge fire. We buried ashes, thinking they were yours. But now—" he gestured at the hammer — "whatever brought you back isn't natural."
Shiva looked down at Vajra-Agnī. The hammer pulsed faintly in response, alive as ever. "You're not wrong about that."
Manu squinted. "Something's moving through you. A resonance I can't name. You've got that same glow as those beasts — but controlled."
"The beast, ram," Shiva said quietly. "It fused with me."
Manu didn't look surprised. "Then you're tied to the new order of things. The Sādhakas say the world's rewiring itself — matter, soul, everything. Those with old blood or strange luck… they adapt. The rest just burn."
"Who did this?" Shiva asked. "Who twisted everything?"
Manu hesitated. "They say there's someone behind it. A foreigner. A madman who calls himself The Wanderer. The same name whispered in every ruin and shrine. Some say he's found a way to bend death itself."
The hammer's glow flickered red for a heartbeat.
Shiva's pulse quickened. "Then he's the one."
Manu nodded slowly. "Maybe. I don't know more. But if you're looking for answers… go to Shyam Baba. The hermit outside the city walls. He still walks the border between man and magic. If anyone remembers the old world, it's him."
Shiva stood. "Where?"
"Follow the southern road past the Green River. You'll find him where the ground still breathes smoke. Tell him Manu sent you."
The old man's gaze softened. "You've changed, boy. The world too. Don't lose what's left of you in the ruins."
Shiva smiled weakly. "Too late for that."
He stepped outside. The night air bit cold, carrying the hum of a broken city. In the distance, the green rivers shimmered faintly — like veins in a dying god.
The Interface flickered to life again.
[Quest Updated — "Find Shyam Baba"]
[Objective: Locate the hermit beyond the southern ruins.]
[Reward: Unknown.]
[Status: Active.]
He slung Vajra-Agnī across his back. The hammer's crystal veins glowed in rhythm with the pulse under his skin — the ram's heartbeat echoing faintly within him.
He looked once more at the forge, where his master stood watching silently.
"I'll come back," Shiva said.
Manu nodded, eyes glistening. "Make sure it's as you this time."
The wind howled as Shiva turned toward the wasteland.
Green lightning danced across the sky, tracing the broken horizon of Patliputra.
Somewhere out there, under the ruins and the ash, Aparna waited.
And beyond her grave — the Wanderer.
Shiva's grip tightened. "Five years late… but not done yet."
The hammer pulsed once — like a heartbeat answering his own.
And then, he walked into the storm.
End of Chapter 4 : Ash and Memory