When Shiva awoke, the world was quiet.
The forest around him shimmered faintly in morning light — dew clinging to leaves, air thick with the scent of earth and smoke.
He felt heavy, every breath scraping his chest. His limbs screamed protest when he tried to move.
Then he saw it.
The deer — the same one — sat beside him. Not threatening, not afraid.
Its eyes glowed faint silver, calm, intelligent.
It didn't flee. It didn't attack.
It just watched.
Guarding him. Studying him.
The tattoo on his right hand — the mark of the Ashen Ram — pulsed softly, and for a second, Shiva thought he saw the same faint glow ripple across the deer's antlers.
Then the Interface flared alive.
[Link Authorization Pending]
[Entity: Azure Deer – Element: Wind]
[Stability Threshold: 87%]
[Proceed with Synchronization? Y/N]
Shiva blinked at the flickering green light above his palm. "You again…," he muttered. His voice was hoarse, dry.
He glanced at the deer — it tilted its head, the air shimmering faintly around its breath.
He felt something strange — not fear, but familiarity, like an echo of his own heartbeat.
He took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's see where this road leads."
He whispered: "Yes."
Light surged — wild and soundless. The world seemed to fold inward, wind and flame twisting together.
The tattoo on his right hand flared first, then spread — like lightning crawling across his skin.
When it faded, another mark shimmered to life — this time on his left hand.
A sleek, spiraling pattern, like the curve of antlers meeting a gust of wind.
It glowed once, then settled — soft, calm, alive.
[Beast Fusion Successful — Azure Deer]
[Beast Record #2 Created]
[Link Stability: 69%]
[New Trait Unlocked — Gale Step Lv.1]
[Effect: Short-Distance Acceleration Boost during Combat]
Shiva stared at the new mark, flexing his fingers. The power felt different — lighter, sharper. Like the breath before a storm.
The deer lowered its head, nudged his hand once, and then — dissolved.
Not into dust, not into ash, but into light — fading into his body, leaving behind only silence and a lingering pulse in his chest.
He sat there for a while, listening to the rhythm of his heart.
Two beats — one his own, one… something else.
Finally, he rose, sore but alive. The Interface flickered above him again, faintly static.
[Host Condition: Stable]
[Energy Reserves: Restored – 42%]
[Objective: Return to Shyam Baba]
"Yeah," Shiva whispered, picking up Vajra-Agni and Vajra-Vāyu. "Time to get some answers."
By the time he reached Shyam Baba's hut, dusk had painted the forest orange.
The old hermit sat outside, eyes closed, breathing as if the world itself moved with him.
He didn't look surprised.
"You came back," Baba said, voice soft as smoke.
Shiva nodded, setting down his hammer. "You knew I would."
A small smile tugged at the corners of the old man's lips. "The forest told me."
Shiva exhaled. "I found another beast — a deer. Fast. Nearly killed me."
He lifted his left hand, revealing the new tattoo. "But it… fused with me. Like the ram before."
Shyam Baba opened his eyes then — calm, ancient, unreadable. "Two spirits within one vessel. The wind joins the flame. Interesting."
Shiva frowned. "I don't understand. What are they? Why are they connecting to me like this?"
The old man stirred the fire with a stick, the embers flickering in the reflection of his eyes. "The world remembers those it chooses. Perhaps… it remembers you."
Shiva wanted to ask more, to tell him about the fight — the way the deer had stared at him as though it saw through him. But before he could continue, a sharp pulse struck his temples.
He froze.
[Warning: Neural Interference Detected]
The Interface glitched, letters flickering —
[Signal… unstable]
[Link Feedback—??%]
Then —
Two voices.
One deep, rumbling like thunder rolling over distant mountains.
The other — sharp, shrill, echoing like wind cutting through a blade.
They spoke at once, overlapping, yet distinct:
"Hello, Shiva."
He flinched, glancing around — but there was no one.
Only the forest. Only Shyam Baba, who seemed frozen mid-motion, unaware of the sound.
The voices came again — softer, closer, inside his skull.
"You hear us now."
"Finally."
His breath hitched. His pulse raced.
"Who are you?" he whispered.
The deep voice laughed — a low, resonant growl that trembled through his bones.
The sharper one chuckled like chimes in a storm.
"You'll know soon."
"We've been waiting."
The tattoos on both his hands pulsed once — in perfect rhythm.
Shiva's throat went dry. "What… are you?"
Silence. Then one final whisper, both voices overlapping — not in words, but a feeling.
Home.
Then — nothing.
The forest returned. The fire crackled.
Shyam Baba blinked, as if no time had passed.
"Are you all right, Shiva?" he asked quietly.
Shiva nodded slowly, though the tattoos on his hands still faintly glowed. "Yeah," he said softly, staring into the flames.
"Just… heard something."
End of Chapter 14