Vihaan's eyes were tightly shut as he chanted the only mantra he knew. He was currently sitting in a straight posture with his chest, throat and his head held erect inside the newly created crater with black colored lava around him. Although the lava's surface had somewhat cooled down as it formed a thin layer of dark crust, the inside was still blazing hot and wouldl most likely take several months to a year before it completely solidifies.

And so, Vihaan tried his best to endure the residual heat in his surroundings as he focused on the task at hand.

Standing not too far away from him was Sarius who was holding a wooden stick in his hand, watching his body attentively. The moment he moved even the slightest bit, the god's wooden stick will instantly strike whatever part of his body moved. Even the slightest twitch he made had not gone past Sarius' eyes.

So far, the boy had already lost count on how many times he had been hit by the stick and evidence of said hit can be seen in the form of bruises all over his body.

On the other hand, the beast, Nian, was heavily sulking at the side in his original size. He was still salty for being defeated by a single slap from Yama. He was quite a prideful beast so that didn't sit too well with him.

'I'll kill that damned god!' Nian thought.

While the beast was thinking of ways to torture a certain god of death, Vihaan was also lost in his own thoughts.

‘This is the asura who cursed your mother. His name is Raktabija,’ Yama's words rang once again in his mind.

Several days had passed and since then, Sarius made him worship one of the most revered gods in the Hindu Pantheon, the supreme deity, Lord Shiva. Day in and day out, he can be found inside the crater, endlessly chanting the same mantra over and over as he sat in a lotus position with his eyes closed. After doing the same thing for days, he couldn’t help but wonder.

How would this help him go against Raktabija? Is he perhaps going to chant a mantra towards the asura and purify his soul? However, Raktabija is an asura. He is not a spirit nor is he a ghost so exorcism wouldn’t work on him.

Before he could think any further, a wooden stick harshly landed on his head.

“Ouch!”

Vihaan gritted his teeth as he instantly covered his head in pain. He turned towards Sarius questioningly.

“Noble sir, what was that for?”

“You’re thinking too much,” Sarius started. “Erase all distracting thoughts in your mind and devote your full attention to your veneration. Only then will the subject of your worship be pleased.”

Sighing, Vihaan frowned. “Noble sir, I know you have a reason for making me do this. I… I just don’t understand how doing this will help me.”

Sarius smiled. He ruffled the boy’s head as he gently said, “I understand your concern but if I let you know the purpose of this, then it will only get much harder for you.”

“But…”

“What? You can’t do it? Is it too hard? Are you giving up?”

Vihaan’s head hung down. It is indeed hard. He’s already doing this for several days yet he felt he hadn’t made any progress. What’s more, is that he isn’t allowed to move.

“Didn’t you say that before your mother got cursed, you were always worshipping Shiva every morning, noon and night for years? How is this any different from that?”

“It’s completely different! I was not surrounded by lavas back then and I’m only doing it three times a day!” The boy rolled his eyes.

When Sarius said he was going to help him, the god questioned him many things which he felt were unimportant. When he asked, he said he’s just asking in order to know how to help him better.

Uncaring to his outburst, Sarius gracefully replied. “It’s all the same in the end. Do you still remember the feeling that you got when you were worshipping Shiva back then?”

Vihaan nodded.

“How many times did you feel it?”

“Only a few times.”

“Then go and continue your worship. Once you’ve finally gotten the same feeling, then you’re done. In the past, although you were doing it in a comfortable environment, you were doing it for years already which is quite commendable. Right now, however, we don’t have much time so we're doing this the extreme way. Hence, the lava and the stick.”

“Noble sir… after this, will I really be able to go against Raktabija?” Vihaan asked doubtfully.

“Whether you can or cannot, it all depends on you. My role here is to help. I’ve already shown you the way. Will you walk it or not? It’s all up to you.”

With that said, Sarius spread his arms wide. At that moment, the crusts on the surface of the river of lava broke. The once dark lava around them had again become bright red and the temperature inside the crater had considerably increased.

Vihaan bit his lips, enduring the searing heat of his surroundings as sweat heavily trailed down his body. His task had just gotten significantly harder.

“N-Noble sir, this…”

“Whatever is hard to be traversed, whatever is hard to be attained, whatever is hard to be reached, and whatever is hard to be performed— all this can be accomplished by austerity; as austerity is irrepressible.”

“Austerity? What... does that even mean?”

“After you’re done with your worship, you will naturally know,” Sarius patted the boy’s head and walked away. “I think that you can do it on your own now. I’m no longer needed here so I’m going to Nian.”

Vihaan took a deep breath and nodded, determined not to fail Sarius. He adjusted his sitting posture and started his worship.

Nian lazily looked at Sarius who had just arrived on his side and started. “You know, I’m also kinda curious as to why you’re making him do this boring shit. Also, what the fuck was that austerity something? I barely understand anything about it.”

Sarius gave him a dull stare. Almost every sentence that came out of the uncouth beast’s mouth is accompanied by profanity or two and no matter how many times he beat him up, he didn’t change that bad habit of his in the slightest.

“That was a verse that can be found in Manusmriti or the Laws of Manu. It is a code of conduct put together by the brahmins for the brahmins.”

“Okay? So how is him, worshipping a god going to help him?”

“In order for a mortal to obtain the divine blessing of a god, one must perform severe penances or austerities that can please that certain god.”

“.....” Nian stared at him dumbly. “So?”

Sarius resisted the urge to burn the beast as he forced a smile on his face. “Vihaan is worshipping in that kind of environment which is no easy feat. One can say it is a form of austerity. As long as he managed to please the god, then he will…”

“Will?”

“He will be given a boon.”

Nian’s eyes widened in shock as he let out a gasp. “A boon?! Are you serious?!”

Sarius nodded at the beast, relief evident on his face at the fact that the beast finally understood.

“Wait, what the fuck is a boon?”

Or so he thought.

Veins bulge in Sarius’ temple as he patiently explained. “A boon is a divine blessing given by gods or goddesses as a reward for those who practice rigorous discipline, austerities or penance. As for how great these boons are, I can only say that there are boons which will grant you partial immortality, boons that can give you supernatural abilities and even boons that can kill gods!”

A genuine look of surprise appeared on Nian’s face. “Are you saying that idiot boy will gain a boon that can kill a god?”

“Who knows?” Sarius shrugged. “The first time I met Vihaan, I felt small, near negligible traces of divinity in his body, giving him extraordinary strength and durability. Well, extraordinary compared to mortals his age anyway. Normally, only gods and to a lesser extent, demigods have divine energy in their body so this led me to believe that Vihaan might be a demigod.”

“Is he then?”

“He isn’t,” He shook his head. “Before his mother got cursed by Raktabija, Vihaan had always worshipped Shiva thrice a day for years. That may be the reason for the divine energy in his body. Had his mother not been cursed, he wouldn’t have stopped his worship and he might already have obtained a boon by now.”

In a rare moment, Nian fell silent as he let those words sink in his mind. He looked at the boy in the middle of the crater chanting mantras motionlessly. A serious expression etched on his face.

Sarius noticed the beast’s state and smiled. Nian is a lazy beast and very few things managed to get his interest. With Vihaan around, he might actually rouse Nian’s competitive spirit and be productive for once.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed after feeling a slight vibration in the air. He then turned his gaze towards a specific direction in the far horizon with scrutiny right away.

‘A portable dimension? Judging by the energy emanating from it, it is at least half the size of this planet. Moreover, I can faintly make out thousands of presences clashing in there. What is going on?’

The air pulsed again in three consecutive successions. It wasn't that strong. Vihaan and Nian who aren't far from him didn't even notice it. Sarius, however, was a bit amazed.

'It seems like they are fighting. Incredible. To think that a dimension of that size wasn't able to contain all the shockwaves of their battle…'

It would seem that the vibration in the air was the result of the battle taking place inside the dimension. The fact that the shockwave can even be felt outside the dimension no matter how weak it was, shows just how destructive and terrifying the battle was.

Sarius suddenly fell deep into his thoughts as he started piecing the clues together.

'A dimension half the size of a planet… the number of presences inside that dimension… and a battle of that scale…'

He frowned in realization.

'There's no doubt about it. It's…'

…

"...a war! Damn them!" A hunchback, ugly old man punched the wall in anger, making a small spiderweb-like crack on it.

"Calm yourself, my lord." A rather handsome young man, kneeling on one knee before the old man worriedly advised.

"Calm myself? You're telling me to calm myself?!" He grabbed the young man's collar and repeatedly bashed him in the face. "How dare you?! Do you understand what you're saying?! Those foolish brothers! They have started a war involving sixty thousand asuras under our command! And for what?! For a damned woman! What a great wastage of resources! They said they wanted to conquer the world?! They can't even reign in their lust!"

He released the young man whose face was marred in blood and the once handsome look of his became one of gore and horror. He was barely breathing as he desperately gasped for air.

"Our plans to conquer the world had been for naught. Now, the gods had seen the full might of our military power. We have laid everything bare. Their wariness for us is gone. Soon, they will come and finally take our heads," The old man sighed, his voice having lost all anger as he spoke calmly.

"However, if they think that I will just let them be, then they're gravely mistaken. I, Raktabija, will bathe myself in the blood of the gods and show them why they should fear us, asuras!" An eerie laugh escaped from his mouth right after, sending goosebumps to those who heard his hideous voice.