Chapter 8: Journey Begins

“Father, please guide me!” Zaria said again.

The priest opened his eyes and looked at him sternly before saying, “The Trials of Strength is held every ten years to seek out the most talented and extraordinary young generation from all of the Sanctuary. Those who have the right to participate in it are the elites among elites. They have poured their blood and sweat in their training each and every day for several years now without stopping. Do you think you can compete with them with your meagre strength. In one year what do you hope to achieve? Besides it's not the end line, rather it's the starting line. The winners of the trial have a heavy responsibility of representing the Sanctuary in the General Meeting of the Northern Mountains. The whole Sanctuary would depend on them in the future. They have to continuously raise their strengths for that purpose. Can you shoulder this responsibility to the very end?”

He spoke with a very stern voice. His gaze pierced through Zaria’s heart as if it was able to tell apart slightest of hesitation on his part.

Zaria stood there for a while pondering before saying resolutely, “Father, your son doesn't know whether he will be able to shoulder this responsibility or be able to have the right to do so in the first place. But, Ruya will be betrothed to someone else if he doesn't. This he cannot bear. If what it takes to keep those dear to me close by is to shoulder the heavens itself, your son is willing to bear it, let alone a trial or a meet.”

The priest was extremely satisfied by this response. He nodded and said, “Alright, I will teach you. But first, you have to prove yourself worthy. You have to place among the top ten in the coming reshuffling examination in both scholarly and martial divisions on your own devices. If you can't even do this then forget about Trials of Strength for good.”

As he said to this point, he waved his hand and a gentle breeze carried Zaria outside without waiting for his response and shut the door.

Zaria looked at the door for a while then he turned around and left resolutely.

---

Somewhere in the Sanctuary stood a huge building. There was a signboard on it which read Granth Bhawan, Hall of Scriptures. There was an old man watching over the entrance.

Zaria arrived there and raised his head to look at the huge structure. He took a deep breath and moved forward.

The old man at the entrance glanced at him briefly. Although he stayed at the building most of the time, he still knew who Zaria was. He had heard a few rumours over the years too. He asked him blandly without looking at him, “What is the purpose of your visit?”

Zaria bowed his head slightly and greeted the old man politely, “Gurudev, if it’s possible, I wish to borrow all the scriptures related to martial theories.”

The old man was slightly surprised by his demeanor. Generally, students didn’t behave so politely towards him, considering his job as a ‘watchman’. He thought to himself.

They say he is a good for nothing and a disgrace to the Sanctuary. Well, I guess nowadays humbleness is considered disgraceful, sigh.

“It’s not that it is impossible, but you should know that there are, at least, a few hundred of them. Besides, the basic martial theory is almost same in all the scriptures, not just here but everywhere in this world, with some variations when you go deeper in its scholarly aspects. So, there is basically no merit in studying all of them and wasting your time.”

He paused here and looked at Zaria’s eyes which looked pure and without any deceit and malice. For some reason, the old man was quite impressed by this young boy. He suddenly thought of something and continued, “ Well, If you want to compare them to pick the best one, I have another option for you, only if you are interested, of course.”

The old man smiled at this point and waited for Zaria’s answer.

Zaria, indeed, wanted to compare all the theories and select the best suited for him and for his comprehension. He did not want to pick a random starting line for his future journey and make changes as he went along just like everybody else. It was as the old man had said, most of the martial theories were the same, as the beginning process was same for even those peerless experts who wrote those scriptures all through the history. It was only when they had sufficient level of strength that they started facing difficulties in their progress and had to make changes in their own understanding which worked best for them and so, for beginners, it was all the same no matter which theory they picked. Zaria knew about this, but he believed that by comparing all of them, he would be able to pick the one which would be able to take him the farthest along his martial path. But the old man’s words did indeed pique his curiosity.

“In that case, I will have to give my thanks to senior in advance for his advice.” he replied.

The old man started to like him more and more. He smiled slightly and said, “Although most of the theories are similar, there have been some which take a different approach from the very beginning. As we have no idea who created them, we don’t know whether they are good or bad unless someone tried them. But no one really takes that risk. There are two reasons for that. First, one would not have a precedent from which they could draw upon any sort of inspiration and motivation from. Without a clear goal or an example, it is hard not to deviate from your path. Second, these theories are difficult to comprehend and implement, inherently. It is understandable too, if they were better and easier than the whole world would be practicing one of them and not the current standard ones,” he paused for a while before continuing, “The other option I told you earlier is precisely that. Our Sanctuary has one of those variant theory scripture. It has been here for as long as our Sanctuary’s history goes. Many young ones have tried it over the years. But, they couldn’t go very far. They even turned out to be less than your average joe, and so, most of them abandoned the theory midway. Thus, if you want to compare theories, take one of the standard ones and the variant one. This way, you may save time and might have a better understanding, who knows.”

Zaria was already invested in this idea. He immediately replied with pressed hands, “This junior will have to trouble you again then, senior. For the standard one, I would like to leave that decision to senior as well, if it is not too much trouble.”

The old man was gratified to hear this and nodded slightly. He closed his eyes again and made some magical hand seals with one hand and, abruptly, put it on the wall of the building on which a palm indent was carved. A brilliant light shone under his palm and the whole building shook with rumbling sounds. Its massive gate opened.

“Go inside. You can only study the scriptures inside their respective halls. Remember, you have one week for each book.”

He tossed something towards Zaria after speaking. Zaria caught it instinctively. There were two miniature bamboo scrolls with numbers on them.

The old man said, “They are the keys. Put them in the fire corresponding to their hall numbers. Once you enter a scripture hall you will only be able to exit after one week. Use that time well. Now go!”

Zaria bowed his head again, took a deep breath and entered the huge building. The old man removed his hand from the wall and, again with rumbling sounds, the door closed. The old man sat crossed legged and mused.

I wonder if we will have an Antar Shura after a thousand years.

----

Inside the Bhawan, Zaria looked around the building curiously. It was his first time here. He should have been here years ago but he had given up on martial training and didn't feel a need to, either.

Now, he had to!

He looked around and saw magnificent carvings of majestic elephants on both of the sidewalls which seemed like they were holding the whole structure with their trunks. The ceiling was so high that cloudy mist was blocking it from sight. There was a spiralling flight of stairs which extended endlessly to the top. The golden balustrade was carved with intricate designs of eagles in different postures. Some were depicted flying over the clouds while some perched on branches of trees. Lamps illuminated the hall with golden lights which accentuated the overall ambience. It was breathtaking!

Zaria started ascending the stairs. There were several hundred rooms along the stairs with at least a dozen on each level. Each had a number plate along with a symbol. The symbols depicted the type of scripture. There were several types of scriptures - Rituals, chants, body tempering guides, history, elixir concoction, healing manuals, martial theories and all kinds of other scriptures. Zaria came in front of one of the rooms which had the similar symbol and number as on one of the two keys. It was the standard theory one. He tossed the bamboo key in the small fire altar which burned in front of the room. The key sizzled and emitted crackling sounds after which the flame burst violently and enshrouded the room’s door. The door opened slowly and the fire also withdrew to the altar.

Zaria felt a little nervous and excited at the same time.

My martial journey begins from this day.

If I am doing it anyway, I might as well do it wholeheartedly.

He raised his foot and entered the room resolutely!