Chapter 9: Shura

After he entered the room, Zaria found himself in a very spacious hall. There was nothing there. It was absolutely empty and dark except for a small fire lantern which was placed in the centre of the hall. A small window on the ceiling lit the area around the lantern with moonlight. Zaria inched towards the centre and crouched after reaching the lantern to have a better look. On closer inspection, Zaria found that there were some markings on it. Merely, they were barely discernible. He didn't know what to do. Where was the scripture? Did the lantern mean anything?

He was utterly confused. He stood up and looked around again. After making several rounds around he came with nothing. At this point, he felt rather dejected. He leaned against a wall while pondering about his situation. Suddenly, he felt something on the wall. It was dark so he couldn't see anything. He stretched out his hand and touched the wall to feel it. He found out that there were carvings on the wall!

He followed along the carvings on the wall and came to a certain location. There was a depression in the wall at that location. He thought for some time while pacing back and forth in the room. Suddenly, he looked towards the lantern and realised something. He walked towards the lantern and picked it up. When he lifted it off the ground, the opening in the ceiling also closed itself. It was pitch black now. Zaria felt quite upset at this. He muttered, “Do they really have to make it this difficult. Sigh, I should have asked the senior about some more details if I knew it was going to be this bothersome.”

He carefully traced his steps back to the location with depression, following the carvings on the wall. He exhaled slightly and tried to push the lantern into the depression.

His eyes lit up. It was a perfect fit!

Suddenly, the lantern fired up. It looked dazzling. The lantern rotated once and stopped. The whole room had become bright now. There was still nothing there. But on the walls there were shadows. They were words, to be precise. The whole room was filled with words. Zaria understood now. They were the shadows from the carvings on the lantern which were projected on the walls.

He smiled wryly, “They sure made it hard. Do they like puzzles that much.”

Though, after a second thought, he found this process to be quite useful. This way only those with certain amount of aptitude and luck will be able to learn the scriptures. It was a good way to filter in a reasonable amount of talent. After all, these scriptures are priceless and not anyone should be able to access them. When he thought to this point, he felt even more motivated.

A new spark ignited in his heart.

----

Somewhere in the Sanctuary, in a room filled with flickering earthen lamps, a bald middle-aged priest was reading something. At some distance from him, a young girl was sitting cross-legged. Her eyes were shut, she was meditating wholeheartedly. Red as blood gossamer like thick, dense fog covered her completely. Still, one could make out her extraordinary bearings which was enough to make one’s heart pound.

The bald priest closed his book slowly, glanced at the young lady and sighed.

“Saya, why don’t you go out and relax for some time. There is still time before the trials. It is not good for your training to get cooped up and meditate all day. A healthy mind needs rest as much as it needs meditation.”

The girl didn't give a response and kept meditating . The bald priest smiled wryly and gave up. However, he remembered something at that point and said, “The annual reshuffling exams are coming soon. You should come with me to watch. Perhaps it may help give you some insights to overcome your current impediment.”

The girl’s eyebrows twitched slightly after hearing this but she just stayed quite like before. The bald priestly laughed and shook his head. This girl was clearly only interested in events like this.

----

Zaria was absorbing the information which was scattered all over the walls. He understood many things.

“The theory of martial training is based on the premise of understanding the principles of energy formation, flow and transformation. Everything that exists in the cosmos is formed of one form of energy or the other. The purpose of martial practice is to achieve a symbiosis of body with this energy. The higher the degree of this symbiosis the greater the martial prowess.

One has to start this process by first locating the energy centres in our bodies. These energy centres are called Chakras. There are seven major Chakras in a human body.

Mooladhara - The Root Chakra - at the base of the spine

Svadhishthana - The Sacral Chakra - just below the navel

Manipura - The Solar Plexus Chakra - stomach area, above the navel

Anahata - The Heart Chakra - centre of the chest

Vishuddha - The Throat Chakra - base of the throat

Ajna - The Third Eye Chakra - just above the area between the eyes

Sahasrara - The Crown Chakra - top of the head

Each Chakra has its own distinct energy fluctuation and projects its own unique hue. From the Crown Chakra to the Root Chakra the colours of the rainbow are emitted, namely, Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red. With the Root Chakra being red and the Crown Chakra being violet.

One has to start by opening the Mooladhara Chakra. It is the root of the body. By doing certain breathing exercises this Chakra can be opened. It is said that by opening this Chakra, one officially sheds the mundane and reaches a higher state of consciousness. It brings forth the hidden potential of a fleshly body and connects the soul to the earth.” He muttered under his breath.

There was also a detailed breathing technique given for accumulating the earth’s energy. Zaria put it to practice to just get a feel for it. However, he was shaken to the core once he tried it. He felt his whole body become weightless and strange vibrations of energy filling his insides like gushing spring of water. He had never felt like that before. He felt truly powerful!

Zaria’s emotions were quite agitated at this point. He, finally, realised that in his own narrow perception he always had a lesser opinion of martial training than scholarly attainment. He now had to admit that both of them were equally important in the understanding of one’s inner self.

He had somewhat forgotten his primary reason for being here and was thoroughly entranced by this wonderful and new experience as he felt his horizons broaden.

He calculated in his mind and found that it has been three days since he had entered the room. He sighed as he understood now that he was really like an insignificant insect in front of a Shura, a martial warrior. He was reminded of all the days in the years he had given up on training his strength as time was truly precious for martial strength to grow. It required years of disciplined meditation and understanding to accumulate enough energy to be able to have visible gains. This was because for each Chakra there were ten stages of accumulation and each stage represented the percentage of Chakra opening. if a shura had opened ten percent of his Mooladhara Chakra he would be considered a stage one shura in that Chakra. Most martial warriors go up to only stage three or stage four of Mooladhara Chakra as the amount of accumulated energy required for each consecutive stage increases. This was the reason that only a few young people with highest potential are given most of the resources and others only get a pittance. This might seem cruel but it was also not without reason. The resources were limited. They had to nurture the best to the peak.

Zaria felt a little downcast as he thought up to this point but immediately shook his head and looked even more determined.

I have a late starting point but this doesn't mean anything. The path to martial training is to achieve a state of oneness with a higher consciousness. My path is my own. My path is long. It doesn't matter when I start as long as I keep moving forward.

He kept meditating and practicing the breathing technique. He was trying to better his own understanding and formulate his own path as he lost track of time.

Time ticked away slowly and without him noticing a faint mist with red hue started congealing around his body!