Veeras father, Yad emanated an ancient, heavenly aura from his entire body. That aura wasn’t the sort that one could attain just by material means. Only after considerable hardships and passing obstacles could one dream to possess this aura. How could an ordinary man compare?

“Lemon tea will do.”

Veera replied calmly.

Yad nodded and clapped his hands loudly.

A maid came from the doors with few cups on a plate behind Veera. Veera took one of the cups and Yad took another.

“Alright with this thing out of the way, we can now discuss more…important things. Follow me to the world hall.” Yad smiled as he turned and began to walk forward.

“The world hall? Right now?” Even Veera felt slightly curious but he did not really took the matter to heart.

The Antarang Palace was a large grand residence that had many halls and towers. The members of the Yadu family only dwelled in some of these rooms. Others remained empty and unmaintained for years, virtually no one goes there.

Few of these rooms and halls were now used for specific purposes or as storages. The Lords library being one of them and world hall being the other.

Both of these halls were connected to each other. But the world hall remained locked and enclosed. Few people are allowed to go in and those who do, only go once in a month to clean it.

Veera followed his father while sipping his tea towards the blue carpet path that led to the hall.

“Clack” The door of the world hall was opened.

The various light crystals and candles in the hall began to light up on their own; the entire hall immediately became very bright. Veera could instantly see the many things put up and placed in the hall. The spirit tablets, various artifacts, weapon stashes, statues, wearings, books among many other things. But the most eye-catching was probably the giant globe located at the very center. It was rotating slowly while emanating a blue hue that was quickly spreading across the room.

Yad quietly stood in in front of a table, not saying a word, sipping his tea with elegance.

Veera did the same. Even though he had a belly full of questions by now and was slightly nervous. He did not dare to show it on his face. He believed that whatever the deep shit his father had in his mind, he will vomit it all in due time.

So, why not enjoy the calm before the storm then?

In the entire hall, aside from the sounds of whispering candles and the sound of sipping tea, nothing more was heard. The quiet was terrifying, creating a suffocating feeling in the heart.

After a long while, Yad slowly focused his gaze on Veera. In a calm voice he said, “Veera, you have done well till now. You have made us proud, kept our name and made our heads help up high. For that, you have my thanks.”

Veera kept the now-empty teacup on the table. He respectfully said, “Whatever is good in me has been through you father. So, you do need to lower your head for the likes of me.”

“Haha, good son, but as you should know this is not enough. You are just but a mere drop in a stream waiting to flow. Today, there are many things which must be done. But first tell me, what is cultivation? Give me a simple but solid answer.”

“The life-long process of improving health, increasing longevity, growing powerful, living happy and finally reaching the ultimate truth is called cultivation. This process has now become like a road that everyone takes regardless of mortal, immortal, demon or lesser gods. Seems to me, the five luxuries or aims of cultivation are very appealing to everybody. Regardless this is achieved through multiple processes simultaneously going throughout the body in and out. This is accomplished by cultivating prana, popular name Qi or Chi through various methods and training in martial and mystical arts while maintaining your karma, if possible. Everyone has different understanding of cultivation, as we do too.” Veera answered but he wondered, what is this has got to do with the on-going discussion?

“Nice answer. You know? Our family has existed for thousand years. Even scanning the entire Great Union in Ainu, I can’t imagine finding a second family such as ours. But I believe the time has come for you to shake things up a bit.” Yad answered nonchalantly.

By now, a thousand question marks were shaping up on Veeras mind.

“Looks like my old man has finally kicked the bucket.” was his only thought that he could extract out from his mind.

“Father, you are being too vague. What do you mean by shaking things up?” Veera frowned and asked.

“You and your brothers have been trained and educated on almost everything since birth. When other kids of your age were playing games, you all were cultivating and studying. Do you think it was all for nothing, son?”

“Well, yeah I did thought about that, but everyone does that these days. What is the big deal here?”

Veeras face was blank as if his answer was very obvious.

“The point is not everyone does that. Either they are too busy studying or are too busy kicking ass. I gambled on my three sons. And look what I got here? A hat-trick, my-my I won’t let this chance go away even if the gods ask me to do so.”

Veera was even more confused.

Yad turned serious, “Listen up, soon, you will not be a kid anymore. You will learn to make your own decisions, will want to live your own life. That’s all right, I have no qualms about that. Even I won’t let you rot in this place. But I want you to do some stuff, things that have never been done before or seen before since the last ages. I want you and your brothers to recover some kinds of stuff back again. It will be hard, I know that, but you got the potential.”

Veeras head was buzzing.

. . . . .Fuck!! This discussion completely took a different turn.

You said I can make my own decisions.

But, now you are stomping your own desires on my head too. Isn’t this unfair? Where is the god now? Can’t he see this shit going on here? Firstly, training to death every day and now this?

Either way, the fact did not change that Veera could have done nothing about this situation. So like what a polite filial child will do in this situation. He did the same thing.

He kneeled and with a voice of immense reverence asked his father,

“So, what do you want me to do father?”

Satisfied with Veera, Yad nodded and smiled, “Well, for a first, 5 years from now I want you to look for the fabled Sanatana star. “

Veera did not replied for a long while.

Gritting his teeth, he asked “Why not esteemed father just ask me to go and kill myself 5 years from now? That will be much easier to do, I dare say.”

Find the eternal star? BULLSHIT!!

Ever seen a man catch a star in the broad daylight? No, right?

That’s just what finding the eternal star is. Nobody knows where it is, how it looks? , What’s its origin?

Except for the fact that it exists somewhere bringing balance to everything; Countless people have already tried to find it and returned dead;

Just some vague words and people thought it really existed. Veera really disdained such thoughts and superstitions.

“Alright, I will look into it but don’t keep your hopes up. So, what’s the next thing you want me to do?”

“Hold up, let me bring that thing here first.” Yad immediately departed towards a private room kept for artifacts.

Standing there, Veer’s mind was a confused mess. The recent events took a great strain on him.

Veera couldn’t help but sigh and think, “Just today I told my brothers that I wanted to grow up quickly and go with them, and now here I am being given my own commands. If I had known karma could get back to me so quickly, I won’t have spoken a single word at all. Regardless, in these two years, I need to prepare extra hard now. Might as well do something good for the family and be busy, then sitting idle and having no ambition.”

After a short period of time, Yad returned with a forty-eight-inch rectangular box as he walked out of the room.

He kept it on the table and looked at Veera.

“Check this out and use your talents to tell me what it is.”

Veera wondered curiously at the box and opened it.

Opening the box, he was surprised to find a blade, more like a broken blade in shards.

“Interesting”

He took the largest piece of the blade and examined it for a long while.

“It’s a sword…should have been a spirit sword to be exact. Highly tempered and enchanted, maybe by the elves. But the question is how?” Veera wondered.

“That I know, give me more details.” Yad urged.

“Blade length should be 93 centimeters. Double-edged, slightly curve but mostly straight unlike the Katana variations with a pointed tip. Not from the east, that’s for sure. I assume from the west then. But…”

“The hilt, it is the unique disc hilt with a tassel attached through an eyelet at the end of the pommel. Interesting, very interesting; Composition is even more astounding, rather than simple steel. It should be made of an alloy if I am not wrong. Quickly, give me a quill, paper, my alchemy book and a tassle card.”

Veeras eyes seemed more sparkling with each second. Yad quickly brought the things he needed.

Veera swiftly wrote what he knew about the sword and his assumptions about its compositions.

He observed the blade again, moved it to and fro and used it to cut his own palm. He wiped the blood with the tassle card. Suddenly, the tassle paper began to light up. He wrote his observations and looked at Yad frowning.

“Very balanced, I dare say. An alloy of steel, enhanced crystal coat and one other metal which I don’t know; the resulting alloy is light, sleek, smooth yet tougher and harder than tempered steel. The crystal coat gives it a glow as well. Incredible but it’s a mess. The drawn runes and formations look good though. Where did you get it father and what does this have to do with me?”

Veera asked.

“I want you to take this shit and repair it. I found this on one of my trips, no use in asking how. Each of your brothers has one artifact with them, its time you get one as well.”

“Alright, this one is more interesting and possible to attain. So what’s next?”

“Thirdly, and lastly, I want you to keep being strong. Even if we don’t like to admit it, the fact doesn’t change that possessing might means being right. And to attain your goals and to live in this world, you will need to be strong. Plus, I want you to attend the Oriental tournament. So work hard on that, if you have anything to say. You can say it now.”

Yad sat on the chair behind the table and looked at Veera.

Veera sighed

“You know right? In order to do these tasks, I will need some considerable amount of capital, resources and time. Where will I get that?”

Yad calmly replied in a business-like manner

“As I said, whatever you need we will provide as long as it is within the boundaries. You will also get your own freedom; I just need you to work on these objectives in between them. But, don’t do things that go against the family’s vital interest. That won’t be good for anyone though, anything else?”

“What about my brothers?”

“I have given them their own missions which they will do for the family. I heard you wanted to be wise and this stuff suits you. Thus, you got what you needed. Be happy for that.”

“Father, I will need to buy some new books and a gear tomorrow. I hope you can help me on that.” Veera spoke lightly.

“I will see to that, you may go now.”

Veera was slightly regretting wanting to be wise now. Maybe, it was something not for him after all. Maybe, being wise after all was all a nonsense. Maybe, just maybe, this was all just a wishful dream of mine.

He lightly stood up, showing no emotions on his face. His thoughts concealed, he picked up the box and left the hall.

Much later after Veera left the hall,

Yad stood up; he bitterly smiled and looked dejected. “I did what I was told to do, even though I did not want to. I can’t change fate. Looking back, it all seemed so surreal like it was all destined. Whatever be the case, I just hope it goes right and my family remains peaceful and safe. This continuity of nature, this calmness I have learned to enjoy it, treasure it and in the end preserve it. It will be a great pity if I lose it now. I just hope you will forgive me, my love.”

“We will, my love.”

“We will.”

One single sentence from two voices with various emotions resounded throughout the room.

And then silence covered it all….

Synchronisation 15%

Reached Checkpoint::02: Of Stars in the Moonlight.

Acquiring Data:

Name: Yadu Veera (Star-Born Son of God)

Artifacts Obtained : - 1

Acquired Quests : 3

Current Gear: N/A

Cultivation: Mortal Realm

___continuing__sync___