On the Road to Takshashila.
The camp had been broken at first light, and the procession had resumed its march toward Takshashila. They were still several days from the city, yet representatives from across the region had already begun arriving now that operations in the GMZ had concluded. Coupled with the steady stream of people seeking the Yuvraj's personal judgment on disputes and petitions, the pace of the journey had slowed considerably.
For the moment, however, the column advanced steadily along the main road. Though originally constructed during the latter years of the Surya Empire and now several centuries old, the roadway remained remarkably well maintained. Its broad stone surface bore the marks of countless travelers, but regular upkeep had preserved it well enough to support the constant flow of merchants, soldiers, officials, and pilgrims that passed along it.
The marching formation reflected both caution and organization. A detachment of the Royal Guard on horseback rode at the vanguard, with another matching force securing the rear. Between them traveled the rest of the procession. The non-combatants marched near the front under military protection, followed by the central column containing the royal party and their immediate attendants. Bringing up the rear before the mounted rearguard were the baggage train, supply wagons, and the numerous animals carrying provisions, equipment, and the camp's remaining stores.
Yuvraj Hamsa rode upon a white stallion named Chetak. After completely forgetting to give his elephant name he wanted, that being Ramprasad. Hence he had resolved not to make the same mistake again. At the very least, he could name his horse after one of the most famous steeds from his previous world's history.
[Author's Note: It's not your fault, buddy. I forgot. Sorry. :<]
A short while later, the procession came to a brief halt.
"All right, up you go."
Hamsa effortlessly lifted a boy of about ten into the air. Gajandra responded immediately, curling his trunk around the laughing child before carefully raising him onto the howdah atop his back.
Traditionally, elephant howdahs were little more than compact seats designed for one or two riders. However, improvements in design, materials, and construction techniques—many introduced under the Yuvraj's patronage—had made it possible to build something far more spacious. The platform extended beyond the elephant's back without compromising its balance, providing enough room for two or even three adults to travel comfortably. It was intended purely for long journeys, however. In battle, such a structure would only hinder the elephant's mobility and make an inviting target.
The boy's delighted laughter echoed down the road as Gajandra gave him a gentle tour from his lofty perch.
Hamsa watched with a resigned sigh, silently regretting how easily he had allowed his afternoon nap to be sacrificed.
"You really are different," Ashwini observed as she rode alongside him.
As he had permitted, she addressed him without honorifics, and unlike most people, she had actually taken him at his word.
"It's nothing," Hamsa replied with a small shrug. "I can understand their boredom. A march like this, with few stops, isn't exactly exciting—especially for children."
"Might I ask why you've taken in so many children?" Ashwini asked. "From what I've been able to count, there are well over a dozen orphans traveling with your retinue."
She was making use of another privilege the Yuvraj had granted her as part of the reward for assisting during the battle against the Jivatshavas. So long as a question was not overly sensitive, he had agreed to answer it honestly.
"The answer is simple," Hamsa replied, "though the reasons vary from child to child. Some were chosen for their academic aptitude, others for their promise as warriors. The boy I just helped onto Gajandra falls into the latter category. His mana circuit should finish maturing within the next year."
"I see."
Her response was quiet, and Hamsa noticed the slight hesitation behind it.
"There's little point in looking at it that way," he said. "Whether they're with me or not, they'll awaken sooner or later. Once that happens, they'll go through the usual process regardless. I'm simply beginning that process from the first day instead of waiting."
He glanced toward the children farther atop Gajandra.
"And having them under my care means they avoid spending years within the temple system. That alone is an advantage. I don't have to wait a decade before they emerge and begin contributing."
Ashwini let the explanation settle. The rhythmic sound of hooves and wagon wheels filled the silence between them as the procession continued along the ancient road.
After a while, she spoke again.
"Might I ask about those beams you used during the battle? I don't think they were simply condensed mana."
"Oh, that."
Hamsa smiled faintly.
"I was bending light after concentrating it into a narrow beam. The underlying principle is actually similar to the technique used for concealment."
Ashwini looked at him curiously.
"You know how one can bend light around themselves to become difficult to see? This works on the same principle. Instead of redirecting light around an object, you force it to converge at a single point."
He paused before adding,
"The battlefield version was a little different, though. Rather than using only air as the medium, I incorporated water."
As he spoke, mana flowed from his hand. A ring of water rose from a nearby waterskin and began circling above his palm, spinning faster and faster until it formed a perfectly stable disc. With a few subtle adjustments of mana, the water's shape shifted almost imperceptibly, refracting the afternoon sunlight into a brilliant point.
A thin beam flashed across the roadside.
Several dozen paces away, the trunk of a tree erupted with a sharp crack, sending splinters and bark into the air. The explosion was modest rather than spectacular, but it left a charred crater in the wood where the concentrated light had struck.
"It isn't particularly impressive at this scale," Hamsa said, allowing the water to flow back into the waterskin, "but the principle remains the same."
But once he turned his full attention to the tree he had a confused expression, though no one noticed he was confused as it why the tree was still standing.
This is weird. I used enough power to blast the thing off. But... it only left a scar.
This though lingered for a moment, but once he was Ashwini staring at the tree he regained his composure.
I guess I went a little to over board back there.
He though to himself, as an explanation to keep himself calm. As Adi was out and about, well beyond a range to where he could sense he was alive but could not communicate, this was the best thing he could come up with for now.
"I see," Ashwini said, studying the scar left on the tree. "So back then, you were using your Mana Zone to achieve the same effect on a much larger scale—and with far less effort."
Hamsa nodded.
"More or less. The Mana Zone handles much of the fine control for me. Once it's established, shaping and manipulating mana over a wide area becomes significantly easier. The principles don't change—only the scale does."
Ashwini let out a quiet hum of understanding.
"So your methods aren't fundamentally different from everyone else's."
A faint smile tugged at Hamsa's lips.
"That's one way of putting it," Hamsa replied with a faint smile. "But the way I approach these things is a little different. The principles are the same—it's the application that's different."
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[A/N: I will say this as context for the above. Basically this world has two main ways, one of them for your imagination is like the bending in Avatar The Last Air Bender, but more like the one the came next. (I refuse to name it cause it is trash) And then the second kind is more like what the MC does. I will go into more detail later on.]
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The conversation gradually drifted to different topics with mana as the base.
As the royal convoy continued its steady march along the ancient Imperial road. Days passed without incident, the forests and rolling hills eventually giving way to the sprawling outskirts of Takshashila.
Upon reaching the city, the two went their separate ways. Ashwini departed to rest after the exhausting expedition before submitting her report on everything that had transpired in the Dead Forest and the journey that followed.
Hamsa, however, found no such respite awaiting him.
His appointment as governor was no mere title. Before he could even think of developing the lands entrusted to him in his father's name, he first had to ensure they were truly under his authority rather than merely so on paper. Local officials had to be brought into line, military garrisons inspected, tax records verified, and the countless administrative threads that held the provinces together brought firmly under his control.
Only then could the real work begin.
Roads, irrigation, industry, education, trade, defense, and administration—every aspect of the province would have to be examined, reorganized, or rebuilt. By the time he was finished, the territory would be so fundamentally transformed that it would scarcely resemble the one he had inherited. In many ways, it would be little different from building it anew from the ground up.
-----
The University District
Ashwini found herself back in the place she currently called home. Although a part of her regretted leaving behind the comforts and luxuries that came with being the Yuvraj's royal guest, she had responsibilities of her own. After a night's rest, she intended to submit her report to her gurus before returning to her usual duties.
Having barely begun removing her armor, she heard a knock at the door, followed by a familiar voice.
Setting the breastplate aside, Ashwini walked over and opened the door to find Lu standing outside. She was one of Ashwini's closest friends and, outside of her gurus, one of the very few people who knew almost everything about her—Lu in fact knew everything but the fact of her reincarnation.
Without ceremony, Lu stepped inside. Once the door had been closed behind her, she naturally began helping Ashwini remove the rest of her armor, the two falling into conversation as they had done countless times before.
"So," Lu asked, undoing one of the leather straps securing Ashwini's shoulder guard, "how was it?"
Ashwini hesitated.
"...It's hard to explain," she admitted. "Honestly, I'm not even sure I can tell the whole story properly."
Lu raised an eyebrow, a teasing smile spreading across her face.
"Why? Did you finally find yourself a man?"
Ashwini rolled her eyes.
"No. And if I had, you would've been the first person I told."
"Then what happened?" Lu asked, her tone becoming more serious as she helped remove the last of the armor. "You know you can tell me."
Ashwini fell silent. As the final piece of armor and the padded clothing beneath it were set aside, she weighed the decision carefully. Lu already knew more about her than almost anyone else alive. She had entrusted her with secrets that could have ruined her life had they ever been revealed, yet not once had Lu used them against her.
She trusted her.
Taking a slow breath, Ashwini finally spoke.
"What I'm about to tell you is going to sound like I hit my head somewhere and made all this up." She let out a weak laugh. "Frankly, a part of me wishes that were the case, because it'd make all of this much easier to explain." Her expression grew serious. "So keep an open mind. And this time, I mean it—don't tell anyone else. Not a soul."
Lu's smile softened.
"As far as I'm concerned," she replied, "I was never here. So stop worrying and tell me what's bothering you."
She studied Ashwini for a moment before adding quietly, "Whatever happened, it's shaken you enough that your hands have been trembling since I walked in."
Ashwini instinctively looked down.
Only then did Ashwini realize Lu was right. Her hands were trembling ever so slightly, something she herself hadn't noticed until it was pointed out. Oddly enough, that simple observation brought her more comfort than any reassurance could have.
The two settled onto the cushions laid out in the room, and after taking a long, steadying breath, Ashwini began recounting everything that had happened.
She spoke of the attack by the Jivatshavas and the chaos that had followed. She described the Royal Guard, admitting that even their average soldiers had far exceeded the expectations she had carried from Takshashila. Then came Rajkumar Garuda, whose strength and leadership were exactly what she would expect from someone born into the Royal Family. From there, she recounted the battle itself in painstaking detail, each decision, each clash, and each unexpected turn of events leading inevitably to the arrival of Yuvraj Hamsa Deva Varma.
It was there that her voice changed.
She described the overwhelming display of power Hamsa had unleashed with a precision that bordered on frightening. She spoke of his impossible control over mana, the ease with which he accomplished feats that should have required the combined efforts of entire formations of mages, and the calm composure he maintained throughout it all. Yet what lingered with her most was not his strength alone, but the feeling it inspired. It was a mixture of admiration, awe, and an instinctive fear she had never experienced before. For the first time in either of her lives, she had looked at another person and genuinely wondered whether they could be stopped at all.
She continued until there was nothing left to tell, recounting everything that had happened up to the moment she had parted ways with the royal procession.
"...And after all of that," Ashwini concluded with a tired sigh, "he even offered me employment under him. I turned him down, and we went our separate ways." She gave a small, almost reluctant smile. "Though... I am expected to return next week to receive the gifts he promised."
When the room fell silent once more, Lu simply stared at her friend.
Part of her desperately wished Ashwini had struck her head somewhere during the expedition and imagined the entire story. It would have been a far simpler explanation than accepting that someone like Yuvraj Hamsa truly existed. But as she watched Ashwini's expression and listened to the lingering uncertainty in her voice, she knew she had not been lied to. Ashwini was many things, but she had never been one to fabricate stories—least of all one as unbelievable as this.
Lu let out a long, weary sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"...Now I wish I hadn't asked."
"No need to feel so down about it. I was going to ask her myself."
The voice came from just outside the room.
Both women immediately stood. Ashwini opened the door to find an elderly Acharya standing there with his hands folded behind his back, a gentle smile resting on his face.
"Guru Ji," Ashwini said with a sigh, "you know it isn't wise to listen in on other people's conversations."
"Ordinarily, I would agree," the old man replied with a chuckle. "But something told me that your expedition hadn't gone quite as expected. I intended to hear it from you directly, yet when I arrived I realized the two of you were already talking. Rather than interrupt, I decided to wait." His smile widened ever so slightly. "Though it is good to know that I have reached the age where my own student calls me an old man behind my back."
A shiver immediately ran down Ashwini's spine as she remembered exactly what she had said only moments earlier.
Guru Srujan laughed at her expression before his demeanor gradually became more serious.
"Jokes aside, I believe this warrants a meeting with the other Acharyas." He turned his attention toward Lu, who still stood inside the room. "Stay with her until she's composed herself. Whatever she has witnessed has clearly unsettled her more than she realizes."
Without waiting for a reply, the elderly Acharya turned and walked away.
Ashwini could only let out a defeated sigh. After changing into fresh robes and collecting herself as best she could, she followed him with Lu by her side.
What followed was, in Ashwini's opinion, the single worst meeting of either of her lives.
The questions began the moment she entered the chamber and continued without pause. Every detail of the expedition was scrutinized. Every explanation she offered was met with another question, another request for clarification, or another attempt to reconcile her account with everything the gathered scholars believed they knew. None of the Acharyas doubted that she believed what she was saying, but several found it impossible to accept that such things could truly have happened.
By the time the questioning finally ended, the discussion had shifted entirely away from her.
Now she stood quietly in an open courtyard while the gathered Acharyas argued among themselves. Their voices rose and fell as theories were proposed, challenged, and discarded in rapid succession. Under different circumstances, Ashwini might have found the sight amusing. These were some of the wisest, strongest, and most learned people she had ever known, yet at that moment they resembled little more than children stubbornly insisting that only their own answer could possibly be correct.
Then again, she could hardly blame them.
Everything she had just described sounded absurd even to her, and she had witnessed it with her own eyes.
"Silence."
Guru Srujan's voice cut through the argument with surprising force.
"What are we doing?" he asked, looking from one colleague to another. "We're bickering like children."
"And why shouldn't we?" one of the older Acharyas replied. "If your student's account is accurate, then we must either accept that what she witnessed should be impossible... or admit that there exists a power in this world far beyond anything we understand, let alone possess the ability to challenge."
"That isn't entirely true," another Acharya interjected. "Have you all forgotten what those who came before us left behind? This boy could very well be one of the Manifested. Better yet..." He paused before speaking the final words. "Perhaps the prophecy is finally beginning to unfold. If that is the case, then our duty is not to oppose him or seek to control him, but to aid him however we can."
Prophecy?
The word echoed through Ashwini's mind.
She had never once heard her gurus speak of such a thing. A dozen questions immediately sprang to mind, but looking around at the heated discussion, she wisely kept them to herself.
Guru Srujan waited until the others had quieted before speaking once more.
"Why don't we verify her account through her memories?" Guru Srujan suggested. "At the very least, it will establish whether what she witnessed is genuine."
Though he believed every word his student had spoken, he could not expect the others to share that same certainty.
Ashwini silently nodded. Allowing her Mana Zone to expand, she slowly released it into the surroundings until it intertwined with Guru Srujan's own, which already enveloped the courtyard. One by one, the other Acharyas opened their own Mana Zones as well, allowing the connections to form naturally between them.
Once the network had stabilized, Ashwini lowered herself into a meditative posture and closed her eyes. The others soon did the same, and the courtyard fell into complete silence as memories began flowing from one mind to another.
Several long minutes passed before the first of them opened their eyes.
The silence that followed was unlike anything Ashwini had ever experienced.
It reminded her of the stories she had read about war councils—those rare moments when a kingdom's highest commanders finally realized they had already lost, even though the soldiers outside still believed victory remained within reach. Some councils eventually found an answer and turned certain defeat into triumph. Others accepted reality and negotiated the best peace they could. The unfortunate few clung desperately to fading hope until there was nothing left to save.
The silence before her felt much the same.
No one questioned whether Ashwini had spoken the truth anymore. That debate had ended the moment they witnessed her memories for themselves.
Instead, each of the Acharyas had arrived at the same unsettling realization.
Whether they welcomed it or feared it no longer mattered.
A force now existed that lay beyond anything they had anticipated, one whose strength, knowledge, and potential placed it outside the influence they had spent their lives cultivating.
The discussion before them was no longer about whether such a person existed.
It was about deciding how they would live in a world where he did.