LEGACY OF THE FALLEN
Chapter 27
"Before we begin, tell me—how much do you know about Tejas?" Arihant asked.
"Tejas is the energy gifted to only a few, something that lets people do things normal humans can't," Aksh replied, arms crossed.
Arihant snapped his book shut and stood up.
"Absolutely wrong!" he declared, his voice echoing across the white chamber. "Tejas isn't gifted to a few—it exists in every living being."
He stepped forward, raising a finger like a professor scolding a clueless freshman.
"So why can only a few use it?" he asked, his tone dropping low. "Because it comes with a condition."
He began to pace slowly across the hall.
"Under extreme emotion like fear, grief, rage—the human brain releases certain hormones to protect itself from permanent damage. When those hormones surge..." He paused for effect. "...they react with the dormant Tejas lying inside every living being."
"And if the reaction is strong enough, the Tejas begins to accumulate in the core at lower abdomen. If that core fully develops..."
He stopped pacing and turned to Aksh, eyes sharp as a blade.
"That's when they reach the First Star of Tejas."
Arihant adjusted his glasses with a single finger—Aman-style.
"Now, can you tell me why we call it reaching stars?" he asked, a teasing smirk forming on his lips.
Aksh placed a hand under his chin, thinking. "So that it's easier to define ranks—the higher the stars, the more powerful they are?"
"You're only half right," Arihant replied, shaking his head slightly. "We call it reaching a star because every time a person ascends to a higher level in Tejas, a corresponding star appears on upper back of their body."
He held up a finger, continuing with a gleam in his eyes.
"These stars form unique constellations over time. No two people share the same pattern. Ever."
Aksh's eyes narrowed in curiosity.
"They look like tattoos," Arihant explained. "But when Tejas is used... those stars begin to glow."
"But things don't always go the way we want," Arihant continued, his voice turning somber.
"You might already know this—when someone's body isn't strong enough, tejas fails to accumulate inside core. It collapses, and all the Tejas they had… leaks out of them forever."
"That's what Dhruva thought happened to you. But..." Arihant spoke, pausing for a moment. "There is also another way of awakening. It's very rare and happens only to a few, so almost no one knows about it."
"What is this other way?" Aksh asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Tejas accumulates inside the core during awakening. The core is a hollow sphere located in the lower abdomen, which connects the body to Tejas.
But what about those who never had a core to begin with? The common assumption is that the Tejas would leave the body during awakening, but..." Arihant grinned, his eyes gleaming. "There might be a very slim chance that the Tejas would accumulate somewhere else in the body when it fails to locate the core."
"And the place Tejas would look for next is..." Aksh interrupted, finishing Arihant's thought. "The heart."
"Bingo! You got it!" Arihant exclaimed, blinking one eye and pointing both index fingers at Aksh in a gesture of approval.
"And you are one of the rare cases where Tejas has accumulated in the heart. Let me also tell you—learning to use Tejas from the heart is way harder than using it from the core. One small mistake, and your heart could burst. It's not made to handle Tejas. It's merely a backup."
"So how can I reach the First Star in Tejas?" Aksh asked.
"You can reach it," Arihant replied, "but since you don't have a core, it'll be very difficult. You'll need to focus—concentrate deeply inside your heart and locate where your Tejas has settled. It might take two or three days, so that's what you're going to be practicing."
Aksh replied, "Oh, but I've already located it."
Arihant interrupted him mid-sentence, speaking over with his usual tone, "Yeah, yeah, I know it's hard but you have to try—"
He suddenly stopped, eyes widening. "Wait... what did you just say?" he asked, stunned.
"I've already located it," Aksh repeated calmly.
Arihant let out a short laugh, placing one hand on his forehead. "Haha, you always manage to surprise me."
"Well, that makes things easier," he added, regaining composure. "Take off your shirt and sit down. Focus on the Tejas you've already found in your heart."
Aksh removed his shirt—which had become short due to his recent growth—and sat down, closing his eyes in quiet concentration.
His biceps were thicker, veins bulging across his chest, and every single ab was sharply defined—there wasn't a shred of fat on his stomach, only pure muscle.
"Wow, brat," Arihant muttered, eyeing him with disbelief. "No one's gonna believe you're only thirteen."
"Can we please begin now?" Aksh replied, slightly annoyed.
"Yeah, yeah, let's get to business," Arihant said, his tone shifting to a more serious one. "When you awakened your Tejas, the essence of it got stored in your heart. The rest of your Tejas scattered throughout your body—flowing in your veins."
He stepped closer, eyes fixed on Aksh. "And since you've already located your essence in the heart, you know how your Tejas feels, right?"
"Yes," Aksh answered.
"Great," Arihant nodded. "Then start locating all the scattered pieces of your Tejas in your body—and send them back to the essence."
Aksh closed his eyes and spoke in his mind, "Should I follow what he's telling me to do?"
"You should," the voice echoed calmly. "I don't know how he knows so much about how Heart Tejas works, but he might be the best teacher you'll ever have. And as for sending the Tejas from your body back to your heart—I'll guide you like before, using the white dots. You just need to follow the path."
Aksh nodded slightly, more to himself than anyone else, and began to focus.
For the next half an hour, the hall was completely still. Not a breath. Not a sound.
Finally, Arihant broke the silence. "Did you manage to find any Tejas yet?"
"Yeah, I just found out," Aksh replied.
"So you finally managed to find one," Arihant said, a bit relieved. "Took longer than I expected."
"Not the first," Aksh replied calmly. "I just found the location of the last piece. Now I'm going to send them back—all at once."
Every vein inside Aksh's body began to glow crimson red, as if they were trying to burst through his skin. He twitched in pain but didn't stop. The crimson light from all his veins began to move toward a single direction—his heart. It felt as though the very blood in his body was rushing to his heart.
His body trembled uncontrollably, drenched in sweat. Blood streamed from his nose, his eyes, and his mouth, but still, he didn't falter. The pressure inside him built with each passing second. His chest began to glow fiercely, centered around his heart.
After several minutes, a dot of crimson energy began to spin violently across his back, its motion erratic and wild.
"This kid is really crazy," Arihant muttered, shaking his head with a grin. He flicked his finger and created a protective barrier around Aksh, ensuring nothing would disturb him.
As the veins gradually stopped glowing and the energy flowed into his heart, the crimson dot on his back began to spin even faster—until, in a heartbeat—
BOOM!
An explosive burst of energy radiated outward, shaking the air itself. Arihant immediately removed the barrier with a swift wave of his hand.
Aksh lay on the floor, his back facing up. A single crimson red star now glowed at the center of his back, pulsing with raw power.
Arihant laughed loudly, a hint of pride in his voice. "Hahaha Congratulations,
You've reached the First Star in Tejas."