Continuing on the lecture Alicia continued “If mermaids are embodiment of pride, the dark elves were lust incarnate. To them it was a way of life and a reason for living, demented to other species they enjoyed living from one partner to other one night to next.”

“It is said that Dwarves are living examples of rage. It was rage which makes them strong the and rage was the reason for their downfall. Their primary source of strength is the smithy and technology, which is said to be taught to them by the legendary blacksmith and greatest scientist of all time Tvastar.”

“He is the best!! My armour which I used on my adventures were made by him” said Sagar

“Waah!! So father knew the greatest scientist of all time” said Kush clapping his hands as if in celebration

“Hmph, we mermaids do not need external equipment to win fights” said the mother

“Heheh. I know babe, but Tvastar was not just limited to armour making and sword forging. All the great inventions of the past few millennia in all our cultures were his boons. He has long risen above the stature of a mere human”

With a chilly expression Alicia said “True, though he is a human, he worked for the benefit of all species without prejudice.”

“Moving on. The next we talk about the archipelago just south west Jambu-dvipam, the Sapta-dvipa or the archipelago made of seven islands. The islands are small, only a bit larger than cities in the current human countries, but are home to the most elusive species of the world. Their origins are unknown, not because they do not interact with the outer world. Their kind live among all the species, but can’t be differentiated, they have the ability to replicate form and power, to a certain extent, hide in the shadows and communicate long distance. Until a few centuries ago, they were considered a myth. To them time and movement of civilizations are just verbs like walking and running. They are called the Immortal Paramount of sloth the Aestir tribe, the only inhabitants of Sapta-dvipa”

“The next we talk about the life underground. A few kilometres below the surface of earth, there is a tunnel spanning 1000s of km in radius with its axis aligned perpendicularly to line joining the poles. Though underground it is forever day there”

“But mom why would there always be light underground” Asked innocently the child and the adult on whom he was sitting.

“Sigh….” With a venerable expression on her face “It is another gift by our mother Bhoomi. Long ago, Ashwasena the son of The great king of Nagas, Takshaka came to Bhoomi in search of something. His descendants the proud Nagas were one of the supreme races in the universe. If they acted like the other alien species attempting to trample on others, the world would have been sent in chaos. Fortunately, under the leadership of Ashwasena, Nagas preferred peace and lived in the isolated island of Kurupa. Before ascending Ashwasena, dropped the arrow his father gave him ‘The heaven piercer’. The arrow fell and gained momentum and like an unstoppable wild beast, went on without facing any hurdle, creating a tunnel of sorts in the crust then the mantle continuing into the core. All the molten magma created from the great ordeal was pushed up, Volcanic eruption from the greatest ever volcano was coming up. Even the Nagas with their tough hide could not protect themselves from the tremendous force of eruption and would have died”

“That was when Bhoomi interfered, the three handed incarnate of Bhoomi, used two of her hands to stop the arrow from speeding through. Destroying an entire arm and leaving a stump close to the shoulder and disintegrating the other arm right up to the shoulders. It is said that, after this ordeal was entirely tired unable to bear the weight of the arrow. From her torn blouse her breasts could be seen, every being on this planet was beholden to her as children, but still were attracted to the scent which was released the moment it was released from it bounds. This was the weakest Bhoomi had ever been, but covering up her chest with her hand, she used the molten manga from formed from the disaster to plug the leak of water into the hole, leaving the beings trapped in the hole with no sunlight. After a few months of surviving within the trap without light the started to starve due to lack of food, these consisted primarily of Nagas. The other beings included aquatic beings, large lizards, aquatic plants among others. Feeling pity for them Bhoomi, asked the great tree Nala-Kubera, the divine tree and his brother Mani-griva to help them. On instructions from Bhoomi the trees extended their roots down till they reached the top of the 1000 km radius ‘tunnel’. The properties of these divine trees is that they absorb the sunlight falling on them but in addition to producing food, they allow the visible spectrum to travel down their roots and breathe out through their roots instead of their leaves. The soil allowed control of temperature by insulating the region from surrounding, making the living conditions habitable. The intelligent life forms which were trapped initially build the tunnel into a utopia of sorts where temperature was perfect, people the resources due to the moist temperate climate was suitable for good vegetation. In a few decades, path to surface were created allowing trade and migration of people from surface to underground. The tunnel, by its initial inhabitants who were sceptical about their survival, was named Lakshagriha or ‘The house of lacquer’ which would never survive and could be easily burnt. Right now Lakshagriha is ruled by Nagas and the king of Naga is the guide of the ‘The heaven piercer’ and given the title of Muchalinda”

“Due to their their likeness for gold and other shiny materials and the amount of food they consume the Nagas are called the paragons of Greed and Gluttony. The likeness of which has never been seen in the universe itself.”

“The last but not the least, we talk about the sky island of Badal. As the introduction suggests, the island of sky dwellers. They are descendants of Lord Garuda, ‘The emissary of God’, carrying the instruction of God, which are to be followed by dwellers of Bhuloka itself. They do not interfere with day to day activities of a world but are the guardians of a world from external threats and may only interfere if they fear eminent destruction.”

“Of what Mom?” Asked the kid

“What I told you about them is all based on the ancient scriptures of Garuda Purana. Even I don’t know what eminent destruction means”

“Those pill popping, smug, evil doers dare to call themselves angels in front of humans. Scumbags filled with dirt are the reason the world was in peril so many times. They never interfered in the any of the ‘Three world disasters’. Playing hide and seek with lives of the living is their favourite pass time”

Even though young, Kush could sense his father’s hatred for the beings. In his mind he had already decided to call these people bad.

“Their beauty, their stature, their strength, their power is the point of envy of all being in this world. It why they are called the cradle of envy of the world. The beings who were meant to protect the world take anything they want and command respect for it as well. But the respect from all is just jealousy of the chosen ones”

They stood from their place and made their way towards their house. This was the first day of education for Kush. Since the four were the only people on this island, they never really had the requirement of a big house. In middle of the arable island which they brought from Kishunpali they would let their oxen raom free, grow their crops in the farm designated area, they cut a canal right next to their house which had its ends on the sea and built a mechanism to pump it up their house into the upper storage. When they came in the first time, it was pumped by either one of the couple or Rhodos but since his second birthday, they created a paddle mechanism to be used by Kush to pump it up. He regularly pumped up 40 m3 of water up 50m daily. The height was set just to make it difficult for him not for any other reasons.

As he was heading back he sat on his one armed dad’s shoulders. It was a weird sight, seeing the two armless people, one of them being a kid, walking in the sunset with smiles on their faces. People with their fates would have drowned themselves in alcohol cursing god as to why they born with such fate. One of them was a man who built his life around difficulties never seen before. His towering body, which could shoulder the weight of the world but had a heart of gold by which he sacrificed all his hand to protect a young girl who was unknown to him before. But the other was a six-year-old boy. It may not be visible from his built but kid was so young that it would be a few years before he started cultivating, the mental fortitude displayed by him had to be ‘Endurance’ nothing else could bear this fate. If so his fate was probably worse than pig, cause a pig would atleast be fed before being slaughtered.

“Pops”, said the kid “why did you name me after that mountain? Is it because you want me to be as tall as it”

“Son it was the mountain that was named after you”

“Hmm, dad why would you do that?”

Ignoring the kid, the father just walked into the sunset with him.

Next day, the boy was in the farm with his mother again. Other two were just sitting around whiling away their time. They were sitting in Padmasana standard posture for learning.

Alicia said “Son, today I will teach you about how to cultivate. A human will have two types of power both are what he is born with, first are his “Characteristic power” which are generally the power contained within his body like strength, speed, regeneration, sight, toughness, agility, magic regeneration. Almost 99% humans as per the scriptures of Manusmriti fall in these. Beating these odds were difficult, meaning only 13 recorded case of people being born out of these category have been found in the eons of life existing on Bhoomi. Of the thirteen, six were killed by their own family and six died within 30 years of age due to factors like hunger, thirst, disease, unable to survive on adventure. All of them were born of the same ‘Characteristic power’, ‘Endurance’.”

“What, endurance??? That is the worst, that just makes you a common man with slightly elevated tolerance. This is worst. Hmph poor chaps, can’t be helped, life sucks for you sometimes. Mom I must be strength or toughness right”

“People’s Characteristic power are generally identified by a tattoo on their right arm right above the wrist, for Strength – Elephant, for Speed – Cheetah, Regeneration – Lizard, for Toughness – rhino, for Agility - Humming bird, for Magic Regen – butterfly and Endurance – Drop. Depending on the individual they start showing traits by the age of 2 years to 3 years”

“So mom what do you think my characteristic power is, also what are yours and dad’s”

“Sigh….” she did not want to continue

Even the father and the Rhodes who were sitting in an ear shot dropped their heads to the ground

With “Son, your father’s characteristics is strength, strength of such a degree, that right now he is perhaps the strongest being on Bhoomi, only celestial in nature in strike your father and me your mother is the strongest mermaid born till date, atleast till a few years ago. Actually mermaids and all species except for humans are born with a standard characteristic power, for mermaids it is strength and another characteristic power is acquired after birth like humans do. For me that too was strength. But son you, you are born with Endurance”

His eyes opened wide and his hands slipped off his knees. A cold sweat drop ran down his back and his lip started shaking, as to cry. He had always shown a strong exterior to the world, despite not having an arm, he never complained to his parent after the first few years. Despite the sentence given to them, Sagar took him on trips with him to nearby human cities, islands and port towns. He stayed there for a few months, and saw the people with two hands. Kids his age played games with a stick and a ball, he seldom saw someone like him, people like him and his father were treated like unfortunate people to take pity on. Kids his age were supposed to cry cause of not missing a meal or not getting the toys he wanted but he never complained after being cognizant a standard human physique. But there was another thing which he saw but chose to ignore and that was the physique of kids. Despite being taller than all people his age, kids were always generally stronger or faster or quicker than him, he never fought with or raced another kid, even if a little, they were more physically gifted.

“Mom” he said, with a bit of hope, but again he already realized something was wrong “you said there was another power for humans”

His father sitting on the nearby rock closed his fist

“sigh….” She couldn’t stop herself eyes from drooping. The woman nicknamed Chandi, for her anger, composure and arrogance didn’t want to answer his question. She never thought she would not to answer a question, a child’s question no less “Son, the second power of humans is the ‘Karmic power’. It is a power obtained due to your ‘Karma’ of past births. Your sins and virtues of previous births. As per Manusmriti, this can take any form, generally it is seen as a weapon or armour forming within the souls and then physically manifesting in the physical world when called out. For your father, ‘Karmic power’ is “Blessing of the Ocean” and its manifestation is in the form of ‘Mace of Pehelwaan’ and like ‘Characteristic power’ all species except for humans are born with a standard ‘Karmic power’ and then acquire a ‘Karmic power’ later. Mermaid are all born with a standard ‘Blessing of the Ocean’ and I have a second ‘Karmic power’ of ‘Blessings of Land’. Manifestation of ocean’s blessing increases our magic power regeneration, this is standard for all Mermaids and my land’s blessing manifests into a ‘Armour of Governor’. Your father’s Mace is unrivalled weapon in terms of power under heroes probably. Atleast I have not seen anyone possessing a weapon as strong as your father’s, it could probably dent my armour too”

“Then when will I get mine, is there a ritual to get it mom?” asked the kid half knowing what the answer is going to be.

“Kush my love” continued the mother “A child gets this power before the age of five in their soul and are able to manifest it after five-year-old automatically. It is like a calling from your very soul.” A drop of tear fell down her right eye.

The father in ear shot closed his eyes as well. He would have wanted to tell his son of this if he got chance to do so, but this time he cowered. Unable to face his son or answer his question. This kid had in his small six years of life had him Sagar Samudraputra give up twice.

Unable to maintain his composure “What happened to people like me in the past” his voice broken his eye red as if he would cry at any time.

“Karmic power evil or virtuous, is acquired by all, it is based on karma of previous life. You are probably the first person in this world to be born without one” unable to stand it any longer, she turned her face away”

The child in question, bowed his head in grief, tear streaming down his eyes and nose. His face all red, fist shut so tight that his nails were biting into his flesh, he was now on his knees, the base of his palm pushing against his knees. His lips shaking, he wanted to ask the question he had never asked his parents. He was aware of him being an orphan alone in the middle of the ocean, he was aware he was hungry for seemed to be the first six days of his life, he was aware he would never get his right arm, he was aware of all the misfortunes in his life, but he always thought it could have been worse, but this was it. This was his bottom line, he wanted to know it now “Mother…..”

Never in his life had he called her so formally, surprised she looked up

He continued in hoarse voice probably never before seen in a boy his age “Why is it always…..”

Biting his lower lip, he stood up in one smooth motion and turned around “I am sorry, mom”

He started walking towards the beach “Kush!!!” seeing the always happy kid’s bent back and broken heart she couldn’t walk speak anything else. On her knees and left hand, she had her right hand out stretched in the direction of her one and only son, the son she loved more than her life. One she couldn’t birth but loved more than any mother possible. She was heartbroken every time she would see him look at other children playing in the field with their friends, knowing he would not have a normal childhood. Her heart pained even more when he gave her a smile to reassure her, when it should be her who should be reassuring him, but this time there was no reassuring smile, there was despair in his tiny six-year-old heart. She wanted to crush fate for doing this to her son, but it was all in vain. It had been a few decades, a century perhaps since she teared up.

She closed her eyes to praying for this pain to go away when a large hand landed on her back. He said “I am sorry for letting you do the heavy lifting”. Hearing this she lost strength in her arms and her fore head dropped to the ground and she cried. ‘Chandi’ had cried, had her foes seen this they wouldn’t have believed this. Woman did not flinch even when a gash was open across her body from her left shoulder to the bottom right of her belly. She intimidated the people who violated her, she was the war goddess Alicia.

Sagar followed the child who was now looking like a boy more and more, weighed down by life at such a young age. “Sigh….”

He maintained a constant distance between the two of them. He wanted him to gather his thoughts, though young this was going to be a turning point in his life. Though young HE HAD TO DECIDE HOW HIS LIFE WAS GOING TO BE.

On reaching the beach Kush lied on his back and dig his hands in the sand and let his tears run freely. Life had been unfair with him, he thought. He had the right to cry tonight. He could not endure it anymore, maybe it would be ok to end it here, all the sings were there anyway. He had been dealt the worst cards in the history of the world, it’s like he was mistake which needed to be corrected….

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“Nah”