Chapter 13 An Outlier

The clouds made of black flame drifted lazily in the white sky just the same. The white floor stretched endlessly beneath his feet. But the skyscraper under construction had somehow vanished. In its place stood a man, facing away from Rudranath.

“Annihitep…?”

He drew his brows.

“No, I am not that brute.”

Rudranath gasped. The words came from the man standing ahead. But it was his own voice. His eyes widened as the man turned toward him. His fingers trembled beside him. It was him.

Rudranath clenched his fists as the man stepped closer to him with a smile on his face. It looked as if his own reflection in a mirror had come to life and stood before him. Sekhar’s ability to copy Saanvi’s voice flashed through his mind.

“Is this an enemy?”

The moment that thought ran across his mind, a soft chuckle slipped through the man’s lips.

“Don’t worry, I am not your enemy…”

Rudranath’s gaze remained locked on the man who looked exactly like him. His lips parted.

“Then what are you?…”

His voice rose a little.

“…And why am I here? I haven’t activated the skill.”

Rudranath’s jaw hardened. The second Rudranath laughed out loud. He placed a hand on Rudranath’s shoulder, leaning closer to his face.

“I am you…”

Then he walked past him.

“The crystal you placed your hand on is trying to take over the seal of Annihitep to assess your potential.”

He clicked his tongue.

“So I had to drag you here to keep you safe from the ongoing conflict outside.”

Rudranath crossed his arms. His eyes followed every step of the man. The second Rudranath was walking casually around him. His chin rested on his palm. It looked like he was deep in his thoughts. The man shook his head, talking to himself.

“But a key that weak will never be able to understand the Cursed Wisdom.”

Rudranath swallowed. Cursed Wisdom…Key…he had been hearing them recently. But he had no idea what they were. Rudranath scratched the back of his head.

“You said you are me…”

He turned his head. The second Rudranath had come to his right.

“Then how do you know about these while I have no idea what they are?”

The second Rudranath stopped. His smile widened into a grin. He hopped lightly on his feet, clapping his hands like a child.

“Ooh! That’s a brilliant question, Mr. Regular Father.”

Rudranath’s heart pounded in his ears. What did he call me? He kept looking at him. The second Rudranath sat on the white floor, crossing his legs. He tilted his head back. His eyes were following the drifting clouds above.

“But you neither possess enough knowledge nor enough resolve to get the answer.”

His gaze dropped from the sky, fixing on Rudranath.

“See ya later, weak me…”

White flames drifted out of the second Rudranath’s body. His body dissolved into the flames as they burned hotter. When the flames faded, the unfinished skyscraper stood in his place. Rudranath stood frozen as he watched his double transform into the familiar building he had seen earlier. The soul he had rescued during the purification of the Trishna smiled at him from the first-floor window. His throat went dry as he waved a hand at her.

Noises reached his ears from outside. Then he felt a heavy jerk on his body, and the Soul Palace vanished. The stone chamber returned into view. It was still trembling. The blue lights, radiating from the Sanskrit inscriptions, flickered on and off in a slow rhythm. He was still standing on the platform. His hand was still extended forward. But the crystal under his palm had shattered into pieces. There was no sign of the pillar. Instead, stone debris was scattered on the platform.

Sayani lay unconscious against the platform within a few inches. But they were not alone inside the chamber anymore. The water around the platform had dried out. People had come from the floor above. One of them was shaking his shoulder.

“Hey, Newbie, control your essence output.”

Two of them were aiding Sayani. He turned toward the man who stood beside him.

“What?”

The man shouted.

“Stop your essence flow NOW!”

Rudranath took a deep breath in and exhaled it slowly.

“Soul Control.”

The moment he called the skill, the white flames emitting from him dissolved. The tremors stopped. A few dust particles were still drifting down from the ceiling. The flickering glow of the inscriptions steadied as water flowed once more through the openings in the walls.

Sayani’s eyes fluttered open. She slowly stood with support from the two people beside her. The crowd helped them climb the stairs back to the reception. Once they returned, people cleared two tables for them to sit. Rudranath could feel every pair of eyes on him. Low whispers drifted through the crowd.

“Has the crystal really shattered?”

“How is that even possible?”

His head remained lowered as he sat at one table while Sayani took the other. She was also looking at him. Every gaze contained a single feeling in it—Fear. The man who had jerked Rudranath back to his senses sat opposite him, arms crossed.

“What the hell are you, man?”

Rudranath raised his gaze.

“You almost drowned the whole facility if we had not stopped you.”

He blinked. They stopped me? What did I even do? His thoughts raced wildly in his head. The receptionist placed a glass of water before him and walked back to her desk. Sayani’s phone buzzed.

She stood up from the table as her fingers pulled out the smartphone from her trousers’ pocket.

“Yes, Sekhar sir?”

Rudranath snapped his head at her. Sekhar? Sekhar Manjrekar? He was about to stand up, but Sayani gestured to him to sit back, walking through the crowd. Rudranath watched her vanish behind the crowd.

Sayani stepped into the corridor to the left of the reception hall. She passed closed guest-room doors one after another before stopping in front of room no 15. Sekhar’s voice drifted from the other side of the line.

“What is the result of the evaluation?”

She remained silent for a moment, opening the door with her key.

“Sayani…?”

The words fumbled in her voice.

“The crystal… broke, sir.”

She stepped inside her room.

“His Soul Radiance was too strong. I had lost consciousness when it radiated from him.”

With a slight push, the door creaked shut. But the line had gone silent.

“Sir…? Are you listening? It was a white radiance unlike any of us.”

She sat on her bed, crossing her legs. Yet, Sekhar was not responding.

“Sir…what should we do now? The evaluation failed. How can we sanction his license in this situation? Hello…?”

Then Sekhar’s laughter rang out from the speaker.

“Hahahaha! Sayani.”

“Yes, Sir?”

“Do you know what it means if an evaluation crystal breaks?”

“No, Sir.”

Sekhar giggled.

“Thought so…just enroll him in missions directly from tomorrow. Pair him with any defender ranked Gold or higher.”

Sayani’s breath choked in her throat.

“But without any training or a license…?”

Sekhar smiled.

“I will issue his license of my own accord. You should get it delivered by this afternoon, and as for his training…”

A small pause lingered through the line.

“… It's best to throw him in crisis.”

The call dropped from the other side. Her hands came down from her ears. The phone remained clutched between her fingers. Her jaw dropped. Why would a senior inspector issue a license personally? What level of urgency would this be counted as? Rudranath’s face flashed before her eyes. 

She dropped the phone on the bed. Her fingers snaked through her curls, clenching her hair tightly. A whisper slipped free.

“Who the hell is this man?”