Chapter 21 - Basic Paths Of The Spirit

The sun was rubbing his eyes in the east, puffing his rosy cheeks. The morning breeze with her wet fingers was tingling the blushing flower buds. 

Onish sat on the grassy floor wet with the sparkling dew, and before him sat the fowler on the stone bench, explaining to him the secret of the spirit. 

"Everything has spirit footprints unique to them." said Bhadra, impressed by the lad's attentiveness. "just like our fingerprints. And when the spirit trudges on these paths, dormant powers awaken. So, it's a gift to us by  nature,  just like our other talents."

"So, you mean one can not choose one's path," Onish asked, feeling a little apprehensive about his path. 

"Yes. You can not change your innate path. However," said the fowler, seeing the disappointment of the boy, "You can modify it to make it better. Our predecessors have left an ocean of knowledge regarding each path. So that we wouldn't have to fumble into the dark ." 

"And where is this ocean of knowledge?" Onish asked; he wanted nothing but this sea where he could dive as much as he wanted. 

"Archives of Varta. However, our castle library would be sufficient for you. You should talk to Suta, but beware of his alluring tales. They are more intoxicating than the moon-fairy dew." 

Onish recalled the old man he had seen in the library, lost in the ancient scrolls, and decided to look for him as for Bhadra's warning; he didn't think much of it. 

"Birds, beasts, trees, and all the other creatures awaken on their own after a certain age. However, we humans need an awakener,twice-born, to trace out our paths." went on Bhadra. "As to why this is, there are a number of tales addressing the issue. However, spiritualists think it is because of our complex physiology. Whatever may be the reason, it does save Dwizas from starving." 

"So, no human can awaken the spirit on his own," Onish asked, shooing away the white dove, which was trying to sit on his head. The bird was his sister's guardian bird. She called it Kajari. 

"No, but there have been some exceptions like one of your ancestors named Ankah who awakened his spirit on his own. But again, he was an oddity or, as they call a demi Hara. So he can not be judged by our standards. And you'd better not hurt this dove of your sister." Bhadra said, seeing Onish being harassed by the dove. "It looks benign, but it can raise a storm with just one flap of its wing."

"What should I do? Why is it bothering me?" Onish said in a pensive tone. 

"You must have something on you of its interest," Bhadra said, eying curiously at the boy, wondering what his pupil was hiding. As no ordinary thing would attract the proud bird so much. 

"I have nothing but my clothes on me." Onish said, looking warily at the cunning bird, "Don't tell me that  it needs my clothes." 

"Not your clothes but something from your right pocket," Bhadra said, noticing the bird's gaze. 

Onish searched his trouser pocket. It was the colorful leaf that the book thief had left behind. He had set it aside for the cleaning lady, thinking it worthless and a trophy of his foolishness.

His thinking changed when he woke up to the simmering light in his chamber. 

The vivid colors came to life in the pale moonlight. He saw the sparkling leaf drinking the spirit like a thirsty calf. With apprehension, and curiosity Onish picked up the leaf,  admiring its beauty. After scrutinizing it, he rejected the idea of throwing it away.  During his time in the woods, he had seen myriads of flora; none of them was so resplendent. 

The bird grew more restless as he took out the seeming freshly plucked leaf. Onish decided to give it away to the frantic bird. Yesterday's calamity was still fresh in his mind; he didn't want his eyes to be pecked. 

However, the bird screeched all of a sudden and flew away as if frightened of the leaf.

Onish was dumbfounded. What happened? Hadn't it been badgering him for the damn thing? 

"What were you doing, boy? Haven't I warned you not to hurt the bird just now?" The fowler rebuked as he pulled down his hood up to his nose.

"I did nothing," Onish said, puzzled at the fowler's ungrounded anger. 

"Then why are you giving it the dautya leaf?" demanded Bhadra, the anger evident in his voice. "I really wonder whether you're pulling some of your silly tricks on everyone or you're really suffering from amnesia."

"I am not pulling any tricks." Onish felt helpless, "I don't know what this leaf is."

Bhadra didn't speak for a while. Though  Onish couldn't see his eyes, he was sure they were staring at him. 

"A dautya leaf is used to deliver secret messages. Only the person for whom the leaf has been shade can chew it or get the message. And if anyone else chews it, the frightening hallucinations of the dautya tree would torment him unless he drinks the moon- fairy dew or sleeps for a whole week. So, put the damn thing away, now. And don't show it to that dove. Dautya fruit has a fatal attraction to all the spirit birds." 

Onish was amazed, so the dwarf was not lying. Some Toshi had sent him a secret message. However, he didn't show anything on his face and kept listening to his mentor. 

"You should borrow some tomes about flora and fauna from Suta and go through them. I can only teach you the basics of the spirit path." Bhadra said, and he resumed his conversion about the spirit and the various experiences of its wielders.  He gave him a scroll contained in a metal case with intricate design. 

When Onish finally left his training, the sun was wide awake and glaring at him. He was pretty satisfied with his mentor as he now knew almost everything he needed to know about the spirit. 

He decided to try the new skill after his breakfast as his stomach was rumbling. And as for the leaf, he would not chew it till he got his hand on the moon-fairy dew. He couldn't trust anyone, not the book thief.

Following the winding corridor and receiving giggles and greeting from the maids, he was in his chamber. He had ordered Champa to send his meal to his room. 

The charming maid didn't make him wait longer. She came with two other maids, their hands holding steaming pots and plates. 

Onish wolfed down the delicacies and drove the chattering girls out. Ishit, the boy, must have been nice to them, as the girls didn't see him as their young lord.

Especially Champa, the chubby-faced girl with curly black hair. She was bold enough to eat from his plate.

Once he was alone, he latched the door and sat down, and took out the scroll given to him by the fowler.

"Basic Paths Of The Spirit" was written on the top of the pale parchment, and below it, were scribed instructions in bold letters as if to deepen their gravity.  Onish gave them a swift glance and found most of them were already told to him by Bhadra. 

After the instructions,  were the diagrams,  depicting the various paths of the spirit, and below them were written their effects. 

Onish read them one by one as his heart raced up.

...  path to heighten vision, path to heighten hearing, path to increase agility, path to awaken divine tongue, path to communicate inanimate objects, and so on. 

The siddhis for which he had worked so hard on the earth were so easy to come by here. 

His gaze fell on the last diagram; it was empty except a single line tracing out the sushumna nadi. 

He read the effect… it says, "path to leave the body as a spirit being". 

The whole scroll was divided into three parts: Cheluka( novice), Vidisha ( intermediate ) Shiksha ( apprentice). 

Onish was amazed at the deep knowledge the people of this world had about the nadis. He gave another glance at the obscure diagrams, searching for the path shown to him by the ethereal figure in the shrine. However, it was not there. 

Then it must be beyond the scope of this scroll. He thought as he put his query aside. 

Bhadra had told him these were the primary paths that every spirit wielder had to master before joining an academy or a guild. 

The command over these paths would decide his future. To put it simply, these were alphabets of the grand language of the spirit.

So, if he wanted to enter any prestigious academy, he had to achieve mastery in all of them. 

Learning the paths was one thing, but to master them was another. Almost every spirit wielder knew these paths, but only a five out of ten could achieve mastery in all of them. 

The reason for this harsh fact became apparent as Onish tried the first diagram to cleans his nadis. 

It was the most basic route, consisted of only 18000 lines. 

It took a while for Onish to memorize every line tangled like snakes. He reminded himself to practice tratak asana( a yoga asana). His brain was in dire need of a boost, at least until he forged his spirit gross body and mastered the memory path. 

He closed the scroll and adjusted his body as instructed by Bhadra during his class. 

Onish guided the overflowing spirit into the fine threads. 

The excruciating pain assaulted him, but Onish didn't stop. Bhadra had told him it was natural to feel pain in the beginning. He also told him what to do if the pain persisted for more than two circulations. 

The spirit rushed through the untrodden paths, making them hot like a pan set on the blazing coal.

Just after 9000 nadis, the invisible pranic paths reddened as they came into view.

Onish felt his body would melt away if he continued further.  It was not written in the instruction, nor had the fowler mentioned such a thing. 

The scorching heat he was feeling was unheard of, or at least Bhadra had forgotten to mention. 

However, this didn't stop Onish from going further. As a yogi, he had undergone worse than this. 

He kept following the stated routes. His nadis grew hotter and hotter. When he traced the last route, all his 72000 spirit paths were glowing like a fiery net. The strange flame was surging from them. It didn't burn his flesh or anything, but his clothes got cindered to ashes. Onish finally felt the pain and heat subsiding slowly. Blazing nadis started to cool down. 

And after almost an hour, everything returned normal.  Onish checked his nadis. They were now wider than before. Most importantly, he could sense his invisible nadis with his eyes open. 

Onish looked at his naked body.. His skin was glowing faintly.