Chapter 1:

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Make sure the door is fixed first!

The destiny of a person's life is the most volatile possession they are entrusted with.

There are a million ways I wanted to change my life just seven days ago. I wanted to finish my studies, try and get more scholarships, wanted to be an Indian Police Services Officer at one point. Once I met an Indian Air Force Officer and by the end of that meeting, I wanted to try that too. I went to boxing rings to try and become a boxer, snuck in to peek at martial arts classes and learnt their tricks and methods, one day sparring quite fairly with the trainees in the dojo there.

But these were all facades. They were light at the end of tall and revolting, untouchable skies. The moon, in my dark nights.

Never in my wildest dreams I assumed I would be riding a manticore a mere day before my fourteenth-birthday.

'Ayu, grab one of his thorns as hard as you can, I am coming, just don't fall!' I heard a voice from the back of my head coming from what looked like fifty feet below.

'What other option do I POSSIBLY HAVE!' I yelled at the top of my lungs.

'Besides getting stabbed? Being poisoned, falling fifty feet, being eaten oh and the cherry on top, burned to a crisp.' The man called back.

'Am I supposed to buy that menu!'

'No, you only need to hold on to his back, without being stabbed.'

'You don't say!'

Currently I was hanging by loose thorns at the back of this big burly beast which looked like a mashed version of a lion and a scorpion. I wondered who came up with the concept art for this beast which was clinging and climbing at a straight vertical cliff fifty feet above the ground beneath. I had only two options. Let the beast climb up; or let lose, risk being impaled by the thickest pike I had ever heard of, and drop down fifty feet hoping my companion can pick me up. And if he failed, I would have been nothing more than a scrambled egg on top of solid igneous rocks.

'Oh my God! Any God! Ganesa, Shiv, Brahma, Vishnu... anyone will do... just get me down. I was a moron who agreed to this wild goose chase I agree to that or any of your terms, I have a scholarship running back home which will end up being used as black money back home if I don't attend the school, I have an orphanage to wipe however filthy, rotten it is, even if it is run by a fat-ass GIBBS lacking everything that makes Gibbs cool, but I will take that any time over this. GALVARINUS GET ME DOWN AL... AHHHH!'

I think the Gods have forsaken me. This is the end. It feels bad that I made you spend all your time and money on something so small but hey! You can always use the empty pages to write your own story. Just make sure you remember me as the opening act of 'How I wrote this classic story that blew the world away!'

With that, myself Ayaan, I hope it was good of you to know me. I hope to see you in next life.

**

Galvarinus had a tough job at his hand. But he was kind of the one to pick it up in the first place.

It all started two weeks ago when he was sitting in his office leaning back on his most prized possession. A chair made of the finest leather in all of Human Realm. It was supposed to be just another day skimming through documents, accepting budget requests, helping out planning missions for the Specter units, so he was totally at ease until the mail dropped.

It was just ten minutes after he had slouched down finishing his morning cuppa-goodness ready to prop open the first request he needed to take care of when the door to his office was literally blown off its hinges revealing a beautiful lady rushing in with a stack of papers in her hands. She was in her middle-age, with dark brown hair containing specks of green at intervals. She had bright green eyes, and was dressed in silver-blue robes with green highlights. She had a caduceus and an owl at her chest and she looked thoroughly in distress.

'Senor Galvarinus!' came the voice of the lady.

'OI! That will take a fortune to repair! I don't have the bank for that.' Galvarinus protested pointing at the gate.

'That can wait, look at this!' the lady insisted, thrusting two sheets of paper on his desk. Galvarinus though, wasn't quite in the mood and his focus wasn't the documents.

'Listen Victoire, I jussst got promoted, and between shifting, renovating, restocking and repairing this office, I have zero funds for a broken door. I am not looking at anything until I see that door fixed!' he insisted sitting cross-armed leaning back slightly on his chair.

The young lady groaned and retaliated. 'But this is important, a million lives are at stake here!'

'My private documents are not something that everyone shall be allowed common access to...'

'But it is in the null realm! And given the circumstances of our own order!'

'This chair cost me more than the house I was allotted to stay in, I wouldn't like to invest in a door at this point.'

'But it is on Earth! If we don't hurry, what if the wrong people get their hands on this boy!'

'Some people can walk in right now and interrupt our conversation!'

'You are impossible!' the young lady raged and started glowing a bright shade of green, there was a huge hum in her hands and her glare was murderous towards Galvarinus. But with a wild swing aimed at Galvarinus, she let out a huge amount of light in particulate form. In a few short seconds the particles of green light enveloped the broken door and the very next second, the door was back in its original state as if it was just enjoying its morning nap.

'Now, this boy...' she started to begin, but.

'The wall has a very fragile state right now,' Galvarinus interrupted.

'Seriously,' the lady shouted at the top of her lungs, this time stomping powerfully at the desk and shaking the entire room. A moment later the wall that the door had hit hard was back to its original state.

'Good,' Galvarinus complimented picking the papers that Victoire provided. 'So, what brings you here?'

'The pages,' she began, 'these contain readings from the city of Mumbai on the planet Earth. Look here...'

She pointed at a few key points and graphs. Galvarinus, who was wondering how normal his day could be was laughing menacingly.

'Ah...' Victoire stood their dumbstruck watching Galvarinus laugh after her explanation.

'Oh Victoire,' Galvarinus sat upright. 'It has only been two months since I was promoted and my oh my! I was feeling as if I should apply for a demotion myself. This stupid post is not meant for me! This report, I assume you brought it to me because I am the only one who can make it happen since I possess no spiritual energy at the core.'

'Yes sir,' Victoire admired his deduction, 'the reports come from Earth, and you know the restraints that we face when we send someone to that planet. Earth cannot sustain any sort of a strong spiritual presence. The planet is like gasoline to anyone with a high amount of spiritual energy.'

'Hmm, so you can send only people who are well versed in the art of suppression or who possess little to none spiritual energy. There are only three who can achieve the former but none of them have the skillset for this particular situation. The later has the risk of sending someone underqualified which leaves me.'

'Yes sir,' Victoire agreed.

'How much of the preparations is complete?' Galvarinus asked rising from his seat and walking to the edge of the room where a pair of swords were placed in a shrine for themselves alongside a set of neatly packed robes,

'Teleportation crystals have been preset for your use sir,' Victoire mentioned. 'Alongside a bunch of other utilities, such as a large-scale stun, a sleep-inducing gem and other travel and recon gems.'

'I assume you have an image of the boy in question.' Galvarinus stared at the equipment with a grin.

'Unfortunately, no sir,' Victoire silently grimaced, 'there were just too many variables to use our equipment. It could risk a lot for rewarding merely a photo. We do have a compass modified by his energy signature. It will guide you to his position.'

'That will do,' Galvarinus assured her, although the sneer he had on his face was giving Victoire the impression that this might not have been the right idea. 'Keep this to yourself until I return.'

'But sir, this kid's reaction and radiation signs are too unique. It could cause a galactic scale catastrophe if he is left amiss.' Victoire pointed out.

'That's why,' Galvarinus pointed out with his sheathed sword in his hands. 'I have seen the readings, there is a possibility that the kid might explode anytime soon, but the question is why exactly is he in this specific situation in the first place.'

'You might be right,' Victoire sighed, 'but shouldn't we focus on protecting the people rather than finding out the roots of existence for this kid?'

'That way of thinking is what kept you from promotion Victoire,' at these words Victoire pouted angrily.

'You didn't have to bring it up.' She told him.

'Look carefully, the report clearly depicts readings that are far beyond norms. For a kid who hasn't even matured yet to show that kind of potential...'

'What are you thinking?' Victoire wondered.

'Victoire... I want you to prepare a few specific teleport gems. I might have a solution to the kids issues that I want to try out before I bring him here, doing so will also help me accurately judge the kids potential. So, I would prefer you to prepare a few extra bells and whistles. And lastly, keep this to yourself until I tell you to do so. I don't want to, but as the grandmaster I am ordering you to do so.'

'If you are this insistent, then the order wouldn't have been necessary,' Victoire told him. 'After all you are our teacher. I will prepare the requirements, just give me a list of details.'

'You will have it in an hour, mind giving me the time to figure things out, meet me here in an hour.' Galvarinus told her and Victoire walked out of the room, feeling anxious. It had been a very long time that Galvarinus had ordered Victoire seriously. Victoire must have understood the meaning behind it.

'If these readings are accurate,' Galvarinus told himself, 'then things are coming into motion way faster than I assumed they would 28-years ago. Agnus, I hope he is up to the mark, no... I will make sure he is up to the mark.'

With that, Galvarinus began planning the steps that he had to take in order to achieve the first lead in the event of things that only the top of the brass could perceive.

**

According to the report Victoire presented to Galvarinus, a kid with an exceptional amount of spiritual energy was found on Earth. This was something that happened every once in a while, but the reports said that this case was slightly abnormal considering that the kid wasn't even mature yet.

If the numbers were anything to abide by, Galvarinus made a clear-cut deduction.

If he fails to get to this kid in time i.e., before the day the kid awakens and matures; all hell will break lose and it will cause a cascade effect so strong that it might turn into a dimensional-crisis.

Well, as living beings. That was something that everyone must avoid so the most qualified personnel available i.e., Galvarinus, was to rush to the planet of Earth and find this boy before the day of his awakening.

And that brings Galvarinus in front of a school at the western end of Mumbai.

Galvarinus made sure to dress as casual as possible to hide the fact that he didn't belong there, but his outfit was nothing but a flashing flare.

According to the compass that Victoire provided to him, the kid was supposed to be in the building right in front of him. So, he chose to wait for him to come out. He managed to find out that this was a local school and there were three hours before its last school day ended and the kids left for summer vacation.

Galvarinus lay in wait at the entrance to the school to wait for the boy. He had no clue what he looked like and he had no means to find out who he was. So, he had to find a quick method to determine who the kid was and that was about to be a big challenge.

The first problem was the fact that he had been standing there dressed in a lose cotton shirt with two swords strapped on his back, and a mini skirt for a lower.

Naturally, by the time the school ended, people felt suspicious and as the bell rang, six people wearing Khaki uniforms surrounded him with wooden batons and guns pointed at him.

'Oh, hey folks,' Galvarinus greeted them casually, 'Are you the guys they call police?' he asked with intrigue.

'Yes, we are, and we order you to put your hands in the air, stay where you are and drop those swords from your back! We are detaining you...' said an officer with a distinct hat who looked like the superior here.

'Wait, on what account!' Galvarinus protested with a poker face.

'You have been standing there for three hours with weapons and a questionable attire, we want to interrogate you for your intentions and it is best if you comply, any wrong moves will only cause you more problems.' The guy called.

'Hey, what is questionable about this attire?' Galvarinus asked totally bewildered. He was sure he picked something that was widely known on this planet.

'We are not here to discuss what you wear,' the guy cleared, 'your intentions are unclear and you have weapons in front of a school with kids studying right now!'

'Oh these,' Galvarinus pointed out to his swords. 'You don't have to worry, I won't be using them here, this planet doesn't have any challenging threat that would cause me to raise my blades.' He told them with innocence.

'Planet!' the man pointed out.

'Oh well, I am referring to Earth aren't I,' Galvarinus confirmed. 'Wait, I am on the right planet right, I didn't miss a few jumps, did I?' he wondered to himself.

The police officers exchanged confused looks as they wondered what the man could have been meaning.

At that point a loud bell sounded in the school building and Galvarinus could see the kids gathering around in school grounds, although more of the police officers were present with them and they were clearly stopping them from going outside.

That was where the second problem came into play. With all the kids grouped up at the same spot, it was risky to use the method he had in mind to locate the kid.

'Hmm, that was a gross miscalculation. It is hard to pinpoint the kid in these circumstances.' Galvarinus sighed. 'I hope the utility gem works.'

Galvarinus had a plan in mind, he would be using one of those gems he had brought with him, but he was struggling to find an opening.

He heaved a sigh, bent to the bag he had alongside him and fished out a microphone in front of the police that were itching to pull the trigger. When they saw the microphone, their nerves calmed down a little.

Galvarinus held the microphone in his hand and the next second, he was gone. The police were left stunned, as if time had completely stopped for them. The guy at the head of the six people who had cornered Galvarinus was not even blinking.

Within but a second, the guy he had at gunpoint had vanished. The moment the second had passed he heard a microphone behind him with Galvarinus' voice echoing throughout the block.

'When did he get there?' the chief inspector asked.

'No idea, did you see him?' the other officers asked within their group. No one seemed to have caught the guy moving in the first place.

'Alright kids,' Galvarinus began addressing the kids from the boundary wall, 'I hope you can all hear me so I will go forward with what I came here to do. I am looking for a specific child who is amongst you all and holds a great deal of value to me. Unfortunately, I don't have a clue about what he looks like, so I need your help to find the kid out. What you have to do is simple. Just stand where you are and it will all be over in two seconds.'

At this, the chief of the police sprang to action. He pulled his gun and on impulse pulled the trigger.

The look on his face the very next moment was abject terror. Galvarinus was gone, as if vanished into thin air and then it happened.

There was a huge bang, so loud that everyone present in a huge radius ended up being stunned and they all fell to their knees. It wasn't the sound of the bang that had caused this. The moment it had occurred, everyone felt as if they had been punched so hard that the air was knocked out of their lungs.

It took a few minutes for people to start recovering from what had happened. The chief was the first one to do so and he rushed to call all emergency services to the area immediately. The radio of the Mumbai Police force was utterly violent that day as they realized that in the moment when all the people were stunned and incapacitated, a child was taken away without a trace left behind.

His disappearance was only noticed two hours later as the teachers made sure the kids were not harmed before they were handed off to their parents. Surprisingly, no one had any sort of physical harm done to them except for a few students who came out with a few cases of sickness. But the librarian noted that one kid had gone amiss under all the ruckus.

That night, the chief inspector Ajay Nath, who was in charge of detaining that weird man swore an oath to find out what happened and where the kid was lost. Although, he would fail to keep that oath.

**

'I hate babysitting,' Galvarinus complained as he drew his swords and kicked hard at the ground.

He was right beneath the manticore with Ayaan hanging for dear life on his back as it wriggled itself on the cliff trying to jerk off the thorn on his back.

The moment he kicked off, a huge swirl of dust was all that was left in the dirt where he stood. The originator of the dust cloud was actually twenty-five feet in the air racing madly towards the manticore, eyes dead set on its neck, sword at the ready in his right arm. For him, everything else was noise as he focused on the target and as he drew past him, he sliced a cut so clean that it took a solid two seconds before the head had severed itself from the body falling under gravity leaving it behind at the place it had anchored its feet.

The thorn on the manticore's back meanwhile was now standing in front of Galvarinus, his teeth clattering despite the humid weather of the rainforest they were in.

'Alright kid! Listen up!' Galvarinus said sharply like a drill instructor, 'You are about to turn fourteen tomorrow and the world you are about to live in from now on acknowledges that as the age of maturity. I know you have zero knowledge of this part of the universe but I at least expect you to be braver than a five-year-old baby girl because last I checked, even a five-year-old baby girl was not afraid to ride a manticore! So, man up now!'

'Yes sir,' Ayaan snapped his legs together in the attention stance and straightened up.

'Good,' Galvarinus said. 'Now walk, you have less than twenty hours to find the chest that we came looking for, otherwise you can say bye-bye to this world.'

A grim expression flooded Ayaan as his body slacked.

Galvarinus heaved a sigh and nudged his shoulder. 'We still have less than twenty hours.'

Ayaan took the words in, took a deep breath and readied himself to move further.

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