Chapter 4

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Other World stories require Other World powers.

The sounds of chirping birds made it melancholy, the small estuary that passed beside us was humming calmly along its path.

But Galvarinus grumpily huffing as he made something on a campfire dampened all ambience the place had to offer.

'Ah, do you mind telling me where we are exactly now?'

'Hm, you are awake and well alright I can see,' Galvarinus pouted.

'Look I said I am sorry for grabbing you, it was purely accidental!' I tried to reason.

'Ah it's not that dummy!' Galvarinus huffed again and turned his face. 'I thought I accidently left your soul back on Earth.'

'Oh! That's what it was... wait left my soul?' I asked in shock.

'Ah,' Galvarinus explained guiltily. 'We just used cross dimensional teleportation, if you are helping someone else do it like I did in your case, and that so happens to be their first-time teleporting as well, it presents a risk of them leaving their soul behind if they have a week mindset. That's why I didn't tell you what we were going to do and simply pulled you along. If you had any doubt in your mind the risks would have extensively increased.'

'Hmm,' I tried to grab a hold in the meaning of his words, but it was proving to be hard. 'Shouldn't knowing help me in such a thing?'

'Half knowledge is more dangerous than not knowing, you still don't understand the basics of spiritual energy and this world, so it would only make you doubt it even more if I told you what I was doing. So, I simply skipped to make sure the doubt never arises.' Galvarinus chimed in pumping his chest.

There were two things I was certain of. First, this wasn't Earth. The moment I had woken up, the senses I had went in hyperdrive and for once I tried to run away only to be smacked in the head by Galvarinus and end up resetting my instincts.

The place we were in was an extensive forests, a mixture of trees were present here and the reason I deduced this wasn't the Amazon was because a tree, tried to chomp my head off!

Yep, one of the trees had a very high canopy like a coconut tree, but instead of leaves there, it had buds that were attached to wines that could stretch to the ground. The buds were simply flower buds, with an extra spice of carnivorous assets mixed; like canines the size of my hand.

I was still a teen, okay and I was still growing, but I was five feet, and these buds had teeth long enough to make my hand look small.

You definitely don't get that on Earth.

Well, Galvarinus was not all show no go. The moment he caught up to me running into the carnivore tree and almost being devoured, he vanished. And the very next moment, the clearing right behind me also vanished.

When I blinked again and turned, Galvarinus was there standing cross armed with a pure smirk on his face.

I wondered what he wanted to do until he started bawling at me and making sure I was in perfect condition.

That's the second thing I realized. Galvarinus, was a child in a boomer's clothing.

So here I was, sitting at the campsite, being served a strong-smelling breakfast and tea by Galvarinus. He had told me we had arrived here right before the crack of dawn and I had been asleep for over four hours. It was around ten in the morning here.

'Make sure you drink that tea, it is something that is crucial when you are recovering,' Galvarinus told me.

'Okay,' I said finally back up to my senses. 'Let's start from the beginning please. You come to my planet from somewhere, stage an assault, kidnap me and bring me to another alien planet. Can I get a simple explanation as to what in the name of chilly potatoes is going on here?'

'Ah, yes...' Galvarinus sighed, 'figures we will have to answer that.' He picked a canteen from his side and purged the campfire.

Wait was he going to ignore the explanation?

He then picked up two bags and handed a smaller one to me then taking the larger one with a sticking sword himself.

'It is best if we talk while we walk, the plants won't home in on us and the beast will not be able to lock on to our scents. And besides, you have far less time than you think you have, so we should hurry to our destination if you want to survive.' He smiled at me.

'That smile,' I stammered, 'I-isn't that a little... out of place.'

'Oh, don't worry, you have me as your guide and this planet is just a grade II. It will be a breeze, just make sure you follow me.'

**

'So, I would like to ask you one thing before we begin our explanation. Can you point out at one thing... that separated you from the rest of the kids from Earth.?' Galvarinus asked as we started head Eastwards in the jungle.

'You mean apart from me being orphan,' I asked.

'Of course, that one is obvious and not the one you need. So, can you pick something different about you? Maybe a specialty, a weakness, a skill... or something else.'

When he was done asking, he left me to remember. Throughout my thirteen years of life, what difference did I have that made me unique from others.

I thought hard and fast. Nothing, came to my mind. I was ever so slightly better than average in studies, not too good at crafts, I was good at athletics but not enough to call that a specialty. My cooking was average, my health might be a little on the better side, but they said I was a sickly kid for the first year of my birth, I had pretty much been on bed at that time, even though I had not been to a hospital for sickness ever since I joined school.

'I don't know,' I came up with at last. 'I don't think I have ever done anything special that would uniquely identify me.'

'Good,' Galvarinus said.

'You were expecting it?' I asked in disappointment to myself.

'No,' Galvarinus said, 'actually I hoped you wouldn't find it. It makes all the more easier to start at the ground level. To make the specialty rooted so deep inside you that even the best master cannot bring out from within you, you need to have a deep understanding of who you are. If you have pre-conceived notions about you, it makes it hard to mold you into what you truly are. See, sometimes not knowing is the best course of action.'

'Really,' I asked, there was a spark to Galvarinus' voice and the way he said his reasoning was somewhat magnetic.

'Yes,' Galvarinus approved, we were now headed through a narrow valley, not too deep. 'Now that I know a little bit of your tendencies, let's begin.

'I hope you can already imagine that this world is fairly beyond calculus than the whitecoats at your planet think.'

'Whitecoats? You mean the scientists and the researchers.' I asked.

'Yes,' Galvarinus agreed. 'Those whitecoats from Earth, they try to proof everything, formulize, theorize, and whatnot. Tell me, can you explain what happened to you just a few moments ago.'

'You mean teleportation?' I asked.

'Yes,' Galvarinus called. 'Although we call it warp gate, teleportation is considerably different from it and follows a different principle, but I digress. The warp gate that I used to bring us here, was a work of pure and raw energy, manipulated so precisely that it can warp the distance between two dimensions.'

'Dimensions you say?' I asked, catching that one objection.

'Yes,' Galvarinus called, 'There are six dimensions in this universe. If you want to imagine them, they would feel like a flower with one dimension at the center and the other five spread across the central one like petals. Although each petal has a different size. That, is the most basic form of the universe, the simplest it can be assumed.'

'Six dimensions, one at the center, other five in a circle.' I said, taking a mental note.

'At the core of everything is what we call the divine energy.' Galvarinus continued. 'The divine energy is the bases of all that exists at the core. But in order to give birth to creation, this energy splits into further segments, something which is much simpler and far weaker. These three types of energies are what constitutes the world as we know it. They are – material, natural, and spiritual energy.'

'Ah,' I gaped, 'where exactly are we going with this?'

'You will understand,' Galvarinus called. 'So, as I was saying, energy in its divine form is the most powerful thing that exists in this world. It is what made the gods, the elements, the very nature and the rules it obeys.'

'Wait God?' I asked to confirm.

'Gods, plural. Divine beings who carve the divine energy and act as the pillars of this world. There are multiple types, with multiple forms, with multiple roles so we simply can't cover them in one go. Besides, it has been a thousand long centuries since the last time the gods made an appearance and contact with the world.'

'Ok,' I said. We were now cruising through some narrow grass patches as the valley rose and fell. The forest changing depth and shades rapidly.

'So,' Galvarinus continued. 'The divine energy is what constitutes this world. But in reality, the pure form of divine energy is so concentrated that the living organisms, even a lot of the materials cannot bear to be in close proximity of it. Thus, the real form of the divine energy that exists is separated into three forms.'

'First, is the material energy. The easiest way to explain is this is the energy that your scientists experiment and research upon. It is highly dexterous, has the most strenuous amounts of rules and complications and is the hardest to use. You might think that the society you live in is fairly advanced, but the reality could not be far from it, although I will say you haven't even taped into fifteen percent of the rules, phenomena, and laws of the material energy. It might be fun to see you crack the most of these rules and when you will do that, I am sure your people will find your current way of living to just be a façade and an unwanted pleasure.'

'I still don't get it? Are you referring the inorganic material, the metal, rocks, fire; those things as the material energy or the laws of physics?' I asked. At one point I was wondering what the path of a researcher would be, so I was curious about this new method of viewing science and what it was.

'That is the reason it is as complicated as it is. The matter that you interact with is the form of material energy in physical form. The methods you interact with it makes the laws that it follows.'

'Hmm,' I said, 'It is a curious way to say it.'

'It is the way it is.' Galvarinus said. 'The second form of energy is called the natural energy. This is simply the energy that causes the natural phenomena to occur. It is the energy that makes up the element of Fire, Water, Earth, and Sky as the four major natural elements. Sky is further divided into wind and lightning, water splits into ice and steam, fire has a subclass called the forgery sect and it has some elements common with the earth element, which further contributes to the gravitational subspecies of natural forces. Time, is an independent element and is the only element, entity and existence made of divine energy that cannot be interacted with by humans.'

'So, time is absolute.' I said, 'even in the world where Gods exist?'

'In the worlds of the God, everything is interactable. Even the ever-absolute time turns liquid in a God's true presence.'

'There is no way something like that exist is there?'

'They exist alright.' Galvarinus said. 'But their appearance only occurs when the world is at the brink of collapse.'

'Hmm, some Gods they are.' I retorted. 'Don't they feel responsible towards the world?'

'When you have divine power over everything else, do you ever need to do a thing?' Galvarinus asked.

I pondered and, 'Yep, that makes a loott of sense.'

'Well, we can't know until we reach the realm of God themselves. So yes, it makes sense that is what they might do.'

'Well, spirit energy... I assume it has something to do with the soul?' I asked trying to change the subject since it started going over my head.

'Pretty much,' Galvarinus said, 'All living beings, live because of spirit energy. It is the life force of a living being and one simply secretes and radiates it every moment that they live. Anything that has life in it radiates and stores it in order to proceed living.'

'Hm,' I wondered. We were now back into a thicket of trees and the valley started rising, this time the walls rose as well.

'The spirit energy,' Galvarinus continued on, 'is what makes you special.'

'The spirit energy? But I thought everyone has that. Wasn't that the thing that you said everyone radiates in order to proceed living.' I asked in wonder as I struggled to keep up with Galvarinus. He was inching farther but now walking through the trees and roots was extremely hard for me so I definitely slowed down.

'Yes, every being radiates spirit energy in order to live. It is true that everyone has it.' Galvarinus told me, 'But the unique part is who can control it.'

'Control it?'

'Yes, a long time ago, the human race went under a strenuous cycle of evolution and under the guidance of the King of Gods at that time, we learned to exercise Spirit Energy. Humans definitely prospered but it has never been in our nature to accept what is given to us. The gift was meant for us to become a species that can help the other species in the time of need and that can make sure that there is always someone who can maintain peace. But that very power become the catalyst of endless quarrels and debacles. In the end, to this day, there is no true peace in the universe and we, the Eirineftes try to maintain what little peace we can.'

'So that is what you meant by Eirineftes,' I said.

'Yes,' Galvarinus, 'Peacekeepers, that's what we are meant to be.'

'Hmm,' I wondered, 'And are you sure I am one of you?'

'Yes,' Galvarinus chimed in, 'Can you feel a difference between Earth and this planet. I assume you might have felt it already.'

'A difference,' I tried to guess, 'Could it be this sense of lightness that I feel. Ever since I have woken up here, I have felt a sort of lightheadedness. Wait, that's not it; I would say it feels like I just can't process what is going on right now, I can talk to you and understand that perfectly, but physically it has been a little difficult to pinpoint my surroundings. As if, I don't have control over my senses.'

'Good,' Galvarinus said in amazement. 'I have met quite a lot of first timers, but you have by far understood the situation the best. Could that be what Karthik referred to when he meant potential? Well, to give you a reference, when we used the warp gate; if you were not capable of controlling spiritual energy you would not have succeeded in warping here, means the transportation would have failed. But since you are here, means you have the potential to do so.'

'That is not exactly reassuring. How can you say that you aren't wrong?' I asked, the confirmation that this wasn't all a mistake and that I wasn't picked up in place of someone else who deserved this place more than me was very important at this very moment.

'Hmm,' Galvarinus thought carefully, 'you want to make sure that you are who we think you are and not some random guy being pranked with don't you?'

'Yes, pretty much.' I said, if this was a prank, it was the best one that anyone will ever come up with. Whoever came up with this idea deserved a Nobel Prize for pranks.

'Then why don't you follow me and visit that temple,' Galvarinus told me.

As he said that the valley opened up and a bright flash hit me. The sun shone right above and in front of us was a vast expanse of rainforests spread all over. But right there in the middle of the forests that lay like a grass field of trees, there was one part of it raised extremely high above the canopy. A rocky plateau the size of something like three cricket grounds. The sides of the plateau were dotted with creepers, but the top was covered with the thinnest of vegetation. Instead, there was one big building shaped like an old Mayan temple that smoothly reflected the shining sun on it. Birds lined up and flew around the skies and a small spout of water flew down the plateau towards the right side and ran across as a small snake towards the south.

'In that temple,' Galvarinus told me, the expression clear as day on his face that this was about to get nasty. 'Lies an artefact that has been chased down for generations. Only a handful of people ever manage to locate it, but none has ever had the capacity and worth to wield it.'

He turned to me and said with a face I had no idea he could make. He was utterly serious and assertive as he told me.

'If you want to live, you have to be worthy, of wielding the gauntlets of Artemis! And if you can do that, you will have your answer.'

A chill ran down my spine. The shiver continued to rattle me. But what was this that I felt.

The temple, it felt as if it drew me nearer. The calling was obvious and addictive to me. There was a tingle in my nerves that wouldn't disappear.

Was this excitement?  


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