983 ANB

  Three years and three months after Rov's birth.

  They were practising. Better to say, fighting. Pema and Ilm. Rov was in care of Kuro. During these two years, Ilm mastered all the punches, kicks and defeeiques, and learned walking-styles, breathing and body positions. He had learned slow and deliberate motions flowed seamlessly, and the dodging and redireg attacks with circur footwork. Today Ilm had to show his potential. He had to fight with Pema, and Pema would not py a defence game today, she might move aggressively.

  "Today you o demonstrate what you have Learned. Be careful. All the best," Pema said.

  They both bowed to each other. With it, Ilm started to move forward. He threw a series of puargeting her face, chest, and lower body. Pema was saving herself by dodging or tinuously ging palm postures to deflect his attacks. Then Ilm started a bination of punches and kicks.

  Pema was taking deep breaths, and with every breath, she was reading Ilm. Pema started attag. She was throwing her fists towards his face or chest, but each time he either dodged it or blocked it.

  Then, she stretched her palm and targeted it to his face. He made a cross with his palm and blocked it. And in that moment, she moved her leg. She tried to kick at his knee, but he jumped high eventually creating an open for her. She took this advantage pung him on his face. Ilm was surprised. He was going to fall. But before he fell, he back-flipped pushing his palm to the ground and nded on his feet.

  "Dada is losing," three years iggled.

  "e on, boy. Stand up," Pema shouted at Ilm. "You do better than it. Where is your strength?"

  He exhaled. Ilm found himself struggling. Ilm tried to adapt to his mother's move. He closed his eyes, calmed himself, and his mind, and created a strong posture. After some moment, he opened his eyes. Those eyes were full of determination without self-assurance, ess without worries.

  He ran towards her at full speed. He attacked her from all dires. But whenever he approached and blew, she nullified his strikes, refleg or dodging. He was targeting her qi points but remained uo strike.

  They both flipped and tumbled several times while omitting from getting hit. They were running like a leopard. Wheheir strikes collided with each other, a reverse force pushed them aside. Dusts surrouhem, and so, both of them were coughing.

  "Yeah, what a fight!" Rov was filled with excitement, hopping while sitting. "Who do you think will win, Kuro?"

  "Young master is young and quite eic, but dy Pema possesses experience. So, I think she will win." Kuro answered.

  Now their feet hit each other bag them away. They didn't wait or rest but ran and fought. Then Ilm unched his st move. At that time, he was nothing; his body had nothing, but a powerful fist, a punch where he gave his everything. He had nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. It's just a practice match, if I lose, nothing will happen.

  He abandoned his fear of losing. His punch was surely going to hit her. She just tilted her head to dodge his attad successfully dodged it, but—

  But a gust of wind like a sharp k her right cheek opening a flow of blood. For a moment she misthought that she had failed to dodge, but she remembered she didn't feel his punch, but a blow of wind.

  "Ouch."

  "I did not want to do that. I thought I missed the attack."

  "Maa!" Rov came towards her running. "Are you okay? Dada hit you. Dada is BAD!"

  Rov raised his hand and was going to hit Ilm. But before he could touch him, Pema took him up and handed him to Kuro. Kuro grabbed him. Then Pema kissed him on the forehead and said, "It's just a gust of wind. Dada didn't do this iionally."

  "Iionally?" Ilm asked. "This means you got my hit?"

  "Ilm, I did dodge your attack but the wind," Pema said.

  "Wind?"

  "Now I see, you have achieved something." Pema's face was lighted with a sudden discovery. "You are now pletely fearless. Tell me, what did you feel during the fight?"

  "Nothing," Ilm answered. "I just uand I couldn't beat you, so I just cleared my mind and fot about winning or losing."

  "I am right. You've bee an Inya?is."

  "An Inya?is? I don't uand."

  "Kuro, you take Rov with you and go home first?"

  "Why? Are you going to scold Dada?" Rov asked smiling.

  "Yeah! I will scold him a his butt," Pema ughed. She kissed Rov on his forehead and brushed his hair. "Go to home. We are ing very soon."

  Kuro took Rov with him and headed bae. As soon as they became out of sight, Pema focused on Ilm.

  "Ilm, turn off your extra memory. I want you to remember these things with your own."

  Ilm did what he was asked to do. He pressed a tiny switch beside a port point on his baeck.

  "It's now the time to pass down our family heritage to you. But remember, do not tell any of this to a even your father."

  "What? What heritage? Why 't I tell this to Baba?" Ilm bewildered. "He is maintaining House Bharata's own precious industry. He is a part of Bharatas."

  "The me ask you some questions." Pema straightened her face. "Why Shakhai's surname is Amir instead of Bharata? And why you are Bharata but not Amir?" Pema ched. "Because you have my blood, not he."

  "Now, you are prioritising blood?" Ilm asked. He knew his mother was different from other women in many senses. So, for him, this ge in Pema was new and the plete opposite of her image in his mind.

  "I asked this same question to my father, to yrandpa." Pema blinked. "The heritage, the knowledge, this skill, this power is forbidden."

  "Forbidden?" Ilm fused. "Then why do we keep this knowledge? Isn't it uhical?"

  "Being forbidde mean being uhical. And besides, knowledge is her good nor bad; it's upon people how they use it. You are telling me because you don't know this knowledge. This power… people were afraid of this power. For the gover, it was a threat. A knowledge which influehe people and make them free-thinkers. Usually many don't want this to happen. That's why it is forbidden. Shakhai is too to reveal this secret. We, Bharatas, o be careful for everything." Pema said calmly and then she begged, "No matter what the gover wants, you must keep this as a secret, please."

  Ilm was watg his mother's eyes, nearly tearful. It was more hurtful for her to keep a secret from her lover, the man she adored since her childhood. Children have an inborn talent to lie to their parents or keep something hidden. But surprisingly, they are more open to their friend. Shakhai ema's one and only dear friend but one of his parents to Ilm. "Okay, Ma." He smiled.

  Pema smiled faintly. "And besides," she wiped her tears. "Paradise Industry is just a mask for our family. Our real identity is not that business but the message we have been carrying for about thousand years."

  Ilm always wao know the secret behind his family's success from his grandfather, but Bhagavat is Bhagavat, un void sudden interruptions became on things. So, Ilm finally lost his i in House Bharata's secrets aage. But today he was going to know everything like it was destio know but at a proper time.

  "Our aor, Urjan Bharata… about a thousand years ago, he made up a vision," Pema said. "He promised himself to prote a knowledge for eternity. That's why we as his dets carry this sacred knowledge from geion to geion."

  "A knowledge?"

  "Yes, it is a. It lets us use our own inner power. The power which helps us to summoial ons, destructive, a pure and holy. The power which ects us with the universe, lets us uand this endless reality and gives us the ability to trol this."

  With that, Pema kicked to the ground mightily. Rocks came out from the ground and started to rotate around her like the ps around the sun. Instantly winds surrouhem from nowhere. Their clothes were dang synously with the waves of wind. Pema held her right hand over her left hand. A fireball was created in the space betweewo palms.

  It took no time for Ilm to uand that these all weren't created from nowhere. Pema was trolling them, she created these. Ilm was nothing but impressed. The stormy winds made him out of bance. He eventually fell to the ground, but he was still looking at his mother, and how powerful she was.

  "What is this?" He asked being overwhelmed. Fmes from the fireball spread through the air making the pce warm and shiny.

  "This is the thing, the power, our heritage. The knowledge of Naema curved her lips.

  "Nawvara?"

  Theopped all the things, and the pce became calm again. "Nawvara is a colle of knowledge. A long time ago, the Earth wasn't like today. The seven regions used to have different and rich cultures based on their own philosophical and spiritual beliefs. Suantan, Agnayat, Shaistan, Nyaushi, Enitd, Azertina, and Bevenida. All of them used to have their owy. Not like… oh, there is ay nd called Agnayat… NO! Not like that." Pema expined. "And there were great people who could use their inner power. They are called Ri?dhis, users of Nawvara. But before being a Ri?dhis, one o be at least an Inya?is, unlog the root cakra of all seven cakra. And you are already an Inya?is, Ilm. With the help of Nawvara, one summoial ons and perform some other things like element trol."

  "So, that means I be a Ri?dhis?" Ilm was excited. He was gd that after all these painful trainings became fruitful.

  "From tomorrow, you will be traio be Ri?dhis." Pema ended her words.