The platform beneath Bhumi's feet was still wet with blood.
Bones were scattered across the stone like forgotten relics of past battles, and the iron smell of death clung to the air. Priya stood frozen at the edge of the arena, her hands trembling, her eyes refusing to leave Bhumi's back.
The battle was about to begin.
But before steel clashed and lives were lost, there was something that needed to be understood—something Priya realized she had never truly been told.
Power in this world did not come from miracles or gods.
It came from spiritual energy.
Every person possessed it.Some had little.Some had more.
But once every hundred years, a person was born with an overwhelming, terrifying amount of spiritual energy—so much that it threatened the balance of the world itself.
Such a person was called a Centurion.
Centurions were not heroes by choice.They were born into fear, secrecy, and protection.
Yet Centurions were not the only ones who could fight.
There were those who trained—those who learned to control their spiritual energy with absolute discipline. These techniques were known as Teachings.
Teachings were not superpowers.They did not grant freedom without cost.
They were methods—refined, dangerous ways of enhancing the body or mind.And every Teaching came with limitations.
Ignoring those limits meant one thing: death.
Bhumi — Teaching of the Earth
Bhumi's spiritual energy took form like invisible hands.
She did not command the earth—she pulled it, pushed it, shaped it.
Stone rose.Ground split.Walls answered her will.
But her power was not infinite.
The farther the earth moved from her, the faster her energy drained.The larger the mass she controlled, the heavier the toll on her body.
And no matter how strong she became, she could only ever create two spiritual hands.
Nothing more.
Forge — Teaching of Creation
Forge shaped his spiritual energy into matter itself.
Weapons. Tools. Structures.
Anything he created was real—solid, usable, deadly.
But his Teaching obeyed one unbreakable rule.
He could only create what he had seenand what he had felt with his own hands.
No imagination.No shortcuts.
The larger the object, the faster his energy vanished.Multiple creations divided his focus and weakened him.
It was this single limitation that kept his Teaching from becoming absolute.
Shiva — Teaching of Unity
Shiva's power was deceptively simple.
He coated his weapon with spiritual energy—and in doing so, erased the boundary between steel and flesh.
The weapon became part of him.
His speed increased beyond what eyes could track.His strikes flowed without hesitation.
But simplicity carried its own weakness.
Without a weapon, his Teaching was useless.In hand-to-hand combat, he gained nothing.
And yet—even knowing this, few survived facing him.
Sapna — Teaching of Lock
Sapna, Vice Captain of the Nivarsha Clan's R&D Division, possessed one of the most feared Teachings.
When someone made direct eye contact with her, their spiritual energy was sealed instantly.
Their body froze.Their power vanished.
They became prisoners in their own flesh.
But even her ability had cracks.
It only worked through eye contact.Mirrors could reflect it back onto her.And if her own energy was locked, she was as vulnerable as anyone else.
Deadly—but fragile.
These were only a few Teachings that existed in the world.
There were many more—some more complex,some more powerful,some so dangerous they were erased from history.
And every single one of them was bound by limitation.
Because in this world, power was never free.
As the gates of the arena began to close
This was not just a fight.
This was a test of control.
And only one side would walk away alive.