"Young Master..."
"Hmm?"
He heard these words the moment he regained consciousness. Opening his eyes, he saw a man standing before him dressed in strange, traditional attire. The man's gaze was fixed intently on Kartik. Kartik was utterly bewildered; he had no idea where he was or who this person was. Still, he managed to let out a faint, confused, "Hmm??"
The man standing before him made a gesture and said, "It's your turn next! Are you ready?"
As Kartik looked in the direction the man was pointing, he realized he was at some sort of combat arena, resembling a grand tournament. Just as he began to process this, a voice boomed from beside him—the voice of his father.
"Neel! Scared already?" - in a firm voice..
He turned toward the voice and saw several people seated around his father's chair. From the look of it, his father appeared to be a powerful leader, surrounded by various ministers and officials, all watching the battleground below.
[.....The crowd is cheering and clapping loudly in the background...]
Confused, he looked toward the ground where two people were already locked in combat. He turned back to look at his father. His father didn't look back; his eyes remained fixed on the fighters. In a harsh, cold voice, he said, "I don't care if you lose, but do not drag our family's name through the mud!"
Kartik had no clue what was happening. He leaned toward the man standing beside him—Dash—and whispered, "Hey! What exactly is going on here?"
Dash bowed slightly and whispered back, "Young Master! Don't you remember? Today is your duel... with Kaal."
Still reeling from his words - " duel with with kaal "..
[... occasionally The crowd is cheering and clapping loudly in the background...]
"A duel?" Kartik asked, surprised. "But why?"
Dash replied, "Have you forgotten? You were the one who challenged him three days ago. When his sister—your fiancée—spoke of breaking the engagement, it was an insult to the Shourya family. In a fit of rage, you challenged her to a duel. But since she is far superior to you in both strength and intellect, her brother accepted the challenge on her behalf to keep the match fair."
"What! A fair match? But I literally just died and came back to life! I haven't even lived my own life properly yet, and I don't even know that girl or her brother! Why on earth would I fight them?" - Kartik thought to himself.
"Young Master? Is something wrong?" Dash asked, noticing his pale and silent face.
Kartik turned to Dash. "Is it absolutely necessary to fight? Can't we stop this match?"
Dash shook his head. "No, Young Master! Stopping now would mean losing your honor. A Shourya Vanshi might lose his life, but never his honor."
Kartik muttered internally, "But I'm just an innocent kid! And I'm not even a 'Shourya Vanshi.' I don't know which idiot's body that man has sent me into!"
"Young Master! Are you okay?" Dash asked again.
Kartik glanced back at his "father." The man's face was as hard as stone, eyes still glued to the arena. Turning back to Dash, Kartik said, "I don't know! I'm terrified. I don't even know how to fight!"
Dash smiled kindly and nodded. "It's far too late for that now!"
He pointed toward the arena. Kartik looked down to see the previous fight had ended. One of the men lay on the ground in a brutal state, drenched in blood.
(Announcer): ["The winner of this match is Daksh! And now, our next bout will be between Neel, the son of the Shourya Sect Leader, and Kaal, the son of the Maurya Sect Leader, who is fighting on behalf of his sister to decide whether Kavya's marriage to Neel will proceed!"]
[.(Announcer): ["The winner of this match is Daksh! And now, our next bout will be between Neel, the son of the Shourya Sect Leader, and Kaal, the son of the Maurya Sect Leader, who is fighting on behalf of his sister to decide whether Kavya's marriage to Neel will proceed!"]
[....Crowd cheering and shouting wildly...]
Thump... Thump... Thump...
Kartik's heart began to race. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He couldn't stop staring at the half-dead man being carried out of the arena on stretchers. Terrified, he looked at his father, who was staring across the arena at another man with a stern expression. That other man gave Neel's father a wicked, devilish grin.
Kartik realized there was no escape. He looked at Dash, who gave him another "kind" smile that felt like salt on a wound. Kartik opened his lips to speak, but his father's harsh, booming voice cut him off.
"Neel! What are you waiting for? Go now and fight!"
At the sound of that voice, Kartik's body instinctively stood up. He looked at his father's stern face, then at the arena where a boy was already standing, wearing a villainous smirk.
"Young Master! Don't just stand there, everyone is waiting," Dash said with that same smile.
Kartik looked at him and began walking slowly, muttering under his breath, "Yeah, yeah! Easy for you to say. I'm the one who's about to wet his pants."
[..(Announcer): (Announcer): ["Both fighters have entered the arena and are ready to battle!"]
"Hmm. Careful now... today will be your last day," Kaal said with a sinister grin.
Kartik swallowed nervously and gave a forced, awkward laugh. "Heh... heh... Brother! No need to be hasty. Whatever the issue is, we can settle it between us! Why is there a need to fight like this?"
"Oh, is that so? Well, I'm not interested," Kaal sneered.
Kartik panicked, waving his hands frantically. "Come on, man! Don't be like that! We're practically like brothers!"
"Hahaha! Scared already?" Kaal laughed mockingly.
["Come on guys! Don't just stand there and chatter! Fight already, we're all waiting!"—the crowd cheers.]
(Announcer): ["Exactly! Just fight! We're all excited!"]
"Young Master! Don't let him off! Teach him a lesson!" Dash shouted excitedly.
Kartik glanced at his father, who was still glaring at the field with sharp eyes. He swallowed hard and turned back just in time to see Kaal's fist flying straight toward his face.
"Take that, you shameless bastard!" Kaal yelled.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Thanks for reading the chapter.....
tge stroy will continue in next chapter and sorry if my writing is not good since it's my first work but I'll try to make it better in further...