Karna checked his surroundings; he was still in the forest, maybe even somewhere deeper.
He decided not to leave. He really didn’t have any way to get a divine weapon. The best thing was to try to call God and ask for powers.
And the quickest way to call a god was to go extreme.
In the past, there was an Asura called Ravana, and he prayed while he kept cutting off his head and throwing it into the prayer ritual fire, and it forced the god to come in just a few days instead of years.
So, Karna also had such an extreme way.
Karna was going to remove his armor and earrings, and then he was going to pray to the God of gods.
But for that, I’m moving deep into the forest to Mahavana.
***
The years went by.
Years ago, Karna had removed his armor and earrings. It was painful, like cutting his own skin.
In agony, he sat cross-legged on a big rock at the riverside, closing his eyes as he started praying. And weirdly, he didn’t open his eyes the next day or the day after that; just like that, the month went by, the time frame he decided to pray was completed, and he still didn’t open his eyes or stop praying.
The loud thunderclaps rang, the earth shook, heavy rain fell, lightning struck around him, but nothing touched Karna, as something invisible was protecting him.
Even after, he was still bathed in the fresh blood that rain didn’t wash away; neither his torso nor ear healed the wounds he got in cutting and removing his own skin- so cold were his armor and earrings.
His unplanned, devoted, long Prayer, which he was doing even forgetting his agony, didn’t just shake the earth and sky. It also shook the heavens and the hearts of the Gods.
Especially The Heart of the king of the gods– Indra dev, who had already stolen the divine armor and earrings of Karna.
***
"Open your eyes, Karna"
A gentle voice, as if nature spoke itself, falls into the ears of Karna.
Karna opened his eyes and saw stars, moons, galaxies, rivers, mountains, plants, animals, and supernovas; destruction and birth.
" I’m happy with your devotion, Karna. Ask what you want. Except immortality."
Again, a gentle voice fell into Karna’s ears, and he didn’t know where it was coming from in front of him- just a vastness, nothing else.
"I- I..."
Karna tried to remember, and he didn’t remember anything.
"I don’t know. Just give me what I wanted before coming here." Karna said.
"Hahahaha, I’m sorry. But that was not possible either; that wish would have changed the laws of the universe, which would be disastrous..."
" Then why did you even come here, and who are you, by the way? Well, I don’t want to know. Just go away."
" I didn’t come here; you brought me, and I can’t leave without giving you anything. So, I will grant your other wishes and give you back what Indra stole from you."
"I blessed you with a boon that you will be capable of using every weapon and power that you saw being used, or you touched with your hand, to its full potential, and while you were wearing your armor and earrings, no power or weapon would work on you or harm you, including us supreme Gods or even our combined power. Your blood itself would be a nectar of life; even just a drop of it would make a person you feed live until you’re alive. "
"That’s all your fears, wasn’t it? Have fun, child, but soon you have to leave this universe, as you don’t belong here; it would be for good."
***
"Shit, how much time has passed?!"
Karna stood up. While his armor and earrings disappeared, he was healed as if he were never injured before.
What happened?
Karna thought. He remembered the boon he got from the God of gods; though he didn’t remember what that god looked like, he felt like he had just seen a space.
Well Whatever!.
He didn’t waste too much time trying to remember it. Probably gods playing some magic here.
That wasn’t important anyway; what I wanted, I got it.
"Hahahahahhahahahaha, now the world is mine to rule"
The sky turned dark, and the thunderclaps rang louder and louder...