[Soft crackling of a morning fire]
[Distant voices of people]
[Dust blowing through the air]
Arjun slowly opened his eyes.
After a night of traveling, his body was exhausted, but his mind was more alert than ever.
He was no longer traveling alone.
He had crossed beyond the Cursed Land with Virbhadra’s group.
And the world outside—the world people considered normal—was far from as simple as it had seemed from a distance.
An open field stretched in every direction.
Soft sunlight spread across the ground.
Far away, a long chain of mountains rose against the horizon.
Here and there were patches of dry grass, the blackened trunks of half-burned trees, and the faint remains of old roads.
The fear of the night had been replaced by the practical tension of daylight.
Here, danger was not visible.
But it was there.
The camp was already awake.
Someone was packing food.
Someone was gathering ropes.
Someone was organizing supplies.
And another man sat beside the dying fire, poking through the remaining embers.
[Sound of metal utensils against an iron pot]
Arjun sat silently.
In front of him was half of a small steamed bun.
He ate it slowly and carefully.
After finishing half, he wrapped the other half and placed it inside his bag.
It had become a habit.
He no longer considered it normal to finish all his food at once.
Now, he saved everything he could.
He was still putting away his remaining food when Virbhadra came and sat down in front of him.
“After last night, you still look fine,” Virbhadra said.
Arjun gave no answer.
He simply looked at him.
Virbhadra noticed his silence.
Or perhaps, he had simply grown used to it.
“The road ahead is long,” Virbhadra said.
“We’ll reach our base today.”
Arjun’s ears immediately became alert.
“Base?”
It was the first thing he had asked.
Virbhadra nodded.
“Our base camp.
One of the oldest wild survivor camps in this region.”
Arjun raised an eyebrow slightly.
He wanted to know what camps were in this world.
Were they merely places to rest?
Or were they something more?
Virbhadra seemed to understand his curiosity.
“The camps you’ve seen until now were temporary,” he said.
“This one is old.
Very old.”
He paused.
“And old places are always more dangerous.”
He pointed toward the distant mountains.
“Beyond those mountains is a very ancient cursed region.
The life-force there is so polluted that an ordinary person can’t survive even a single day.”
He looked toward the horizon.
“Even I couldn’t stay there for an entire week.”
Arjun remained silent.
Virbhadra continued.
“But there’s a special herb growing there—the Seven-Petaled Lotus.”
Arjun listened carefully.
“It’s not an ordinary herb,” Virbhadra explained.
“It’s used to make purification medicines.
Many people want it.
But they don’t go inside themselves.”
“They pay people like us to take the risk.”
Arjun’s eyes narrowed.
“So the Wild Survivor Camps are just mercenaries for hire?”
Virbhadra stared at him for a moment.
Then he burst into laughter.
[Open laughter]
“Exactly.”
He shook his head.
“Here, strength is the law.”
“The weak are prey.”
“The strong hunt.”
He leaned slightly closer.
“But understand this—the camp isn’t merely a den of bandits.”
“There’s a market here.”
“Supplies.”
“Caravans.”
“People looking for work.”
“If you have enough strength and enough intelligence, you can build a life here.”
Arjun quietly stored every word in his mind.
Virbhadra continued.
“But not everyone is allowed to stay.”
“Anyone new has to pass a Beast Trial first.”
“Only then are they given permission to remain.”
“Beast Trial?”
Arjun asked the question immediately.
“Yes,” Virbhadra replied seriously.
“That’s the law of the camp.”
“If you can stand your ground before a beast, you’re worthy of having a place here.”
Arjun lowered his eyes.
The same world existed here too.
Strength.
Trials.
Survival.
There was no free shelter for anyone.
Virbhadra finished speaking. Enjoying the story? Read on at novelping.com.
Then he added,
“If you pass the trial, you can stay with me.”
Arjun looked at him.
There was no kindness in Virbhadra’s eyes.
But there was no deception either.
Arjun slowly nodded.
Whether it was agreement or simply acceptance was difficult to tell.
The caravan began moving again.
[Footsteps]
[Distant wind]
As they traveled, Arjun slowly began to understand the vastness of the Southern Flame Land.
Until now, his world had consisted of a ruined city, a cave, and a single cursed region.
But Virbhadra’s words were teaching him something else.
This continent was enormous.
Far, far larger than he had imagined.
From above, the entire region resembled a twisted oval.
The sea surrounded it on every side.
And somewhere far away was another continent—
Aryabhumi.
The land that many people considered the cradle of human civilization.
Most of the Southern Flame Land was dangerous.
Vast mountain ranges cut through the land.
There were forests.
Deserts.
Cursed cities.
Ancient battlefields.
And everywhere, the surviving humans searched for places where they could stay alive.
Arjun walked beside Virbhadra while staring at the endless mountain range.
“This mountain range…”
He spoke softly.
Virbhadra looked at him.
“The Nagashail Mountain Range.”
“It’s like the backbone of this continent.”
“Very few people can cross beyond it.”
He pointed toward the southwest.
“That entire region is dangerous.”
“More than eighty percent—”
He paused.
“No…
more than seventy percent of the land there isn’t suitable for humans.”
Arjun remained silent.
His mind was trying to understand this new world.
Until now, he had thought the ruins were the world.
But they were only the beginning.
The real world was much larger.
And so were its challenges.
The sun began to descend.
By afternoon, they reached the edge of a mountainous region.
Far below, a camp came into view.
Even from a distance, Arjun could feel signs of life.
Thin trails of smoke rose into the air.
Voices.
Laughter.
Arguments.
Bargaining.
The clinking of weapons.
All of it reached them from far away.
Arjun studied the camp carefully.
It wasn’t particularly large.
But it was organized.
Strong structures stood in the center.
Crude tents filled the outer sections.
And guards stood along the perimeter.
People here lived differently.
With fear.
But organized fear.
As they approached, Arjun noticed that the outer edge of the camp was filled with torn and aging tents.
The deeper they went, the better the shelters became.
The outer sections were for the poor and newcomers.
The inner sections belonged to people with strength, status, or influence.
Far on the other side of the camp, Arjun spotted a dense, black forest.
His eyes remained fixed on it.
“What’s over there?”
Virbhadra followed his gaze.
“You’re not strong enough to go there yet.”
His expression became serious.
“There are many things in that forest that wake up at night.”
Arjun said nothing.
But he remembered the forest.
Inside the camp was an entirely different world.
People sold goods along crowded market paths.
There were medicines.
Dried meat.
Tools.
Animal hides.
Objects said to enhance strength.
For the first time, Arjun saw a place where trade could exist alongside fear.
He stopped in front of a shop.
Inside, a man was selling stone-like gems, dried herbs, and strange bone tablets.
Virbhadra noticed him looking.
“Don’t buy anything here blindly,” he warned.
“Many things are damaged.”
“Many others are traps.”
Arjun nodded.
Just then, a young boy came running toward them.
“Chief!”
He called out excitedly.
“You’re back!”
“Any problems?”
“No,” the boy replied.
“But a new team went outside this morning.”
“They haven’t reported back yet.”
Virbhadra’s eyes hardened slightly.
Arjun noticed.
Everything in this camp had a rule.
Every person had a price.
And every disappearance had a reason.
Eventually, they arrived at a large open area in the center of the camp.
Virbhadra stopped.
“You’ll stay here tonight.”
“We’ll deal with your trial tomorrow morning.”
Arjun looked around.
This place resembled a military encampment more than a village.
And yet…
there was life here.
And life meant only one thing.
Conflict.
He tightened his grip around his bag.
As night fell, the camp slowly became quieter.
Arjun was given a small sleeping bag.
He opened it and sat inside.
But he did not sleep.
His eyes remained open.
Voices drifted from the nearby tents.
“Did you hear?”
“The team that went into the forest yesterday…”
“If they don’t find the Seven-Petaled Lotus, the losses will be enormous.”
“The camp leader isn’t happy.”
“Some people say the outside world has become even worse.”
Arjun listened carefully.
The more he heard, the more he understood that information was valuable.
Then he heard two people speaking nearby.
“Did you hear?”
“There are only a few ways to reach Aryabhumi.”
Arjun’s eyes opened fully.
He became even more alert.
One voice continued.
“First path—achieve Foundation Ascension before the age of fifteen and become one of the chosen.”
The second voice laughed.
“Second path—pay three hundred thousand Life Coins.”
“Amaravati.”
“The Seven Sages Alliance.”
“Or the Mokshamarg Council.”
“Pay them, and a door will open.”
Arjun’s breathing paused slightly.
Three hundred thousand.
That amount was beyond the imagination of an ordinary person.
The first voice continued.
“Third path—make a great contribution to humanity through medicine.”
“And the fourth?”
Someone asked.
“Become the heir of a great clan.”
Silence followed.
Then another voice spoke.
“And the fifth path.”
That voice was quieter.
“Become a Living Gem.”
Arjun’s ears sharpened.
A Living Gem?
The voice continued.
“People whose bodies have divine objects implanted inside them…”
“They absorb the impurities of the gem into their own bodies so that others can safely use its power.”
Arjun’s eyes narrowed.
“But the process destroys the body from within.”
“The life-force begins to burn.”
“Such people don’t live for long.”
Arjun remained completely silent.
A faint shiver passed through his body.
A Living Gem.
To burn away your own life…
just to purify power for someone else.
That night, Arjun couldn’t sleep for a long time.
He remained inside the sleeping bag with his eyes open, thinking about the future.
Foundation Ascension before the age of fifteen.
Three hundred thousand Life Coins.
A contribution to medicine.
Becoming the heir of a great clan.
Or…
becoming a Living Gem.
None of these paths were easy.
And yet these were the doors that stood between him and Aryabhumi.
Arjun stared into the darkness.
Slowly, a thought began taking shape inside his mind.
If he truly wanted to rise in this world…
he couldn’t merely survive.
He had to create a path for himself.
A path that no one else had taken.
A path that belonged only to him.
And one day…
that path would lead him to Aryabhumi.
What awaits Arjun next?Will Arjun pass the Beast Trial of the Wild Survivor Camp?
How will the secret of becoming a Living Gem change his thoughts about power and survival?
Of the five paths to Aryabhumi, which one can Arjun actually take?
And inside the camp, will Arjun find new allies…
or create new enemies?