(A/N):
Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
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The tea shop had become eerily silent.
"...."
"...."
"...."
The terrified customers had huddled together in one corner, too frightened to even scream anymore.
A few elderly men shielded the children while the shop owner stood behind the counter, his hands trembling as he silently prayed the situation wouldn't end in bloodshed.
The eight men slowly spread out, surrounding Rudra and Isha from every direction.
Steel rods.
Aruvals.
Rusted machetes.
None of them looked like amateurs.
Yet...
Rudra's expression never changed.
He stood calmly in front of Isha, one hand casually slipped into his pocket, as though the men surrounding him were little more than an inconvenience.
Without taking his eyes off them, he spoke quietly.
"Isha."
She looked up at him.
"You know them?"
She swallowed before nodding.
"...Yes."
"Who are they?"
"They're..."
She hesitated for a brief second.
"...my father's second elder brother's men."
Rudra turned his head slightly.
"So this is a family matter."
Isha lowered her eyes.
"It... shouldn't have reached this point."
Rudra simply nodded.
"I see."
He slowly looked back at the men blocking every exit.
His gaze calmly swept across each of them.
There wasn't an ounce of anger in his eyes.
Only quiet observation.
Then he spoke.
"I wasn't aware that you were targeting her."
The men exchanged amused looks.
"So..."
"I'll give all of you one opportunity."
He raised a single finger.
"You can explain why you're here..."
He raised a second finger.
"...or you can walk away."
His voice remained calm.
"I won't stop you."
For a brief moment...
Silence.
Then—
Laughter erupted throughout the tea shop.
One of the men nearly doubled over.
"Hahaha!"
"Did you hear him?"
"He's giving us a chance!"
Another pointed at Rudra while laughing.
"Who do you think you are?"
The leader smirked.
"Hero syndrome?"
Even Isha looked slightly worried.
She knew Rudra was strong.
Very strong.
But these men clearly had no idea who they were dealing with.
One of the thugs casually walked forward while twirling an iron rod over his shoulder.
He stopped directly in front of Rudra.
"What are you going to do?"
His grin widened.
"You think you're some kind of movie hero?"
Without waiting for an answer, the man casually reached out to shove Rudra aside.
His hand barely touched Rudra's shoulder.
The next instant—
CRACK!
A horrifying scream echoed through the tea shop.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!"
The thug's arm bent in a direction human joints were never meant to bend.
Rudra hadn't struck him.
He had simply caught the man's wrist...
Twisted...
And dislocated his shoulder, elbow, and wrist in one fluid movement.
Before the scream had even finished—
Rudra stepped forward.
His fist shot out.
BOOM!
The punch landed squarely in the man's chest.
The thug's body left the ground completely before flying several meters backward.
He crashed into the closed metal shutter with enough force to leave a massive dent.
Then dropped unconscious without making another sound.
Silence.
Complete silence.
Even the remaining seven men forgot to breathe.
Rudra calmly shook his hand once.
"I warned you."
The spell finally broke.
"GET HIM!"
The remaining attackers charged together.
One swung an aruval toward Rudra's neck.
Another came from behind with an iron rod.
Two more rushed from opposite sides.
The cramped tea shop instantly became a battlefield.
Except...
It wasn't much of a battle.
Rudra never summoned the Brahmastra.
Never created a spear.
Never used Astra energy.
To these men...
That would have been excessive.
Instead...
He relied solely on his body.
Years of combat experience.
Perfect timing.
And ruthless efficiency.
The first aruval sliced downward.
Rudra sidestepped without even looking.
His elbow drove straight into the attacker's ribs.
Three sharp cracks echoed through the room.
The man's weapon slipped from his hands before he collapsed, gasping desperately for air.
The second attacker swung an iron rod.
Rudra caught it with one hand.
Twisted.
The rod tore free.
Using the same momentum, he smashed the steel rod across the man's knee.
CRACK!
The kneecap shattered.
The man collapsed screaming.
Another tried tackling him from behind.
Rudra shifted his weight slightly.
The thug's momentum carried him forward.
A shoulder throw sent him crashing through two plastic tables before his face collided with the tiled floor.
The last three attackers hesitated.
For the first time...
Fear appeared on their faces.
They had expected an ordinary civilian.
Instead...
They felt like they had walked into a military training exercise.
Within less than a minute—
Every one of them lay on the ground.
Broken arms.
Dislocated shoulders.
Fractured legs.
None dead.
None permanently crippled.
But none capable of standing again.
Rudra crouched before the leader, who was clutching his shattered ankle while groaning in agony.
His voice remained calm.
"Now."
He looked directly into the man's terrified eyes.
"Why were you targeting her?"
The thug stubbornly looked away.
Rudra sighed quietly.
Then casually placed one hand over the already broken wrist.
The thug immediately panicked.
"W-WAIT!"
"I'll tell you!"
Rudra removed his hand.
The man breathed heavily before speaking between painful gasps.
"I..."
"I don't know the full reason!"
Rudra frowned.
"You don't know?"
The thug shook his head desperately.
"Our boss only gave us one order."
"What order?"
The man swallowed painfully.
"Retrieve..."
"...the bracelet."
Both Rudra and Isha froze.
"The bracelet?" Rudra repeated.
The thug nodded frantically.
"The one your father gave you this morning."
"He specifically told us..."
"...to bring back the bracelet."
Nothing else mattered.
Not money.
Not kidnapping.
Not revenge.
Only...
The bracelet.
Slowly, Rudra turned toward Isha.
She instinctively clutched her handbag.
Her face had already gone pale.
In a trembling voice, she whispered,
"...It's inside my purse."
The tea shop fell silent once more.
Because both of them had suddenly realized—
This attack had never been about Isha herself.
She had merely been carrying...
Something that someone else desperately wanted.
The last of the thugs lay groaning across the floor of the tea shop.
Broken chairs, spilled tea, and scattered plates covered the ground, giving the once lively shop the appearance of a battlefield. The frightened customers cautiously peeked out from behind overturned tables, still unable to believe that a single man had dismantled eight armed attackers without even breaking a sweat.
Rudra slowly released the thug's wrist.
The man immediately curled into a ball, clutching his broken arm as tears streamed down his face.
"So... that's all you know?" Rudra asked calmly.
The thug nodded frantically.
"I swear!"
"Our boss only told us to retrieve the bracelet!"
"He never said why!"
"If we returned without it... he would've killed us!"
Rudra studied the man's face for several seconds.
There was no deception.
Years of experience had taught him how to distinguish lies from desperation.
This man genuinely had no idea what he had been sent to retrieve.
Standing up, Rudra turned toward Isha.
"The police should be here soon."
She was still staring blankly at the men lying on the floor.
Only after hearing his voice did she snap out of her thoughts.
"What?"
"The police."
He nodded toward her handbag.
"Call them."
"They'll take custody of these people."
Isha silently nodded before pulling out her mobile phone. Her fingers trembled slightly as she dialed the emergency number.
Although she had seen Rudra fight before, witnessing him effortlessly defeat eight armed men with nothing but his bare hands was something entirely different.
As she stepped aside to speak with the police operator, Rudra quietly said,
"And check your purse."
She looked confused.
"My purse?"
"The bracelet."
"The one your father gave you this morning."
The reminder immediately brought her attention back to the attack.
Quickly opening her handbag, she searched through its contents before finally taking out a small velvet pouch.
Inside rested an old bracelet.
At first glance...
It looked completely ordinary.
It was crafted from aged silver, decorated with intricate carvings that resembled intertwined vines and blooming lotus flowers.
Small fragments of blue-green gemstones had been embedded around its surface, giving it the appearance of an antique family heirloom rather than an expensive piece of jewelry.
"I don't understand..."
Isha looked at it in confusion.
"It's just a bracelet."
"My father said it belonged to our family for generations."
"He only gave it to me this morning."
She carefully placed it on the table between them.
Rudra's eyes fell upon it.
The moment he looked closely...
His expression changed.
Not dramatically.
Only the slightest widening of his eyes.
Anyone unfamiliar with him would have missed it entirely.
But inside...
His thoughts had already begun racing.
'This... Impossible.'
He slowly reached toward the bracelet without touching it.
There it was.
Hidden so deeply that an ordinary Astra user would have walked past it without noticing.
A faint pulse.
Almost imperceptible.
Like the heartbeat of something asleep.
Astra energy.
Ancient Astra energy.
Not leaking.
Not radiating.
Completely concealed beneath layers upon layers of sophisticated seals.
Whoever had hidden it possessed astonishing mastery over Astra concealment techniques.
Even Rudra doubted he would have sensed it if he hadn't been standing this close.
He slowly closed his eyes for a brief moment.
The Brahmastra within him stirred instinctively.
Not violently.
Almost...
Curiously.
As though it had recognized something.
Rudra immediately suppressed the reaction before anyone else noticed.
When he opened his eyes again, his gaze remained fixed upon the bracelet.
'Interesting... Very interesting.'
He had seen many Astra artifacts.
Weapons.
Scriptures.
Protective talismans.
Ancient relics.
But this...
This felt different.
The energy wasn't active.
It was dormant.
Waiting.
Almost as though it had deliberately hidden itself until someone capable of sensing it appeared.
Across the table, Isha noticed his unusual silence.
"What is it?"
Rudra looked up.
"Did your father tell you anything about this bracelet?"
She shook her head.
"No."
"He simply said..."
Her voice softened as she recalled the morning's conversation.
"'Whatever happens...'"
"'Never lose this.'"
"'And never give it to anyone.'"
She looked back at the bracelet.
"I thought he was just being sentimental."
Rudra remained silent.
His fingers lightly hovered above the bracelet once more.
The hidden Astra energy pulsed again.
Faint.
Almost imperceptible.
But unmistakably real.
Suddenly, several pieces began fitting together inside his mind.
The attack.
The urgency.
The fact that the thugs had ignored him completely.
Their only objective had been retrieving this single bracelet.
Not stealing money.
Not kidnapping Isha.
Not killing her.
The bracelet.
Only the bracelet.
Rudra slowly withdrew his hand.
His expression remained composed, but inwardly he had already reached one conclusion.
This wasn't merely a family heirloom.
It was hiding something.
Something important enough that someone had mobilized armed men in broad daylight just to recover it.
Looking at Isha, he spoke quietly,
"I don't think your father gave you this today by coincidence."
She frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Rudra glanced once more at the seemingly ordinary silver bracelet resting on the table.
"I think..."
He paused.
"...your father knew someone would eventually come looking for it."
Outside, the distant sound of approaching police sirens slowly echoed through the busy streets of Hyderabad.
Neither of them noticed.
Because both of their attention remained fixed on the old bracelet.
And the ancient secret sleeping quietly within it.
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(Author's POV)
(A/N):
Guys My New Fic name is:
-->Karuppan: King of Openings.
Check it out... I hope you will like it
Whats your thought's guys.
Thanks for reading the chapter!
Please give a review!!! And power stone too!!!
Guys it will motivate me more?