Third Person POV
Rudra remained rooted to the spot, his hand still hovering near the shallow concave crater he had punched into the ancient bark. The tree stood unmoved. Its trunk remained steady, its vast roots buried deep beneath the sacred soil of Kailash. Only a small depression marked the place where his fist had landed. He stared at it in silence. The moment stretched.
A strange confusion clouded his thoughts. On Earth, he had been a man of science. Numbers, calculations, measurable forces, and predictable outcomes had shaped the way he understood the world. If enough force was applied to an object, damage followed.
That was a rule as fundamental as gravity itself. And yet here he was. He had just punched with strength far beyond anything a human body should possess.
He had felt the power travel through his arm like a compressed storm. He had sensed the strength coiled inside his muscles, the strange energy humming beneath his skin. By every calculation his mind could produce, that tree should have shattered. At the very least, it should have cracked. Instead, it stood quietly. Almost patiently. As though it had barely noticed his effort.
Rudra slowly lowered his hand. His fingers curled into a loose fist as he examined them. There was no pain. Not even the slightest soreness. In fact, he felt lighter. Stronger.
Alive in a way his body had never felt before. He could feel the air moving around him. Not just the breeze brushing against his skin, but the tiny shifts of movement within the atmosphere itself. Something in his senses had expanded. The world felt larger and more detailed than before.
He could hear the rustle of distant leaves. The faint trickling of a hidden stream. Even the subtle vibrations are travelling through the ground beneath his feet. Yet despite all of that, the tree had barely moved. Slowly, he turned his head toward Devi Aranyani.
But instead of only her, he found the entire gathering watching him. Every divine being in the clearing had seen his little display.
Some smiled. Some chuckled softly. Karthikeya looked mildly amused. Ganesha's eyes held warm patience.
Even Devi Narmada carried a gentle smile, like someone watching a child take his first steps. The realisation struck Rudra all at once.
He had been jumping around the clearing, testing his strength with the unrestrained excitement of someone who had just discovered a miraculous new ability.
The embarrassment arrived quickly. A faint flush appeared on his face.
But the confusion still lingered.
"Um… Devi Aranyani," Rudra said slowly, gesturing toward the tree.
"Why is there so little damage?" He stepped closer to the trunk again, examining the shallow crater.
"I can feel that I am much stronger now. My muscles feel different. My body feels lighter and more responsive." He looked back at them.
"But according to the laws of force and momentum… this tree should not have survived that impact." He paused briefly before adding with genuine puzzlement,
"At the very least, there should have been more damage."
Devi Aranyani laughed softly. Her voice carried the cheerful melody of wind passing through forest leaves.
"Do not be so disappointed, Rudra," she said gently. Her emerald eyes sparkled with quiet amusement.
"Did you truly believe that a small elevation to the level of a superhuman would allow you to destroy the trees of Kailash?"
She placed one hand lightly upon the trunk beside the crater.
"This forest has witnessed wars between Devs and Asurs." Her fingers brushed the bark with affection.
"These trees have stood through storms of divine fire and rivers of celestial lightning. They have endured the clash of weapons capable of breaking mountains." She looked back at him.
"If a single enthusiastic punch could destroy them, what would be the point of training you?" Her smile widened playfully.
"We could simply leave you as a slightly stronger human and send you to the past."
Karthikeya stepped forward then. The shift in his presence was immediate. Where Aranyani's energy carried warmth and nurturing patience, Karthikeya's aura felt sharp and disciplined. Like a blade drawn from its sheath.
"Yes, kid," he said calmly.
"This amount of strength is nothing in the grand scheme of things." He walked toward the tree and examined the crater in the Tree.
Then he turned back toward Rudra.
"You are using brute force." He tapped the bark lightly with the shaft of his spear.
"And even that brute force is poorly directed."
Rudra blinked. Karthikeya continued.
"You cannot control your strength yet. When you punch, most of the energy disperses outward as shock waves." He gestured toward the surrounding air.
"The force spreads into the environment instead of concentrating on the point of impact." His voice carried the tone of a seasoned instructor.
"How can you expect to damage the tree if you cannot even focus your power?"
Rudra opened his mouth to respond, but before he could speak, Devi Narmada stepped forward.
Her presence was calm. Flowing.
"Your body moves like stagnant water," she said gently. Rudra tilted his head in confusion. She demonstrated by raising her arm slowly and letting it move in a smooth arc.
"True movement flows." Her wrist rotated gracefully.
"Energy travels through the body like a current through a river."
She paused and glanced at Rudra's stance.
"But your posture is rigid." Her tone remained kind but honest.
"There is no flow in your punch. No continuity between your feet, your hips, your shoulders, and your arms." She smiled faintly.
"It is as though you are performing separate movements instead of one continuous motion."
Then Devi Mansa spoke. Her metallic grey aura shimmered faintly.
"He also cannot perceive energy properly yet." Her sharp gaze rested on Rudra.
"I can see that he senses the particles in the air. His transformation has awakened that ability."
Rudra blinked again. Particles?
Mansa continued.
"But sensing them is only the first step. He cannot see them. He cannot manipulate them. He cannot weave them into his movements." She folded her arms.
"Without that ability, he cannot perform even the simplest energy techniques."
Ganesha nodded thoughtfully. "Yes."
His voice carried deep wisdom.
"The boy has gained potential, but knowledge must accompany power." He gestured toward Rudra.
"His mind and soul are capable of greater understanding now. That is the blessing he received through the gifts of Devi Aranyani and his sister."
He bowed respectfully toward Mata Ganga. "And through the purification of the sacred river."
Mata Ganga smiled gently.
"But there is not even a drop of water within his movements." She stepped closer to Rudra.
"As Narmada said, when water flows, it adapts. It bends. It surrounds obstacles instead of colliding with them." Her eyes softened. She looked at the divine siblings and said,
"He truly needs your guidance, children."
Devi Jyoti then spoke. Her ember-like aura glowed faintly.
"My fire burns steadily inside him." She studied Rudra carefully.
"It is already integrated within his internal structure."
Her gaze lowered toward his chest.
"Yet he cannot call upon it." She shook her head slightly.
"There is no controlled destruction in him yet." Her eyes flicked toward the barely damaged tree.
"That much is quite obvious." But then she smiled.
"It is alright. I will teach him how to awaken the flame."
Finally, Ashok Sundari stepped forward. Her expression carried gentle disappointment.
"And why are you trying to harm an innocent tree, kid?" Her tone was not harsh, but it carried a quiet weight.
"Even with the mark of the forest tied to your being, you cannot feel its presence?" She placed her palm against the bark.
"The forest breathes. It lives. It listens." Her gaze returned to him.
"And you struck it without hesitation." She came closer to the tree and touched the wounded part, and the damaged part began to heal.
As the tree was restored to its original glory, it danced in the wind and gave her one of its fruits resting on its branch. And touched her hand in affection.
Rudra was beyond astonished, but he also felt his confidence shrink under the collective scrutiny. For the first time since arriving in Kailash, he realised something important.
His education. His logic. His scientific understanding. All of it was only the beginning. This world followed laws he had not yet learned. He lowered his head respectfully.
"I understand." He bowed deeply.
"I was careless." His voice carried genuine humility.
"Please teach me. I am ready to learn."
As he remained in his bow, the air seemed to hum with a new frequency. He felt the presence of these goddesses; some fierce, some tranquil—and realised he did not even know their names.
Looking up, he saw the shimmering fire around Jyoti and the silver radiance surrounding Ashok Sundari. He was confused; he could tell about Ganesha as their appearance was quite telling. He could also tell another male God would be Karthikeya, but what about the others?
Devi Aranyani sensed his silent question and stepped forward to bridge the gap.
"Rudra, you have seen their power, but you must know who they are. They are not just your teachers; they are the guardians of your new life."
She gestured toward Devi Jyoti, whose eyes burned with a soft but intense light.
"This is Devi Jyoti. It was she who bestowed upon you the fire of Mahadev—the eternal flame of destruction that now pulses within your very marrow."
Rudra's breath hitched as he looked at the goddess of light, realising the sheer weight of the gift he carried.
Aranyani then moved her hand toward Ashok Sundari.
"And this is Ashok Sundari. She is the one who gifted you the Chandra Vastra you wear."
Rudra looked down at the silver dhoti, the moon cloth shimmering with a renewed brilliance as if acknowledging its mistress.
Then Devi Aranyani introduced, pointing towards Devi Narmada,
"This is Narmada, Shiva-Putri, the divine maiden manifested from the very perspiration of the Mahadev during his deep meditation upon Mount Riksha." After she pointed towards Ashok Sundari,
"And she is the Shiva-Putri who guards the heart of the forest; she remains the cherished blossom of the Kailash family, Ashok Sundari."
Rudra was happy for the introduction, for now he could tell in whose presence he was; they were the children of Mahadev and Mata Parvati.