Ansh, sitting beside Usha Ma, was slowly starting to come out of his past memories.
The moments spent with Ayaan, their friendship, and then his sudden departure—all of it weighed heavily on Ansh's heart. But now, he had begun to make himself stronger. He told Usha Ma clearly,
"Please don't blame yourself for Ayaan's departure, Ma. Maybe fate itself wanted us to take separate paths."
Usha Ma just gave a gentle smile and placed her hand on Ansh's head. That day, Ansh felt a sense of peace, as if an old wound had been gently soothed.
The next few days passed by quietly.
The orphanage was a bit more peaceful, but the debt remained the same—heavy and looming. One morning, the light coming through the window fell on Ansh's face and reminded him of that debt.
"There's still a lot of debt left, and it's been so many days without any new work to earn money. After that day, I haven't even gotten another demon hunt," Ansh mumbled to himself.
After his first mission, he had tried several times to go for another demon hunt in the city, but sadly, he never got the chance.
After thinking for a while, he decided to head to the city again, hoping that maybe today Shed would offer him a new demon hunt mission.
He quickly picked up his old 'Dark' hoodie and mask and stepped out—on the hunt for a new job.
His heart was filled with hope that he might once again get called for a demon hunt.
These missions were dangerous, no doubt, but they paid well. And this was the only way he could pay off the orphanage's debt.
Winding through the city streets, he arrived at the area where the Protector Guild's mission halls were.
He searched there for a long time, but perhaps fate was still upset with him, because once again, all he met with was disappointment.
Exhausted, he began to head back.
Suddenly, his eyes caught a familiar figure.
"What is he doing here?" Ansh said to himself in surprise.
At the same time, the man also saw Ansh and began walking straight toward him.
After a few steps, the man stopped in front of Ansh.
"Yo… kid, how are you?" the man asked, extending a hand toward him.
Ansh stood there a bit surprised by the man's casual way of speaking.
"You're General Aryamitra, right?" he said, recognizing the man.
The man standing before him was none other than General Aryamitra, also known as "The Shadow Fang."
The air behind him rippled with his black robe's movements.
Before Ansh could say anything more, Aryamitra said,
"It was only a matter of time before I saw you here again. In fact, I came here looking for you," Aryamitra said, locking eyes with Ansh.
Ansh stood frozen in shock, staring at Aryamitra.
He was still trying to figure out what to say when Aryamitra spoke again,
"I've been watching you these past few days, coming here every day trying to get assigned to a demon hunt.
Which tells me either you need the money badly, or you truly enjoy hunting demons."
"I saw your last demon hunt. You have power, but no technique. That's why I want you on my team, kid. You'll earn good money every month—housing, food, and training included.
We need warriors who can fight without fear. You could be one of them."
Ansh continued staring at Aryamitra in shock.
After a moment of silence, Ansh finally spoke,
"It's not that easy… leaving everything behind to join someone's team. I don't even know if the people I care about will accept it."
He said it in a voice filled with confusion and hesitation.
Seeing him conflicted, Aryamitra said,
"Sometimes, we have to go far from our loved ones for their sake—that's the law of nature, kid.
Oh, and I forgot to mention… you'll be getting twenty thousand Ceno per month."
Ansh's eyes widened in surprise.
"What…?" he exclaimed.
"You heard right," Aryamitra smiled.
"Take your time to think about it."
Saying that, Aryamitra raised his hand halfway in the air to wave goodbye and walked off.
Ansh also began to walk away, lost in thought about the offer Aryamitra had just made.
The next few days, Ansh didn't go anywhere.
He kept thinking only about Aryamitra's proposal.
On one side was the orphanage's debt, and on the other was the pain of being away from the orphanage and Usha Ma.
Caught in this dilemma, he spent a few days in solitude.
Three days later…
There was a stir at Aryamitra's team base.
The base was located deep in the forest, and looked almost like a haunted house.
Inside, Aryamitra was briefing his new team.
A new mission was about to begin, and this time, there were six members on his team.
All of them wore matching black uniforms with a purple cape tied at the back, bearing the symbol of a dragon.
Looking at them, Aryamitra said,
"You all have been on missions before, but this will be your first mission with me.
We'll be heading to the border forest to investigate an ancient demon's activity.
Strange things are happening in the nearby village. Our priority is the villagers' safety and confirming the truth."
The entire team looked confident hearing Aryamitra's words.
In fact, Aryamitra had chosen only those who had fought alongside Ansh during their first mission against the horned wolf in the forest:
Ayra, Nayra, Nandita, Ishan, Siya, and Vedant.
All of them were on their first mission back then, just like Ansh.
"But sir," Ishan said, "There are supposed to be seven people in the team. We're only six."
Aryamitra gave a small confident smile.
"The seventh member…" he said, pointing toward the window,
"…is sitting right there behind you."
Everyone turned around at once.
Perched on the windowsill sat a shadowy figure—wearing a purple hoodie with 'Dark' written on it, a mask covering his face, one leg dangling, the other balanced on the ledge.
It was Ansh—sitting like a hero from a storybook.
"But when did he get here? We didn't even hear a sound," Nandita asked in surprise.
He had been sitting there for a while, arriving as silently as a breeze using his special move:
"Silent Step."
Everyone was impressed by his dramatic and quiet entry, but ignoring them all, Ansh looked directly at Aryamitra and asked,
"I understand the mission, General… but what's the name of our team?"
To this, Aryamitra responded with a slight smile:
"Shadow Knights."
Writer – ॐ