Garuda in Brahmastra

Today was the day. We had one shot at this.

The plan was in place, the roles were set, but we decided there was a one more thing we need to master the only thing that can damage the Tree. Our Aura infused Physical attacks.

Aura-infused physical attacks weren't something we had been taught—not yet, at least.

It wasn't a standard technique drilled into our training like basic Astra manipulation or elemental control.

No Guru had walked us through it, no structured lessons had prepared us for it. Instead, we had been told we wouldn't learn it until our fifth year in the Society—far beyond where we were now.

But the Sentinel Tree wasn't going to wait until we hit our fifth year.

We had to figure it out on our own.

And while we had seen these techniques before, we had never truly mastered them.

Whenever we sparred with senior-year students, we'd occasionally witness them using Aura-infused attacks.

Their weapons would hum with power, their strikes leaving deeper impacts, their defenses harder to break.

At the time, it didn't seem like a big deal.

We had our own strengths—our Astras, our speed, our Aura pool. Whenever we faced an opponent who used Aura-infused strikes, we could usually bulldoze through it with raw power, overwhelming them with our abilities instead of engaging them in pure weapon combat.

So we had never been forced to learn it.

We had never needed it.

Until now.

Yesterday, when we fought the tree, we were sloppy. We had no clue how to properly blend Astra and physical force.

We were just throwing our raw energy at the enemy, expecting it to work—only to realize, too late, that our attacks were being absorbed or shrugged off like nothing.

 It was something warriors were suppose to learn over months of experience.

And we don't have much time left

Indra rolled his shoulders, his sword crackling faintly as he turned to face us. "Alright," he said. "This is the only thing that worked against the tree. If we don't get this right, today battle will be another disaster."

We gathered around the massive boulder that would serve as our practice target.

Aura-infused physical attacks weren't about throwing pure Astra energy. That would just get absorbed by the tree.

Instead, the goal was to channel Astra into a weapon to enhance its natural power—combining the raw force of physical strength with the cutting edge of Astra.

The problem?

None of us had ever done it before.

We practiced for hours trying diffrent methods but still couldn't get it right. But someone was getting it right and finally he was able to do it.

"Let me try something," Indra said, stepping forward confidently.

He took a deep breath, focusing his lightning energy into his sword. The blade hummed with power, static crackling along its edge.

With a single motion, he swung.

A bright arc of electricity followed the slash, and when the blade struck the boulder—

CRACK!

A deep gash split through the rock, lightning sizzling across its jagged surface.

We all stared.

Dev folded his arms. "Okay. That was actually impressive."

Indra smirked, spinning his sword in his hand. "Told you. It's not about forcing the Astra out—it's about flow."

Amrita raised an eyebrow. "Flow?"

Indra nodded. "You guys are overthinking it. Astra isn't something separate from your weapon—it's an extension of it. You can't just slap energy onto your attack and expect it to work. You have to let the power move with the weapon."

Pooja crossed her arms. "That's great and all, but that's easy for you to say. Lightning flows naturally with your sword. What about the rest of us?"

Indra shrugged. "Same principle. Watch."

He took his sword again and deliberately failed.

This time, he forced lightning through the blade without syncing it properly. The moment he swung, the energy fizzled, and instead of slicing, the sword just bounced off the rock.

He looked at us. "See? No flow, no power."

I exhaled. "Alright. Let's try."

The Struggle to Master It

We each took turns, trying to infuse our weapons with Aura.

At first, it was a disaster.

Amrita swung her whip, but instead of condensing the water properly, it splashed harmlessly against the rock. She cursed under her breath, adjusting her grip.

Dev focused on channelling fire through his trident, but instead of controlling the heat, the flames burst outward wildly, scorching the ground around him instead of concentrating at the tip.

"Okay," Dev grumbled, shaking his hand. "That could've gone better."

Pooja struggled the most. Her shield wasn't designed for attacks, and when she tried to release energy, it pushed outward in random bursts instead of forming a controlled strike.

Meanwhile, I wasn't doing much better.

I tried to reinforce my bow with Aura, but instead of solidifying its frame, the energy dispersed unevenly, making it feel unstable in my hands.

Indra watched all of this with thinly veiled amusement.

We stood in a clearing, surrounding a massive boulder that would serve as our test dummy.

But still with the indra help we couldn't do it right. Atlast the indra had to teach us one by one and then we finally got some results.

For Amrita, he showed her how to focus the density of the water before swinging. Instead of letting it remain liquid, she had to picture it solidifying at the moment of impact.

"Water moves like a blade," he said. "But it only cuts when you shape it."

Amrita tried again, her expression determined. This time, she compressed the water properly, forming a shimmering glass-like edge.

CRACK!

Her whip carved deep into the rock, leaving a jagged scar across its surface.

Her lips curled into a smile. "There we go."

For Dev, Indra made him focus on compressing his flames instead of letting them spread.

"Think of it like a spear," Indra instructed. "You're not burning everything around you. You're stabbing straight through."

Dev gritted his teeth, adjusting his hold. Flames erupted along the metal, but instead of letting the fire spread outward, he compressed it, making the tips burn white-hot.

Then, with a powerful thrust, he stabbed straight into the rock.

BOOM!

The stone split apart, a deep fissure forming from the impact.

"Okay," Dev grinned, rolling his shoulders. "That's more like it."

For Pooja, the trick was control.

"Your shield doesn't attack," Indra told her. "It reflects force. So use that. Redirect the energy outward instead of absorbing it all at once."

Pooja frowned but nodded. She raised her shield, focused, then bashed forward.

She found that by redirecting force through her shield, she could launch kinetic blasts when she bashed forward. The energy could be used to repel incoming attacks—and if timed right, could even throw enemies back.

A shockwave erupted, blasting a smaller rock several meters away.

Her eyes widened. "That… actually worked."

Finally, it was my turn.

Indra studied my stance, then shook his head. "You're hesitating," he said. "You keep trying to force the Aura into the arrow instead of letting it settle naturally."

I exhaled. "Alright. One more try."

I focused.

I spread my wings, aura pulsing through them, and swung my bow like a staff. Instead of using it just for ranged combat, I focused my Aura into its frame, reinforcing its strength.

Then, with a sharp spin, I brought the arrow down onto the rock.

BOOM!

The entire boulder shattered, fragments flying in all directions.

"Not bad," she murmured, eyes gleaming. "Feels like swinging a liquid blade."

I landed, breathing hard but satisfied.

We then decided to rest for a few hours before starting the fight.

The sun dipped low, casting long shadows across the jungle. It was time. The only sounds were the occasional rustle of leaves and the distant cries of jungle beasts—though even they seemed to sense the storm brewing.

This was it.

The battle that would determine whether our mission was a success or another crushing defeat.

I flexed my fingers, feeling the lingering ache from our hours of grueling training. There was no room for error.

Each of us knew our roles.

Each of us knew what had to be done.

We took our positions.

Pooja stood in front of the tree, her shield raised, bracing for the first attack.

Amrita positioned herself behind it, hidden within the dense undergrowth.

Indra and I crouched atop a rock near the herb, waiting for our moment.

Dev, standing behind Pooja, would launch his fire counterattacks on cue.

A slow inhale. A sharp exhale.

Then Dev raised his hand and gave the signal.

Pooja stepped forward, crossing the invisible line—the ten-meter range where the tree's deadly instincts would activate.

Instantly, the jungle erupted with fury.

The Sentinel Tree shuddered violently, its massive form quivering with rage. The leaves along its enormous canopy rustled unnaturally, moving as though guided by an unseen force.

And then—

WHOOSH!

The storm of razor-sharp leaves came like a whistling hurricane of death, each one gleaming under the dying sunlight as they streaked toward Pooja.

She stood firm, her Shield Astra bursting to life in a golden shimmer. The barrier formed instantly, glowing like the sun itself as the first wave of leaves slammed against it with terrifying force, bouncing harmlessly off—but the sheer impact pushed her back a step.

Then came the whip attack.

A massive, bark-covered tendril lashed out with crushing speed, its aim deadly precise.

CLANG!

The whip collided with her shield, and this time, Pooja didn't just absorb the attack. She angled her shield, pushing back against the force with a well-timed infusion of her own Aura. Instead of being sent skidding backward, she stood her ground, the sheer force of her counter-strike sending a shockwave through the ground. Dust exploded around her boots, but she held.

"Now!" she roared.

Dev sprang into action.

With a fierce sweep of his trident, flames erupted from its tips, scorching through the air in a blazing inferno.

The leaf storm ignited instantly, turning into embers before they could reach Pooja. The flaming barrier forced the tree's whips to recoil, the fire licking at its branches.

Just as planned, the Sentinel shifted its attention to them.

The ground trembled as its massive roots tore through the earth, dragging its colossal body forward—away from the herb.

This was our moment.

I caught Indra's sharp nod before leaping into the air, my wings beating hard as I soared toward the tree's blind spot, carrying Amrita with me.

The wind rushed past us, our speed blistering.

As we neared the target, Amrita tensed, her hands moving in fluid, controlled motions as she summoned the full power of her Astra.

She clenched her fists, summoning the power of her Astra. Water swirled around her, gathering momentum as she prepared her attack.

We reached our position—directly behind the Sentinel.

"Go!" I called.

Amrita launched herself forward, planting her feet firmly on the ground.

She thrust her hands outward—and the jungle roared.

A massive tidal wave exploded from the ground, crashing into the tree's trunk with devastating force.

The sheer weight of the attack struck the Sentinel Tree's base, shoving it one full meter away from the herb.

For the first time, we saw it truly stagger.

The force of the hit snapped branches, roots strained under the sudden shift, and the tree let out a deafening shriek, its massive form quaking from the impact.

But then, something unexpected happened.

As the tree reeled from the attack, its wooden dome thickened, shielding the herb completely—as if protecting its most precious treasure.

At the same time, its bark absorbed the water, its surface darkening as it drank the moisture, strengthening itself.

Amrita cursed. "It's using my attack to get stronger!"

Before she could retreat, the tree retaliated.

A forest of vines exploded from the ground, moving too fast to dodge—

Or so it thought.

Amrita wasn't done.

Instead of simply dodging, she lashed her Aura-infused whip forward, the water hardened into a blade-like form. With a precise crack, she sliced through the first wave of vines, cutting them clean in half.

But now was the time.

The tree was fully distracted.

We streaked toward the herb at blistering speed, dodging wildly flailing branches and chunks of uprooted earth.

Indra gritted his teeth, his entire body crackling with electricity as he prepared his finishing move.

The moment we landed, he dashed forward, wasting no time.

He raised his sword, and this time—his entire body of sword pulsed with lightning.

The electricity didn't just coat his weapon—it fused with it, his aura blazing through the steel like a second skin.

Then, with a single, decisive slash—

CRACK!

The wooden dome shattered, splintering apart, revealing the pulsating golden glow of the sacred herb.

Indra grabbed it, shoving it into his satchel.

But in that instant—

The tree noticed.

It let out a horrific, earth-shaking screech, the air thickening with its sheer rage.

Suddenly, every single one of its remaining branches whipped forward, its entire arsenal of attacks converging on us.

We had seconds.

"Hold on!" I yelled, grabbing Indra and launching into the sky.

Vines lashed at our feet, roots exploded upward, but we were too fast.

"GO!" I roared from above.

Down below, Dev, Pooja, and Amrita broke away, sprinting into the jungle as the tree continued its rampage.

Its branches tore through the landscape, shattering anything in their way. Leaves rained down like daggers, the ground quaking with every movement.

Even as we reached our camp, it was still coming.

The Sentinel Tree was chasing us.

By the time we reached our camp, my body was screaming in exhaustion. My wings felt like lead, but I couldn't stop. None of us could.

The others had made it back just before us, their faces pale with exertion, their breathing ragged. Pooja was drenched in sweat, her shield arm trembling from the repeated heavy impacts she'd endured. Amrita clutched her side, a shallow cut from a stray branch visible just beneath her torn tunic. Dev's flames had dimmed, his trident dragging slightly in his grip, his energy dangerously low.

Indra barely managed to get his feet under him as I set him down. His lightning aura flickered erratically, unstable.

We were all drained.

But we couldn't stay here.

Not with that thing still coming.

A distant, earth-rattling BOOM sent a wave of silence through us.

I turned back just in time to see the Sentinel Tree still moving toward us, slowly but unstoppably, its branches flailing in unrelenting rage. It ripped apart everything in its path—massive trunks snapped like toothpicks, boulders were smashed to dust beneath its roots.

It wasn't just coming.

It was destroying everything between it and us.

"We have to go. NOW." Dev barked, shoving his exhaustion aside.

I forced my body to move again, even as the ache in my muscles begged me to stop. The others scrambled to their feet, gathering what little supplies we had left.

We couldn't rest.

We couldn't think.

We could only run.

The Flight to Safety

With what little energy remained in our bodies, we fled.

Through the jungle.

Through the night.

Every second, I expected to hear the shrieking howl of the Sentinel Tree right behind us. Every time the ground rumbled, every time a branch snapped somewhere in the darkness, my heart pounded, expecting its massive limbs to reach out and pull us back into hell.

But it was slow.

That was the only thing keeping us alive.

Its unfathomable size was its greatest strength—but also its greatest limitation. Even as it moved toward us with unrelenting fury, we were faster.

Barely.

For hours, we ran. We didn't stop.

Even when our bodies screamed for rest.

Even when our legs threatened to give out.

Because stopping meant death.

Stopping meant being crushed beneath that monstrous thing.

Stopping meant failure.

And failure was not an option.

With each passing mile, the Sentinel's enraged shrieks grew fainter. The tremors in the earth became less violent. The forest around us thickened again, untouched, undisturbed.

It wasn't following us anymore.

Or if it was—

It was too far behind to catch us.

We had escaped.

But the terror lingered.

The memory of that towering behemoth, of its unyielding wrath, of its impossible power—

I knew this wouldn't be the last time we encountered it.

But for now—

For now, we were alive.

And we had the herb.

We had won.