For an hour, Team 2 had moved through the biting cold, their breath hitching in the thin air.

  Rana said, his voice strained. "How much longer do we have to trek like this?"

  Mia, her fingers pressed to her temple as she scanned the spiritual frequencies of the forest, shook her head. "I don’t know. As of now, I haven’t sensed a single life-force..."

  "That’s what’s bothering me," Nova muttered, his black and yellow cape snapping in the wind. "We picked up heavy mythic signals an hour ago. They don't just vanish."

  "Maybe it moved on," Mia suggested. She took a distracted step forward, her boot sinking into a wide, shallow pool of liquid with a wet squelch. "Eww... what is this?"

  Rana let out a short, bark-like laugh. "That’s why I keep telling you, Mia—in addition to that 'third eye' of yours, you should try using the two you were born with."

  Nova didn't laugh. He knelt by the edge of the puddle, his expression darkening as he watched the liquid ripple. "Wait. This isn't water."

  Mia touched the liquid that had splashed onto her shoulder; it was thick, viscous, and pulled away in long, elastic strands. "It’s... sticky. And warm."

  Chandru, who had been silent throughout the trek, stepped past them. He moved towards the center of the plateau. He stopped, his gaze fixed on the ground ahead.

  "Nova is right," Chandru’s voice was a low, vibrating warning. "That isn't a puddle."

  "Then what is it?" Nova asked, joining him.

  "Saliva," Chandru stated flatly.

  Mia’s face paled. "Saliva? You’ve got to be kidding me."

  "Come here," Chandru commanded.

  Team 2 gathered at the edge of the high plateau, and the banter died instantly. Spread across the muddy expanse below were giant, predatory footprints—each one was about 7 feet long , with deep, jagged claw marks that had carved into the earth like a hot knife through wax.

  "The tracks are fresh," Nova whispered.

  KRAAA-RRRR!

  A roar tore through the valley, so powerful it felt like a physical blow to their chests. In the distance, at the heart of the forest, thousands of birds erupted from the canopy simultaneously.

  The Boar Titan lunged, its massive frame tearing through the mud in a thunderous charge. Surya stepped to the front.

  Suddenly, a hand crossed his path.

  "Stay back—I'll take care of this," Sheetal commanded.

  Her cold eyes ignited with a glacial glow. She thrust her hands forward, churning the atmosphere into a screaming whirlpool of sub-zero winds. The vortex lunged toward the monster, stripping the heat from its very cells.

  The Boar froze. The titan was instantly encased in a massive, shimmering block of crystalline ice, its rage preserved in a silent, frozen tomb.

  Vaishu and Surya stood frozen, eyes wide as they stared at the icy monolith Sheetal had created. "She is... incredible," Vaishu breathed.

  Surya could only nod in stunned agreement. "Yeah. She really is."

  Sheetal landed softly near the frozen Titan, her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath. The "frozen growth"—the jagged crystalline structures on her cuffs—vibrated with her ragged pulse. "I used too much," she muttered under her breath, a bead of cold sweat rolling down her temple. "If those newcomers don't appreciate this, it’s all wasted."

  "Sheetal! That was awesome!" Surya’s voice rang out.

  Hearing his praise, Sheetal instantly snapped her spine straight. She forced her breathing to settle, leaning casually against the frozen flank of the Boar with a smirk. "It was nothing," she boasted, waving a dismissive hand. "I barely used 1% of my true power."

  Vaishu and Surya exchanged a look of sheer disbelief—until Mona’s hand flew to her temple.

  "It doesn't end!" Mona screamed, her voice trembling. "I can still sense it... the heartbeat is getting louder!"

  "Sheetal, back off!" Surya roared.

  A sound like cracking tectonic plates filled the air. Hairline fractures spidered across the ice, glowing with a dull, metallic grey light. With a deafening explosion, the Boar shattered its crystalline prison.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  A massive shard of ice, the size of a spear, lunged toward the exhausted Sheetal, but Vaishu blinked in, grabbing her and teleporting them both twenty yards away just in time.

  As the team watched in horror, the Boar Titan didn't just wake up—it evolved. Its muscles rippled and expanded, its hide thickening into a dark, armored mass. Its two pairs of tusks elongated, curving into wicked, jagged scimitars as it doubled in size. It was no longer a giant boar—it had become a giant Metridiochoerus.

  "We need to alarm the others for help!" Vaishu shouted, her eyes fixed on the monstrous, doubled form of the Titan.

  "No!" Sheetal snapped, her voice trembling with a mix of exhaustion and stubborn pride. "I can do this!"

  Without waiting for a response, she threw herself back into the fray. She slammed her palms against the earth, coating the forest floor in a slick, crystalline path of ice. Using the frozen surface like a skating rink, she accelerated at a terrifying speed, closing the distance between her and the Titan in seconds.

  She conjured two massive ice spikes from her wrists, lunging forward to pierce the beast's skull. But the Titan was faster. With a predatory roar, it swung its head; the massive, evolved tusks collided with Sheetal’s spikes with crushing force. The ice shattered instantly, the recoil sending Sheetal flying backward like a broken doll.

  The resulting shrapnel rained down on the clearing. A jagged shard whistled through the air toward Mona, who was too focused on the spiritual signal to see it.

  Siip!

  Vaishu appeared in a blur, snatching Mona out of the path of the ice. "Be careful!" Vaishu hissed as they reappeared a few feet away.

  "Thanks," Mona gasped, her heart hammering.

  On the ground, Sheetal lay motionless. The impact had knocked her unconscious. The Boar Titan’s grey eyes locked onto her small, defenseless form. It lowered its head, hooves digging into the mud as it launched a lethal, high-speed charge to finish her.

  "Sheetallll!" Mona screamed.

  Vaishu reached out, preparing a desperate teleportation to rescue her teammate, but she was suddenly buffeted by a blistering wave of heat. A blur of golden-white light streaked past her.

  It was Surya.

  He moved with a speed that defied logic—not a steady run, but an explosive, violent surge. He hit a fallen pine tree—angled at a perfect 45 degrees—and used it as a ramp. His feet didn't just touch the bark; they pushed off with enough force to splinter the wood.

  As he launched himself into the air, soaring toward the Titan's head, his mind flashed back to a midnight training session at the Section D headquarters...

  The moon hung high over the training grounds as Pari sat slumped, yawning widely. He watched Surya’s silhouette blur as the boy completed another grueling lap around the perimeter.

  Surya finally staggered toward him, his chest heaving, sweat soaking through his training gear. "Fifteen... rounds..." he managed between ragged gasps. "Done."

  Pari sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes. "Good. You need to maintain that on a daily basis if you ever want to achieve Tonal Shift in your legs."

  "How long... will it take?" Surya asked, leaning on his knees.

  "For me, it took three months," Pari replied. "But for a Vessel like you, the timeline is unpredictable. It might even be sooner."

  Surya looked down at his trembling legs. "I still don’t get it. How do Normans like you use Tonal Shift to move faster than Energy Vessels? It doesn't seem to make sense."

  "It's simple," Pari said, his tone turning instructional. "We are at our peak; you aren't. Not yet. Normans achieve that speed by manually forcing blood flow into the leg muscles to hyper-oxygenate them. It’s pure biology. If you can master that physical push, your speed will skyrocket."

  "But what about energy flow?" Surya wondered. "Doesn't shifting my solar energy play a part?"

  "Of course it does," Pari nodded. "But you have to walk before you can run. In your hands, energy shifting is easy because blood flow doesn't dictate the power. But for legs? Biology is the foundation. You have to master the blood-shift first. Only then can you layer the energy-shift on top of it."

  Surya’s eyes brightened with realization. "I see... that’s what Chandru did during his fight with Heera. That’s how he moved so fast."

  "Exactly," Pari sighed, glancing at his watch. "Any more doubts? I’m fading here... it’s already midnight."

  "One final question," Surya said, a competitive spark in his eyes. "If I master the blood-shift... and then I stack the energy-flow on top of it... what would my top speed be?"

  Pari paused, considering the raw solar potential inside the boy. "Probably twice mine."

  Surya grinned. "That’s cool. What do you call that? The combined shift?"

  "We haven't named it," Pari said, standing up and stretching. "But since you like titles... let's call it Tonal shift: Double X."

  Back in the present, Surya’s eyes locked onto the charging beast. He whispered two words: "TONAL SHIFT."

  He diverted every ounce of solar energy from his left hand into his right, making his fist glow like a miniature sun. The Boar Titan roared, but Surya was a blur. He met the monster head-on, landing a thunderous punch squarely in the center of its forehead.

  BOOM!

  The shockwave rattled the trees. The massive Boar was hurled backward by the sheer force, slamming into a jagged mountain stone. Within seconds, its body began to disintegrate, crumbling into pale, snow-like ash that coated the forest floor.

  Vaishu rushed to his side. "Are you alright, Surya?"

  "Yes," Surya panted, his glow slowly fading. "I’m fine."

  Mona reached them, breathless. "That's incredible, Surya!"

  "You were so fast," Vaishu added, her voice full of shock. "I have never seen you move like that before."

  Surya wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Actually, I planned to use the energy flow shift in my legs... but I couldn't do it. So, I used the blood flow shift instead."

  "You mean the Tonal Shift in the legs?" Vaishu asked. "The one Pari uses?"

  "Yes," Surya replied. Suddenly, his eyes widened as he scanned the clearing. "Wait... Sheetal! What happened to Sheetal?"

  They found her lying motionless on the cold ground. Surya knelt beside her, waving his hand near her eyes to check for a reaction. As Sheetal’s vision blurred, the world around her faded. Surya’s face began to transform, shifting into a face she hadn't seen in years.

  Shimla, 1992:

  A young Sheetal woke up at the base of a towering tree. As the spinning in her head slowed, her vision finally cleared.

  "Are you okay...?" a boy asked, leaning over her.

  "Yes I am... Agan," she replied softly.

  "I told you to be careful while climbing trees," Agan said, reaching out to help her. "Look, now you have a bump on your forehead."

  Sheetal just smiled, looking up at him with total confidence. "So what? Why should I worry when my dear elder brother is here to protect me?"

  Thanks for reading!

  References to earlier chapters:

  Heera vs Chandru fight :Chapters 8 & 10

  Tonal Shift : Chapters 21 & 22