The scent of cardamom and simmering chai curled around Sujan, a comforting counterpoint to the distant clang of sparring swords. He hummed, a cheerful, slightly off-key tune, as he stirred the milky brew in a blackened copper pot. Outside the high window, the morning sun, a ripe persimmon against the pale sky, cast long shadows across the training grounds. Young ascendants, still damp with dew, grunted through weapon forms, their Prana flaring in vibrant, eager bursts. Sujan, currently the fortress's most enthusiastic, if unremarkable, support buffer, saw no need for such strenuous exertion before his second cup of chai.
He reached for the earthenware mugs, a small smile playing on his lips. Three hundred days. That was the count. Or rather, it had been. He’d woken up in this soft bed, in this surprisingly intact world, with the echo of a cosmic chime in his skull and memories of a ruined future he had already endured. It was a second chance, a cosmic do-over, only this time, the cosmic vending machine had apparently short-changed him on the soul durability.
A low growl, more guttural than any beast he’d ever heard, vibrated through the stone floor. Sujan paused, a mug halfway to the counter. Not a training growl. Not a hungry cook’s growl. This was a ‘something-is-about-to-get-violently-torn-apart’ growl.
A sickening crack splintered the air. The entire eastern wall of the larder exploded inward, showering ceramic shards and pulverized mortar across the gleaming copperware. Through the dust, a mountainous silhouette lurched forward. It was an Asura-blight crawler, a grotesque amalgamation of chitinous plates and writhing, spore-laden feelers, its maw dripping with acidic ichor. Its single, baleful eye, a furious red orb, fixed on Sujan.
[Soul Duration: 300 Days. Task: Eliminate Corrupted Entity. Reward: 50 Karmic Merits]
The serene chime of the Dharma Wheel was a stark contrast to the monster’s shriek. Sujan blinked. Three hundred days. Just a reminder. The crawler, easily the size of a mountain pony, took another shambling step, its appendages lashing out, tearing through a stack of neatly folded linens.
“Oh, come on,” Sujan sighed, a put-upon sigh that seemed entirely out of place given the imminent danger. “Not the clean towels. And you’re going to get dust in my chai.”
He didn’t draw a blade. He didn’t flex his Prana. He simply snatched the heavy, soot-blackened cast-iron frying pan from its hook above the stove. It felt good in his hand, balanced and solid. The brute roared, lunging, its mandibles snapping. Sujan sidestepped with an easy, almost lazy grace that belied his current 'low-tier support' guise. The heavy pan arced, a blur of mundane metal, connecting with a sickening *thwack* against the beast's chitinous forehead.
The fiend staggered, its eye twitching in apparent confusion. It roared again, a high-pitched, indignant sound, and swung a thorny foreleg. Sujan ducked under it, pivoted, and swung the pan again, this time aiming for the soft underside of its jaw. *CRUNCH!* A shower of green ichor and shattered carapace fragments sprayed across the flagstones. The wounded invader stumbled, whimpering, before Sujan brought the iron down with a final, decisive *CLANG* on its central nervous cluster. The colossal creature shuddered, its limbs spasming, then collapsed in a heap of twitching bulk and putrid dust, right next to the still-simmering chai pot.
[Corrupted Entity Eliminated. Karmic Merits Gained: 50. Soul Duration: 299 Days 23 Hours 59 Minutes 58 Seconds.]
Sujan frowned at the internal chime. *Already?* He felt a familiar, dull ache bloom in his chest. But before he could properly process the rapid decrement, he heard the pounding of heavy boots.
“By the Great Titans! What in Jambudvipa…!” A voice boomed from the shattered doorway.
Sujan’s demeanor shifted faster than a chameleon on a rainbow. He dropped the pan with a clatter, stumbled backward, and collapsed onto his backside, scrambling away from the now-motionless carcass with wide, terrified eyes. His hands flew to his head, pulling at his hair in feigned panic.
“A-Asura! It was an Asura!” he shrieked, his voice cracking with a perfectly modulated fear. “It burst right through the wall! I… I just made tea! I’m just an Aura Harmonizer, I can’t… I can’t fight!” He pointed a trembling finger at the skillet. “It… it tried to eat the skillet! I threw it! It was just a lucky throw! Oh, my Prana is so weak!”
Two sentries, clad in polished azure breastplates, burst in, their Prana-infused lances glowing. They gaped at the massive, dead beast, then at the trembling, chai-stained Sujan. They exchanged bewildered glances.
“An auxiliary buffer… killed this fiend?” one of them muttered, skepticism heavy in his tone.
Before Sujan could launch into a more elaborate, self-deprecating explanation, a new figure strode into the room, his dark hair slicked back, his uniform impeccable despite the dust. The arrival wore the insignia of the fortress's elite strike cadre, a senior swordsman whose offensive rank topped the regional boards. His gaze swept from the dead beast to Sujan, who was still artfully quivering.
“What’s this mess?” The swordsman's tone was dismissive, entirely devoid of the sentries' bewildered curiosity. He didn’t even glance at Sujan. “A rogue blight penetrated the outer ward?” He drew twin sabers, their edges humming with concentrated Prana, and approached the corpse. He nudged a limp appendage with his boot. “Seems it’s been dealt with. Sloppily.”
He turned to the sentries, his eyes narrowed. “Clearly, the perimeter patrols are lacking. This creature was likely wounded by our defensive formations and stumbled in here, already on its last breaths. An auxiliary buffer such as… *him*… could never fell such a beast.” He sneered, finally glancing at Sujan, his lip curling. “Your kind are only good for mending scrapes, not breaking bones. I’ll make sure the official report notes *my* intervention. Consider this my morning warm-up.”
Sujan pushed himself up, dusting off his simple tunic. He offered the swordsman a bright, guileless smile. “Oh, sir! You’re just in time! I’ve brewed fresh cardamom chai. It’s excellent for settling the nerves after a big kill.” He gestured to the untouched mugs. “Care for a cup? You look a bit… dusty.”
The swordsman grimaced, ignoring the offer as he sheathed his blades with an exaggerated flourish. “See that this… *debris* is cleared,” he snapped at the sentries before turning on his heel and sweeping out into the corridor.
Sujan watched him go, his smile still fixed in place. He even offered a small wave to the departing sentries. As soon as they were out of sight, his smile faltered. He turned away from the mess, ostensibly to clean up the spilled tea, but his hand moved to his mouth. A small, involuntary cough escaped him, quiet and rasping. When he lowered his hand, a speck of black, viscous fluid glistened on his palm.
He wiped it quickly, discretely, on the back of his tunic, his chest aching. He knew the drill. He’d lived it before. The regression had reset many things, but not the decay eating at him from the inside. He reached out, his fingers brushing the faint, golden shimmer that only he could perceive, the ethereal interface of the Dharma Wheel. The numbers, luminous and relentless, flickered into his vision.
[Soul Duration: 299 Days 23 Hours 59 Minutes 20 Seconds.]
Sujan stared at the ticking countdown, the gentle hum of the Dharma Wheel a stark reminder. Three hundred days. Less now. Three hundred days to stop a god, save his friends, and avert an apocalypse. Less than ten months before he, Sujan, the Smiling Swordmaster, faded into nothingness forever.