Eerie silence blanketed the once bustling city, which made Uruvi feel incredibly uncomfortable. The roads were littered with debris of twisted metal and carnage, but with enough space in between to drive around.

  “All the chaos in the city seems to be hiding in the shadows,” she said.

  “It appears so.” His driving had been impeccable, weaving smoothly around any hurdles in their path.

  Rambha, who sat in the backseat, had been a little too quiet for the journey, prompting Uruvi to check on her once. Her eyes were wide open, and her head bobbed with every turn they took.

  “Are you okay… darling?” asked Uruvi.

  “Note to self. No more daytime drinking,” said Rambha, as she shook her head violently.

  “One was fine. Three was excessive,” he added.

  “Who drinks just one can?” asked Rambha.

  Uruvi paused and said, “normal people?”

  “Normal people don’t exist anymore,” replied Rambha.

  “You are right about that.” Uruvi turned back to face the road when she spotted a gigantic head peeping above the skyline of the buildings. “Whoa! Is that what we are going to fight?”

  Rambha popped her head between them and took a peek at the monster, while Ashwin checked his map once again.

  “Looks like it. I did not expect it to be so big,” he said.

  “Warning! New enemy detected. Maha Yantra,” said Arya.

  “Maha? (Maha translates to great) Well, at least it fits the name,” said Uruvi.

  “How are we supposed to defeat that thing?” asked Rambha, looking slightly concerned.

  “Well, it is level 15. I hope we are not biting more than we can chew off,” said Ashwin.

  As the conversation mellowed out, Uruvi found the opportune time to do some upgrades. ‘Arya, how many points do I have?’

  “You have 10 attribute points, 2 skill points, and 2 spell points.”

  She looked at her attributes screen and did some quick mental math. ‘It won’t be enough, but it will be a step in the right direction. Arya, assign 4 points to Resilience and Erudition each and 2 points to Perception.’

  “Affirmative, the points have been assigned.”

  ‘On to the Skills and Spells.’ Her eyes scanned the options before her. ‘I will be able to upgrade a few to 3 in the next Level. Should I wait…? Hey Arya, how many points will I get for the next level up?’

  “You will be rewarded 10 Attribute points, 2 Skill points, and 2 Spell points.”

  ‘Oh! There is no need to hold back.’ She saw that the skill next to Crippling Precision had opened up.

  Precise Strikes – Striking a weak point increases chances of Crit hit by 5%.

  ‘Crit hit? What is that?’

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “A Crit hit increases the damage dealt by 50 percent. Current chance of crit hit is 11 percent. You can increase both using charms.”

  ‘Oh! Well, that is interesting… I think I found my first Skill.’ She shifted focus to the mind tree, which had only Calm Mind and Razor focus opened up. The options were limited, as her Chakras connected to the Mind Tree were underdeveloped. Only one other Skill was open.

  Bulk Up – Increase Attack and Defense by 5 percent for 5 minutes.

  It wasn’t an exciting Skill, but its long duration made her wonder if it was worth the point. ‘Screw it. Let’s go with it. Arya, assign one point to Precise Strikes and one point to Bulk Up.’

  “Affirmative. The points have been assigned.”

  Her options for Skills were much more vast, but she also had more spells she wished to max out once she made it to Level 15. ‘I think I will stick to just upgrading Return to Sender for now.’

  “Affirmative. The Spell, Return to Sender has been upgraded.”

  ‘Perfect. Now we wait.’

  They parked the car at a curb before covering the last mile on foot. The Yantra stood still in a sea of destroyed houses. They stopped at the turn that led deeper into the urban canvas. Several Pisacha and Mrugam prowled the ruins.

  “So, how do we deal with that thing again?” asked Rambha.

  “Every Yantra seems to have a gimmick,” said Ashwin.

  “A gimmick?” asked Rambha.

  “Yeah. Take a look at it again,” said Ashwin.

  Uruvi took a good look at the colossal machine. It was just the upper half of a body, with a giant breastplate, two metal arms, and accompanying gloves, with an armored helmet sitting on top. The entire thing had a dull golden shine to it. “It can’t move.”

  “Look closer. The top of the breastplate oddly resembles a doorway, doesn’t it?” said Ashwin.

  The throat of the machine did look like a small doorway, but Uruvi remained unsure. “Okay… and how do we get up there? We jump?”

  Rambha pointed at a building across the Yantra. “We can zipline from there.”

  She looked at the building and back at the Yantra. They looked close enough to each other. “But what about the monsters below?”

  “They are all just Level 11. Won’t be worth much for us. We can let the others take care of it,” said Ashwin.

  “Hang on. Why is no one else here?” she asked.

  “My guess… that behemoth. It must be smashing anyone who got close to it,” said Ashwin.

  She peeked around the corner, expecting to find something behind the machine’s back. However, there was nothing there. “Arya said Yantra’s main purpose was to guard. I wonder what it is guarding…?”

  “I guess we will find out once we defeat it. Come on,” said Ashwin.

  They pushed ahead and weaved through the narrow streets. Several Pisacha blocked their path, but they were quickly cut down. They made their way up an abandoned apartment, landing on the terrace from where they had a clear path to the Yantra’s head.

  “What guarantee do we have that it won’t start smashing the minute we get up to its throat?” asked Uruvi.

  Rambha clicked open her suitcase. “Only one way to find out… we are going to need more power for this one.” She pulled out a large gun and handed it to Ashwin. “I hope your shot is good.”

  He aimed it at the Yantra’s throat and said, “Good enough.” The hook shot through the air and smashed into the metal wall.

  “Slam the back of the gun onto the floor,” Rambha instructed.

  He did as she had instructed. The gun nailed itself to the concrete floor as the wire tensed up. Rambha passed a wheel with a pair of handles to each of them.

  She went first, hooking the wheel onto the wire before jumping off the parapet. The wheel spun and pushed her towards the Yantra. Uruvi and Ashwin followed soon. They rode the line over the battlefield with relative ease, landing on the shoulder of the giant. There was no response from the Yantra.

  Rambha proceeded to cut the wire, which instantly reeled itself back into the gun. She turned around to see the shocked expressions of Uruvi and Ashwin. “I thought it would be wise not to let others follow us down.”

  They quietly nodded.

  The trio carefully stepped off the shoulder onto a narrow ledge, which led them to the Machine’s throat. As they had expected, there was a small doorway, about seven feet tall, cut into the metal neck of the Yantra.

  “I guess I'll go first,” said Uruvi as she stepped into the darkness. She felt herself lean forward and fall into the darkness. A faint orange dot appeared at the bottom. It grew and grew until it stretched about half the length of a football field. She landed on the floor with a dull thud, soon followed by Ashwin and Rambha, who dropped down using a line. “Hey? What the hell? Where was the line for me?” asked Uruvi.

  “You should not have jumped so quickly,” said Rambha, shaking her head.

  She simply growled and turned back towards the field. Four massive floodlights lit the empty ground, while darkness surrounded them from all sides. She had an inkling of what the place was. “Guys. I am thinking this might be an arena.”

  A giant board appeared across the field, and on it was the text ‘1 – 2 – 3’ in bright neon green.

  “Looks like you're spot on,” said Ashwin.