Vishal listened quietly to their argument, completely confused—what clan, when was he injured, and what were they talking about?

 He asked in amazement, "Mom, Dad, what are you talking about? What clan? Who was thrown out, and my life was in danger? What is all this? I don’t understand anything."

 Hearing this, his mother said, "Nothing, son, just go and rest. You’re still not well."

 With that, Vishal's mother took his father to their room to continue the conversation. It was around 11 in the morning. Vishal still couldn’t make sense of what he’d overheard. His mind kept returning to the martial artist on whom he had placed a tracker.

 Vishal went straight to his lab to check the tracker, but no location showed up. After tracking for a long time, he found the last recorded location was near the same hill where the weapons dealing was happening. After that, there was no further trace.

 Vishal wanted to go back to the cave near the hill, but he couldn’t. Just as he was thinking this, his parents entered the lab. Vishal knew they would come eventually.

 Vishal laughed and said, "So, Dad, what are you going to tell me? Please, tell me quickly; I can’t wait any longer."

 His mom and dad exchanged glances before his father began, "It’s time you learned about your dad's family."

 Rahul began to explain:

 "Our family belongs to Rudrapuram, a city famous for its martial arts traditions. There are three clans there: Nandi, Trishul, and Naag. The leader of the Trishul clan is Ramacharya, your grandfather. These clans believe in not maintaining relations with outsiders unless there’s a major threat to Earth. The leader of the Nandi clan is Nandadas, with his successor Shravan, while the Naag clan is led by Bhairav, with Kanishk as his heir.

 The relationship between the Trishul and Naag clans has been strained for about 100 years. To end this enmity, a marriage was arranged between me and Savitri, the only daughter of the Naag clan. But the marriage wasn’t as it seemed. The Naag clan had sinister intentions; they were planning to assassinate Ramacharya, the leader of the Trishul clan. When I discovered their plan, I decided not to marry Savitri and fled.

 After I left, things eventually calmed down, but I became the enemy of all three clans. According to their laws, anyone who leaves Rudrapuram without permission is excommunicated and cannot be part of any clan again.

 Even while living outside for five years, I kept gathering information about the clans. During this time, I met your mom in college, and we eventually fell in love.

 The real problem began when Vibha had a falling out with her father and ran away. Vashikaran Malhotra didn’t want this because, like you, Vibha was eligible to lead the MLH Group. But she didn’t want that responsibility. Vashikaran sent his men to find Vibha, and wherever we went, they would always track us down.

 Your mother and I were secretly staying with the Trishul clan, with the help of some friends. After a few days, Vibha became pregnant. I had no choice but to seek help from Vaidya Sung, a close friend of my father, Ramacharya. Through him, Ramacharya found out everything.

 A meeting of all three clans was called. The Naag clan demanded the restrictions on me be lifted in exchange for accepting me back. They also wanted the Trishul clan to stop interfering in the affairs of other clans. Ramacharya had no choice but to accept, as the child growing in Vibha’s womb was the key. After this agreement, the Naag and Nandi clans were freed from the influence of the Trishul clan, and we were accepted back.

 At the time of your birth, the Naag clan’s daughter Savitri and the Nandi clan’s son Shravan were married, strengthening the bond between the two clans.

 For three years, there was peace and joy between the clans. Vibha and I were living happily with my mother Shakuntala, father Ramacharya, and sister Rameshwari. You had begun training under your grandfather from the age of three. Everything was perfect until the day of the much-anticipated event…

 **The Grand Festival**

 Every three years, a grand festival is organized among the three clans, traditionally held on Shivratri. In this festival, martial artists from the clans showcase their skills in a competition. The winner is awarded a golden pill and the Grand Level Martial Arts Book, and they are appointed commander of the Trident Force, whose duty is to protect the Earth from external threats.

 The next day, the grand festival was held at Namada Ground. The ground has three large doors: the main door bears the Trishul emblem, and the other two display the symbols of the Nandi and Naag clans, representing the three tribes. The leaders and elders of all three clans entered together.

 In the second round, one-on-one fights began: Amar faced Veer, I fought Akhil, and Kanishk and Shravan fought two others, Setti and Rehman. Before the martial arts fight even began, both Kanishk and Shravan advanced to the third round as their opponents conceded defeat. It was a rare disgrace for a martial artist to forfeit without a fight.

 In the remaining four matches, I and Veer both advanced after about ten minutes of fighting. You, Vishal, were especially excited to watch me compete. In the next round, I faced Shravan, while Kanishk fought Ravi.

 Shravan, although advanced at the final stage, knew I was only at the middle stage of the advanced level. Despite this, he found me challenging. He used all his strength to make the first move. His attack was so fast I had no choice but to block it. I quickly adopted the defensive X technique and moved forward to reduce the impact. Shravan kept punching, and the crowd thought I was losing, as I took several hits. Just then, I used the Ghost Footstep technique to sidestep Shravan's attack and kicked him, sending him to the ground.

 I won the match with ease, and the crowd erupted in applause. Some turned to Ramacharya, saying, 'Master Ramacharya, Rahul is both clever and powerful. He won effortlessly, conserving his energy.'

 On the other hand, Ravi couldn’t withstand Kanishk's powerful attack. Being at the beginner level of the advanced stage, Ravi had no chance. Kanishk was at the middle stage and advanced to the final round.

 The final round was between the Naag and Trishul clans. This raised tensions, as everyone knew the current state of relations between the two clans.

 The match began. Kanishk and I both charged at each other, exchanging punches and stepping back. This continued for about five minutes. Our skill levels were the same, but I was five years younger than him. Who would win?

 I held back from attacking until Kanishk got up, but he took advantage and launched a surprise Palm Attack. It was so fast that I couldn’t defend in time, and I got hurt. Kanishk started attacking relentlessly.

 I barely managed to defend myself, then used the Art of Reversal with Ghost Footsteps and executed a Kundalini attack faster than the wind, sending Kanishk flying."