**Hizashi no Kage (Shadow of Light / Dhoop ki Chhaya)**

  This is the story of another planet. Let’s call the planet **Marth**.

  This planet is almost exactly like Earth, except that magic also exists here (mana, supernatural powers, quirks—call it whatever you like). The key point is that the people of Marth can use magic because the very air is filled with **mana particles**. Because of this, magical beasts and dungeons also exist on this world.

  Just as on Earth some countries are extremely advanced while others are extremely backward, the same is true on Marth.

  There are four continents and six oceans. For our story we only need to focus on one (or maybe two) continents, so I’ll mention just one for now: **Musasia** — the largest continent on Marth.

  This continent contains many different countries, big and small. Among them, the most advanced nation is **Kamilya**.

  The history of this country is quite interesting, but we’ll talk about that later.

  The capital of Kamilya is **Kamil**.

  This capital lies quite close to the border, with several villages and towns situated in between.

  In one of these villages our male main character is born.

  The child had sky-blue hair, so his parents named him **Akash**.

  His family name was already **Snow**.

  So — **Akash Snow** — our protagonist…

  Details about his parents:

  - **Mother**: Angela Snow

  Magic type: Advanced Hearing

  Magic level: 31

  (Angela also had sky-blue hair)

  - **Father**: Bron Snow

  Magic type: Super Stamina

  Magic level: 30

  They were a woodcutter’s family. Bron would cut wood and sell it. Angela earned some money by doing wood carvings and crafting wooden items.

  It was a poor family, but a happy one.

  When Akash was eight years old, a very big event occurred in his life.

  Their small village, named **Jot**, didn’t have many houses. Because of that, facilities were also very limited.

  The Snow family’s house was right at the very end of the village. Beyond it stretched dense forest for hundreds of kilometers, and after the forest came the border, and then the next continent — **Tyrope**.

  In that dense forest lived many monsters and beasts, and there was also a dungeon. Because of this, no one ventured deep into the forest.

  In that same forest lived **Jagruti Didi** (Big Sister Jagruti).

  Jagruti was a **half-demon**. No one knew who she was or where she came from, but no one would accept a half-demon anyway. It’s not hard to guess what her situation must have been like.

  The people of Jot village cursed her. Children ran away from her.

  No one knew her real age, but she looked about 30–35 years old. Sturdy build, one blue horn on her head, red eyes — these were some of her half-demon features.

  Everyone else stayed far away from her, but the Snow family occasionally gave her shelter. Sometimes food, sometimes clothes, or other small things.

  Akash became very close to Jagruti. He saw her as an elder sister. Jagruti also loved him dearly.

  But one day Jagruti was bitten by a **red wolf**. Infection spread through her body. She became bedridden and couldn’t get up.

  Except for the Snow family, no one came to check on her.

  But when it became clear that she wouldn’t survive, even Angela and Bron stopped visiting her house out of fear that the infection might spread. They also forbade Akash from going.

  Yet Akash still kept going to her house, risking everything.

  As she came closer and closer to death, Akash thought and thought about what he could do. He had read that only **healers** could cure such illnesses, and healers were found in churches.

  (In Kamilya, there was a law that no healer could use their magic without permission from the church.)

  Akash had also heard that the next town over, **Kija city**, had a church.

  Akash had only visited Kija city once or twice with his father to sell wood, so he was scared to go alone. But when no other way to save Jagruti Didi appeared, he went to Kija city anyway.

  Innocent Akash thought the church priests were very kind people. He believed that as soon as they heard someone was dying, they would rush to help.

  But all his illusions were shattered. They pushed him out of the church.

  (Heal someone? That too a half-demon? And for free? — What a joke!)

  That day Akash understood what the adult world was really like. He cried the entire way back.

  When Jagruti Didi was taking her last breaths, her head rested in Akash’s lap. He had once again broken all the rules to come to her.

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  A warm tear fell on Jagruti’s cheek. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw Akash’s crying face.

  With great effort she raised one hand near his eyes, wiped his tears, and said,

  “Don’t cry, Akash. I’m happy. Look — at least I’m not dying alone. Haha… you never left me alone. How can I ever thank you for that, my little angel…”

  Tears kept flowing from Akash’s eyes.

  Even that small child somehow realized that Jagruti’s death was very near.

  Jagruti started wiping his tears again and said,

  “Okay, now stop crying—”

  “Can’t I do something for you?” — Akash interrupted in a choked voice.

  After thinking for a moment, Jagruti said,

  “Will you fulfill one last wish of mine, Akash?

  I want you to never oppress anyone weaker than you — no matter if they are demons.

  Don’t ever become like these other people!! It’s very easy to be unjust to the weak and minorities, but you must never do that.

  Promise me… even when you grow up, you won’t do it. Promise?”

  Crying, Akash somehow managed to say,

  “I promise…”

  “Thank you, my little angel—”

  With those words, Jagruti’s hand fell from Akash’s face.

  Akash Snow is now 10 years old.

  After Akash, Angela gave birth to several more children, but none of them survived beyond one or two years.

  Angela’s health started deteriorating too. Eventually Bron gave up on having more children.

  The wood business was going well, so Bron bought two buffaloes as well.

  Akash’s childhood passed happily among the animals.

  He also picked up a hobby — playing the **flute**. He learned it from his mother. Angela even made him a beautiful flute herself.

  Mountain life. Simple living. Hard work. Playing with children his own age.

  Yet despite all this, a sorrow had settled deep in Akash’s heart.

  Jagruti’s death had left a profound impact on him. The boy’s mind had matured far too early.

  Days passed like that.

  One day Bron received a very large order from the capital. He and some other woodcutters started preparing to go to Kamil.

  Akash’s parents thought — who knows when such an opportunity would come again — so they decided to let Akash see the capital too.

  Thus Akash went to the capital with Bron.

  The grandeur, beauty, and dazzling lights of Kamil city left Akash stunned. He began to realize how little he had seen in life, how small his own world had been.

  While everyone was busy unloading wood from the bullock carts, Akash’s eyes fell on a small puppy.

  The poor pup looked very sad. Akash immediately understood that the puppy had gotten separated from its owner.

  Akash loved animals. In Jot village he had lived among almost every kind of animal.

  He went straight to the puppy, took a piece of the sweet bread Angela had given him for the journey, and tried to call it over.

  The puppy stared at the bread for a while, sniffed it once or twice, then suddenly snatched it and ran away.

  Without thinking, Akash chased after it.

  The puppy led Akash deeper and deeper into some unknown corner of the city.

  Finally Akash caught the puppy, calmed it down with gentle petting, and picked it up in his arms. Now he had to find where both of them belonged.

  While wandering around holding the puppy, three or four men suddenly surrounded him.

  “Hey kid, is this pup yours?” — the first man asked.

  Akash got a little scared and didn’t answer.

  The one who looked the cleverest among them said,

  “Hey brother, don’t scare the child. Look, little boy, actually this puppy belongs to our madam. She asked us to find it because it got lost two-three days ago. So…”

  Akash felt a bit relieved, but suspicion quickly arose.

  He couldn’t decide, but slowly he started extending his hands toward the man.

  Just as the man was about to snatch the puppy — Akash caught sight of his devilish expression. It was the face of someone who saw animals as mere objects.

  Akash immediately pulled his hands back and ran.

  The men chased after him.

  Akash was fast and managed to evade them for a while, but when he entered a narrow alley, they blocked him from the other side too.

  Now he was trapped from both ends.

  The first man spoke again:

  “Look kid, we don’t know where you found this dog, but do you know how much it’s worth in the market? Hand it over quietly — maybe we’ll beat you less!!”

  Akash was terrified, but he still didn’t give up the puppy.

  The goons then used force. First they snatched the puppy, then started beating him.

  They were thrashing him when suddenly a girl shouted from behind —

  “Hira! Come here Hira — and what is all this…”

  The puppy’s name was Hira.

  Hira broke free from the goon’s grip and ran to its real owner.

  This girl was about the same age as Akash, and smart enough to understand the entire situation in an instant.

  Seeing the goons, she didn’t get scared. Instead she threatened them:

  “All of you listen carefully! Let this boy go, otherwise the consequences won’t be good!!”

  At first the goons laughed, then their minds clicked.

  They charged toward the girl, shouting.

  **Shadow Binding!!!** — the girl chanted a spell.

  Immediately the shadows of all the goons rose up, turning into vine-like forms and binding them tightly.

  One goon said in shock — “What is this? Magic? But how? You need to be at least 18–20 years old to use magic!!”

  The clever-looking one shouted — “Early awakening?!!!!”

  Before moving forward, let me pause here and explain a few things.

  On Marth, everyone can use magic. But magic usually **awakens** only when a person reaches maturity — in other words, becomes an adult.

  That’s why the common belief among people is that magic awakens only after the age of 18.

  But like everything else, there are exceptions here too:

  - **Early awakening** — magic awakening at a young age

  - **Late awakening** — awakening much later in life

  - And also things like awakening at birth, awakening at death, etc.

  So right now all the goons were standing bound by dark purple shadows.

  The girl walked through them to Akash, lifted his injured body.

  To Akash, it felt as if a goddess herself had appeared to save him from death.

  Just as she was lifting Akash, one of the goons activated his own magic.

  His magic was **Size Shift**. His body doubled in size. The shadow bindings broke.

  He kicked the girl from behind. She fell forward clutching her stomach. All the bindings shattered.

  Now all the goons advanced toward the girl.

  The girl stood up and warned — “Don’t you dare! You don’t know who I am! If anything happens to us—”

  “You’re just a bitch and we’re going to sell you in the market!!” — one goon laughed.

  Darkness began to cloud Akash’s vision. He could barely stand properly.

  Hira kept barking continuously. The goons drew knives and pounced on them.

  The girl tried to use Shadow Binding again, but one goon used super strength and slammed her down hard.

  The goons now felt victory was certain.

  But at that moment Akash’s body began glowing with golden light. The radiance was so intense it spread far around them.

  The clever goon screamed with wide eyes — “Another early awakening?!!!!!!!!”

  Akash himself couldn’t believe it.

  But he immediately rushed and stood in front of the girl.

  The goons were stunned and confused, yet they still advanced.

  Akash’s magic had only just awakened. He didn’t even know how to use it yet. He didn’t even know what type of magic it was.

  But he knew one thing — magic is deeply connected to emotions. And right now, the only emotion in his heart was the desire to protect this girl.

  The goons drew closer. Akash didn’t know what to do.

  When nothing else came to mind, he closed his eyes and shouted with all his strength.

  The goons stepped back one pace.

  Akash’s shout didn’t do anything else — except create a sphere of light around the girl (a **light shield dome**).

  He couldn’t do anything more than that.

  But the danger wasn’t over yet. The goons’ patience had run out. They charged at Akash.

  Akash stood in front of the girl with arms spread wide. She could only see his back.

  The goons beat Akash severely, but they couldn’t break through his light shield.

  It was nothing short of a miracle — because Akash’s magic level was only **1**, while the goons were around level **40**.

  Yet Akash endured every blow and refused to let his magic collapse.

  The girl kept shouting from inside the shield, begging the goons to stop. Hira kept barking.

  When punches and kicks failed to deactivate the shield, the goons decided to finish Akash with knives.

  Seeing their intention, the girl screamed.

  Akash no longer saw any hope of survival.

  Who knows what he thought — he simply turned, looked at the girl, and smiled.

  She couldn’t understand.

  But in that instant a knife pierced straight through Akash’s stomach. He fell. Yet the light shield still didn’t break.

  The goons were about to strike again when royal soldiers finally arrived.

  All the goons were arrested.

  Among the soldiers was another girl dressed in royal attire. She was **Ramya**, the princess of Kamilya.

  And the girl who had saved Akash earlier was her big sister — **Princess Manjula**.

  Ramya had a **super healing potion** with her. She immediately fed it to Akash.

  All his wounds healed and he was saved.

  The whole story was this:

  A fair was being held in the city that day. Princess Manjula had disguised herself and sneaked out of the palace. She had brought Hira along.

  But in the crowd Hira got lost — and that’s how the rest of the story unfolded.

  After everything was settled, Manjula, Ramya, and the soldiers started heading back.

  Akash watched them leave in confusion and worry.

  Suddenly Manjula turned around, ran back to Akash, took off the locket from her neck, and gave it to him.

  “Thank you for saving my life.”

  Akash was wearing a protective amulet that Angela had given him. He immediately removed it and gave it to Manjula.

  “Thank you for saving my life too.”

  Manjula smiled and left.

  But in that moment Akash noticed something strange — a mole just below the left side of Manjula’s lips.

  He couldn’t believe it — because he had an identical mole in exactly the same spot.

  And with that, you’ve probably already guessed —

  **Manjula** is the female main character of this story.

  Now… the real story begins…