Karna then raised his hand and pointed toward Gavaksha. "This is Gavaksha, a warrior of the Vanara race whom I have recruited into the army of Dakshina Kalinga. I already know that he possesses considerable strength, but I want to understand exactly where that strength stands when compared with the elite warriors of our army. Adhinath, choose your best warriors and have them fight him."
Adhinath looked at Gavaksha for a few moments before turning toward Karna again. "Maharaj, how many?"
"For starters, pick a hundred."
Adhinath nodded without questioning the order and immediately turned away to gather the soldiers. Karna then looked at Gavaksha. "I want you to fight them seriously, but do not kill them. They are my soldiers, and I do not want this training exercise becoming a funeral."
Gavaksha tightened his grip around the mace and gave a firm nod. "I will not disappoint you, Maharaj."
It took some time for Adhinath to assemble the chosen warriors.
They were not ordinary soldiers pulled from the nearest barracks.
Every one of them belonged among the strongest fighters in the force that had come from Dakshina Kalinga; each of them considered quarter a rathi, and they arrived fully prepared for battle, wearing complete armor and carrying either heavy maces or long spears.
Their expressions showed a mixture of curiosity and uncertainty as they looked at Gavaksha. Some had seen the Vanara arrive in the divine chariot and were still trying to understand what exactly their king had brought back with him.
Gavaksha, however, simply stood in the middle of the training ground and waited.
There was no impatience in him. No nervousness. He held the mace loosely at his side while watching the hundred warriors take their positions around him. Adhinath stood farther behind them, spear in hand, studying both sides carefully. Karna remained outside the circle, his attention fixed upon Gavaksha. He was not merely watching the spectacle. He wanted to understand how much strength Gavaksha had compared to an elite warrior.
Karna raised one hand.
"Begin."
The hundred warriors immediately rushed forward.
They surrounded Gavaksha from every direction, their armor clattering as they moved across the ground. Adhinath shouted commands, coordinating their movements so that Gavaksha would have little opportunity to focus on a single opponent. Six warriors rushed forward together, attacking from different sides with their maces.
Gavaksha did not move.
The six maces struck him almost simultaneously.
The sound of metal hitting his body echoed across the training ground.
Yet Gavaksha remained standing in exactly the same place.
For a moment, the soldiers nearest him stared in disbelief.
Gavaksha then tightened his grip around the mace and swung it in a wide circle.
The movement was almost effortless.
All six warriors were struck and thrown backward as though they had been hit by a charging elephant. Their bodies flew several feet before crashing onto the ground, armor scraping against the earth. Some rolled several times before finally stopping.
Gavaksha looked around at the remaining warriors.
"Ordinary warriors born in this era cannot defeat me."
Karna watched from a distance and gave a small nod. That was precisely what he had wanted to know. Gavaksha's strength was not merely impressive by ordinary standards. Even elite soldiers could strike him directly without causing him to move. Karna had already suspected that the Vanara possessed extraordinary physical strength, but seeing it against trained warriors gave him a clearer measure.
Gavaksha suddenly raised his mace.
"Jai Shri Ram!"
His shout echoed across the training ground.
Then he leapt.
The enormous Vanara rose high into the air, his body briefly silhouetted against the sky before he brought the mace down with tremendous force. The weapon struck the earth.
The ground shook.
Cracks spread outward from the point of impact, racing across the training field. Dust rose into the air, and the sudden tremor threw several warriors off balance. Some stumbled backward, while others dropped to one knee to keep themselves from falling.
Only one man remained completely steady.
Adhinath.
His expression had changed.
Until then, he had been observing Gavaksha as a commander observing an unfamiliar warrior. Now there was something much more serious in his eyes. He tightened his grip around his spear and stepped forward.
"Stand back."
The other soldiers looked toward him.
"All of you. Stay away."
They obeyed.
Adhinath walked into the open space and lowered the tip of his spear toward Gavaksha.
Gavaksha looked at him with interest.
Adhinath suddenly charged.
His speed was considerably greater than that of the soldiers who had attacked Gavaksha earlier. Gavaksha raised his mace and blocked the first strike, the impact producing a sharp metallic sound that rang across the field. But Adhinath did not stop. He immediately spun around Gavaksha's side and struck at his back with the side of the spear blade.
The blow caught Gavaksha unexpectedly.
He stumbled a step.
His eyes narrowed.
Adhinath was already moving again. He shifted his footing and thrust the spear from the side, aiming for Gavaksha's body.
Gavaksha swung his mace at the same moment.
The spear pierced his abdomen.
The mace struck Adhinath.
Both warriors were thrown away from each other.
Gavaksha staggered backward, looking down at the spear wound. Blood had already begun flowing from it. He gritted his teeth, pulled the weapon free and wiped the blood from his lips with the back of his hand.
Several soldiers moved instinctively forward, but Adhinath raised one hand from where he had fallen.
"Stay back."
He pushed himself upright.
His body hurt badly, but he remained standing.
Gavaksha looked at him for a long moment.
Adhinath spat a little blood onto the ground and tightened his grip around the spear. "I may not be a match for you in terms of raw strength, but do not underestimate me."
Gavaksha's expression became serious.
"I do not, Veer. I was merely stating a fact."
Then Adhinath attacked again.
For the next several minutes, the training ground became almost silent except for the sound of weapons striking armor, feet pounding against the earth, and the occasional grunt of pain. The other soldiers no longer attempted to join the battle. They simply watched.
Adhinath was not an ordinary warrior.
Within the military hierarchy of Dakshina Kalinga, he was regarded as a warrior equal to four Rathis, and he stood among the strongest commanders of the kingdom. He was also considered the next likely candidate for the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Dakshina Kalinga army. His reputation had not been built merely through strength. He possessed speed, discipline, battlefield awareness, and the ability to recognize an opponent's habits within moments of fighting them.
Against Gavaksha, however, the difference in raw physical power was obvious.
Every time Gavaksha swung the mace, Adhinath had to evade rather than block. A direct strike would have been devastating. Yet Adhinath refused to retreat. He used his speed to move around Gavaksha, attacking from unexpected angles, striking the Vanara's shoulders, arms, legs, and sides whenever an opening appeared. Several of his blows drew blood.
Gavaksha endured them.
He was beginning to understand Adhinath as well.
The man knew that he could not overpower him, so he had abandoned any attempt to do so. Instead, he relied upon speed and precision. Whenever Gavaksha committed his weight to a powerful strike, Adhinath moved away and attacked from another direction. Whenever Gavaksha tried to close the distance, Adhinath used the spear's reach to maintain enough space for himself.
It was not enough to defeat Gavaksha.
But it was enough to make him work for the victory.
And Karna, watching from the edge of the training ground, noticed that immediately.