The academy had never been this crowded.
Banners hung from the towers.
Visitors filled the courtyards.
Delegations from magical institutions across the country had arrived at Sankathya for the Celestial Convergence.
The four houses stood beneath their respective banners.
Brave Lions.
Moon Owls.
Frost Serpents.
Ember Fangs.
For the students, it was a festival.
For the professors, it was an examination.
For Avdhoot—
It felt like another battlefield.
Veer leaned over the railing.
"How many people are here?"
Tara looked across the stands.
"Too many."
Meira adjusted her robes.
"Too much mana."
Avdhoot looked toward the arena.
She was right.
Hundreds of magical signatures filled the space.
The Grand Convergence Arena had been reinforced with layers of protective barriers.
Runes covered the floor.
Professor Isha Kapoor stepped into the centre.
Her voice carried across the arena.
"The first trial is a synchronization exercise."
Six mana constructs appeared.
Humanoid.
Featureless.
Perfectly formed.
"Power alone will not determine success."
She looked toward Avdhoot and the others.
"Coordination will."
Her hand lowered.
"Begin."
The constructs attacked.
Avdhoot moved first.
Priya intercepted one.
Raivan spread frost across the ground.
Manaswini created a stabilizing formation.
Avdhoot slipped between two constructs.
His dagger struck.
A thin line of fire followed the blade.
The construct broke apart.
For several minutes—
The team worked perfectly.
Then Manaswini stopped.
"…Wait."
The formation beneath them flickered.
Avdhoot looked down.
One rune had changed.
It wasn't supposed to be there.
Raivan's expression hardened.
"The mana flow changed."
Priya looked around.
"Is that part of the test?"
"No," Manaswini said.
The constructs stopped.
Their bodies trembled.
Then began to change.
Their smooth white forms darkened.
Purple lines appeared across their bodies.
Their mana signatures became heavier.
Isha Kapoor's expression changed.
"Everyone out of the arena."
The constructs attacked.
One struck Priya hard enough to send her sliding backward.
Raivan's frost shattered.
Manaswini's formation cracked.
Avdhoot stared at the creatures.
Something was feeding them.
He could feel it.
A foreign current running beneath the arena.
"There's another formation underneath us."
Manaswini looked at him.
"You're right."
Deep beneath the arena—
An ancient inscription activated.
Purple energy travelled through the foundation.
The constructs changed again.
Six became eight.
Then ten.
The crowd began to panic.
Professors moved toward the arena.
Avdhoot looked toward Manaswini.
"Can you stop it?"
"Not from here."
Raivan raised his sword.
"Then we break through."
They moved together.
Fire.
Frost.
Inscription.
Steel.
For a moment, they pushed the constructs back.
Then one struck Manaswini.
She fell.
"MANASWINI!"
Avdhoot moved.
Something inside him responded.
The world slowed.
Not completely.
Just enough.
He could see the mana flowing through the constructs.
He could see the foreign energy feeding them.
And he could see something else.
A narrow path.
A weakness.
His hand ignited.
The flame looked different.
Denser.
Compressed.
The air around it trembled.
Avdhoot stared at it.
He didn't understand what he had created.
But he understood one thing.
He could control it.
He released the flame.
BOOM!
The blast tore through the corrupted constructs.
The arena shook.
Protective barriers flashed.
The underground inscription cracked.
Then—
Silence.
The constructs vanished.
Avdhoot stood at the centre of the arena.
His breathing was heavy.
Priya stared at him.
"…What was that?"
Raivan didn't answer.
Manaswini looked at the scorch marks.
"That wasn't ordinary fire."
Above the arena, Irawen Solas watched.
His expression had gone completely serious.
"…So it has started."
Deep beneath the arena—
A single purple line appeared across the stone.
A fracture.
Small.
Almost invisible.
But growing.
[End of Chapter 34]