Marcus’s fist descended with crushing force.

  Elias saw the blow coming but his body refused to respond fast enough. The reinforced strike carried the weight of Forge Axiom behind it, the metallic glow along Marcus’s arm intensifying as the energy gathered into the final motion of the punch.

  For a brief moment, Elias understood exactly what would happen.

  The strike would land.

  His ribs would break.

  And the academy would have its answer.

  Then something inside him reacted.

  The fractured mark on his forearm flared.

  The glow was sudden and violent, far brighter than before. A surge of pressure rushed through Elias’s body like a flood breaking through a cracked dam. Heat spread through his veins, sharp and overwhelming, as if several currents of energy had suddenly awakened at once.

  Marcus’s fist struck empty air.

  A ripple moved through the space where Elias had been standing.

  Gasps erupted across the hall.

  Elias barely understood what had happened. One moment he had been beneath Marcus’s attack. The next, the entire room had shifted around him. The air felt distorted, stretched in strange directions.

  He stumbled as his body reappeared several steps behind Marcus.

  For an instant, Elias simply stood there, stunned.

  The movement hadn’t been a normal dodge. It had felt like the ground itself had slid sideways beneath his feet, pulling him through space instead of around the attack.

  Marcus turned sharply.

  His expression shifted from confidence to confusion as he searched for Elias’s new position.

  “How—”

  The word barely left his mouth.

  Elias’s body moved before his thoughts caught up.

  The energy surging through him demanded motion. His muscles tightened as a strange strength filled his limbs, stronger than anything he had ever felt before. The fractured mark pulsed violently, its lines burning with overlapping light.

  Forge.

  Gate.

  Phantom.

  The names surfaced in Elias’s mind like fragments of memory from his studies.

  Three different Axiom Paths were flowing through him at once.

  It shouldn’t have been possible.

  But the energy was real.

  Marcus finally spotted him and shifted his stance, preparing to counterattack. The metallic glow along his arm flared brighter as he reinforced his body again.

  Elias stepped forward.

  The movement felt unnatural, almost effortless. The distance between them seemed to shrink strangely, as if the space itself had bent slightly beneath his stride.

  Before Marcus could react, Elias’s fist drove forward.

  The strike connected with Marcus’s shoulder.

  The impact thundered through the hall.

  Marcus staggered backward several steps, his reinforced stance absorbing most of the force but not all of it. His eyes widened in disbelief as he regained his footing.

  The crowd had gone completely silent.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Students stared at Elias with stunned expressions. A few of them glanced toward the instructors, hoping someone would explain what they had just witnessed.

  But the instructors were just as shocked.

  The lead instructor stepped forward slowly, his gaze locked on the fractured mark.

  “That movement…”

  Another instructor whispered, “Gate Path displacement.”

  “But his strike—”

  “Forge reinforcement.”

  A third voice added quietly, “And something else.”

  Marcus rolled his shoulder, still trying to process what had happened. The confidence that had filled his expression moments earlier had faded into something darker.

  “You moved,” he said slowly. “But that wasn’t Gate Path.”

  Elias barely heard him.

  The energy inside his body was growing unstable.

  At first it had felt powerful.

  Now it felt violent.

  The different currents of Axiom were colliding within him, grinding against each other like gears turning in opposite directions. The fractured mark burned hotter, the overlapping lines glowing so brightly they began casting faint reflections across the stone floor.

  Marcus’s expression hardened.

  “Let’s see if you can do it again.”

  He launched forward.

  This time he moved faster.

  Forge reinforcement surged through his body, strengthening his legs as he closed the distance between them in a blur of motion.

  His fist shot toward Elias’s jaw.

  The moment before the strike landed, the world shifted again.

  Elias felt the pressure surge through him once more.

  The air warped.

  Space folded.

  Marcus’s attack sliced through empty air as Elias vanished again.

  A ripple appeared several steps to the side.

  Elias reappeared there an instant later.

  This time, Marcus reacted faster. He spun immediately, launching a second punch toward Elias’s midsection.

  But Elias moved again.

  Not by choice.

  The Axiom currents were guiding his body, forcing it to react faster than his thoughts.

  His arm lifted, energy surging into the strike.

  Their fists collided.

  The impact echoed across the hall like a small explosion.

  Marcus slid backward across the stone floor.

  The metallic glow around his arm flickered.

  For the first time since the fight began, Marcus looked genuinely shaken.

  Students began murmuring again.

  “That’s impossible.”

  “He used two Paths.”

  “No… three.”

  The instructors exchanged grim looks.

  The lead instructor spoke under his breath.

  “Convergence.”

  The word spread quietly among the faculty.

  Marcus heard it.

  His gaze snapped back toward Elias.

  “You’re cheating,” he said sharply.

  Elias tried to answer.

  But the words wouldn’t come.

  The energy inside him was becoming unbearable.

  His limbs trembled as the fractured mark blazed brighter. The overlapping symbols seemed to shift constantly now, the shapes trying to separate from each other but never quite succeeding.

  The pressure in his chest grew worse.

  Marcus stepped forward again, anger replacing confusion.

  “Whatever trick you're using—”

  He lunged.

  This time he aimed directly for Elias’s ribs, putting his full strength behind the strike.

  Elias tried to move.

  The energy surged again.

  But this time it didn’t flow cleanly.

  The three currents collided violently.

  Pain exploded through his body.

  The space distortion flickered.

  Marcus’s fist grazed Elias’s shoulder instead of missing entirely.

  The partial impact spun Elias sideways.

  He stumbled, barely managing to keep his balance.

  Marcus saw the weakness immediately.

  He charged again.

  Elias tried to force the energy to move.

  But the currents inside him were collapsing.

  Forge.

  Gate.

  Phantom.

  The power that had felt limitless moments earlier was unraveling.

  The fractured mark dimmed suddenly.

  Elias’s legs buckled.

  The energy vanished.

  Marcus’s next punch stopped inches from Elias’s face.

  Not because Marcus held back.

  But because the lead instructor had appeared between them.

  His hand caught Marcus’s wrist before the strike could land.

  “That’s enough.”

  Marcus froze.

  The instructor’s grip tightened slightly before releasing him.

  Marcus stepped back reluctantly, his eyes still fixed on Elias.

  “What was that?” he demanded.

  No one answered.

  Elias had collapsed onto the stone floor.

  His body refused to move.

  His arms lay limp at his sides.

  His legs wouldn’t respond at all.

  Panic spread through his chest as he tried to sit up.

  Nothing happened.

  “I… can’t move.”

  The words barely left his mouth.

  The fractured mark on his arm flickered weakly.

  The lead instructor knelt beside him, studying the fading glow.

  For a moment, the entire hall was silent again.

  Then the instructor exhaled slowly.

  “I was right.”

  He looked at the other instructors.

  “It’s Convergence.”

  The word carried a weight that most of the students didn’t fully understand.

  But the instructors did.

  Another teacher spoke quietly.

  “That shouldn’t be possible. No human body can handle multiple Path flows.”

  The lead instructor nodded.

  “Normally.”

  He glanced down at Elias again.

  “But his mark is fractured. The structure isn’t stabilizing a single Path… it’s forcing several of them to overlap.”

  Marcus stared down at Elias.

  “So he can use multiple Paths?”

  The instructor shook his head.

  “Not exactly.”

  He gestured toward Elias’s motionless body.

  “The power isn’t stable. His body shuts down once the convergence ends.”

  Elias listened to the words through a haze.

  His limbs were still numb.

  Even breathing felt difficult.

  The instructor stood slowly.

  Around them, the students whispered again.

  But the tone had changed.

  The laughter was gone.

  Now there was only unease.

  Curiosity.

  And fear.

  The lead instructor looked at Elias one more time before speaking quietly.

  “Take him to the medical wing.”

  Two assistants hurried forward.

  As they carefully lifted Elias from the floor, the fractured mark on his arm flickered faintly once more.

  And far above them, within the dark surface of the Axiom Pillar, the crystal briefly pulsed with light again.

  As if the ancient artifact itself had just witnessed something it had never seen before.