The Gate training circle felt different from the rest of the arena.

  Elias noticed it immediately. The carved geometric lines across the stone floor weren’t simply decorative. They created a subtle field of stability that smoothed the surrounding space, allowing Gate Path students to practice spatial manipulation without causing dangerous distortions.

  Even standing within the circle felt unusual. The air carried a faint tension, as if the world itself had become slightly more flexible.

  Several Gate students practiced across the platform, disappearing and reappearing in short bursts of movement. Their displacements were small, controlled steps that barely disturbed the air. Each movement followed a clear rhythm—focus, shift, stabilize.

  Elias tried to mimic that rhythm.

  He stepped back to the center of the circle and closed his eyes, focusing again on the fractured mark beneath his skin. The faint current from earlier had faded during the walk across the arena, but now that he understood what it felt like, he knew where to search.

  Breathing first.

  The instructors had emphasized that repeatedly.

  A calm body allowed Axiom to flow naturally.

  He inhaled slowly and let the tension drain from his shoulders. For several seconds nothing happened, but then the fractured mark flickered again. The faint spatial current returned, subtle and almost hesitant.

  This time Elias didn’t rush it.

  Instead of forcing the energy forward, he allowed it to spread through his arm gradually. The sensation was light and directional, like invisible threads pulling gently at the air around him.

  The space ahead of him rippled.

  Elias took a step.

  The world shifted.

  He disappeared for a brief instant before reappearing roughly two meters forward. The displacement was slightly smoother than the previous attempt, though the landing still felt unbalanced.

  His foot slid across the stone as he caught himself.

  Across the circle, the instructor watched carefully. “Again.”

  Elias nodded and reset his stance.

  The second attempt came faster. The fractured mark flickered, the spatial current responded, and the air rippled as he shifted forward once more. This time the distance was shorter but more controlled.

  A few nearby students paused their training to watch.

  The boy with the fractured mark had become a quiet point of interest throughout the academy. Word of the awakening ceremony had spread quickly, and most students were curious to see whether the rumors were exaggerated.

  So far, Elias seemed surprisingly normal.

  At least until the fractured mark pulsed again.

  Elias attempted another displacement. The current formed easily now, and he stepped forward into the shift.

  But something felt wrong.

  The current was stronger this time.

  Too strong.

  Instead of the subtle spatial adjustment he had felt earlier, the fractured mark suddenly flared with heat. The faint Gate flow collided with another force rising beneath it—one he recognized immediately.

  Forge.

  The energy surged through his arm without warning.

  The air warped violently.

  Elias vanished.

  A ripple shot across the platform like a shockwave.

  Instead of reappearing two meters away, Elias reappeared nearly five meters across the training circle. His sudden arrival disrupted the stable field of the platform, causing several nearby students to stumble as the air distorted.

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  Elias dropped to one knee as the surge passed through him.

  The fractured mark burned brightly for a moment before dimming again.

  The instructor stepped forward immediately, his gaze sharp.

  “Did you force that?”

  Elias shook his head, breathing heavily. “No.”

  That much was obvious. The displacement had been far too unstable to be intentional.

  The instructor looked down at the fractured mark carefully.

  “Gate pressure triggered it.”

  Elias frowned slightly.

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means your Convergence isn’t random.”

  Elias looked up.

  The instructor gestured toward the platform beneath them. “Gate training puts stress on spatial flow. When that pressure builds, your fractured mark allows other Paths to slip through.”

  The explanation made uncomfortable sense.

  During the fight with Marcus, the same thing had happened. Extreme stress had caused multiple Axiom currents to collide inside him.

  The instructor’s expression remained calm, but Elias could see the calculation behind his eyes.

  “You’ll need to monitor that carefully.”

  Elias stood slowly. His legs still felt stable this time, which meant the Convergence had not fully activated.

  That was encouraging.

  Across the arena, Marcus Hale had noticed the disturbance.

  The Forge user walked toward the training circle with quiet purpose, his expression unreadable as he studied the platform where Elias stood.

  The surrounding students stepped aside instinctively.

  Marcus stopped near the edge of the circle and observed Elias for several seconds before speaking.

  “That looked unstable.”

  Elias exhaled slowly. “You’re not wrong.”

  Marcus crossed his arms.

  The metallic glow of Forge reinforcement flickered faintly beneath his skin, though he wasn’t actively channeling it.

  “You jumped farther than before.”

  “That wasn’t intentional.”

  Marcus’s gaze shifted briefly toward the fractured mark.

  “I figured.”

  For a moment neither of them moved.

  Marcus had clearly been thinking about the fight from the previous day. The Convergence Elias had triggered during that fight had surprised everyone in the arena, including Marcus himself.

  Now he seemed less dismissive.

  Instead, he looked curious.

  “Do it again.”

  Elias raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

  Marcus shrugged slightly.

  “You need control. The only way to get it is practice.”

  The instructor stepped forward before the conversation could go further. “Not through sparring.”

  Marcus glanced toward him.

  “That wasn’t what I was suggesting.”

  The instructor remained unconvinced.

  Marcus sighed quietly and stepped onto the edge of the circle. “Relax. I just want to see if he can move around someone instead of empty space.”

  Elias considered that.

  Gate Path combat relied heavily on positioning. Displacement wasn’t just about movement—it allowed a fighter to appear where an opponent wasn’t expecting.

  Marcus continued watching him.

  “Well?”

  Elias looked down at the fractured mark again.

  The symbol had already dimmed back to its quiet state, but the earlier surge had proven something important. The Convergence wasn’t purely random. Certain conditions triggered it.

  Spatial pressure was one of them.

  That meant Gate training could be dangerous.

  But it also meant he could learn something from it.

  Elias stepped back to the center of the circle.

  Marcus moved a few meters away, standing just inside the platform.

  Neither of them adopted a full combat stance.

  The exercise was simple.

  Elias focused again.

  Breathing first.

  The fractured mark flickered.

  The spatial current returned.

  This time Elias guided it more carefully, keeping the flow narrow and controlled. The air rippled gently around him as he shifted sideways.

  He vanished briefly and reappeared several meters to Marcus’s left.

  Marcus turned his head.

  “That’s better.”

  Elias tried again.

  The second displacement was smoother. The ripple of space bent quietly around him as he moved behind Marcus.

  Marcus turned again, tracking the movement with surprising accuracy.

  “You’re still predictable.”

  “Working on it.”

  Elias prepared another shift.

  But just before the current formed—

  The fractured mark pulsed again.

  A second Axiom current surged beneath the Gate flow.

  Forge.

  Elias felt the pressure instantly.

  The spatial ripple twisted violently.

  Marcus saw the distortion too late.

  Elias vanished.

  The next moment he reappeared directly beside Marcus with far more force than intended. The sudden arrival knocked both of them sideways as the unstable shift collapsed.

  Marcus caught himself quickly, but Elias stumbled across the platform before regaining his balance.

  The fractured mark dimmed again.

  Marcus stared at him for a moment before shaking his head.

  “You weren’t kidding about unstable.”

  Elias rubbed his arm.

  “Still figuring that part out.”

  The instructor stepped forward once more, clearly satisfied that the exercise had revealed enough.

  “That’s enough for today.”

  Marcus nodded and stepped off the platform without argument.

  Elias exhaled slowly.

  The Gate training circle returned to its calm state as the surrounding spatial tension faded. Students resumed their practice across the arena, though several still watched Elias with quiet curiosity.

  The instructor glanced toward the fractured mark again.

  “You’ve confirmed something important.”

  Elias looked up.

  “Your Convergence reacts to pressure. In your case, spatial pressure seems to trigger it most easily.”

  Elias nodded slowly.

  “So Gate training might cause more of those surges.”

  “Yes.”

  The instructor folded his arms thoughtfully.

  “But it also means you may eventually learn to control them.”

  Elias looked back across the arena where Marcus had already returned to his Forge training.

  For the first time since arriving at the academy, Elias felt a faint sense of direction.

  His Path might be fractured.

  But it wasn’t useless.

  And if he learned how the pressure worked—

  Then maybe one day he could control the Convergence instead of fearing it.

  The fractured mark flickered faintly beneath his skin, as if acknowledging the thought.