The courtyard was smoke and screams.
Velocity's bullets cracked the air like snapping bones. The failed experiment twitched violently on the ground, limbs jerking at grotesque angles, as if its body still remembered commands humans had forgotten.
Students watched from classroom windows — Faces pale, eyes wide, breath fogging the glass.
Arjun stood just behind the infirmary window, staring down at the creature Rudra had kicked off the wall. His heart hammered so hard his ribs felt too small to contain it.
Meera clung to his sleeve. Her braid lay loose, strands sticking to her cheeks wet with tears.
Samar stood beside Arjun—too tense, too still, too alert. Like a storm waiting for lightning to begin.
Rudra stepped fully into the infirmary now, glass crunching under his boots. He seemed almost bored as Velocity agents fired round after round into the creature below.
His voice cut through the chaos like a blade.
"Arjun. Look at me."
Arjun swallowed and did.
Rudra's dark eyes held no warmth, no softness—just a cold, calculated purpose.
"That thing won't be the last," Rudra said. "And the next one won't fall from a single kick."
Arjun's stomach twisted. Meera trembled. Rahul backed away from the window.
Samar stared at Rudra sharply. "What exactly are you preparing him for?"
Rudra ignored the question and pointed to Arjun's chest.
"You feel it, don't you?"
Arjun blinked. His breath stuttered. His vision pulsed.
[Origin Path: 21% → 25%] [Instinctive Counter: 94% → 95%] [Awakening Instability: Rising]
He whispered, "Yes."
Rudra nodded once.
"Then your first lesson begins now."
Rudra moved so fast the air cracked.
He grabbed Arjun by the collar and lifted him slightly—not hurting, just forcing eye contact.
"You survived instinctively," Rudra said. "Now you survive consciously."
Arjun's hands trembled against Rudra's wrist.
"W—What does that mean?"
"It means," Rudra said, "you stop acting scared of your own instincts."
Samar stepped forward instantly. "Let him go."
Rudra didn't even glance at him.
Meera shouted, "He just fainted—stop!"
But Rudra held Arjun effortlessly.
"You adapt, Arjun Vale," Rudra said quietly. "Or you die before sunrise."
The words hit harder than any blow.
Rudra released him.
Arjun stumbled backward, panting.
Meera caught him. Her hands shook around his shoulders. Her voice broke.
"You don't have to listen to him—"
"Yes, he does," Samar said suddenly.
Meera turned toward him, shocked.
Samar's dark brown eyes were shadowed, deeper than usual, glinting with something cold.
"If he doesn't learn, he'll die," Samar said. "We all will."
Arjun stared at Samar.
Something in Samar was shifting. Becoming sharper. Harder. Less restrained.
[Signature Detected: Samar—Awakening Potential 41%] [Instability: Medium]
Arjun inhaled sharply.
Even Samar was awakening.
Even Samar's instincts were waking.
Rudra watched both boys with a faint smirk.
"You're next," he told Samar.
Samar's jaw tightened. "I don't need your help."
"Everyone does," Rudra said. "Especially the ones who think they don't."
A Velocity agent shouted outside.
"IT'S MOVING AGAIN—!!!"
Arjun whipped toward the window.
The creature—broken bones, shattered knee, twisted arm—rose again.
Its spine uncoiled with sickening pops. Its head snapped upright.
Half-human, half-wild instinct.
And then—
It turned its head toward Arjun again.
Straight at him.
[Threat Lock: You] [Attraction: Awakening Signature]
Arjun felt cold sweat drip down his back.
Rudra sighed.
"See? It likes you."
Meera whimpered.
Samar stepped in front of Arjun again without thinking.
The creature let out a guttural, glitching scream.
A Velocity agent yelled, "CONTAIN IT! DON'T LET IT REACH THE BUILDING!"
But the creature didn't attack them.
It sprinted toward the infirmary wall.
Arjun stepped back, heart pounding.
Rudra cracked his neck calmly.
"Lesson Two," he said. "When something charges—don't freeze."
The creature slammed into the wall, climbing unnaturally fast.
Meera screamed. Rahul swore. Arjun's legs locked.
Then—Samar moved.
His body reacted before his mind.
He grabbed a metal IV stand and swung it toward the window.
With strength far beyond normal.
The steel bent.
Meera gasped. Rahul stepped back. Arjun stared.
[Signature Spike: Samar → 68%] [Warning: Uncontrolled Awakening Possible]
Samar's breathing turned ragged.
His pupils narrowed to pinpoints.
Rudra raised an eyebrow.
"Careful," he told Samar. "If you awaken now, you'll destabilize."
Samar snarled, "I DON'T CARE—"
Rudra grabbed Samar by the wrist.
In an instant, Samar dropped to one knee.
Not from pain. From shock.
Rudra whispered:
"You will. If you awaken wrong, Arjun dies."
Samar froze.
His breath hitched.
His hands were shaking violently.
Arjun whispered, "Samar… calm down."
Samar's eyes flicked to him—full of conflict, rage, fear, and something else.
Care.
The shaking slowed. Barely.
But the threat wasn't slowing.
The creature reached the infirmary window.
Its clawed hand smashed through the glass.
A Velocity agent rushed in behind it, firing at point-blank range.
"GET BACK!"
The bullet hit the creature's neck—
It didn't stop.
It grabbed the agent by the throat—
And ripped.
Blood sprayed across the corridor.
Meera screamed and collapsed backward, shaking violently.
Rahul froze in terror.
Samar's face hardened with horror and fury.
Arjun's stomach lurched violently—but he didn't faint.
He couldn't.
The system surged violently.
[Origin Path: 25% → 34%] [Instinctive Counter: 95% → 98%] [Emotional Trauma Registered] [Neuro-Flow Reflex Unlocked: Level 0] Reflex: Perception Window 0.2s
Arjun's eyes widened.
The world slowed.
Time stretched thin.
He saw:
· Meera falling to her knees, braid swinging · Samar moving toward him unintentionally · Rahul backing away, breath caught · Rudra stepping forward calmly · The creature lunging
Every motion broke into pieces.
Arjun whispered:
"…I see everything."
Rudra nodded.
"Good."
Rudra grabbed Arjun's forearm and yanked him forward.
"Don't think," he said. "Follow."
The creature swung.
Rudra moved barely an inch—and the claw missed.
Arjun copied the motion without understanding.
His body shifted at the exact angle Rudra used.
The claw missed him too.
Meera watched, mouth open, tears falling silently.
Samar stared, frozen between awe and horror.
Rudra continued:
"Your instincts know what to do. Stop fighting them."
He shoved Arjun closer to the creature.
Arjun gasped. "Are you insane?!"
Rudra whispered near his ear.
"You can't complete the Origin Trial by hiding."
The creature lunged again.
Arjun saw its movements in slow slices. He dodged left—pivoted—redirected its arm with minimal contact.
The creature stumbled.
Arjun inhaled sharply.
"I—I did it—"
"Again," Rudra commanded.
And the creature attacked once more.
This time, Arjun sidestepped on his own.
Neuro-Flow. Instinctive Counter. Something deeper.
Everything mixed inside him.
The creature screamed—
And fell backward as Velocity agents fired another round.
Finally—finally—it stopped moving.
Silence crushed the corridor.
Meera sobbed quietly on the floor.
Rahul slid down a wall, shaking.
Samar stared at Arjun.
Rudra simply crossed his arms.
Arjun looked at his trembling hands.
"…What am I becoming?"
Rudra answered:
"Something necessary."
The system flickered.
[Origin Trial—Stage 2 Complete] Reward: Stabilization +18% Origin Path: 34% → 52% Countdown: 12 Hours Remaining
Arjun exhaled slowly.
Then he collapsed to his knees.
Meera crawled to him immediately, hugging his shoulders tightly.
"Don't leave us," she whispered. "Please. Don't."
Samar stepped closer, eyes dark and conflicted.
Rudra watched silently.
Outside—More screeches echoed in the distance.
More things approaching.
More broken experiments.
More danger.
The night had not even begun.