The academy was no longer pretending this was a trial.
The Celestial Convergence had collapsed into chaos.
Students fled through the outer gates.
Professors formed defensive barriers.
The corrupted creatures continued emerging from the breach.
Professor Isha Kapoor stood at the centre of the arena.
Her expression was calm.
Too calm.
"Full combat authorization."
The professors moved.
Stone erupted from the ground.
Water surged through the arena.
Lightning tore across the sky.
Frost spread over the broken stone.
The creatures were pushed back.
For the first time, the students saw what their teachers were truly capable of.
Priya stared.
"…We've been training under monsters."
Raivan glanced at her.
"Focus."
Manaswini didn't answer.
She was watching Avdhoot.
He had barely recovered from the backlash.
He pushed himself upright.
"Stay back," Raivan said.
Avdhoot looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because you're exhausted."
"I can still fight."
"That's not what I said."
Avdhoot looked toward the breach.
Something was still there.
Watching.
Calling.
He could feel it.
A presence.
Different from the creatures.
Different from the corrupted mana.
Stronger.
His eyes lifted.
Far above the arena, a distortion appeared.
Irawen Solas was already moving toward it.
He disappeared.
Then reappeared directly in front of the cloaked figure.
"You've interfered with this academy long enough."
The figure tilted his head.
"And yet you only noticed me now."
Solas' eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
The figure smiled faintly beneath his hood.
"Someone who has been waiting."
Solas attacked.
The air exploded.
His strike stopped inches from the figure's face.
An invisible barrier held it.
The figure flicked his wrist.
Solas was forced backward.
He recovered instantly.
"…You're not ordinary."
"Neither are you."
Below, Avdhoot felt the clash.
He looked upward.
The cloaked figure turned.
Their eyes met.
Avdhoot froze.
He knew that presence.
Not because he had met the man before.
Because something inside him recognized the mana.
The same strange sensation from Wildwood Valley.
His heart tightened.
"…You."
The figure looked directly at him.
"Come."
Avdhoot's body moved before his mind finished deciding.
Fire burst beneath his feet.
He launched upward.
Priya shouted.
"AVDHOOT!"
Raivan swore.
"He's insane."
Manaswini looked toward the two figures above.
"…No."
She stared.
"He's being drawn toward him."
Avdhoot reached the upper edge of the arena.
Irawen immediately moved between them.
"Stop."
Avdhoot landed awkwardly on a platform of condensed mana.
The cloaked figure watched him.
Irawen looked at Avdhoot.
"Go back."
Avdhoot didn't move.
"Who is he?"
The figure answered before Irawen could.
"The one who remembers what your world forgot."
Avdhoot's expression hardened.
"What does that mean?"
The figure's smile disappeared.
"You're not ready."
Anger flashed through Avdhoot.
"Then make me ready."
The figure studied him.
For the first time—
There was genuine interest.
Avdhoot attacked.
His flame condensed around his dagger.
He moved faster than before.
The strike reached the figure.
And stopped.
Not blocked.
Stopped.
The flame simply hung in the air.
Avdhoot's eyes widened.
The figure touched it with one finger.
The flame disappeared.
Avdhoot attacked again.
Then again.
Every strike failed.
The gap between them was enormous.
The figure hadn't even drawn a weapon.
"You rely on output."
He stepped closer.
"You have not yet learned control."
Avdhoot gritted his teeth.
He gathered more mana.
The figure's expression hardened.
"Don't."
Avdhoot released it anyway.
The figure moved.
One hand touched Avdhoot's chest.
BOOM!
Avdhoot flew backward.
He barely managed to stabilize himself before hitting the arena wall.
Pain spread through his ribs.
Below, Priya stared upward.
"He's getting destroyed."
Raivan's fists tightened.
"He shouldn't be fighting that man."
Manaswini shook her head.
"This isn't a fight."
She looked at the cloaked figure.
"He's measuring him."
Avdhoot wiped blood from his mouth.
He looked at the stranger.
"Why?"
The figure remained silent.
Then—
"Because something is changing inside you."
Avdhoot froze.
The figure continued.
"Something that should not have awakened yet."
Irawen's eyes sharpened.
"What do you know about him?"
The figure ignored him.
His gaze remained on Avdhoot.
"Your strength is not the problem."
"Your understanding is."
Avdhoot slowly clenched his dagger.
"Then tell me what I'm missing."
The figure smiled.
"Survive long enough to discover it."
A massive explosion erupted below.
The breach destabilized.
Irawen looked down.
The cloaked figure stepped backward.
His body began dissolving into distortion.
"Wait!"
Avdhoot moved.
Too late.
The figure disappeared.
Only his voice remained.
"Not yet, Avdhoot Autade."
A pause.
"But soon."
The distortion vanished.
Irawen stared at the empty air.
His expression was darker than before.
Below, the breach began collapsing under the combined power of the professors.
The corrupted creatures screamed as they were dragged back into the tear.
Professor Kapoor shouted.
"Everyone clear!"
The final barrier activated.
BOOOOOOM!
The breach collapsed.
Silence fell over the academy.
Avdhoot descended slowly.
His feet touched the broken arena floor.
Priya ran toward him.
"What were you thinking?"
Avdhoot didn't answer.
Raivan looked at him.
"Who was that?"
Avdhoot stared at the place where the figure had disappeared.
"I don't know."
Manaswini studied his face.
"But he knew you."
Avdhoot nodded.
"Yes."
He looked down at his hand.
A tiny flame appeared.
For a moment, it flickered strangely.
Then stabilized.
His eyes hardened.
"He said something inside me is changing."
Irawen Solas stood several meters away.
He had heard every word.
His expression was unreadable.
But for the first time since the breach opened—
He looked genuinely concerned.
Far beyond the academy—
In a place untouched by moonlight—
The cloaked figure stood alone.
He looked at his hand.
A faint trace of Avdhoot's mana remained there.
He smiled.
"Not yet."
His voice disappeared into the darkness.
"But soon."
[End of Chapter 36]