The air inside the Spire felt different.
Luma felt it in her bones as she stood beside Ion in the Lower Vaults. There were rumors about this place—a cryptic, hidden layer beneath the Spire where even the brightest scholars seldom ventured. A place where the laws of physics bent in ways that defied conventional understanding.
Ion studied the faint glow of the portal at the end of the vault—an energy gate, flaring with electromagnetic interference. His face was tight, a slight frown pulling at the corners of his mouth.
"Luma," he began, his voice steady but strained, "this gate is a part of the feedback loop the Masters set in motion. We've learned to harness frequencies—sound waves, light, even magnetism—but what they did is far beyond that. They created chaos. A clash of harmonies. Resonance."
Luma stepped closer, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up as she felt the slight pulse of energy vibrating through the floor.
"I don't understand," Luma admitted, "What exactly did they do?"
Ion turned to face her. "They used resonance to break apart stability. They created waves—waves so perfectly tuned that they can shatter anything. Everything responds to frequency. Even matter."
Luma blinked, digesting the information. She thought back to the blast during the games, when the arena seemed to shake under a force she couldn't see.
"Is that why the attack was so... violent? Like everything was breaking apart?"
Ion nodded. "Exactly. The waveforms they generated amplified, causing interference. The very fabric of reality felt its effects."
She felt a weight in her chest, but then her mind shifted. She turned to the floor, looking at the metallic plates where the resonance pulse was most concentrated.
"If we can adjust the frequency, we can reverse the damage, right? If they used physics to create this chaos... maybe physics can undo it?"
Ion smiled faintly. "You're starting to think like a physicist."
But as his words left his lips, a sudden shockwave rippled through the air, followed by a deep rumble beneath their feet. The resonance field flared—more intensely now—and something... someone was coming.
From the shadows, a figure emerged. His face was cloaked beneath a hood, but the glowing blue runes on his attire were unmistakable.
Kaelen.
Ion's hand twitched toward his gauntlet, but before he could react, Kaelen's voice rang out, low and dangerous.
"You've found the heart of it, haven't you? The source of their power."
Luma's stomach churned. She remembered the coldness in Kaelen's eyes during the games. She hadn't thought he'd be back so soon.
"Kaelen," Ion said, his voice tight. "What do you want?"
Kaelen stepped forward, his presence heavy in the space. "I want what you've been hiding, Ion. What you've always hidden. The truth behind the Bridge of Laws. And I know you have the answers."
Luma glanced at Ion, who stood rigid, his jaw clenched.
Kaelen's eyes shifted to Luma, and for a moment, she felt a chill run down her spine.
"The girl," Kaelen mused, his tone dripping with contempt, "Luma, wasn't it? The one who thinks she can play with physics like a child with toys?"
Luma's heart raced. She wanted to strike back, to show him she wasn't as helpless as he thought, but the words caught in her throat.
Ion stepped between them, shielding Luma. "Leave her out of this, Kaelen. Whatever you want, you won't find it here."
Kaelen smiled cruelly, and for the first time, his demeanor softened into something more dangerous. "Oh, I think I already have."
With a swift motion, he raised his hands, and a deep hum filled the chamber, a wave of energy radiating from his palms. Luma felt it in the pit of her stomach, a sensation of distortion, of matter warping around them.
Ion reacted quickly, his gauntlet flashing to life with a surge of electric blue energy.
Luma could barely keep up, but the scene before her began to shift—ionized air, the interaction of energy frequencies—all theories and equations that had been imprinted in her mind now unfolded in real time.
Kaelen was manipulating electromagnetic fields—warping them, using resonance to direct forces into the space around them. It was too fast for her to fully comprehend, but Luma could see the way the air bent, the subtle dance of energy across space.
"This is resonance at its peak," Kaelen said, a mocking smile curling on his lips. "You should be thanking me, Luma. I'm teaching you things Ion could never."
But before he could act again, the ground beneath their feet shifted once more. The distortion was growing stronger.
"Enough, Kaelen!" Ion shouted, raising his gauntlet.
In an instant, Ion unleashed a powerful counter-frequency, breaking Kaelen's hold on the resonance field. The hum shattered, sending a ripple of energy through the room. Kaelen staggered back, his expression one of barely contained rage.
"You'll regret this," he spat, turning and vanishing into the shadows.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Luma could feel the energy still hanging in the air. The distortion. The resonance.
Ion sighed, lowering his gauntlet. "He's not going to stop."
Luma swallowed hard. "What did he mean? About the Bridge?"
Ion's eyes grew darker, but before he could respond, a distant rumble vibrated the Spire once again, almost like a warning.
"We'll talk later," he said. "For now, we need to act. And Luma—keep studying. Physics is your weapon now."