Sharath refused every invitation to dine with lords or accept gifts. Instead, he spent his hours alone—studying stress dynamics, angular momentum, and airflow over curved surfaces.
His sketches grew stranger.
Gears nested within gears. Variable speed drives. Magnetic brakes. Spring-coiled stabilizers. The outlines of flying machines.
When Lady Ishvari asked him why he never rested, Sharath simply said, "Because flight is not a dream—it's just math we haven't solved yet."
The servants whispered that their young master no longer just thought in this world—but in a dozen.
Veyr visited again.
"You build without runes. But your eyes… they see deeper."
Sharath looked up from his sketches. "Magic is the art of defying limits. But it begins with knowing what limits truly are."