The walls shook again — dust falling from the ceiling in a thin, trembling haze.
Outside, the shouts were getting closer.
"They're not here to talk," Zyren muttered, flicking ash from his pipe as if this was just another bad weather day.
Sura stepped to the door. "They're scavengers. Failed contenders from the battle trials. They can't enter the top ten, so they hunt the ones who still can… for their Threads."
Malik froze. "Wait. You can steal someone's cultivation?"
Sura didn't look back. "If you're ruthless enough."
A heavy impact cracked the door frame. Splinters burst into the room. Malik gripped his spear, feeling a strange itch under his skin — like something was crawling up his spine.
"They're going to break through," Zyren said. "You gonna stand there, or you gonna be somebody?"
Sura turned, golden eyes locking onto Malik's. "If you want to survive, you can't fight with just your muscles. You have to call your Thread. You have to Awaken."
Malik swallowed. "How?"
"Stop thinking."
She grabbed his hand and shoved it down onto the cold stone table. The carved spirals flared to life under his palm, filling the room with a deep hum that rattled his bones.
"Feel for the current," she whispered. "It's already inside you. Pull it to the surface. Tear it open if you have to."
Another crash. The door burst inward. A man in fur armor lunged, swinging a jagged axe. Malik reacted without thinking—his muscles moved, but so did something else.
The world slowed.
It wasn't like a normal freeze-frame. Malik felt two rhythms beating in his chest — one fast, one impossibly slow.
When he stepped, his body was in two places for a blink — one real, one echo.
The axe passed through the echo, but the real Malik was already inside the man's guard. His spear drove forward, and a ripple of black-and-silver energy spiraled along the shaft before piercing the man's chest.
The scavenger dropped, eyes wide.
Sura's voice was low and dangerous. "Double Thread… One rooted in the Now, one rooted in the Elsewhere. You can fight in two timelines at once."
Another two enemies charged. Malik's vision split — one eye seeing their current position, the other catching where they would be two seconds later.
He weaved between both futures, striking with uncanny precision.
Zyren's laugh echoed through the chaos. "My guy, you're cheating at life right now!"
But every time Malik used it, the itch under his skin burned hotter, like the two rhythms in his chest were fighting each other.
By the time the last scavenger hit the ground, Malik's knees buckled. His breathing was ragged, his heart caught between two different beats.
Sura crouched beside him. "If you don't learn control, the Threads will tear you apart."
Malik smirked despite the pain. "Guess you better teach me fast… 'cause I'm not dying before I see what's beyond those ice walls."