The next step didn't wait for them to be ready.
Lucas felt it the moment he stepped into the training hall.
No warm-up.
No idle noise.
The space was already active.
Projection grids flickered across the floor, but not in the usual organized layout. They overlapped in uneven clusters, cutting across one another in ways that didn't leave clean boundaries between zones.
Students stood at the edges, trying to figure out where one formation ended and another began.
Lucas slowed.
"…That's new."
Raisel scanned the floor.
"The grids aren't separated."
Arden's eyes moved across the overlapping projections.
"They're forcing interaction."
Lucas exhaled.
"Of course they are."
Halvors didn't stand at the center this time.
He wasn't visible at all.
No instructor presence.
No signal to begin.
The system activated on its own.
A wave rose from one grid.
At the same time, another triggered from the adjacent zone.
They collided.
Not physically.
But in timing.
