Grey world.
Ash horizon.
Sky Reaper roaring again.
Avdhoot stood still.
No panic.
No rage.
No desperation.
He inhaled.
And for the first time—
He didn't draw mana from inside.
He drew it from everywhere.
The grey realm shimmered faintly.
Mana particles — once invisible — now drifted like faint embers and sparks in the air.
They weren't red.
They weren't blue.
They were colorless.
Pure.
Waiting.
He exhaled slowly.
Mana followed breath.
Not forced.
Not ripped.
Guided.
The Sky Reaper lunged.
He stepped sideways without looking.
Its claw missed by inches.
Lightning cracked downward.
He raised his palm.
Fire answered automatically.
But this time—
He didn't just cast it.
He watched it.
Watched how it formed.
Watched how it consumed oxygen.
Watched how it demanded structure.
Fire was not rage.
Fire was hunger.
Hunger needed fuel.
Hunger needed breath.
Wind blade cut across his ribs.
He died again.
He returned.
Unmoved.
This time he did not attack first.
He waited.
The Sky Reaper's wings crackled.
Lightning gathered between the bone ridges.
Avdhoot narrowed his eyes.
Lightning wasn't random.
It formed through compression.
Pressure.
Friction.
Charge imbalance.
Wind circulated first.
Then static tension built along the wing membrane.
Then—
Release.
Speed.
Precision.
Destruction.
He let it strike him.
It tore through his chest.
Everything burned white.
He died.
Returned.
Again.
He focused on the buildup.
Again.
He focused on the vibration in the air before release.
Again.
He focused on how lightning didn't travel in straight lines—
It sought the easiest path.
The path of least resistance.
Mana channels.
Metal.
Moisture.
Fear.
He stood on the next resurrection.
And instead of summoning fire—
He reached for the vibration.
Mana around him trembled.
He compressed it.
Too much.
It detonated outward.
His nervous system overloaded.
He convulsed.
Died instantly.
Returned.
He tried again.
This time slower.
Gather.
Compress.
But lightning was not fire.
It did not wait.
It demanded timing.
He released too early—
The bolt backfired through his arm.
His shoulder exploded.
Death.
Return.
Again.
He focused not on power—
But on rhythm.
Wind gathers.
Pressure builds.
Moment before rupture—
Release.
A faint arc flickered across his palm.
It fizzled.
He smiled.
Progress.
He tried coating his arm in lightning.
The current surged too wildly.
Muscles locked.
Bones fractured from inside.
He fell before the Sky Reaper even touched him.
Death.
Return.
Again.
This time he layered fire beneath lightning.
Fire stabilized.
Lightning accelerated.
He launched forward—
Too fast.
His body couldn't handle the speed.
He collided into the beast's chest and shattered his own ribs.
The talon finished him.
Death.
Return.
Agility attempt—
He coated his legs.
Lightning exploded outward unpredictably.
He slipped.
The Sky Reaper tore him apart.
Death.
Return.
Again.
Control.
Not speed.
Lightning was not movement.
Lightning was intention.
Instant.
Direct.
No hesitation.
He inhaled.
Compressed mana along his calves.
Did not release wildly.
He pulsed.
Short burst.
Step.
Pulse.
Step.
Pulse.
His speed increased—
But controlled.
The Sky Reaper's claw descended—
He vanished from under it.
Appeared at its flank.
Fire blade formed.
Clean.
Precise.
He sliced across its wing membrane.
For the first time—
He was not immediately killed.
The beast roared.
Lightning lashed outward—
He grounded it through his blade.
Still imperfect.
Still dangerous.
But survivable.
He stepped back.
Tilted his head toward the hooded figure.
And for the first time—
The figure's lips curved slightly.
Not approval.
Acknowledgment.
In Outside — The Real World Burns
Wildwood Valley was no longer silent.
With the Sky Reaper gone—
The suppressed beasts emerged.
Tier One scavengers first.
Then territorial Tier Twos that had hidden from the apex predator.
Siddhant tightened his grip.
"We move now. No stopping."
Veer supported Avdhoot's unconscious body over his shoulder.
"He's still not waking up," Veer muttered. "Meira, tell me he's just sleeping."
Meira ran beside them, hands glowing faint green as she maintained a light healing pulse.
"I've stabilized him. His internal mana flow is… strange. But not collapsing."
"Strange how?"
She hesitated.
"It's circulating on its own."
"What?"
"As if he's breathing mana without being conscious."
A screech erupted from the trees.
Three wolf-type beasts lunged.
Priya turned instantly.
"Defensive formation!"
Fire erupted from her palm.
One wolf went down.
Tara froze another mid-leap.
Kiran slammed earth spikes upward.
But more shadows moved.
Siddhant shouted, "Keep moving! We cannot stall here!"
Veer adjusted Avdhoot's weight.
"You better wake up soon," he muttered under his breath. "I am not carrying you because you decided to take a nap after becoming a hero."
Another beast charged.
Lightning burst from Veer's hand — precise, sharp.
It dropped instantly.
He looked down at Avdhoot.
"You owe me for that."
Back in the grey realm—
Avdhoot now moved faster than before.
Lightning pulses carried him.
Fire stabilized him.
But wind—
Wind remained elusive.
Wind blades from the Sky Reaper were not brute force.
They were compression arcs.
Shaped air.
Pressure edges.
He died studying them.
He stood still and let wind blades slice him repeatedly.
Not to survive.
To feel.
Wind was not power.
Wind was flow.
Direction without form.
He inhaled slowly.
Exhaled.
Breathing was wind.
Movement was wind.
Thought was wind.
The hooded figure finally spoke directly.
"Wind is used by everyone."
Avdhoot did not look at him.
"Then why is it so difficult?"
"Because you try to grab it."
Silence.
"Wind cannot be grabbed."
Another wind blade cut him down.
Return.
He inhaled.
This time—
He did not force mana outward.
He let breath guide it.
He felt the air pressure shift around the Sky Reaper's wings before attack.
Felt the microcurrent change.
Felt intention in movement.
He extended his hand.
Not to launch—
But to redirect.
A thin crescent of air formed.
Unstable.
Weak.
It collapsed.
The Sky Reaper impaled him.
Return.
Again.
He remembered Meira once saying—
"Wind heals by circulation. It never stops moving."
Circulation.
He spun.
Fire in one hand.
Lightning in legs.
Wind shaping around blade edge.
The first stable wind blade formed.
Thin.
Sharp.
He launched.
It sliced across the Sky Reaper's shoulder.
Clean.
Controlled.
He smiled.
By late afternoon—
The students were exhausted.
Sweat.
Blood.
Burned mana reserves.
Akshay limped heavily beside Meira.
"I swear if this training doesn't count for extra credit…"
"Shut up and move," Priya snapped.
Siddhant scanned ahead.
"We're close. Academy perimeter should be visible within the hour."
Veer adjusted Avdhoot again.
"He's warmer now."
Meira placed her palm on Avdhoot's chest.
His pendant pulsed faint red.
"His mana density is increasing."
"That's bad, right?"
"I don't know."
Another roar echoed.
But this one was distant.
Weaker.
The valley was destabilizing.
They pushed forward.
Finally—
Stone towers rose above the tree line.
The Academy.
Relief flooded through them.
They crossed the outer boundary just as the sun dipped toward evening.
It was Six o'clock.
Some students collapsed immediately upon entering the safe zone.
Others dropped to their knees.
Hungry.
Dehydrated.
Empty.
Professors were already waiting.
Professor Kapoor stepped forward sharply.
"What happened?"
Priya stepped up despite exhaustion.
"We eliminated the Sky Reaper. But the valley destabilized. Tier One and Two beasts scattered."
Kapoor's eyes shifted to Avdhoot and Akshay.
"Get them to the healing chamber. Immediately."
Meira spoke urgently.
"Sir, Avdhoot's condition is unusual. He isn't waking."
Kapoor placed his hand near Avdhoot's chest.
His expression darkened slightly.
"…I see."
But he said nothing more.
They rushed inside.
Back in the grey realm—
Avdhoot no longer merely survived.
He fought beautifully.
Lightning coating his legs.
Wind shaping around his movements.
Fire blade burning hotter than before.
He launched parallel spells now—
Fireball upward.
Wind blade sideways.
Lightning pulse forward.
All simultaneously.
The Sky Reaper struggled to track him.
He moved like storm and flame woven together.
He ducked under claw strikes—
Countered with wind-enhanced slices.
Lightning bursts amplified his acceleration.
He cast fire and wind in sequence—
Then overlapped.
A spiraling vortex of flame and cutting air slammed into the beast's torso.
It roared—
Staggered—
Its wings half-severed.
Avdhoot landed before it calmly.
Breathing steady.
Mana circulating flawlessly.
The hooded figure watched silently.
Then—
Softly—
He murmured to himself:
"Let us teach him the origin."
The grey sky above cracked faintly.
Light bled through.
Not elemental light.
Something older.
Avdhoot sensed it immediately.
The air thickened.
The Sky Reaper roared again—
But now—
The trial was changing.
And Avdhoot was ready.
[End of Chapter 21]