The training did not slow down after that day.
If anything—
It deepened.
The gurukul no longer felt like a place where skills were taught. It felt like a place where layers were stripped away, one after another, until nothing unnecessary remained. Strength was not added here. It was revealed—by removing everything that weakened it.
Karna understood that now.
He stood alone at the edge of the training field before sunrise, the sky still carrying that faint blue darkness before light. The air was still. The ground was cold beneath his feet. There were no instructions yet, no other students gathered, no sounds except the quiet rhythm of his own breathing.
But he wasn't waiting.
He had already begun.
A slow movement.
Step forward.
Shift of weight.
Turn.
Stop.
No weapon in hand.
No opponent in front.
Only repetition.
But this repetition was different from before.
Earlier, he had repeated to learn control.
Then, he repeated to remove dependency.
Now—
