The day began like any other.
The Gurukul moved with its usual rhythm, structured yet fluid, as students gathered across the open grounds, some practicing forms, others sparring, while a few sat in quiet meditation beneath the shade of ancient trees.
Nothing seemed out of place.
Nothing felt wrong.
And yet—
Something was.
It was not visible.
Not obvious.
Not something that could be pointed at and named.
But it existed.
Subtle.
Hidden.
Waiting.
Karna felt it before he understood it.
Not as a thought.
Not even as a clear sensation.
Just—
A disturbance.
A slight unevenness in the flow around him.
So faint that it could have been ignored.
So small that, before, he would have ignored it.
But now—
He didn't.
He stood still in the middle of the training field, his gaze steady, his breathing calm, but his awareness expanding outward without effort.
The flow moved as it always did.
Smooth.
Interconnected.
Balanced.
But within that balance—
There was a ripple.
