The fracture did not wait.
It did not remain contained out of mercy, nor did it retreat after being observed.
It changed.
At first, the shift was subtle, almost unnoticeable to anyone who wasn't looking directly at it, but Karna felt it immediately—the same way one feels the ground tremble before an earthquake fully arrives.
The single fracture in the training ground trembled once, then twice, and this time the movement did not stop at its edges.
It spread.
Not like a crack racing across glass, not violently or uncontrollably, but with a deliberate, almost intelligent progression, as if something on the other side had begun to test the limits of how far it could extend its reach.
Karna's posture shifted instantly, his stillness breaking as his attention expanded beyond the single point in front of him.
Because it was no longer just one.
He could feel it—
Elsewhere.
Across the Gurukul.
