The moment it snapped—
Everything changed.
The distortion didn't fade this time.
It spread.
A violent ripple surged upward from the lower floor, crashing through the structure like an invisible shockwave. The air twisted, not subtly—not faintly—but aggressively.
His vision warped.
"—!"
His body staggered forward.
Not by choice.
Something pulled him.
Hard.
"Seara—!"
"I told you not to lock onto it!"
Her voice was sharp now. No restraint. No calm teaching tone.
But it didn't matter.
Because he couldn't let go.
The moment his awareness touched it—
It latched back.
Like a current grabbing onto him.
His breath hitched.
The threads below—
They weren't just unstable.
They were—
Collapsing.
Not flowing.
Not distorting.
Breaking.
And worse—
Something inside that break…
Was moving.
His eyes widened.
That's not just energy…
"Seara…" his voice dropped, strained, "there's something down there—"
"I know."
That stopped him.
She knew?
Then why—
"Then we need to—"
"No."
The word hit hard.
He turned toward her, confused.
"No?" he repeated.
Her expression had completely changed.
Serious.
Focused.
And for the first time—
Slightly tense.
"You're not ready to deal with that."
Another pulse surged through the building.
Stronger.
The lights flickered violently.
A metallic screech echoed from below.
Students screamed.
Panic.
His heart started racing.
"We can't just ignore that!"
"I'm not ignoring it."
Seara stepped forward.
"But you are staying here."
Before he could respond—
She moved.
Fast.
Too fast.
One step—
And the air around her shifted.
Not like before.
Not subtle.
Controlled—but powerful.
The threads near her aligned instantly.
Flowing toward her—
Not resisting.
Responding.
His breath caught.
She's not just controlling it…
It's obeying her.
"Stay. Still."
Her voice carried weight now.
Not just instruction—
Authority.
Then—
She disappeared down the stairs.
Silence lasted less than a second.
Then—
Chaos.
Another surge hit.
This time—
It reached him.
Directly.
"—!"
His vision twisted again.
The hallway bent—
Not physically—
But perceptually.
Like reality was slipping out of alignment.
His breathing became erratic.
Don't react—
Too late.
The moment he tried to stabilize—
His awareness spiked.
And just like before—
He was pulled in.
The world vanished.
Threads.
Everywhere.
But not like before.
This wasn't structured.
This wasn't flowing.
This was—
Shattered.
Fragments of threads drifted like broken glass.
Jagged.
Unstable.
Colliding into each other.
And in the center—
Something moved.
Not a thread.
Not energy.
Something else.
His chest tightened.
What is that…?
It didn't have a clear shape.
But it existed.
A distortion within distortion.
A gap—
Where nothing should be.
And yet—
It pulled everything toward it.
Threads bent.
Warped.
Snapped.
Feeding into it.
His mind struggled to process it.
This isn't supposed to exist…
And then—
It noticed him.
Everything froze.
Not the threads.
Not the space.
Him.
His awareness locked in place.
That thing—
Turned.
Not physically.
But its presence—
Shifted.
Toward him.
A pressure hit him instantly.
Heavy.
Crushing.
His breath stopped.
It can see me.
Panic surged.
And with it—
His intent.
The worst possible thing.
The threads around him reacted violently.
Jerking.
Collapsing further.
Feeding the distortion faster.
"No—!"
And suddenly—
Pain.
Sharp.
Immediate.
His mind snapped back.
The hallway returned.
He collapsed to one knee.
Breathing hard.
"What… was that…?" he whispered.
The air around him was worse now.
More unstable.
More chaotic.
He had made it worse.
Again.
A loud crash echoed from below.
Then—
Silence.
Too sudden.
Too complete.
His chest tightened.
"Seara…?"
No response.
That was bad.
Very bad.
He stood up unsteadily.
Mind racing.
Stay still.
Don't react.
Don't reach.
Those rules echoed in his head.
But something else—
Overrode them.
She's down there.
His jaw tightened.
"…Damn it."
And before he could stop himself—
He moved.
Down the stairs.
The lower floor was worse.
Much worse.
The moment he stepped down—
The air hit him like a wave.
Heavy.
Distorted.
Unstable.
The threads here—
They weren't just broken.
They were being—
Consumed.
His breath slowed.
Not from control—
From shock.
The corridor ahead was partially damaged.
A locker dented inward.
A window cracked.
But there was no visible cause.
No explosion.
No impact.
Just—
Wrongness.
And in the center—
Seara.
Standing still.
Facing it.
That thing.
Now—
He could almost see it.
Not clearly.
But enough.
A shifting absence.
A space where reality bent inward.
And around it—
Threads snapped continuously.
Feeding it.
"…You weren't supposed to follow."
Seara's voice was calm.
Too calm.
He stepped closer.
"I couldn't just stay up there."
"…Yeah," she muttered.
"Figured."
Her gaze didn't leave the thing.
"Stay behind me."
That tone again.
Not a suggestion.
He didn't argue.
"…What is that?" he asked quietly.
A brief pause.
Then—
"A fracture."
His chest tightened.
"In what?" he asked.
Seara exhaled slowly.
"In the layer you weren't supposed to touch."
That didn't sound good.
At all.
"And it's getting worse," she added.
The distortion pulsed.
Stronger.
The pressure increased.
His instincts screamed.
Move.
Run.
Do something.
But he forced himself—
To stay still.
And that—
Was harder than anything before.
"…Good," Seara said quietly.
Even now—
She was watching him.
"You're not reacting."
"I'm trying not to die," he muttered.
A faint smirk.
Gone instantly.
"Same thing right now."
The fracture pulsed again.
And this time—
It expanded.
The threads around it snapped violently.
The air screamed—
Without sound.
"…It's accelerating," Seara said.
Her hand lifted slowly.
The threads around her responded instantly.
Aligning.
Stabilizing.
For the first time—
He saw it clearly.
Not just control.
Dominance.
The space around her bent—
But didn't break.
"…Watch carefully," she said.
"This is what control looks like."
Then—
She stepped forward.
Toward the fracture.
And everything—
Reacted.
The threads surged.
The distortion pulsed.
And the space between them—
Collapsed inward.
Chapter end.
If u like make sure to add in it your library and give a power stone