Vikram stood up, his right fist glowing with a blinding blue light.
He looked at the Core, then at the numbers and symbols his father had left in his boxing wraps. He finally understood the secret of the cipher.
It wasn't just a password; it was a neural frequency.
His father had discovered that the Resonance Marker wasn't just a passive shield; it could act as a transmitter. By aligning his Prana to a specific, high-frequency vibration, he could override the Core's internal synchronization.
He began to breathe in the pattern of the cipher—short, sharp breaths that sent the electrical current pulsing through his heart.
*Five short, one long.*
His nerves began to burn, the heat of the bio-electricity clashing with the cold of the dark matter. He could feel his blood boiling, his skin turning red under the frost.
"You cannot stop it, Vikram!" Devendra yelled, turning back to him, his face twisted in rage as he tried to rebuild the stabilizer. "The Core is online!"
"Not for long," Vikram said, his voice deep and resonant.
He stepped forward, his body glowing with a brilliant, silver-grey light. He had reached Band VI—the Eclipse level.