High above the arena, inside a suspended observatory made of enchanted glass and runed steel, the instructors of Alpa Academy watched in controlled silence. The room was dim, the air dense with unspoken thoughts, and the cracked shimmer of the barrier fracture was still visible from this height, thin, but undeniable.
A single word hung in everyone's mind:
Vorden.
Master Atrius, the Head Instructor of the Warrior Division, broke the silence first.
He leaned forward, black eyes narrowing at the duel log. "He cracked the barrier. With precision, not brute force."
Beside him, the elven Matriarch of the Monk Division, Lady Aelyn, folded her arms. "No spell chants. No incantations. Just movement and control. That's beyond the first-year standard. That's battlefield conditioning."
"He's been trained," muttered Magus Thelemar, Archmage of the Mage Division, his fingers pressed tightly under his nose. "Not taught. Trained. As if he's already fought real wars."
