The broken realm had not finished trembling when the lesson began.
Rourke stood at the center of a wide, fractured platform, breathing slowly, deliberately, fighting the lingering pressure Hunter Prime had left behind. His crown flickered—steady, but strained.
Seren paced near the edge, hands clenched.
"I don't like this.
Not after that thing just—walked through us."
The Memory Core hovered low, its glow muted.
"Your concern is logical.
Hunter Prime's presence has altered local stability."
Rourke opened his eyes.
"Then let's not waste time."
The air tightened.
Gravity Sight flared instinctively as space folded inward—
not violently,
but with perfect intent.
Seren froze.
"Rourke…"
A familiar pressure returned.
He didn't need to look.
Hunter Prime stood behind him.
The Second Encounter
Prime had returned without warning.
No buildup.
No delay.
Only inevitability.
"Training concluded," Prime said calmly.
"Evaluation continues."
Seren spun around.
"You said ten days!"
Prime's head turned slightly.
"This is not the return."
The implication landed like a hammer.
This wasn't the real fight.
This was a demonstration.
Rourke stepped forward.
"You want to test me?
Then do it properly."
Prime regarded him.
"Very well."
The world bent.
When Power Fails
Rourke struck first.
Gravity surged outward, compressing space into a crushing wave aimed directly at Prime's center mass. The force would have flattened a city.
Prime did not move.
The wave hit—
and vanished.
Not deflected.
Not resisted.
Neutralized.
Rourke staggered.
Seren shouted, "What happened?!"
The Memory Core pulsed urgently.
"He is overriding local gravity permissions."
Prime raised one hand.
Rourke felt his crown scream.
Invisible weight slammed into him, driving him to the ground.
Bones protested.
Breath left his lungs in a violent rush.
Rourke forced gravity upward—
Nothing.
Prime walked forward calmly, each step precise.
"You rely on magnitude," Prime said.
"Magnitude is inefficient."
Rourke snarled and twisted, forcing a lateral gravity shear—
aimed not at Prime, but at the space around him.
The ground split.
The air screamed.
Prime stopped.
For a brief moment—
the space around him distorted.
Seren's eyes widened.
"He did it!"
Prime looked down at the distortion.
"…Acceptable deviation."
Then he closed his fist.
The distortion snapped back.
Rourke was flung backward like debris, smashing through floating stone and skidding across the platform.
Seren screamed his name.
The Breaking Point
Rourke struggled to rise.
His shoulder screamed in agony.
His crown flickered violently—
microfractures spiderwebbing through its glow.
Prime stood above him.
"Your strength is real," Prime said.
"Your control is insufficient."
Rourke coughed, blood flecking his lips.
"You're not… unbeatable."
Prime tilted his head.
"Correct."
Hope flared.
Prime continued:
"You are simply… premature."
The word crushed him more than any blow.
Prime raised his hand again.
Seren ran forward instinctively.
"STOP!"
Prime's gaze snapped to her.
Pressure surged—
Rourke reacted without thinking.
He pulled gravity sideways—
hard—
ripping Seren out of Prime's influence and slamming himself into it instead.
The force tore through him.
His crown cracked audibly.
Light burst from the fracture.
Rourke screamed.
Prime lowered his hand immediately.
Seren hit the ground hard but alive.
"Rourke!
Why would you—?!"
Prime stared at the fractured crown.
"…Emotional interference detected."
Rourke gasped, barely conscious.
"Touch her again…
and I'll show you what collapse really looks like."
Prime considered this.
Then did something unexpected.
He stepped back.
The Prime's Judgment
"This evaluation is complete," Prime said.
"Outcome: failure."
The word echoed painfully.
Rourke tried to stand—
and failed.
Seren crawled to his side, gripping his arm.
"He's alive.
You don't get to call that failure."
Prime looked down at them.
"Survival is irrelevant.
Your current state cannot alter the Engine's outcome."
The Memory Core pulsed sharply.
"You underestimate adaptive potential."
Prime turned toward the relic.
"Adaptive potential exists.
Probability of success remains below threshold."
Rourke clenched his jaw, fighting the dizziness.
"So that's it?
You just leave?"
Prime nodded.
"Yes."
Seren stared in disbelief.
"You're just… letting us go?"
Prime replied evenly:
"I have no need to pursue certainty."
The statement chilled them.
Prime looked at Rourke one last time.
"Your refusal to surrender collapse is noted."
Then, quietly:
"It is also… inefficient."
The pressure lifted.
Prime vanished.
Aftermath
The platform cracked under Rourke as he collapsed fully.
Seren held him, hands shaking.
"You idiot…
you absolute idiot…"
He laughed weakly, then winced.
"Still alive."
The Memory Core floated closer, light unstable.
"Hunter Prime inflicted structural damage to your crown.
Continued direct engagement will result in permanent collapse."
Seren looked up sharply.
"Permanent as in—dead?"
The relic dimmed.
"As in…
no longer human."
Rourke closed his eyes.
Power wasn't enough.
Strength wasn't enough.
Even collapse wasn't enough.
He needed something else.
Seren squeezed his hand.
"Hey.
You protected me.
That means you're still you."
He exhaled slowly.
"That's not going to stop him."
The Memory Core pulsed once—resolute.
"Then brute force must be abandoned."
Rourke opened his eyes.
"What's left?"
The relic's glow turned dark.
"A concept the Solarii feared more than collapse."
Seren swallowed.
"What's that?"
The Memory Core answered:
"The absence of gravity."
Rourke stared into the fractured sky.
Null Gravity.
He whispered:
"Then teach me how to remove it."
The realm darkened.
The lesson began.