Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest



Chapter 984 229.2 - Anomaly

"Stop."

Both halted.

Sweat beaded on Ethan's forehead. Astron's breathing had shortened slightly, his grip relaxed but not fatigued.

"You both failed," Eleanor said, flat and uncompromising. "But the failure was expected. It's your first day working with live resonance."

She turned slightly toward Ethan.

"Lightning is volatile. Few cadets grasp how to follow its rhythm before trying to force it into control." A pause. "You followed."

Ethan blinked, almost surprised by the note of acknowledgement.

She didn't linger.

Instead, she turned toward Astron.

"You understood the structure. You anticipated the imbalance. But you treated it like split mana control." Her voice lowered. "Don't. This is not dual-casting. This is convergence."

Astron's gaze didn't waver, but he gave the faintest nod.

Eleanor stepped back, arms crossing again as her analytical mind ran through timelines.

If they keep this pace...

Her thoughts mapped across days, iterations, potential breakpoints.

Eleanor's gaze drifted from their faces back to the regulators, now cycling through cooldown patterns, the glow of the elemental crystals dimming into stillness. Her arms remained folded, but her mind was moving rapidly.

Of course Ethan adjusted faster. It makes sense.

Lightning.

It wasn't just his elemental affinity. It was something deeper, more instinctive. Every inch of his psion structure responded to lightning as if it were native- coded into his body's rhythm. That kind of connection wasn't built through study or repetition.

It was felt.

He didn't tame it.

He understood it.

She had seen this before. Among those who trained early in elemental resonance. Among bloodline warriors and trait-forged heirs. But Ethan hadn't had that kind of start. No tutor-guided mana paths. No refinement chambers. And yet-

He moved like someone born to wield lightning.