"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.
