"Render-cycle initiation delayed by 14.7 seconds," a senior sneered through neural comms. "Thermodynamic desperation at best."
The crowd's augmented optics tracked Kael's belated start. Jaxon's stormhawk already dominated 83% of the quantum canvas, photonic feathers crystallizing with arrogant precision.
Then Kael's quantum stylus became a relativistic blur.
Jaxon's ocular implants flickered threat-assessment crimson as freshman-tier mana channels outperformed his hydromancy benchmarks. The anomaly's strokes carved anti-light into reality's substrate—not painting, but devouring.
"Faulty confidence algorithms," Jaxon muttered, stabilizing his stormhawk's talon gradients. Let the chrono-stained fool play void artisan. No freshman could surpass his decade-honed avian render protocols.
The crowd's derision flatlined as Kael's negative-space strokes coalesced. What first appeared as random chrono-scars resolved into predatory silhouettes—a photonic predator stalking Jaxon's pristine stormhawk from reality's underside.
Finn's coolant lines hissed with righteous pressure. "He's replicating event horizon predation patterns! Since when do freshman art electives cover singularity hunting behaviors?"
Amelia's cortical halo flared containment warnings. "Not replication. Manifestation."
Jaxon's confidence wavered as his stormhawk's wing gradients began unraveling. Kael's "painting" wasn't mere artwork—it was a localized reality infection. The freshman's stylus moved with dead-civilization precision, etching wounds in spacetime that Jaxon's hydromancy couldn't heal.
"Render-cycle at 92% completion," Amelia announced, her voice cracking like stressed neutronium.
The crowd's neural feeds flooded dissonant metrics:
• Jaxon's stormhawk: 97.4% photorealism
• Kael's void-predator: 312% existential threat index
Upperclassmen triggered optical dampeners as the canvas warped under competing realities. Jaxon's hydromancy gauntlets smoked from emergency stabilization protocols.
"Cease anomalous rendering!" a professor's authority override boomed—too late.
Kael's final stroke detonated silent thunder. The quantum canvas became event horizon parchment, Jaxon's stormhawk now perpetually fleeing Kael's photonic predator across infinite fractal plains.
Amelia's verdict carried gravitational finality: "Render-cycle... unconcluded. Canvas requires indefinite quantum containment."
Jaxon stared at his sparking gauntlets. His stormhawk drone lay twitching at Kael's feet, chirping corrupted distress codes. The crowd's silence held the mass of collapsed stars.
Finn phased through the wreckage, neutronium snacks scattering. "So... anyone want to petition for abstract art degree tracks?"
Deep in the Obsidian Zenith's core, twelve additional reality anchors shattered. Austin's private sanctum began bleeding chrono-radiation into adjacent dimensions.
Kael examined his void-stained stylus. "Fascinating resonance patterns. Your pet inspired... unexpected creative vectors."
Amelia's quantum lattice eyes finally achieved full spectrum lockdown. Whatever combat protocols she activated in that moment would haunt academy security AIs for cycles to come.
Jaxon's hydromancy gauntlets disengaged with surgical finality. The quantum canvas pulsed—a photonic stormhawk frozen mid-dive, crystalline feathers refracting prismatic arrogance. "Behold perfection rendered in photonic purity!" His voice carried the smug resonance of event horizon conquerors.
The crowd's augmented retinas flooded diagnostic praise:
• Feather barbule alignment: 99.97%
• Talon threat projection: Tier-8 combat readiness
• Artistic hubris index: Critical
"Magnificent photonic latticework!"
"Ascendant hydromancy protocols!"
"Initiate frame-preservation rituals!"
Jaxon's lips curled with predatory satisfaction. This wasn't mere art—it was a dominance glyph etched across reality logs. His ocular implants locked onto a trembling figure at the crowd's edge. "Kairos. Render your analysis."
The holovirtuoso flinched. His antique ocular implant—a brassbound relic from pre-Collapse eras—whirred defensive protocols. Obsidian Zenith's resident art-obsessive knew better than most: Jaxon's "invitations" carried the weight of hydromancy vendettas.
"P-perfect stormfront resonance harmonics," Kairos stammered, neural lace leaking anxiety pheromones. "The tertiary feather fractals alone merit archival in the Celestial Atelier's—"
"Skip the groveling," Jaxon's stormhawk drone screeched override commands. "Quantify superiority metrics against the freshman's... scribbles."
All optics pivoted to Kael's canvas.
Where Jaxon's creation blazed with arrogant luminosity, Kael's work devoured light. Negative-space brushstrokes carved a photonic predator into reality's underbelly—a void raptor whose talons dissolved Jaxon's stormhawk feathers into quantum static.
Kairos' ocular implant sparked diagnostic panic. "Anomalous rendering parameters detected! The... the freshman's work exhibits... unconventional artistic vectors—"
"Translation?" Jaxon's hydromancy gauntlets charged combat protocols.
"It's..." Kairos' neural lace short-circuited three evasion algorithms before surrendering to truth. "...alive."
The crowd's reality anchors groaned as Kael's void-raptor twitched. Photonic feathers crackled with stormfront energy, each barbule aligned to magnetic north. Talons flexed with event horizon hunger. And the eyes—those light-devouring eyes—tracked Jaxon's stormhawk with predatory intent.
Jaxon's confidence matrix flatlined. His creation wasn't being judged—it was being hunted.
Amelia's cortical halo flared containment blue. "Cease all neural assessments. This canvas requires immediate quantum quarantine."
Too late.
Kael's stylus clattered to the floor as his void-raptor breached rendering protocols. The photonic predator lunged across dimensional barriers, Jaxon's stormhawk screeching corrupted data-streams as talons of collapsed stars shredded its crystalline plumage.
Finn phased through structural beams, neutronium popcorn scattering. "Anyone else miss boring old oil paintings?"
Deep in the Obsidian Zenith's core, reality engines began singing blackhole lullabies. Austin's private sanctum sealed itself behind twelve layers of chrono-insulation, its master absent—or wisely hiding.
Kael examined his chrono-scorched fingertips. "Fascinating resonance patterns. Your pet makes excellent... creative catalysts."
Amelia's quantum lattice eyes achieved full spectrum lockdown. Whatever combat protocols she activated in that moment would require seven cleansing rituals and a priestly override.
Jaxon stared at his sparking hydromancy gauntlets. His stormhawk drone lay in twitching ruins, chirping corrupted last rites. The crowd's silence held the mass of three collapsed stars.
Somewhere beyond the quantum shielding, the Lexicon's archivists began inking new heresies.
Kairos' antique ocular implant whirred like a trapped chrono-moth. "Flawless photonic articulation! The stormhawk's tertiary covert feathers alone warrant archival in the Celestial Atelier's—"
Jaxon's hydromancy gauntlets discharged smug static. "Save the groveling. Assess the anomaly's... craft."
All optics pivoted to Kael's canvas. Where Jaxon's stormhawk blazed with arrogant luminosity, Kael's creation smoldered—a fractal undergrowth bleeding emerald radiation. Nestled within the quantum foliage coiled an emberviper, its scales rippling with plasma fire.
The crowd's neural feeds stuttered:
• Threat projection: Tier-4 thermal signatures
• Artistic audacity index: Reckless
Finn phased through a structural beam. "Now that's proper nightmare fuel! Ten times hotter than featherbrain's pigeon!"
Jaxon's ocular implants flared crimson. "Primitive thermal gradients. Juvenile predator-prey symbolism. Kairos—quantify deficiencies."
The holovirtuoso trembled as his antique lens focused. The emberviper's gaze locked onto his neural lace—a photonic stare carrying event horizon hunger. "The... negative-space rendering exhibits... unconventional—"
"Translation?" Jaxon's stormhawk drone screeched override protocols.
"It's..." Kairos' vocal buffer crashed. "...hunting your creation."
Reality anchors groaned as Kael's emberviper uncoiled. Photonic fangs pierced dimensional layers, plasma venom corroding Jaxon's stormhawk feathers into quantum ash. The crowd's augmented retinas burned emergency filters.
Amelia's cortical halo flared containment blue. "Cease all neural assessments! This canvas requires immediate—"
Too late.
Kael's stylus clattered as his emberviper breached rendering protocols. Jaxon's stormhawk disintegrated mid-screech, crystalline plumage dissolving into supernova particulates. The crowd's silence held the weight of dead stars.
Finn materialized neutronium snacks. "Anyone want fried hawk?"
Deep in the Obsidian Zenith's core, reality engines flatlined. Austin's private sanctum sealed behind twelve layers of chrono-insulation, its master conspicuously absent.
Kael examined his void-scorched fingertips. "Fascinating resonance patterns. Your pet inspired... creative adaptations."
Amelia's quantum lattice eyes achieved full spectrum lockdown. Whatever combat protocols she activated would require seven purification rituals and a theological override.
Jaxon stared at his sparking hydromancy gauntlets. His stormhawk drone lay in smoldering ruins, chirping corrupted last rites. The crowd's neural chatter flatlined into horrified static.