Charlotte stared at the empty air where my construct of the reimagined Nine Circles had glowed, her face pale, her hands visibly trembling. She, a 9-Circle Archmage and Master of the Tower, understood the implications far better than anyone else alive. I had not just given her a few new spells; I had handed her the schematics for an entirely new engine of magic, rendering millennia of established theory obsolete.
She finally sank back into her chair, letting out a long, shaky breath. "My gods, Arthur," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly. "I... I will need time to process this. The Tower... this will rewrite everything. It will take years to fully codify and implement."
"I know," I said gently. "But it's a start. It's a foundation for the mages of the future to build upon, to give them a fighting chance against what is to come."
