Leaving Charlotte in her tower, still processing the sheer scale of the gift I'd left her, felt like closing a small, necessary chapter. The new framework for all nine circles of magic was not my personal power; it was not The Grey, nor was it the Divine-level sorcery I could now access. It was a reimagining of the very foundation of spellcasting, a correction of a thousand years of flawed, inefficient theory.
Julius Slatemark had founded the mana core system, a brilliant, revolutionary way for mortals to gather and manage power. That was the engine, and it was a masterpiece. It didn't need to be changed; geniuses could already optimize it for themselves, and it provided a clear path for everyone else.
