Edwin Maginstrate appeared again, bruised and battered, yet still radiant with purpose. His eye was nearly swollen shut, his robes tattered and marked by soot, but his spirit burned as brightly as the crystal light behind him. Every word trembled between agony and conviction.

"Magic was founded not by men, but by those who studied the divine anatomy of beings far greater than us. But they were stolen and studied by the heroes of old who had gazed into the body of creation itself. The old legends speak of how the great ones, Aetherion and the rest, shaped the very structure of power that was used to combat these beings. But these lost beings were the first spellbooks that we studied."

He set down his chalk, raising a trembling hand to trace glowing symbols in the air. The runes pulsed like beating hearts.

"Aetherion himself was used as a vessel by one such being, one who commanded both Fire and Ice. Through him, the foundation of Mana was set. Whether or not Aetherion knew it, his body was the prototype for the modern mage. But... He was a Caster, first and foremost. His form contained a current that flowed. That flow, what we call the circulation of Mana, was the first road ever built within mortal flesh."

He drew the pattern again: veins spiraling around a luminous heart.

"To cast magic, one must build roads for Mana to travel. The bloodstream became the first conduit. As magic flowed through it, the very organs of those early mages adapted. They learned to plant Cores. For Aetherion, it was Mana Cores; the great Samson learned of Power Cores. They learned to place into the heart and other vital centers. But that, my friends, was a crude age."

His expression shifted to one of wonder, almost childlike despite the bruise on his cheek.

"Then I discovered something else. Mana resonates. It does not merely flow inside the body. Mana should be part of our body! Not part, in the sense that it exists inside, but rather that it is one of us, just as our blood is part of us! And when it becomes part of the body, truly absorbed, it vibrates in harmony with the soul."

He lifted his hands again, his fingers glowing faintly blue.

"Instead of roads… I propose chains. Mana Chains! Living conduits that move in rhythm around the body."

"Rhythm and chains...?" Thane was amazed. He knew he had mana and could make it flow, but that was it. He couldn't say that it was something that was one inside of him.

The scene blurred slightly as Edwin moved the crystal recorder closer. The chalkboard behind him was now covered with complex formulas.

"We were told to make Roads for mana! And even for Power! These are the ones that carry energy, but I propose to make chains that link them. Chains react to rhythm. They can connect spells across the body in fractions of a heartbeat. Imagine not channels but links, instantaneous pathways between one core to another! The spell is cast immediately without needing to travel from the core to the hand!"

"Oh? I guess that would be an issue." Libra chuckled.

"We, the Shining Ones, do it naturally. I guess since mana is foreign to humans, they won't be capable of that."

"No wonder your spells just show a flash in your body, but for Stratus, I saw it moving and flowing..." Thane nodded.

"Exactly. But this man is quite a curious character. He figured out what isn't seen on the surface!"

Edwin's lecture continued.

"Casting requires speed. A resonating chain will always surpass roads because every link is already attuned. Channeling requires volume and precision. Through linked Mana Chains, every cell in the body contributes to mana control, forming an inner symphony that responds to the caster's intent. And Containing magic, the slowest of all, relies on layered structures of enchantment! But even that can be improved! For with Mana Chains, these layers are reinforced not by layers, but because the mana is already one and resonating! You won't need to layer it, you'd just need to coat it!"

Libra was amazed at Edwin's conclusion.

"This Edwin is no fool. His theory could merge three magical disciplines into a single efficient system. He talks of a body that surpasses even our own."

"What?!"

Libra nodded.

"We are all beings with specific forms. Gemini is a Caster. I am a Channeler. But if my body could also cast..." Libra thought.

Edwin's tone sharpened with excitement, voice rising.

"To achieve this, one must first train the body to move Mana freely. The method most schools teach begins with forming a Core! But that is wrong! Mana must flow before it crystallizes. The ancients had their Centers long before their Cores! Those beings that used Aetherion, Samson, Noah, and the rest of these heroes didn't have a core first!"

Thane's eyes widened.

"Before the Core?"

"Our world teaches us, the core controls the mana center! The body's rhythm must be mapped and its centers, its chains, its living channels! Any Channeler would know this!"

Thane asked Libra.

"Didn't you make that giant skeleton thing with mana centers?"

"…Indeed. I used the centers to anchor the spell before a Core existed. I didn't realize this continent's mages had it backwards. We Shining Ones have always commanded Mana directly through resonance. That means, Master… That you can do this! Even without a Core. Edwin speaks of Theory, but you can surely do it now! Even if Edwin cannot!"

"How so?" Thane began, but the answer came from the screen itself.

"The secret to creating Mana Centers and Channels… is Spirit!"

Thane blinked in surprise.

"Many forget that the first Battle Mage, Trine the Burning Sword, the great founder of battle mages, was once a student of Merodoth the Tower Breaker! After learning Spirit, I theorize that he discovered that Mana can be molded not through the flesh, but through what guides it! The invisible soul. But this, he kept a secret, for he had vowed never to teach of Spirit since his Master prohibited him! So that is why no one has ever reached his level! Trine could only think of ways to try to replicate it without Spirit! But I believe that the Spirit is the architect of the body! If you cannot reshape your organs, then you reshape the unseen pattern that governs them!"

He lifted his hand, trembling slightly. A faint shimmer of light formed over his palm and revealed a geometric figure pulsing faintly.

"The first Spirit Link!" he whispered.

"I only know a little about it, but it proves the theory."

Thane's eyes widened as he tried to mimic the movement. His breathing slowed, and Libra could see it. Edwin's hand does have faint traces of Spirit flow, and it was controlling the Mana!

"They called me a fool! Pursuing an art that was just Power in flashy tones! Because none of the people here can ever be like Merodoth! No one is righteous as he was! But I managed it after four years! Those were not wasted years! I regained it!" Edwin spoke as tears filled his eyes.

Thane could not help but feel compassionate.

"I've got to find that guy and show him his theories worked!" Thane vowed. Thane could see the mana. It was just as Libra controlled it when they battled!

Edwin continued on the screen, blissfully unaware of the celestial chaos happening in Thane's cave.

"To build your Mana Chains, begin with meditation on your Spirit. Feel where the mana wishes to move. Not where you command it, but where it wants to flow. The key in my theory is to have a mastery of Spirit! The Spirit leads, and mana will follow! It becomes part of your spirit. Behold! Something that I have never shown to these arrogant ones abusing me!"

Fire gathered in the palms of his hands. Not above it, just as Stratus did, but on his hands.

"My fire... is truly mine!" Edwin smiled.

Then the flames quickly died out.

Edwin coughed, wiping a streak of blood from his lip, but kept smiling.

"It's really difficult for me... I have a condition, and Mana cannot flow in me, and the cores cannot be operated. I've failed dozens of times, but I will succeed. Even if my peers call me a fool, even if they say I chase ghosts. I will build the bridge between Power and Mana, and the world will no longer be divided!"

Thane exhaled softly, watching the man's battered face.

"He's got guts. If he was healed of that... he could achieve greater things."

"...If you do find him, you can help him. I am certain of it. Through Necromancy."

"Oh? That's good to know... He would be a promising ally!"

For the next few minutes, the TV showed Edwin's crude diagrams of Mana Chains linking with Power Chains, a lattice of energy wrapping the body like silver armor. He explained how each link resonated with the heart's beat, spreading mana through both veins and spirit pathways. To Thane, it looked almost… holy. Like watching a living gospel of magic unfold.

"And of course, I must give credit where it is due. The inspiration for my Chain Theory came from my fieldwork studying the Giant Feral Beavers."

"...What?" Libra said flatly as he sensed a dangerous desire that was prodding at his Master.

"Their biology was extraordinary! Their tails produced rhythmic pulses that created hydraulic resonance! I realized that if Mana could mimic this—"

Thane's eyes sparkled. "FERAL BEAVERS?! GIANT FERAL BEAVERS?! LIBRA, GET ME THAT CHANNEL!"

Libra froze.

"No!"

"COME ON! There's a whole series! I need to see their resonance!"

"No!"

Thus began a great war between Thane and Libra.

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