Chapter 50: Nature Of An Authority

The undead dispersed to make their preparations.

​Unlike the living, sleep was entirely unnecessary for them. Instead, each summon possessed their own distinct methods of preparing for battle: the workers returned to organizing raw resources, the support units reviewed their skills and coordinated logistics, and the Special Elites occupied their time sharpening their combat instincts or simply waiting in quiet vigil.

​As for Nyxara... Cassian requested her assistance.

​The two soon arrived at an isolated corner of Lord’s Hollow, far away from the activity of the other summons.

Pale moonlight filtered through the gnarled, dead trees overhead as Nyxara stood respectfully behind him.

​"My Lord, what do you require of me?"

​Cassian turned around to face her. "I need your help learning your Authority."

​Nyxara blinked, her glowing violet eyes widening slightly.

​"Even if it’s only a fundamental technique," Cassian continued calmly. "[Aura Slash] is useful, but against elite opponents, it won’t be enough. Enemies at that level aren’t going to stand still and let themselves be hit. As long as I can grasp the basic framework of an Authority, my infinite mana can handle the rest."

​Nyxara listened quietly, yet her expression slowly grew peculiar.

​It was subtle, but Cassian caught it immediately.

​"...Why are you looking at me like that?"

​Nyxara hesitated, before speaking carefully. "No offense, my Lord..."

​Cassian suddenly had a very bad feeling about where this was going.

​"...but I had simply assumed you had already mastered my Authority."

​"..."

​Cassian stood there in dead silence.

​For some reason, the polite disclaimer ’no offense’ felt far more offensive than the actual statement itself.

It was as though she had politely stabbed him through the ribs before offering a soft apology.

​His left eye twitched slightly. He was genuinely beginning to wonder what had happened to his ever-loyal, deferential champion.

​Fortunately, Cassian managed to suppress his rising displeasure before it showed on his face, calmly folding his arms over his chest instead.

​"And why, exactly, would you assume that?"

​Nyxara looked at him, before slowly lowering her gaze.

Cassian followed her line of sight, realizing she was staring directly at his chest, or more specifically, at the Lord Seed resting within his soul.

​"It is because of your limitless mana, my Lord."

​"..."

​"Authorities are inherently difficult to master because of mana consumption," Nyxara explained smoothly. "Every single Authority consumes immense energy, and the stronger the technique, the greater the cost. Most champions spend decades learning to control their abilities because they must carefully ration every single drop of mana they possess."

​She paused, her eyes locking onto his. "But you do not possess that limitation."

​Cassian suddenly realized where her logic was heading.

​Nyxara nodded gently. "If another individual possessed [Living Darkness] and attempted to learn it, they would be forced to repeatedly stop and recover their mana after every single attempt. But you..."

​A strange look crossed her face. "...you can channel it endlessly."

"To a normal person, mastering an Authority is like practicing high-level swordsmanship while carrying a mountain on your back. To you..."

​She hesitated briefly. "...it is simply practicing swordsmanship."

​"..."

​Cassian genuinely didn’t know how to respond.

​Noticing his rigid silence, Nyxara quickly added, "No offense, my Lord."

​Cassian stared at her. She really didn’t need to say that a second time, he was now convinced his champion was doing this intentionally.

​Fortunately, Nyxara was completely oblivious to his internal turmoil as she pressed on with her explanation.

​"The greatest obstacle to mastering an Authority is the resource cost; the second greatest obstacle is micro-control. With an infinite number of brute-force attempts, even poor control will rapidly refine itself."

"Most beings are constrained by both limitations. You are constrained by only one."

​A heavy silence blanketed the clearing.

​Finally, Cassian let out a long, quiet sigh. "So what you’re saying is... I’ve been overcomplicating this and making it far harder than it actually needs to be."

​"Respectfully..." Nyxara paused. "...yes."

​"..."

​Another direct critical hit to his pride.

​Deciding it was best not to dwell on his strategic oversight, Cassian pivoted straight to the core task. "Then teach me."

​Nyxara bowed her head immediately, her loyalty absolute. "As you command, my Lord."

....

Nyxara and Cassian sat cross-legged opposite each other beneath the pale glow of the twin moons.

​For a moment, neither spoke.

​Then Nyxara broke the silence. "My Lord, do you understand what an Authority truly is?"

​Cassian nodded calmly. "An Authority is the manifestation of an awakened ability possessed by a native of the Lord’s Domain who reached at least the Third Rank during their lifetime, and whose soul was powerful enough to retain that power after death."

​Nyxara listened attentively as he continued.

​"Unlike the living, summons no longer possess physical mana circuits," Cassian explained. "Once a being descends into the Netherworld, only the soul remains. Because of that, the original awakened ability undergoes a fundamental transformation, it becomes an Authority."

​Cassian folded his arms over his chest. "And because an Authority no longer relies on a physical mana circuit, drawing instead directly upon the soul and the Lord Seed, it surpasses the original ability in nearly every aspect. It is less restrained, more complete, and far closer to raw mana itself."

​Nyxara nodded—Cassian’s explanation was spot on.

​Naturally, all champions possessed Authorities. Like other summons, they had reached at least the Third Rank during their previous lives and awakened a unique ability of their own.

Only after death and descent into the Netherworld did that ability evolve into a true Authority.

​In truth, every champion capable of retaining an Authority, as well as every other summon, had once been a Mana Circuit Cultivator during life.

To enter the Netherworld as anything more than a mindless, wandering soul, one had to possess a certain baseline of power. The Third Rank was the absolute minimum threshold.

​However, a fundamental difference existed between champions and ordinary troops.

​Champions possessed extraordinarily resilient souls, souls powerful enough to preserve their memories, identities, and core Authorities intact.

Ordinary summons lacked that degree of spiritual density. As a result, the Lord’s Domain automatically degraded their former abilities into basic skills during the summoning process.

....

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