Chapter 51: Branches Of Mana

​A skill was merely a weakened, fragmented remnant of an Authority. It was simpler, less taxing, and far easier for a weaker soul to bear.

This was also why most ordinary troops retained little to no memory of their former lives; their souls simply could not support both their past identity and their combat functions at once.

​Cassian had learned all of this during his arduous previous life, piecing together the principles over years of conversation with various summons and champions.

Nyxara, on the other hand, knew it instinctively. Like every champion and higher summon bound to the Lord’s Domain, this knowledge had been engraved directly into her soul upon summoning.

​It was etched in the exact same manner as her absolute loyalty to her Lord, not as mindless, robotic obedience, but as an unshakeable, foundational truth of her very existence.

​Satisfied that Cassian understood the core mechanics, Nyxara nodded smoothly. "Then the next step is understanding where Authorities originate."

​Cassian’s expression turned serious.

​Nyxara slowly raised a pale hand. A thin strand of pitch-black darkness curled around her fingers like a living, writhing serpent.

​"Every Authority originates from one of the Twelve Branches of Mana."

​The shadows danced quietly between them in the cool night air.

​"And my Authority..." Her glowing violet eyes met his. "...belongs directly to the Branch of Death."

Nyxara began explaining.

​"Death is one of the Twelve Branches of Mana." She raised a single pale finger. "The other eleven are Life, Time, Space, Matter, Energy, Fate, Soul, Destruction, Creation, Order, and Chaos."

​Cassian listened quietly as she continued.

​"Normally, a mortal possesses an affinity toward at least one of these branches. Exceptional individuals may possess affinities toward two or three, while true monsters can reach four. But those limits aren’t imposed by mana itself, they are imposed by the vessel."

​Nyxara tapped her chest softly. "The physical body has strict boundaries; more specifically, the Mana Circuit has limits. A mortal can only channel so many branches before the structural strain becomes too great for their circuits and flesh to withstand."

​She paused, her glowing violet eyes locking onto his. "If someone attempted to simultaneously harness all twelve branches through a mortal body, the vessel would eventually collapse. That is why even the most talented Mana Circuit Cultivators are restricted to a mere handful of affinities."

​Her gaze shifted slightly. "But summons are different. We no longer possess physical Mana Circuits; our power resides within our souls. Because of that and its connection to a lord seed, we can theoretically harness any branch of mana, though we naturally retain a greater affinity toward the branch we possessed before our original death."

​Cassian nodded, he already knew this fundamental truth.

​"Lords, however, are entirely distinct from both mortals and summons," Nyxara continued, gently placing her hand over Cassian’s chest. "The Lord Seed is exponentially more efficient than a Mana Circuit. Rather than being a fixed vessel with a limited number of channels, a Lord Seed is like an actual seed."

​Her tone softened as the shadow energy coiled gently around her fingers. "It begins small, but it can grow. One branch can become two, two can become four, and eventually, those branches can intertwine like deep roots spreading beneath the earth."

​She slowly raised her hand. "Given enough growth, the Lord Seed can mature into something resembling a World Tree, with the Twelve Branches of Mana becoming its roots, trunk, and canopy. A Lord does not need to choose only a few paths... they can grow toward all of them."

​Cassian’s eyes narrowed slightly as she spoke.

​"This is one of the primary reasons natives fear Lords so greatly," Nyxara noted. "They are born with power equivalent to a Third-Rank Mana Circuit Cultivator upon awakening, and unlike natives, their potential isn’t restricted by the physical constraints of a conventional circuit. They possess a seed capable of growing into something far greater."

​Cassian remained silent, absorbing the familiar explanation. He already knew every word of this foundational theory, yet he didn’t interrupt her.

​This was no different from advanced academic revision. Whenever a scholar advanced into higher studies, they didn’t simply discard foundational knowledge; instructors always reviewed the core principles before tackling complex applications.

A student learning advanced calculus, for instance, would still revisit fundamental algebraic equations before deriving complex functions.

​The exact same principle applied to mastering an Authority. Cassian might understand the theoretical nature of mana, but reviewing the fundamentals ensured zero flaws in his foundation when he began channeling the power.

​And as expected, the review concluded quickly.

​Nyxara looked directly at him, her expression turning serious.

"There is one final thing, my Lord. Although Lords possess the theoretical potential to develop affinities toward all Twelve Branches, your troop alignment already reveals the branch toward which your Lord Seed naturally resonates most strongly."

​Cassian answered without a second of hesitation:

​"Death."

​Nyxara nodded softly. "Exactly."

​The pitch-black shadows around her fingers curled gently in agreement.

​"My Authority, [Living Darkness], falls under the Branch of Death. Although its name sounds contradictory, its core nature has always belonged to Death."

​She raised one hand, and the shadows around her feet slowly began to stir.

​"Most mortals believe shadows are nothing more than the absence of light. When light is blocked, an outline appears on the ground, and they call that a shadow. But that is merely what the living world can perceive."

​Her glowing violet eyes narrowed as the darkness beneath her boots deepened into an abyss.

​"True shadows are born from death."

​Cassian’s expression shifted as he listened.

​"When something dies, its shadow does not simply vanish with it," Nyxara explained. "It falls directly into the Shadow Realm, where it becomes something entirely different, a sentient remnant of what once existed, separated from the physical world."

​She extended her hand toward the pooling darkness. "The physical shadows you see in this world are merely gateways. Through them, one can reach those true remnants, the Living Shadows that dwell within the Shadow Realm."

​Cassian’s eyes widened as a sudden realization struck him like a bolt of lightning.

​’So that’s what I’ve been doing wrong.’

​His mind immediately flashed back to his earlier training attempts. He had been pouring an absurd, overwhelming amount of mana into the Authority, far more than was actually necessary.

His micro-control was unrefined, and the sheer volume of raw energy had nearly smothered the delicate connection he was attempting to establish.

​Yet nothing had happened, the shadows had remained ordinary dirt and shade.

​He had tried again, forcing even more mana into the ability, only to achieve the exact same failed result.

​Now, he finally understood.

​’I’ve been looking at the wrong target from the very beginning.’

​His attention had always been fixed on physical shadows, the shade cast across the ground, the dark patches beneath the trees, and the silhouettes created whenever light was blocked.

He had been trying to force-control the physical byproduct rather than the source that created it.

​’Those aren’t the actual shadows...’ His gaze slowly lowered. ’...they’re doors.’

​Physical shadows were merely gateways leading toward something that existed far beyond the material world. The real target was the Shadow Realm itself, and within it... the Living Shadows.