Leaving Charlotte in her tower, still taking in the size of what I'd left on her desk, felt like closing a small chapter that needed closing. The new framework for the nine circles wasn't my personal power. It wasn't the Grey, and it wasn't the Divine magic I could reach now. It was a correction to the foundation of spellcasting itself, a thousand years of wasteful theory set straight.
Julius Slatemark had built the mana core system: a brilliant, revolutionary way for mortals to gather and hold power. That was the engine, and it was a masterpiece. It didn't need changing. Geniuses could already tune it for themselves, and it gave everyone else a clear road.
