Chapter 60
The concept Lucas was studying was called Origin.
At first, Origin appeared to be nothing more than the place where a person's Mana Core exists. But that understanding was incomplete. Origin is not a physical organ, nor is it a separate structure inside the body. It is the first point of existence where Mana, soul, and self overlap.
The Mana Core does not create Mana. Instead, it draws Mana from the outside. The Core is only a vessel, while the Origin is the source.
Origin is directly connected to the soul, but it is not the soul itself.
The soul gives identity and continuity, while Origin determines capacity.
This is why two people with equal effort and training can reach completely different stages.
Their limits were decided long before their Mana Core ever formed.
As Lucas's eyes evolved, his perception of existence changed.
He did not gain power directly. Instead, he gained awareness.
Through that awareness, his Origin began to expand.
Not because it was forced to, but because it was no longer constrained by ignorance.
Over time, Lucas realized that a person's Origin has a natural boundary.
This boundary defines how much Mana the soul can support.
Copper, Silver, Gold, and beyond are not ranks of power.
They are markers of how much of one's Origin has been accessed.
Most people never reach the edge of their Origin.
Some reach it and mistake it for an absolute limit.
Beyond that boundary exists a Dimension that cannot be accessed physically.
It is not a place one can travel to, but a state of perception where one can observe their own Origin directly.
In this Dimension, the Origin appears sealed, surrounded by a barrier that represents the individual's true limit.
To grow further, that barrier must be broken.
However, breaking it requires complete understanding of the self, the soul, and Mana as a unified existence.
No individual lifetime is long enough to reach this naturally.
Only a civilization that dedicates generations solely to studying Origin could ever approach that level of understanding.
Lucas is an exception.
His eyes allow him to see the Dimension where Origin exists.
They bypass the need for generational knowledge by granting direct observation.
This is why Lucas cannot teach this method to anyone else.
Understanding Origin cannot be explained.
It must be seen.
Once Lucas fully understands the nature of Origin, there will be no defined upper limit to his growth.
His Origin has already expanded beyond what should be possible for a human, and even he does not know how far it can grow.
During his research, Lucas also discovered a flawed alternative.
Instead of understanding Origin, it is possible to force it open.
By using external Mana to assault the barrier surrounding the Origin, a person can temporarily expand their capacity and reach higher stages.
This method does not rely on comprehension, only pressure.
The result is rapid growth, but at a terrible cost.
The Origin resists being forced. When it does, the soul fractures under the strain.
This is why the failure rate is catastrophic and why death is the most common outcome.
Lucas's method is even more dangerous because it draws Mana directly from the atmosphere.
The amount of Mana required is unstable, and any loss of control causes immediate collapse of the Origin.
Despite this, Ezra and Aris chose to proceed.
To reduce the risk, Lucas would enter Astral Mode.
Mana without interference from bodily limitations. By pushing his Mana Control to its absolute limit, he could guide the external Mana with precision and stabilize the assault on the Origin.
Even then, the chance of death remained high.
At best, Lucas could reduce the risk by sixty percent.
Origin was never meant to be touched.
And Lucas was never meant to find it.
But that is how it happened.
Ezra and Aris were each submerged in the shimmering Blue Fluid, a special healing bath that mended only the body.
They floated with their eyes closed, completely still.
Around them, the dark forest was deep and silent.
They were safe here, hidden in its heart.
Lucas stood guard.
The immense amount of Mana he was about to release would be powerful enough to rival a wild Mana Beast.
But that power was not a concern for him.
Lucas began to chant, his voice low and steady.
Within moments, he entered Astral Mode.
A cloak of cyan flames flickered to life around him, dancing in the shadows.
His Mana eyes began to glow, brighter and brighter with each passing second.
Then the world reacted.
The Mana in the air itself seemed to scream, rushing violently toward Lucas.
He was pulling so much power that it nearly formed a chaotic Mana Vortex.
Yet his control was perfect.
He held the raging energy in check, preventing the vortex from spinning into existence.
His glowing eyes looked through Ezra and Aris, seeing past their bodies to the very core of their beings, to their Origins.
His own Mana alone was not enough for what came next.
So he borrowed the screaming Mana from the forest around him and made it his own.
He began the process.
The instant his power touched the invisible barriers inside them, their bodies recoiled.
They began to revolt.
The moment Lucas's Mana made contact with their Origins, everything went wrong.
Ezra's body arched violently inside the Blue Fluid.
The liquid churned as if something unseen had struck it from within.
His muscles seized, locking him in place, while his heartbeat spiked so sharply it felt as though his chest might burst open.
Aris reacted a heartbeat later.
A sound escaped his lips.
It wasn't a scream, but something raw and broken, dragged from his throat as his body convulsed.
The fluid around him darkened, its healing properties struggling to keep pace with what was happening inside.
The barriers surrounding their Origins flared the instant Lucas's Mana touched them.
They were not passive walls.
They reacted like living things.
The pressure he applied caused the barriers to tighten, compressing inward instead of breaking apart.
In response, their souls screamed.
Ezra's Origin cracked first.
Fine lines spread across the barrier like glass under stress.
The moment that happened, his Mana Core destabilized.
Mana surged wildly through his body, tearing through veins and nerves with no regard for structure.
Blood leaked from his eyes.
Aris fared worse.
His barrier resisted harder, denser, refusing to yield because he had no talent in the first place.
The external Mana Lucas guided into him began to rebound, crashing back against his soul.
His heart skipped once, twice.
Then it stopped.
For a fraction of a second, the lab went silent.
Lucas felt it instantly.
"Aris," he muttered.
His control tightened to a degree that would have destroyed any other person.
Astral Mode flared brighter, cyan flames roaring as his consciousness detached further from his body.
His eyes burned as he forced his perception deeper.
His soul was collapsing.
The fracture in Ezra's Origin widened at the same time.
His body began rejecting Mana entirely, expelling it violently through his skin.
The Blue Fluid boiled as it fought to keep him alive.
They were both dying.
Lucas abandoned his careful restraint.
He did not want his Mana Core to shatter again, but he had no other choice.
He poured his own Mana into the process, weaving it together with the raging atmospheric Mana and forcing it into harmony.
The pressure was unbearable.
His mind screamed warnings as vast amounts of Mana were consumed once more.
If he lost control for even an instant, they would shatter completely.
Lucas anchored himself.
He could not let them die.
They were important to him, not just as subjects, but as people walking the same path.
People he might one day call friends, or rivals.
He forced the external Mana to slow, then compressed it, reshaping it into a steady flow instead of a flood.
The screaming energy obeyed, dragged into order through sheer dominance.
Aris's heart stuttered.
Then it began to beat again.
His barrier finally gave way.
Not breaking, but opening just enough to release the pressure crushing his soul.
Mana rushed inward, stabilizing instead of destroying.
His body went limp, floating motionless in the fluid.
Ezra followed moments later.
His fractures sealed unevenly, leaving scars across his Origin.
The damage was not permanent. It would take time to heal, but it was survivable.
Mana settled into his Core, heavier and denser than before.
Lucas held the process together long after his body begged him to stop.
Only when both Origins stabilized did he sever the connection.
The forest exhaled.
Lucas collapsed to one knee, Astral Mode fading as the cyan flames extinguished themselves.
His vision blurred, but he remained conscious, forcing himself to watch them.
The Blue Fluid slowly returned to its normal glow, repairing what it could.
What it could not repair would remain.