Edward was neck-deep in the 970th Circle of inscriptions. Each inscription now felt like carving into diamond with a needle made of glass. The resistance was not coming from the ambient mana or the Null-Stone walls, but from his own core. The crystalline sphere in his chest, which had once been a vast, empty vessel, was now so crowded with many mana circles that there was barely room for a single thought to pass between them.
He pushed on, forcing his way through the 971st, 975th, and 980th circles with sheer willpower. In the world above, mages spoke of the Wall of a Thousand. It was the ultimate barrier of the True Mage Stage, the point where the soul reached its natural human capacity. To go from 990 to 1,000 was a journey that often took years of cultivation.
Edward, however, was running a marathon at the speed of a thunderbolt. By the time the final rays of evening sun touched the earth far above, Edward reached the 1,000th Mana Circle.
