The routine settled in quickly.

  Mornings were steel and repetition.

  Evenings were stillness and density.

  It took six days before I felt it properly — the mana settling instead of dispersing.

  On the seventh, the stone on the table felt just slightly heavier beneath my fingers. Not enough to matter in a fight.

  But it was deliberate.

  For the first time, it responded.

  There was still no progress with the quick draw. The flow of wind remained uneven, breaking whenever I tried to guide it.

  But it had only been a week since I began manipulating wind.

  I wasn’t disappointed.

  It was the expected outcome.

  That night, I organized my thoughts about mana.

  It wasn’t written in any text. No academy manuscript described mana this way.

  It was only a thought — a framework forming at the edge of understanding.

  Why can’t we use mana directly from the surroundings?

  With the exception of archmages, everyone draws mana inward first. We circulate it. Refine it. Store it. Only then can we shape it.

  If mana truly existed in the same domain as physical matter, that shouldn’t be necessary.

  Air can be moved because it exists in the same space as the body. Water can be redirected because it occupies the same physical axis.

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  But mana…

  Mana doesn’t behave like matter.

  It permeates everything, yet interacts with nothing unless mediated.

  What if it does not fully exist on the real axis at all?

  What if mana resides on an imaginary axis — present, measurable in effect, but not directly physical?

  That would explain the limitation.

  A mage cannot manipulate mana freely in the environment because the body exists entirely on the real axis. There is no direct interface.

  The soul, however, is different.

  The soul is neither entirely real nor entirely imaginary. It is a projection — a bridge between the two axes.

  Through the soul, mana becomes usable.

  We do not control ambient mana itself.

  We control the portion that enters the projection domain —

  In simpler terms, we do not manipulate mana “outside.”

  We manipulate the mana that has been translated into our soul’s domain.

  In summary:

  Mana → imaginary axis

  Body → real axis

  Soul → projection operator between the two

  That would explain why archmages are different.

  The body is the anchor for the soul.

  The soul is the vessel for mana.

  Three layers.

  Anchor.

  Vessel.

  Power.

  For ordinary mages, the separation is absolute.

  The body stabilizes the soul.

  The soul contains mana.

  Mana obeys the will through the mediation of the soul.

  But when one becomes an archmage…

  The distinction vanishes.

  The body is no longer merely an anchor.

  The soul is no longer merely a vessel.

  Mana is no longer something contained.

  They cease to be layered.

  They become one existence.

  They become a simultaneous existence.

  Not layered.

  Not projected.

  Simultaneous.

  Body, soul, and mana occupying the same state of being at once.

  That would explain everything.

  The more I thought about it, the clearer the structure became.

  Not something written in any grimoire—just a shape forming in my mind.

  It this theory is correct...

  Dark attribute

  It increases weight and density.

  Mana exists on the imaginary axis.

  The body exists on the real axis.

  Adding weight to mana does not add weight to the body.

  The manipulation happens on the imaginary axis.

  Adding enough weight to mana

  Increasing its density infinitely

  Compressing it into a defined region

  Then it would form a center.

  A pull.

  A Singularity on the imaginary axis.

  Mana would be drawn inward, rather than crushing the boundary.

  The Soul

  It was the key—the key to solving Transcendence Syndrome.

  It won't harm me unless I try to project the singularity.

  For the first time, the path forward was visible.