Published at 23rd of January 2026 7:08 am

Chapter 1441: Embrace the Fire

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In a highly secured underground chamber, Marlow stood at the edge of the room, watching the spectacular event unfold with hope and anticipation.

All three of them had sworn a mana oath, agreeing to Bunosilo’s conditions. Furthermore, the old man had even allowed Marlow to personally witness the process so that it would make his future advancement smoother.

Glancing at the small disk embedded in the center of the room, Marlow’s heart was filled with disbelief.

The mana-gathering runic formation, he thought in awe.

It attracts the mana from the surroundings and funnels it into a targeted location, making the mana density in that place exponentially higher.

I never thought such a thing was even possible! Just where did Lord Bunosilo even get it? And to think that he would even gift such an invaluable item to us...

Suddenly, the air shifted.

Marlow’s ruby eyes narrowed.

It has begun!

At the center of the chamber, Maximillian Fireborne sat cross-legged on the ground, practicing mindfulness and absorbing the ambient mana in the surroundings into his body.

Bunosilo stood not far from him, hands clasped behind his back, calmly observing Maximillian’s advancement as he guided him through the process.

His voice was calm, steady, carrying a strange gravity as Maximillian sat at the center of the formation.

"Listen carefully," he said. "What you are about to experience is not merely an advancement of power. It is a change in being."

He raised his hand slightly, gently soothing the turbulent mana around Maximillian.

"At the Mana Vortex Rank, mana obeys you through force and repetition. It moves because you compel it to move. It gathers because you demand it. But such control is crude. For it is domination without understanding."

His murky eyes gleamed, a profound aura radiating from him.

"The Way teaches us that all things follow a natural course. Water flows downward. Fire rises into the air. Order emerges not from coercion, but from harmony."

Bunosilo’s voice softened.

"As you cross this threshold, your mana will no longer rage like a storm. It will yield. It will liquefy, not because it is weakened, but because it has learned to flow."

Inside Maximillian, the violent currents of mana began to smooth, spiraling inward.

"When mana becomes liquid, it learns patience," Bunosilo continued. "It circles the center of your body — the stomach region — not chaotically, but in an orderly whirlpool. This is the Way of convergence. Many streams, one motion. Many thoughts, one intent."

He paused, letting the moment settle. His voice carried wisdom from beyond the stars, for it contained the experiences of many great, powerful Magi.

"The whirlpool turns endlessly. Not to rush forward, but to understand itself. Each revolution strips away impurity. Each cycle is a question asked of existence itself... Why do I move? Why do I gather?"

The air around Maximillian trembled faintly.

"At the center of that motion," Bunosilo said gently, "a point begins to form. Infinitesimal. Fragile. This is where most fail. They panic. They try to force shape onto it. This was your bottleneck. For you had forgotten the Way."

At that moment, Marlow held his breath, his hands subconsiosuly clenching. The air inside the chamber became heavy, and he instinctively knew that he was witnessing something grand.

A spark ignited, which eventually transformed into a flame... the flame of Fireborne!

Bunosilo’s eyes flashed with a brilliant light, and he said, "The Way does not tolerate impatience."

The revolving mana within Maximillian slowed, pressure increasing without violence.

"When the time is right," said Bunosilo, "the whirlpool no longer seeks motion. It seeks stillness. And in that stillness... all motion finds meaning."

His voice turned softer, reverent.

"The mana condenses, not by compression, but by agreement. It finds unity. It solidifies, not into matter, but into principle. This is the mana core."

A faint pulse echoed through the chamber, followed by a wave of fiery energy that threatened to spill beyond the walls. But with a simple hand seal, Bunosilo contained it.

He continued:

"The core is ethereal. It exists between states. Tangible and intangible. Form and formlessness. It is like the Way itself: present, undeniable, yet impossible to grasp fully.

Bunosilo’s lips curled into a faint smile.

"With a mana core, you no longer command mana as an external force. You are the axis around which it turns. Power flows because you exist, not because you will it."

Gradually, his voice turned solemn.

"Remember this, Maximillian Fireborne. The Mana Core Rank is not proof of supremacy. It is a reminder of restraint. Those who forget this will fall into madness. And those who remember it... shape the world without ever forcing it."

Bunosilo’s form slowly dissipated as he left behind his parting words.

"Now... embrace the fire, and rise from your own ashes."

As the first rays of the morning sun filtered through the window, Maximillain opened his eyes, his ruby pupils blazing with newfound strength.

In that moment, he knew... he had ascended to the Mana Core Rank!

"Father!" Marlow snapped out of his daze and rushed forward.

He knelt beside his father, crying tears of joy. "How do you feel?"

Maximillian felt like he had awakened from a long slumber. All he could remember was Bunosilo’s voice guiding him like an elder holding a toddler’s hands and teaching him how to walk. It was such a surreal sensation, unlike anything he had ever experienced before.

He turned to his son in a daze. "Yes, I..." He murmured. "I feel... great."

"I can’t believe my eyes!" Marlow wiped his tears away. "Did Lord Bunosilo help you form a mana core... just like that?"

"...Just like that, huh?" Maximillian smiled wryly.

He closed his eyes and spread his senses inward, perceiving the newly-formed ethereal mana core pulsing with energy.

Maximillian was deeply shaken.

Yes, it was true that he had already arrived at the apex of the Mana Vortex Rank, thus making it possible for him to attempt to advance to the next realm.

But it was also true that Bunosilo had used words to guide him into forming a mana core.

At first glance, it seemed almost absurd.

Yet Bunosilo’s words were anything but ordinary. They resonated deeply with the flow of mana, aligning thought, intent, and existence into a single harmonious path.

Only someone who had walked the Way for countless lifetimes could speak with such clarity.

In that moment, only one thought echoed in Maximillian’s mind:

Just who is Bunosilo?

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