I was as ready as I would ever be to advance to Mist. My core, half-again as large thanks to my expansion technique, was full of brilliant, humming Aether.

During my past advancement, I had struggled in part due to the instabilities within my core. While I had not waited quite as long as I should have this time around, I knew I could handle any lingering issues just fine. My control and willpower had both grown and delaying any longer would hinder my growth more than anything else.

I reached inward, as I had many times before, and began running my hands along the outside of my mana. The mass within my core responded to my prodding and poking, but a hair slower than when I reached Haze. It was not much, so minor a change I almost doubted myself, but soon the differences became unmistakable.

This was the first of the two great roadblocks to a mage reaching the highest heights. Mana did not like to grow denser, at least within the body. Every advancement was a struggle against this nature, forcing it to reach a higher state, and such a struggle only grew worse with each new rank. While the differences were minute now, they would soon reach a point where only those with unbendable wills and unshakeable focus might succeed.

I liked to think I had both, but confidence could turn into arrogance all too easily. So, I worked methodically. While I could have finished within a half-hour, I instead spent twice as long, pulling and shifting the sphere as I moved it inward, away from the walls of my core. Every few minutes, I ran my 'hands' across its surface, smoothing it out like an artisan might polish a stone.

When I finally sat back and examined my work, the mana within my core had become a smooth, perfectly spherical orb of green mana. I smiled, allowing myself a few minutes to catch my breath before moving into the next stage.

Condensing, similar to coalescence, felt easier than it should. A part of that had to be familiarity with the process, but the lion's share came down to past training. I had worked hard to understand my mana, and though I still had a long way to go, I was far closer now than last winter.

Four hours passed as I pushed, prodded, and shoved my mana, condensing it into a tight sphere. While it proved more challenging than coalescence, it was still plenty easy. Again, I could have finished in half the time, but I decided not to rush. My research suggested rushed advancements risked injury or lingering instabilities, and I had plenty of time to take it slow.

Finally, I was finished. My mana burned brighter than ever, having shrunk into a tight, burning emerald sphere. It spun on its axis, and I could sense its faint, gentle hum grow into a powerful, resonant vibration that I swore I felt physically within my chest.

I examined the sphere for any flaws or faults, any lingering hints of instability that might hinder my work. Then, when I found none, I reached inward with both hands, took the core into my grasp, and crushed it.

Immediately, my Aether tried to slip through my fingers. If I had advanced a half-year earlier, it might have succeeded. But those months made all the difference. What had once been a genuine threat now felt lacking, almost paltry, and my will unbending.

Or close enough for my needs.

A sharp, soul-deep ache rose from within my core, and I continued to squeeze. That ache worsened in response, going from painful to agonizing as I continued to compress my Aether. Wisps broke past my fingers, and I had to stop each time to reclaim that lost power. Each delay slowed the process, but I could now see the benefits of limiting instabilities and performing each step perfectly. My mana felt more 'pliable' than the last time, and the process was overall smoother.

It took longer than I would have liked, but the orb slowly, painstakingly compressed under my will. Then, in a single rush, my mana gave in. It snapped into place, stabilizing into its new state. The pain vanished in a heartbeat, and in its wake came the strength of a Mist.

Then, in a single rush, the mana gave in. It snapped into place, stabilizing into its new density. The pain vanished, and in its wake came the strength of a Mist.

I seized, throwing my head back with a strangled gasp. Power ran down my limbs as the mana within each channel, and my core rumbled in concert. I could sense every one of those vessels widening just a little and felt the Aether within the air bend and flex towards me. Not much, but enough to notice.

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Then, after just seconds, it ended. I slumped forward, taking a few gasping breaths as sweat dripped down my face. When I finally straightened up, it was with a smile and a laugh.

I was a Mist. I had reached the state just before seventeen, which put me in rarified air. Only a few mages my age could claim the same feat, and I would almost certainly be the second apprentice to reach it if I had remained at the Academy.

That thought, or rather thinking about my friends, soured my mood. I did my best to remain busy and not dwell on them, but that strategy sometimes fell short. After a minute, I set aside those thoughts and focused on my new mana.

The cloud within my core had shrunk again, now burning brighter and with a deeper green shade, though neither quite matched the spark I had inherited from my counterpart. The Mist-tier mana had a new weight to it as well, a faint depth that Haze had not possessed.

I opened my eyes and stood, stretching out my limbs as I prepared to test precisely what Mist mana looked like in practice. The wiser move would be to wait until I had a chance to sleep, but after delaying for months I could not help myself.

It took a few seconds to cast my newly altered Traveler's Shield. I felt the spell settle into place around me and looked down just in time to see it form.

I had only gotten halfway through layering, but my armor looked noticeably different. Rather than a smooth, featureless 'shell' of green covering my whole body, I now had additional plating that resembled a cuirass and pauldrons protecting my torso. They were meant to be smooth and seamless, though my skill was not up to such a task yet.

What's more, each plate was brighter and had a deeper green coloring, identical to the mana within my core. I could sense a faint, magical 'heft' to the armor, though the entire thing remained physically weightless.

I was now functionally invincible to any Vapor or Haze and likely a tough 'nut' to crack for even some Mists. Sophia could probably get through my armor, but I would give myself even odds of surviving as long as I had my vambrace.

While I did not plan on testing those odds, it was an interesting hypothetical.

I almost dismissed my spell, but an idea occurred to me. Instead of breaking apart my armor, I reached inward again and cast my strengthening spell.

Power rushed through my limbs in smooth, flowing waves. I looked down at both hands, opening and closing them in wonder. Any hint of lingering soreness from the previous day's work had vanished, and now my body felt weightless.

I bunched my feet up underneath me and pushed off as hard as possible. My jump threw me at least a few extra feet into the air, and my fall felt a hair slower than usual. When I landed, I did not have to bend my knees at all; the combination of armor and augmented body took the force without a hint of strain.

My laugh echoed across the empty cave as I took off running towards the farthest wall from me. Each step smacked against the stone floor with hard thuds, and my sprint ate up the distance in seconds. It felt impossibly fast and, as it turned out, a little too fast.

The wall seemed to rush towards me in the gloom of the cave. I tried to slow down as the gap between my body and the wall vanished, but my feet slid on the loose stone and dust. There was just enough time to half-turn and brace myself before I slammed into the rock surface.

My armor absorbed the impact, and I bounced off with a hard clattering noise, like a stone on stone. I hit the floor and rolled, coming up to one knee. Thankfully, I was unharmed save my bruised ego, and I stood with something between a laugh and a sigh.

I took the remaining few steps towards the wall, laying my right hand against it. Then, I drew back my other fist and punched as hard as possible. It was the first genuine punch I had thrown in my life, and I knew it would look clumsy, slow, and inefficient with only a fraction of the strength of a trained pugilist.

However, a trained pugilist did not have magical plating around their hands.

My fist slammed into the stone wall with a sharp, ear-splitting crack. Jagged stone shards bounced off my head chest along with a cloud of dust, and I took a step back, waving one hand reflexively as I held my arm to my face.

The dust cleared a few seconds later, and I could see a small dent in the wall where I had struck. Thin cracks spread in every direction, each just wide enough to fit a knife's blade, and my mouth went dry. I had hoped the results might be a little more impressive, but they still thrilled and frightened me in equal parts.

That clumsy, untrained punch would cave in a man's chest.

I could have killed someone within the first few months of becoming a mage, but that was different. A magical bolt or blade forged from mana felt distant. Arcane. This? It was visceral and real in a way difficult to parse.

But fear eventually gave way to satisfaction, and I dismissed both spells with a smile.

Holding both spells when I first arrived in Aresford would have drained my core within three, maybe four minutes. Now, I could maintain them for at least five, even with the changes to my armor. While still far too slow for my tastes, it was about as good a result as I could have expected.

I glanced into my core again, examining the free space within and comparing it to my recollections of Haze. Though I had used up a portion of my reserves, I knew it would take up a larger percentage at full strength.

And here was the second reason why few mages reached the higher ranks. For some, their cores were just too small to fit in enough mana.

Mana could only compress so far. Each new advancement left you with less room than the last, and eventually, there would come a point where you did not have enough mana to reach the next density.

I was not in danger of such a problem, at least not yet, and I wondered if this was what had allowed me to reach such heights in my first life. Julian had once said my core and channels were both larger than most adults, after all. Was it really so simple? Was I just a fluke of nature, born with enough space to advance consistently?

Whatever the reasons, they did not matter. I had become a Mist and did not plan on stopping there. If I wanted to have any chance of living, I would need to reach Ocean and do so before my past self had managed. Even if I had been chosen for such boring reasons, he was dead, and I was not.

With that, I put those kinds of thoughts and concerns aside. After all, I had two more spells to test, and I was very curious to see how far I could move with a Mist-tier Force Step.