The time for the second enlightenment had come. First, the Core had figured out the secrets of Arcane and Colour, able to tell the difference between a moment and the next. Truly a fulfilling achievement, and certainly one which would prove useful shortly. Yet there was still another påoint that needed to be made. Another task that needed fulfilling, one that would require more detail.

To explain colours, one would need to know what colours were, how they worked, and what predictions could be made based on them. That was what the Core needed to do before it even had a chance at gaining the next level in [Mana-Sense]. Which meant it needed to continue with the thinking until the very moment that the [System] announced its fulfilment. It was a hard idea, one that had the potential of forcing the Core into an infinite loop of thought should it have misunderstood the basic requirements for a skill being upgraded, but it would be done nonetheless. There was nothing that would stop it, no matter what the consequences could be. The benefits were both too high and too needed for future development.

To begin with, leading up to the more extreme revelations, the Entity thought it best to start with the more basic subjects of the Coloured branch of Mana. What was the coloured Mana even? Well… it was a distinction of the world and what it had inside. Each colour represented many things, the nuances in between the different colours even further showing what the things truly were. But, holding it up to the more basic colour schemes, there was a lot to grasp from that alone.

Take the grey, brown, and… green colours. Each was quite prominent inside the ground that the Core sat inside, showing off how important they truly were. Grey was one of the most-used colours around, at the very least, that specific colour being the basic matter of nearly all stone that had been seen yet. The very building blocks were the colour, creating a bright shine of it. Yet this building block, this formatted essence was not something that all matter shared between. While the deepest layer of any material held itself as Mana, one step further upheld these blocks. Here, there were many. Likely more than the Core could even count, the variety being as varied as the number of colours in the universe, of which there were quite a few. The greys were one segment of the possible colours, nearly of that specific colour known for how frequently seen they were. Perhaps they came to be formed quite easily or maybe a creature of the past had decided that the creation of grey was more important than anything else. It was not known.

Moving on to the brown, there was much to think about here. The brown had not shown itself in many varied forms, not close to the variety shown off by the grey stone, yet it had still been in quite large quantities all around. Here, it was much less of a support weight though, being closer to a liquid more than anything. When the pressure was put onto it, the brown would conform to the pressure slowly but steadily. The Brown Mana did not hold together at the same level as grey, not even close, but that also allowed for the change, to begin with. And this change was quite good, being used for many of the [Plants] that could not spread its roots inside the grey.

And it was not like the plants would even want to get near the cold greys anyhow, the hard structure stopping anything from being injected. Small amounts of nearly every material could be found in the brown, the lack of hardness welcoming intrusions from all sides. Materials that were sought by the living could easily be found and harnessed, making it ideal in situations where the grey was without comfort. It showed a balance of sorts.

But what were these living beings anyhow? Well… it was hard to truly know, the entities coming in all shapes and sizes. And all colours as well, of course. Though, one colour showed life more than anything at the current level. And that was the Green coloured Mana, the movement of such colour more fluid than anything else. It allowed for growth and movement and life to prosper, building up a body with layers of flesh, soft enough to mould yet hard enough to survive. It showed a balance between two extremes seen before while also allowing the gift of life to prosper inside of itself.

That wasn't to say that the green Mana was the reason life existed. Because it wasn't a sign of life. [Coal] had green Mana, yet it was just as alive as the stone it could be found in. And life could be found in other colours as well. Blue had been shown with the capability of holding life quite easily, while the red had in the meanwhile showed some theoretical backing from being able to do the same, though the latter had not shown it off in practice. The point was that the green was simply a strong indicator of life instead of proof of it being there. Nothing could be truly said yet. Life liked green and the green liked it right back.

And there were many other colours as well, all able to be shown off in the main purposes they held while also going into more nuance. Red had shown energy distribution never seen before, able to infect nearby matter with the energy in a more temporary manner, always evening out in the end. That had been seen once while trying to grind the stones together, while also figuring out a handy way to create the red Mana at all.

The [Giant-Ants] seen so many times had a variety of colours inside of them, varying from grey to brown to green and right over to the aforementioned red. Grey showed off the outer layer at the upper parts, allowing for a tough back that could take more than a few whits. The Brown was the middle layer, allowing for the shock of hits to be distributed while also letting the innermost parts move with plenty of space between the layers. The Green, Red, and a small mix of Blue was settled on the inner-organs. The green held most of the vital things afloat while the red kept it all running with quite the speed. Red was good in such a function, able to create drive in what was previously inanimate. It could also turn states of matter into others with enough energy, but the Core had truly not tested that out too much yet. It needed to try it out at some point soon. It wondered if gas was the limit or if something else was beyond that…

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No matter. More thoughts needed to be made. It wasn't even getting started with the deeper meanings yet. No mention of Blue yet. That one certainly needed to be explained, seeing as it was a large part of what the Core even was. It was an amalgamation of true Blue. The best blue there was, refined, again and again, to make sure its purity was exactly as good as it needed to be. Or… the Core did hope that the blue was meant to be such a colour. Never before had ti wondered what it would do if it had been an another one, only knowing that its system had fixed any errors of the colouring when introduced. The Colour didn't ever change to an average. It was always that damned blue nuance. What did it mean? What reason was there for it?

More importantly, what did the Blue colour even mean? What was the goal of having the blue instead of, say, green? Did both not work perfectly for life? Ignoring the water in the air and on the ground, there was nothing else capable of showing the same colouring, making the Entity doubt for a few moments what it even was. Perhaps there was more to it than it could even fathom.

…

Blue had always been mysterious. It had been a part of the Core’s life since it first realised Mana existed, being the first type of Mana seen. it had been there at the start and it would just as likely be there at the end. Blue was omnipresent in the Core’s life, and so it would likely be until the life decided to stop. Yet what could the blue truly mean? What secrets did it hold within? Looking at the features that the blue had shown off in other material, the truth was revealed at some level. Water was a completely blue material, only slightly off-shade from the one that the Core bore itself. Yet it still showed off the Mana within. And also the ability to hold Mana, now that the Entity paid attention. It almost seemed like the water sucked up the Mana around itself, giving the material a more glistening feature. There was a brief wondering if it was the same for all liquids, yet that was disregarded instantly, the ant organs seen earlier not having such an ability. No… this was unique to water. This was unique to blue Mana.

Blue Mana held a hand around that mysterious energy. Yes, all was created by the hand of this energy, yet it was not all that worked well within the current form. Even at that moment, the Core could not help but think back to the creatures seen before. None had the capability of holding Mana within itself, not having the Blue presence needed. While veins showed off that pulsing energy, it was never at the quality or at the intensity that was required. Purity in the form of blue or something else was needed before that beautiful energy could be moved around without issue. It was the true factor in everything, whether that was liked or not.

Grey held sturdiness, brown held the small and alive, green helped foster life instead of creating it, red helped movement occur while also impacting all around it, blue was the path to Mana and all that it entailed. What else was there to think about? Perhaps the purple Mana? Though, it hadn't been seen much of, it had still held a very clear role in some of the materials seen in very small amounts. Most of those had been outside the normal domain, however, only seen through brief shots from before. And even then, it had been shown off quite clearly that it was but a mixture of blue and red, the Mana within manipulated to extreme speeds, creating a very volatile material. The Core thought it would likely blow up at the slightest strong gust of wind. Perhaps that was something to try with an ant if there ever came the chance for it.

But purple Mana was disregarded in the end, no matter how interesting a subject it was. There wasn't enough information to make an opinion, the only example being a brief look at a forced mixing. It would likely be attempted by the Core itself soon, though. And if the next attempts at making an increase in [Mana-Sense] didn’t work, more extreme measures would be taken.

What other forms of Mana had been seen before? What colours held truth while also showing off interesting qualities that could be used for methods of identifications about their true functions in a realistic environment? That was quite the hefty question yet it held truth within. What colour held up the criteria that the Croe needed? There was one which fulfilled them, of course, yet the Entity had trouble deciding if it wanted to go down such a route. There was much else to think about anyway.

… Not being able to think of anything else, and not seeing the [System] popping its head in just yet, the Core was forced to focus on one colour which had caused much disdain. Or could it even be called a colour? Truly, it was better to call it a lack of one, the colour being that of blackness. It had been seen once before, that [Black] Mana. It had been used to order the [Wild] ants around wielded by the [Queen of Hollows]. Ignoring the name still not making sense, the functionality of the black energy was still quite easy to see.

It was a controller. It was used to put pressure on the bodies of others and make them bend to a will greater than their own. Such an idea was quite abstract and perhaps even a bit ungrounded in reality, but the Core saw little else it could be. There had been no indication of the black manifesting into the physical matter yet. And while the Entity did not hesitate to believe it could be done, there was some doubt that it was the main purpose. The feel of the dark left no ideas of it being used to build a house. It was meant to take control of a house.

Control in what way, however? Would an order come through in the same way that the Core ordered the [Dungeon-Born? Or would it be like a forced movement, the body unable to do anything but obey the wishes of an entity that cares for nothing but results? From the few moments witnessed in use, the black tendrils had become tethered to the Mana-Veins of a creature, digging inside and making them move like a puppet, the flesh sitting outside being nothing more than for show. The Core doubted that the creatures even being alive mattered much to the caster, the movement being the only thing truly required. If there was a body that could move, it would move no matter what. Will and darkness commanded it, after all.

There was also the white colour, though. What could that have been? What could the functions of a white colour truly be? Would it grant freedom and salvation from the black? The colours were an inverse of sorts, after all, one being nothing and the other being everything. Perhaps the two would interact in a way where both assimilate into every possible route. Or maybe they would even each other out in a way where both lost or won? It was hard to say, the function not being known without a practical example. But… the Core knew one thing. It knew to not try and force it. Understanding that was without question, the energy from the blackness being more than enough of a warning.

And… that was the only thought truly needing to be had.