The memory changed once again. Modernia disappeared.
The graveyard faded into mist before it formed into a quiet beach beneath cloudy skies lingering overhead without threatening rain. Adelasta quietly followed behind the memory while Veneri sat on the sand with his legs stretched forward. Beside him, Melody rested comfortably with her arms wrapped around her knees while absentmindedly drawing circles in the wet sand using a small stick.
"Alright, today begins your suffering. Before we begin, tell me something. What Star Rank are you?"
"Ninth."
"What?"
"Ninth Star."
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"You're joking."
"I'm serious."
"How?"
Veneri shrugged slightly.
"I just kept learning stuff."
"That is not an explanation. You don't even feel like a proper mage."
He looked mildly insulted.
"What does that even mean?"
"You feel like someone who punches things while occasionally remembering mysticism exists."
Adela snorted quietly. Veneri looked offended.
"I use Magecraft a lot."
"You swing a glaive."
"I multitask."
Melody sighed dramatically.
"This explains everything. Alright, let us start from the basics. In Magecraft, there is something called the Star Rank. It is the standard system used to determine a mage's overall capability."
She raised ten fingers.
"It starts at the First Star and progresses to the Tenth Star. Every stage reflects mastery, complexity, understanding and control. The First through Third Star are beginners. The Fourth through Sixth Star are professionals. The Seventh through Eighth are elites. And the Ninth and Tenth are monsters. The fact you somehow reached Ninth Star is too absurd."
"Why?"
"Because you got there through sheer luck."
He looked offended.
"That's rude."
"You have no specialization, you barely dedicate yourself to Magecraft properly, you divide your attention, you multitask too much and the only reason you're strong because you are an Aeterium."
"Because of Limitless?"
"Aeterium are the strongest natural mages in the known universe. Your Base Tether, Limitless, essentially allows endless growth with almost no bottlenecks. You people are loved by the universe, that's for sure."
Adela quietly listened. Even she had forgotten how absurd Aeterium truly were. They were part of the Four Ancient Races after all.
"You are only this strong because you use dual combat. You combine Magecraft with Weapon Mastery. You fight physically while supporting yourself with mysticism. That versatility made you strong but it's also exactly why you are stuck. The Tenth Star is not actually difficult once someone reaches the Ninth. The real problem is specialization. The Universal Laws hate imbalance."
Veneri immediately looked annoyed.
"The Universal Laws hate everything."
"That too. But once someone reaches Ninth Star, they must dedicate themselves to it. You either choose magecraft or another path. The reason you cannot reach the Tenth Star is because your Weapon Mastery divides your progression. No one in known history has ever fully become both a Grandmaster in Weapon Mastery and a Tenth Star Mage."
Adela noticed Veneri hesitate.
"One of my beloveds is both. She's a Circlemancer. She's a Tenth Star Mage and a Grandmaster."
Her expression turned into genuine shock.
"What? She has another Magecraft capability?"
"No."
Melody stared at him for several seconds and sighed.
"You should cherish her."
"I do?"
"No. I mean seriously cherish her. She is an anomaly. But to you, you have three Magecraft capabilities. Rune Manipulation. You can use runes through speech, writing, carving, or direct manifestation."
She raised another finger.
"Circlecraft. You create Mystic Circles, not borrow them."
Another finger.
"Castless Magecraft. You can use Magecraft without spells, circles, or runes. That combination alone is absurd. My capability was Circlemancy who borrow pre-existing Mystic Circles created by others. But Circlecrafters invent them. You can create Mystic Circles and spells from nothing which means your Magecraft potential is massive. Unfortunately… The Universal Laws do not like greed."
Veneri frowned when he heard that.
"What does that mean?"
"The universe refuses to allow someone to have too much perfection. If you become a Grandmaster in Weapon Mastery… reaching Tenth Star Magecraft becomes nearly impossible. Your father experienced it."
"My father?"
Melody immediately nodded.
"Dilasyus tried. He attempted both. He wanted to perfect his staff Weapon Mastery and become a First Stellar Mage."
"Stellar?"
Melody paused before realizing that he didn't know about that.
"Oh right. You don't know. After Tenth Star comes the Stellar Rank. First Stellar, Second Stellar, Third Stellar, Fourth Stellar and Fifth Stellar. The strongest mages in existence exist there."
"So what happened to my father?"
Melody sighed softly.
"He failed. The Universal Laws rejected him. He nearly died from it too. As punishment, his Weapon Mastery was permanently fixed at Master Rank forever. He can never progress further. And because the universe could not fully deny him, he became something strange. He got the Eleventh Star."
"Wait so that's how he got it?"
She pointed at him.
"Your father technically surpassed the Tenth Star but failed to fully enter Stellar Rank. So the Universal Laws gave him an incomplete evolution. That means you need to choose. Tell me honestly. What is stronger? Your Weapon Mastery or your Magecraft?"
For once, he looked serious in a way that reminded her of when he made impossible decisions for Richinaria. The difference here was painfully obvious. This time, the person losing something was him. Veneri remained quiet for a while before finally sighing deeply and rubbing his face.
"My Magecraft is stronger. As much as I want to improve my Weapon Mastery and as much as I enjoy using Calimostria, I already know what I was always meant to become."
Melody stayed silent and let him continue.
"When things become dangerous, I naturally prioritize Magecraft before anything else. Even when I'm fighting physically, I am still relying on runes, Mystic Circles, barriers, calculations, reinforcement and castless formulas in the background. Weapon Mastery matters to me but Magecraft feels like breathing."
Melody smiled.
"That right there is your answer. Most mages spend centuries trying to understand what their true path is and somehow you figured it out without realizing it."
Veneri sighed.
"I guess that means I'm choosing Magecraft then. In ready to become a Tenth Star Mage."
Veneri looked relieved for exactly two seconds before Melody ruined everything.
"We are not stopping at the Tenth Star. You're reaching the First Stellar Rank too."
"I'm sorry. Could you please repeat that horrifying sentence?"
"You heard me perfectly. The Tenth Star is only the beginning of what you are capable of becoming. However, before we can even think about the Tenth Star, there is something you must go through first."
"And what exactly is that?"
Melody looked him directly in the eye.
"Cleansing. For a mage to surpass their natural limit, they must first dismantle the excessive development they accumulated throughout their growth."
She crouched on the sand and began drawing complicated patterns.
"Think of Magecraft like building a city. At first, every building matters because every structure helps you survive. You create runes. You build Mystic Circles. You improve efficiency. You experiment. You develop systems."
Her fingers moved through the wet sand.
"But eventually, too much development becomes a burden. Contradictions begin forming between them, causing unnecessary complexity. Old foundations become outdated and the weight of accumulated systems begins restricting ascension. That is where cleansing begins."
Veneri frowned harder.
"What exactly do you mean by cleansing?"
Melody looked up at him calmly.
"It means destroying almost everything."
The waves continued moving quietly.
"No."
"No?"
"No. Absolutely not."
"You have not even heard the details—"
"I already dislike the concept."
Melody sighed softly like she had expected resistance.
"You possess three Magecraft capabilities. To undergo cleansing, you must preserve only one achievement from each capability. You will destroy every Mystic Circle you have ever developed except one. Every other circle must be abandoned permanently. You will also destroy every Rune development except one. And because Castless Magecraft recovers more easily, you will erase everything connected to it."
Veneri stood up so quickly the sand shifted beneath him.
"No Absolutely not."
Melody looked up calmly.
"Why not?"
"Because that is my foundation. Do you have any idea how much time I spent building that? I made those Mystic Circles from scratch. I optimized them, refined them, improved them and tested them through actual combat. You're asking me to destroy decades worth of Magecraft."
Melody stayed completely calm.
"Yes. Because right now your Magecraft is overcrowded."
"My Magecraft is not overcrowded."
"It is. You're carrying too much development. You never stopped building. You kept stacking without simplifying anything."
Veneri opened his mouth but stopped. He frowned and looked away. Annoyingly, she had a point.
"You are not destroying your future, Vastarael. You are making space for it. No mage reaches the Tenth Star while dragging the weight of unnecessary systems. The Universal Laws demand devotion, clarity and sacrifice. If you want Magecraft to recognize you as its absolute master, you must fully dedicate yourself to it."
Veneri rubbed his face again.
"That is too much. You're asking me to throw away years of effort."
"You are not throwing them away. Your Mystic Circles will still exist. Other mages may inherit and use them. They simply stop belonging to you. You lose ownership over them."
Veneri looked horrified.
"That sounds even worse."
"It's painful. Nobody enjoys cleansing. But the people who refuse it stay stagnant forever."
Veneri slowly sat back down on the sand while looking completely miserable.
"This feels like you are trying to ruin my life."
Melody laughed softly.
"If I wanted to ruin your life, I would have let you do it without help. I'm helping you because I owe a debt to Vasreveilder. He gave my people eternal peace. He saved us when nobody else would. And before this life ends… I want to repay him."
"You keep saying things like this life ends."
Melody looked oddly peaceful.
"I only have fifty years left in this reincarnation. After that, Melody disappears with no memories or identity. I will become someone else, born somewhere in another world that knows nothing about music, sacrifice or Regnum Musicae."
Then she looked back at him and smiled again. She stood up and removed sand from her dress using her hands.
"So stop overthinking. You have fifty years. And unfortunately for you, we're spending those fifty years turning you into the strongest mage alive."
"Could I at least emotionally process this disaster before you destroy everything I worked for?"
"No. You are starting tomorrow morning."
He looked at the sky with betrayal.
"Why does every powerful woman in my life enjoy causing me suffering?"
Melody smiled sweetly.
"Because you somehow survive it every time, do you not?"