[FOR EVERY 100 POWERSTONES = 1 EXTRA CHAPTER]
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A profound sense of renewal coursed through John. The month of agonizing fusion had left him feeling not drained, but reborn. The Source Energy thrummed within him, a silent, omnipotent symphony where once there had been a cacophony of conflicting powers. He felt energetic, clear-headed, and more connected to the fabric of reality than ever before.
However, a quick internal diagnostic revealed a curious trade-off. His Six Eyes Rinnegan, whose progression he had painstakingly raised to 12%, had plummeted back to a mere 1%. It was as if the act of creating a new universal constant had reset his comprehension of the old ones. In contrast, his Senju and Uzumaki bloodlines, previously sitting at around 50% activation, now glowed at a perfect 100%. He felt no physical change—his hair remained its distinctive milk-white, not shifting to Uzumaki red or Senju brown—but the vitality was undeniable. His life force was a roaring bonfire, his chakra reserves, now subsumed into the greater Source Energy, felt bottomless.
The most significant change was the energy itself. He could no longer feel "chakra" or "magic" as distinct entities. There was only the Source—a power that was more profound than cosmic energy, more volatile than cursed energy, more serene than natural energy, more malevolent than the darkest magic, more flexible than any spell, and more reinforcing than pure sunlight. His eyes, when he looked in a reflection, had returned to their serene Ethereal Blue, but now with subtle, shimmering silver flecks dancing within the sapphire depths, like stars in a twilight sky. With a thought, he could perceive the flow of all energies around him, not as separate streams, but as different-colored threads in a single, magnificent tapestry that he could now pluck and weave at will.
This new unity had an unexpected side effect on his old abilities. His Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan techniques—Toki no Gyakusetsu, Kami no Shihai, Amaterasu no Yomigaeri, Yata no Kagami—no longer felt like discrete jutsu with cooldowns and heavy costs. They felt like innate functions, as natural as breathing. A basic Fireball Jutsu, when channeled with a minuscule flicker of Source Energy, threatened to replicate the scale and devastation of Madara's Great Fire Annihilation. His Shadow Clones were no longer mere chakra constructs; they felt disconcertingly real, with a tangible physical presence and a spark of independent consciousness that was both fascinating and alarming.
Recognizing the danger, John decided to avoid all ninjutsu until he had absolute control. Instead, he joined the future founders and Sharon for a simple magical practice session in the courtyard. The goal was the most benign spell imaginable: Lumos.
"Just focus, John," Rowena instructed gently. "A small, gentle light at the tip of your wand. Think of a candle flame."
John nodded, concentrating. He didn't even need his wand. He willed a tiny spark of Source Energy to manifest as light.
He focused, intending to produce a gentle, wandless light at the tip of his finger. Instead, a miniature star ignited. A sphere of blinding, white-hot plasma erupted from his fingertip, roaring with the fury of a newborn sun. The heat was instant and intense, scorching the grass in a ten-foot radius and forcing everyone to shield their eyes and stumble back.
"GOD'S BLOOD, JOHN!" Godric bellowed, his face pale. "Are you trying to blind us and burn the castle down? What in Merlin's name was that?!"
John stared, utterly bewildered, at the slowly fading ball of incandescent fury. "I… I just tried to cast Lumos."
Merlin, who had been observing from a shaded archway, let out a long, weary sigh. He approached, his expression a mixture of amusement and deep concern.
"It seems, John, that your control over your output has become… inversely proportional to your power," Merlin stated. "Your new energy is a law unto itself. It is so potent, so fundamental, that even the most minuscule, unconscious release is cataclysmic. You are, for all intents and purposes, a walking disaster area until you learn to suppress it."
John's shoulders slumped. "Is there any way to control it?"
Merlin's eyes twinkled. "There is. But we will need the help of the finest craftsmen. The wand we gave you before is now useless, its core incinerated by the briefest contact with your Source Energy. It was never meant to channel a force that predates magic itself."
He turned to Sharon. "And you, my dear, must also have a wand."
Sharon looked surprised. "But Master Merlin, I can perform magic without one."
"Indeed, you can," Merlin agreed. "Your High Elf heritage grants you that boon. But you are not a full-blooded Elf. You are a half-breed, which means your magical core, while vast, is not infinitely efficient. The small Lumos you cast without a wand a moment ago required an energy output equivalent to a full-powered Expelliarmus. Wandless magic is a powerful tool, but it is incredibly wasteful. Only Great Magi or Warlocks, beings with near-bottomless reserves, use it as anything other than a last resort. A wand will focus your power, making your spells a hundred times more efficient."
John seized on the new terms. "Great Magus? Warlock? What are these ranks?"
"Ah, my apologies," Merlin said. "You come from South Asia, where they have their own system. You are familiar with the Martial ranks, yes?"
John nodded, the System-provided knowledge surfacing. "Martial Apprentice, Practitioner, Master, Grandmaster, and Martial God. Lord Raghavendra was a Martial God, though he always said it was merely a stepping stone to a higher realm."
"Precisely," Merlin said. "Every culture names the energy differently—Qi, Ki, Chakra, Magic—but it is all the same fundamental force. Here, our ranks are: Apprentice, Magus, Grand Magus, Great Magus, Arch Magus, Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, and finally, Divine Beings."
He gestured to himself. "I am currently at the Supreme Mugwump stage, nearing a breakthrough to a Divine Being in the next two or three centuries." A profound sadness crossed his ancient features. "Though, I must confess, I have been resisting it. A normal Magus can live for centuries. A Supreme Mugwump's lifespan is measured in tens of thousands of years. I am barely over a thousand, and I have already seen too many graves. The thought of an eternal existence… it is a lonely prospect. To become a Divine Being is to surpass life and death, to become a true immortal. Even if the body is destroyed, the soul endures for millennia without any external sustenance."
His voice dropped. "Unless, of course, one encounters a being with the power to consume a soul. There is only one madman in history known to have developed such a vile art: Herpo the Mad, the creator of the Horcrux. Thankfully, the Celestials joined forces and sealed him away in a Hell dimension long ago because that Mad men try to Consume Celestial Qulin Soul but he was underestimate celestial beast's power nearly destroyed all his horcrux by celestial Qulin joined force with all celestial being's sealed him up."
John was stunned. The magical world was far deeper and more dangerous than any story had suggested. It also explained the incredible longevity of powerful wizards like Dumbledore, whose immense vitality allowed him to survive a cursed, mortal wound for a year.
"So," John summarized, "the wand is essential for control until one reaches the very pinnacle of power?"
"Exactly," Merlin confirmed. "A wand does not just amplify magic; for most, it provides the fine control necessary to avoid blowing off one's own hand. For you, John, it will act as a suppressor and a regulator, a bottleneck to force your cosmic-level power into a manageable, magical stream. And for Sharon, it will be a focus to conserve her immense but finite energy."
He clapped his hands together, his mood shifting to practical matters. "Therefore, tomorrow, we shall all journey to Diagon Alley. We must visit Ollivander's. His family were the finest wandmakers long before the birth of the Great Sage of Nazareth. Rest well tonight. Tomorrow, we find the tools that will keep you from accidentally unraveling the world."
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