“Tertiary?” Miles asked in surprise. There were four main branches and the body was Merlin’s one of the minor choices, yet he was still able to form claws out of thin air.

“My secondary branch is Mind. Which I will be explaining now.

Mind means brainpower. This branch allows you to strengthen your mind and use it to do unbelievable things.” After he said that, the can in front of Merlin started to float in the air. Its movements were crude and it was wobbling, but it was floating nonetheless.

“Telekinesis is just one form of this branch. Mental abilities can be sorted under this branch, but its limits still haven't been fully discovered.” As soon as Merlin finished saying that, he vanished from where he was sitting. Miles looked at the small room in fright and failed to discover Merlin before he appeared once again.

“That was the illusion sub-branch. I fooled your perception to make you believe I vanished from where I was sitting. You couldn’t see, hear, smell or even touch me.

The mind branch is one of the most powerful and mysterious branches. Thanks to mother's passive powers, I was able to master this branch as fast as I could the Heart branch.” Merlin explained. When he saw a question forming in Miles’s mind, he answered unhesitatingly. “Superpowers are the base of our mastery over the branches. Although we can choose which branch we are going to master, our affinities over them vary.

The most suitable branch for me is Heart so if I try to master it, it will be easier for me to learn it. But my body is my weak point, so I am worse at it.

Father has the primary Body Branch, so does grandpa.

Mother, on the other hand, has the primary mind branch and heart as secondary.”

“I see. What about the fourth one?” Miles asked excitedly.

“Mystic branch, as its name suggests, is a total mystery for us. Anything that doesn’t fit in the first three branches is accepted as a product of the mystic branch. It is my quaternary branch, but what I can do with it is not even as good as how I use Body Branch. Many things beyond our imaginations can be achieved with this branch.

For example in F-Circle, there was a weak monster. A single attack from the weakest soldier in our squad could kill it easily, but that monster could create a copy of it. Real living bodies are cloned from the main body unlimitedly. The sheer number of the copies overwhelmed our troop, and all we could do was run away as far as we could.”

“Shouldn’t that be Body Branch?” Miles asked. If he could create duplicates, it should have been Body Branch.

“If it was Body Branch, the monster wouldn’t be that weak. It would strengthen its body with the branch. Also, the copies were like an illusion but they were real.”

“One other monster could change its appearance as it wished. It could take the forms of our companions and even copied their mannerisms. It lived with us for two weeks without us knowing it. In the end, it ran away in laughter. All it wanted to mock us with, and if it wanted to harm us, it could kill many of our troops.” Merlin explained and added before Miles could ask.

“Mind Branch can delude our minds and one can change their bodies to some extent with Body Branch, but mannerism is different. Not easy to copy at all.

All in all, this branch is too weird, but also unknown.” Merlin summarized the last branch. From what he told, Miles could infer that Merlin didn’t know much about it either. And as the future leader of the Cross family, if he didn’t know, no one in Unity would know any better.

“What about forming a seed?” Miles asked. This was his original question, but since Merlin explained so much, it meant it was related.

“People can choose their primary branches. Your superpower and talent decide which branch you are most excelled at but your will decides your primary. When you break the shackles of Grace-Rank, the energy will condense into a seed formed in your body. It will be the source of your future powers and lifeline. Damaging the seed or destroying it is akin to destroying a person’s power. We believe the monster cores or orbs are seeds of monsters too.

When you condense the energy in your body, it will flow into one of the three directions. If the seed forms on the right side of your chest, it means your main branch is the Heart. If it forms in one of your limbs, it means your primary branch is Body, and if it forms in your brain, then you are Mind primed.” Merlin showed three parts of the body.

“What about the fourth one, mystic?” Miles couldn’t help but ask, but Merlin’s smile answered his question.

“There is no Mystic seed. No human ever formed one. We still don’t know why, it is just like its name. Mystic!” Merlin’s answer all Miles could learn for the time being.

“What are the advantages of forming cores and mastering other forms, then?” Miles couldn’t help but ask. “What we do with energy is a form of technique so choosing a branch to master seems redundant.”

“That is the million-dollar question, brother.” Merlin smiled mysteriously and a silhouette appeared behind him. It was too vague, but Miles could see it clearly. Before it could appear completely, it vanished. Merlin gasped and sweats of bullets poured down from his forehead.

“What was that?” Miles looked behind Merlin with his eyes wide open. The phantom-like thing behind Merlin gave him unexplainable pressure.

“That, brother, was an Ultimate,” Merlin smirked smugly although he looked battered.