Liam's gaze remained on the diagram. "So instability is caused by imbalance."
"Yes." Ariana looked relieved that the word fit. "Exactly. The core can compress Myst safely as long as the channels can match the output pace. If the core gathers and tightens too much, but the channels lag behind, the compressed Myst pushes against the internal structure instead of moving cleanly into the spell. That creates strain, heat, pain, shaking, misfires, or even backlash depending on the affinity."
Liam considered that. "Then for fire magic, the backlash would usually show as overheating, channel burn, or uncontrolled ignition."
"Yes," Ariana said, pleased. "And for dark magic, I think it would be more like internal pressure distortion or shadow bleed, though dark magic is harder because the texts don't have any explanation on it."
"They wouldn't."
