Twenty minutes had passed since Klaus had fallen unconscious, and the atmosphere in the room crackled with tension as Keira confronted her aunt.
With her arms folded tightly across her chest and a stern expression etched on her face, Keira addressed Margaret. "How could you let Klaus absorb your mana, Aunt Margaret, especially after what happened last time? We agreed to use the beast core instead."
Margaret met Keira's gaze with a calm expression. "What happened was a mistake, and it won't happen again."
After she spoke, her attention shifted to Thorne, and her previously calm demeanour changed drastically. The air around her seemed to grow icy as she fixed him with a bone-chilling glare.
"And if you ever dare to lay a hand on him again, I won't spare you," Margaret said, her voice cold and unyielding. "Even if you're the princess's guard, I won't hesitate to kill you and everyone you love."
Thorne visibly gulped and lowered his head, unable to meet Margaret's piercing gaze. Keira, shocked by her aunt's sudden change in demeanour, spoke up in protest. "Aunt, you can't be serious, right?" she exclaimed.
"He was only trying to protect you."
Margaret shook her head, her eyes fixed on Thorne. "I'm dead serious," she replied. "Anyone who harms Klaus will face my wrath."
Keira's face showed surprise at Margaret's words, but that surprise soon turned into anger. "It's because he's able to read ancient language and can help decipher the ancient magic you've always wanted, isn't it?" She accused.
"So, all that matters now is this ancient magic, and your life means nothing to you any longer," she said, tears gathering in her eyes.
"And so what?" Margaret retorted. "I want the ancient magic, but who doesn't?"
"There are billions of people in the world, yet only a handful of them are capable of deciphering ancient magic. And I happen to have someone capable of this feat, and you think I will let someone harm him?" Margaret shook her head. "You're terribly wrong."
Margaret looked at her niece, who was visibly upset, biting her lips hard and clenching her hand into a fist. Taking a deep breath, Margaret spoke in a gentler tone. "I understand your concern, Keira, but I have everything under control."
Keira looked up at her with tear-filled eyes. "But what if something happens to you? What if you get hurt?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"I won't get hurt. What happened was a mistake, and I promise it won't happen again," Margaret said with a gentle smile.
Keira nodded, her gaze shifting to Klaus, who still lay unconscious on the floor. Her brows furrowed as she turned to Margaret. "What about him? What do we do with him?" she asked.
Margaret's tone was steady and resolute as she replied, "Nothing. We will continue with the arrangements that were made. I will help him recover his memories, and in return, he will help me."
"Aunt?" Keira's question hung in the air, uncertainty clouding her eyes.
Margaret raised an eyebrow, amusement flickering across her face. "What, Keira, did you honestly believe he was an ordinary person? If you did, then your naivety surprises me."
She paused, allowing her words to sink in, before continuing, "You met him sitting atop a pile of corpses in a dungeon. He can read and decipher ancient languages with ease, as if he were born for it. And now he's destroyed a spell circle without an ounce of mana in his body."
Her voice grew more serious, the weight of her revelation evident in her words. "Who are we kidding? I wouldn't be surprised if he's the son of one of the four arcane mages and somehow lost his memories after some adventure."
Keira felt a chill run down her spine as the gravity of her aunt's words settled over her. Even Thorne, who had been standing silently behind her, broke into a cold sweat as he pondered the consequences of having crossed someone with such a potentially powerful lineage.
"I'm only making assumptions," Margaret added, her voice softening. "Klaus himself will have to figure out who he is."
Just as Keira was about to respond, there was a sudden movement from Klaus. He groaned and sat up, placing a hand gently on his aching head as he tried to shake off the remnants of unconsciousness.
Klaus's eyes twitched uncontrollably as he struggled to recall the events that had just transpired. He felt a wave of shock wash over him as the memory of shattering the spear and dismantling the spell circle flooded his mind.
He couldn't believe what he had just done, and he couldn't understand how he had managed to do it.
As he looked around the room, Klaus noticed that Keira, Thorne, and Margaret were staring at him. However, when his eyes came into contact with Thorne, he lowered his head immediately.
Margaret's lips curled into a small smile as their gazes locked, sending a ripple of anticipation through the tense atmosphere.
"What do you remember, Klaus?" she inquired softly, her voice a soothing balm that eased the heavy silence suffocating the room.
Klaus drew in a steadying breath, his chest rising and falling as his nerves quivered beneath his skin. "I... I don't remember anything," he confessed, the words emerging slowly, laced with bewilderment.
Margaret's eyes narrowed, her disbelief evident. "That can't be. You absorbed a B-Rank beast core and nearly drained me of my mana. Surely you must have recalled something."
But Klaus merely shook his head, confusion written all over his face.
Margaret's face hardened, her eyes boring into Klaus's with determination. "Then how were you able to destroy that magic spell? Focus, and tell me," she demanded, her tone firm yet gentle.
Klaus closed his eyes and drew in another long breath, attempting to recall the complete details of the event that had happened earlier. The scene unfolded in his mind's eyes, and after a moment, he opened his eyes.
"I saw flaws," he stated simply.
"Flaws?" Margaret echoed, her brow knitting with confusion. Keira and Thorne, who had been standing by her side, exchanged equally baffled glances.
Klaus nodded. "Yes, flaws. The spell circle was riddled with them. I felt as though all I needed to do was utter a single word, and I could shatter it."
"That's impossible," Thorne interjected, his voice a mixture of disbelief and defensiveness. "I've perfected all my tier one spells. There's no way a flaw could exist without my knowledge."
Klaus gazed at Thorne, perplexed by his reaction. What was the big deal? As he turned back to Margaret, he found her staring at him, her eyes wide with astonishment.
"What? Is there something on my face?" Klaus asked, suddenly self-conscious under Margaret's stare.
Margaret shook her head, her expression still awestruck. "No, Klaus. It's just that what you've said is quite remarkable," she admitted.
"Would you be willing to try breaking the spell circle again, or at least point out the flaws you perceive within it?"
"Okay," Klaus murmured.
Margaret and Thorne exchanged a quick glance before Thorne slowly stretched his hand out, and a spell circle materialised before his palm. The circle glowed with a faint blue light, illuminating the room and drawing the attention of everyone present.
Without a word, Klaus walked towards the circle, his eyes fixed on the glowing symbol. As he approached, he began to examine it closely.
Margaret, Thorne, and Keira watched as Klaus circled the spell circle, his eyes scanning it, but after a moment, he abruptly paused.
"There's a flaw right here," Klaus said, pointing his finger at a spot on the circle, "and another one here." He moved his finger to another section of the circle, tracing the lines as he spoke.
Thorne's heart sank as Klaus began to point out every imperfection in the spell circle he had crafted. With each flaw pointed out, his face grew redder and redder. He had thought his tier one spell was perfected, but as Klaus showed the flaws in the circle, he realised he missed something at every turn.
Finally, after Klaus counted fourteen flaws, he stepped back from the circle and declared, "That's all."
Margaret stared at Klaus as he stood before the circle. 'This guy's talent is ridiculously high! There isn't an ounce of mana in his body, nor does he remember who he is, and yet he's capable of achieving this feat.'
' Could he be pretending that he lost his memory? Who are you really? And what do you want?' Her thoughts raced as she tried to make sense of the situation.
Although she had suggested the possibility that Klaus was the son of one of the legendary arcane mages, she still found it hard to believe. Those individuals wielded immense power, and it seemed unlikely that they could have misplaced a child unless they intended it as a test.
As she pondered this, Margaret couldn't help but feel her curiosity intensify. 'If merely absorbing a B-Rank beast core and my mana can endow him with such an ability, what other secrets might he harbour?"
Margaret closed the gap between them and offered Klaus a warm, gentle smile. "If you're able to see the flaws in the spell circle, can you tell how it can be improved?"
Klaus returned his gaze to the spell circle, and after staring at the intricate lines and symbols for a few minutes, he nodded his head. "Yes, I can."