[Location: Camelot – Lower Tower Workshop, Night]
The candlelight flickered, throwing uneven shadows across the rough stone walls.
A dozen cracked bronze bowls sat in a crooked line on the table beside me — a growing collection of failures.
I hovered my hands over the newest one. Inside it, a thin layer of water shivered, responding to the pulse in my palms.
The air hummed faintly, that signature vibration I'd come to associate with quantum mana — energy both mine and… not mine.
Control the flow, not the shape, I reminded myself. Balance first, precision later.
The water spiralled upward, forming a thread-thin column.
For three perfect seconds, it held — stable, elegant. Then the resonance slipped. The bowl cracked.
I sighed, setting it aside. "Progress," I muttered, even though the word tasted like exhaustion.
The Merlin-style method was raw — guided by will and emotion, no structure, no geometry. The complete opposite of Balthazar's circles. But I was adapting. Slowly.
I picked up another bowl and started again.
[Location: Camelot – Physician's Wing, Morning]
Voices drifted from the corridor — low, careful.
I didn't need to strain to recognize them: Gaius and Merlin, both talking outside the workshop.
"He's pushing himself again," Gaius said. "Harder every night. That kind of focus… it isn't healthy."
Merlin's voice came softer, thoughtful. "You mean the way his magic behaves?"
"Yes." Gaius sighed. "It's not like ours. His energy feels—unstable. As though he's channelling from somewhere else entirely."
A pause. Then Merlin murmured, "He calls it quantum mana."
"I've heard him say the word," Gaius replied, "but I don't think even he fully understands what it means. If he loses control of it inside the castle walls…"
"I'll keep an eye on him," Merlin said. His tone wasn't suspicious — it was protective.
"We've both had to learn what it means to hide what we are. He's just learning faster than most."
The sound of their footsteps faded down the corridor, leaving silence — and the faint hum in my chest that I still hadn't learned to quiet.
[Location: Training Grounds – Dusk]
I'd been helping one of the stable hands patch a saddle when the castle bell rang — the one that called knights for inspection.
Arthur passed by with his men, bright armor catching the evening sun. His expression was sharp, all business. He barely glanced at me, and I preferred it that way.
But behind him, walking quietly in the shadows of the archway, was Morgana.
Our eyes met — just for a second.
She said nothing, only tilted her head slightly, as if to ask still alive?
I gave the faintest nod.
Then she was gone.
[Location: Lower Tower Workshop – That Night]
The air was cool, heavy with rain again.
I stood at the center of the room, focusing on a single flame hovering above my palm — small, clean, steady.
Each pulse of energy thrummed in sync with my heartbeat, perfectly balanced.
It took weeks of fine-tuning and Gaius's endless scolding about "not burning the place down," but it was finally coming together.
Behind me, a familiar voice broke the silence.
"Show-off."
I glanced back. Merlin stood in the doorway, grinning, arms crossed.
"Gaius said you were supposed to be studying herbal compounds tonight," I said.
He shrugged. "I was. Then I heard you humming the air again. Hard to ignore when half the tower starts buzzing."
I rolled my eyes and snuffed the flame. "It's called quantum resonance."
Merlin laughed. "Right. And I suppose that's Latin for 'glowing like a candle in the dark'?"
"Something like that."
He stepped closer, crouching near the faint scorch marks on the floor.
"You're getting faster," he said quietly. "More stable. It's not just raw power anymore."
"Coming from you, that's saying something."
He gave me a sideways glance — half teasing, half serious. "Don't get cocky. Uther's men caught a hedge mage near the eastern wall this morning. They're sweeping the city."
The room went still. The easy humor drained away, replaced by the familiar weight pressing on both of us.
"Then we train smarter," I said. "Not louder."
Merlin nodded. "Tomorrow, after dusk?"
"Same place."
He smiled faintly. "Try not to burn another hole in the roof."
[Location: Morgana's Balcony – Same Night]
From her chamber window, Morgana watched the faint glow flicker through the lower tower — blue and steady.
She recognized that colour now; it wasn't ordinary magic.And though she didn't yet understand what Ren truly was, a strange comfort settled in her chest.
At least someone else in Camelot still dared to practice.