[Location: Camelot – Forest Clearing, Dawn]
The forest smelled of dew and ash.
Merlin and I met here every morning now — far enough from Camelot's patrols, close enough to run back if things went wrong.
I was starting to understand the rhythm of this world's mana. It didn't flow like the clean circuits I'd mapped in Balthazar's sigil work. Here, it breathed — rising and falling like a heartbeat tied to nature itself.
But the problem wasn't control anymore.
It was concealment.
"Again," Merlin said, his brow furrowed. "You're still glowing."
I sighed. "It's not like there's a switch for that."
"There has to be! I can hide mine — mostly. You just... hum all the time."
"Yeah, thanks for the confidence boost."
He rolled his eyes and lifted a hand, murmuring a short charm. His aura dimmed instantly, his mana signature sinking into the background of the forest. I extended my field, feeling how his presence almost disappeared from detection.
"Your energy's anchored to your breath," I said. "You're syncing to the ambient leyline pattern."
"That's the point," he said. "Camelot's seers can sense magic like warmth in the air. If they can't feel you, they can't find you."
I tried again — breathing slow, imagining my Quantum Mana syncing to the leyline hum. For a moment, the glow under my skin faded… then flared again.
"Almost," Merlin said, "but you keep forcing it. You have to feel it."
I frowned. "Feeling isn't exactly my department."
He smiled faintly. "Then start learning."
[Location: Camelot – Gaius' Tower, Later]
We returned to the tower before sunrise. Gaius was still asleep, though his table was buried in scrolls and half-empty potion vials.
I sat by the window, tracing patterns of mana in the air. My Quantum field fluctuated — too rigid, too linear. I needed a new method.
In Balthazar's world, I'd built stability through geometry. Here, geometry betrayed me. The flow wasn't math — it was instinct.
So I experimented.
Over the next week, I tried everything — slowing my heart rate, aligning my breathing with Merlin's casting rhythm, even harmonizing my mana field to the city's pulse.
Bit by bit, the glow dimmed. The hum quieted.
Until one morning, I looked in the mirror and saw nothing. No glow. No distortion.
Just me.
Merlin clapped when he saw. "You did it!"
"Yeah," I said, exhaling. "Quantum concealment achieved."
He frowned. "You make even magic sound boring."
I smirked. "That's how you know it works."
[Location: Camelot – Training Clearing, Evening]
Concealment came first. But if I wanted to survive in a world that executed sorcerers, I needed more than stealth.
Merlin demonstrated simple defensive charms — wind pushes, minor barriers, short-range telekinetic bursts. He called them reflex spells.
They relied on will and reflex, not long chants. Perfect for emergencies.
I adapted them to my field, translating his incantations into patterned energy discharges. The results were messy but promising.
A flick of my wrist sent a ripple through the air — a visible distortion that shoved leaves and dust aside.
Merlin's jaw dropped. "That's not wind."
"No," I said, flexing my fingers as blue static faded from my palm. "That's vibration control. Quantum pressure wave."
He grinned. "Looks like magic to me."
"Let's call it a draw."
[Location: Camelot – Outer Wall, Night]
By the week's end, I could hide my mana completely and defend myself if needed.
But Camelot was changing.
Posters were going up — "Sorcery in the Lower Town," "Seer Stones Authorized."
Knights patrolled the streets at night, holding small crystals that pulsed faintly in response to mana traces.
One of them passed by our alley as Merlin and I slipped home. The Seer Stone flickered — once, then died.
My concealment held. Barely.
Merlin's hand tightened on my arm. "They're getting better."
"Then we get smarter."
[Location: Gaius' Tower – Late Night]
That night, I couldn't sleep. My Quantum field kept twitching — sensing something just outside perception.
I reached out, tuning the resonance. A faint echo bounced back — not human, not leyline. Artificial.
A tracking frequency.
Someone — or something — had found a way to follow Quantum Mana across worlds.
I stared out the window toward the horizon. Camelot slept under its false peace, unaware of the storm I might have brought with me.
"Not yet," I whispered. "You're not ready for me."
The glow beneath my skin flared once in response, then faded into silence.