[Location: Camelot – Training Grounds, Noon]
The clang of steel and the bark of commands filled the air.
Arthur's knights were training again — which meant bruises for Merlin and another round of medical prep for me and Gaius.
I handed a roll of bandages to Merlin. "You'd think they'd get tired of bashing each other with blunt metal."
Merlin smirked. "You'd think you'd stop watching them do it."
"Observation," I said. "It's how you learn what not to do."
Gaius, sorting herbs on the bench beside us, didn't look up. "Both of you, less talking, more working."
That was when I felt it — a faint vibration through the ground, like distant thunder.
Not sound. Not movement. Mana.
It pulsed again, stronger. The hairs on my arms stood up.
"Did you feel that?" I asked quietly.
Merlin blinked. "Feel what?"
Before I could answer, the ground in the far corner of the courtyard split open with a sharp crack.
A surge of unstable energy burst out — greenish, flickering. A containment rune, malformed and wild.
Knights stumbled back as sparks shot into the air.
"Magic!" someone shouted. "It's sorcery!"
My heart dropped. The seal was destabilizing — someone must've tried to suppress a magical artifact buried under the yard. Probably Morgana experimenting in secret again.
If it detonated, the feedback would incinerate everything within twenty meters.
[Location: Courtyard – Seconds Later]
Panic spread fast. Guards scrambled. Gaius yelled for people to clear the area.
I didn't move.
My mind had already built a model — the unstable flow looked identical to a mana loop collapse I'd seen in Balazar's workshop years ago. Same chaotic feedback, same oscillation pattern.
"Merlin!" I shouted. "Get everyone back!"
"What about you?"
"I'll stabilize it!"
He hesitated, but the look on my face must've convinced him. He pulled Gaius and the others back toward the gates.
I stepped forward, my pulse syncing with the surge.
Quantum Mana, silent and precise, gathered under my skin — not enough to flare visibly, but enough to manipulate the pattern.
I drew a circle in the dirt with my boot — rough geometry, just enough to form a containment field.
The sigil from Balazar's lessons — structure before strength.
The green surge brightened, responding to my field. The vibration turned erratic.
"Come on… just synchronize."
I pushed harder, matching the oscillation. For a second, the feedback screamed in my ears — then the light blinked out.
Silence.
Smoke curled from the fissure. The energy dissipated. The ground cooled.
When I straightened, my hands were shaking — not from exhaustion, but from the near miss.
[Location: Castle Corridor – Moments Later]
Morgana arrived with guards in tow, eyes sharp. She scanned the courtyard, taking in the scorch marks and confused knights.
"What happened?" she demanded.
Gaius stepped forward smoothly. "A buried artifact, My Lady. Likely remnants of old magic reacting to the warding stones. It's been neutralized."
"By whom?" Her gaze swept the group — and landed on me.
I kept my expression neutral. "I was nearby. Saw the instability. I just… followed Gaius's instructions."
It wasn't a lie, exactly. Just missing a few details.
She studied me a moment longer than necessary. The air between us tightened — that same faint pressure I'd felt before.
Not enough to expose me, but close.
Finally, she nodded slowly. "Keep me informed if anything like this happens again."
"Yes, My Lady."
As she turned away, I noticed her hand brush against the residual dirt where my sigil had been.
Her eyes narrowed for just a second — a flicker of recognition, or curiosity.
[Location: Gaius' Tower – Night]
I replayed the event in my head while Gaius cleaned up his workspace. The containment circle had been too close a call — even a fraction of extra energy would've blown my cover and the courtyard.
Merlin leaned on the railing, watching the moonlight outside. "You stopped that explosion. I don't know how, but… thanks."
"Instinct," I said, keeping my tone casual. "Guess I got lucky."
"Yeah," he said with a faint grin. "Lucky's one word for it."
Gaius turned toward me. "You'll need to be more careful. Morgana's not a fool. She knows what structured magic looks like."
"I know," I said. "I'll refine the field modulation. No visible geometry next time."
He raised an eyebrow. "You say that like this will happen again."
"It always does," I muttered.
And in the quiet that followed, I realized Morgana's faint spark of suspicion had probably just ignited into a slow, deliberate interest.
[End of Chapter 15]