Samuel’s Perspective

Worry flashed through my eyes as I looked at the sleeping girl before me.

Amelia went to sleep again. But her face is red, and it seems she has caught a fever. Zack is also not here and after what he said and left… I don’t think just mom or dad could calm him down. He was always like Uncle Zan in these matters. He wouldn’t get angry, but when he did, wouldn’t calm down. I hope he is not the same in matters like this. Sigh… Only if Auntie Zarah was here…

My eyes couldn’t help but wander down to stare at the wooden flooring. I looked around the familiar room with an uninterested gaze to pass time.

*Knock* *Knock*

I blinked as a thought crossed my mind, Are mom and dad back? Did they manage to brink Zack back? And what about that fatty? Will they finally beat him up and teach him a lesson?

I ran over to the door with a somewhat hopeful and relieved look in my eyes.

Opening the door in a rush, I saw two men standing at the door.

One was a middle-aged looking man, his blonde hair tied in a neat ponytail, holding a bag in his hand and the other was a head and a half shorter than him, matching my height, wearing his usual cap with casuals instead of his usual work clothes.

The expectation in my eyes dimmed as I looked around. However, to my dismay, there was no one besides these two.

I tried to force out a smile, but my lips refused to curl and whatever formed on my face didn’t reach my eyes. While suppressing my urge to squirm up into a ball and cry to the best of my ability, I welcomed the two men inside.

Uncle Marseil rested his bag atop the table after which the both men took a seat, each at the table in the hall, while I went to serve them water.

The sound of water being poured filled the hall as no one spoke. After a while, I took a seat at the table as well, blankly staring at the wall in front of me in a daze.

With an agitated look, Uncle Kyle picked up the glass before gulping down water with an audible noise.

My gaze wandered over, seeing him put it down with an audible thump.

In a heavy tone, he asked, “Kid, any idea why William and Lady didn’t come back yet?”

I shook my head in denial, worrying about the same thing inwardly. Why did mom and dad not come back? Did something happen? They should’ve come back hours ago, but…

I shook my head to dismiss any bad thoughts, trying to keep a clear head. My heart kept beating like the clock in the corner regardless, being soaked by unease. The crease on my forehead never left as my eyes kept darting towards the door from time to time.

“Samuel, have you had any breakfast yet? Or dinner yesterday, for that matter?”

Uncle Marseil’s voice broke the silence.

My brows raised as I said, “It’s okay. I don’t need anything for now.”

Silence filled the room once more.

“Say, brat, why are you giving off an aura like a 3-Circle Mage?”

This time, Uncle Kyle asked, his tensed expression turned to that of amusement.

As if recalling something, I said, “Ah yeah. It happened yesterday, before we both came back home. It was… not a good experience in the slightest.”

His brows knitted as Uncle Marseil asked, “What happened?”

I heaved a long breath as I recalled the events of yesterday before saying, “It was a lot like the Arcana surged all of a sudden and I couldn’t control it. I felt like I was about to explode…”

I recounted the matter in brief, adding in more details where it seemed necessary or wherever either of the two men asked.

Rubbing his chin, Uncle Kyle turned to Uncle Marseil as he asked, “Say, Andrew, doesn’t that sound like a natural resonance?”

Uncle Marseil nodded as he replied, “It sure does. Especially the part where he said the threads of arcana turned thicker than normal. That only ever happens in a natural resonance. I haven’t heard of anything else causing something like that. As far as I know, not even an extreme—”

My curiosity got the better of me as I asked, “Uncle, what’s this natural resonance thing you’re talking about?”

Uncle Marseil replied, “It’s basically a type of situation where you’re able to absorb a lot of arcana in a short while, sometimes even more than your body can handle. It usually happens when the flow inside the core matches that of outside, and like that, can resonate and draw in more arcana. Although it can happen for a ringless mage, the possibility is quite low. And even if it does happen, in normal cases, a ringless mage would die because their bodies simply aren’t unaccustomed to arcana enough.”

While speaking the last bit, he gave me an amused look.

I scratched my cheek awkwardly before asking, “Why is that? Can’t they all make three rings, or maybe even more? Something like what I did?”

Uncle Kyle’s hand landed on the table with a thump. His saliva flew out as he shouted, “You damn brat! What the heck are you taking this as? Do you think core circles grow on trees or something? That you’ll pluck them and they’ll be yours or something? Do you know how bad a failure can be? Not to mention three, even if you made one ring and failed at it, do you fricking know how bad it hurts? And worse, even your core can get damaged. At higher rings, you can lose whole damn rings if you fail. Just what are you taking this as? Kids these days… get a little lucky and it gets to their heads. Hmph!”

From the side, Uncle Marseil tried to calm the situation, “It’s alright, Kyle. Forming three at once is still hard.”

Uncle Kyle screamed, “That’s the thing Andrews, he’s not understanding it! He’s taking it lightly. Very lightly. How can I not get mad?!”

Uncle Marseil sighed as he said while patting the other’s back, “He’s William’s and Aria’s son after all. It’s bound to happen. It… can’t be helped.”

Both men sighed at the same time before slumping down on their respective chairs.

I couldn’t help but snicker inwardly. I opened my mouth, but just as I was about to say something, my ears perked up.

*Knock* *Knock*

It should be mom and dad this time, right?