Klaus found himself a bit taken aback by Greed's statement, but he chose to maintain his composure.
"And what, pray tell, am I supposed to use during simple spars?" he inquired.
{Normal mana,} Greed replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"How? You just told me that an Arcane Core can only store arcane energy," Klaus protested.
{There's a way to manipulate mana without using the stored mana inside a person's body,} Greed explained.
"How?" Klaus asked, genuinely curious.
{How are you currently using magic without having created a magic circle around your heart?} Greed probed, prompting Klaus to ponder whether Greed was attempting to trick him into revealing his spellcasting methods.
'Is he trying to trick me? Is he attempting to make me reveal how I'm able to cast spells?' Klaus thought before responding cautiously.
"Even though you can't feel it, I do possess magic circles in my body," Klaus asserted.
{Nonsense! If that were truly the case, I could have sensed them,} Greed challenged.
Klaus sighed and raised his hand, casting a simple spell that made fire appear in his palm.
{How do you do it? I can sense small fluctuations around your brain, but no magic circles,} Greed admitted.
"If you show me a way to manipulate mana despite having an Arcane core, I will be more inclined to reveal to you the method I'm currently using," Klaus proposed, tempting Greed.
Greed, as his name implied, was a very greedy entity. He hungered not only for power but also for knowledge. For him, not understanding how Klaus was using magic fueled his invisible curiosity.
{Fine! But I will only give you a hint; the rest you'll have to figure out on your own,} Greed agreed.
"Sure," Klaus replied calmly.
{You have to use the natural mana in the atmosphere, not absorbing it but directly channeling it inside an object or the surface of your body,} Greed explained.
"That simple?" Klaus asked, surprised.
{Simple, my a*s! Try it if it's that simple,} Greed retorted with annoyance as if Klaus had made an absurd statement.
{If it were that simple, people would not bother forming a mana core,} Greed added.
'He is probably right, but with my past and current understanding of magic, I think it will be quite simple,' Klaus thought before closing his eyes. He then cast another spell; a red magic circle formed around his hand, and then a fireball surged from it, crashing into the training dummies.
'Magic happens when mana resonates with nature within a circle—fire, water, wind, light, etc. The moment a spell is cast that resonates with nature, a type of signal and pattern would appear, depending on the amount, form, and attribute of mana. One can tell what magic is being used and react to it quickly.
'Firstly, the sense to read that resonance, secondly, the knowledge to recognize the type of magic after seeing the form of the resonance.
'I can back engineer this process. I can use the resonances to manipulate the flow of mana instead of making it resonate with my magic circles. I can let it resonate with Greed, for example.'
A smile appeared on Klaus's face. Just like his companion, a greedy thought emerged in his mind.
'Maybe I can use his personality to gain something out of it.'
"Greed? By any chance, do you know a powerful swordsmanship that I can use with the method you talk about?"
{Of course, who do you take the Great me for? I know thousands of powerful swordsmanship. Even your current patriarch would beg me to be able to learn them,} Greed boasted with a hint of arrogance.
Klaus let another smile creep onto his face while listening to Greed.
"Do you want to make a bet?" Klaus said, tempting Greed.
{What kind of bet?} the eccentric sword asked, curious about Klaus's intentions.
"A very simple one," Klaus said before adding, "I will only try once to channel the mana inside nature through you or the surface of my hand. If I fail, I will give you 15 stat points and tell you how I'm able to use magic.
"But if I succeed on my first try, you will teach me one of the best swordsmanship techniques you know."
{Hahaha!} Greed burst into laughter.
{Do you really think you can succeed on your first try? Even Erick Lionart, your founding ancestor, did not succeed for years. And a greenhorn like you thinks you can succeed only with one try?}
{Haha, humor me! Heck, if you succeed on your first try, I swear on my name that I will teach you the most powerful swordsmanship I know.}
Klaus let a grin appear on his face.
'I got him.'