Diligence And Results

It was certainly great to have a home. A place to return to after years of hardship, a place of warmth and comfort. If only his siblings weren't lunatics.

His sister was literally sleeping in a pile of gold like some kind of smug dragon.

His older brother was busy getting wasted at extravagant parties.

Another brother buried himself in work, managing businesses like some tireless machine.

And the youngest? That little bastard was playing with tricksters and gamblers, laughing his ass off as he raked in winnings. Which was especially infuriating since his Aspect controlled luck and probability, making him literally incapable of losing.

Klaus?

Klaus was... bored out of his mind.

For weeks, he hadn't even left his chambers. And even now, he remained there, deep in his experiments.

---

He stood in the center of the dimly lit room, blue runes glowing faintly on the walls, arcane equations scribbled across every surface.

"Hmm..." He muttered to himself, hands crackling with restrained energy. "So… the output of my essence can be increased, which means the destructive potential of my techniques scales proportionally. And modifications to original skills..."

His eyes gleamed with something between fascination and obsession.

"Fusion between Limitless and Key of Light... Arcane of Madness with Faceless... Sealing and Opening..."

Ah, Sealing and Opening.

For some reason, that ability fascinated him the most. It was a pure, elegant synergy between his Space-Time manipulation and conceptual control over barriers. The synchronization between his abilities was still in progress, but when completed?

The results would be catastrophic.

For now, he had created several sub-skills, each a terrifying display of his power.

◆ Poseidon – By creating atmospheric cracks, he could generate devastating shockwaves, strong enough to trigger seismic waves. The combination of kinetic force and amplified soul essence made this ability even deadlier. Named after the Greek god of seas—and, fittingly, earthquakes.

◆ Astraeus – A teleportation technique, but far more refined. At first, he could only move himself, but now? He could teleport others, shift space, and even swap places with objects. Unlike simple teleportation, this technique exchanged matter between two locations, meaning that if Klaus teleported, whatever occupied the space he arrived in would take his old position instead. A true space swap.

◆ Bia – He couldn't use traditional telekinesis since it relied on psychic energy, but through magnetism and gravity, he achieved the same effect. Controlling objects, stopping attacks midair, increasing or decreasing weight, redirecting projectiles—if he had enough power, he could even create a gravitational pull strong enough to summon an asteroid.

◆ Shiva – A void technique. By creating a vacuum, he could compress all matter in a given space, crushing it like a miniature black hole. He could also generate a gravity core, an invisible center of mass that sucked everything in. If enhanced with soul essence, it became an unstoppable force of destruction. Alternatively, he could invert the effect, creating a repulsive force that blasted everything away. Given the sheer scale of destruction, a Hindu god was more fitting than the Greeks—hence the name.

◆ Melinoë – Phasing. With this, he could become intangible, allowing objects to pass through him like a ghost. His body would automatically shift any overlapping matter into a separate dimension. The only problem? His clothes didn't turn intangible with him.

He had, unfortunately, discovered this the hard way.

The first time he tested it, he very quickly realized that fabric didn't phase with him, leaving him standing stark naked. Not ideal.

Thankfully, Memories were bound to his soul, so those could phase with him. Crisis averted.

The name? Melinoë, the Greek goddess of ghosts.

---

Klaus leaned back, staring at the ceiling, his fingers drumming against his chair.

His foundation was solid. Years of effort had been poured into refining these abilities. His power had reached terrifying heights.

Soon.

The pieces were already set in motion.

Soon, he would challenge the Nightmare.

And when he did…

He would become a Master.

____

Klaus had spent weeks holed up in his chambers, buried in whatever nonsense needed to be done. But now? Now, it was time to emerge. Stretching his arms wide, he let out a dramatic yawn, the sunlight streaming through the window only mildly reminding him of how much he hated it. "Ah... Light of the sun... How pleasant...," he muttered, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he reached for his clothes.

It wasn't that he was some introverted, brooding mess who couldn't face the outside world, no. Klaus had been busy. Very busy. Too busy for the sun, really.

He threw on a navy button-down shirt, leaving the top buttons undone to showcase a tattoo of a black sun that seemed to speak more to his personality than any fashion choice. Gray suede jacket on top, a pair of slightly loose black trousers, and, for added flair, a pair of black glasses tucked casually into his shirt. His hair? Messy, because apparently, Tatiana and Isaac thought playing with it was a better option than giving him an actual haircut.

Klaus shook his head in exasperation, and with a snap of his fingers, he vanished from the room, teleporting right in front of Cassia's house. A pleased smile tugged at his lips. Well, it had been a while since he'd seen her. And even though he could hear Tatiana's snide remarks in his head, something about Cassia made him... question those words.

He knocked on the door, completely bypassing the doorbell for no reason other than to feel fancy, and to his surprise, it wasn't Cassia who opened the door. No, standing there was none other than... his father. Oh. Well, this is awkward.

The man sized Klaus up with a frown, his eyes scanning the young man who stood before him. Klaus, now acutely aware of how ridiculous he probably looked with his untamed hair and expensive clothes, quickly wiped the forced smile from his face and extended his hand.

"Ah, well... you must be Cassia's father, correct?" Klaus said smoothly, his voice dripping with charm, although internally, he was cringing. "Future father-in-law, perhaps?"

The words left his mouth before his brain could filter them, and he froze mid-smile, realizing exactly what he'd just said.

Cassia's father blinked at him, eyes narrowing in disbelief. The silence hung thick for a moment before he managed to speak, clearly unamused.

"Is my daughter into mentally ill idiots?" he asked, voice flat.

Klaus's face paled slightly as he retracted his hand, doing his best to salvage whatever shred of dignity remained. "I—uh—I assure you, not mentally ill. Just... complex," Klaus stammered, his confidence plummeting.

His mind raced, trying to find something to smooth over this disaster, but his father's unimpressed expression was just too much. He gave a strained smile. "Look, you know what they say... love is... uh, unpredictable? And I'm... unpredictable. But not in a mental way. I swear."

Cassia's father didn't seem impressed by that either.

Just as the atmosphere was about to reach peak awkwardness—with Klaus on the verge of either teleporting away or saying something even dumber—Cassia's mother appeared, a vision of mercy and salvation.

Like an angel descending from the heavens, she smiled warmly at him, her expression full of genuine delight.

"Klaus, welcome, my dear. How are you?"

Klaus turned to her with the kind of look a man gives his savior after being dragged out of the pits of hell. Without missing a beat, he took her hand and kissed it, his inner voice screaming: Nice save! Absolutely clutch! What a legend!

"You are an angel, my lady," he said smoothly. "My deepest apologies for arriving uninvited. I simply hoped to see your delightful daughter. May I?"

Cassia's mother chuckled, clearly amused by his theatrics. She nodded, ignoring the way her husband's jaw twitched with restrained violence. Then, with a gracious wave of her hand, she led Klaus into the house.

As soon as he stepped inside, he settled comfortably onto the couch like he owned the place. Within seconds, a glass of fresh juice was in his hands—Cassia's mother, ever the gracious host, had pulled a bottle from the fridge and poured it for him.

Klaus sighed happily as he sipped, lounging like a king surveying his kingdom.

"She'll be here soon," Cassia's mother assured him. "She's still asleep, but she'll be back from the Dream Realm shortly."

Klaus nodded, setting his glass down with a satisfied hum. Then, with all the innocence of a completely trustworthy man, he asked, "Can I see her?"

Cassia's mother gave him a look.

A very knowing look.

The kind of look that said, You must take me for a fool, young man.

"No," she said flatly. "That's final."

Klaus grinned. "Why not?"

She crossed her arms. "Last time I let you in while she was sleeping, you gave her a mustache."

Klaus let out a short laugh, shrugging like it was the most natural thing in the world. "Sense of humor is a necessity," he quipped. "Life's too bleak without it."

Cassia's mother chuckled despite herself, shaking her head. "I doubt drama, theatrics, and sarcasm are also necessities, hmm?"

Then, her smile softened. "But really... I'm thankful. Cas is brighter and more relaxed when she's with you."

Klaus blinked, caught slightly off guard. He raised an eyebrow as he sipped his juice, but before he could respond, the glass was already empty. Without even thinking, he lazily flicked his fingers—across the room, the juice bottle lifted off the counter, floated towards him, and poured more into his glass before neatly settling back in place.

Cassia's mother watched the entire thing with mild amusement.

Klaus, oblivious, just smiled warmly. "It's nothing, really. Cas is…" He hesitated, running a hand through his slightly messy hair. "She's full of light. I enjoy her company."

He trailed off, suddenly feeling like he was saying too much. So he shrugged, brushing it off with his usual casual charm. "Anyway, it's nothing to thank me for. I like seeing her smile, too."

Cassia's mother gazed at him thoughtfully before sighing.

Romantic. Charming. Intelligent.

She glanced at her husband—the same man who was currently glaring daggers at Klaus from across the room, his expression like he was mentally rehearsing how to throw him out of the house.

Ahh… No one is perfect, she thought to herself.

At least her husband wasn't an eccentric weirdo who enjoyed playing the fool like Klaus clearly did.

Before the conversation could shift any further, she sighed and changed the subject. "Oh, by the way, did you hear about Beauté du Passé?"

Klaus perked up slightly, sipping his juice.

"A terrible incident," she continued, shaking her head. "The government said a gate opened there, leading to many casualties. It's truly saddening to see so many warriors perish…"

Klaus stilled for a fraction of a second.

Then, slowly, his lips curled into an amused smirk, and he barely suppressed a chuckle.

Ah… Yes. Government made up gate opening as a excuse...

Klaus rested his cheek against his fist, eyes twinkling with mischief.

"How odd," he murmured, voice dripping with amusement. "Truly tragic."