So quiet that Lu Yuan had almost thought Klaus was talking to himself.
But Lu Yuan had heard it clearly.
He did not pursue the topic.
Klaus knew far more about him than he let on.
Lu Yuan had always known that.
But he chose to pretend he had not heard.
"Right."
Lu Yuan changed the subject.
"How about giving me a batch of Ghoul materials?"
Klaus froze halfway through lifting his teacup.
"...You need this stuff for making medicine???"
Lu Yuan sighed.
He took three Ghoul Brain Cores from his pocket and placed them side by side on Klaus's desk.
They were three gray-white pebbles the size of fingernails.
The Eerie Inscription symbols on their surfaces were clearly visible, their lines smooth and rounded, the engravings reflecting a faint Dark Red glow beneath the light.
The inscription patterns connecting the three Brain Cores were embedded between the stones like tiny blood vessels.
"I've gotten started in Inscription Studies."
Lu Yuan's tone was calm.
"I made this little thing by accident."
Klaus's gaze shifted from his teacup to the desk.
He stared at the three Brain Cores for two seconds.
Then he reached out and picked them up.
He turned them over in his palm, then brought them closer to inspect the engraved inscriptions.
"Eerie Inscription?"
There was a trace of disbelief in Klaus's voice.
"You carved these yourself?"
"Yeah."
Klaus did not ask how Lu Yuan had learned it.
He simply did something.
A flash of blue light flickered across his body.
The three Brain Cores in his palm lit up.
A Dark Red glimmer seeped from the engraved inscriptions and spread along Klaus's palm lines.
Almost at the same instant...
A layer of pale blue keratin began spreading upward from Klaus's wrist.
It covered the back of his