Claude pulls the stick from the embers, the two fish now perfectly cooked by the radiating heat. He breaks the wood in half, handing a steaming portion to his sister before starting on his own.
As he eats, he studies the stream's path, noting it winds toward the north-west. He knows this route leads away from the Duex Kingdom and toward the safety of the Alfira Kingdom.
To the direct west lies the Nostra Duchy, a place plagued by war. He decides the northern route is their only chance to avoid the conflict and the hunters behind them.
"Claudia, I am going to practice," he says once his meal is finished. "Do not disturb me unless there is danger."
Claude settles into a cross-legged position and begins the rhythmic cycles of the Red Crane Breathing Technique. He pushes through the burning in his lungs until his muscles reach their limit.
He opens his eyes and whispers a mental command: Status.
Name: Claude
Follower: God of Knowledge and Digital World
Level: Knight Attendant (1)
Condition: Mild Hunger, Cursed
Strength: 1.52 (1.65)
Agility: 1.31 (1.61)
Constitution: 1.78 (1.92)
Spirit: 1.059 (1.07)
Skills:
Basic Fighting: Mortal (58/1000)
Basic Sword: Mortal (89/1000)
Red Crane Sword: Mortal (11/1000)
Technique:
Red Crane Breathing Technique (Stage 1): (86/100)
His hunger persists, having fueled his cultivation, but his progress has climbed by another point. He is now closer to becoming a true Knight Apprentice.
Checking the sun, he realises hours have passed and sees Claudia idly drawing in the dirt. He stands abruptly and begins scrubbing the ground to remove all traces of their stay.
"Brother, what are you doing?" Claudia asks, her voice sharp with sudden anger at her ruined drawings.
"We have to go," Claude replies firmly. "We cannot leave anything for them to find."
The days blur into a rhythm of survival and growth. Claude spends his waking hours guarding Claudia and hunting the silver flashes in the stream, while his nights are spent in the golden silence of the Dream Paradise, tirelessly swinging a phantom branch to sharpen his sword skills.
By the fifth day, the dense canopy finally breaks. Before them, the stream empties into a vast expanse of water that shimmers with a vibrant, emerald light under the setting sun: the Green Lake.
To the north, the stone spires of Lake City rise like a fortress against the sky; to the south, the rustic sprawl of Grapes Town sits nestled in the foothills. Claude weighs his options carefully, knowing that while the town is an easy entry, its small population would make two foreign children stand out like blood on snow.
"We go to Lake City at dawn," he decides, spearing three fish for their final meal in the wild. "We can disappear in a crowd that large."
After eating and performing his final sets of breathing exercises while Claudia draws in the dirt, Claude calls forth his status one last time before sleep.
*Name:* Claude
*Follower:* God of Knowledge and Digital World
*Level:* Knight Attendant (1)
*Condition:* Mild Hunger, Cursed
*Strength:* 1.64 (1.67)
*Agility:* 1.62 (1.63)
*Constitution:* 1.98 (1.99)
*Spirit:* 1.071 (1.074)
*Skills:*
* Basic Fighting: (62/1000)
* Basic Sword: (94/1000)
* Red Crane Sword: (23/1000)
*Technique:*
* Red Crane Breathing (Stage 1): (97/100)
Claude stares at the final number on his status, his heart thudding with anticipation. He is only three points away from the second stage—three points from finally becoming a Knight Apprentice and gaining the strength to truly protect his sister.
Meanwhile, a sombre group of riders passes through Red Crane Town and enters the castle grounds by the lake. Claus, sitting tall on his horse, stares at the dried blood staining the stones of his childhood home. "Master Claus, you have returned," a guard says, his voice thick with relief.
Claus dismounts, his voice sharp with suppressed fury. "Have you found who is behind this?" The guard reveals that Knight Lawrence is waiting in the Baron's study with the results of the investigation.
Claus strides into the silent, hollowed-out castle. On the wall above the stairs hangs a portrait of his father and stepmother, the woman who raised him as her own despite his status as an illegitimate child born to a maid.
He was never the heir, so he had gone to the Knight Academy to carve out a life in the army. He feels a gentle squeeze on his arm and looks at Bethany, the woman he had intended to introduce to his family this holiday. He squeezes her hand back but murmurs, "Wait for me here," before walking ahead.
Left alone, Bethany stares at the portrait with a chilling glint in her eyes. "Don't worry, my future father and mother," she thinks with a sharp smile, "I will take care of your fief."
Claus pushes open the study door to find Lawrence sitting at the table, facing his father's empty chair. Lawrence stands with a weary sigh. "Thank God you have returned, Claus."
"Uncle Lawrence, how is the investigation?" Claus asks, stopping before him. Lawrence's lips tighten as he reveals the trail leads to the Dark Blood Brotherhood—someone paid the infamous mercenary cult to butcher the household.
Claus pales, then asks the question that has been haunting him. "I heard only my father and mother were buried. What of Claude and Claudia?"
"Their bodies were not found in the castle," Lawrence says, looking him in the eye. "Several guards are missing as well; they may have escaped into the wilds."
Claus sits on the edge of the bed, the weight of the day pressing heavily on his shoulders. "Tomorrow, I will be going to meet Earl Thomas," he says to Bethany. "Lawrence and I are going to ask for his support to find my brother and sister."
Bethany freezes for a heartbeat, her fingers pausing on the silk of her gown. "Shall I go with you?" she asks, though Claus shakes his head, insisting she stay behind.
"Claus, are you sure they are still alive?" she whispers, stepping closer. "I shouldn't say this, but the forest is a cruel place for children."
Claus falls silent, the flickering candlelight casting long shadows across his face. "They have to be alive, Bethany," he says finally, his voice thick with a desperate kind of hope.
Later, as the moonlight spills across the room and the house falls into an uneasy silence, Bethany traces idle circles on his chest. "If you want to find them, you need a direction. Where would they even go?"
"The Emerald Tower," Claus murmurs into the dark. "Claude won't trust anyone in the Kingdom now. He'll head for the Tower where my mother's friend lives."
****
As the sun rises over the Green Lake, Claude is already awake, his spear flashing as he pulls a final meal from the water. The scent of roasting fish eventually rouses Claudia, who eats quickly, sensing her brother's urgency.
Claude skips his usual morning practice, driven by the proximity of Lake City. They keep to the shadows of the treeline, moving cautiously alongside the shimmering water rather than out in the open.
After several hours, the natural silence of the forest is shattered. They find fresh wagon ruts in the mud and the unmistakable sound of a struggle echoing from the path ahead.
The siblings freeze as the air shatters with a chaotic cacophony. Desperate cries for help and the sharp, rhythmic ring of steel collide with the chilling, jagged sound of mocking laughter.
Fearing the violence will spill toward them, Claude grabs Claudia's waist and hauls her up into the thick, protective canopy of a massive oak. They crouch in the shadows, Claudia clutching Claude's hand so tightly her knuckles turn white as the sounds of the struggle draw nearer.
Minutes later, a desperate trio breaks into the clearing. A woman, her face a mask of raw terror and streaked with tears, carries a small boy in her arms while dragging a teenage girl by the hand.
They stumble blindly, their breath coming in ragged gasps, while a man wielding a bloodied sword pursues them with a predatory grin. The woman passes directly beneath the oak, her eyes fixed only on the hope of escape.
Claude's eyes narrow, his Knight Attendant instincts overriding his fear. He gently pries his hand from Claudia's terrified grip and balances on the branch.
As the pursuer lunges past the trunk, Claude drops from the heights like a stone. He lands squarely on the man's back, the sheer force of his increased *Constitution* and weight driving the attacker face-first into the dirt.
The man grunts, his sword skittering away as he frantically tries to push himself up.
Claude gives him no opening. Utilising his superior *Strength* and the raw efficiency of his *Basic Fighting* skill, he wraps a powerful arm around the man's throat in a precise chokehold. With a sudden, violent twist of his torso, Claude snaps the man's neck.