The sun rises slowly over the horizon, its golden light spilling across the vast surface of the Green Lake, where the water glows with a deep, healthy green hue that reflects the sky like polished jade, and gentle ripples spread outward as boats drift across, some carrying fishermen casting their nets into the calm waters while others glide steadily, transporting people between the city and the distant center of the lake.
Far ahead, near the heart of the lake, a thick veil of mist gathers, dense and pale, floating above the water like a cluster of low-hanging clouds, obscuring whatever lies beyond it.
Claudia leans forward on the edge of the boat, her eyes wide with wonder as the mist grows closer.
"Wow!" she exclaims.
The boat enters the mist.
The world around them turns hazy and soft, and within the white veil, faint blue lights begin to appear, drifting through the air like fireflies, moving gently in all directions.
Claude watches closely and realises they are not insects, but small glowing stones, suspended and embedded within the mist, casting a cool, steady light that guides the way.
Along the sides of their boat, similar blue stones are fixed in place, glowing faintly so that each vessel can be seen by others within the dense fog.
Shapes of other boats pass by, their outlines barely visible, marked only by the soft blue glow cutting through the white.
The deeper they go, the thicker the mist becomes.
Then, slowly, it begins to part.
The white veil thins and pulls away.
An island emerges.
Buildings rise across its surface, layered and structured, their forms gradually becoming clear as the boat moves closer.
As they approach, Claude draws in a deep breath.
The air here feels different, fresher, lighter, and filled with a subtle energy that flows into his body with every inhale.
His fatigue eases slightly.
His senses sharpen.
He looks ahead, his eyes steady.
The island stands before them.
As the boat docks, Claude steps onto solid ground and lifts his gaze toward the Steel Heart School.
The building stands quietly at the edge of the island, its white walls worn by time, faint cracks running across the surface like lines of age, yet still holding firm, and a large wooden door sits at the front, simple and unadorned, with a wooden plaque fixed beside it, carved with the words: *Steel Heart*.
There is no grandeur.
No towering gates.
No guards.
No bustling students.
Claude's brows draw together slightly.
For a place said to have produced a Great Knight, it looks… small.
Too small.
Leanne steps forward and pushes the wooden door open.
The hinges creak softly.
Inside, a wide path made of white stone slabs stretches forward, clean and neatly laid, and on both sides of the path lie open training grounds, empty and silent, their surfaces smooth but marked faintly with signs of past use.
At the end of the path stands a three-storey wooden building, simple in structure but sturdy, its presence quiet yet steady.
They step inside.
Leanne closes the door behind them.
The faint sound of wood meeting wood echoes briefly before fading into silence.
They walk along the stone path.
Claude's eyes move constantly, scanning everything.
Still no one.
No students.
No instructors.
No sound of training.
Only silence.
They reach the entrance of the wooden building.
Leanne stops and turns to them.
"Wait here," she says, "I will call my senior sister."
She opens the door and steps inside.
Claude and Claudia remain outside.
Claude looks around again.
His frown deepens.
This place does not feel like a school where a Great Knight was trained.
It feels empty.
Abandoned, almost.
His suspicion grows.
Did Leanne lie to him?
He glances at Claudia, who stands quietly beside him, holding his hand.
Then, the door opens again.
A woman steps out.
She walks quickly, her presence sharp and composed, and her eyes immediately fall on Claudia.
She stops at the doorway.
Then her gaze shifts to Claude.
"Boy," she says, her voice calm yet firm, "if she joins this school, I will personally teach her everything about Dream Magic, and I will give you the Steel Heart Breathing Technique up to the Knight realm."
Claude does not react with joy.
Instead, he frowns.
His eyes shift past her, landing on Leanne standing behind.
"Miss Leanne," he says, his tone steady but questioning, "did you lie to us?"
He glances around once more.
"This does not look like a school where a Great Knight came from."
The woman's expression sharpens instantly.
"Boy," she says coldly, "how dare you insult my school?"
An ethereal aura rises from her body.
It presses outward like an invisible wave.
Claude's body stiffens.
The pressure feels similar to his mother's presence, but stronger, deeper, heavier.
His mother was a Level One Dream Magician.
This woman… is at least Level Two.
Claudia tightens her grip on his hand.
Leanne quickly steps forward and places a hand on the woman's shoulder.
"Senior sister, let me explain."
The woman pauses.
Then the aura withdraws.
The pressure vanishes.
Claude exhales slowly, his body relaxing.
Claudia looks up at him, worry in her eyes.
"Brother…" she whispers.
Claude gently squeezes her hand in reassurance.
Then he lifts his gaze and looks at Leanne, waiting for her explanation.
Leanne steps forward, coming to stand beside her senior sister, her expression calm yet serious.
"In the centre of the Misty Island," she begins, "there is a small pond, connected to underground water veins, and every ten years, the Misty Lotus blooms upon it."
Claude listens quietly.
"Its seeds," Leanne continues, "are a rare medicine, something Dream Magicians would fight over."
Claude nods slightly, understanding the value immediately.
Leanne's gaze shifts briefly toward Claudia before returning to Claude.
"But only Dream Magicians can harvest the buds, because only with spirit can they be safely plucked; otherwise, the buds will wither and die the moment they are touched."
Claude's eyes narrow slightly.
"So," Leanne says, "we need your sister's help to collect the buds."
Claude turns his head slowly and looks at the woman.
"Why do you need my sister?" he asks calmly. "Isn't she also a Dream Magician, and more importantly, my sister has only just stepped into the Dream Magician Apprentice realm? Wouldn't it be better if she picked the seeds?"
Leanne and the woman exchange a glance.
The woman speaks.
"I cannot harvest them," she says, her tone steady. "I am injured, and I cannot mobilise my spirit outside my body."
Claude's frown deepens.
"How were you injured?" he asks. "And is the condition of this school related to your injury?"
Leanne hesitates.
The woman's expression hardens slightly.
"Boy," she says, "that is not for you to know."
Claude remains silent for a moment.
Then he tightens his grip on Claudia's hand and says, "Then she will not join your school."
He turns without hesitation.
Claudia follows.
They begin walking back along the stone path, toward the gate.
Step by step.
The silence behind them stretches.
Then a voice calls out.
"I will show you the entire Steel Heart Breathing Technique up to the Great Knight realm."
Claude stops.
His body freezes for a fraction of a second.
That single sentence strikes him harder than anything else.
The Great Knight realm.
A level his family's Red Crane Breathing Technique could never reach.
A level he may never obtain otherwise.
If he had it…
If he could reach that level…
Avenging his parents would no longer be a distant dream.
Protecting Claudia would no longer rely on luck.
Power.
Real power.
His fingers tighten unconsciously.
For a moment, he almost turns around.
Almost.
But then his expression hardens.
He takes another step forward.
And another.
Resolve settles in his eyes.
Claudia looks up at him.
She sees everything.
The hesitation.
The temptation.
The pain of letting it go.
She understands.
This is something her brother cannot easily abandon.
If he becomes a Great Knight, everything will change.
Their future will change.
Their enemies will no longer be unreachable.
She lowers her gaze.
Her small hands clench.
She is ready.
Ready to stay.
Ready to help him.
Ready to bear whatever comes.
But then—
She feels a pull.
A gentle but firm pull.
Her brother is still walking forward.
Not turning back.
Not choosing power.
Choosing her.
Even when the opportunity is right there.
Even when it is something he desperately needs.
Her chest tightens.
Something aches deep inside her.
She does not want to be the reason he gives it up.
Resolve appears on her small face.
She pulls her hand free from his grip.
Claude stops.
She turns around.
"I will join," she says.