Soul of Searing Steel

 Due to the geographical positioning of the Nissia Snowy Mountain Lake, it was not affected by strong winds thanks to the mountains surrounding it. The surface of the lake was like a mirror, reflecting the sky as if both of ends was trying to connect with each other. Not a single ripple was created even though the northern winds were blowing the clouds away.

From the academy which was situated in the middle part of the mountain up until the flatlands, there was a forest in between with scattered steel-core trees and cedar. It was October at that moment, it was the end of autumn and the beginning of winter. The shrubs and bushes around the area had already withered, leaving behind a brownish field of dried plants.

The current forest condition was the optimum habitat for the fluff rabbits. Their burrows were built under the cedar normally. The land became the kingdom where the white furry animal roamed. Fluff rabbits had the capability to cast Frost Touch, barely meeting the criteria which enabled them to be classified as a type of magical beast. Their pelts had a certain market value.

Under a cedar beside the lake, Ying was sitting on top of a grayish-white rock. The silver-white hair was tied in a ponytail. The young lady was wearing female knight armor which matched quite well with her green eyes. She was currently sustaining the campfire in front of her.

As she controlled the flames in front of her, sparks of flames and ashes flew across the chilling air. Some even landed in her snowy-white hands.

Ying was not really bothered by the temperature around her. She was just a little too bored and played with the fire for a while there. Feeling stiff, she raised both of her arms and stretched her body while releasing a rather alluring sound. Her ponytail swayed and brushed past her waist.

“Sis, you shouldn’t be so lazy.”

While Ying was stretching herself, the voice of a young boy could be heard from behind. Ying turned around when she heard Ling’s voice and noticed that this young boy had two fluff rabbits in his hands.

“Only a few minutes passed and you had already caught two rabbits…”

She was surprised and asked, “Is this for Master?”

“Yup.”

The young boy smiled and took out the kitchenware and utensils from his storage bag. He replied, “Master will be very tired after the exploration in the lake. The food from the cafeteria is too bland and boring. Even if Master could get used to those food, I think we should prepare something to give him a surprise. This delicacy should be a good choice.”

“Good… you had thought of this better than I did.”

After listening to her brother’s explanation, Ying felt a little bit defeated as she looked towards the setting sun. Ying muttered, “I cannot do anything other than battle together with Master.”

Without waiting for Ling’s reply, the young lady sighed. “I am not able to manage operational task and resource allocations. Although I have some knowledge in cooking, I am way inferior compared to you. Doing household duties are no different than being a maid. I could not help but feel that I did not help our Master much.”

The silver-haired lady slowly sat on top of a rock and hug her own knees. She huddled her whole body together, feeling like an abandoned kitten. “Does Master really need me? He is already extremely strong without a weapon.”

“Sis, why do you even think so much unnecessary stuff.”

No one really cared about the change in mood of the female Divine Armament. Maybe they were infected by ‘I do not really care’ attitude. Ling still smiled brightly and tossed a rabbit to his sister. “Hey, catch!”

“Uwaaahhhh!!!”

Ying who snapped out of her daze while trying to catch the fluff rabbit was now a bit angry with her younger brother. “Come on, why did you throw something to me out of a sudden!”

Ling did not reply her question directly. “Let’s prepare the food together.”

“… What?”

“I said, let’s prepare a meal for Master together.”

Ling explained, “Aren’t you ranting about your uselessness? These are the only words spoken by lazy bums. Come and help to prepare some food for Master; shouldn’t everything be solved at that point?”

“…”

Ying couldn’t refute his statement. She shook her head and calmed herself. She then smiled and replied, “You’re right.”

She could have guessed that being too free without doing anything had got those negative thoughts stuck in her mind.

The silver-haired girl was ashamed for feeling hopeless. As she stood up, her ponytail covered up her reddish neck caused by her own awkwardness. “What should I do?”

“You should first…”

They had waited until Joshua emerge from the silent lake while riding on top of Black. Awaiting him was a great feast of rabbit meat.

“Both of you have done a pretty good job here.”

The warrior who was still pondering about the mystery of the lake had chosen to not care about the true reason behind secrets of the lake. He smiled and hugged both of his weapons. As he straightened his body while hugging both Ying and Ling, their feet could no longer touch the earth as Joshua’s height far surpassed them.

No one was really bothered about this anyway.

Just as three of them were enjoying their picnic, a white-armored knight was traveling across the northern lands of the Empire.

Due to the existence of the Dark Forest, the border control between the countries was not that strict. Anyone could freely enter each of the nations with a legit document. As the knight traveled from the South, passing the Western mountains and reached the Northern empire, he did not face any problems.

Of course, problems still existed if one considered the time he took to slay some demonic beasts and stopped bandits from raiding villages.

Roland Glamorgan, he was once a noble from the Eastern kingdom. Currently, he would preferred to be called Knight Roland. He was proud of this title.

As the strongest holy knight from the Church of Seven Gods, the Gold-Tier Roland had the capability to fly and summon the Heavenly Warhorse to speed up his traveling. Due to the fact that his objective was to train himself during the journey, he would not try to decrease the difficulty to progress in his adventure.

Striving to unveil the answer, or it should be stated as the truth of Chaos, the young holy knight embarked on a journey to train himself. He could fully understand his foster father being the current pope would not disclose all the truth to him. He would not get a single answer from him even if the pope faced death itself.

Being a foster father, the pope did not keep silent the whole time. After numerous asking and begging, Roland obtained some important leads from him.

The Northern Sealed Land and the Western Plaguelands had something in common. Both were Chaos erosion areas. While both were related to Chaos, both had different creatures existing within the lands.

As the Liege of Moldavia, the head of the Radcliffe family, Joshua knew some information about the Chaos there.

“I could not tell you the truth directly. Even all the guardians’ family would not leak any secret of Chaos. That was an information which will be kept deep within our heart and be forgotten.”

The old pope told him foster son about an unheard secret on the white crystal chair, “This is the pledge of Order. This is the way to protect our world. With less information about Chaos being leaked, the power of the gods could shield and divert the attention of the ultimate evil. I shouldn’t be telling you about this. Since you would be inheriting my role in the future, I could break the rule just once.”

The holy knight could not fully understand the information given. Still, he remembered every detail of it.

The pope continued, “There were a lot of places which was invaded by Chaos. However, the Northern Sealed Lands are a bit different. The guardian of that region is different than the norm. If you visit the other guardians, they might only be able to tell you information as much as the tip of an iceberg only. However, ‘those’ who had successfully inherited the legacy would definitely able to give an answer that will satisfy you.”

“What sort of inheritance would that be?” The holy knight asked while frowning.

“You will know when the time comes,” the old man replied swiftly.

Roland shook his head as he reviewed the information he gained from the pope once again. He continued his cold journey to the North with his heavy armor and war hammer which could not be lifted by ordinary people.

The usual hot-headed knight had become more calm and collected after experiencing months of traveling. The trials, difficulty and the encounters during the journey had made him a better man in terms of both attitude and survival capability. He was able to experience difficulty in life and learned to tackle the problems in hand.

He had to wield his weapon in order to protect the weak. He had defeated numerous demonic dragons and bandits. The consistent battle he faced in both offensive and defensive had enabled the holy knight to adapt and solve different problems.

He believed that even he did not get the truth the guardian of Moldavia, would still greatly benefit from the process of his journey.

“Let’s hope that the end of this journey will be a brilliant one.”

The deep blue eyes shone under the helmet filled with calm and silence.