The man in the boat rowed the boat away from Kaizen, who, moments before, seemed certain to collide head-on. The crash was inevitable, or so it seemed. Then, all three of them, as if pulled by the unseen currents of fate, tumbled into the icy water, one after the other, like stones tossed into a darkened pond. The cold bite of the sea was a shock, but they found themselves hauled aboard, dripping and shivering, sharing a boat with a stranger whose wide eyes darted between them.
"Hey! You fell from the sky! What the hell happened?" The man's voice cracked the stillness of the night, his face a mixture of disbelief and curiosity.
Giro leaned back, stretching his arms casually, a yawn escaping him. Rai mirrored the yawn, though his eyes scanned the horizon, his mind elsewhere. Between them, Kaizen sat silent, his expression stony, like he was carved from the same darkness that enveloped the sea around them.
"Got burned along with my boat," Giro said, flashing a grin, his eyes distant, recalling a scene from some dark corner of his memory. "Thanks to my master's insane training, I didn't turn into ash this time."
Rai spoke up, his tone as calm and calculated as ever, "Our boats were wrecked by a shark. If Kaizen wasn't there, we'd be fish food right now. I had doubts we'd make it to the exam on time... But seeing you both use that power... It's doable. We can make it."
The man on the boat caught on immediately. He was quick, eyes flickering with a spark of recognition. "I'm Raze Ignis," he said, his voice carrying a rough edge. "I want to learn that power too. What is it? I've seen people use it here—pisses me off that I don't know how."
Giro and Kaizen exchanged glances, a shared look of weariness and amusement.
"Wait, wait," Giro chuckled, leaning forward. "You mean to tell me you came all the way here for the exam without knowing what Veil is? The damn thing everyone's using... It's a pain to explain, but I guess we have no choice."
Kaizen raised a hand, silencing Giro with a gesture as he spoke, his voice a low, controlled murmur. "Alright, I'll explain it." He exhaled slowly, almost as if he was holding back something deeper. "The aura-like energy that surrounded us... It's called Veil. It's the manifestation of one's spirit, a force every candidate in this exam must have some grasp over."
Rai, ever stoic, offered no reaction. Raze, on the other hand, stood up, his eyes lit with the fire of determination. He clenched a fist and punched his palm. "Well, if it's a requirement, then I'll master it, no problem! So, what about you guys? What's your goal here?"
The air seemed to tighten, the easy camaraderie replaced by a sudden tension as if the question had peeled back a layer of secrecy each of them held close.
Giro yawned again, breaking the silence with a lazy smile. "Oi, oi, let's row while we talk. No point in drifting aimlessly."
Rai picked up an oar first, his grip firm but relaxed, the others followed. They moved in sync, the rhythmic splash of the oars blending with the quiet hum of the sea.
"I'm searching for someone," Rai finally said, his voice steady but carrying an undertone of something deeper, something unresolved. "The Silver Knight. He just passed the exam and got his license. I have to find him. It was my father's last request."
Giro's eyes darted towards Rai, his usual levity replaced by a brief flicker of surprise. "Oh, really? I'm just here to get away from my family," he laughed, though there was an edge to his tone, a hint of something unsaid. "I want to see what's out there, go on adventures. If I don't get off this island soon, they'll drag me back."
Kaizen, always the one carrying the weight of something darker, spoke in a voice as rough as the waves slapping against the boat. "I'm here for revenge," he said simply. "A man cursed my brother and me. My brother died. And I will too if I don't kill that bastard first."
Raze's grin widened, undeterred by the grim stories he'd just heard. "You guys are something else," he said, almost in awe. "I'm here to find the Phoenix!"
The mention of the Phoenix sent a ripple through the group. Even Giro, usually so nonchalant, stiffened. Kaizen's eyes narrowed, and Rai's expression darkened, the same thought flashing across their minds.
The boat surged forward, propelled by the feverish rhythm of their oars plunging into the sea with an almost primal intensity. Each stroke sent ripples across the inky black water, a sea that seemed to stretch into infinity, its surface disturbed by the relentless wind slicing through the night. The air was thick with the scent of salt and the sharp bite of the cold, a chill that crept into their bones and clung to their wet clothes like a second skin. The temperature dropped sharply, an icy breeze blowing in from the north, carrying the taste of distant glaciers and the ominous promise of a storm.
They moved as if driven by something greater than themselves, the boat shuddering under the force of their effort. Giro, Rai, and Kaizen, their faces set in grim determination, rowed in unison, the muscles in their arms straining, tendons standing out like cords beneath the skin. Even Raze, his usual cocky grin replaced by a look of fierce concentration, pulled with everything he had. It was as if the very air around them had grown tense, electric, and they could feel the world shifting beneath them, aligning their fates with the pulse of the sea.
The boat lurched suddenly, lifting off the surface as a massive wave rose to meet them. For a brief, heart-stopping moment, they were airborne, suspended in the dark sky as if time itself had held its breath. Below them, the ocean roared, a deep, guttural sound that seemed to come from the bowels of the earth. The crest of the wave shimmered under the faint light of the moon, droplets of seawater hanging in the air like diamonds scattered across a black velvet curtain. Then, gravity took hold, and the boat plummeted, crashing down with a force that sent a spray of icy water up into their faces, drenching them anew. The impact rattled their bones, the sharp cold of the sea an unforgiving reminder of the deadly waters they navigated.
The sky above had transformed into a swirling vortex of dark clouds, thick and heavy with the weight of an impending storm. Flashes of lightning lit up the horizon, brief but blinding, illuminating the jagged silhouettes of towering waves and the cyclones that danced across the water's surface like phantoms. The wind howled, whipping through their hair and clothes, a relentless, freezing gust that seemed to pierce straight through to the marrow. The atmosphere was charged, every breath filled with the taste of ozone and the metallic tang of an approaching tempest. It felt as though the sea itself was alive, an ancient, wrathful beast stirred from its slumber.
Sharks broke the surface intermittently, their sleek, dark bodies cutting through the water with terrifying grace. One leapt out of the sea, a shadowy specter with glistening scales, its jaws snapping shut just inches from the boat's edge. The splash as it re-entered the water sent another wave crashing into them, drenching the deck and making the wood groan under the sudden weight. Giro leaned back, narrowly avoiding a set of razor-sharp teeth, his expression one of wide-eyed surprise. Raze, eyes gleaming with a mix of fear and exhilaration, gripped his oar tighter, the tendons in his hands white with tension. Even Kaizen, usually stoic, allowed a flicker of apprehension to cross his face as another shark darted by, its dorsal fin slicing through the water like a knife through silk.
The wind picked up, howling louder now, as if the sea itself was screaming. Cyclones spun in the distance, their towering columns of water twisting and writhing under the force of the storm. The sky had darkened to a near-impenetrable black, broken only by the violent flashes of lightning that illuminated the chaos below. Each bolt revealed the monstrous waves, the predators lurking just beneath the surface, and the tiny, fragile silhouette of their boat—a lone speck of humanity adrift in a vast, uncaring ocean.
A sudden gust of wind caught the boat's sail, sending it tilting precariously to the side. Rai and Giro quickly shifted their weight, bracing against the edge as they fought to keep the vessel from capsizing. The cold was a living thing now, wrapping around them like a shroud, seeping through their wet clothes and biting into their flesh. It numbed their fingers, made their muscles ache, but they pushed on, driven by a force they could not name—a shared resolve, a fierce determination that bound them together against the elements.
The tiny white speck in the distance grew larger, gradually taking shape as they drew nearer. It was the island of snow, a stark, cold land that seemed to rise out of the sea like a ghostly apparition.
"The Island of Snow," Rai murmured, his voice barely above a whisper, a glint of anticipation in his usually calm eyes.
The boat pushed on, the four of them united by their disparate goals, bound together by the shared journey toward the unknown.