"Faster! Attack more fiercely! Don't lose focus!"
On a long-abandoned construction site not far from the house Sona had bought.
Sona, the little red squirrel in a suit of knight armor, was relentlessly swinging her knight's longsword. Her footwork was light as a fluttering butterfly, then suddenly heavy as a giant beast stomping the ground, concentrating all her strength into her hands. It was clearly winter, but sweat poured like rain from Sona's forehead, rolling past her exquisite face and dripping slowly from her chin to the ground.
*Hah.. hah....*
The longsword in Sona's hand swung faster and fiercer.
"Total Concentration Breathing. Mobilize the Originium energy in your body. Imagine you are a tree. Imagine invisible threads inside you, spreading from your Originium core, filling your entire body. Then, through breathing, suck the surrounding air into your lungs and fuse your Originium energy with this special power!"
Lucas Reeve floated beside Sona with his arms crossed, like a ghost. Unlike his usual easy-going self, the current Lucas Reeve was like a strict drill instructor.
*Hssss....*
Sona took a deep breath, then grit her teeth. With a *hissing* sound, a steady stream of pale white vapor flowed out from between her teeth.
No inhaling, only exhaling.
She exhaled more and more air, and the air in Sona's lungs was nearly depleted. Her face flushed red.
Suddenly, just as she was about to collapse, a wisp of Sun-flame drilled out along with the air Sona exhaled.
Sona quickly seized the opportunity. A sharp light flashed in her eyes. She put her whole body into it, raising her knight's longsword and slashing down hard.
"Sun Breathing!! Waltz!"
*Fwoosh....*
A flame suddenly streamed from the previously empty blade as she swung. The flame quickly enveloped the sword. As Sona swung, the Sun-flame traced a beautiful fiery arc in mid-air. This strike hit a thick steel pillar, long-abandoned, not far away. Instantly, the thick steel pillar was sliced in two by Sona. After delivering the blow, Sona collapsed onto the ground, exhausted. Her cute squirrel ears drooped lifelessly, and she panted heavily.
She looked guiltily at Lucas Reeve.
Because Lucas Reeve had demonstrated it once before, using her body. It was the exact same move, the exact same setup, but Lucas Reeve executed it with incredible ease. He could even perform multiple moves in a row without stopping. But she was already exhausted and sitting on the ground. Was this the difference between them?
"Well done."
Lucas Reeve floated over and rubbed Sona's little squirrel head.
To be honest.
Sona's talent was quite high. Back then, Jessica had to train for a long time just to learn Total Concentration Breathing. Sona had mastered it in just a few days and could already successfully execute a move. Her only flaw was her lack of proficiency. She couldn't precisely control the input of Originium energy. To put it bluntly, her conversion rate was low. For example, if Lucas Reeve used Sona's body to perform the move, it would only require three units of Originium energy for the same power. But Sona herself needed ten or even more.
However, this was also related, to an extent, to her aptitude for Originium Arts.
During the fight with the 'Devil Knight' before, Lucas Reeve had lent Sona his max-level account to play, so she unleashed it easily. Now, she had to learn it herself from scratch, which was considerably difficult.
At first, Lucas Reeve wanted Sona to fully master the entire Sun Breathing set before the regular season started. Now, it seemed he was overthinking it. It would be quite good if she could fully master the first two forms of Sun Breathing and the first two forms of Thunder Breathing before the regular season.
"Don't comfort me, Mr. Reeve. I know I'm stupid..."
Sona sighed.
Lucas Reeve paused, then said: "I wouldn't say stupid. Your talent might not be top-tier, but it's not bad."
Honestly.
Based on the talent Sona had shown so far, Lucas Reeve could basically see her limit. Her chances of winning the championship were slim. However, Lucas Reeve didn't need Sona to win the championship. She just needed to prove herself. Just as Sona said, the ranking and title didn't matter. Becoming a true knight was what Sona wanted.
"Let's take a break. That was a tough workout. Buy extra meat for lunch. You need to supplement your nutrition; you can't just train without nutrients."
"Okay!"
As the human and the soul were heading home from a nearby supermarket, carrying the ingredients they'd bought, Sona saw someone begging on the ground. It was an Infected.... When Sona saw him, her heart clenched slightly. She took some change from her wallet and placed it in the beggar's bowl. When the Infected beggar saw Sona actually give him money, he kowtowed to her repeatedly in gratitude. This 100 LMD was enough for him to eat for several days.
"Sigh...."
Sona sighed. She felt terrible for these Infected. Seeing this begging Infected, Sona felt a sense of kinship. Her own living situation had improved a lot, but that was all thanks to Lucas Reeve. If not for Lucas Reeve, she might have died in that survival match. Even if she hadn't died, her life would probably be extremely difficult, not this comfortable.
"Clearly, many people in the comments under the documentary were shouting to treat the Infected kindly, but in reality, the Infected's situation hasn't changed at all."
"That's normal."
Lucas Reeve said.
"It's like in the comments under a cute animal video, many people say 'Be kind to animals,' and then, after typing that, they pick up the pork chop in their hands and start eating."
"Saying and doing are two different things."
"Being able to say it online shows that many people have kindness in their hearts. It's just that reality is different. People's kindness needs to be guided. This is where the importance of a spiritual belief comes in. For a country, the most powerful and important thing is the faith of its people. Only a country with an unyielding faith can give birth to hero after hero."
"So, it's not that ordinary people are cold, but that they lack a leader. It's like if someone suddenly faints and collapses in a shopping mall. If there's no leader, many people will just stand by and watch. At that moment, all it takes is one person to step forward first, and soon there will be a second, a third, a fourth, and even more."
Sona walked slowly, saying: "The Radiant Knight was about to become that kind of person. The Radiant Knight's light was too dazzling, shining in everyone's hearts, but..."
Lucas Reeve smiled slightly: "The Radiant Knight is just one person. Or rather, in reality, anyone can become the Radiant Knight. As long as someone dares to stand up, then that person is the second Radiant Knight."
Sona fell into thought. She was still too young and didn't quite understand what Lucas Reeve meant.
One month later—
"Go, Sister Sona!!"
Before Sona left home, her family all came out to see her off. Little Ella and the other children excitedly pumped their fists, cheering Sona on. Everyone's face was filled with smiles and pride. To them, Sona was about to become an official, titled knight as an Infected. This was an incredibly glorious thing.
According to the rules on the official Knight Major website.
You just need to register for an official Knight Major competition, and you can pick your own callsign. When your total points reach one hundred, this callsign automatically becomes your title. That's a titled knight. Although getting one hundred points isn't too hard, it's not easy either. During the regular season, you get two points for each win. In the playoffs, you get three points for each win. Then, after the entire playoffs, the champion gets an extra one hundred points, the runner-up eighty, the third-place sixty, and everyone else who qualified gets fifty points.
Basically.
As long as you can make it to the playoffs once, even if you don't win a single match, you'll have enough points to become a titled knight.
However, according to Kazimierz tradition.
A titled knight was a great honor for an ordinary knight. Only knights who had performed great deeds could receive one, and it had to be personally bestowed by the Grand Knight Commander. In ancient times, a titled knight was a symbol of status. But in the modern era, under the management of the Chamber of Commerce, anyone who entered the playoffs could become a titled knight.
This led to titled knights becoming a bit of a cheap commodity.
"Remember to watch me on TV!!"
Sona waved excitedly, then left home, heading for the location in this Mobile City where the Knight Major regular season was about to be held.
Because the Chamber of Commerce had announced the relaxation of restrictions on Infected, even Infected could now register for the regular season. However, since this new format was just being tested, and the restriction was lifted only a month before the season started, ordinary knights were in one division and Infected knights were in another. The two divisions would only merge after entering the playoffs.
As the regular season was about to begin.
Especially after the Chamber of Commerce announced the lifting of restrictions, many media outlets focused almost entirely on the Infected's arena. After all, there was an unwritten rule in Kazimierz's knight competitions.
Normally, if the Knight Major was held in a given year, the *true* Grand Knights wouldn't participate in the regular season in the first half of the year. They would focus all their energy on preparing for the special championship. They looked down on this kind of seasonal championship. For them, only the special Knight Major championship, held once every three years, was the only thing that mattered.
Therefore, heavyweight competitors rarely participated in this level of regular season, and its viewership had gradually declined. But the appearance of the Infected knights instantly pulled all eyes over. Even before the competition began, the online and live audience attention already far exceeded past regular seasons. It was safe to say the Chamber of Commerce's decision was correct. At least with this level of attention, they could make a ton of money.
Outside the arena, reporters from major TV stations and newspapers were already standing by. The regular season opened in four major cities simultaneously, so each city had its own champion. Thus, the title wasn't worth much, but for an ordinary knight, a regular season championship was enough to live comfortably for a long time.
"Hiss.... Mr. Reeve, I'm a little nervous.... This is my first time in an official event of this level!!"
Arriving at the stadium and feeling the atmosphere, Sona was suddenly overcome with nerves. Although she had been an independent knight before, she had only ever participated in underground matches. That environment couldn't compare to this kind of official competition. That's why Sona was so excited for this clash between knights.
She entered the player tunnel through the side door and registered her information at the entrance.
"Welcome to the regular season, Flametail Knight. We wish you the best of luck."
The registrar at the door spoke to Sona in a professional tone.
Flametail Knight was the callsign Sona thought of when registering as an official knight. In fact, Sona used to dream about what callsign she would use if she could become an official knight one day. But back then, as Sona saw it, this dream was just a dream. After all, the Infected couldn't participate in official matches, could never become official knights, so there was no point in a callsign. She never expected her dream to come true so quickly.
Walking down the long corridor to the competitor's prep room.
Watching the knights in different styles and designs of armor pass by her.
Sona's heart pounded with excitement.
These were all official knights!!
And she was about to compete against them as an official knight.
She was so excited!!
Suddenly.
A series of gasps came from behind Sona.
"Wow... It's Ms. Whislash Knight! She's so beautiful...."
"Is Whislash Knight participating in the regular season this year? I thought she'd be preparing for the Knight Major qualifiers in June, like the other Grand Knights."