Beside the waters of a shallow river, only a few meters wide, sat a young boy of not yet seven summers. Laying in his left hand was a small, unadorned blade that one might see being kept in the hands of a soldier instead of the child who gripped it lightly. Behind him, a weeping willow gently swayed, it's leaves dancing in the breeze. A concentrated expression adorned the boy's youthful face, black, unruly hair, framing expressive eyes, as he looked ahead.

Slowly caressing the blade, he felt the soft touch of the wind on his skin, the edge beneath his thumb, all while he was trying not to think about anything in particular, only enjoying the moment, and leisurely taking his surroundings in. The nearby birds chirping jubilantly, blue water flowing over smooth rocks, lush, green leaves rustling as the wind touched upon them. He breathed rhythmically, relaxed his expression, and closed his eyes, almost feeling like he would turn his sight inward.

"Ren!" a high-pitched voice cried out from downstream, making the boy turn with deliberate slowness, like he already anticipated the shout, his eyes opening again.

"Hello, Lin." The now named Ren replied brightly while smiling at her. Somehow, the knife was nowhere to be seen.

A young girl with flowing blonde hair came to a stop beside the willow, leaning heavily on it with her right hand while panting, with a blush on her face, having obviously run all the way to Ren's refuge.

"Why are you always ... haah... sitting so far away?" She asked, out of breath, while still sounding reprimanding, likely having done so before.

Feeling a little sheepish, he replied, "Well, it should stay our little secret place, right?" he tried to appease her. They found this place by the river only a few months prior. It was sheltered from prying eyes on all sides by multiple high bushes, even when they didn't hold many leafs at all.

"Hmpf, I guess... but Ren, can't we practice 'looking' at home as well?" She sounded petulant. They both knew why their home wasn't really the ideal place, being an orphanage any kind of secret was not easily kept, and standing out in this way might not give them the results they wished to see. Someone down their street had different skin and a beautiful voice, yet people looked at him like he was worse than the dirt marring their boots.

Lin was still somewhat in denial about it, wanting to tell others and maybe even teach them as well, but Ren was strictly against it. They had their secret, and it made Ren feel special, though he did not say so aloud.

When Lin talked about them 'looking' at things, what she really talked about was seeing things that they would normally not be able to see, even with their eyes closed.

It started about a year ago when Ren first started seeing and feeling little things, like the texture of his food before touching it, knowing when someone stands behind the next corner, and in the last weeks, when concentrating, even the birds across the river appeared as clear as day. They flew about gaily as he thought about the possibilities this might present. Ren had become an absolute fiend at hide-and-seek to be sure, but maybe there was something more to it, apart from ruthlessly dominating the playgrounds.

What was most interesting to him was that everything seemed as if it was slightly glowing in different shades and intensities. Though Ren did not know what the glowing things were. It looked like a body's or leaf's veins running everywhere, people, trees, even water and the air, connecting them together. He guessed that this enigmatic 'glow' should be a part of the magic that Cultivators used, as only the more important people in their town and those who came from the Sect seemed to have a larger and more active 'glow' inside them.

After pouting at him once, Lin sat down next to him, crossed her legs and closed her eyes.

Though she did not yet have the success with 'looking' that Ren had, she was able to get some results through sheer raw determination.

"All right, let's start training." Lin said enthusiastically, not mentioning her earlier question again.

One hour later, they were still sitting under the willow. Ren was crouching behind Lin and asking her different things about their surroundings. "What do I have in my hands, Lin?"

With a slight frown on her face, she answered, "A stick in your left and a pebble in the right. Right?" Sitting behind her, Ren smiled.

"That's correct, you keep improving, Lin" Smiling to herself, Lin stretched with her hands in front and then lay down next to Ren.

"True, but I can only really 'look' at anything when I'm still and focussing." She appeared disheartened by that fact and added on. "And we don't know if knowing this will really help us join the Heart's Illusion Sect. Maybe we should just use this time to run or practice reading some more. Are you listening, Ren?" She said, both exasperation and anxiousness creeping into her voice.

"I told you that I think this 'looking' should be important for cultivation. It is definitely one of the secrets to their magic." Ren said with a reproachful voice, conviction shining through his eyes. "And since this morning, I even think that I might have learned some magic of my own."

Lin's eyes lit up at this, her own worries pushed to the back of her mind at the prospect of real magic. "Show me!" She said, looking at him with big eyes.

Ren smiled, took out the blade, and threw the stick that was still in his hand in the air, Lin could only see a silver flash and the stick was cut into three parts of equal length. Lin looked impressed with the feat at first, but then confused and a little concerned.

Sitting up, she asked with a slightly angry voice. "Ren, where did you get that knife?"

Shifting a little uncomfortably at her tone, as he obviously didn't get it by paying for it, Ren responded. "Ah..well..I nicked it from a vendor at the marketplace a few months ago." Lin looked somewhat hurt at that and already raised her index finger to start berating him, but to forestall this, Ren quickly moved on. "Nobody saw me."

"I don't care about how you got it, Ren. I thought we always told each other everything..." She said with disappointment lacing her voice, looking away from him.

Ren lowered his head and muttered. "I didn't want to make you worry, but it also somehow felt like the blades called to me. I wanted to hold one, all the time, and I was and am always 'looking' at it, wondering what secrets it had to share." It was basically like an instinct to Ren. Caressing the blade's edge with his thumb, he continued. "My own 'glow' has even got a little brighter, I feel stronger, and today I could also 'look' farther than ever before." He paused once to take a breath. "But I really am sorry that I didn't tell you, will you forgive me?"

Lin crossed her arms and huffed at him, but since he was her best friend, he also told her about magic, and they wanted to join the Heat's Illusion Sect together, she almost instantly forgave him in her heart.

"All right, I forgive you, Ren." She said imperiously with a put upon frown. She was never someone to remain caught up with small things, Ren thought, and perked up as she told him that he was forgiven. "But we should definitely tell each other if we do something stupid like that in the Future." Ren nodded with a smile on his face. "But how did that even happen, Ren?"

Before he could respond, she added. "And you should definitely get accepted into the Sect with that." She said it in a brighter voice, but Ren thought that she was also scared of him leaving her behind, her right hand fiddling with the hem of her shirt.

He got a little quieter then. "Like I said, the blades on display just looked so appealing to me, and like a magpie drawn to shiny jewellery, I couldn't resist taking one. I started dreaming of it, how it felt, how it would cut." He swung the blade once for emphasis, and quieted. "In my dreams, I would change our future, fight dragons, fly through the sky. We would become great heroes together." He looked a little intoxicated for but a moment, but caught himself immediately, as Lin still looked at him, both wonder and dread in her expression.

They both became quiet after that. Thinking about missing the opportunity to join the Heart's Illusion Sect, having to stay at the orphanage. Thinking about not becoming a cultivator always left Ren with a sour taste in his mouth and an anxious pit in his stomach. "Let's go back for now, Lin. Tomorrow is the test for the Sect, and we should sleep if we want to have a chance."

Lin looked defeated at that and muttered. "We don't even know what exactly they test." Here she got even quieter. "And the older kids said that they just touch your wrist and either you get accepted or they deny you, and you can't really do anything."

She thought about the Matron at the orphanage telling them to learn how to read for the test and how they should be in good shape. "What would training even do? How would running and reading help you pass, maybe it is just important for those who join the Sect?"

Lin didn't like their prospects, and who could hold it against her? As far as they knew, the selection would be just based on their talent for magic, but they didn't know how to test it themselves or increase it.

Nonetheless, they had to leave their hiding spot by the river and return to the town, their orphanage and beds, eventually. Hopeful expectations in their young minds, and their dreams filled with both magic and adventure.