Beyond Boundless |I shall surpass every entity

The note still sat folded in my hand. Her handwriting lingered in my mind like a phantom whisper. But before the silence could fully settle over me, a new presence stirred the air.

A shift in the atmosphere — quiet, radiant, regal.

I turned, and there she was.

Seo-yoon.

My sister.

Her long golden hair glimmered under the estate's gentle lights, flowing down her back like celestial silk. Her emerald eyes — warm, sharp, ancient — met mine with a smile that carried lifetimes of affection.

"Still brooding, little brother?" she teased softly.

Before I could reply, Han laughed from the steps behind us. "Don't be too hard on him, Seo-yoon. He just got back from your ridiculous training regimen."

Chae-min chuckled beside him, rising to greet her daughter. "You really are just like your father… disappearing into starlight, then showing up when things get peaceful."

Seo-yoon smiled, her arms wrapping briefly around our mother. "I thought I'd steal Muhan for a little while. Just some time for us."

Han raised an eyebrow, amused. "Should we be worried?"

I shrugged, wiping my face with a cold towel. "Worse comes to worst, I'll lose another dimension or two."

"Won't be the first time," Seo-yoon grinned.

---

After a quick refresh, I followed her through the winding walkways of Avalon, where time always seemed to drift slower, like dream sand falling through stained glass.

At the hangar bay, a sleek white vehicle waited — a futuristic hover car that glowed faintly with pulsing Aether veins along its frame. It looked like something torn from a vision of the far future.

Seo-yoon leaned against it, sliding a small crystalline core into the control panel.

"AI Core synced," the car's interface voice hummed. "Destination?"

"Azure Beachfront," she replied, her voice as serene as the sky.

The doors hissed open.

"Get in, brother."

I stepped inside.

Moments later, the vehicle lifted effortlessly into the night sky, gliding across the realm like a comet on silent wings.

---

The beach greeted us with rolling waves and soft moonlight.

Gentle tides caressed the sand like silver whispers, and bioluminescent stones along the shoreline glowed in faint blue hues. Palm trees with crimson-tipped leaves swayed with the ocean wind, their roots entwined with living roots of mana coral.

As the car settled onto a slope overlooking the beach, I stepped out — and immediately felt the shift.

Eyes turned.

A group of girls lounging beneath a parasol caught sight of me. One dropped her drink.

"Oh my god, who is that?" one whispered, her cheeks flushing bright red.

Another girl in a striped bikini leaned forward, sunglasses slipping. "He's… is he even real?"

A third waved nervously. "Excuse me—hi! Uh… do you, like… have a number?"

Seo-yoon raised an eyebrow, watching with open amusement. "Popular, aren't we?"

I sighed, adjusting my jacket slightly. "Not my fault I walked out of three months of training looking like this."

One of the bolder girls approached, holding a holo-note pad. "I—I'm sorry, but are you single? And like… are you from the Celestial Lineage?"

I scratched the back of my neck. "Technically. But—"

Seo-yoon intervened with a step forward, placing her hand on my shoulder. Her tone was polite but icy.

"He's not available."

The girl blinked. "Oh…"

"We're having a private bonding session. If you'd be so kind."

They retreated — not out of fear, but out of respect. The aura Seo-yoon carried wasn't just noble. It was absolute.

I laughed under my breath as we strolled past the waterline.

"Did you have to scare them off?"

Seo-yoon smirked. "Don't get used to it, little brother. Not every woman on the beach is going to faint at your presence."

"I doubt that."

We reached the crest of a small dune, where the sky met the sea.

She paused, the moonlight painting her silhouette like a divine echo. Her expression turned serious — and ancient, as if remembering some truth long buried.

"I'm proud of how far you've come, Muhan. But from here on out, you're not just a Lockhart or a prodigy."

________________________________________

The air at the beach was cool, laced with salt and starlight. The hum of the hover car faded behind us, drowned by the slow rhythm of waves kissing the shore. Seo-yoon led us to a quiet slope of sand, where the moonlight painted everything in shades of blue and pearl.

We sat down side by side. The world around us was hushed, as though even time had slowed to hear our conversation.

For a while, neither of us spoke.

The sea glittered, endless and gentle, as if it too were watching us.

I leaned back, arms behind my head, letting the breeze tousle my hair. My shirt was still half unbuttoned from the heat of training, revealing the faint glow of accumulated ether marks along my collarbone — marks of mastery, of discipline, of pain endured and conquered.

Seo-yoon sat beside me, one leg tucked beneath her, the other lazily buried in the sand. She glanced toward me…

And then she froze.

Her breath caught.

She hadn't meant to — not consciously — but her gaze lingered on my face. On the refined lines that had sharpened over our time apart. The defined jaw, the eyes that held light and weight beyond their years, the quiet but commanding aura I now wore without meaning to.

The moonlight brushed across my features like a lover's touch. Soft. Revealing.

Seo-yoon blinked once. Her cheeks… flushed.

A faint rosy pink bloomed across her porcelain skin — subtle, but unmistakable.

I turned to her, noticing the shift.

"You alright?" I asked casually, a teasing smirk playing at the edge of my lips. "You're blushing."

"I'm not," she replied a little too fast, looking away as she brushed her hair behind her ear. "It's the breeze. Cold wind… you know how it is."

"Mm," I nodded, the smirk deepening. "Right. Cold breeze."

She sighed, defeated, and laughed under her breath. "You've gotten… really handsome, you know."

I shrugged modestly. "Is that a compliment from the great Seo-yoon Lockhart?"

"Don't get used to it," she murmured, smiling despite herself. "I'm just stating facts. No wonder girls were about to fight over you earlier."

I chuckled. "You should've seen the looks I got back in Euphoria. One girl fainted just from me asking for directions."

Seo-yoon rolled her eyes, but there was warmth behind the gesture. "It's not just your face, Muhan. It's your presence now. It's… quiet but intense. Like someone who's broken through something invisible and never came back the same."

I turned my gaze to the waves.

"Maybe I did," I whispered.

Seo-yoon leaned slightly toward me, resting her chin on her knees.

"You're becoming a man the realms will tremble before," she said. "But right now… you're just my little brother again. Sitting here with me."

Her voice softened to a whisper.

"And I missed this. More than you know."

I looked back at her — her golden hair dancing in the ocean breeze, her eyes reflecting the stars. She wasn't just my sister. She was a part of the light that kept me grounded.

"I missed you too," I said quietly.

We sat there together, beneath the sweep of constellations, listening to the breathing of the sea. The moon hung high like a watchful guardian, casting our silhouettes onto the sand — brother and sister, warriors and wanderers, heirs to something greater than even they could yet understand.