“Cal!!!”

“What is it, Aelwyn?”, I asked, though I already knew what was coming.

“Cal!”, her hands found her hips, lips forming into a pouting face, she stopped on her tracks. Her burrows knit together. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

I cocked my head, feigning ignorance. “And what did I forget?”

“Umm….” Her voice was low, almost a whisper, trembling as her gaze fell at her feet. “Did we—kiss?”

“No,” it wasn’t exactly a lie. I supressed a surfacing chuckle as the thought of her and Elsiya being polar opposite is a source of endless amusement. “Why did you ask though?”

It had been an hour since Aelwyn regained consciousness. The vast forest seems to be endless, spiralling roots, like a coiled serpent wrapped up the green surface. Small leaves dangled from the canopy above, brushing against us as we passed, beads of water clung to their edge, occasionally falling to the ground.

Every step we took was met with the soft crunch of leaves beneath our feet, and the faint rustle of unseen creatures skittering through the underbrush. The scent of damp earth and moss filled the air, mixed with the sharp tang of mana that seemed to hum in the background

Constant cry of wild animals echoed faintly in the distance, but the soft chirping of birds near us provided a pleasant contrast, almost lulling us into a false sense of peace. I took in the sight, engraving the uncanny yet almost a sound of saxony from heaven.

“…. I think I kissed you,” her voice, words hesitant, almost a low murmur. “But maybe it was just a dream. I don’t imagine things like that…”, her face flushed a bright streak of crimson, and she trailed off.

I let a soft smile played at the corner of my lips, “It’s alright. But tell me, how far are we from your place?”, my tone shifted, forcing my voice firm, as I redirected the conversation.

Aelwyn paused, her eyes darted forth before speaking. Her voice distant, yet confident. “Its around here. Follow me or you will get lost in the illusion.”

Nodding, I fell into step behind her. Catching onto her words, I sent my aetheric sense outward. There—a unusual coalesce of mana spread through the area in wide array.

As we inch closer, I could see—wind and water elements were colliding—no they were bonding.

A deviant.

My mind flashed back to lesson my mother had drilled me about the system of mana and its properties. The four elements each had their own distinct colors—wind, fire, earth, and water. But their deviants, their more twisted variations, were something different.

“Cal!”

Aelwyn voice snaped me out of the contemplation. She had paused, turning to look at me with a mixture of uncertainty and hope. “I was thinking—you could be a professor at our academy—of course if it’s alright with you!”

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“A professor?”, I repeated, my brows tightened as I tried to read her expression. But there was no malice in her eyes, only sincerity.

“Since you’re strong at fighting, so I thought you could get the professor post quite easily.”

A professor? The idea wasn’t terrible, in fact it’s tempting in its simplicity. It would give me a perfect cover, a way to stay close to Aelwyn without raising suspicion. But the thought of Krynnor still lurking out there made my skin crawl. For now, keeping a low profile was the safest option.

Staying low is better at the moment. I thought to myself.

“I will see what I can do then—”

“Please!!” Aelwyn interjected me, her eyes gleamed with unbidden moist, almost pleading. “I don’t have any friends there—I wanted to study with you. You... you also promised to teach me, remember?”

I let out a soft chuckle, a mixture of frustration and amusement tugging at my lips. “Alright, alright you win. You have my word, Aelwyn.”

Her eyes lit up, a soft glow on her pupil. The corner of her lips lifting up as she gave an exaggerated nod. And without missing a beat, she turned and strode off to the nearby tree, her steps lighter, carrying a childlike eagerness.

My eyes skated towards the massive towering above us—like four ancient trunks merged into one single colossus, its leaves weaving in so tightly as if a dark cloud swallowed the sky whole, filtering out any source of light, save for those thing rays of sunlight that pierced the canopy like golden spear, casting a streak of amber on the mossy floor.

But what caught my attention was not the tree, but it’s the surrounding mana. The air was thick—compact with the coalescing mana, almost forging a tangible presence around it, like a coiling fog.

Aelwyn stopped at the base of the tree, considering, before reaching out for a nearby root. Through my aetheric sense, I made out a pulse of mana surging from her palm towards the root’s end. And then it shimmered to life, as a soft glow of blinding light erupted from the tree trunk, slowly stabilizing into a transparent barrier—a white-transparent veil, that seem to reflect our image back to us. It wavered, like the edge of a water disturbed by something latent, the air buzzed around us with some unforeseen energy.

Aelwyn turned, a warmth smile etching on her lips, “"Come on, Cal. I’ll take care of the rest. My father... I’ll explain it to him.”

My body tensed, the weight of her words pulling me in like a typhoon, “Don’t mention my identity,” I said cutting in, my voice colder than I intended.

But she didn’t falter, instead her smile deepened, her eyes narrowing playfully—almost like El. “I know”, she replied, her tone light, but understanding.

I sigh, releasing a hold breath of anxiety. I don’t have other choice too. I told to myself.

The shimmering veil loomed ahead, as if waiting for our decision. Carefully, I step forward, and stood near Aelwyn. The energy from before licked at my skin, a static buzz resounded in the quiet forest. It was warm at first, then cold. But soon I laughed at myself, as I realized it was neither hot nor cold.

This portal is entirely different from the portal of our realm. I noted.

But just before I was about to step into it, a flicker of doubt surfaced within me, like an itch crawling at the edge of my skin What if Krynnor was there, waiting? What if Aelwyn didn’t know who her father was truly allied with? The trust we shared felt fragile, like the thin veil shimmering in front of us.

I shake my head, and pushed aside this thought. Thinking about it more won’t help anything. I had to remind myself. But still that creeping doubt remained in my guts, like a warning. With a deep breath, I decided to stepped into the unknown portal, my foot passing through the humming veil and then my torso, and then my whole self.

Soon I found my eyes bombard with blinding light, forcing me to shut my eyes tight, until I saw stars erupting inside my closed eyelids. The world around me seemed to shake violently, as if the whole ground underneath disappeared, and I felt myself falling, deeper and deeper.