The next morning, I woke up around 5 a.m. as usual. I jumped out of bed with excitement and ran to the bathroom to prepare myself for the day ahead of me. After I washed my face and brushed my teeth, I tied up my wavy brown hair and smiled at my reflection.

A new day to prove myself and fix my mistakes! I thought.

“Let’s go,” I whispered to myself and went to my bedroom to put on my sportswear. Ready to train, I dashed from my room to the front door but paused at the sight of Alaric in the kitchen. His long black hair was tied up as always, and he was wearing a white colored shirt.

"Alaric?" I called out, confused. "What are you doing here?"

He turned, a smile breaking across his face as he flipped an omelet. "Good morning, Bumble," he greeted cheerily. "Seems you're ready to start the day."

“Yeah,” I nodded, though his presence in the kitchen threw off my routine. Usually, we would have started the day by continuing what we had finished the day before. This meant I would have had to run around the forest, spar with Alaric—who should have been waiting for me there—have breakfast, and then begin our theoretical lessons and physical exercises, repeating the same routine the next day.

“Should I start running?” I asked, still confused by this sudden change.

“No,” he sighed. “There is no need for you to run today.” Then he turned towards me and smiled again.

"Come, have a seat," he gestured to the table.

As I approached and sat down, my mind buzzed with questions.

"What's going on?" I asked, unable to mask the suspicion in my voice.

"I have some news to share," he announced as he served the omelet to the plates. Then he walked towards the boiling teapot. I frowned at his answer as I felt my curiosity rise within me.

“What is it?” I asked, unable to hide my wonder as he poured teas into the cups.

“Let’s enjoy our breakfast first,” he said calmly and put the tea in front of me.

His unusually bright demeanor set me on edge. I eyed the omelet warily, noting the aromatic parsley, black pepper, and grated cheese. It looked delicious, yet a part of me feared it might be another test. I tried to ignore the delightful aroma and my grumbling stomach. I looked at Alaric, who was enjoying his breakfast.

“Is it a test?” I asked truthfully. Alaric looked at me, baffled by my question.

“What do you mean?”

“You know,” I continued, “one of the trust tests you do once in a while. Is there something in the food that will make me sick, or is it the tea? And you use the ‘good news’ as a distraction?”

Alaric chuckled softly with my question, which made me feel more confused.

“It is good to be wary, Bumble. But it is not wise for you to ask that.”

“I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t you,” I mumbled.

“Still, whoever is this, even if it is me, don’t ask. And for your question, what do you think?”

I looked at the delicious food again. Its smell was so good, and I couldn’t smell anything wrong with it. The color was good, too. I held the fork and poked the food. Then divided it with a fork and looked at it carefully.

“The omelet looks good,” I said, then looked at the tea. Its color was good, too. I smelled it carefully then to make sure there was nothing funny. It smelled like a regular tea.

“I didn’t sense anything at tea either,” I looked at Alaric and smiled. He smiled back at me. With relief, I took a sip from it.

“You’re dead,” Alaric said.

I started to cough with his sudden words, surprised.

“Dead?” I asked. “What do you mean dead?”

“You forget the silver test,” he waved his fork.

“Well,” I started. “That’s because it was you! I didn’t think you would try to kill me.”

“You should always go by your instincts. If your instincts say something off, just like a minute ago, you should be aware of everything. If your instincts say, even after you checked them in basic, don’t do it, then you mustn’t do it.”

"Yeah, okay," I sighed and took a bite from the omelet. It was delicious!

After a moment of silence, Alaric started to talk again.

"Bumble," he started as he put down his fork. I looked at him with curiosity. "I've been observing your progress and decided it's time to modify your training program to introduce some new challenges."

A chill ran down my spine. I was confused by this decision because he yesterday took me to the border of this safe area.

"How so?" I asked as I was munching the food.

"Don't speak with your mouth full," he scolded. I nodded and quickly swallowed, then asked my question again.

"We're moving to the town below the forest this afternoon," he revealed abruptly.

I paused, my fork mid-air. I wasn't sure if I heard right.

"Did you just say we are moving?" I asked. "We're moving? As in, living where the other humans are?"

"Yes," Alaric approved. I slowly put down my fork and took deep breaths to calm my excitement. I knew that Alaric might get mad if I showed it.

Keep calm, I said to myself and repeat what Alaric always tells me. Being excited is good, but emotions might cloud your logic.

I took one more deep breath and continued to speak.

"But you always said humans are dangerous."

Alaric smiled at me after taking a sip from his tea.

"That's precisely why we need to do this," he explained. Before he continued, he held my hands. "Bumble, challenging times might lie ahead of us. To survive, you must understand the dangers that surround you. Voidspawns will kill you outright, but humans are more complex; some are genuine, others deceitful. You must learn to distinguish between them to live among them in harmony."

"Why now, though?" I pressed, my heart racing with a mix of fear and excitement. "All this time, you've said—"

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"I didn't think you were ready," he interrupted. "And I am not going to lie, I thought you would never be ready. But now, watching your growth, I believe you are now. You're ready for the next step."

Joy mixed with anxiety surged within me. I stood and hugged him, overwhelmed. "I can't believe we're actually doing this!"

"Calm yourself," Alaric instructed in a firm tone. I let him go quickly and stepped back, but I saw that even though he talked to me with a serious tone, he had a little smile. He gestured for my seat, telling me to sit down. I followed his instructions and did as he wanted.

"After we finish our meal, we will start to prepare.”

"What should I do?" I asked, but this time, I didn’t hide my emotions.

"Pack your belongings. We'll head to our new home this afternoon and go shopping for your school uniform and other necessities. There won't be any training today."

I nodded to him even though I had no idea what 'shopping' or 'school' was.

“Now finish your breakfast,” he continued with a strict tone. I nodded and continued to eat my breakfast. My legs were shaking, and my hands were trembling. I wondered how the human world was. Were they violent or calm? What would their town look like? Were they like the house I was living in? Was it also full of trees like here? But according to what Alaric told me, this couldn’t be the case. From Alaric’s perspective, it should have been otherwise. But the books I secretly read told me that was also not right. The books that Alaric told me that I shouldn’t read when I was growing up showed me humans love each other. But there was always one wicked person in them, and, in the end, gets somehow what they deserved. There were also inns and monsters other than voidspawns, too, so I wasn’t sure how accurate the books were.

As these thoughts were crossing my mind, Alaric took away my plate, which I just finished. As he started to wash them, he spoke.

“After you finish your tea, I will show you how to prepare your luggage.”

“What is a luggage?” I asked as I started to drink the tea.

“You will see soon,” he looked at me from his shoulder, then frowned.

“Drink slowly!”

I nodded but drank it fast anyway. I gave him the cup, and he sighed.

“Go to your room and wait me there.”

“Okay!” I said excitedly and quickly went to my room. A few minutes later, Alaric came to my room with a giant rectangular prism with rounded edges.

“This is luggage,” he said as he put it in front of me. “It will help us carry most of our clothes.”

I nodded as he took my pajamas from my bed and gave me a look.

“I thought I told you to fold them.”

“Oh, come on!” I started. “Is it really the time?”

“If you can’t even be disciplined about this, you can’t survive in human society for too long. Discipline is the key to everything.”

As I murmured to myself, he folded my pajamas and put them in the luggage.

“You will do it like this. Fold your clothes and put them in the luggage. Do it carefully because I won’t iron them for you.”

“Okay,” I responded. After he left, I opened my cupboard and started to fold them carefully, as Alaric showed. Fifteen minutes later, I sat on my bed with a sigh.

It was way more boring than I thought.

I thought preparing luggage was way more exciting. I took a deep breath and looked outside.

This is the last time I will see this forest.

This sudden thought made my heart ache. I felt my sight start to get blurry as something warm and thick went down from my cheek.

Am I crying?

I quickly wiped away my tears and took a deep breath.

Pull yourself together!

A sudden loud noise distracted me from my thoughts. I quickly moved to my window since the voice came from outside to see what it was. A strange object was getting close to our home.

What is that?

I tried to understand it as hard as I could, but it didn’t look like something I knew.

“Alaric?” I called out but didn’t get any answer, and that thing was getting closer very fast.

“Alaric!” I called out again, this time louder. My heart was beating faster; my palm was getting sweatier. Then, the object stopped. The noise was also gone after a few seconds later.

“What,” I mumbled as something from the object moved away.

Is it seperating itself? Is it a voidspawn?

From that separation, Alaric showed up. I quickly left my room and ran to the front door.

“Bumble, are you ready?”

“What is that?” I answered Alaric’s question with another question. Alaric furrowed his brow, showing he didn’t understand the question.

“The thing on the outside, what is that?”

“Oh, it’s a car,” Alaric responded calmly.

“Car,” I repeated. “What is that?”

Alaric smiled softly at my question, then patted my head gently.

“You will see it soon. Now, did you finish preparing?”

“No, I didn’t finish my lug… my laga- my…” I struggled as I tried to remember the name of the prism he gave to me.

“You luggage?” Alaric said. I smiled with relief.

“Yes! My luggage.”

“Then finish preparing. We will leave soon,” Alaric said, this time in a more strict tone.

“Okay,” I quickly responded, then returned back to my room to prepare it. About an hour later, I was finished. After I folded my clothes, Alaric told me to put my personal belongings in the luggage as well. It took me some time to decide what I should put in my luggage or not, but in the end, I was able to finish it. I left my room with my luggage and brought it to the living room, where I saw Alaric, who was preparing sandwiches.

“Do you need help?” I asked.

“No need,” Alaric responded without looking at me. “Just sit.”

I nodded, sat at the table, and watched him prepare the sandwich. I had questions I wanted to ask, but we didn’t talk. He gracefully placed the plate in front of me, and we started to eat.

“What should I expect?” I asked, feeling nervous since the time to leave was now closer. Alaric thought for a minute.

“Don’t expect a happy crowd, but don’t also expect to see a wreck as well. That is all I can say.”

I nodded and took a bite from my sandwich.

“Will we return here again?” I asked this time.

“Maybe in the summer or if you fail to blend in.”

I only nodded and didn’t ask any other questions. After we finished, Alaric quickly took the plates and washed them. Then, carefully put them away.

"All right," Alaric said, holding both of our luggage. "Let's go."

It is time, I thought with a smile. I nodded to him and opened the main door. When we finally stepped outside, I was stunned by the thing I saw.

“I thought it would be gone?” I admitted while frowning.

“It would be bad if it were gone without us,” he replied as he walked toward its flat side.

“What are you doing?” I asked again, fearing for his safety.

“I am going to put these two pieces of luggage in the car’s trunk.”

“The car’s what?” I asked but was stunned by one of the pieces started to levitate.

“Wh-wh-what!” I pointed at it, confused.

“Can you relax, please.” He replied as he put the two pieces of luggage inside the car and held the levitating part.

“Are you sure this thing… the car is safe?” I asked. I didn’t want to get closer to this thing.

“It is safe,” Alaric smiled and walked towards the other side of the car. “Let’s get you in now.”

“I am going to enter this thing?” I yelled. Alaric frowned at my reaction.

“I am not going to say it again; calm down, or you will run around the whole neighborhood for three hours!”

I pressed my lips together and didn’t say anything while it opened. It’s one of the doors, which I assumed was a door.

“Get in,” he said. I sighed and sat on a black seat. He closed it hard, causing me to jump. After he entered as well, he said, “Seatbelts,” as he wore glasses.

“What is it?” I asked, wanting to know what the seatbelt was. He sighed deeply and pulled something over me, and then I heard a soft *click* noise.

“This thing is a seatbelt,” he said as he did the same thing for himself.

“It is something very important, so wear it every time you are in the car.”

I nodded then a sudden noise started to come out, making me panic.

“What is this, what is this sound?” I started to ask, not knowing where I should put my hands.

“Calm down, I just started to engine.”

“What is an engine?” I raised my voice for him to hear me better.

“It’s the thing that starts the car,” he responded, raising his tone as well.

“Why do we need it to be started?”

“Enough!” Alaric finished our conversation and started to take deep breaths.

“Maybe I should have taught you about technology, too,” he mumbled. Then the car suddenly started to move.

“Calm down,” he said before I could react. “I am controlling it. It is completely safe as long as you keep quiet, too, okay.”

I nodded and didn’t make the slightest noise to not distract him.

The speed of the car started to get faster and faster. As the car got faster, my stomach started to react to it as well.

It will go away soon. I comforted myself and tried to focus on the outside. The landscapes changed rapidly. About fifteen minutes later, dense forest gave way to open roads lined with various structures. Humans of all shapes, colors, and sizes started to appear. Their diverse appearances fascinated me, but my excitement was slowly replaced by a growing discomfort.

"Alaric," I gagged. "I don't feel so good."

He glanced over, concern evident on his face.

"Can you hold on a few minutes?" Alaric asked with a worried tone, noticing my distress. I shook my head.

"No."

The moment I said that the car stopped. I tried to push it, but it didn’t budge.

“Alaric-?”

Before I could say anything, the seatbelt went loose with a soft *click* voice again. Then Alaric opened the door for me. I got out of the car and started vomiting. Not long after, I felt Alaric's hand on my shoulder.

"There, there. It's okay. You'll feel better soon," he soothed.

I nodded to him, then continued to vomit.

As my nausea subsided, I realized that every journey, no matter how great, has its humble and sometimes turbulent beginnings.