When I finally stopped vomiting, Alaric helped me to sit.

"Okay, now take deep breaths," he said while gently wiping my mouth with a napkin. I nodded and did as he instructed.

"I don't understand," I complained, tears brimming in my eyes.

"I know I am not sick! I was fine until a few minutes ago. But as time passed, my stomach became all weird!” I said as I fiercely pointed at the car in front of us.

“Don’t point,” Alaric said and held my hand, pushing it down. Then continued to speak.

"You're car sick. It's quite normal," Alaric explained. I looked at him, confused.

"Car sick?" I sniffed. Alaric nodded.

Carsick, I thought. I looked at the car in front of me and suddenly realized. I looked at Alaric in shock.

“Why- why did you want me to get sick?” I asked this time, angered and felt betrayed by this sudden realization. Alaric didn’t say anything for a second, as if he was trying to understand my words. Then he laughed, causing many people to look in our direction, and they were as surprised as I was.

“No, Bumble. Car sickness is not a sickness like cold or something like that,” he responded, then took deep breaths to calm himself.

“Some people can experience nausea from the motion of a vehicle. The vibrations can upset the stomach,” he clarified.

“But you told me it’s called a car, not a ‘vehicle’! What is a vehicle anyway?” I protested. Alaric gave me a troubled smile as he got up.

“I think we need some time until you can enter the school,” he sighed, then helped me to get up. I didn’t understand what he meant.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have any motion sickness medicine with me right now," Alaric said as he guided me to the car.

“Motion sickness medicine? But you told me I have car sickness?” I asked as I entered the car again. Alaric looked at me with confusion, then sighed.

“Looks like it can’t wait,” Alaric mumbled as he started the car. I didn’t understand what he meant.

"Do we have to use this thing?" I asked as I held on to its seat.

"I enjoyed the car the first few minutes, but now I hate it."

"I could let you walk the next ten kilometers, but I can't let you walk on your own right now because you don't know anything yet. I also can't leave the car here because it's impractical. Now, fasten your seatbelt," he instructed.

I sighed and secured my seatbelt. When the car started to move, I felt my body tense again.

"Try to look around and tell me what you see," Alaric suggested softly as the car’s window next to us went down.

“Alaric, the windows, the windows went down!” I panicked.

“Calm down, I did it-”

“How did you do that?” I interrupted him.

“Bumble, sweetie, I need you to be calm right now,” Alaric said, seeming like he was struggling to be calm. I nodded and didn’t ask further, even though I still felt anxious.

I turned my attention to the world passing by outside. Everything here looked way more different than the forest. The verdant landscape was giving way to increasing numbers of buildings and fewer trees. There were no signs of flowers, grass, or even leaves. This sight made my heart ache. I sighed and turned my attention to the buildings. The houses here weren't made of wood like ours but were variously painted in smooth, uniform colors. The humans were different, too, and weird. I saw almost all of their mouths moving, but it wasn’t like they were eating. It was as if they were talking, but there was no one around them.

Are they talking to themselves? I thought. I talked to myself, too, from time to time, but so many of them were doing that at the same time; some were laughing, and some were serious. Their clothes seemed impractical too, without armor or tools, and their shoes—how could anyone walk in those comfortably?

"How are they even survived?" I mumbled, then gagged again. My stomach was getting worse again. Alaric stopped the car, where four grey paths merged, and opened something in front of me, giving me a plastic bag.

"Use that bag," Alaric said calmly. I nodded to him and quickly opened the bag, leaned on it, and started vomiting again.

“There you go,” he patted my head and started to drive again. A few minutes later, the car finally stopped.

"Let's wait here until you feel better," Alaric suggested. I nodded and took deep breaths.

“This is horrible,” I said as tears flowed through my cheeks. “My stomach…”

“You will get used to it soon,” Alaric interrupted me, then shrugged. “Hopefully.”

“Hopefully!” I protested. “I am going to be ‘car sick’ till the rest of my life?”

Alaric shrugged again.

“One of my friends was just like you when he was young. As the time passed, he became better.”

I felt relieved after hearing Alaric say this.

“But I also had another friend who never get rid of her nausea whenever she was in a vehi- car.”

“Good to know,” I mumbled as I crossed my arms and closed my eyes as I continued to take deep breaths. A few minutes passed like this, and finally, my stomach started to get better.

"Can I ask you a question, Alaric?"

"Sure," Alaric nodded. “What do you want to know?”

"Why aren't they wearing any protection? I mean, I imagined something different. Humanity was supposed to be in battle with voidspawns, and with the personality you described, weren’t they supposed to wear at least a weapon? Aren't they afraid that the voidspawns can enter the safe area someday?" I asked with genuine curiosity. Alaric, with this question, finally smiled.

"Good question, Bumble; why indeed? Well, their approach to danger is different from ours; they've adapted through the use of technology—something we'll explore in more detail soon. For now, try to relax and observe. There's much to learn."

Technology—I remembered Alaric had mentioned that term before. "Technology is when we use our knowledge to create tools and systems that make our lives easier and safer. Imagine using what you know about the forest to build something that helps you gather food faster or stay warm during the night. It's the same idea, but applied to many different aspects of life," he once elaborated.

"So, they have some kind of technological thing on their outfits?" I asked. Alaric thought for a minute.

"Possibly," Alaric replied. "I'm as foreign to this world as you are. We'll discover it together. But first, are you ready to try shopping?"

"You know," I said. "You used the word 'shopping' a lot, but what is it?"

"Shopping is when you go to places called stores or markets to pick and buy things you need or want, like food, clothes, or tools. It's how people here acquire items made or provided by others. You exchange money for these goods, allowing you to bring them home and use them as you need." Alaric explained.

"Oh," I responded, intrigued. "And what are stores, markets, money, and all the things you said just now?"

He smiled at me. "Well, let's go find out right now." He said and opened the door. Seeing him this happy made me happy, too, especially when I thought about how he had tried to stay calm in the car.

He was never this happy in the forest.

This thought made me wonder, was he that happy to return to human society? But he mostly talked badly about humans. Maybe there was something more to it.

"Come on, let's go," Alaric called out. I decided to stop thinking about it and get out of the car. The moment my feet touched the ground, I felt my heartbeat getting faster. I took a deep breath to calm myself as we started to walk between multiple cars, moving toward one of the biggest and widest buildings I had ever seen.

“Whose house are we going?” I asked.

“It is not a house, but a mall. It is one of the places where humans shop.”

“And what the ‘shop’ means?” I finally asked.

“To shop means to go somewhere to buy things you need or want—like clothes, food, or other items. It’s how humans get the things they use every day.”

As I nodded, he looked at me and smiled.

"Someone seems happy," Alaric said, delighted.

"Was it that obvi-?" My sentence was interrupted because I tripped on something, almost causing me to fall.

“Careful,” Alaric said while catching me by my arm.

“Yeah, thank you,” I said quickly and got up.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“All right,” Alaric took a deep breath and held my hand. “Let’s go. No matter what, don't leave my side," he told me in a serious tone. I nodded to him, and together, we entered the building.

"Wow," I exclaimed as we entered, mesmerized by the hustle and bustle within the brightly lit space. Many people were walking around this grey, pale area, entering colorful little rooms. Some leave empty-handed, some with strange bags. Most of them seem to be happy even though they still talk to themselves.

"What are these?" I asked.

"They are shops, Bumble. Each one specializes in different products—some sell food, others clothes, or various accessories. You'll see them all in time, but we have a few tasks to handle first," he explained as he led the way.

“Sell?” I asked. “What is that mean?”

“It means that they are exchanging their products with money. Before you ask, money is what humans use to buy things—they give money to someone, and in return, they get what they want. It’s a way to represent value without having to trade one item directly for another.”

“Why this was necessary?” I asked. Alaric looked at me as if he didn’t understand my question.

“They are trading, right? I read that in a book but never understood why.”

“You read it in a book? Which one?” Alaric asked. I pressed my lips together. I read a book called ‘The Lady of the Crowns’, a book about many races and an evil crown that everyone wants to yield. I knew that Alaric wouldn’t like me reading these kinds of books. He wanted to read me books about voidspawn anatomy, survival, and many more stuff. The books that would make me sleepy if I read too long. Among them, The Lady of the Crowns seemed like a hidden gem, which I found by pure luck, and hid it in fear that Alaric might throw it away.

“Bumble?” Alaric called out. I knew I had to answer, but I didn’t want to tell the truth.

“I don’t remember,” I mumbled as I averted my gaze. Alaric frowned at my answer.

“Why are you lying?” He asked.

“I am not lying.”

Alaric sighed at my answer.

“I am not going to get angry. Just tell me the book’s name.”

I looked at him, trying to understand if he was telling the truth or not. He seemed like he was meaning his words.

“The Lady of the Crowns,” I answered. Alaric let out a deep breath as if he was relieved by my answer. He was smiling, but when he looked at me, he quickly wiped it away, cleared his throat, and continued walking, pulling me along.

“Reading books is a good thing, Bumble, but you shouldn’t read novels. They are unnecessary.”

I assume that books like ‘The Lady of the Crowns’ are called novels and not the ones that Alaric wanted me to read.

“But I learn ‘trading’!” I opposed.

“Learning words is acceptable. The problem is that it will fill your mind with unnecessary and unrealistic thoughts.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Like elves, griffins, tro-”

“They are not real?” I asked, surprised. Alaric smiled.

“The only real thing in that book is humans, and maybe dwarfs, but they are described a bit more differently from the real world.”

I sulked at this sudden news.

“I thought races like elves were a real human race.”

“No, they were not.”

We didn’t continue to talk as we walked. With boredom, I started to look around. I looked at the people around us and the shops. Like Alaric said, they were trading, no, selling items, but each store was selling a different one. Some of the shops were selling clothes, some were food, and some sold… what were they selling?

“Alaric, what they are selling?”

Alaric looked at the shop to see what I was asking.

“Jewelry,” he responded quickly.

“They are eye-catching,” I said, mesmerized by their beauty.

“They are not useful in the battle.”

“But you always wear one of them,” I responded to Alaric, showing the chain around him, which was connected to something oval.

“It is something very important to me,” Alaric holds on to it. “It is not the same as the ones that are behind the glass. It is useless in the battle, but it is something that means a lot to me.”

“So, I can’t get one too?” I asked.

“No, you don’t need one.”

“But you have one. Why can’t I also have it!” I asked, angered by this unfairness.

“As I said before, it is not useful to you.”

“But-“

“No means no!” Alaric finished, raising his voice a bit. Feeling furious, I took my gaze away from him and continued to walk in silence. In the end, we stopped in a white shop that had strange items.

I understand the glasses, kind of, but what are the others? I thought. We entered without saying anything. Alaric went toward a person who was standing behind a counter. When she saw us, a bright smile appeared on her face.

“Hello sir, how can I help you?” She asked with a curious tone.

“We would like to buy Glasse5 and headphone v4.”

“Right away, sir!” She responded and walked away. I looked at Alaric with confusion, not understanding what he asked. I was still angry at Alaric, and didn’t want to talk to him, but my curiosity got the better of me.

“What are they?”

“We will talk about this when we get home. For now, stay still and don’t talk.”

The cheerful girl brought the items Alaric requested.

“Here are the items you asked for, sir. It will be 1500.”

Alaric nodded and put his hand on the counter. Suddenly, some lines appeared around his hand then a text showed up.

“PAYMENT COMPLETED”

“Wha-?” I whispered, confused about what was going on around us. The girl smiled and put them in a bag.

“Thank you for shopping with us. Have a nice day, sir!” The cheerful girl said. Alaric nodded, quickly grabbed the bag, then turned and walked away. I followed him with curiosity.

🐝🐝🐝

When the car stopped again, I opened the door quickly and pushed myself out.

"Oh, finally, grass!" I exclaimed, almost breathless, as I stepped onto the soft, familiar ground. "It feels so good to be out of that car!"

"Get up, Bumble," Alaric said, calmly yet strict. "We have things to talk."

I sighed, got up, and looked at our new home. The outside of the house was grey and pale. Looking at it made me feel disturbed. It felt lifeless. As I walked the house I looked around us. Everywhere seemed to be the same. The grass’s height and the feeling that the houses gave, even their shapes, were different.

The houses near the shop were different. I thought to myself. They were bigger.

“It feels odd,” I mumbled after I entered the house. Its interior was vastly different from our home in the forest, with its smooth, soft textures and a design that was new to me. On my right was the living room, and on the left was something peculiar—a series of leveled platforms that ascended to the upper floor. Unlike those moving contraptions I saw at the shopping center, these were still and silent, beckoning me to climb. The kitchen was just behind the living room. The house also held many objects I had never seen before. For instance, the living room had a strange, big, rectangular thing. I could see my reflection in it like a mirror, but it was blurry and dark.

"Let's sit down and talk," Alaric suggested, his voice breaking through the silence suddenly, which startled me slightly. He moved towards the sofa with a thoughtful demeanor, gesturing for me to follow. I hesitated for a moment, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings, then joined him, carefully taking a seat beside him.

“Let’s start with these first,” he said as he took out the objects he bought today.

“They were used constantly in here. Wear the glasses most of the time and headphones if you see that you are called via glasses.”

“But my eyes are fine?” I said, but what I said felt more like a question.

“It is not for your eyesight. For example, I drive the car with glasses, but you know my eyesight is good.”

“Now that you mention it,” I mumbled. Alaric continued.

“We need to configure the glasses first,” Alaric said as he opened the package. I watched his movements. He took out the glasses that were looking thinner than his and put them on me.

“You will see and hear things from it; don’t be scared.”

I nodded as he pressed something on the glasses. Then I heard a soft voice. It was not like a human or animal voice. I couldn’t understand stand it.

“It’s a piano voice with some sound effects,” Alaric explained. Then, some texts showed up in front of me.

“Welcome. I am MAI, with capital letters?” I looked around to get rid of the blurry thing behind the text, but it followed my every movement.

“Calm down,”

Hearing Alaric’s voice made me feel relaxed. I nodded and continued to read. “I am your personal assistant. Which kind of voice do you prefer?” I speak out loud. And looked at below. There were multiple choices below.

“What should I choose?”

“Just choose the one that writes ‘default’. You can change it later.”

I nodded and pressed it. Suddenly, the text in front of me starts to spin around and create a white globe. Then, a female voice started to speak.

“Hello! My name is MAI, short for My Artificial Intelligence. It is very nice to meet you. May I know your name?”

As she spoke, the white orb moved too. I was so confused that I looked at Alaric for help.

“It is fine,” Alaric assured. “Tell your name.”

“Well,” I nodded. “My name is Bumble.”

The white orb turned into a circle that looked unfinished and rotated around itself. Then, it turned into a globe again.

“It is very nice to meet you, Bumble. What a unique name! Let me know you better to give you a better experience. You can answer me vocally. Are you ready?”

I looked at Alaric, not knowing what to say. He nodded to me, so I continued.

“Yes.”

As I answered, Alaric got up and left me alone in the room, which made me nervous again.

“Great! Let’s start with an easy question. How old are you?”

“I am 14 years old,” I responded. The white orb moved around itself again, then asked its next question.

“From your voice, I assume that you are a female. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“All right! When you’re learning something new, do you enjoy figuring it out on your own, or do you prefer having someone guide you step by step?”

I froze at this question. I didn’t know the answer. I never thought about it.

“Umm…” I said, not knowing what to say.

“Is the question difficult?”

“No!” I replied quickly. “It’s just something I never thought about. Alaric always told me that figuring out on my own would be more useful. But if it is a voidspawn kind that I don’t know, in that case, a guide who knows it would be more logical to have,” I responded excitedly. Mai asked its other question.

“Do you feel more comfortable when things are planned and organized, or do you enjoy going with the flow?”

“I always go with the plan. My days, what are we going to do that day, what I will learn was always planned, so I guess going with the plan is more enjoyable.”

“Are you interested in discovering new places and ideas, or do you prefer familiar surroundings?”

I paused with Mai’s question.

“I don’t know. It was my first time going somewhere new.”

“When you communicate, do you prefer talking out loud or writing things down?”

“I don’t know that either.”

Mai paused for a while as if it tried to understand something. Then continued with its next question.

“Do you enjoy stories and legends, or are you more interested in practical skills and information?”

“My life is mostly about practical skills and information, but I loved The Lady of the Crowns.”

“How do you feel about using new tools or devices you’ve never seen before?”

“Well, you are my first. It is exciting and interesting and terrifying.”

“When solving a problem, do you rely more on your instincts, or do you think things through carefully?”

“I usually rely on my training and think things through.”

“Do you prefer spending time alone, or do you enjoy the company of others?”

With all these questions, I started to feel bored.

“How many questions do you have left?” I complained. Mai stopped for a while again, then responded.

“Only two questions left. These questions are important to me, so please bear with me.”

I sighed, then nodded.

“I am repeating my question again now. Do you prefer spending time alone, or do you enjoy the company of others?”

“I’m used to being with Alaric, but I’m not sure about being around many others since it never happened before.”

“Are you more active during the day or at night?”

“What do you mean by active?” I asked, not understanding the question.

“Being active means doing any kind of activity that gets your body moving.”

“Oh,” I said. “In that case, I think I am. Well, I trained day and night with Alaric about fighting voidspawns. We used multiple holograms for my training. He also taught me how to fight against humans, so yeah.” I said as I shrugged.

“All right! Last question: What motivates you more? Achieving personal goals or helping those you care about?”

“Neither, my motivation is survival. Well, at least that is what Alaric told me that it should be,” I replied.

With my last response, Mai became a circle and started to move around itself. Not soon after, Alaric re-entered the room with sandwiches in his hand.

“Is it finished?” He asked. I shrugged.

“I guess. It is now rotating around itself.”

“Okay, it will take some time till it finishes. Can you take off your glasses now, please?”

I nodded to Alaric and took them off as he sat next to me.

“Bumble, after a week later, you will start to go to school. A school is, before you ask, where you will gain knowledge with people your age. It is similar to what we did in the forest but with multiple people.”

My heart started to beat with excitement.

People at my age, I thought. How will they be? Will they be like what Alaric said or like in the book?

“In the meantime, I will teach you about some common sense, new words, and technology. Everything you need to know till you are ready to go to school.”

“How will it be?” I asked excitedly. Alaric smiled at my question.

“Not as exciting as you think.“ He said, then patted my head as he sighed.

“You may wake up late tomorrow. Do you have any questions?”

“Well,” I said, then gave him a big smile.

“A lot.”