“Really?” Alex asked, looking surprised. “You found one?”

His teacher nodded eagerly and smiled when she explained, “Yes! There is said to be a forest covered in a dense fog known as the Forest of Lone. Every text in every reference book I searched referred back to that forest as the origin of the Spirits of Life in our world.”

“I see,” said Alex slowly, putting on his thinking face as he contemplated what his teacher told him. “It must mean the Spirits of Life live there, or that a portal exists within the forest connecting their world and our world. It explains why the forest would be covered in a dense fog, which is to protect both the Spirits of Life and, possibly, the portal to their world.”

“Mmm!” Lucia said, looking mightily impressed. “Very astute, Alex.”

He shrugged his shoulders and smiled up at her while saying, “It was kind of obvious.”

She laughed and said, “Well, here’s a map of our world,” and she brandished a large scroll that she had been carrying under her arm all this time.

Kneeling down on the floor, she unravelled the to map that showed the entire world much to the amazement of Alex and Luna, who got off her seat and leaned in to see. It was coloured in pretty colours and seemed very meaningful with what the magic teacher explained about it while moving her finger at each indication.

“The country of Huizhou is home to the demi-humans known as the Warbeasts,” she explained, shifting her hand to place down where the name Huizhou is labeled on the map. Then she moved her finger a little left away from the label to point at a lighter green colour on the map by saying, “That’s the Forest of Lone.”

“Wow,” commented Luna, widening her eyes and looking amazed. Then she turned to Lucia and asked, “It’s quite a large space for an oddly highlighted colour. Is it because it’s used to indicate that it’s unexplored, miss?”

“That’s right, Luna,” said Lucia in agreement. “Although the Forest of Lone is not mentioned on the map, I’ve asked people around, and they said the Forest of Lone is definitely there. The map is pretty new after all.”

“Yes but that’s no excuse to not fill out such an important place’s location or even label it on the map,” said Alex, narrowing his eyebrows and looking annoyed.

His teacher chuckled lightly and stated, “Well, to be frank with you, Alex, no one wants people to go there because of how dangerous it is.” When the two kids looked up at her in confusion, she elaborated by saying, “They say that mysterious monsters roam through the forest, monsters that are far too dangerous for anyone to deal with, but they can’t life outside the forest and simply stay in. That’s why the Warbeasts made Huizhou their home to protect the forest and ward off any unweary travellers.”

“Yikes,” commented Alex, looking alarmed while Luna stared at her in disbelief. He looked doubtfully at the map and then asked his teacher, “Just how dangerous are the monsters, miss?”

“Well,” she began and smiled sardonically as she leaned back to look at him, “those who ventured into the forest never made it back. Does that answer your question?

“It could just mean that they were lost, got caught up in another world, and probably died due to starvation,” replied Alex, looking stubbornly at his teacher, dismissing the very thought that dangerous monsters could exist in an unknown forest filled with fog.

Lucia looked sardonically at her student and asked, “Look who’s being stubborn now?”

“But, miss, an explanation should make sense, not leave you burning with more questions!” He replied, looking annoyed by his teacher’s comment. “Besides, if such dangerous monsters did exist, why is that the only place on the map that’s filled with such mystery?”

“Fine. Fine,” she said, repeating the word twice while looking exasperated. “You made your point, but it’s not an easy to do travel, Alex,” and she moved her finger to land it on the label, Fjell, which was the capital of their country, Sofjoria.

He shifted his gaze at the place her finger was on, and then he traced an imaginary line from it to the oddly highlighted colour on the map near Huizhou. It made him realise that he would have to travel through Cheosan and Altashaland to reach the border of Huizhou where the forest is.

“We’d need to diagonally cut through Cheosan and Altashaland to reach the border of Huizhou,” he said, drawing an imaginary line with his finger from where her finger was to the border of Huizhou as the only path that he could think of.

“Huh?” Lucia asked, looking puzzled by the imaginary line he drew and lifted her head to stare at him in confusion. “You’re going to diagonally cut through the countries?”

“Yes,” he replied, sounding as though that was the obvious thing to do.

She stared at him for a full ten seconds in disbelief before sighing and shaking her head before asking, “Go do that if you want to end up on the wanted list for crossing country borders without permission.”

“What?” Alex asked, blinking in surprise. “I need a permit… even though we all live in the same world and… the same land?”

She smiled sadly and said, “Country leaders won’t view things like you, Alex. If they would, they couldn’t make profit out of it, and they couldn’t make themselves look good in front of others. Call it stupid but that’s how things are.”

He looked disappointed when he heard that, making him ask in a dejected voice, “How do I get a permit?”

“Simply by travelling on the charted roads and paying a fee during the entry and exit of a country’s border,” she replied with a smile, making him look up in surprise.

“Really? It’s that simple?” He asked, looking amazed. “Like, no documentation of your identity required?”

“That would be required if we’re on official business to meet someone important, like a king, or a duke, or someone of higher authority,” she explained while he and Luna listened intently, “but since we’re just normal travellers going from one place to another for a visit, no one expects for us to have such documents on us.”

“Alright!” Alex said, smiling in happiness. “Without that hassle, we can travel without a problem!”

“Yes, but the fee of entering and leaving a border is quite high,” she said, looking dubiously at the map.

“Just how much would it be, miss?”

“No idea,” she replied with a shrug of her shoulders. “This would be my first time to leave the boundaries of Fjell, so I’d have to do some research on it and possibly arrange a carriage for us to travel in.”

“Oh,” said Alex, looking disappointed a he admitted, “I suppose flying is too difficult when you have to cross two countries.”

“Yes, but we wouldn’t need to cross Althashland,” said his teacher, pointing to the dotted line connecting Fjell and the other countries. “We just need to travel along this road to reach Yeong, capital of Cheosan, and then go from there to reach Tartondal, the capital of Meria. From there, we have the option to either take a shortcut to reach the nearest village, Nenpixg which is closest to the Forest of Lone, or head straight for Huizhou’s capital, Taoqing and decide from there.”

Her student stared at the man in amazement and commented, “That’s great and all, but… those names… They sure are, um, unique names the inhabitants came up with to name their countries.”

“It’s their culture, and we must respect it if we want them to respect us,” said his teacher with a small smile, “but I will admit they are a bit difficult to pronounce if we’re not accustomed to it. I also hear a change in a single letter could change the meaning of the word, so we have to be really careful.”

“You mean they don’t know our language?” Alex asked, looking stunned.

“Oh, they know it alright,” his teacher said to reassure him, “but those in the villages aren’t properly educated and mostly speak in their own language, so we probably need to hire a translator.”

Alex sighed wearily, but his childhood friend smiled and said, “That’s a good idea, miss. At least, that way we won’t end up offending them by accident.” Feeling very excited, he turned to his mother, “Can I go on this trip, mom? I’d be able to make a contract with a Spirit of Life and become even better at using magic!”

Sarah smiled at see her son’s eagerness and excitement, but the smile faded a little when she asked, “Does this mean you’ll be gone for a few months?”

“Yes,” replied Lucia with a nod of her head.

Sarah was looking worried as she turned to her son and asked, “Al, is it worth it?” His son looked at her in surprise, and she elaborated by saying, “I mean, I’m not against you travelling around the world and exploring uncharted territories, but… I’m just wondering if it’s worth it, especially when that forest seems like a dangerous place to go to.”

She was worried about the safety of her son, and she also felt worry at the thought of not being able to see him for a few months. Alex also knew this fact, and he knew that no matter how much they assured her, she would continue to worry about him after they left on their journey.

“You could come with us if you want, mom,” he suggested hopefully, but she shook her head.

“If I leave, that’ll leave your father home alone, and he can’t just up and quit his job when his income is the only thing we have for money,” explained his mother, who was looking sadly at him. “That’s why I can’t leave with you, and… I don’t like to say this but… currently we can’t afford the cost of you travelling to places, Al.”

That fact alarmed her son and instantly dampened his spirits, causing his shoulders to slump and look very disappointed. She hated to do anything to upset her son, but it was also her duty as the manager of their family’s finances to critically assess the expenses and make decisions based on that. Despite this, she still wanted him to somehow go and get his Spirit of Life because, even though it is dangerous, she wanted to see him succeed.

A heavy silence fell within the room as they seemed to have hit an immovable rock. Sarah, Alex, and Luna were looking very sad by the problem at hand while Lucia was pondering for any alternative that she could do.

“Maybe I could borrow money from my friends and pay them back at a later date?” She thought briefly. Then she shook her head and dismissed it by thinking, “No. They won’t lend it to me because they know of my current position and wouldn’t want to get involved in case any trouble comes their way.”

Just then, they heard a loud knock at the front door of the house and a voice shout, “Post!”

“Luna, could you go and get it for me?” Sarah asked the kid.

“Yes, mother,” replied Luna, feeling grateful for the distraction as she rose to her feet and headed over to the entrance.

After she opened the door and received the letter from the delivery man, she closed the door shut and slowly walked back into the living room while reading the label on the letter.

“Who is it from, Luna?” Sarah asked as soon as she saw the young girl walk in with a letter in her hand.

Luna lifted her head and said, “It’s addressed to Miss Lucia.”

Upon hearing that, Lucia furrowed her eyebrows in concern and asked, “For me? How? How does anyone know where I live currently?”

“I don’t know, miss, but it’s addressed to our home… with your name on it,” replied Luna, looking apologetically at her as she stated what was on the front of the letter.

“Who could it be from?” The magic teacher pondered for a moment, thinking hard. Then a realisation dawned on her, and her eyes widened when she looked back at the young girl and asked, “Luna, turn the letter over and see what’s written on the back. It should say who the sender was.”

Doing as she was told, Luna turned the letter over to the back and was amazed to find whom the letter came from. She took a moment to recover from the surprise she felt and looked at the older girl in amazement.

“It’s from your father, Matthew.”