"Many years ago, there was no civilization near these mountains, only the animals and beasts lived in here." Old Tom looked inside a cup while cleaning it, as if the memories of the past would appear on its reflection. "An adventure group received a mission to slay a rare magical beast that lived on the foot of the mountain to retrieve a special material in it."

"They came and began to search the place for clues, to kill the beast, and in the process, they found this." Old Tom reached beneath the balcony and grabbed a rounded piece of mineral. "This is Lachne, a rare mineral that can enhance fire magic. They found a source of lachne in the foot of the mountain. With the information in hand, the adventurers struck a deal with the government and won a share of the money that came from here. After that, expeditions began to come one after the other to build the town and make sure that the extraction occurred perfectly."

"And what all of this has to do with the lost garden?" I asked him.

"Wait and you will have your answers." Old Tom snorted. "In the process of establishing the town, they explored the surrounds and part of the mountains to make sure that there was no immediate danger to the place. In one of these explorations, they discovered that amidst the mountains, there is a huge valley. The valley is surrounded by some magical mist, it only allows the people that are outside to see a little bit of it. But from what could be observed, there are a lot of different plants there. However, once someone went inside the place, they didn't come back out."

"This is how the name of the place appeared, Lost garden. A garden where many people are lost inside." Old Tom looked into my eyes and continued to speak

"There is only one person that has ever come out from that place. However, she came out from there, and nobody knows where she came from. Many years ago, she visited the town, but after an incident, she never came out from the lost garden." Old tom sighed and completed. "She is known as Fìor around these parts, the winged beauty from the lost garden."

"The place is perilous. You may find her inside, or may not. But there is a huge chance that you'll never came back out."

This history shook me. A winged human? There was no such race. The only intelligent beings that had wings were the Adhar, but they were too different from humans by what the histories tell. The only part that worried me was that nobody ever came out of the lost garden except for Fìor.

"Where is the lost garden?" I asked. Even tough old Tom tried to warn me about the dangers of the place, I had already made a decision.

"Well young man, I wish you luck, because you'll need it." After saying this, he went inside a door, and returned after a few moments with a piece of paper in his hands. "This is the copy of a map that shows the way to the lost garden. If you follow this, you will find the place."

After giving me the map, he turned around and began to serve other clients.

I asked one of the maids and got room to rest for the night. I paid for everything and slept like a baby.

***

I woke up early and organized the things in my bag. Although I sold most of the boar meat that I had, there was still some left. I got out of the building and gave the key to the room back to the maid.

The first thing I did after leaving the building was to go to the market to buy some seasonings. I had eaten meat and fruits for the last few weeks, and I wanted to at least get some different flavors on my food from now on.

After buying the seasonings, I went to a square and opened the map. The map was not the prettiest one in the world. The paper was crumbling on the sides, and it was stinking as well, but it fulfilled its purpose.

I could see clear markings on the map that indicated the town, the mountains, and a place in the middle of the mountains circled. Looking at it, I saw that there was a route that could be followed to reach the place. Although I would have to take a detour, at least I knew for sure a way to reach there.

With everything ready, I left the town and followed the map directions.

***

The sun was in the middle of the sky. It looked like the heavens were burning and making fire rain. There was no cloud in sight, and the rocks made it seem like I was in a huge pot.

The heat was so intense that I could no see any animal or bird in the surrounds. It was as if the temperature was sent to stop people from trying to scale the mountain.

Even with shoes on, I felt as if the sole of my feet were burning. Despite the difficulties, I continued to scale the mountain. I was sweating in bucks by now, and the water that I bought had already ended.

After walking with only my destination in sight, I finally could see my target at a distance.

Seeing a valley covered in fog, I renewed my strengths and fastened my pace.

After walking for thirty more minutes, I could see the mist before me, and the trees in its midst.

There was a refreshing wind blowing from there. Although I could feel it, the mist didn't move. It was as if it was there only to get in the way of my vision. I took a deep breath and shouted, "FÌOOOR!"

I waited for some time and saw that there was no response. I called some more, but it didn't work. It seemed that I had to enter the valley.

I grabbed a branch that was lying in the surrounds of the mist and began to walk while marking the ground. I instantly felt my mind grow hazy and felt the world around me spinning. I tried to focus, but there was a pressure in my head that impeded me from doing it.

I insisted on continuing on the path and kept walking ahead while marking the ground with the stick.

I staggered forward and almost fell sometimes. I insisted on continuing and didn't stop.

"FÌOOOOOOR"

From time to time, I called her, in hopes that she would appear. There was nothing in the forest, no animals and no insects. The silence was so deafening that my mind was beginning to lose its bearings.

I looked back to see the markings that I was leaving on the ground. But I didn't find anything. There was no mark, nor there was a stick in my hand anymore. It seemed that I had dropped it some time ago.

I tried walking back, but I couldn't find my way. With the pressure in my head, I couldn't even find out where I was nor distinguish north from south.

I tried some more, but in the end, I couldn't find my way back. It seemed like all hope was lost, my mind was hazy, I didn't know where I was, and over time, I was beginning to have a splitting headache.

After panicking a bit, instead of insisting on finding a way out, I sat down and began to feel my surrounds instead of only walking in circles.

I sat down and closed my eyes, the mana in my surrounds were very dense, and it was permeating every inch and corner of my surrounds. The plants were emanating a robust vitality, and the ground was so fertile, that I could feel the power in it.

I got up and tried to find my way around the forest while sensing the mana.

"AHHHHH."

I screamed in pain. The headache had gotten worse, and concentrating on it was impossible.

Seeing that there was no other solution, I sat down again and tried to feel what was happening to me.

Where was this pain coming from? I sensed my body and saw that there was nothing wrong with it. The mana in the air was pure and was not tainting my body with anything.

The only explanation that I had was that my soul was suffering from constant pressure.

According to the law of magic, the soul was how magic is used. But it was strange to feel this way, the only known way to affect the soul was another soul attacking it.

By what I could feel from my surrounds, there was no other person in here.

The only solution I had was to acclimate to the pressure affecting me and temper my soul.

Although it was possible to temper the soul by resisting pressure to it, the process took some time in general, and when it was finally over, I would probably have starved to death.

I opened my eyes and looked around… My vision was blurry, and I couldn't possibly get out of here by relying on my sight.

Gathering all my courage, I sat down and began to resist the pressure….

The first day exhausted me… The more I resisted, the more painful it became…. I knew that I was expending a lot of energy in resisting the pressure, but it was the only way that I could get out of here alive.

The second day was even worse… I couldn't sleep to rest, and the pressure was hammering my mind. There was no way that I could resist much longer…. Even the thought of taking my own life came to me.

The third day…. My mind was beginning to fall apart. There was no energy left in me. I was laying on the ground like a dead body. The only thing that was keeping me alive was my will to live.

***

I…. I don't know how long it has been... I was resisting the pressure… I was not even sure I was alive anymore… I couldn't feel my legs nor my body. There was no response coming from it.

***

How long could I still go on? Is there a meaning to this? My brother is blessed with everything that I was not. I have nothing… I am nothing… but even so, I WANT TO LIVE!!

I don't want to give up here… not while there was a chance to live…

After some more time, instead of the crushing pressure, I felt a refreshing feeling, as if my body was into a pool of cold water. I could faintly feel my body, although it was feeble, it meant that I was still alive.

The pressure began to get weaker and weaker. I could my soul getting stronger over time. Although my soul was now stronger, did I have the strength to leave this place?

I could feel the world around me much brighter than before. The feeling was different from only feeling the mana… There was something else in there that I couldn't put my finger on. It was as if the world itself was opening to me.

***

The pressure had disappeared by now. I tried my utmost to get up. My body was not responding to me; the most I could do was open my eyes and look at the sky.

Although the fog was still there, I could faintly see the sky now. That endless blue sea surrounded the world. How beautiful it was to see it for the last time….

My eyes began to close slowly, and I could see a blurry figure descending from the sky…

The creature looked holy and perfect in my impaired vision. My surroundings were becoming darker and darker until there was nothing left.

***

My body felt lighter. There was a calmness surrounding me, soothing me. I felt a safety that I had never felt before.

I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. The first thing that I saw was a wooden ceiling. Looking to the side, I saw that I was laid in a bed, and was covered by some liquid that was nourishing me, giving my strength back.

Sitting beside my bed on a wooden chair, was a woman. She was wearing a plain green robe. She had glowing yellow eyes and dark hair. Behind her back was a white wing, so pure that it looked made from the whitest of the snows. She was so beautiful that princesses would be ashamed near her.

she looked into my eyes and said. "You are lucky to be alive. If you hadn't reached soul enlightenment, you'd die."

Her voice was soothing and majestical. Only hearing it gave me comfort and a feeling of being safe….

I quickly shook my head and straightened my thoughts. I had only met this woman. I couldn't possibly trust her this much, there is something wrong!

"What is happening to me? What are you doing to me?" I asked with a weak voice.

A sudden realization appeared in the woman's face. "Ah, it should be my soul charm that is leaking." After saying this, the feeling of trust disappeared. Even though she was not affecting me anymore, I knew that she meant no harm, after all, if she wanted me dead, she would have left me in the woods.

"Thank you for saving me," I said with sincere gratitude in my voice.

"There is no need to thank me; after all, you deserved salvation." She said as if this was a matter of fact.

"What? Why?" My mind was blank for a moment. Why would I deserve to be saved?

"You reached soul enlightenment, and you have a token of friendship with the Dionach's. If it were not for these, I would have left you to die." She said.

"Well, even so, I must thank you. After all, I am still alive because of your actions, deserving it or not." I felt relieved now. I finally found the person I was looking for.

"As you wish, then." She got up to leave the room.

"Wait."

"What is it?" She said with a cold tone.

I used all my strength to get up from the bed. My knees were trembling, and my muscles were sending pain signals all over my body. Even with all this pain, I got up and bowed to her.

"Please, accept me as your disciple."

The woman was stunned by seeing me doing this. I had a near-death experience and was still recovering. She knew how much Ullach was impaired to get up from his bed and do this.

She couldn't answer for a few seconds. But after pondering for a bit, she said.

"Let's see if you have the talent or not first. After that, we can talk about you learning anything."

"Than.." just as I was going to thank her, she interrupted me and said.

"Before we talk about anything, lay down and rest first." She said, and left the room.