When I slowly opened my eyes the next morning, the interior of the spacious magic carriage was still bathed in the soft, warm glow of the floating ceiling lamps. The rhythmic, gentle swaying of the wooden floorboards beneath my sleeping mat told me that we were already on the move. However, the very first sound that reached my ears wasn't the clopping of the massive horse hooves or the rustling of the wind outside the glass windows. It was the sharp, repetitive clack, clack of wooden game pieces hitting a solid board.
I pushed myself up onto my elbows, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, and looked toward the center of the cabin. To my absolute disbelief, Ma'am Cherha and Sir Vael were still sitting at the wooden table. They were in the exact same positions they had been in when I fell asleep hours ago, staring intensely at the chessboard.
I thought for a minute, my groggy brain trying to process the situation. If Sir Vael was sitting here, and Ma'am Cherha was sitting across from him, neither of them was at the front of the carriage. I looked toward the small sliding window that led to the driver's seat. It was completely empty.
I looked back at the two teachers and asked, "Who's driving the carriage....."
Ma'am Cherha didn't even lift her eyes from the board as she reached out to move a knight. She simply said that she can control the horse, so don't worry. I just nodded slowly, amazed by the sheer multitasking ability of a high-level traveler. She was completely dominating a complex game of strategy while simultaneously using her magic to perfectly guide four massive beasts along a dirt road outside.
However, the endless war of minds couldn't last forever. After ten minutes of watching them slide pieces back and forth in total silence, both of them finally let out a long sigh and gave up. They had both been stalemating for hours now, and there simply wasn't a winning move left on the board for either of them.
After a while, the sunlight streaming through the windows grew brighter, and everyone else slowly woke up from their deep slumber. The carriage was suddenly filled with the sounds of yawning, stretching, and the rustling of blankets. We gathered around the center table and ate a simple, filling breakfast of dried fruits and fresh bread right there in the carriage as the scenery rolled by.
After two hours of smooth traveling, the dense trees outside the window suddenly parted, revealing an absolutely breathtaking sight. We saw a big lake with a massive, roaring waterfall cascading down a sheer cliff face at the far end. The water was crystal clear, reflecting the bright blue sky above, and the surrounding banks were covered in soft, green grass.
We all decided to stop there and camp there for today. The carriage came to a gentle halt near the edge of the water, and we all piled out into the fresh, cool air.
Before anyone could even set their bags down, Lucian let out a loud cheer. He instantly jumped into the river without even bothering to take off his travel cloak or change his clothes. He hit the water with a massive splash and immediately started swimming directly toward the base of the roaring waterfall, completely ignoring the heavy fabric weighing him down.
While Lucian splashed around, Elphyete stepped forward to handle the campsite. She closed her eyes and raised her hands, calling upon her immense magical reserves. Using her Creation magic, she formed a brilliant sphere of green light that expanded rapidly across the grassy shore. Within seconds, the light solidified into a massive, sturdy tent. But she didn't stop there. With a few more intricate gestures of her hands, the magical energy shifted and built two separate, enclosed wooden structures nearby, creating private changing rooms for the male and female students.
The class quickly split up to prepare for the water. Aria, Vela, Tokine, Elfhine, Elphyete, and Ma'am Cherha all gathered their bags and went into the female changing room. Meanwhile, me, Euphyne, Zane, Elfrich, and Celdrich walked over and went into the male changing room to swap our heavy travel gear for our swimming clothes.
Sir Vael, however, didn't bother using the rooms at all. He just stood near the edge of the water, looked down at his standard academy uniform, and lazily snapped his fingers. In an instant, a flash of magical energy washed over his body, and he instantly changed his clothes into a pair of dark swimming trunks. He didn't even wait for the rest of us; he just conjured a floating chair of air and drifted out over the surface of the lake to take a nap.
Once we were all changed, we all went down to the waterfall area. The sun was warm against my skin, and the cool spray from the falling water felt incredibly refreshing. I was stretching my arms, getting ready to dive in, when I heard the door of the female changing room open.
I turned my head and saw Elphyete stepping out onto the grass. She was wearing a beautifully simple white bikini.
The moment I saw her, my brain completely short-circuited. I felt an immediate, overwhelming surge of embarrassment rush through my entire body. My face felt like it had been set on fire, burning completely red. I couldn't process the sight, so I just quickly looked away, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.
Panic took over my instincts. To hide my glowing red face, I practically threw myself forward and jumped into the water. The sudden, freezing shock of the lake enveloped me, but it wasn't enough to cool the burning embarrassment in my cheeks.
While everyone else started splashing, laughing, and playing near the shallow banks, I secretly swam farther away. I kept my head low, kicking my legs quietly until I reached a secluded part of the shoreline far away from the main group. I dragged myself up onto the land and scrambled to hide behind a massive, thick oak tree. I sat down in the dirt, pulled my knees to my chest, and covered my face with my hands, taking deep breaths and trying to calm my racing heart.
I sat there in the quiet shade for what felt like an eternity. When I finally gathered the courage to open my eyes and pull my hands away from my face, I nearly jumped out of my skin.
I saw Elphyete squatting quietly in the grass directly in front of me, her silver hair damp and her beautiful eyes looking at me with deep concern.
She slowly asked, "Sogha, are you ok?"
I swallowed hard, my throat feeling completely dry despite the lake water dripping from my hair. I said I'm fine, purposely looking away from her and staring intensely at a random bush in the distance so I wouldn't have to look at her in the white bikini again.
She saw right through my terrible lie. She just chuckled, a soft, musical sound that vibrated in the quiet forest air, and said, "I see.... Sogha, let's go somewhere more private."
I didn't argue. I just stood up, my legs feeling a little bit like jelly, and followed her. We walked a little farther into the dense, shaded woods, away from the sounds of the splashing water and the shouts of our classmates. The sunlight filtered through the green canopy above, casting a dappled pattern on the forest floor.
She stopped in a small clearing, turned around, and looked at me. Without warning, she reached out and grabbed my hand. Her fingers were warm and soft. I looked down and realized she was giving me something.
Elphyete looked up into my eyes and said that she had the ring since before and she wants to give it back to me.
I stared at the small piece of metal resting in my palm. My mind raced, trying to figure out why she was returning it now. I shook my head and said that it's for her and it's a friendship ring.
The moment the word 'friendship' left my mouth, her delicate elven ears instantly became completely red, the color spreading down to her cheeks. She looked at me with a sudden, intense determination and said to me to just take it.
Before I could react, she reached forward, grabbed the ring from my open palm, and deliberately put it on my ring finger.
I became completely shocked. My eyes widened, and I looked down at my hand. The ring fit perfectly, but the placement was entirely wrong for a simple gift. I opened my mouth and was about to say that she accidentally put the ring on the wrong finger, but she immediately cut me off.
She looked right into my eyes, her expression unwavering, and she said, "No I didn't."
The forest around us seemed to go completely silent. She just smiled, a beautiful, nervous, and incredibly genuine smile, and she said to me that she loved me. My breath hitched in my throat. Before my frozen brain could even begin to formulate a single word in response, she stepped back, told me that I should answer at night, and suddenly she ran back through the trees toward the river before I could say anything at all.
I was left standing completely alone in the middle of the silent woods. I've been staring at the ring resting perfectly on my finger, the metal catching a stray beam of sunlight.
I stood there thinking for ten solid minutes. My mind was an absolute whirlwind of emotions, memories, and panicked thoughts. I couldn't believe what had just happened. Eventually, I realized I couldn't hide in the forest forever, so I forced my legs to move and decided to go back to the river.
When I finally emerged from the trees and returned to the waterfall area, everything seemed completely normal. I watched Elphyete playing in the water with Aria and Vela, splashing and laughing as if she hadn't just dropped a massive emotional bomb on me. I stood on the bank, acting normal on the outside, but internally, I was a total mess. I was excited, surprised, and shocked all at the exact same time.
There was entirely too much going on in my mind to even attempt to join the games. So, I waded slowly into the deeper water, laid back, and just floated on the surface, staring silently up at the clouds drifting across the blue sky, trying to process my own feelings.
I was so deep in my own thoughts that I didn't even notice the chaos erupting on the shore.
Suddenly, a massive shadow blocked out the sun above me. I didn't even have time to blink before Euphyne, utilizing his ridiculous, monstrous physical strength, literally threw Lucian directly at my direction like a human javelin.
Lucian crashed into the water right on top of me with a deafening splash. The impact forced all the air out of my lungs, and I immediately sank underwater, the cold currents rushing past my ears as I tumbled beneath the surface. I blindly kicked and thrashed until I finally broke the surface, gasping for air. I swam quickly to the land, dragged myself onto the grass, and started aggressively coughing out the water I had swallowed.
From across the lake, Euphyne waved his massive arms wildly and shouted to me that he's sorry.
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, still coughing slightly, and shouted back that it's fine.
After shaking off the sudden aerial bombardment, I went back to the river and joined the rest of the class. We spent a few more hours swimming, playing, and avoiding Euphyne's dangerous throwing games until our stomachs started to rumble loudly.
We gathered around the campfire, where we ate a massive, delicious lunch made entirely by Elphyete and Ma'am Cherha. After our stomachs were full, the group decided to try something more relaxing. We grabbed some simple wooden rods from the carriage supplies and fished along the quiet edges of the lake.
For a long time, nothing happened. Everyone got absolutely nothing. Not a single bite. That is, except for Celdrich.
Celdrich sat perfectly still on a flat rock, his glasses gleaming in the sun. With terrifying, calculated precision, he pulled line after line out of the water. In the span of an hour, Celdrich caught twenty fishes, creating a massive pile of silver scales next to him while the rest of our buckets remained completely empty.
Euphyne and Lucian threw their empty fishing rods onto the grass and loudly complained, saying that Celdrich got all the fishes in the entire lake. Celdrich didn't even react to their whining. He calmly gathered his massive catch, walked over, and gave the fishes to Ma'am Cherha for dinner preparations, before turning around and going back to the river to swim.
Since fishing was clearly a lost cause for the rest of us, we all went back to the river too and swam for a few more hours as the afternoon sun began to dip lower into the sky. When dusk finally arrived, the campfire was roaring again. We all sat around the flames and ate the incredibly fresh roasted fish that Celdrich had caught.
The long day of traveling, swimming, and playing in the sun finally caught up to the group. As the sky turned pitch black and the stars came out, most of them went to bed, retreating into the massive magical tent or the carriage.
But I wasn't tired. My heart had been racing all day. I stood up quietly and walked away from the camp.
I went to the waterfall, the sound of the crashing water masking my footsteps in the dark. The moonlight illuminated the misty air, and there she was. I went to see Elphyete waiting near the edge of the water, her silver hair practically glowing under the night sky.
I stopped a few feet away from her. The air between us felt incredibly heavy, charged with anticipation. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves. I looked at her, straight into her beautiful, expectant eyes, and said...
"I guess yeah I love you too."
The moment the words left my mouth, her entire face suddenly became completely red. A brilliant, undeniable smile broke across her face, and she softly said, "I love you too."
For a moment, neither of us moved. Elphyete just stared at me. Then, she slowly closed her eyes, her brow furrowing slightly, looking exactly like she's thinking deeply about what to do next. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes again. The hesitation was completely gone.
She slightly stepped forward, closing the distance between us in an instant. She reached up, grabbed my face gently with both of her hands, pulled me down slightly, and she kissed me.
My mind went completely blank. I felt a massive wave of shock, a slight pang of deep embarrassment, and an overwhelming, bursting feeling of absolute happiness all at the exact same time. The roar of the waterfall behind us seemed to fade away completely.
After a minute that felt like an eternity, she finally pulled out of the kiss. We were both standing there, panting softly in the cool night air. I looked at her, and her whole body became incredibly red. It wasn't just a blush; her skin was actually so warm from the embarrassment and adrenaline that she literally started steaming, tiny wisps of vapor rising off her shoulders into the cool night air.
But she didn't let the embarrassment stop her. She quickly shrugs it off, reached out, and grabbed my hand tightly.
"Let's go back before they noticed," she whispered urgently.
We quickly sneaked back through the dark woods toward the campsite. When we arrived, I noticed something new near the edge of the clearing. Using her magic quietly, she created a separate, smaller tent just for the two of us, a short distance away from the massive main tent where everyone else was sleeping.
I looked at the small canvas structure, a sudden wave of panic hitting me. I asked Elphyete on if they saw us in this tent, wondering how we were possibly going to explain this in the morning without everyone teasing us endlessly.
She just smiled a clever, mischievous smile and said to me that she'll say that we needed the space cause it's full on that main tent. It was a terrible excuse, considering the main tent was the size of a small house, but the sheer confidence in her voice made me laugh.
I chuckled quietly, shaking my head, and she suddenly pulled me inside the dark tent. I lost my footing on the canvas floor and stumbled awkwardly into the small camp bed set up inside.
She laughed a bright, happy sound at my clumsiness, walked over, and went to the bed. She laid down right next to me and immediately wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tightly against her side.
Even in the pitch black of the tent, I could feel the heat radiating from my own face. She felt it too. She chuckled softly against my shoulder and said to me that I'm blushing.
I immediately tried to deny it, opening my mouth to argue that it was just the residual heat from the campfire, but she didn't let me finish. She just reached up, gently covered my mouth with her index finger, and whispered softly.
"Be quiet, we might wake them."
I couldn't argue with that. I just nodded my head against the pillow, giving in completely. She smiled, resting her head against my chest, and enveloped in the warmth of the quiet night, we just slept.