The morning of our big adventure class finally arrived. I woke up feeling a mix of excitement and a little bit of nervous energy in my stomach. Elphyete was already awake, and the smell of breakfast was filling our mini-mansion. We ate a large, hearty meal together. Elphyete had cooked a massive pile of scrambled eggs, thick-cut bacon, and toasted bread with sweet jam. Euphyne, as usual, ate his food in record time, already talking loudly about all the monsters he was going to fight in the wild. We gathered our new backpacks and the heavy travel cloaks we bought from the market, made sure the house was locked, and walked together to our class at the university.
When we walked into our classroom, the atmosphere was a bit different than usual. Normally, Sir Vael would be sleeping at his desk or leaning lazily against the wall. But today, Sir Vael was actually standing up at the front of the room, looking awake and somewhat serious. Meanwhile, our new assistant traveler, Ma'am Cherha, was sitting comfortably on a chair near the chalkboard, organizing some travel maps on her lap.
We took our usual seats and waited for the rest of the class to arrive. Once everyone was settled, Sir Vael clapped his hands once. The sound was sharp and immediately got everyone's attention.
"Alright, listen up," Sir Vael said, his voice carrying easily across the quiet room. "Before we head out and start sleeping in the dirt, I have an announcement. Meet your new transfer student classmate. She will be joining us on our journey across Fhajin."
Suddenly, the heavy wooden door of the classroom slowly pushed open. A girl walked inside. She looked around our age, with medium-length dark hair and bright, curious eyes. She wore a standard academy uniform, but she had a small, ticking pocket watch tied to her belt. She didn't look nervous at all. In fact, she looked completely calm as she stood next to Sir Vael and faced the entire class.
"Hello," the girl said, her voice clear and friendly. "I'm Tokine Ritsu. It is nice to meet all of you."
She paused for a second, tapping the side of her chin thoughtfully before continuing. "As for my abilities, I have time magic. But it is not the kind of time magic that can change history or anything crazy like that. I can only use it on a specific area, space, and time. For example, I can freeze a small falling object in mid-air for a few seconds, or slow down the time in a very small circle on the ground. I can't reverse time or stop the whole world."
The class murmured in interest. Time magic, even with heavy limits, was incredibly rare. Most people only had elemental magic like fire or water. Having someone who could manipulate space and time, even on a small scale, was going to be very useful for an adventure.
After her introduction, Tokine Ritsu didn't wait for Sir Vael to assign her a seat. She suddenly grabbed a spare wooden chair from the front of the room. She carried it all the way down the aisle, walking right past Euphyne and Elphyete. She stopped right behind my desk. Without asking, she put her chair down on the floor right behind my seat, creating a brand new row just for herself, and sat down.
I blinked in surprise, turning my head slightly to look at her. She just gave me a small, polite wave and smiled, before looking back up to the front of the class.
Ma'am Cherha then stood up from her chair, putting her maps away. She smiled at all of us and spoke in a loud, clear voice. "Alright, class! The carriage is waiting for us outside the university gates. We'll have exactly one hour to prepare, gather any last-minute things you need from your dorms, and then we will leave. Do not be late, or we will leave you behind!"
We all started to stand up, ready to rush out and do our final checks, but Sir Vael suddenly spoke again. He wasn't looking at the class anymore. His sharp, golden eyes were locked directly on Tokine Ritsu.
"Hey, new kid," Sir Vael said, his voice dropping slightly, sounding a bit more serious and curious than usual.
Tokine looked up at him. "Yes, Sir Vael?"
Sir Vael tilted his head. "I was just looking at your magical signature. Why do you have one stat that is completely locked?"
The entire room went completely silent. My heart suddenly skipped a heavy beat, and I froze in my tracks. A locked stat? My mind started racing. I remembered my own situation—how a different person, an Otherworlder, had stepped into my life and used their power to lock my own stats away. It was a weight I carried every day. To hear that this girl had something similar made me stare at the back of her head, waiting for her answer.
Tokine looked just as surprised as Sir Vael. She blinked her eyes a few times, looking down at her own hands as if she could see her stats written on her skin. She frowned slightly.
"I... I honestly don't know," Tokine answered, shaking her head. "I have always had it since I first checked my system. I don't know why it is locked or what it even is. I just try to ignore it."
Sir Vael stared at her for a few more seconds, his eyes narrowing as if he was trying to read a book in the dark. Then, he just shrugged his shoulders, instantly losing interest. "Whatever. Not my problem right now. Go prepare. You have one hour."
I wanted to ask Tokine a hundred questions about her locked stat, but the classroom was already turning into chaos as students rushed out the door. Elphyete grabbed my arm gently. "Come on, Sogha. Let's go double-check our bags at home."
We ran back to our mini-mansion. Since we had packed most of our things yesterday after the market, we just needed to grab our water skins, our heavy cloaks, and Euphyne's giant training sword. After preparing for one hour, we walked back to the main gates of the university, ready to finally leave the city.
When we got outside the massive iron gates, we stopped and stared.
Waiting for us on the dirt road was a big carriage. But "big" was an understatement. It was absolutely massive, looking more like a small, wooden house on wheels than a normal carriage. It was painted a dark, sturdy brown, with thick iron wheels and large glass windows. To pull such a massive thing, there were four huge, heavily muscled horses hitched to the front. They were stomping their hooves impatiently, ready to run.
But the weirdest part wasn't the size of the carriage. It was the roof.
Surprisingly, right on top of the flat, wooden roof of the carriage, there was a full-sized, comfortable-looking bed. It had a thick mattress, fluffy white pillows, and a large blanket. It looked completely out of place on top of a travel vehicle.
Sir Vael didn't say a word. He just casually floated up into the air, landed softly on the roof, and immediately laid down on the bed. He pulled the blanket up to his chin, completely ignoring the rest of us standing on the ground.
Aria, one of our classmates who always liked to ask logical questions, stepped forward. She looked up at Sir Vael with a confused and slightly annoyed expression.
"Sir Vael," Aria asked, crossing her arms. "If we are going to a far destination, why not just use your magic to teleport us there instantly? It would save us a lot of time."
Sir Vael didn't even open his eyes. He just let out a long, lazy sigh. "Because teleporting is boring. And the whole point of an adventure class is the adventure part. You need to see the world, smell the dirt, and fight random things. If I just teleport you everywhere, you'll stay weak. Now get inside before I change my mind and make you all run behind the horses."
Aria sighed, clearly defeated, and walked toward the door of the carriage. We all followed her. When we opened the heavy wooden door and stepped inside, I was amazed.
It was surprisingly spacious inside. The outside looked big, but the inside felt even bigger, probably due to some high-level spatial expansion magic. There were soft, velvet couches lining the walls, a sturdy wooden table in the center, and plenty of overhead racks to store our heavy bags. It was like a luxury moving living room. Tokine took a seat near the window, while Euphyne practically claimed an entire couch for himself. Elphyete and I sat across from them.
Ma'am Cherha didn't come inside the cabin with us. She climbed up to the driver's seat at the very front of the carriage, grabbing the leather reins attached to the four massive horses. She turned her head and looked back at us through a small sliding window that connected to the main cabin.
"Alright, everyone, buckle up and get comfortable!" Ma'am Cherha called out with a cheerful smile. "It will take days to arrive at our first destination. The roads can be bumpy, so try not to fall off your seats!"
She snapped the reins, and the four horses neighed loudly. The massive carriage jerked forward, the large wooden wheels crunching against the dirt road. We looked out the windows as we slowly left the capital. The huge stone walls of the city slowly faded into the distance behind us, replaced by rolling green hills, wide open plains, and clear blue skies. The adventure had officially begun.
The ride was surprisingly smooth, thanks to the magic placed on the carriage. We spent the first few hours just talking, playing simple card games, and looking out the windows. Tokine was very friendly, and we learned that she grew up in a small village far to the south. I kept thinking about her locked stat, but I decided not to ask her about it just yet. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable on her very first day.
A few hours later, the scenery outside the window began to change completely. The simple green grass slowly turned into a vibrant, glowing sea of colors.
We had passed by a beautiful forest full of flowers. It wasn't just a normal forest. Instead of regular bushes and grass covering the ground between the tall trees, the earth was entirely covered in massive, bright flowers of every color imaginable—deep reds, bright yellows, glowing blues, and soft purples. The smell drifting in through the open windows of the carriage was incredible, sweet and fresh like a perfume shop.
The carriage slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop near the edge of the trees. Ma'am Cherha peeked her head through the small window again.
"It's getting late in the afternoon, and this area is known to be very safe," Ma'am Cherha announced. "We decided to camp here till tomorrow morning so you all can get used to sleeping outside the city."
We all grabbed our bags and stepped out of the carriage. The air was cool and smelled amazing. The ground felt soft under our boots because of all the flower petals scattered everywhere.
"Alright," Ma'am Cherha said, clapping her hands. "We need to set up camp. Does anyone have a tent, or do we need to build shelters from the branches?"
Elphyete stepped forward calmly. "I can handle the shelter, Ma'am Cherha."
Elphyete closed her eyes and raised her hands. She used her Creation magic. A bright, glowing green light gathered in her palms, and she pushed the light toward the ground in a large, open clearing among the flowers. The light rapidly expanded, shifting and shaping itself. In just a few seconds, the light solidified into thick canvas, strong wooden poles, and metal stakes.
She had created a big tent. It was massive, big enough to easily fit the entire class, with separate sections inside for sleeping and a large open area in the middle for gathering. It was a masterpiece of Creation magic.
"Wow, that is incredibly helpful!" Ma'am Cherha said, looking very impressed.
While the rest of us started carrying our sleeping bags and supplies into the massive tent, I looked up at the carriage. Sir Vael had not moved a single inch. He stayed at his comfortable bed on the roof of the carriage, his blanket still pulled up high. He was completely ignoring the beautiful forest, the glowing flowers, and the rest of his class. He was just going to sleep outside on top of the carriage all night.
Once we got our bags settled inside the big tent, the energy in the group started to rise. Aria, Lucian, and our new student Tokine suddenly decided they had too much energy to just sit around. They started playing a game of tag right there inside the large, open space of the tent.
"You can't catch me, Lucian!" Aria laughed, dodging around a support pole.
"Watch me!" Lucian yelled, running after her.
Tokine giggled and joined in. At one point, Lucian almost tagged her, but she used a tiny burst of her time magic. A small, invisible circle appeared on the floor, and when Lucian stepped in it, his running speed suddenly slowed down to a crawl for just two seconds. Tokine easily skipped away, laughing as Lucian stumbled forward in slow motion before returning to normal speed.
Ma'am Cherha sat on a nearby crate, watching them with a big, maternal smile. She just laughed at their antics, occasionally telling them to calm down so they wouldn't trip over the sleeping bags or knock the main tent pole down. It was a very happy, chaotic scene.
Eventually, we all got hungry. Ma'am Cherha unpacked some simple travel rations—dried meat, hard cheese, and crackers—and we ate lunch together inside the tent.
After eating, a lazy feeling settled over the camp. The long carriage ride and the full stomachs made most of us very sleepy. Euphyne laid down on his sleeping mat and started snoring almost instantly. I sat down next to Elphyete, who was reading a book, and let myself drift off into a light nap.
While the rest of us napped inside the cool shade of the tent, Aria, Lucian, and Tokine quietly slipped outside. They spent the entire afternoon playing out in the bright, colorful fields of the flower forest, picking rare flowers and running between the massive, ancient trees.
When evening finally came, the sun started to set, casting a beautiful orange glow through the branches of the forest. The air got a bit cooler, and our stomachs started growling again.
It was time for dinner. This time, Elphyete and Ma'am Cherha teamed up. Ma'am Cherha brought out a large iron cooking pot and some fresh vegetables she had bought in the city, while Elphyete used her magic to perfectly control the heat of the campfire. They worked together seamlessly, chopping, stirring, and seasoning.
The smell that soon filled the camp was unbelievable. When they finally served us, it was a rich, thick vegetable and beef stew, served with warm, freshly toasted bread. We all sat around the campfire outside the tent, eating under the stars.
It was the best food we ever ate. The beef was incredibly tender, and the vegetables were perfectly cooked. Even Euphyne ate slowly, savoring every single bite instead of swallowing it whole. We all thanked Elphyete and Ma'am Cherha for the amazing meal.
After we finished eating and cleaning up the bowls with Ma'am Cherha's instant clean magic, the camp grew quiet. The crickets started chirping in the flower forest, and the long day of traveling finally caught up to all of us.
We all went back inside the massive tent Elphyete had created. I crawled into my sleeping bag, feeling warm, full, and completely content. I looked over at Tokine, who was already fast asleep, her time-magic pocket watch resting safely beside her head. The mystery of her locked stat was still in my mind, but for tonight, it didn't matter.
I closed my eyes, listening to the soft rustling of the flower fields outside, and we all went to sleep, ready to continue our journey across Fhajin tomorrow