After walking for what felt like forever, we finally stumbled upon a long, winding river.

The moment I saw the water—clear enough to glimpse smooth stones beneath the surface—I felt a heavy weight lift off my shoulders.

Clean water.

Finally.

In a situation like this, nothing mattered more.

You can endure hunger for a while, but without water? You're done.

And this river looked pristine—no smell, no strange colors, not even a trace of debris.

Of course, we'd still have to boil or filter it later to be safe…

But honestly, judging by its clarity, it looked drinkable even now.

"Should we rest here for today?" I asked, glancing up at the sky.

The sun was already dipping behind the treetops, scattering streaks of orange across the water.

Night would fall soon, and traveling in the dark—especially in an unfamiliar region—was asking for trouble.

Fortunately, the weather was mild.

No wind, no dark clouds, just the faint chill of evening.

Spending one night outside shouldn't be a problem.

"W-wait, won't it be dangerous?" Elena asked, clutching her staff a little tighter. "There might be monsters around… or worse."

Her uneasiness was written all over her face.

Well, considering she'd never spent a night in a forest like this, her fear made sense.

Sleeping outside for the first time isn't easy—especially when you know monsters exist in the world.

But in our case…

There was something—or rather, someone—that gave us a significant advantage.

"We'll be fine," I said reassuringly. "Monsters aren't something we need to worry about."

Elena blinked. "Huh? Why not?"

I sighed softly.

"Because even if Lumine acts like a menace for her own amusement…she's practically a walking natural disaster. Any monster that senses her would run the other way."

Lumine wasn't the type of person who would toss students into a life-or-death situation.

She enjoyed watching us struggle, sure—but only in the "this will build character" sort of way.

Not the "oops, a student died" sort.

So there was no way predators capable of killing us were wandering around here.

If anything, she definitely would have swept the area clean while preparing this stage.

"We'll be fine. There won't be any monsters near the World Tree," I said, glancing around.

The World Tree's glow was bright enough to wash over everything within our sight, a calm and gentle light that pushed back the darkness.

No impure creature would dare approach such a place—they would've been purified the moment they stepped near.

So, really, there was nothing to worry about.

Seeing Elena's shoulders relax just a little, I crouched near the water's edge and began gathering dry branches scattered around.

They snapped cleanly in my hands as I stacked them into a small pile.

Elena watched for a moment, then quietly joined in, picking up more branches and adding them to mine.

Before long, we had a decent-sized heap.

Time to make a fire.

The temperature had dropped sharply after sunset, the night air creeping under our clothes like cold fingers.

Sleep in this condition, and we'd wake up stiff, shivering, and miserable—not exactly ideal for whatever Lumine planned for tomorrow.

I leveled the ground a bit and arranged the branches more neatly, creating a small but steady structure.

Then I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Dream Orb, its surface swirling faintly with stored magic.

"Let's get this started."

Then I drew on my magical power, gathering the current at a single point on my sword.

It felt like pulling a thread of lightning tighter and tighter—until it finally snapped forward.

Whoosh—

A thin spark leapt from the blade and touched the bundle of dry branches I had prepared.

A moment later, a small flame flickered to life.

It grew quickly, spreading across the wood until a proper campfire crackled before us.

Elena, who had been watching the whole thing, stared at me with her eyes opened wide.

"Louis… just now… that was electricity coming off your sword…"

"Oh, that?" I rubbed the back of my neck casually. "My magical attribute is electricity."

"…Electricity?"

Her voice dropped, quiet and almost uneasy.

She looked genuinely confused—no, more like stunned—but I couldn't understand why.

Maybe she'd never met someone with that attribute before?

It wasn't that rare, was it?

I brushed it off and settled down in front of the fire.

The warmth spread quickly, pushing back the cold forest air.

I motioned toward her, still frozen in place.

"Come on. Warm yourself."

For a moment, she just stood there, blinking rapidly as if she hadn't heard me. Then, after a short hesitation, she moved—and sat down right next to me.

Not beside the fire.

Next to me.

"…?"

I blinked.

I hadn't intended for her to sit that close.

We were practically shoulder-to-shoulder, her warmth mixing with the heat of the fire.

Maybe she didn't realize?

Or maybe she did, and that was the scary part.

Finding ourselves sitting shoulder to shoulder, I awkwardly poked at the campfire with a stick.

The flames crackled softly, sending sparks drifting upward into the night sky.

Somewhere nearby, the sound of the stream flowed gently, weaving itself into the quiet like a soft melody.

"..."

"..."

The silence between us wasn't heavy—just unfamiliar.

After a while, Elena was the one who broke it.

"Louis, you seem to know a lot about this kind of thing," she said, watching the fire dance. "Finding water, making a fire so fast… all of it."

Her voice held a mixture of curiosity and admiration.

For someone who had probably never camped outside a single night in her life, it must all feel new. Maybe even a little exciting.

"Adventure was my dream," I said casually.

"…Adventure?"

Elena turned toward me, surprise flickering across her face, as if she thought she'd misheard.

"Yeah. After graduating from the academy, I want to travel the world. Just… wander, go on adventures, see things for myself."

I shrugged lightly. "That was the plan."

"…That's cool."

Elena's eyes softened, the firelight reflecting off them like tiny embers. "It suits you, Louis."

She smiled—small, quiet, sincere.

It made me blink for a moment because I realized something.

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