Five days passed in a fsh.

  "Dirt boy! We're going on a trip!"

  Cng! dindindin

  The ingot I was working on dropped to the floor.

  "Master Doran, can you please! Remember to knock? I can't get used to you popping out of nowhere!"

  Popping out of the ground was my trademark. He just went unnoticed until he wanted something. You can see, but not feel.

  "Haha, is that a yes or no?"

  I cracked my neck and stretched.

  "Yes. Obviously a yes. Are we finally going to another isnd?"

  "Secret. Shush. Don't ask."

  We immediately started on our journey after packing up some stuff.

  "Master Doran, how about I carry it for you?"

  A grin appeared as he pulled off the straps of the wicker basket he was carrying. It was full of swords and other tools haphazardly tossed in.

  "Phew, this is much better than the other kids."

  Now equipped with the basket, we journeyed south. It was a casual stroll, nothing special happening. The forest was still just a forest, albeit quite different from the other continents.

  Some pces like Shurima were more sandy, while other pces like Demacia had more cy, but Ionia? Was bance. It also had an abundance of natural mana.

  Just as we started walking downhill, a flock of bahrl jays descended upon the area. Their fluffy and round bodies contrasted with a cocky slicked back tuft.1No lore about how Bahrl jays look, so I made up a look. Melodious chirps formed an impromptu birdsong.

  Master Doran started to cp along, happily smiling. It was so off tempo that I was tempted to hold down his arms. Holding myself back, my hands trembled as I sat down to enjoy the music.

  "Why sit down? Let's go, we have to be there by a certain time."

  Dusting myself off, we left the birds behind as we continued.

  At the stream, I carried both the person and the basket, wading through.

  At the cliff, I walked at a steep incline.

  What was at the end of this cliff was a deep valley stretching below covered in silvery mist.

  "It's called Mistfall, we got here too early."

  "Mistfall..."

  There was a stone with squiggly lines faded with time. Looking around, more weather worn stones scattered around gave rise to an ancient ruin. The mana here was weirder.

  Leaving the basket behind, I scrambled across the mountain, plucking a pair of stones. Brushing off the top yer revealed a deep crimson.

  "Master Doran, Master Doran!"

  He rubbed his eyes as he got up from the shade of a tree.

  "Hmm?"

  "Why does this stone smell of blood?"

  His face turned serious for just a second, before going back to his smiling self. He pointed at a few other stones on the mountain.

  "Go and take those."

  Picking them up and returning, I opened the new ones using a chisel. Three distinct yers were inside, one of regur grey stone, a crimson yer, and a transparent bloody crystal.

  Master Doran sighed as he chewed on his rice cake.

  "I'll have to disappoint the disciples this time."

  I choose not to ask how he was disappointing them. The sun was high up in the sky, perfect timing to take an afternoon nap.

  Flying in the sky, fpping wings and gliding on the breeze... Feels weird.

  Hopping between branches, using the smallest of fps to lift off briefly.

  Wait

  Why am I a bird? The ground is more comforting.

  "You're not a native, but neither are they. They just lived here for a long time."

  The thin membrane was pierced, giving crity to my mind. I was still in the form of a small bird, a bahrl jay? Beside me was another one, eyes twinkling. Everything around was still blurry, just like a dream. I asked a question.

  "Am I taking a nap?"

  "Yes?"

  "Zzzzz..."

  What felt like a moment ter, I was back awake from my nap. Master Doran sat, whittling a branch into a pair of chopsticks.

  "I had a weird dream just now, someone was asking me if I was taking a nap, and then I woke up."

  "Mmhm."

  After another few minutes, he stood up to stretch.

  "Let's enter."

  Crossing the marker, a chill filled the area. The mist was thick, and with the darned invisible presence Master Doran had, I quickly lost sight of him.

  Left alone, I continued walking. I shouted out of frustration.

  "Hey! I don't think it's funny to drag someone into a dream!"

  The mist parted, revealing it as clouds below my feet. A horrifying sense of gravity dragged me downwards. I believed that it was a dream, or is it?

  I was standing on a cliff edge overlooking the far distant Wuju vilge. It was burning, set afme with green and orange fmes. The ground was screaming, nature, was screaming.

  "What is this!? Why me?..."

  "Only you, can smuggle the seedlings out."

  "Ha, smuggle?"

  I shook my head with a scoff. Who did they think I was? I'd gdly smuggle people if it meant saving them. It was done for me once, albeit unsuccessfully. Now's my time to shine. Or hide, in this case.

  "I'll do it. When's the time?"

  He, no, she? The spirit shook their head.

  "You'll know when it's time."

  "By the way, your body has red splotches."

  The dream ended abruptly, as my feet were back at the valley. The mist parted, as a breathtaking view of the unmisted valley appeared. How did this hide itself?

  An otherworldly realm of purple, blue and red. Giant swords were stuck in the ground in the distance, normal swords were plunged into the waterlike surface, each with a tassel attached.

  Master Doran was only a few steps ahead of me.

  "Is - is this still the dream?!"

  "Welcome to Mistfall."

  Whew, this is still the dream.

  "Booo!"

  "Ahhh!"

  "Hahaah. Gotcha didn't I?"

  The noise might have awakened unsavoury creatures, so I warily looked around. Nothing appeared, yet.

  "Haaa. One of the spirits showed me a vision of the vilge burning down."

  "It is what it is. Now let's go pce down these."