Uhm? My head... it hurts... My senses are slowly coming back. Where the hell am I? What happened? What was I doing?

I slowly open my eyes, the sunlight gradually invading my sight. It takes a few seconds for me to adjust. My head is pounding with pain, and my body feels more fatigued than ever before. I try to sit up as I fully open my eyes.

With blurry vision, I scan the landscape in front of me. All I can see is vegetation—tall trees, grass, bushes. I can hear some sounds in the distance.

What happened? Why am I in a forest? My brain can't process the information properly. My eyes finally adjust to the light and I look around, only to see more greenery. I turn behind me and spot three people. When I look closely, I recognize them—and my memories rush back immediately.

I was at the teleportation portal! How did we end up here? I remember hearing people screaming... did something go wrong with the portal?

I get up, sluggishly, and walk toward them. I need to check if they're alive. I pull out a bottle of water from my storage bracelet—luckily, I had stocked food and water beforehand.

The cold water slides down my throat, quenching my thirst a bit. I finish the bottle in seconds, just as I reach Arisa and the other two boys. I sit down to rest my exhausted body and check their pulses by touching their necks.

"They're alive. Thank goodness." I begin shaking them gently to wake them up.

"Come on, wake up, guys." After a few moments, Bush and Arisa start reacting. I see them going through the same process I did—groaning, looking around, and finally becoming shocked by our surroundings. The other boy starts to stir too, thankfully.

"Where are we?" Arisa is the first to speak. They both look at me for answers.

"I don't know. I woke up just before you did," I explain immediately. I'd love to know where I am too.

"Weren't we on our way to the Marquis' castle? I remember hearing people shouting before we were teleported," Bush says while staring at the grass, trying to recall what happened.

"Are we lost in the middle of nowhere?" Arisa frowns, then her eyes widen. "I have a device that sends my location to my family. I'll try using it." Her words calm my anxiety a bit.

"I'll try to contact them too." Both of them pull out something like a ring from their bracelets and put them on. While they focus, I explain the situation to the other boy, who's still a bit dazed.

"This is strange. When I infuse my Imra into the device, it should turn yellow to send my location to my father's ring, but it's staying green," Arisa says while forcing more energy into her ring.

"Same here. The ring absorbs my mana, but it's just not working."

They keep trying for several minutes, but nothing changes. Eventually, the strain gives them both headaches from using mana and Imra while so exhausted.

I hand out water and some food. The boy, whose name is Miroi, doesn't have a storage device. Arisa and Bush only have coins, clothing, and a few non-edible items. Thankfully, I stored enough food for three weeks. If we ration it carefully, the four of us can last a week. The bigger problem is water—at one bottle per person per day, we have just enough for three days.

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"Sleep is one of the best ways to recover from fatigue. Let's rest for at least two hours each. We'll rotate in two shifts before looking for a better place to sleep." In my past life, I used to go camping a lot with my uncle and trainer. I have a bit of theoretical knowledge about survival. But theory is just theory—we'll have to improvise as we go.

Everyone agrees. Bush and Miroi sleep first. Within seconds, I hear their soft snoring. They're using some of their clothes as makeshift mats and pillows.

"We should sit on opposite sides to cover all directions" Arisa suggests.

"No need. Come sit next to me. There's no sign of danger nearby." She looks unsure but eventually agrees. Her suggestion was standard safety procedure, but with my pseudo mastery, I can watch every direction anyway.

We stay silent for a while. Arisa sits with her knees pulled to her chest, arms resting on them. After a moment, she starts trembling.

"Are you cold?" I reach for some spare clothes from my bracelet.

"No." Her answer stops me.

I glance at her. Arisa opens and closes her mouth, trying to form words. Her Imra is a storm of emotions—too much information for my tired body to process.

"I'm not cold, Maki. I'm scared." Her words freeze me. I don't know how to respond, so I stay silent, waiting for her to continue. "Normally, I have confidence in my strength. But that's only when I'm facing people or monsters of my rank. Right now, we don't know where we are. We don't know if there's danger. We don't know anything."

She leans closer and rests her head on my shoulder. She takes my left hand and wraps it in hers, pressing it against her knees.

"We could easily take down a grade one monster together. But what if many of them come? Or worse—what if a grade two appears? I'm scared of the worst-case scenario." It's true—nobles are raised differently. Their mindset and reactions to situations like this aren't always normal.

I share her fear. I don't want to die either. I want to go back to my family, to the Solar family. I want to go home, visit my villages, grow up, attend school, and explore the world. The thought of dying here begins to seep into my heart, so I activate my mental ability to keep calm.

"Arisa." I take a moment to choose my words. "As long as I'm alive, I'll do everything I can to keep everyone safe." In my past life, I died trying to save a stranger. In this life, I wouldn't mind risking my life again to save others. But I need to stop those thoughts. "Can I tell you a secret?"

Arisa doesn't speak, but she grips my hand tighter. I take that as a silent "Go ahead."

"I'm even stronger than I showed in the tournament. If a grade two monster shows up, I'll take care of it." She turns her head to me, her gaze demanding an explanation.

I start explaining my skills—without revealing names or full details—just their general function. I tell her about my new concentrated spiked sphere that lets me fight above my level. She listens intently, reacting with laughter, anger, and frustration at parts of my story. When I tell her about the Hobgoblin fight, she doesn't interrupt once—just lets me speak.

"I feel a bit safer after your story. And a little happy that, at least, I ended up in this situation with you, Bush, and Miroi. I wouldn't know what to do alone." She looks up at the sky, then back at me. "Also a bit mad that you beat us without giving it your all. I thought I was close to your level, but now I see how big the gap really is."

"Can you keep it a secret?" I had just opened up a part of myself to someone new—I needed to share this burden in this tense situation.

"I'll keep it. Cross my heart." She takes my pinky finger, gazes at our hands, then looks up at my face—and for the first time since we woke up in this forest, she smiles. I return the smile. She looks down and begins opening up too—not about abilities, but her life.

Her stories are funny, sad, even tragic—a blend of emotions all woven together. The atmosphere lightens, and the gloom over us slowly fades.

After two hours, we wake Bush and Miroi for the next shift. Arisa and I cover ourselves with some light clothing, and as I close my eyes, I feel my consciousness fade away.

A touch on my foot wakes me instantly. My body feels a bit better—I've recovered some energy. After a quick sandwich, we need to start thinking about solutions.

"We need to move. We can't stay in the open forest where we're easy prey. Any suggestions?"Everyone takes a moment to think.

"As you know, I'm an earth mage. If we find a mountain and a cave, I can block the entrance to avoid risk," Miroi offers—echoing my own thoughts. A cave would help prevent ambushes from behind, but it also means no escape if we're cornered. We'll deal with that later.

"Any other ideas?" No one offers a better plan. The closest mountain we can see is our best option.

"Let's go!" We organize into formation: Bush a meter ahead, me in the middle with our only pure mage, and Arisa about a meter behind us. Something like a diamond formation.

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