Chapter 6: Answering the call

He doesn't know how to feel about this...

Currently, Luka and Sylph are staring at something in front of them. The two were still recovering from the unexpected fight that afternoon. Luka, from having to direct all the attention to himself so that the dryad didn't attack anyone else. And Sylph from healing anyone she can back to full health. Not to mention, the fact that before that they had just finished having a spar with each other.

It's one of those rare times where even his fairy friend was tired. He would have loved to end the day at that, just lay on his bed and have a peaceful sleep until Sylph inevitably woke him up like she always would to go get breakfast together.

There's only one thing keeping him from doing that, however.

"ZzZzZzZzZzzz..."

Now deep in its slumber, the dryad - which had previously been a merciless, rampaging, living nightmare for every monsterin the Forest of Spirit - is ironically looking very peaceful. The giant flowers curl themselves all over her body, with the human part in the middle. Luka wondered if this was the result of his spell or just the way its kind would usually sleep.

As to why he was feeling conflicted by it is... well it's not what he has to do but ratherthe act ofnotdoing anything that is bothering him. Sylph has suggested that theykept the monster sleeping until they had a proper way of dealing with it. That's possible since all Sylph has to do is feedthe spell a steady flow of magic to keep it going. It wouldn't even be a problem for her to, a minor inconvenience at best for the Spirit of Wind.

And he understands the logic behind it, of course. Keeping the dryad here, where it has been rendered harmless by his spell was definitely better than letting it wreak havoc again. But it still left a bad taste in his mouth to just leave her in this state.

He voices his thoughts to his friend, who simply laughs.

"Don't feel bad, Luka!" She exclaimed, "You're doing your best to makesure nothing bad happen until we could figure out a better solution!" And as always, her words ground him before he could spiral.

"Yeah... maybe you're right." He said, looking back at the sleeping dryad they had moved into the backyard. Now with her in the middle the whole placelooks like a strange painting with a double meaning you might find in a museum.

Now that it was all over, he could feel the fatigue catching up to him.

With his eyes getting heavier, Luka settled down on one of the old pieces of furniture in the backyard and took in a deep, calming breath. Sylph flies over, not even questioning his place of resting and lying down on his chest.

The sun hasn't fully come down yet, bathing the forest in agolden shade. Yet that didn't seem to matter to the duo as they steadily fell asleep, closing the pageof today's chapter.

===0===

"Hey Sylph..."

"Hmm~?"

"...What was it like to travel the world?"

Hah! She was getting worried for a second there. Fortunately for her dearest contractor, she's the greatest storyteller ever!

The wind spirit then told her shy friend the stories from years ago.

One of discovering what the world has to offer.

Of coming across new sceneries, of finding hidden treasures.

Meeting different people, both the bad and the good ones.

She told him how hard it is to sail through a storm, to scale a mountain, to solve the puzzle left by those who were before them.

How great it feels after you triumph over it all.

And she saw how bright his eyes got, so with a smile she continued until it got dark.

===0===

"LUKA! LUKA! LUKA!"

"W-what!?" He leans back, startled by his energeticfriend.

"I just realize something really important!" She presses on.

Luka sighed. "No Sylph, we are still not going to build that glider..."

"Not that!" She pouted, oh boy... "I'm talking about your dream!"

Huh?

"My dream?"

"Yeah! You never told me about your dream, Luka."

So that's what this is about, my dream...

He never really put too much thought into it.

Well, if he had to have one then... "It's a pretty simple one."

"Oh?"

Luka told her about his dream, the entirety of it.

===0===

Ones he's done with the garden, Luka took off his gloves and looked back at his work, making sure he didn't miss anything.

"No vegetables?" Asked the fairy floating close by.

"Not this time," He replied, brushing any dirt that got on his sleeves. "We already had enough and winter is coming, so I'm trying something new."

Sylph inspected the group of potted flowers he had gathered in a basket next to the garden. The small shovel he had made to help with gardening lying next to them.

"What for?"

"Nothing much, mostly to fill in the time." He begins, his long purple hair swaying in the then a frown appeared, as if something had upset him.

"... Just in case, I guess. I don't want her to be lonely." Said Luka under his breath.

There's a bunch of different flowers in the basket, Sylph doesn't know the specific names of them but she could see a purple and green one, a small white one, one that hasn't bloom yet, a pink one, and another white one with a bit of purple.

===0===

The sound of fire cracking fills the living room as the duo relax together. Or rather, only the Wind Spirit is, as her friend is clearly conflicted over something. No matter how subtle he tries to be, Sylph has simply to spend too much time around the purplette to know when something is bothering him.

Not that this hasn't happened before, Luka is a person prone to spiraling if not for all the reassuring words from his friend. And judging him over something he's clearly struggling with is the last thing on Sylph's mind.

To the Wind Spirit, Luka gave her a friend she could never have asked for. As long as he stays true to himself, she will always be there. She's willing to wait for Lukato tell her himself, but the more this goes on the more she has a feeling this goes beyond the usual thing.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." The respond came automatically. By the time he realized how fake it sounds, he grimaces.

"..."

She was impressed he could keep the eye contact for more than four seconds before faltering.

"I... have been getting these..." He started, sounding unsure of how to describe his feelings. "I guess you could call it a calling?"

"Like, a booty call?"

"Yea-Wait what?! No, what does that even mean?"

"So, it's not that then..." Said the spirit, now in a thinking pose as if she had just asked an important question.

"Right..."

"Hmm... what does it say?"

"Well, that's the reason I've been so conflicted..." Looking down, Luka took on a nervous look.

Sylph wondered then, what could have her friend in such a pickle?

A lightbulb appeared above her head.

"Ah."

===0===

His thumb ran across the end of Iris's handle as he walked back into their home. Inside, he findsSylph waiting for him in the pantry. The rest of the house has already been cleaned so all that's left is to pack up their stuff and go.

"How many do we need?" He asked, looking over her to all the preserve food they had. It ranges from dried fruits to spices and all the smoked fish he had prepared the daybefore. It all was neatly stored in order from the one that'll expire first to the last by the previous homeowner.

The pantry was a live saver back in the day (literally), if it weren't for all the preserved food he had found in here, Luka was sure he would have spent the first couple weeks hungry. His friend had said back then that the reason they were all still good was possibly due to the use of preservation magic of some sort.

He remembered asking the fairy if she could teach him how to but was disappointed that she didn't know how. A couple years later, he found out one of the books on the shelf was one explaining how to preserve food with the use of magic. Luka was excited at first, but soon remembered he was not literate enough to read through it. Just imagining Sylph teaching him how to read is enough to give the boy a migraine so he had simply asked for the wind to tell him the content of the book.

Having the wind itself be your teacher is certainly a strange, but surprisingly effective strategy as he would then learn how to read about every single book that he could find in the house. Whenever he would find a book he couldn't understand, he would have the wind translate the information into his mind and from there on decipher the language using his newly gained knowledge. Sylph had laugh when he told her about it, saying how he had cheated the educational system or something.

"Hmm..." The voice of his flying companion awoke him from his reminiscing, and he turned to the Wind Spirit looking through the whole pantry. "How big is our bag?"

Luka sighed exasperatedly, "No Sylph, we can't fill the whole bag with only food, we also needed space for other stuff as well." Not to mention the fact it would hinder his movement if it's too heavy.

She huffs. "Oh, fine..."

A few hours later, they finished packing up everything they would need for the journey ahead of them. Leaving them next to the front door for tomorrow, they headed upstairs for the night.

It's probably the last night they would be sleeping there, at least for a while before they came back after their journey had ended.

"Goodnight, Sylph..." He said, finding it a bit hard to fall asleep.

"..." Looking down, the fairy was already asleep on his chest as always.

He chuckles to himself, of course, and soon his consciousness drifted off like his friend.

===0===

Luka has no idea where he is.

That fact remains prominent as he observes his surrounding environment. Or a lack of it, seeing as there seems to be no ground under him, same goes forthe sky. All that's there is a dark emptiness with no end in sight. The purplette floating right in the middle of it all.

"..." It's rather strange how despite all of this that he remained calm and collected. Even when he realized he actually has no body to move at all.

He's no stranger to his mind playing tricks on him, either by giving him weirdly vivid dreams, or by making him live through the dark moment of his childhood again. But this does not feel like one of those instances. For starters, Luka is fully conscious and aware of everything around him. Something that usually only happens when the dream is nearing its end.

Another thing of note is the fact he has long since moved past his fear of the dark, why should he be afraid? The wind would tell him ifthere's something hiding in the dark. And the answer is always no.

The forest dweller would continue to simply exist in the darkness, a couple minutes passed by, and nothing has changed since then. That is until something did happen.

A verdant swirling-like pattern appeared in front of the young man.

It started off small at first but gets gradually bigger as time when on. The light emanating from it filled up the whole empty space and he instinctively tried to look away despite not being able to because ofhow bright it was.

He blinks, the feeling of air entering his lungs notifying him that he now has a body to move around in. Looking around, Luka gathers his bearing.

"Alright then..." Let's go through everything that has happened so far.

First, he went to sleep to prepare for tomorrow, then he woke up without a body in complete darkness.

...That's already a lot to unpack but moving on.

After that, he was left there, floating around aimlessly for a bit before the swirl started to showup.

Luka was kind of glad, in a way. If they hadn't then he has no idea what he would have done to pass the time.

And last but not least, he's now in what he could only describe as 'a bird's dream'. It's filled with clouds and instead of the usual accompanying blue, the sky around him was the color green. All of this only furthers his theory of it being a dream, however,the surreal feeling of being here is soon overridden by something else.

Looking down, the purplette realized hewas not wearing any clothes. He should be worried about that, and the fact he isn't is kind of jarring.

"Oh well..." He would have liked to at least keep his pants on.

And then it appeared; his pants that is. The same one he was wearing back when he fell asleep.

...

That's interesting. His mind started working, thinking of hundreds of thingshe could do.

So that he did, after regaining his clothing Luka begin experimenting on stuff he could and couldn't summon. First by calling for his friend Sylph, the Wind Spirit shows up in the form of a silhouette. Itflies around him just like its original counterpart would, but it disappears a moment later, not a trace remains.

Trying another one, he calls for a book to appear in his hand. When it did, he checked inside and found the content to be that of the ones he had the wind translate for him. So, despite having a different cover, can the book only be the one he had already read through?

Another thing is that the book did not disappear like other versions of his friend did, meaning inanimate objects must be easier to summon than anything that's alive.

Putting the book on the... sky below him, he decides to call for something weirder to test some of his other theories.

A giant radish materializes in front of him. Unlike the previous times he called for something, he could observe this one taking shape before it fell, the clouds around it being blown back by the impact.

"Woah..." Can he eat that? Should he?

The forest dweller eventually forgot about finding the answer to the strange place, busy with testing out any newfound idea he could came up with. So immersed in playing around that he lost track of time. And as the world around him began to slowly dissolve, Luka only realized now thanks to his senses getting muffledas time went on.

"Late..."

"!?" Turning around, Luka saw a perso- -hind- -voices- disto-ed- and their figu- -nguishable- behind the-overing them-

"-ave fun...?"

The question threw him for a loop, but he figures he might as well be honest as the wor- -ontinues t- he an-ers. "I did."

"I'm glad."

Up until this point, that was the clearest Luka could hear from them, and he falls down into the dark before he can reply.

===0===

The soft breathing of his friend greeted him as he awoke. Turning his head, he could see lights coming from the gap through the window. Indicating that it's already past morning time.

Though, that's not what is currently on the purplette's mind.

'This is it, today's the day...'

The day he has decided to leave his save heaven and venture outside.

He can feel it, even now. The wind is guiding, urging him to see what the world has to offer. Back then it wouldn't even cross his mind to ever attempt something like this, but after thinking about it for the past couple days, he just couldn't live with himself if he didn't at least try.

After all, the wind has never asked for any payment from him. It never got tired and ignored him. Patiently being there for him when he needed them. So now that the wind is asking him for something?

It's his turn to show his gratitude.

And along the way, who knows? Maybe he'll find what it means to live life to the fullest. Preferably, if possible, with his future friends next to him.

===0===

"Is everything ready?" He asked the question again.

The wind, being as patient as a saint, answers once more.

The answer being yes, it has been yes for quite a while now. Standing in front of his home was none other than the duo of Luka the forest dweller and his friend Sylph, the Wind Spirit. And they have both been standing there for the past couple hours now.

It's dumb, he knows that. But try as he might, leaving the place he had spent most of his life in, the place he was most comfortable in, to go into the unknown is much harder than just walking away.

He sighed, one hand gripping the strap of his bag and wondering if he should just quit while he's ahead. Sylph saw this however, and she wasn't about to let her friend's dream get abandoned by his nervousness!

"Alright!" Shouted the spirit, "We're gonna start this with a bang!" Before Luka could even ask her what she meant by that, he was promptly lifted off the ground he was standing on.

"Wha-?" Just then, the purplette found himself flung away from his save heaven by the wind. His vision was spinning as he tried to gather his bearing, his heart beating so hard he could feel it in his fingertips and when he heard his friend's laughter atop his head, he stopped panicking.

"We're spinning soooooo fast! YAHOOOOOOOO!"

'This... wasn't how I thought it would go...'

Recalling the wind around him, Luka took a deep breath. Keenly aware of the ground coming closer, he stomps below him, once more launching himself into the air and farther away from his save heaven.

'But...'

"Hey! Look! We can see the village already!"

A small smirk made its way into his face. Angling his body in a more aerodynamic fashion, he continued forward.

"...I wouldn't have it any other way."

There's a letter on her desk. More accurately, someone put a letter on her desk without her knowing when or who did it.

"...?" Donna simply raised an eyebrow at this.

The reason behind her confusion is due to the nature of her small village, where most people are friends and close to each other. There really is no need for someone to send her a letter like this when they could have easily just told her or her mother in person.

Another thing of note is that she was pretty sure she didn't leave the window open in her room. Now wide apart, some dried leaves from the hibernating trees outsidegot on her desk alongside the letter.

Her curtains dance around with the wind as she picks itup. Gently opening it so the cover doesn't rip, she begins to read the content of the letter.


Dear/-

Salutat/-

Howd/-

Hello Donna,

It's me Luka, and I'm writing this letter to you at the encouragement of my dear friend. I know that you must have a lot of questions regarding me and what has happened to the dryad that was running rampant in the forest on that day. And I completely understand if you're angry at me for just disappearing, so first thing first, I would like to apologies for leaving without telling you first.

You see, I'm not good at talking to people so if I see more than those that I was planning on having a conversation with show up, I will immediately run away. It's a bad habit that I've been meaning to get rid of for a while now. As for the dryad, you and the rest of the monster living in the forest don't have to worry about her anymore. My friend and I managed to put her in a pacified state and ever since then we've been thinking of ways to properly deal with her.

Other than that, I think it would be best to inform you that I'll be leaving the Forest of Spirits for a while. Now, this does not mean that I would not be coming back, because I definitely would. I'm telling you this in case you were looking for me. I hope that someday, after I'm back from my journey, we can properly talk to each other, as friends.

From Luka,

(I don't have a signature, so I didn't know what to put here.)


...

...

...

She stares at the letter in her hand in a mixture of emotions steering in her. Having read the part where Luka had expressed his reserve nature, a part of her felt happy, a bit giddy even, that the young man had been bold enough to even send her the letter.

On the other hand, Donna couldn't help but feel a wave of disappointment deep inside. Knowing her savior would be going away for -what she assumes from the letter - a while.

Then the elf had a thought, if Lukawere now confident enough to send her a letter. Given a bit more time, who's to say that by the time he returns he wouldn't be fine with meeting her in person? If that were to happen...

Her face brightens, a newborn hope settling in her heart.

One day, when he came back, they could finally have that proper meeting she had always wanted. And since elves are monsters with a long lifespan, she could afford to wait for him no matter how long it takes.

"One day..." Donna whispers to herself, holding the precious letter close to her chest.

===0===

"Now..." He steadies himself on top of the tall tree. "Where to?"

The wind responds in kind, guiding him towards the vast land before him.

Luka looks ahead, anunsettling feeling greets him as he stares in the direction.

"South it is then..."

END OF CHAPTER


Author's note: If the story so far has been kind of bland, or a slug to read through, then you don't have to worry for long. Now the story is going to move a bit faster. Not because I wanted to get it over with as fast as possible, but so that it fits the narrative.

The introduction phase is over, and I don't want to bore both myself and the reader with a bunch of slow chapters. So, it made sense for the pacing to kick into the next gear. If I make any glaring mistakes, please tell me in the review section.

Next up, a certain succubus is not having a good time.