The boy turned his head to the side, curious about the strange sound he'd just heard.
"Who's there?" he called out, his voice uncertain but steady.
Lucas was hiding behind a tall tree, pressing his hand tightly over his mouth to keep himself quiet.
'Crap, I didn't mean to speak out loud,' he thought, panicking. 'What should I do?!'
The boy called out again, this time louder. "Show yourself!"
He raised his hand, pointing it toward the tree where Lucas was hiding.
Lucas's heart raced. Earlier, he had watched the boy use magic to blast a hole straight through another tree. If the boy used the same kind of magic on the tree Lucas was hiding behind, things might not go well for him.
Suddenly, Lucas heard the faint sound of water gathering behind him, like a stream getting ready to burst. He started to tremble, thinking of the worst-case scenario.
'Wait… why am I even hiding?' he thought, a bit surprised at himself. 'Do I really need to be this scared of another person, just about my age? I mean he is a human, not a monster.'
After a moment of hesitation, Lucas made a decision. Slowly, he stepped out from behind the tree, both hands raised to show he meant no harm.
"Please don't hurt me!" Lucas said, his voice shaking.
The boy's eyes widened, clearly surprised.
'Hold on… isn't he the one I brought home?' the boy thought, looking at Lucas. 'Why is he out here? Isn't he supposed to be resting.'
Seeing the boy lower his hand, Lucas felt his heart calm down a little. 'Thank God,' he thought. 'I really thought he was going to attack me.'
Lucas was about to say something to explain why he'd been hiding, but the boy spoke first.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, a hint of confusion in his voice.
Lucas blinked, staring back at him. 'Huh? What does he mean?'
"Uh… sorry, I don't really understand what you mean," Lucas replied, feeling a bit confused himself.
The boy seemed to realize something. Lucas had probably never seen him before since he'd passed out before they'd met properly.
The truth was, the boy—whose name was Eldric—had been the one to find Lucas. Eldric was an adventurer, and he'd been sent to get rid of some goblins that were roaming the forest nearby. But on his way, he'd spotted a boy around his own age running, looking very tired and worn out. Eldric had wanted to approach him, but before he could, the boy had collapsed. That boy was Lucas.
After a short pause, Eldric sighed. "My name is Eldric," he said. "I was the one who found you when you collapsed. I brought you back to my house to get you treated."
Lucas stared at him, stunned. "Huh?" he muttered, trying to process what he'd just heard. "Wait… seriously?" He'd been so sure that the person who helped him was Dr. Sebastian.
"Oh! Thank you so much for helping me, Sir Eldric!" Lucas said, giving him an awkward smile. "I'm Lucas. And… I'm sorry for hiding from you like that. Something happened to me recently that's made me a little cautious."
Eldric let out another sigh. "It's fine," he replied, sounding slightly annoyed. "But shouldn't you be resting? When I found you, you were in really bad shape. And just call me Eldric."
"Well… Dr. Sebastian did tell me to rest," Lucas admitted. "But I got really curious about this place."
"Curious?" Eldric repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Lucas replied, glancing around at the trees and flowers. "I come from a place far away, and we don't have this much flowers there. It's so beautiful here… I couldn't help myself."
Eldric looked at him for a long moment, then gave a small nod. "Alright, but you really should head back now. You need to let your body rest before you start walking around too much."
Lucas's face fell a little. 'Why is he acting so cold?' he thought.
But Lucas didn't want to go back just yet. There was something he'd seen here, something beautiful and amazing, something he'd never seen before. It was magic. He felt like he had to ask about it.