Chapter 1 — The Forest That Sings
The sun rose over the Liengale Mountains, casting a warm golden veil across the ancient forest of Elarion. Here, the trees grew taller than towers, their leaves shimmering with soft emerald light. Flowers glowed faintly along the mossy ground, releasing tiny particles of magic that floated like dust made of stars.
At the heart of this enchanted place lay Eloria Village—home of the Emerald Elves, a gentle race born from the breath of nature itself. Their silver hair reflected moonlight, their eyes glowed like polished gemstones, and their ears tapered elegantly like leaves.
By the Moonspirit Lake, a young elf stood alone.
Aeris Lyselle, her hair pale as mist, watched the water ripple in rhythmic pulses of blue light. Whenever the breeze touched the lake’s surface, the glow brightened—as if the forest itself were singing.
“It still won’t appear…” Aeris whispered, clutching the necklace against her chest.
The necklace was the last thing her mother had left behind before she disappeared five years ago. Engraved on its center was a symbol Aeris had never seen before—one she hoped the Guardian Spirit of the Forest could interpret.
Today, like every day, the spirit did not show.
Aeris sighed.
Just then—
FWOOOSH!
A streak of brilliant white light tore across the sky.
Not like a falling star.
Not like magic.
More like something… crashing.
The forest trembled. Birds burst into the air. The lake’s glow flickered violently.
Aeris gasped and sprinted toward the direction of the impact, pushing past glowing ferns and twisting roots. Her heart raced—not with fear, but with the intuition that something was about to change.
She reached a small clearing.
And froze.
There, lying in a shallow crater of crushed grass and floating embers, was a boy.
A human boy.
His clothes were torn, strange metallic pieces wrapped around his arm like broken armor. His dark hair fell over closed eyes, his breaths shallow but steady. A faint warmth of magic—foreign, unstable—radiated from him.
Aeris took a cautious step forward.
“W–what are you… doing in the Emerald Realm?” she murmured.
Humans weren’t allowed here.
They couldn’t even enter unless—
Unless the forest let them.
A soft glow drifted from beneath the boy’s hand.
Aeris leaned closer and saw an emblem engraved onto a small device he carried.
Her breath hitched.
It was the same symbol as the one on her necklace.
“No way…” she whispered. “Why would you have this?”
The boy stirred, eyebrows furrowing in pain.
Aeris knelt beside him, her fingertips glowing with gentle magic. A healing spell bloomed beneath her hands, shimmering like tiny butterflies of light.
When her magic touched him, his eyes snapped open.
Bright.
Warm.
Human.
He gasped and grabbed her wrist, startled.
Aeris yelped, nearly losing her balance.
“You—Who are you?!” he demanded, voice weak but desperate. “Where… am I?”
“You’re in Elarion,” she said, equally shocked. “The land of elves.”
His grip loosened.
“Elves…? That can’t be…”
“You fell from the sky,” Aeris said firmly. “And you shouldn’t even be here.”
The boy sat up slowly, grimacing in pain.
“My name… is Kaito.”
A strange name—unlike any used in Eloria.
He looked around with wide, disbelieving eyes as the glowing plants brightened in curiosity, as if greeting him.
“This place isn’t on any map,” he whispered. “I… wasn’t supposed to end up here.”
Aeris studied him carefully.
His arrival.
His strange armor.
The identical symbol.
Her heart beat faster.
“Why do you carry the same emblem as my mother?” she asked softly.
Kaito stared at her.
“…Your mother?”
For a moment, neither spoke.
The forest held its breath, as if waiting.
And in that silence, Aeris realized something:
This boy’s appearance wasn’t an accident.
It was a beginning.
