"YOU!"
The silver-haired elf suddenly jumped to her feet.
"A FOGO!"
I blinked.
"What?"
"THE LAST NATURE BREATHING USER!"
Her eyes were wide with shock.
The other elves immediately reacted.
"What?!"
"A Fogo?"
"That's impossible!"
"After all these years?"
They started whispering among themselves.
I looked around at them.
Then I looked at myself.
Then back at them.
"Okay..."
I raised my hands.
"Can someone please explain what the fuck Nature Breathing is?!"
The words came out louder than I intended.
Everyone went quiet.
I'd heard those words way too many times in the last few hours.
The strange man had called me the last Nature Breathing user.
I'd somehow used something called Nature Breathing during a tennis match.
And now these elves were acting like I'd just announced I was the king of the universe.
"What is it?" I demanded.
"Does it mean I can control plants?"
I looked at a nearby tree.
"Because I've always been pretty good with trees."
Nobody laughed.
Great.
I continued.
"Can I make forests grow?"
Still nothing.
"Can I turn into a tree?"
The elves finally started whispering again.
"I can't believe it..."
"A Fogo descendant!"
"My grandmother used to tell stories about them."
"They could supposedly make entire forests bloom overnight."
"The last one was supposed to have disappeared centuries ago."
"Could this really be him?"
I stared at them.
"Guys?"
They kept talking.
I raised my voice.
"GUYS!"
The silver-haired elf finally waved her hands.
"Everyone, calm down!"
The others slowly quieted.
But their expressions remained filled with excitement.
I heard bits of their conversation.
"The prophecy..."
"The Breath..."
"He could change the war..."
"He's just a child..."
"Can he even control it?"
I frowned.
What prophecy?
What war?
And why was everyone acting like I was some legendary hero?
I didn't feel like a legendary hero.
I felt like a tired kid who wanted to go home.
The scarred elf walked toward me.
He placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Listen, kid."
His voice was much calmer now.
"Whatever you've been through, you're not alone anymore."
I looked up at him.
"Welcome to the world of the elves."
He smiled.
"We've been waiting for someone like you."
Before I could ask what that was supposed to mean...
I heard something.
A strange melody.
Twang...
I looked around.
"Twang..."
The sound seemed to come from everywhere.
It reminded me of a sitar.
Or maybe a tanpura.
Or a guitar.
Honestly, I had no idea.
But the deeper the melody became, the more the ground beneath us began to vibrate.
"Uh..."
I looked down.
"Is the ground supposed to do that?"
Nobody answered.
The earth suddenly rippled.
Then a massive doorway appeared beneath our feet.
It wasn't a normal door.
It looked like someone had drawn a doorway directly onto the ground...
and then made the drawing real.
The edges glowed faintly.
Before anyone could react—
WHOOSH!
The door opened.
And we fell.
"AAAAAAAH!"
Everyone screamed.
I grabbed at the air.
There was nothing there.
We dropped into complete darkness.
Wind rushed past my face.
My stomach felt like it had been left somewhere above.
"WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?!"
Then—
THUD!
I landed on something soft.
Grass.
I opened my eyes.
I stared.
We were standing in a beautiful meadow.
Wildflowers covered the ground.
Butterflies floated through the air.
Birds sang somewhere in the distance.
The grass was bright green, and tiny glowing plants dotted the landscape.
For the first time that day...
I wasn't terrified.
I was amazed.
"This place is..."
I looked around.
"...beautiful."
One of the elves laughed.
"First time through a tunnel?"
I looked at her.
"A tunnel?"
She nodded.
"You get used to it."
She shrugged.
"Usually after about ten falls."
"TEN?!"
She laughed.
"That one was a short trip. Straight to the outer gardens."
I stared at the meadow.
"So this is the Elven Enclave?"
"One part of it."
Before I could ask what she meant, the strange melody returned.
Twang...
I slowly looked upward.
"Oh, no."
Another doorway appeared in the sky.
I pointed at it.
"Please tell me that's not another—"
The door opened.
We fell again.
"AAAAAAAH!"
This time, we landed in sand.
Hot sand.
Extremely hot sand.
I immediately jumped up.
"OW!"
The sunlight was brutal.
A desert stretched in every direction.
Sand whipped across my face, and heat shimmered above the ground.
I coughed.
"Where are we now?!"
The female elf wiped sand from her clothes.
"The Desert Gate."
She smiled.
"It's one of the Enclave's training grounds."
I stared at her.
"You have a training ground that tries to cook people?"
"Pretty much."
I sighed.
"This place is insane."
She laughed.
"You'll get used to it."
"That's what you said last time!"
Before she could answer, the melody played again.
I looked up.
Another doorway appeared.
"No."
I pointed at it.
"Absolutely not."
The door opened.
We fell again.
This time, we landed on marble.
I slowly sat up.
"...Okay."
I looked around.
This place was completely different.
We were inside a huge hall with polished marble floors and towering walls.
Ancient tapestries covered the walls.
They showed elven warriors, strange creatures, battles, and enormous monsters I'd never seen before.
Floating blue lights illuminated the room.
The air smelled like incense and old books.
I stood up.
For some reason, I felt strangely calm here.
After everything I'd experienced that day...
this place felt safe.
I looked at the elves.
"Where are we?"
The silver-haired elf smiled.
"The heart of the Elven Enclave."
She turned toward the enormous doors at the end of the hall.
"Welcome, Tom Fogo."
I stared ahead.
I had no idea what awaited me beyond those doors.
But I knew one thing.
My old life was over.
And my new one...
was about to begin.