Chapter 1: Would You Be My Friend?

"…it is said that to master all the elements of the world, one must face the harsh reality of the world."

The old man, Ji-Ho, closed the book and looked at the children.

"This world is very cruel." Ji-Ho continued,

"People are judged by their element. So, kids, never forget to respect everyone, even those with almost no element."

The kids nodded their heads in curiosity, eager to learn more about the world and its harsh realities.

Few days later,

Few boys surrounded a girl, laughing and jeering.

"You're so weak, you don't deserve to be our friend" one of them said.

"Yeah, you're so pathetic" another added.

The girl cowered in fear, tears streaming down her face. "Please don't do this to me,"

She begged. "I'll be stronger, I promise. I'll do my best."

The boys laughed again.

"You'll never be strong enough" one of them said.

"You're just a weakling."

Just then, one of the girls stepped forward and raised her hand. A ball of water formed in her palm, and she hurled it at the girl. The water ball hit the girl square in the chest, knocking her to the ground.

The girl lay on the ground, sobbing. Everyone laughed and started to walk away, but then a mysterious voice from the back called out.

"Hold it right there, you!"

The bullies stopped and turned around, but found no one.

"W-w-w-Who are you?" asked one of them, shaking with fear.

"Me? I am the voice of this forest. I am the savior of this forest. And you are not allowed here."

The voice was deep and booming, and it seemed to come from all around them. The bullies felt a chill run down their spines.

They looked at each other, fear in their eyes.

"We're sorry," said one of the bullies.

"We didn't mean to hurt her."

"It's too late for that," said the mysterious voice.

"You have already caused her pain. Now you must leave this instant or a terrible curse will fall upon you from the dark and mysterious forest."

The bully group turned and ran away, as fast as they could. They didn't stop running until they were far away from the forest.

Sang-Woo appeared from the shadows, his hand outstretched to her.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

The girl looked up at him, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

"That was you?" She asked.

"Yeah, that was me," he replied, his face flushed with embarrassment.

The girl laughed out loud, her laughter quickly turning to tears. She wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

Sang-Woo smiled and asked.

"By the way, I'm Sang-Woo Yoon. What is your name?"

"My name is Se-Yeon" She replied.

"Hi Se-Yeon, it's a pleasure meeting you." Replied with a big smile on his face.

"So," Sang-Woo asked, "Who were they anyway?"

"I wanted to explore the forest so I joined a guild with them. Everything was going fine until today…"

****Earlier this morning****

In the middle of the woods fighting with a jungle magical wolf

"Mr. Min throw a fire burst to the wolf" shouted at Mr. Min

"You got it Mr. Won" replied.

Mr. Min raised his hand, the fire began to shape into a ball, and throws the burst attack. The attack was not much powerful. But it scratched the wolf a little.

"Ms. Han, throw your water ball crystal... now." Shouted to Ms. Han.

"On it, Mr. Won" replied

She raised her both arms and enchanted,

"Ohh heavenly soul, let this liquid crystal be bold!"

As Ms. Han was chanting a spell. The wolf jumped at them very quickly. Everyone dodged the wolf, but Se-Yeon was caught off guard. She was still casting her shield. The wolf hit her and she fell to the ground. Everyone looked at Se-Yeon as the wolf ran away. Se-Yeon was hurt.

"You're so weak that you can't even protect yourself…" said Ms. Han.

****Now****

"I see, so that's what happened" Sang-Woo said.

"But it's not your fault. They should have been more careful. It was supposed to be a team effort."

Se-Yeon hung her head in shame.

"But it was me" she said, her voice barely above a whisper

"I let the team down. I was weak and couldn't support them."

Her eyes filled with tears again.

"I can never make any friends if I'm this much weak" she said.

"And I'm sure you don't want to be my friend either"

"It's okay to cry" Sang-Woo said.

"Crying is a way of letting out your emotions. And it's okay to be weak sometimes. We all are"

"And about being friend" He added.

"Would you like to be my friend? Ms. Yeon? I don't mind how weak you are or what you think about yourself, But I want to be friend with you. I can guarantee you my friendship."

Se-Yeon looked at him with wide-open, sparkled eyes. She nodded her head slightly, unable to speak. And then, she started to cry. She cried tears of happiness, tears of relief, tears of joy. She had finally found a friend.

"Also, I lost my way here… could you help me with the direction?" Sang-Woo asked, his face turning red with embarrassment.