Gifts from the Fairies

"You smiled! You finally smiled again, Kenneth!"

Only after Kenneth heard Fay's happy screams did the prince finally realize that everyone had been worrying about his mood all this time. Even though Kenneth hadn't known Fay and the others for long, they seemed to genuinely care about his feelings after they returned from the fight.

Even Gaia, who had been fighting earlier, showed a genuine smile when she heard Kenneth finally laugh freely. The shy Aqua also chuckled because of Kenneth. They were all truly happy just because of his laughter.

Kenneth unconsciously squeezed his chest. It felt like Kenneth couldn't get used to the warm feeling that was filling his heart.

"Thank you. This is all thanks to you guys."

"D, don't thank us so quickly, Kenneth. Gaia, is all right now, right?"

"Ah, of course, you were able to heal her. And Fay, you were also able to return the sword to her."

Fay nodded, then showed the sword that was made to fly using her wind magic. Kenneth could recognize the sword as his own. The prince let out a sigh of relief when he saw where the sword was. Earlier, for a moment, Kenneth almost thought he had lost his most precious sword.

"Gaia?"

But before the sword could fall into Kenneth's hands, Gaia had already taken the sword using her magic. The earth fairy smiled slightly, especially when she saw Kenneth furrow his brows in confusion because of her actions.

"Unfortunately, for the time being, I may have to keep your sword, Kenneth. As I said before, we have agreed to make you stronger than this. And to do that, we must be able to increase your mana capacity and physical strength in a short time."

Gaia flicked herself, and the chest containing Kenneth's sword disappeared from their sight. At first, Kenneth was still a little worried because his sword was being kept by someone else. But after hearing that the elemental fairies were willing to help him get stronger, Kenneth finally agreed to entrust his sword to Gaia for the time being.

"And to do that, you want me to not use my sword for a while?" Kenneth asked to be sure.

"Exactly! Ah, your student is very clever, Kegan!" Gaia praised enthusiastically. Kegan rolled his eyes in boredom when he heard Gaia's voice. If it was Gaia who spoke, Kegan would never know when Gaia was genuinely praising him or speaking while being subtle.

"Now that Aqua has healed you, it's time to give you the second gift. Follow us, Kenneth. We'll take you to a fun place after this."

After being healed by Aqua, Kenneth felt much better, so he no longer had difficulty walking and followed where the fairies took him. Slowly, Kenneth felt that he was being taken to a fairly warm place. The temperature in the place continued to rise until Kenneth was finally close enough to see that the fairies were taking him to an open-air hot spring pool.

"This place..."

"You feel it too, right? Even though this place doesn't have as much mana as the tree of life, the mana in this place is still thick enough to help you replenish your mana," Fay explained. The fairy smiled broadly, then continued her explanation to Kenneth enthusiastically.

"Of course, this place doesn't only function as a place to recharge mana. What's even more valuable... This hot spring pool filled with mana can strengthen the flow of mana in your body so that you can be more adept at using mana than ordinary humans."

After hearing Fay's explanation, Kenneth could hardly believe that the fairies were willing to show him such a great place. Kenneth looked at Fay with a guilty look. "Is it really okay if I use this place?" he asked worriedly.

Fay replied to Kenneth's question with a nod. "Of course! This is the gift we've prepared for you, Kenneth!" she answered confidently.

Kenneth fell silent because he doubted whether what he did for Audoran Forest was worthy of such a valuable gift. In the Avalanche Continent, a place filled with mana had always been priceless. Even if the quality was not as good as the hot springs in front of him, people were always willing to pay a high price to go to a place that could help them improve their magical abilities naturally.

Thanks to that, people who wanted to go usually had to make an appointment several months in advance just to go to such a place. Unfortunately, even though Kenneth was a prince from a wealthy kingdom, this was the first time Kenneth had been able to go to such a valuable place.

"Of course, we won't permit you to go to this place for free. As I said before, since our main goal is to make you strong enough to protect Audoran Forest, you have to go through the same labyrinth every day to get here."

Kenneth's thoughts were interrupted when Gaia continued her words. Going through the same labyrinth meant that Kenneth would have to fight the golems guarding the labyrinth until his mana ran out every day.

"Are you up to it?"

This time, the one who asked Kenneth was Kegan, who would be the prince's fire magic teacher. Kenneth nodded confidently. He felt more than grateful for being given a place to train and improve his skills in the Audoran Forest.

"Of course. I'll be under your guidance from now on."

"Hmph."

Although Kegan wasn't as honest as the other fairies, who immediately smiled after hearing Kenneth's answer, his softened eyes were enough to show that he was also starting to soften towards the prince. Gaia urged them to give Kenneth some space in the hot spring after that. One by one, the fairies began to leave for other places. However, as soon as Gaia wanted to leave, Kenneth immediately called her name and made Gaia stop flapping her wings.

"Those golems... if you can create something as powerful as them, why don't you use them to protect the Audoran Forest from threats?" Kenneth asked.

Gaia shrugged helplessly after that. "What can big, slow golems like them do besides being punching bags, Human? Besides, using them takes too much of my magic power. Using them in the deepest part of the mana-rich Audoran Forest might be fine. But using them outside of this area is highly inefficient," Gaia explained.

"Besides, in normal situations, I'm not a direct fighter like Kegan, Fay, or even Aqua. I prefer to be a supporter or trap enemies like I did to you here."

"I see..."

Gaia let Kenneth's mind busy itself, then intended to continue her journey again. But before she left, Gaia turned to look at Kenneth again. The earth fairy smiled, then asked something she should have known long ago.

"What is your name, Human?"

"My name is Kenneth."

Even though Kenneth knew Gaia should have known his name from Fay, the prince still answered the question quickly. Gaia nodded slightly after that. "Okay, Kenneth. You can call me Gaia from now on. Your fire teacher is called Kegan, while the water fairy who healed you is called Aqua. I don't know why you seem embarrassed to call us by our names like what you did to Fay. But from now on, I want you to call our names the same as you have called Fay's name all this time."

Kenneth smiled because Gaia said it. "Okay, Gaia. I will remember it from now on," he told her.