" It seems that you have the same ability as the former Rune Mage of Arcana, Yume Hoshino, although yours is a little specific being tied to one of the rarest element there is" said Leyana as she studied my Status. She has been analyzing this square box for an hour now.

"Its the first time I've heard of my predecessor, so she's a champion from a nation called Arcana huh" I stated, also noting in my mind that ice was a pretty rare element in this world.

'It may be because that Goddess is like that, is that why?' I mused the reason for its rarity

"...Indeed she was.." she paused as she heard the word Arcana. I looked at her, raising my brow to her reaction to my reply.

"Enough about that Colt, so how does this work?" She asked steering the conversation

I was suspicious of her reaction but I ignored it nonetheless as it seemed unimportant to the discussion.

"Well first of all, I can only write the thing on surfaces, second, it uses internal arcane. That's all I know for now seeing as I haven't tried to activate it once" 

"Very peculiar indeed and you shouldn't use it yet, your current circuit capacity will lead you to fainting if you try to make a spell" she warned.

"Mages normally make magic circles on empty spaces but your power is limited to what you said but it skips the whole circle formation so it must mean it is faster to cast although it has clear limitations" she stated as she stared at the screen.

"Well Im a wierd mage, what can I say~" I boasted.

"I don't think 'mage' is the right word to describe you. Mages are intellectuals after all, they focus more on accumulating knowledge to become more adept" she argued as she looked at me with a raised brow.

"Oi" I said offended. 

"Im an intellectual myself~" I said as I quickly shut off my status. All those knowledge about the world through textbooks (mostly from novels) makes me an intellectual.

"Ah" she gasped as it dissapeared.

"...I was still reading it.." she said in an annoyed tone

"What else is there to read, you've been reading it for an hour! besides you've offended this mage" I crossed my arms.

"See..this is what Im saying, your clearly not an intellectual" she said.

"Enough about me...say where exactly is this Dragon's Jaw Forest?" I asked, this question lingering on my mind for three days already.

She immediately straightened her posture, making herself seemed poised.

"It seems that someone is in need of my knowledge. I shall gladly tell you, be thankful Colt" she haughtily said.

"...." she's been doing this everytime I ask her a question.

'What's up with Ilerian royalty man?' I thought as I got a sense of imbalance from how she coldly treated me from a while back.

*Cough* she glanced at me, still maintaining her posture.

"Yes thanks for enlightening me Leyana (Lol)~" I replied.

"...Hey are you mocking me? you always say this 'Lol' word when you thank me" she glared at me.

"Of course not~ its just an honorific, dont mind~. Anyway  explain away" I waved my hand

" Hmmmm highly suspicious...I will investigate this later. Our destination is located Southwest, near the South border. It is connected to the Dragon King Mountains, a highly dangerous place where even Aulerio's altereds couldn't invade in the past. It is also the center separating the 10 nations in Foleria" she said as she pointed her finger up.

"Interesting...,so basically its a dangerous place right?" I asked, sweating a little bit.

"Absolutely. My father, the King, trained there in his youth including my mother. After they came out of there they became one of the strongest warriors in Foleria" she said in a proud tone, not noticing the dread on my face.

'Oh God and we're going to that kind of place! Take me back!' I lamented inside.

"Ok thanks for the info..." I said, depressed.

"Why stop there Colt? arent you an intellectual? So you must know all about the geographical information about Ileria, it will surely be useful in the future" she said in a serious tone, a grin forming in the edges of her red lips.

"...Nah I'm cool with ju-" I tried declining but she stared at me with her red eyes.

"Right Colt?..." She said still staring at me

"....it won't take long right?" I asked although I had an idea that what she was about to say is a lie.

"Of course! So anyway, West here is where-" she started yammering, continuing on and on till we had to camp at night.

-----

"I'm never asking you questions again.." I said grudgingly at my seatmate as she ate elegantly, her manner reflecting her noble birth.

"What? Speak up Colt" she said, seemingly not hearing my perfectly hearable voice as she continued to eat, she was sitting in front of me. The chair being a long log and the food still a damn soup.

'This prick!' I mused, veins forming on my forehead. I looked to the side where the twins where eating, sitting on another log away from us. 

Both were still at cold war. I sighed, not knowing what I can do for them since it was a family issue.

"What's wrong Colt? You know its rude manners to sigh when in front of food" she scolded, pointing her spoon at me.

"Its nothing and you know its rude to point at people with a spoon, aren't you supposed to be a princess?" I scolded back

Her eyes widened, then she looked down, munching on the spoon as shades of red could be seen on her cheeks. I paused looking at her, realizing that I haven't seen her interact with the twins.

"Hey Leyana, have you already talked with Ben and Rea?" I asked.

"...No I haven't. I only had greeted them at the meeting point at the capital.." she said 

"Then why don't you talk to them? You're also going to be with them the whole two  months so might as well get along~" I said, parroting the words of our driver/instructor/superior.

She stayed silent as her hands stopped moving the spoon. I waited for her to respond, a minute having gone by.

"I..I don't think they will like that seeing that I didn't courteously interacted with them until now...thanks to someone making me in a bad mood" she said depressed although the last part didn't need to be added.

"They're not that kind of people~ honestly I think they want to get close to you. Those two like making friends after all~" 

"But do it separately, you know why right?" I asked just to make sure.

"..Of course, anyone with a normal sensibility could realize what's going on with those two siblings....unlike a certain someone when he barged in a certain conversation" she proclaimed specifically at the end.

'They're really alike, these royal pain in the a**' I thought, reminded of a blonde annoying dude.

"Just go" I sighed as I gestured her to speak with them.

She nodded, having a resolved look in her eyes as she walked toward Ben first. I finished eating in the meantime as I passed the time by practicing writing my rune but this time using a finger gun stance.

After a while it was getting late as I yawned, deciding it was time for lights out. I looked towards Leyana and Rea waving at each other as they both got into their respective tents.

'Seems like their getting along just well~' I mused as I entered the tent, waiting for tommorrow to come.

-----

We were heading out as the afternoon came, our driver decided to stop for a couple of minutes to gather some supplies from a nearby village. All of us were doing our own thing, feeling excited or anxious as we got closer to Dragon's Jaw Forest.

"Hey Colt! Its been a while" Rea said as she greeted me with a smile.

"Oh hey there, it really has been" I greeted back, noticing that she was in a good mood for change.

'Seems like making friends with Leyana made her happy...Im glad' I mused, looking at her with a relieved expression.

"Hey Colt, get this...last night the princess talked to me out of the blue!" She whispered as she got excited at the end.

"I always wanted to meet a real princess! I thought that she was cold at first since she only greeted us only once but it turns out that she's a really cute girl and she's a real beauty too. I can't get enough of looking at her! Why are you seatmates with her!? It should be me instead grrrr" she excitedly went into fangirling over Leyana, with her complaining at me as an addition.

'I knew it would come to this' I thought, knowing her admirations for princesses since she was a kid.

 It can't also be denied that Leyana is a real beauty with her white skin that seemed to glow, her red eyes that seem to suck you in and that platinum hair that seems to reflect rays of light, plus her figure comes close to the golden ratio. So it was understandable that this childhood friend of mine is going crazy over her.

'Its taking all my sanity just to talk with that woman honestly' I sighed

"Hey Colt are you listening!?" shouted Rea. It seems that I was zoning out.

"Oh sorry~ my head were in the clouds just now" I made an excuse on the spot.

"Seriously you should pay attention more Colt, anyways have you heard that all three of us will go through the same training regime. Mr. Harold said so" Rea said after scolding me.

"Wait what!? Why do I get the same training regime as yours? Im supposed to be a mage right?" I asked hysterical about this sudden information.

"Since when were you a mage Colt Pelter?" asked someone from my back. When I turned around I saw Mrs. Nellie.

"...Am I not?" I asked, feeling tense.

"Obviously you're not. You have internal circuits and the only way to improve it is train like a warrior would,your case just adds to your skills since you can use magic albeit a little differently. That is the reason why you will also learn how to fight close quarters seeing how it would be wasted if you didn't, given you have a warriors body" she thus ended her explanation.

"Im going to fight like a warrior?...Im not a mage?..not a mage.." I repeated, staring blankly at my hands.

"Yes Colt you-are-not-a-mage, in this case your more like a magic knight or rune knight for that matter" she stated proudly, seemingly having thought up of a good description.

"Not a mage...mage...mage...mage-" I continued to mutter, my eyes devoid of light. 

"Hey Colt are you ok!?" asked worriedly by Rea as she shook my shoulders.

------

After that it was all a blur. I managed to get on the carriage but my mind was wandering all over the place. Leyana was looking at me with worried eyes all throughout the trip. As the carriage stopped I looked up as Leyana shook me.

"Hey Colt we're here so get a grip ok" she said in a worried tone.

"Uhuh..." I replied weakly as I went outside the carriage. Our drivers greeting us with open arms.

""Welcome Cadets! This is where your hell begins! This is Dragon's Jaw Forest!"" Both of them shouted with huge grins on their faces.

A look of shock was plastered on all three of our faces. A land without a shade of green, multiple rock formations decorating the place as several mountains, hills and spikes of stones jutted out everywhere, this view expanded all the way to the horizon. Only one thought came to our minds when we saw this scenery.

""" Where the hell is the 'Forest' in this place!?""" Those were our thoughts as we realized we just got bamboozled.