The Grumbling Cry of the Beast

The royal family was the direct descendant of the great hero Arthur. Sharing the bloodline of the man who once saved the world, the royal family of Sheldiawald Kingdom had been known for their exceptional magical talent for hundreds of years. Even the current King was a master of three elements despite being only in his fifties.

Magic talent greatly depended on one’s mana capacity, and not every royal member had exceptional magical talent. Regardless, sharing the bloodline of the Great Hero, most of them were talented mages in their own right. It wasn’t surprising for a royal member to master three elements before turning sixty.

The crown prince of the Kingdom of Sheldiawald was eighteen years old, a third-year student in the advanced course at Athenya. His name was Henry. Prince Henry was also a promising mage, and he had begun training to master his second element at such a young age. Obviously, to support his magical growth, even the prince of Sheldiawald was sent to its pride and joy, the world-renowned magic academy, Athenya.

Athenya Institute of Magic was an enormous campus situated just outside the borders of the royal capital. It took about an hour to travel there from the royal palace by carriage. Since it housed numerous facilities to provide the utmost support for magical studies, training, and research—including accommodations for students and the staff—such a large area of land was hardly an exaggeration.

“It was a splendid display, Your Highness. I noticed that your precision has improved considerably.” Standing next to Prince Henry, Lucas, the prince’s aide, praised his master.

“I think I could make it better. It felt slower than I expected,” replied the golden-blonde-haired prince calmly, staring at his hand. His green eyes shimmered like polished peridots, yet his face showed little expression. “I guess I just have to train more.”

Grabbing his uniform robe from his aide, the prince then proceeded to leave the Combat Training Ground.

Following right behind him, Lucas said, “You have a schedule to attend to this evening, Your Highness.”

“Right. I guess my self-training session has to wait.”

The Combat Training Ground was located quite far from the Academic Buildings to prevent any disturbance, and the two had just finished their combat training class early.

On their way back to their class, the prince suddenly remembered something. “I saw your performance earlier, too. Your skills have improved as well.”

“Coming from you, Your Highness, I shall take that as high praise. Though I still have a long way to go before I can catch up to you.”

Prince Henry paused and turned to face his dear cousin. “You aim to catch up to me?” he asked with a straight face.

Lucas squinted at him, his lips twisting into a small frown. Seeing this, the prince flashed a mischievous smirk before continuing on his way.

Lucas, the prince’s aide, was also a descendant of the Great Hero Arthur. He was the cousin of the Crown Prince and his childhood friend. They were the same age. He had light blonde hair and green eyes tinged with blue, features that reflected his royal lineage, though they were less striking than those of his prince cousin.

Once they reached their class, Lucas excused himself. “I’ll go ahead and make sure the carriage is ready, Your Highness.”

Prince Henry gave him a little nod and took a seat, tidying up his desk.

A few students were already sitting in the classroom. They were chatting among themselves, waiting for the last bell to ring.

“Have you heard about the rumour?”

“The Ghost of Athenya?”

“It’s the first-year student, right?”

“Is that real?”

“Speaking of first-years, the student who disappeared was also a first-year, right?”

“Oh, now that you mentioned it, I heard that the missing student was also eaten by the Ghost of Athenya!”

“What’s going on with the first-years, really?”

“No way such a ghost exists!”

“But no one has ever seen her, yet the teachers keep taking her attendance!”

Ridiculous. Henry overheard their conversation but paid it no mind.

Dong—dong—dong!

Prince Henry, noticing that his aide was still not back, decided to walk straight to the main entrance himself. So the prince left the classroom and made his way down the long hallway, heading towards the exit of the advanced course wing. His carriage should be waiting at the main entrance, ready to escort him back to the Royal Palace.

Suddenly, a single heavy tremor shook the ground beneath his feet.

An earthquake? But this feels more like…

A distant grumbling sound could faintly be heard from outside. Shortly after, another tremor shook the ground, somewhat stronger than the previous one, followed by another. Then, the warning bell rang loudly to alert everyone on Athenya’s grounds to the emergency.

Prince Henry’s aide could be seen running as fast as he could towards him. “Your Highness!” Lucas called hurriedly.

“Do you know what’s happening, Lucas?” Henry asked.

“I’m not sure myself, sir. However, first, shall we leave?”

Swiftly making their way through the crowd of students, they successfully escaped the building. After arriving at the open area of the evacuation point, both the prince and his aide widened their eyes at what had turned out to be the cause of the earthquake.

The sun was slowly setting on the other side of Athenya’s grounds as one of the divine beasts came into view outside the eastern wall of Athenya. The shaking of the ground grew stronger, followed by a loud, unearthly roar that echoed throughout the academy. It was coming from a creature with dull green scales that looked sturdy, its body covered in moss and vines. The impact of every step it took felt just like an earthquake.

“A colossal, green, mossy dragon… That couldn’t be…” Lucas’ mouth fell open as he spoke.

“Guardian of Spring, the Verdant Dragon, Esmeraldo,” murmured Prince Henry.

But why now? This is unheard of. For one of the four divine beasts—Guardians of the World—to show itself…

Chatter from the students, teachers, and staff could be heard all around Henry and Lucas.

“Isn’t that the guardian?!” a student shouted.

“It looks exactly like what the history books described! It must be one of the guardians!” Another student pointed towards the beast.

The world was protected by four guardians. Who didn’t know that? Every child who had heard the tale of the Great Hero Arthur, the man who brought peace back to the world, should know about the four guardians.

Arthur had four divine beasts as his faithful familiars. After he saved the world from calamity, he commanded his familiars to stay and continue guarding the world. Humans then came to refer to them as the Four Guardians of the World.

The guardians each represented one of the four seasons. The Verdant Dragon, Guardian of Spring. The Ember Phoenix, Guardian of Summer. The Golden Tiger, Guardian of Autumn. The Frostdew Terrapin, Guardian of Winter. Together, they protected the circle of life.

Standing before the prince’s peridot eyes was Esmeraldo, the Verdant Dragon and the Guardian of Spring. Its sturdy green scales were covered in moss, vines, and leaves, exactly as it had been described in the history books. It seemed to be in distress.

Although regarded as a Guardian of the World, it could still wreck houses and buildings with just one stomp of its massive foot. The Verdant Dragon was enormous. It seemed to be about the same height as the clock tower in Athenya. Even its deafening roar sounded like nothing of this world.

“It is closing in!”

“What should we do?!”

“Shouldn’t we attack?”

“Stupid! It is a sacred beast, a Guardian of the World! We shouldn’t attack it!”

“But at this rate—”

Indeed. It’s a sacred beast. We shouldn’t, by any means, harm it. It doesn’t seem to be in a rage or actively attacking anyone so far. Regardless, if the beast doesn’t stop, the worst might come.

The mature crown prince of Sheldiawald couldn’t take his eyes off the sight of the beast.

There were about forty professors who taught magic at Athenya, all of whom held the title of Grand Mage. They were no mere mages. However, this was the guardian they were dealing with. It was understandable that they hesitated to make a move.

“Your Highness, shouldn’t we leave Athenya?” For Lucas, his master mattered more than anything else, after all.

Henry was momentarily at a loss for what to do. He was the Crown Prince of Sheldiawald. He felt that he needed to do something. But what could a young prince possibly do in such a situation? He tried to remain composed, but his mind had gone blank.

“Your Highness?” said Lucas again, seeing that his master had not responded.

“Stay calm, everyone!” said a platinum-blonde-haired professor in his forties, trying to calm his students. “Athenya’s grounds are protected by a strong barrier. Don’t do anything reckless, and wait for the teachers’ instructions.”

Hearing that snapped Henry back to reality. He turned toward the professors.

“How much could our barrier withstand should the guardian attack, sir?”

Another male professor scratched his ginger hair before answering, “It should be able to protect our grounds from heavy attacks from outside. However, we have very little knowledge regarding the abilities of the divine beast.”

“Then, for the time being, we should focus on defense. Would you please tell the staff to evacuate the students to the western side of the campus? As for the professors, please stay here and prepare to defend ourselves. Also, tell one of the palace guards waiting for me at the main entrance to notify the palace regarding this matter.”

Henry swiftly took control.

Understanding that it was better than doing nothing, the teachers followed Henry’s instructions and proceeded with evacuating the students. They began preparing defensive magic circles to create a stronger, wide-area defensive spell.

Just then, Henry could see the lamenting Verdant Dragon stop right in front of Athenya’s wall and roar once more. Lucas immediately stepped in front of Henry, fully on guard.

“It stopped!” one of the professors exclaimed.

Prince Henry and Lucas, together with the professors, watched the giant divine beast closely, ready to defend themselves.

Suddenly, something began to shine beyond the wall. It came from beneath the dragon—a beautiful, pure white light that glittered brilliantly.

“What’s that? Is someone else using magic?”

“Are they going to attack the guardian?!”

Henry was surprised by the sudden turn of events and racked his brain to decide what to do. He wasn’t sure if attacking the Guardian of the World was the wise thing to do. As the light became more apparent, he came to a realisation.

That pure white light... There’s no way!

Henry was instantly captivated by the beautiful sight of that glittering light.

Divine magecraft?!