The Light that Once Existed

“Everyone, only take what’s necessary with you and leave immediately. Go to the evacuation point outside the building. Don’t rush! Don’t push each other, okay?” Miss Cynthia was still inside the building, trying to evacuate the remaining students.

From the corridor, she could see some staff members supervising the students and making sure they left the building safely. Although Miss Cynthia wasn’t sure what was going on, she remained calm and continued guiding the students out. However, a certain female student suddenly came to mind.

That girl! Don’t tell me she’s going to stay and hide inside that room?!

She immediately grew worried about the little hamster. Remembering how she hadn’t paid much attention to her warning about the wyvern when Miss Cynthia first found her, she feared that Annette might just stay in her hole and hide.

Joining the stream of people evacuating, Miss Cynthia hurried towards the exit of the building, heading for the open area of the evacuation point. Once she reached outside, she could see the staff guiding the students towards the western area of the campus, while the other professors were preparing some magic circles.

And that was when Miss Cynthia finally saw it—the source of the tremor. Her eyes widened. This only made her even more worried. Without further thought, she sprang towards the library building.

Ugh! That tiny hamster girl! she grumbled.

***

The mysterious light shimmered in Crown Prince Henry’s peridot eyes, holding his gaze captive.

Before his eyes danced a dazzling, pure magical white light. It sparkled as it circled around the anxious dragon, bathing it in its glow. A large veil of light then formed above and slowly descended like a feather, wrapping around the crying dragon as if consoling it. Enveloped by the light, the guardian visibly slowed down its movements.

Seeing that, Lucas murmured, “Is that magic? Could it be from the guardian?”

“I doubt so,” Henry answered shortly.

That pure white light is…

Each magic element emitted its own coloured light. Green for Earth, red for Fire, yellow for Wind, and blue for Water. These were the four basic magic elements. However, according to history, there were other magic elements that only one person had ever wielded. They were called divine magecraft—the magic of light and dark. History books described the light element as having a glittering, pure white light, while the dark element had a mysterious purple-black glow.

Is that what they called divine magecraft—the magic of light? But… who could be the caster?

Obviously, Prince Henry had never seen magecraft shining white like that in his life before.

Ancient divine magic was the magecraft used by the Great Hero to save the world from calamity over six centuries ago. Since the death of the Great Hero, there had been no official record of anyone in the world possessing the same power.

Not until today.

Not only had the ancient divine beast shown itself, but the legendary ancient divine magecraft also appeared right before humanity. Regardless of what was about to happen, Henry believed that today would be a day he would never forget for the rest of his life.

The sun had almost completely set on the other side of Athenya’s grounds, leaving only a sprinkle of orange hues in the west. As the night sky fell, the glow of the magical light grew more vivid.

The intelligent professors of Athenya seemed to belatedly notice what Henry had noticed earlier.

“Hey, does that magecraft shine.. white?”

“White?! Only light magecraft is supposed to shine white!”

Lucas, who heard his professors’ remark, was surprised. “Light Magecraft?! No way! Who in the world could’ve—”

All of a sudden, a soft vibration could be felt under their feet. The Verdant dragon slowly began to move. The professors remained on alert, ready to react, but they were perplexed by its movement.

The colossal dragon gave a softer roar—almost sounding apologetic—then turned back in the direction it had come from and walked away. Unlike before, its steps were now much lighter. The impact of the guardian’s steps no longer caused a huge, earthquake-like tremor. As it slowly departed, the glittering magical light softly faded into the dark.

“Is it leaving?” Lucas spoke up.

If it’s leaving, then it is for the best, Henry thought to himself.

They continued watching as the silhouette of the dragon walked away. Upon seeing that there was no sign of it returning, everyone let out a sigh of relief. As the dragon completely disappeared from their sight, they lowered their guard and marked the emergency as over.

Although many questions were left roaming in everyone’s minds, they still had things left to do. The professors dispersed in several different directions as Lucas was about to suggest that Henry quickly return to the royal palace.

Henry, however, was still standing there with his left hand covering his mouth. His eyes stared blankly downward. He seemed to be deep in thought… or perhaps not?

Henry was actually engaged in a private battle against himself. He was trying to suppress his own feelings, lest he grin too much. Covering his mouth was his attempt to prevent anyone from noticing his grin. Staring blankly, he secretly commanded his lips to remain obedient.

“We should head back now, sir,” said Lucas.

Henry glanced at his aide, silently thanking him. Lucas’s voice seemed to restore his composure for good. He finally lowered his left hand and looked at his cousin with a straight face.

“Lucas, aren’t we lucky today?”

“Lucky?! Your Highness, I believe this is no time for jokes!” protested the prince’s aide.

Henry mischievously smiled as he replied, “Joking?”

That sounded very much like him.

“It took me a great deal to keep my cool, how could you—”

“Let’s go, Lucas,” Henry interrupted, his smile still intact as he walked away.

Lucas was left speechless. A scowl formed on his face as he bent his lips downward in a frown. Squinting at his master, Lucas followed behind Henry.

“Sir, I must insist that you—”

“Oh, right. I supposedly have a schedule this evening, don’t I? Make haste, Lucas!” Henry said, cutting his dear cousin off.

“Yes, you do, sir! I believe the King is currently waiting for—”

“It is definitely a wonderful evening, don’t you think?”

The usually mature prince, unable to contain his cheery mood, once more cut his aide off mid-sentence.

“Henry!”

Lucas clearly was not a match for Henry.

The night had completely fallen by the time everyone left the evacuation point. At the scene where the divine beast had finally disappeared into the distance, a silhouette stood atop a tall building. Quietly surveying the grounds of Athenya, the figure eventually stepped away, leaving the scene behind.

***

The moment Miss Cynthia reached the library that evening, she rushed straight to the back room—the place where Annette usually hid. But the little hamster was nowhere to be seen. There wasn’t much to hide behind in that small room to begin with. This gave Miss Cynthia a headache.

Where is that girl?!

Behind her, the librarian called out to Miss Cynthia, “Miss Cynthia! Are you looking for Annette?”

“Miss Sophie! Has she evacuated?” Miss Cynthia asked in panic.

“I’m sorry, Miss. I have been searching for her since the moment I heard the warning bell.” Miss Sophie cried, her breathing still unsteady. “I have searched the whole first floor, but there is still no sign of her.”

Miss Cynthia raised a hand and lightly pressed her forehead. Ugh!

“I haven’t searched the second floor or above, Miss. I don’t think there are many places to hide up there, but do you think she went upstairs? She could have already evacuated,” said the red-haired librarian, her right hand resting against her cheek.

Miss Cynthia let out a heavy sigh before saying, “I’ll try to search the upper floors then. Thank you, Miss Sophie. You should evacuate now.”

Leaving the librarian behind, Miss Cynthia headed straight for the main library building. The main library building was the round section of the library. From the ground floor, Miss Cynthia could clearly see the glass dome at the very top of the building. It was such a towering building—as expected of a library with the most extensive collection of magical texts in the world.

So tall! One, two, three, four… ugh. She gave up counting the floors and took a deep breath.

“Yush!”

The earthquake-like tremor seemed to have stopped. However, she still hadn’t heard that it was over. Gathering all of her determination to climb all the way to the top, she hurried towards the nearby stairs.

As Miss Sophie had said, there didn’t seem to be many places to hide there. The main building was filled with books as far as her eyes could see. On the topmost floor, however, was a botanical garden.

Once she reached the third floor, Miss Cynthia spotted a silhouette of someone descending the stairs on the other side. Her eyes widened.

“ANNETTE!!!” she shouted, pointing straight at the silhouette.

“Hiieekkkkk!!!”

“You! Don’t you dare move from that spot!”

And so the tiny hamster had been found, safe and sound.