“Did you hear? Shining Wright is here!” a young witch cried out at the dormitory entrance, her cheeks flushed with excitement.
“Who?” another witch asked, puzzled, as she headed inside clutching a washbasin.
“A Lantern-Bearer! It’s Shining Wright!”
“What?!” The washbasin nearly slipped from her hands. The girl looked around frantically. “He’s my idol! Where is he?”
“I only heard rumors, but apparently someone saw him at the school gates!”
“You guys are just finding out? The news is already everywhere.” A third witch walked over, adjusting her glasses. “It’s true. I saw him myself.”
“What does he look like? I’ve never seen him in the flesh!” a fourth witch shouted.
“A hooded black robe… he looked like a machine.”
“A machine?”
“You didn’t know? Shining Wright’s entire body is constructed from transcendent materials and relics. He can stay shrouded in light for extended periods, allowing for infinite Blinking!”
“What’s a Lantern-Bearer doing at the academy?”
“Did you forget? Our Dorm Head is his daughter. Isn’t it normal for a father to visit his child?”
“Oh, right, I forgot… but isn’t their relationship supposed to be really strained?”
“Maybe it’s—”
Suddenly, the group fell silent. The Dorm Head they were discussing was walking down the hallway toward them, her expression icy.
Loran Wright wore a morning gown of white-gold silk—exquisite, shimmering, and seemingly untouched by the world. Beneath the loose hem, her slender, pale calves transitioned into delicate ankles as she shuffled along in slippers.
The Dorm Head is so beautiful…
Her roommates watched her, mesmerized.
Loran didn’t offer her usual polite smile or nod; she looked deeply preoccupied. She passed through the door and walked straight to the balcony, sitting by the window.
She lowered her head, her long hair sliding behind her ear. Resting her chin in her hand, she stared out the window with a heavy heart.
If she counted correctly, it had been five years since they last met…
After her mother died from illness, her father had dumped her with a relative and vanished without a word.
“Hmph.”
A sarcastic, cold sneer touched her lips. She couldn’t exactly say there had been no news of him—quite the opposite, his name was famous throughout the realm.
“You’ve been gone for so long. Why show your face now? To dump more problems on your daughter? But… how am I supposed to face you?”
Loran gritted her teeth, fighting back tears. Her nose felt stuffy, and a watery sheen blurred her vision. Finally, the tears overflowed, tracing a path down her cheeks before gathering at her sharp chin. Plat. A drop fell onto the table, forming a soft, transparent bead on the polished surface.
“Ah!” A scream erupted from outside. Someone was shouting, “It’s Shining Wright! He’s coming this way!”
He—he’s coming already? Damn it, I’m not ready…
Loran hurriedly wiped her tears and rubbed her eyes with her palms. She was terrified that if they met now, her irresponsible, cold-hearted father would see the tear tracks.
Hmph. I have to glare at him. I have to demand to know why he never once came back to visit…
Just then, more shouting echoed from the hallway.
“He’s inside the dormitory building! Oh my god! It’s really him! I’m seeing him in person!”
Loran composed herself and stood up gracefully. Pressing her hands against the table, she fixed her gaze on the door, her eyes a mixture of years of resentment, sorrow, and simmering anger.
“He’s heading upstairs!” (This was the first floor).
“Eh?”
Three minutes later, Loran stood by the window, watching as Wright led a black-haired girl away from the dormitory.
“Isn’t that… Wang Yue?”
Her composure shattered instantly.
***
A Lantern-Bearer…
This was a truly legendary figure.
Though Wang Yue wasn’t sure what he wanted, she had seen this man before. Back when her avatar was drifting down the river with Helen, they had passed an explorer outpost. This man had been sitting by a window, uttering cryptic words, and had even helped Ed-Bear out of a tight spot.
Meeting him again, he hadn’t changed, but her perspective had. Having shrunk from a two-meter-tall avatar to a girl under a meter and a half, she felt like she was looking up at a mountain.
Wright was tall and straight-backed, looking as though he could touch the sky if he reached out, yet he walked with a slight slouch, as if carrying a heavy burden. His black robe was as soft and smooth as silk, flowing over his frame like water cascading down mountain rocks.
Wang Yue hadn’t been born in the Evernight Realm, so she didn’t share the local obsession with legendary explorers. Her expression remained calm as she followed Wright into an empty faculty lounge.
The door creaked shut.
The Lantern-Bearer turned around, placed a hand over his chest, and spoke. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Abbott Wright, a Ranked Explorer.”
Wang Yue nodded. “I’ve heard that name many times; it’s quite famous. I am Wang Yue, a witch. May I ask why you were looking for me?”
“I am here to express gratitude on behalf of the residents of Fishmouth Town.” Abbott bowed slightly.
Wang Yue’s mouth dropped open into an ‘O’. “How did you find out…?”
“Argus’s Gaze. I found this damaged Special Grade Relic in front of the Lighthouse. I conducted an investigation and found a farewell letter written by someone named Ed-Bear to a little girl named Helen. The letter mentioned Wang Yue of the Witch Academy—which is you. Thus, I came looking.”
Damn it!
Wang Yue’s heart tightened. If there was concrete evidence proving the Gaze Worm belonged to the Church, she was in deep trouble. She wouldn’t be able to talk her way out of it.
Puppet activated! She took control of her facial muscles. She couldn’t afford to look guilty.
“It’s a good thing I found that letter, otherwise I wouldn’t have known how to return it to its rightful owner,” Abbott said, pulling a metal box from his waist and handing it over. “It has been repaired.”
Wang Yue’s mouth opened even wider, enough to fit a large frog.
Abbott’s voice continued, as clear and melodic as a wooden xylophone. “Do not worry about the cost. While the price of repairing a Special Grade Relic is astronomical, you saved everyone. Life is priceless. Therefore, under no circumstances will you be the one to pay this bill.”
Wang Yue didn’t know what to say, so she settled for a “thank you.”
Seeing her take the box, Abbott lowered his hand and said, “Next, we have a private matter.”
“A private matter?”
Wang Yue’s heart skipped a beat. Had news of the Class Competition and her shared bath with Loran reached his ears? Was this angry father here to demand an explanation?
Stay calm! I’m currently a little girl too…
While she was lost in her frantic thoughts, Abbott sat down and leaned his elbows on the table, looking as though he intended to give a very long explanation. Wang Yue had no choice but to sit and listen.
After a while, Wang Yue realized that with her current knowledge, she barely understood what he was talking about. He was using professional explorer jargon and geographical terms like “Boundary-Crossing Mountains” and “The Great Rift.”
Boiling it down to the main point: he wanted to go to a dangerous place and hoped she would send a Gaze Worm avatar to accompany him.
“I have been tracking this Special Grade Relic for a long time. The trail went cold over two hundred years ago with a man named Triddle. After Triddle passed away, Argus’s Gaze went missing. I didn’t expect to stumble upon it in this era. I must say, my luck is quite good.”
“Is it that important to your plan?” Wang Yue asked, confused.
“In most rescue operations, it is a tool that plays a decisive role,” Abbott explained. “As you know, the greatest function of Argus’s Gaze is long-distance information synchronization. It ignores distance and the interference of transcendent powers to send information to the outside world. This allows those outside to know the situation within, so they can send in the appropriate tools.”
“I see. You take the Gaze Worm inside, I synchronize the information outside to see what you’re missing, and then I send it to you.” Wang Yue had an epiphany. It was essentially a one-way communicator. In an age without telegraphs or telephones, its importance was self-evident.
Abbott clenched his fist and then opened his fingers, appearing almost excited. “Let me be clear: if we succeed, we can save many people. Many, many people—more than you have seen in your entire life. If we fail, you will lose this Special Grade Relic, but I will compensate you. Of course, by then I would be dead, but you would be entitled to choose any three Special Grade Relics from my estate executor.”
Wang Yue frowned slightly. “Why are you so sure I’ll help?”
Abbott spread his hands. “Because we are kindred spirits, aren’t we?”
