Chapter 116 – Extra: Light and Dust

Chapter 116 – Extra – Light and Dust

When Lin Wei woke up, sunlight seeped through the gaps in the curtains, casting a bright line on the wall, indicating that it was already late.

Still half-asleep, he leaned to the side—no one was there.

He thought about what he had to do today and began using soul communication.

Where are you?

The Hall.

With Katanaphia?

Yes.

He lazily buried himself back into the blankets, waiting to fully wake up.

As for why the Young Duke had returned to Siren Island—it all started after the war.

At dusk, the vast mainland lay ahead, and Lin Wei sailed down the canal with his mage.

He felt that his journey across the mainland was about to begin, and the future looked bright and full of promise.

Midway through their journey, a huge shadow suddenly flew toward them from behind, its wings stirring up a gale—it was a dragon.

A slightly aged yet still robust voice boomed: “You two—did you think you could escape the Magic Academy’s studies like this?!”

Lin Wei: “…”

He chuckled awkwardly, “Teacher Ansel.”

The green-robed old man was furious: “Calculate the time you spent on Siren Island—it’s not even two years!”

Lin Wei made a last-ditch effort: “Our magical abilities have already surpassed…”

“Useless,” Ansel glared at him. “What about your magic arrays? Elemental theory? Magical plants?”

Lin Wei muttered, “I only wanted to take a break for a while…”

Ansel was about to further criticize this delinquent and unrepentant behavior when footsteps sounded from the cabin. The door opened, and the black-haired elf appeared: “Lin Wei?”

The green-robed old man gave Lin Wei a smug look.

—Caught another one.

And so, this scene unfolded in the small house on Siren Island.

Katanaphia had a parchment filled with runes in front of her, chanting a series of incantations. A black vortex appeared behind her.

“Almost there,” she closed her eyes, sensing the flow of elements.

Opposite her was the lich with dark silver hair, examining the runes: “The ninth syllable needs to be emphasized.”

The elf chanted again, and the vortex reappeared, significantly larger than before.

“That’s it,” she added a mark indicating emphasis under a symbol on the parchment, then said, “I think the fourteenth is also off.”

The elf looked up at Duan Yu, only to see him add a symbol between the fourteenth and fifteenth syllables before closing the tome in his hands: “I’m going back to my room.”

“He’s calling you?” The elf: “Alright… I’ll keep adjusting.”

Someone pulled the blanket, tucking Lin Wei’s exposed arm back in.

Lin Wei lazily opened his eyes: “When will you guys finish?”

“Five more high-level spells,” Duan Yu replied.

Lin Wei pulled him down to sit: “I want to hear you chant.”

Half a year ago, when they were forcibly brought back to the academy by Teacher Ansel, they realized it wasn’t out of concern for their studies but rather a malicious act—after the fall of the Floating Sky Capital and the onset of the Elemental Storm, the center of magic had shifted to Siren Island, which was also protected by a strong barrier.

Later, the Hundred-Day War began. While the Imperial Corps suffered heavy casualties, the magic world, having lost almost all its high mages, also paid the price with the lives of some mages.

This led to a shortage of manpower in the magic world. Rebuilding the capital was just one aspect; with the return of the Dark Element and the resurgence of elemental density, the existing magic system needed a major overhaul. The old mages on the second Floating Island, engrossed in their research, were flushed with excitement, celebrating the most meaningful work of their lives… This meant that the few remaining senior mages had no time to spare for other matters—such as the reorganization of the Magic Association and the management of the academy. Siren Island, where the majority of the young mages who hadn’t completed their magical studies resided, fell into complete chaos.

When Ansel returned with Duan Yu—that white robe was the symbol of the Leader during the war—the mages in chaos finally saw a pillar of support and cheered: “Leader!”

Then they noticed the Violet Duke from the Imperial Corps, who owned a giant dragon and had a suspicious relationship with their Leader, standing beside him.

The mages continued cheering: “Lord Duke!”

Lin Wei: “…”

He saw mages in the academy, lacking teachers, teaching each other. When they couldn’t understand something, they asked around the entire academy but still couldn’t figure it out, so they experimented themselves, causing a room to explode due to a spell gone wrong. It was a headache-inducing scene.

So he sent a letter to the Imperial Capital, obtained the highest strategist’s plan, reorganized the academy’s affairs, and forcibly returned the extremely excited mages to their rooms after the elemental density increased a hundredfold. Using the truth of the Dark Age, he invited several mages from the Astrology Tower, and the Magic Association’s reconstruction finally got on track.

However, a new thorny issue emerged.

Dark magic.

All theories of dark magic had been destroyed a thousand years ago.

—But the talent for dark magic hadn’t disappeared.

After adding dark elements to the testing crystal ball, dozens of talented individuals were discovered across the mainland.

They were of all ages.

And the only ones capable of reconstructing dark magic were Katanaphia and Duan Yu in his lich form.

Both of them had extremely high dark magic talent, originally completely detached from spells and arrays, able to manipulate elements directly at will. Now, this talent was used to reverse-engineer spells and magical symbols based on magical effects.

“Why do you want to hear the chant?” The lich smoothed his hair.

“It sounds nice,” Lin Wei squinted comfortably.

“Get up first,” the lich said lightly.

He gave Duan Yu a cool look: “My back hurts, I don’t want to move.”

Then, taking advantage of the faint apology in the other’s eyes, he added fiercely: “Once you’ve reconstructed dark magic—don’t get up before I wake up again!”

Duan Yu kissed his forehead: “Alright.”

It took a while longer before Lin Wei slowly got dressed and walked out.

The morning was mostly gone. He had to finish his magic array class first, and in the afternoon… Duan Yu would correct the spells and magic usage for the newly arrived dark mages.

The lich form was a few years older than the golden-haired mage form, and Lin Wei was still very young—he could naturally blend in with the black-robed dark magic apprentices.

However, while the apprentices earnestly asked about magic, this one…

“What is he even here for?” one apprentice whispered to his desk mate, discreetly pointing at Lin Wei, who was reading a book in the corner.

“I don’t know,” the desk mate shook his head. “He neither asks questions nor practices magic. Every day, he just reads or… stares at our teacher.”

“How does he do it? Every time I look at the teacher, or Teacher Katanaphia, I only dare to glance secretly!”

“—But it’s really beautiful, isn’t it?”

However, not long after, they finally heard the mage ask a question for the first time in days.

“Teacher.”

The person looked up, his appearance obedient and quiet, his deep purple eyes exuding a mysterious elegance.

“Could you demonstrate the chant for ‘Nightfall’ for me—I can’t seem to get it right,” he asked earnestly.

The apprentices all turned to look. “Nightfall” was a high-difficulty spell, and they also wanted to see the demonstration.

Duan Yu looked at his “student.”

This student blinked innocently, softening his voice like a cat’s paw scratching at one’s heart: “Teacher…”

The apprentices got to hear the complete “Nightfall” chant.

Slow and rhythmic syllables, chanted by the lich’s mysterious, elegant, and slightly husky voice, evoked images of the moon, castles, corridors, and the summer night’s breeze—like a lure from another ancient era.

Darkness slowly descended, enveloping the entire room, gradually darkening until no image could be seen.

Someone chuckled smugly, leaning in for a kiss, only to be pressed against the corner wall.

By the time they finally parted, both were slightly breathless.

The darkness lingered for a long time before dissipating. The apprentices heard the student who had initially made the request say: “Thank you, teacher.”

“He probably just doesn’t like talking,” the earlier apprentice continued whispering to his desk mate. “He really is studying seriously.”

When the afternoon class ended and they returned to the small house, Daniel was stomping around in the hall: “Cunning mainlanders, all as sly as Lin Wei!”

Lin Wei, who had just opened the door and heard this: “…”

Daniel turned to him, accusing: “It’s your fellow countrymen! Ever since trade started, they’ve been buying our magical materials, giving them a rough polish, and reselling them at high prices!”

“Polish?”

“They decorate magic crystals with metal patterns and pendants, selling them as candle substitutes to ladies and madams who love aesthetics!”

“You should be grateful for this precious inspiration, Daniel,” Lin Wei said. “They use mainland art to embellish magic. Why can’t we use magic to embellish mainland tools—like carriages enchanted with wind magic. Would the cost of a simple magic array be higher than the value of a crystal? Would a magic carriage be less expensive than a magic lamp?”

The two huddled together, chattering away, filling the hall with the scent of scheming and money.

What a wonderful scent—Daniel seemed to see countless magic crystals, gems, and gold coins fluttering toward him.

“Brilliant idea, truly mesmerizing. The mainland and magic will be inseparable…” Suddenly, a teasing voice appeared out of nowhere.

Lin Wei immediately became alert.

Daniel looked around: “Who’s there?”

“Have you forgotten me so quickly? My dear Daniel—this hurts my feelings.”

Two arms suddenly wrapped around Daniel’s shoulders from behind, and a silver-blue figure materialized.

“Schneider!” Daniel exclaimed in surprise.

“Adrishig, you…” Lin Wei looked at the suddenly appearing Tower Master.

“I don’t know Adrishig,” the man blinked. “I’m Alchemist Schneider. I heard your business is progressing rapidly. Do you need to hire an outstanding appraiser and alchemist to help?”

His eyes, once a pale silver, had turned a deep ink-blue, like the starry sky. His entire being suddenly felt real and vibrant, no longer elusive.

He smiled at Lin Wei: “Excessive use has caused the Goddess of Time to abandon me completely. I’ve become an ordinary person now—I can’t even use magic.”

Then he sighed: “Originally, I had finished what I needed to do and was planning to drift forever in the river of time. But thinking of you all, I came back.”

Lin Wei really wanted to hit him.

“While Duan Yu and I were running around for your magic world, you were leisurely taking a bath in the river of time!”

Adrishig released Daniel and sat down beside Lin Wei, leaning lazily against him: “But I’m so tired.”

In the end, Lin Wei didn’t hit him. Instead, his eyes teared up, and he gently touched Adrishig’s silver hair.

“And so, the last god is gone,” Adrishig’s voice was relaxed: “It’s no longer my magic world. The magic world is yours.”

Lin Wei remembered the stories of the ancient gods from the old songs he had read long ago.

“The God of Time marveled: Gods, your power is awe-inspiring—elves, dwarves, the Dragon Clan, the faith of all things belongs to the Goddess of Light. East, south, west, and north, the laws of space yield to the Goddess of Darkness’s music. Only I am alone, without any weapon, skill, or magic.

The gods were dissatisfied with this answer: Every god has something special. How can you be the exception?

The God of Time blinked his eyes: Birth and death cycle endlessly, past, present, future—everything in the world is within my sight.”

Finally, a thousand years later, the dust settled, and no one could achieve eternal life.

True immortality lay in the magic arrays mages drew for their fallen comrades, in the endless cycle of birth and death within the Sea of Souls.

Another knock came at the door. Haitie opened it to find a young magic apprentice with freckles.

He held a bouquet of roses, morning glories, and many other beautiful flowers whose names were unknown.

“This is for Teacher Katanaphia,” the apprentice’s voice was shy and nervous: “We saw in the library that Teacher Katanaphia’s race loves flowers and sunlight, so we gathered the most beautiful flowers on the island, hoping she’ll be happy…”

He scratched his head uneasily: “I don’t know if the Leader and the Duke will scold us.”

“They won’t,” Haitie smiled and kissed the apprentice’s forehead: “Thank you!”

Someone called her name, and the black-haired elf descended the stairs, greeted by a bouquet of vibrant, fragrant flowers and the warm, bright sunlight after the Seasonal Tide on Siren Island had subsided.

The sunlight was gentle, embracing the entire reborn world, even the tiny, dancing particles of dust were tinged with a bright glow.