A peaceful morning enveloped a small village far from the bustle of the kingdom.
Sunlight slowly touched the villagers’ rooftops as a gentle breeze swept through the village streets. Colorful flowers bloomed along the roads, filling the air with their delicate fragrance. In the distance, birds called back and forth, creating a peaceful atmosphere rarely found anywhere else.
Amid the beauty of the village, a girl strolled along, enjoying the scenery around her.
Her white hair swayed with the wind. Her face looked cheerful, as though there was nothing to worry about that day.
Her name was Diana.
“La la la la~”
Diana walked along with a small smile on her face. Her eyes remained fixed on the flowers growing along the roadside.
“Hmm… The scenery is so beautiful today. The flowers are pretty, too…”
But Diana suddenly came to a stop.
Her smile slowly faded.
At the edge of her vision stood an old building near the edge of the forest. The house looked different from the other buildings in the village. Its walls were worn, its door looked ancient, and the area around it felt quiet.
No one had lived there for a long time.
Diana stared at the house, filled with curiosity.
“Hmm…? Something’s strange.”
She narrowed her eyes, trying to sense something invisible to ordinary sight.
A few seconds later, her expression turned serious.
“I can feel incredibly powerful energy coming from inside that house…”
Diana fell silent for a moment.
“But… wasn’t this house supposed to have been abandoned for a long time?”
Curiosity began to fill her thoughts. There was something about that old house that made her feel she couldn’t simply ignore it.
Slowly, Diana began walking toward the building.
“I guess there’s no harm in taking a quick look.”
Her hand touched the old doorknob.
With a slight push, the door slowly opened with a long creak.
Inside, the atmosphere was completely different from the peaceful village outside.
The air was cold and silent. Dust covered the floor, tables, and furniture that had not been used in a long time. There was no sign that anyone had lived there for years.
Diana stepped inside cautiously.
“Strange…”
Her eyes surveyed the entire room.
“There’s nothing here. This place is covered in dust, too…”
But Diana’s curiosity had not faded.
She continued deeper into the house, passing through old corridors covered in the traces of time.
Until finally…
Diana stopped in front of a large room.
Her eyes widened slightly when she saw what was inside.
In the center of the room stood an ancient altar that looked incredibly old. On top of it was a large dragon statue, its surface covered in cracks from age.
Yet despite its age, the statue still radiated an aura that made Diana sense something unusual.
Diana slowly approached.
“Huh…?”
She stared at the altar and dragon statue in astonishment.
“A temple… with a dragon statue?”
Diana stood before the ancient altar, her gaze filled with curiosity.
The closer she moved to the dragon statue, the clearer the strange energy she sensed became.
That energy was more than simply powerful.
There was something different about the aura. It was as though the ancient object before her were concealing a great secret that had been sleeping for hundreds of years.
Diana stared seriously at the dragon statue.
“That energy…”
She slowly raised her hand, trying to sense the source of that power.
“Is it coming from this statue?”
Diana examined every part of the dragon statue.
But after a while…
Nothing happened.
There was no light. No change. There was no sign that the statue contained anything.
Diana furrowed her brow slightly.
“But… there’s nothing here.”
She examined the statue again, trying to make sure she hadn’t sensed it incorrectly.
But the result remained the same.
“Strange…”
Diana’s voice sounded soft in the silent room.
After searching for an answer for a while, Diana finally sighed.
Maybe it had all been in her imagination.
“Well… maybe I just sensed it wrong.”
She looked back toward the exit.
“I should go home.”
Diana turned around and began walking away from the room.
But then…
That was when—
WOOOOSHHH!
The sound of a powerful gust of wind suddenly filled the room.
Diana stopped at once.
Her eyes widened.
From the direction of the dragon statue, an intensely bright white light suddenly appeared and exploded, filling the entire room.
“What…?!”
Diana covered her face with her hands, unable to bear the blinding light.
The energy she had sensed earlier had now grown far stronger.
The entire ancient house began to tremble.
The white light continued spreading, filling every corner of the room until nothing else could be seen.
Slowly…
Diana’s vision began to be swallowed by the light.
Then everything turned white.
Some time passed.
The light filling the room slowly began to fade.
The sound of the wind gradually grew quiet again.
The ancient room returned to its previous silence.
However, something was different.
In the center of the room…
A young man now lay on the floor.
His body did not move.
His eyes were still closed.
He looked like someone who had just awakened from a long sleep whose duration was impossible to know.
Diana stood several steps away from him.
The shock on her face was impossible to hide.
“Huh…?”
She couldn’t believe what had just happened.
A few seconds ago, the room had been empty.
But now…
Someone was there.
Diana slowly approached, taking cautious steps.
“H-Human…?”
Diana’s voice trembled.
Curiosity mingled with panic as it began to fill her thoughts.
How could a human have appeared from the light that came from the ancient dragon statue?
And more importantly…
Who was this young man?