Alvein and Kylen continued to follow Arvin's footsteps, walking down the aisles of bookshelves toward the very end of the library. Even though they were confused about what they were actually looking for, the two of them continued to follow him in silence.
Upon arriving at the end of the room, which was the dimmest corner in the library, Arvin stopped in his tracks. The youth confirmed the spot on the wooden floor once again and slowly stomped the tip of his shoe.
Thud! Thud!
"This is the place!" Arvin said in a confident tone, his eyes locked on the arrangement of wooden boards beneath his feet. He turned his head to his left and right alternately. "Please step back a little, you two."
Alvein and Kylen looked at each other for a moment before finally complying and taking a step back.
After ensuring their distance was safe, Arvin immediately focused his mana flow into his right palm.
Crash!
The library's wooden floor shattered to pieces, revealing a gaping dark hole beneath it.
However, Arvin's action of forced demolition triggered a hidden security seal.
Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!
The magical alarm sounded very loud and shrill, breaking the silence of the night and echoing throughout the entire library building. The sudden blaring noise successfully startled the three of them. Arvin did not expect that the Victoriaz academy had installed an automatic security mechanism inside the library.
"Let's all jump down now!" Arvin urged quickly while pointing at the hole he had just created. "Do not let our presence here be discovered by the patrolling academy security guards!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Alvein directly jumped down into the darkness of the hole. Kylen bit his lower lip holding back his nervousness, then jumped in following Alvein.
Seeing that the two of them had jumped, Arvin immediately jumped down following them into the darkness of the hole. The moment his feet touched the ground surface below, he immediately looked up. Without wasting time, the youth stretched one of his hands upward.
With his wind magic, Arvin lifted and controlled the debris of the wooden boards that had previously fallen to the bottom of the hole. The floor fragments floated up, and then he used his alchemy magic to reassemble all the broken wood with absolute precision, tightly sealing the gap in the upper floor until it was fully intact as before.
Rumble!
Arvin also used earth magic to manipulate the rock and soil structure above them, completely blocking the tunnel hole that led back to the library. And now, the entrance they had just passed through was tightly sealed by a very dense layer of earth.
Being in total darkness, the youth immediately activated his light magic.
A small white sphere of light floated in the air, illuminating the damp and rocky underground cave passage they were now entering, so that the three of them could clearly see the pathway stretching out in front of them.
"Darling, what are we actually going to do in a dark place like this?" Kylen asked in confusion, his eyes observing the rough cave walls.
"I just want to check what is down here." Arvin answered casually while patting the dust off his uniform. He looked at the prince. "Why? Do you feel afraid and want to return home right now?"
Kylen quickly shook his head. "No! I am staying and I don't want to go back!"
Hearing that stubborn answer, Arvin merely smiled faintly and then started stepping forward, continuing the journey to explore the mysterious cave passage.
Meanwhile, in the library room above them, the alarm sound continued to ring loudly.
Not long after, the main doors of the library were pushed open. One by one, the academy security guards began to arrive and entered the room with vigilant expressions.
"Quickly check every corner of the room!" ordered one of the guards acting as the squad commander.
The six guards immediately scattered and spread out in all directions of the room, combing through every bookshelf aisle to search for the presence of the intruder who triggered the alarm. However, after conducting a thorough search until they met each other again at a center point, not a single intruder was successfully found.
"This is very strange... there is no one here and not a single book or relic has been stolen!" a guard said in an astonished tone, looking around the library which was still neatly arranged. "But why is this library's emergency alarm ringing endlessly like this?"
Ting!
The squad commander walked closer to a pillar and turned off the small magical bell that was the source of the alarm sound, feeling extremely confused.
"Have you tracked the aura of presence or residual mana of someone in this room?" the guard asked again to his partner who possessed tracking abilities.
"I don't feel anything at all inside this library." his partner answered while continuing to try and expand the range of his tracking. He did not realize that their targets were far underground and their tracks had been perfectly covered by earth magic.
"In that case, two people will stay on guard inside here, and the rest will patrol the entire academy area tonight as well!"
After hearing that firm order, four guards, including the commander who gave the order earlier, immediately ran out to conduct a strict patrol around the academy's outer area.
Far beneath the academy ground, Arvin, together with Alvein and Kylen, continued walking to explore the damp and dark cave passage. The sound of their footsteps echoed softly along the stone walls.
As soon as they arrived at the end of the pathway, the light from Arvin's magic shone downward. They found a flight of stone stairs leading even deeper into the bowels of the earth.
After standing in silence for a few moments, the three of them began walking down the stairs, whose surface was already heavily covered in moss, with extra caution.
Their footsteps went on, and on, and on, traversing the depths, before they finally arrived in a very spacious underground room with a fairly high vaulted ceiling.
However, what attracted their attention the most was the sight on the opposite side of the room. There were two large-sized doors closed very tightly over there.
"Doors?" Kylen said in astonishment, his voice echoing slightly in the spacious room. "Why would there be man-made doors deep underground like this?"
Arvin stared at the two mysterious doors intently, then turned to his spouse standing on his right.
"Alvein, please guard Kylen here for a moment. I will walk ahead and check the door on the left." Arvin instructed in a serious tone.
"Okay, Honey!" Alvein answered obediently, immediately positioning himself to stand slightly in front of Kylen to protect the prince.