The Unsurpassed Maiden

"You mean to say…teacher Zhong is thousands of years old?"

Lady Ning Gwang nodded her head and with a dreamy look she says, "Isn't he handsome for an old man?"

Mi Young couldn't stop her mouth from hanging open. "B-But how…"

"We have mastered Time Magic long ago. Me, Zhong Yu, Zhong Liu, Soo Young, and many others." Lady Ning Gwang says with a smile.

"We? You as well, teacher?" Mi Young asks, disbelief evident in her face and in her voice as she points at her teacher who was now laughing like crazy. "Please stop joking, teacher."

"I'm not joking though." Ning Gwang says. She is now more composed and serious, which made Mi Young stop once more. But then she remembered how she was able to travel back to the past, and Mi Young looked frantically at her teacher who was now looking at her with a small smile on her face, as if she already knew what Mi Young was about to say.

"Was it….you?" Mi Young asks.

Lady Ning Gwang smiled innocently at her, "Was I what?"

"That traveling back to the time thing…was it you?"

"I can't say yes, I can't say no either." The teacher says with another mischievous smile.

"Teacher!" Mi Young whines.

"Enough about that, you'll find your answers soon but for now, let's focus on the past." Lady Ning Gwang says while putting down her now empty cup of tea. Then she turns to Mi Young and continues her explanation, "So what I was saying is that, it is very important for you to learn more about the truth in our history before you venture to the world outside."

"But I'm not—"

"Shush. Let me talk." The teacher says, putting her index finger on her student's mouth to stop her from opening her mouth once more. "So as I was saying, there were nine clans. But because only the Big Four helped during the attack of Tartarus, the other five clans were eradicated from our kingdom as well as everything about them in all of our history books. However, the other confidential thing and one of the Crown's top secrets is that there are more than four elements that existed. Or exists."

"More than the four elements? What do you mean is that there are more elements than Pyro, Hydro, Anemo, and Geo?" Mi Young asks in shock.

The white haired woman nodded her head before continuing. "The nine clans represent different elements each. We already know that the Four Great Clans of today represents the Pyro, Hydro, Anemo, and Geo. However, there are also other elements that were represented by the other five clans as well."

"What were they?" Mi Young whispers, voice getting softer and softer as each information is made known to her.

"Before I tell you this, you have to promise me that you will not tell anyone of it." Lady Ning Gwang says. It was the first time Mi Young saw her looking so serious. The girl nodded her head while also crossing her heart at the same time. "Even your lover?"

"Lover? I don't have any lover though." Mi Young says, sounding confused.

"Eh? But I thought you're in a relationship with that Jeon kid." Lady Ning Gwang questions. Mi Young wanted to ask her which of the Jeon's she was talking about. There was Shi Yun, Se Heon, Ji Sung, Ho Shi, and many other Jeons she was seen with. Then, her teacher continued talking, "Which is why I asked Zhong Liu to transport you and him together back to the past."

"Back to the past…? You mean Se Heon? No, I'm not in a relationship with him or any of the Jeon's!" Mi Young says while waving her hand frantically, cheeks burning in embarrassment. And then, Lady Ning Gwang's words finally registered in her mind, "Wait! So you asked someone to transport me and Se Heon back in time?!"

Lady Ning Gwang looked everywhere but Mi Young. Then, she turns to the girl with an innocent look before saying, "So do you promise to not tell anyone about what I'm going to tell you?"

"You're avoiding the topic!"

"But seriously? Do you want me to keep going or not?"

Mi Young pouts hugely at her teacher before she finally sighs and says, "Fine. But you have to promise me you'll have to tell me soon!"

"Whatever. Anyway, the Zhong clan represents the Electro clan which controls lightning and anything related to electricity. The Hwang clan represents the Cryo element which is all about controlling and producing the ice element. The Han's represent Dendro magic. That means controlling the plants and anything that grows. While the first Do are called the Lumino users, which means they can control light and anything luminous. And the other Do, the second Do, controls the opposite of light, which is the darkness. And they were called Nyxo users." Lady Ning Gwang says while playing with something that looks like little figurines of different animals. Mi Young thinks she saw them somewhere but she can't quite remember where.

"So you mean to say that the elements existing in our kingdom should have been Pyro, Anemo, Hydro, Geo, Electro, Cryo, Dendro, Lumino, and Nyxo?" Mi Young asks, looking at her teacher expectantly.

The white haired woman smiles at her before clapping her hands. "Yes, dear! You have finally got it!"

Mi Young remained silent after that, still trying to process everything she have just discovered. She couldn't believe that something as important as that was erased throughout their history. The black haired girl couldn't express what she was feeling right now. Somehow, she felt hatred towards the King who was so selfish to keep this huge secret to himself and eradicate not only one but five different clans using cruelty and death. But most of all, she couldn't believe that such wonderful elements became extinct just because of some else's selfishness.

"Can I ask you one question, teacher?" The white haired woman smiles at her before nodding her head. "Do you think there are still other descendants out there living in the shadows and trying to conceal and hide their true identity aside from teacher Zhong?" Mi Young asks. She couldn't stop the hopefulness in her voice.

Lady Ning Gwang smiled at her. "Yes, I do. Plus, there are actually three descendants hiding inside the walls of the academy, that already includes teacher Zhong and me!"

"Y-You?" Mi Young asked in complete shock. She was already dumbfounded that her teacher was centuries old and now she's saying that she is also from one of the five extinct clans. "But you use the Geo element!"

"Oh dear, you're not the only dual user here on earth." Lady Ning Gwang says with a laugh. "My surname is Hwang. And I came from the Cryo clan."

"Oh my god." Mi Young whispers to herself. She slumps back to her side of the couch. The confusion in her kept on growing with how many things gets unveiled right in front of her. "Is there anything else I need to know so I won't get anymore shocked?"

"So the Soo Young you met back in the past was one of my childhood friends. Just like teacher Zhong and his twin brother and the others in our time." Lady Ning Gwang says while standing up. "Be right back, I'll just go get some more tea for me."

"Why can't you just snap your fingers and materialize them here?"

Lady Ning Gwang looks shock, "Why haven't I thought about that before?"

But she dismisses Mi Young's words and continues to go to the mini kitchen of her office which is right beyond the door to their left.

While her teacher was busy making some tea for herself, Mi Young was left there, reflecting and trying to sink in all the knowledge she just knew of today.

"There were nine elements….electro…ice elements…people who can control the light and dark…" The black haired girl whispers to herself. She's still processing all of the things the white haired teacher told her when a thought suddenly hits her. "Wait, did Lady Ning Gwang mention something about Soo Young?"

"Yes, I did." The teacher suddenly says. Then she emerges from the door that leads towards the tiny kitchen in her private office. "Have you met her? Blue haired, lives in a small hut, tiny and is always so in denial about it?"

Mi Young sits up straighter upon hearing her teacher's words, "Yes! Do you personally know her?"

"I do. She's one of the best support during our time. Soo Young is a dual user as well."

"What? Really? She never told me." Mi Young says when she realized that Soo Young only showed  her amazing Hydro skills to her and nothing else.

"That's because she can't quite control her second element. And she's embarrassed to show it to anyone, even to us." The librarian answers. Putting on some tea for herself and for Mi Young as well.

The black haired girl thanks her teacher for the tea and sips on her own teacup. "What do you mean she can't control her Cryo element?"

"She has a condition where using her Cryo skills will eat up loads of her mana." Lady Ning Gwang says nonchalantly. However, Mi Young heard it clearly making her freeze, her teacup stopping midair when she realized what her teacher was talking about. "What's wrong?"

"Y-You mean to say that there are others out there who have the same condition as Se Heon?"

"What do you mean?"

"M-My friend also has the same condition as Soo Young's! He's a dual user as well and he can both control the Geo and Pyro elements! However, every time he tries to use his Pyro element it will deduct a huge sum of mana from him which makes him weaker." Mi Young explains.

"Is that so? It's somewhat the same as Soo Young's!"

"May I ask if Soo Young managed to cure her?"

Lady Ning Gwang nodded her head. "Uhn. As I have remembered correctly, Soo Young found a cure for her condition."

Mi Young wants to jump out in joy upon hearing Lady Ning Gwang's response. She couldn't believe her luck and she wants nothing but to hug her teacher right there.

"Tell me, please." She wants nothing but to save her dear friend, Se Heon, from his condition. Mi Young promised herself that she would do anything just to find a cure. "What did she do?"

"Oh? Soo Young cured herself."

"S-She cured her own condition? But how?" Mi Young asks, her heart beating rapidly in her chest.

"I don't know." Lady Ning Gwang answers. Mi Young can feel the wave of disappointment coming to her like a tsunami when she heard her teacher's answer. Since Lady Ning Gwang doesn't know how to have the cure, then how can she save Se Heon? "But I do know she wrote it on her journal."

Mi Young's head who was hanging low earlier suddenly looks up at her teacher upon realizing what the white haired woman meant.

All along the cure was with her.

Mi Young smiles to herself and promised that after dealing with the genius teacher, she will cure Se Heon herself.