When Durin stepped onto the stage, the audience was still noisy, but as the lights dimmed and the spotlight followed Durin's footsteps, the entire auditorium fell silent.
As Durin walked, he looked towards the stage, still searching for Anta, only to find that the girl had already made it onto the stage with the help of a Spell Formula.
"My dear ally, you've come."
"I saw you looking for me, didn't I?" His ally, her face flushed, approached Durin with her mix of questions and affirmations.
Durin smiled and nodded, "Help me."
Then Durin extended his hand.
Anta extended hers.
Their hands clasped, and in an instant, they completed the Arcane link.
...
"They're only thirteen years old," Mrs. Doze murmured as she watched the two children on stage, emotion unidentifiable in her eyes—in the distant past, she too had mustered the courage to take his hand.
Regrettably, that was a story from long ago, so distant that she had forgotten his face.
