Heimarian Odyssey

Chapter 225: Evil Eye

Princeton was a huge city that housed nearly four million residents, a population twice that of the Faustian kingdom. As such, the mass gathering of high-rank Knechts in the northeast of the city brought little to no surprise for the imperial capital.

However, Princeton Academy felt relatively quiet today. Most students werent back from their holiday yet and most of them were still busy with their respective missions. The Hall of Knights recruitment order also had a role in this. There were a total of six faculties in the academy, four of which were knight faculties while the remaining belonged to the casters. Knights made up the majority of the academys members; if there was anywhere else apart from the Hall of Knights with the most high-rank Knechts, it would have to be in the academy. Still, it wasnt exactly deserted either. There were a few weirdly dressed and demure casters wandering about. The quieter days of the academy made them stand out more than usual.

The concept of a holiday was close to non-existent among casters. Many remained on campus throughout the year, spending most of their time in the library, classrooms and laboratories. Students were assigned dormitories by the academy; most rooms housed two students, though single rooms were an option too, obviously costing more. In this aspect, Angelina was perhaps the most privileged among most Lehrlings in the academy. She had rented a huge house on the busy Sachiel Street and managed to build a custom alchemy laboratory inside. Plus, there was an impressive collection of books in her spatial ring. She had never needed to stay in school too long for there were so many things to do at home.

However, today was an exception. Angelina had to pack for her upcoming journey to the Sanctum. While she didnt live on campus, many of her textbooks and materials were left behind in her mentors tower and laboratory, all of which she needed to retrieve before her departure. Apart from that, she had also made an appointment with Grandmeisterin Parlina for a visit later. As a teaching staff at the Imperial Academy, her grandmeisterin was given a relatively comfortable tower of her own. It had been a breeze for Angelina to live and conduct experiments there.

Bored out his mind while waiting for Angelina, Locke entertained himself by looking around. Without the caster facultys badge, Locke wasnt permitted to enter its grounds, let alone approach the alchemy laboratory and magic tower where Angelina was.

The creature guarding the gate was a huge eyeball. It was the size of a washbasin and there were a few grey tentacles attached to its bottom. It was a complete mystery how they were able to stay afloat. If Locke hadnt known better, he wouldve been frightened by the sight. The creatures dark pupils had been staring at Locke through the gates, giving him a faint sense of dread. Though it was only a mid-rank major monster at best, it was more than capable of intimidating high-rank Knechts. Through that, Locke guessed that it was a monster with great potential like Angie the scorpiondrake.

The little scorpiondrake was currently a mid-rank major monster, and she was catching up to Locke in terms of defence, agility and attack intensity. The venom in its stinger was lethal even for a high-rank major monster.

What is this creature called again? Locke rubbed his chin, jogging through his memory for the right name. Angelina mentioned this creature when he last passed by the faculty. An evil eye? He stared at the floating creature uncertainly. If he remembered correctly, this creature wasnt native to the Missia Continent nor was it from Magion on the east coast. This monster was captured by casters off a foreign plane and brought here to be a guard.

What are you looking at? Angelinas crisp voice rang from a distance. Dressed in a white cotton dress, she looked innocent and ethereal under the winter sun.

What is this monster called? He waited for her to come closer before pointing at the floating eyeball.

Its an evil eye. Why do you even care about this lowly slave? She grabbed his hand and tugged him forward. Come on, we still need to pay Grandmother Parlina a visit!

It seemed as though Angelina wasnt keen on explaining more about the monster; her condescending tone and emphasis on its enslaved status didnt go unnoticed by Locke. Even so, Angelina wasnt an isolated case; most of the facultys casters had mostly treated the evil eye coldly. It was obvious that they felt superior to the pitiful creature.

What does it usually eat? Locke couldn't help his curiosity. He hadnt noticed any sort of organ that resembled an oral cavity on the evil eye. Plus, they still had plenty of time before they needed to be at Grandmeisterin Parlinas place. This was Lockes first encounter with a creature from a foreign plane and he was genuinely interested. Until now, he still hadnt gotten a hang of distinguishing between native and alien monsters.

Hehe. As if amused, Angelina giggled lightly behind her palm. It doesnt need to eat!

Huh? Then how does it sustain itself? From what Locke had learnt in basic magic and impetus classes, energy in a living being could be circulated through impetus, magic and innate blood vigour. Impetus and magic were cultivated through external training and mostly absorbed through the air. Blood vigour, on the other hand, could only be sourced from digested food. If the evil eye didnt feed, how could it maintain its mid-rank capabilities? How was it able to stay alive?

It absorbs light energy through the eye. Its tentacles are capable of absorbing loose elemental energy too, explained Angelina. She was bound to be a great mind in the future, at least in Lockes opinion. Angelina always had answers to all of his questions.

What else? Locke pressed on. He knew that the evolution of most major monsters was passive. Unlike casters and knights who could advance themselves using impetus training and meditation, a major monsters powers were largely influenced by general growth and diet.

Perhaps magic crystals would do it some good, supplied Angelina.

Hmm. In a flash, an ochre-coloured terra crystal core the size of his nail was produced from his spatial ring. He had obtained the crystal while passing through the northwestern Aomar desert during a mission. Extracted from a low-rank desert rock snake monster, the crystal core was only worth around five gold moores; an amount he no longer cared much about. After all, the golden cards in his spatial ring were at least worth eight to nine thousand gold moores altogether.

Playfully, Locke tossed the terra crystal over. It travelled in a parabolic trajectory before hitting the monster on its head accurately. But really, calling it a head didnt seem right; the evil eye was a simple creature composed of only a huge eyeball and a few tentacles. Lockes aim was pretty good, not to mention they hadnt gone far from the monster. After all, he had practised archery for some time when he joined the military in his teens.

The evil eye had long noticed Locke; he looked incredibly suspicious to it as he snooped around the facultys gate. Back at home on the Agean Plane, the evil eye wouldve taught this irritating human a firm lesson. Sadly, it was forced to mellow down ever since it was sold to Zauberia thirty years ago. It couldnt afford to be aggressive at all, for it had seen too many of its kind mercilessly executed by the academys staff after being accused of hurting the spoiled Lehrlings.

There were four entrances to the caster faculty building where Angelina was, each under the watch of an evil eye. This monster was naturally gifted with an all-seeing eye, a trait deeply loved by the casters of the academy. Mid-rank major monsters possessed significant intelligence that was comparable to a teenager's and based on Lockes actions, the evil eye realized that the man meant no harm. Its attention was plastered to the ochre-coloured crystal.

As a slave, it hadnt touched a crystal core in decades; the mentors of the Princeton Imperial Academy werent too interested in investing more thought into a slaves diet. The evil eye didnt require actual food as long as it had sunlight; it could even absorb starlight in the dark, just with lower efficiency. If they were unlucky enough to be met with a few cloudy days in a row, however, theyd become incredibly vulnerable as they had no other channels to replenish themselves. The tiny crystal core was no doubt a feast to the evil eye. A second before the crystal hit the ground, the slow-moving light-element major monster hovered over and caught it with its tentacles.

Whoa! A strange howl escaped Locke. He was surprised that the monster managed to keep a height of twenty centimetres off the ground while doing so. Wingless monsters that were capable of flight were very rare. This had been a great eye-opener, so it wasnt a total loss on Lockes part. Yet, the altitude of the evil eyes flight was nothing significant as a mid-rank monster; it was better off not flying even.

Hurry up! Grandmother Parlina is waiting for us! Angelina wasnt in the mood for Lockes childish antics. They had an appointment with the grandmeisterin and it was better to be early than tardy.

Coming! Noting Angelina's urgency, Locke quickly hooked an arm around her waist and headed towards the other end of the academy.

The evil eyes tentacle grasped the terra crystal holding it up as if questioning Lockes intentions. But as it watched Locke walking away, it gingerly placed the crystal in the intersection between its tentacles and eyeball--there was a digestive tract there. The image of Locke was seared into the evil eyes memory.

Why did you feed it a terra crystal? Isnt that a waste? asked Angelina once they were out of earshot. Her arms were wrapped around Lockes arm tightly.

Im feeding it so that itd stop seeing me as a threat next time. Locke laughed out loud.

Its not a dog, you know. Angelina rolled her eyes.

Well, just consider it a little treat, answered Locke.