How dare you say that?

The Black Knight, a profession with extremely high spirituality, is more prone to perceiving hidden and terrifying entities compared to ordinary Beyonder. They can utilize these hidden entities, but more often than not, they are driven to madness by the influence of these very entities.

The moment Luther saw the bizarre eye behind Old Neil, he suddenly recalled these words Dunn had once spoken. How right he was; if only he had also mentioned that such a dangerous thing was already present inside the Night Watcher headquarters.

The evil aura from the terrifying eye surged into Luther's mind with a roar. He quickly lowered his head, avoiding eye contact with those eyes, which made him feel slightly better. His nose felt a bit itchy, and when he reached up to wipe it, he realized blood was flowing out.

The sound of an Illusory Sea Tide echoed faintly in his mind, and the suffocating pressure weakened significantly.

"Luther, you finally arrived... What's wrong with you?"

Before Klein could finish his welcoming words, he noticed Luther's abnormality.

"I'm fine."

Luther quickly wiped away the blood, looked up, and smiled at him, "It's a bit dark in the room. I wasn't used to it, and my eyes blurred for a moment."

He didn't intend to expose anything, choosing instead to act as if nothing was wrong.

"You must be Luther Rondal, right?"

Old Neil smiled from behind the desk, "Dunn has already told me. You can just come here on time from now on and study alongside Klein..."

"Hello, Mr. Neil."

Luther stared at his face, maintaining a smile while trying his best not to look at the giant eye floating behind him. It was a terrifying and eerie eye, devoid of eyelashes, so transparent it was almost illusory, and filled with coldness and indifference. It clung to Old Neil's back, drifting along with his movements as if it were a new organ growing out of his body.

What is going on?

What the hell is that!

Relying on his intuition, Luther was certain that this giant eye was definitely not a positive entity. On the contrary, the feeling it gave him was just like the True Creator he had once seen in his hallucinations: evil and insane.

In other words, it was very likely related to an Evil God.

An Evil God again... Damn it, I shouldn't have joined the team. Captain, didn't you say the work was usually relaxed, the danger level was low, and encountering an Evil God was an extremely rare occurrence? I don't believe a word you say!

Luther's smile stiffened, and cold sweat began to bead on his back.

Klein, sitting nearby, remained composed as if he couldn't see the eye at all. For a moment, Luther truly envied him.

"...Hey, young man, are you listening?"

What was worse was that the old man took the initiative to talk to him, looking as if he were about to walk over.

"Of course I'm listening, Mr. Neil. It is an honor to be a student in your occult course."

Luther slightly raised his hat to show respect.

"Please, have a seat, just next to Klein."

Old Neil said, pointing to the chair opposite.

Luther had no choice but to sit down. At the same time, he was rapidly thinking about how he should respond.

Shouting or running away on the spot would certainly be the most foolish behavior. Not to mention whether others would believe him, the man was acting perfectly normal; if he were to suddenly escalate the conflict and cause the man to go berserk, he would be the one suffering.

Since that was the case, his best option was to temporarily pretend there was nothing unusual.

Thus, Luther could only force himself to act normal and listen to Old Neil continue.

"Luther, tell me about your education."

"I haven't been to school, but basic reading and writing are no problem."

"Oh right, Dunn mentioned that to me... In that case, you probably haven't learned Hermes or Ancient Hermes, have you?"

Luther shook his head.

Old Neil observed Luther's reaction, confirmed his guess, and explained, "Simply put, both of these languages carry mystery and can be used to communicate with deities. There are others like the ancient Forsak language, Ancient Elvish, and so on... but Hermes is the most commonly used. If you want to learn the occult, you must master this language, understand?"

Luther had only heard of these languages before, but he hadn't expected them to have such uses. He avoided looking at the eye behind Old Neil and asked earnestly, "Then how should I start learning?"

"Klein knows it all; let him teach you."

Old Neil chuckled, passing the responsibility to his colleague, "He is a top student from the history department of Hoy University; teaching you will be more than enough."

"If you don't mind."

Klein didn't seem to care.

For the rest of the time, Old Neil gave Luther a primer on a series of occult common knowledge, roughly outlining the areas they would study later, including astrology, pendulum dowsing, herbs, Ritual Magic, and paranormal creatures. His language was witty and humorous; if not for the terrifying eye behind him constantly asserting its presence, this would have been a very vivid and interesting introductory occult lesson.

"By the way, there is one thing I must especially warn you about."

Old Neil said solemnly, "Never pray to any mysterious entities other than the Seven Gods, otherwise, it will likely lead to unimaginable consequences. Your pathway is prone to encountering hidden entities, so you must be extra careful! Be cautious, be restrained!"

You have the nerve to say that to me...

Luther squinted at the entity behind him, thinking to himself. This thing was clearly summoned by him.

Old Neil even specifically taught Luther an ability called "Spirit Vision." According to him, this was the most common and basic ability in the occult field, allowing those who activate it to see more mysterious things and certain entities that would otherwise go unnoticed.

Hearing him say this, Luther found an excuse to decline on the spot, saying only that he hadn't been sleeping well lately and didn't want to try it. Just kidding, I got a nosebleed from you without even activating Spirit Vision; if I activated it, wouldn't my brain be cooked?

Just like that, relying on the protection of the illusory ocean in his mind and his own efforts to feign normalcy, Luther finally made it to the end of the lesson. He and Klein bid farewell to Old Neil and, chatting as they went, left the underground area and walked along the spiral staircase to the ground-floor corridor.

"Oh right, I still have something to discuss with the Captain."

Luther looked very calm as he spoke to Klein.

"Then I'll be going first."

Klein waved at him and left a step ahead.

Luther watched him walk away, then went to the door of Dunn's office and knocked. After receiving Dunn's permission from inside, he pushed the door open and entered. Dunn was just as he had been when Luther left earlier, sitting behind his desk, only now the air held a stronger scent of burnt tobacco.

"Is there something you need?"

Dunn looked at him calmly.

Luther took a deep breath.

In truth, he had considered earlier whether the captain was reliable. After all, if even Old Neil, the most senior member of the Night Watchers, had ended up like that, there was no guarantee that Dunn wouldn't have issues. But reflecting on everything that had happened, Dunn had fully fulfilled his duties as a Night Watcher, and even possessed a bit more human warmth than a typical law enforcer. Furthermore, his own eyes had only detected something wrong with Old Neil; if Dunn were a bad person, theoretically, he would also carry the mark of an Evil God—which clearly, he did not.

Therefore, Luther decided to trust Dunn.

"Captain, do you trust me?"

Having made his decision, he spoke earnestly.

Dunn gave him a strange look. "What are you trying to say?"

"Old Neil... he doesn't seem right."