Eyeball Cube, Recording the Magitech Studies Compendium

Whenever Leo read, he forgot the time.

At noon, Aifel sent a knight to invite Leo to lunch.

But Leo refused.

When Leo came here, he had brought some jerky.

He had gotten the meat from the Lizardman servants at Esmond Lodge.

Having once been a warrior, Leo Danville often slept rough and dined in the open, and frequently prepared his own food, so making this sort of jerky came naturally to him.

Not long after Leo picked up the jerky, Hughes came over and sat beside him.

Hughes held a long loaf of bread in his hand.

After sitting down, Hughes took a bite of the bread. It looked rather hard, and he had to put some effort into biting through it.

After swallowing the bread, Hughes asked, "Danville, you're from the Esmond Gathering, aren't you?"

Leo glanced at the badge on Hughes's chest and said, "That's right."

Hughes said, "I'm from the Almon Gathering."

Leo nodded.

For new students like them, their Gathering affiliation was displayed on their badges.

The first time Leo met Hughes, he had known that Hughes came from the Almon Gathering.

But Leo did not care about that.

Wizard Tesla and the Almon Gathering's teaching assistant did indeed have a conflict, but that had nothing to do with Leo.

Hughes said, "In our Almon Gathering, aside from one wizard seedling with Level 5 spiritual talent, I feel that no one else compares to you."

"You flatter me." Leo smiled.

Hughes held the flat loaf in his hand, took a huge bite, and stuffed his cheeks full.

"Danville, did you know there will be an exchange meeting between our Gatherings this month? When the time comes, our Almon Gathering and your Esmond Gathering will be attending the same exchange meeting."

"I know."

Leo nodded. In fact, it was not only the Almon Gathering.

The Uriel Gathering, where Lane was, would also be attending this exchange meeting.

Hughes said, "At the exchange meeting, you'd better be careful of that wizard seedling in our Gathering with Level 5 spiritual talent. Our teaching assistant told him to specifically target your Esmond Gathering during the exchange meeting."

Leo first frowned, then said, "You're from the Almon Gathering too, aren't you? Why are you telling me your teaching assistant's plan?"

"First, I don't like the look of our teaching assistant or him. Second, I think highly of you. You're a wizard seedling personally taught by Wizard Nova. He must think very highly of you. Consider this an investment in you."

"Then you might be disappointed." Leo shrugged. "Maybe they'll target me at the Gathering so badly that I won't get good results."

"It doesn't matter. It's only an insignificant piece of information anyway." Hughes smiled. "Even if they succeed, I won't lose anything. If they don't succeed, I'll be even happier."

After hearing Hughes talk about being targeted, Leo treated it as though nothing had happened.

What kind of childish game was this, targeting people at an exchange meeting?

After finishing the jerky, Leo continued reading.

He did not know how much time passed.

The ship sailed into a sea region filled with a reddish glow.

Leo slowly closed the book, and a gentle notification sounded in his mind.

"Low-quality compendium Basic Magitech Studies discovered. Record it?"

"Recorded."

Leo's gaze fell upon the pale red seawater beside him. Knowing that they were close to their destination, he found Nova and said, "Wizard Nova, I'm going to begin the hunt. I'll return the book to you. Otherwise, it might get damaged during the operation."

Leo's cherishing of books made Nova look at him with even greater appreciation.

Nova took the book. Without any visible movement, the book in his hand vanished.

Nova said, "Danville, the Stonefish you are hunting are near the Crimson Sea."

"The Crimson Sea is the most dangerous place in these waters."

"There are many sea monsters inside that can kill even wizards."

"This place is close to the Crimson Sea. Although no overly terrifying sea monsters will appear, dealing with them will not be easy for you either."

After thinking for a moment, Nova reminded him again, "The Stonefish you are hunting carry the bloodline of the ancient Stone Sea Dragon. Their bloodline ability allows them to wear stone scales with formidable defenses. Even spiritual radiation can hardly break through their outer defenses directly."

"Fula, Kamon, and I are merely accompanying you. We will not help you."

"If the ship sinks, we will cast spells and leave."

"You must rely on yourselves for everything."

Leo nodded and walked toward the bow.

Aifel and more than twenty knights were already waiting there.

John was not among them.

The knight order was divided into two ranks: Ordinary Knights and Grand Knights.

Although knights could not contend with wizards, within the hierarchy of the knight order,

Grand Knights held a status equal to wizards who had condensed a Spiritual Seed.

Ordinary Knights, on the other hand, corresponded to wizard seedlings like Leo.

And on the entire ship, there were only two Grand Knights: Aifel and Kairila.

The two of them stood at the front, watching a huge Stonefish active in the sea.

This Stonefish was exactly the same as the Stonefish Leo had previously seen on the wizard parchment.

Its enormous body stretched more than ten meters long.

It swam through the sea.

What surfaced above the water were layer upon layer of stone scales.

Aifel said, "Wizard Danville, you're here."

Leo nodded slightly. Recalling Nova's description of the Crimson Sea, he took out a cube.

Leo twisted the cube.

An eyeball was released into the air.

The eyeball had the vertical pupil of a beast.

Faint blood vessels emerged around it.

This was the magitech item Leo had bought earlier, the Eyeball Cube.

Leo activated his spiritual energy and positioned four eyeballs around the ship.

The sight of those eyeballs made the knights' skin crawl.

One knight said, "The things wizards use are still so creepy."

"I heard some older knights say that we knights used to be materials on wizards' experiment tables."

"With how mad those wizards are, it wouldn't be strange if we really had become materials on their experiment tables."

The knights muttered among themselves, their words filled with awe and reverence for wizards.

Aifel and Kairila were accustomed to seeing wizards, so they did not feel much about it.

Aifel said, "Wizard Danville, this is the Eyeball Cube, right?"

"That's right. I'll place four eyeballs around us. That way, if other sea monsters or any interfering factors appear, I'll be able to notice them in time."

Seeing Leo be so cautious, Aifel smiled as well. "Thank you, Wizard Danville, for taking this matter so seriously."

The hunt for the sea monster quickly began.

Leo was very curious about how Aifel and the others planned to hunt this Stonefish.

He saw the knights tie thick ropes around themselves.

The ropes were fastened to the ship's railings.

Then the knights discarded their armor and jumped into the sea.

The moment they landed in the water, dazzling silver-white light appeared around their bodies.

This was the knights' Knight Breathing Technique.

After using the Knight Breathing Technique, the knights stepped upon the water as though walking on solid ground.

"This is..." Leo was somewhat surprised.

A knight beside him noticed his surprise and said with a hint of smugness, "Wizard Danville, this is our knights' Knight Breathing Technique. Although it is not as versatile as the abilities of you wizards, once used, it can strengthen ourselves and our weapons, and it can also let us walk freely across liquids like this."

Leo could hear the pride in the knight's voice.

Being able to surpass wizards in some respect was probably something the knights found deeply worth being proud of.