“Finally, it’s over.”
Su Li deactivated his ability, the emitted light converging into his palm.
Then he looked at the two suspicious individuals he had knocked to the ground.
He shrugged, a little puzzled about who these people were who had attacked him for no reason.
Su Li had come to the east side of the city just to buy some suitable weapons.
After all, the ultimate goal of training one’s ability was to defeat magical beasts.
Given his ability, all he could do was interfere with the beasts’ powers.
Most magical beasts were thick-skinned and tough.
The blinding light from Light Blessing would at most cause temporary blindness and confusion, never a fatal blow.
To survive in actual combat, pairing it with a weapon capable of breaking defense was necessary.
Of course, he couldn’t afford any particularly impressive equipment right now, so this trip was just to test what kind of weapon suited him.
He hadn’t planned on bringing anyone.
The only reason he was with Alice was because they happened to run into each other, and she enthusiastically claimed to know a lot about weapons.
Su Li couldn’t refuse, so they came together.
He never expected that just going to the restroom would land him in an encounter with such suspicious, strange characters.
Su Li recalled what those two had said when they suddenly attacked.
“Someone wants to steal the Dragon’s Eye!”
‘Dragon’s Eye?’
Su Li frowned.
Though he didn’t know what the Dragon’s Eye they mentioned was, it was clear that something important was happening in this city.
‘Alice.’
Su Li suddenly looked up as if remembering something.
‘She might have run into something similar too. I need to find her.’
With that thought, Su Li didn’t hesitate and hurried in Alice’s direction.
As he got closer and looked ahead, he saw Alice still in the same spot.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
But when he actually approached, he noticed her expression.
Her brows were tightly knit, and her emerald eyes held obvious fear, staring straight in one direction.
She hadn’t even noticed him coming closer.
“Alice?”
Su Li called out to her.
Alice turned as if suddenly waking from a daze, her face pale.
When she saw it was Su Li, her expression relaxed.
“Su Li…”
She murmured.
“What happened?”
Su Li asked.
“I just met a very strange child…”
Hearing this, Su Li immediately felt something was off.
“Did she attack you?”
“No.”
Alice shook her head.
“She didn’t attack me. It was a girl, shorter than me, covering one eye. Her whole body was covered in wounds, blood was trickling, and she walked unsteadily.”
Her voice trembled, lacking her usual pride and straightforwardness.
Her emerald eyes churned with confusion and fear.
“And then?”
Su Li was patient.
“Her injuries were really severe. I wanted to force her to get treatment, but she resisted.”
Alice closed her eyes, recalling the pressure the girl had released—a pressure that had frozen her in place.
“Just as I was about to grab her, she suddenly took away the hand covering her eye.”
Alice took a deep breath.
“Her other eye was a pure blue, but the one she’d been hiding was a majestic golden vertical pupil… It was strange. Just being looked at by that eye made my whole body feel frozen, like a possum seeing a snake.”
‘Golden vertical pupil?’
Su Li’s heart jumped. He remembered what the two attackers had said.
‘That eye is… the Dragon’s Eye?’
“We can’t stay here.”
Su Li made a snap decision.
“Let’s get back to the Academy immediately.”
His tone was serious.
“Did you run into something abnormal too?”
Alice asked.
“I’ll explain when we’re somewhere safe.”
Su Li didn’t answer her right away.
Fortunately, the journey back was uneventful, with no dangerous incidents.
The first person Su Li saw at the Academy was the training instructor, Teacher Anbian Du.
At that moment, he had a pipe in his mouth, hiding in a corner, about to sneak a light.
When he saw Su Li and Alice approaching, he merely raised an eyebrow without putting the pipe away.
“It’s break time. If you have any study questions, come back later.”
Anbian Du lit the pipe, took a very satisfied puff, and then said lazily.
Although Su Li felt this teacher didn’t seem very proper, given how he had immediately spotted the potential of students’ abilities during the training class, his ability should be trustworthy.
“Teacher Anbian, we want to report something more urgent.”
Su Li stepped forward, his tone grave.
“Oh?”
Anbian Du looked a little distracted.
“Let’s hear it.”
So Su Li told Anbian Du everything that had happened.
At first, Anbian Du was still casually smoking. But the moment Su Li mentioned the words “Dragon’s Eye,” a sharp glint flashed in the stubbly man’s eyes.
“Are you sure you heard correctly?”
Alice also told Anbian Du about the strange girl she had met.
“A golden vertical pupil… the Dragon’s Eye.”
Anbian Du pondered for a moment, then immediately made a decision.
“This is no small matter. I need to report it to the Academy.”
Then he looked at Su Li and Alice.
“Don’t wander around. Don’t leave the Academy. This is far more serious than you think.”
With that, he left in hurried steps, leaving Su Li and Alice staring at each other.
Alice spoke first, her tone having regained its usual composure.
“Those two you met were talking about the Dragon’s Eye, right?”
Su Li nodded.
“To be honest, to me, dragons are legends, maybe even creatures that only exist in myths. But I never expected them to be so close to my life.”
Su Li said somewhat helplessly.
“Honestly, I still don’t even understand what a dragon is.”
Hearing this, Alice’s sense of superiority rose again. She tilted her chin slightly.
“A country bumpkin like you wouldn’t know so much. Let me enlighten you.”
Alice turned sideways, her golden hair swaying gently, while her cheeks flushed slightly.
“Listen carefully. Dragons are known as the race of the King of Magical Beasts. Although sightings of dragons are rare, it’s certain that every dragon is equivalent to a superpowered individual with an S-rank ability.”
She paused for a moment.
“As for records of dragon kills, Moonview City killed a black dragon equivalent to a Tier 5 S-rank ability user ten years ago. That incident caused a huge uproar. Even I, who hadn’t come to this city yet, knew about it. You know what Tier 5 means, right?”
Su Li nodded.
People couldn’t decide whether to awaken an Ability or what Ability to awaken, so the rank of an awakened Ability was unchangeable.
However, Ability users could upgrade their power through tier changes.
From Tier 0 to Tier 6, the higher the tier, the stronger the Ability.
Right now, Su Li was at Tier 0, meaning he hadn’t even started.
The method to upgrade tiers was also very simple.
Besides the user’s own proficiency with their Ability, they needed an Ability Crystal—an energy crystal obtained from magical beasts.
As long as both conditions reached a certain level, the tier could be upgraded.
Tier 1 was just the beginning.
Tier 2 allowed participation in basic magical beast patrols.
Tier 3 was already considered top-tier combat strength in the Academy.
Tier 4 meant someone could stand on their own and go out on high-risk missions.
Tier 5 was a ceiling that ordinary Ability users could hardly touch in a lifetime—a true top-tier powerhouse capable of guarding an entire city.
As for Tier 6, it only existed in theory. No Ability user had ever reached that level, so books called Tier 6 the “false tier.”
“Exactly.”
Alice said seriously.
“Ten years ago, the entire elite force of Moonview City formed an alliance and paid a heavy price in casualties to barely take down that black dragon.”
After thinking for a moment, Su Li said, “And that’s the confusing part.”
“You thought of it too, right?”
Alice’s eyes darkened.
“The Dark Crow, while terrifying to talk about, doesn’t have the power to topple the entire Moonview City. After all, the Lord of Moonview City is at least a Tier 5 Ability user. Even if he was injured during the black dragon campaign, he should still be able to suppress a mere underground organization.”
Su Li’s mind moved quickly.
“Then, if the Dragon’s Eye is real…”
He didn’t finish his sentence.
“Maybe it’s just some kind of coincidence.”
Alice laughed it off.
“Better not tell anyone about this.”
Su Li said.
“Of course I know that, Miss.”
Alice wore an expression that said she’d already thought of that.
“Miss?”
Su Li looked puzzled.
Alice’s face flushed even redder.
“I was just lightening the mood. What do you know?”
Su Li didn’t think much about it.
He just felt that coming straight back to the Academy was the right decision.
The principal of Enlightenment Academy was also a Tier 5 Ability user, so staying inside the Academy would surely keep them safe.
It’s just…
He was worried about one person.
You Xue, who lived in the chaos of the slums.
But then Su Li dismissed the thought.
‘Forget it. There’s no point worrying about someone so cold. With so many Seal-infused weapons, the person she’s relying on now is probably much stronger than me.’
What he should be thinking about now was how to improve his strength, to gain the power to survive in this world as soon as possible.