Chapter 783: Magic Eye

This arc-shaped archipelago was named "First Island Chain" by Liszt.

Apart from the already named future "Flame Islands," other similar archipelagos would be named First, Second, Third, and so on. As for other scattered islands, those worthy of individual names would be named after identifiers like "Dragon-Turtle Island," while those unworthy would simply be called Island 1, Island 2, Island 3, and so on.

Liszt spent three full days flying over the First Island Chain.

These three days left both him and Leo utterly exhausted. They repeatedly used the Dragon Eye Trajectory to search for green plants on islands of all sizes, hoping to find spirit bugs, magic herbs, and magic beasts.

However, these islands were simply too small to sustain magic beasts. The only animals present were small herbivores like ground squirrels and rabbits, or birds and marine mammals like seals—only a few of which were magic beasts.

In fact, most of the islands didn’t even have trees, with the majority of vegetation consisting of various weeds.

These weeds were excellent for grazing, containing many high-quality forage species. Yet, perhaps due to the islands' barrenness, they had not nurtured any spirit bugs. After three days of searching, Liszt found only seven spirit bugs, all of the weed-type.

On a few slightly larger islands, patches of trees were scattered here and there, but the poor soil meant they, too, had not produced any spirit bugs.

In short,

though the First Island Chain spanned over a hundred islands across two to three hundred kilometers of sea, its actual resources were extremely scarce. It was only suitable as a maritime trading outpost, not as a human settlement. That said, the scenery was undeniably beautiful, with beaches stretching one after another.

On Earth, such a place would undoubtedly become a world-famous resort destination. Unfortunately, no nobles here were fond of traveling so far for leisure.

They had their own territories, where they could build manor estates and enjoy horseback riding and hunting to their hearts' content.

Just as Liszt was preparing to return to Flame Territory, Acher suddenly made a surprising discovery. Her blue pupils suddenly swirled like a starry vortex—a state almost identical to when Liszt activated the Magic Eye.

"Brother, Acher has developed the Magic Eye! Its effects are similar to what you described—it can see the glow of magic feedback!"

"Impressive!" Liszt praised generously.

Adapting combat techniques into spells was an immensely difficult task, especially since Acher wasn’t solely focused on this project. She had many ongoing projects and had only devoted spare time to refining the Magic Eye. Yet, in just half a month, she effortlessly completed the Magic Eye.

Apart from calling her a genius, Liszt didn’t know how else to describe her.

Perhaps "blessed by the truths of magic" would suffice, much like how he himself was "favored by the glory of knighthood." It had to be said that among all the rewards from the smoke mission, Acher was the greatest—and one that continued to yield benefits.

"However, brother, the Magic Eye is very difficult to cast. It requires high mana from the Magic Web to activate, and only an Archmage can use it."

"That doesn’t matter, as long as it’s convenient for you."

His original intention was simply to make things easier for Acher. As for spreading the Magic Eye or the Magic Eye to others—that was out of the question.

When the time was right, he would investigate the sky knight—Stefan the Vulture—in the Blastfurnace Kingdom.

This sky knight was the author of Magic Eye and Mana Fade, though whether Stefan himself created them was debatable. What was certain was that these were the Vulture family’s inherited mana techniques. Liszt wanted to know how they ended up in the Sapphire Duchy.

He had a vague suspicion—perhaps the Vulture family had some connection to the Sapphire family, as the latter also originally originated from the Blastfurnace Kingdom.

Moreover, he was certain that the Magic Eye, recorded on a sheet of gold-leaf parchment, and Mana Fade, recorded on a sheet of silver paper, had not been circulating for centuries. They must have begun spreading only in recent years, or at most a decade or two. The reason was simple: the secondhand books that wrapped these papers were not very old.

Vellum was difficult to preserve, deteriorating within decades—this was why history faded into the river of time. After the fall of the Moon Empire, which once ruled the world with magic, decades or even centuries of war likely accelerated the destruction of all recorded civilization.

Once he confirmed whether the Vulture family still existed or if they had shared their mana techniques with others, Liszt would decide his next move.

In any case, he intended to pass down these two mana techniques as family heirlooms to his descendants, laying the foundation for generations to come. Though he was a fine young man raised under socialist ideals, he was still feudal-minded about inheritance.

What was his would naturally be passed to his descendants—why should he give it to others?

People might call Jack Ma "Daddy" every day, but did he ever waive their Huabei debts? They might claim to be "successors of communism," but did the state ever assign them jobs? In the end, society operated on the principle of "mind your own business." What’s mine is not yours.

Liszt had already branched out from the Tulip family to establish the Flame Family. From now on, his wealth would only be inherited within the Flame Family.

He could remain as close as family with the Tulip family and collaborate in business, but their interests must be clearly separated. Even though Marquis Niuwei was his father, none of the Marquis’s wealth concerned Liszt—it was the inheritance reserved for his elder brother, Levis.

Debts between him and the Tulip family had to be settled in full.

Even from an Earthling’s perspective, once families split, they live separately—let alone in this noble knightly system where interests always come first.

It wasn’t as if Liszt, now owning two dragons, had to give one to his father, Lee William, or else he would be deemed unfilial, selfish, devoid of familial affection, or greedily profit-driven. Anyone with real-world experience understands the meaning of "Even brothers keep clear accounts."

Sayings that last centuries do so for a reason.

Countless families have been torn apart by disputes over money—even fights over whose name a house is registered under. How much more so for two separate families? Only by clearly delineating property can conflicts be avoided, ensuring harmony between them.

His mind had drifted too far, but Liszt quickly reeled it back in, smiling as he gently ruffled Acheronides’s azure-blue hair.

Then, he summoned the serpentine smoke task.

"Task completed. Reward: the super magic 'Magic Eye'—an enhanced version, 'Magic Eye's Pupil'."

In an instant, new serpentine smoke text formed.

"Task: The Light Swordsman Parris, through diligent training, has finally reached the bottleneck of intermediate light-attribute magic. However, she has no clue how to break through. Why not invest more in studying light swordsmen to help Parris succeed in her breakthrough and gather data on light swordsmen’s training? Reward: a clue about Fire Swordsmen."