The silent foyer, suddenly erupted with constant rattling, one by one, as the crimson creatures revealed themselves.

[Sanguis Scolopendra lv4]

[Sanguis Scolopendra lv13]

[Sanguis Scolopendra lv17]

[Sanguis Scolopendra lv6]

[Sanguis Scolopendra lv9]

[Sanguis Scolopendra lv19]

[Sanguis Scolopendra lv18]

[Sanguis Scolopendra lv14]

Jace took a step back in caution, "Sounds like someone loved your maniacal laughter."

"Oh, no! We are surrounded!", Alec said in a dramatic tone.

Jace groaned as he gazed at the malicious grin forming down, on the small kitten's face.

"...You did this on purpose! What the hell are you thinking? Did you not say that we won't attract any attention while the mystic is on?"

"Oh, I accidentally dropped that skill after our first battle.", Alec said in a playful tone.

"I just hope you know what you're doing." Jace said, mana around him whirled, before condensing, forming an azure longsword in his hands.

"With Winter Comes Shadow!"

[Aspiring Blade Of Nightfrost]

The blood centipedes lunged at them, yet Jace moved, freezing the floor underfoot, cleaved through the first, like a hot knife through the butter.

Blood chains, rattled in space, moving past the big man, catching two centipedes from behind, before mangling their armoured carapaces.

From both sides, barbed tails had flew towards him, yet Jace spun. His conjured blade shifted in his hand, twisting with the blue glow of ice mana, countering the first tail, before it flew along the form of a horizontal slash to run a second opponent through. Alec caught the third tail, as a second chain encased its head and tore it down.

"CRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAA''

The remaining centipedes screeched in terror, as the blade and chains of doom continued the one-sided massacre.

***

"I. Need. An. Explanation." Jace said as stood in the library, judging the crimes of an innocent kitten. "And where in the doors are we?"

"I think it's a library." Alec said, moving upon the smooth circular desk, as the big man stood in front of him, by one of the humungus bookshelves. "As for your first question. Can't you already tell?"

"I still want to hear it from your mouth.", Jace said, keeping his position firm.

"Fighting in open is much better than running around the castle, I don't know how many blue boys are out there, but, I seriously don't want to run into one of them, ever again." Alec said, keeping his innocent act on.

"I agree with the first part, but I'd be a fool if I believed in the last part." Jace said, crossing his burly arms, "and that whole maniacal laughter? Was that just an act to attract centipedes."

"Nope, it was just a natural reaction when I felt the last pieces of puzzle click in."

"You mean, the whole situation with that Drake?" Jace asked.

"Imagine, you're a powerful archer."

"What?"

"You're an archer!"

"I'm a swordsman!"

"I said imagine you're one."

"Okay, I'm an archer."

"Your arrows can breach the highest of the defenses, kill literally everyone with a single shot."

"Okay..."

"Your field of view is much wider than an average human, you can even see the colours, which a normal person can't."

"Hmm.."

Alec paused for a moment, as he continued the whole imagine session.

"But with all these blessings, came a curse. You lack the depth perception, you can't see the objects in three dimensions. You can't percept the exact location your prey. Every shot you will use, would always miss. Unless your prey is literally a moron, that likes to intercept every single arrow that leaves your bow."

"... What kind of fucked up situation is that?"

"Exactly!"

"What?" Jace asked with a flabbergasted expression.

"That cursed archer, is none other than our honorable dungeon floor guardian, Mr. Drake!" Alec said, moving around the circular desk, placing the red cushion, on the leftmost corner.

"Don't you think that you're missing something here... Like the whole context?" Jace groaned.

"The eyes are a very interesting sensory system and allow us, as well as reptiles like Drake, to detect shapes, movement, colour and detail within our environment. Vision is made possible through the existance of two types of photoreceptors in the eye:- rods and cones, which are distinguished from eachother by their shapes, from which their names are derived. These photoreceptors are found within the retina, located at the back of the eye and are responsible for converting light signals into electronic signals allowing us to visually perceive the world around us-" Alec looked up as he found Jace, rolling his eyes, "Okay, sounds like I kind of trailed off the mark here... a little..."

Jace just groaned, "A little you say? Damn it... This is why I hate scholars."

"....."

"Hey!"

"....."

Jace clicked his fingers, snapping the black cat back into reality.

"Huh?"

"Hey! What's up with you? You have been spacing out a lot lately. You do know that we are much deeper inside the dungeon." Jace said, keeping his eyes sharp, his conjured blade glistening with dull azure hue as it leaned against the bookshelf.

"... I was kinda thinking of the right words, to explain this whole situation with that Drake. And there are a lot of things on my mind. It's hard to keep count of everything. It always feels like I'm missing something very important here, when there is... literally nothing." Alec said, sitting on the giant cushion, "Okay then, lets begin this. You might want to sit down on this."

Alec cleared his throat as Jace silently approached one of the desks, and leaned horizontally across its surface.

"The position of the eyes, of reptiles like Drake, represents a trade-off between visual field and depth perception. Eyes positioned either side of the head allows each eye to scan separate portions of the environment and the total field of view at any moment is extensive. This is termed 'monocular vision' and is common feature among the prey species as it allows threat detection from most directions. Strictly monocular vision where the field of view between both eyes does not overlap is relatively rare but does occur in reptiles, like the Drake. I said this before, it helps the prey to intercept any danger, coming from any direction. But what if, a predator, who solely depends upon ranged attacks, possess this kind of vision?"

Jace closed his eyes as he processed this information, for a few minutes, before finally opening his mouth.

"What makes you think that the Drake possess the same kind of vision, of these reptiles that you speak of?" Jace asked.

"From experience. Even as a monster cat, my vision was similar to that of normal cat and a human, who is color blind. I could see shades of blue and green, but reds and pinks were confusing. Those might appear more green, while purple can look like another shade of blue. I also couldn't see the same richness of hues and saturation of colors that you can. Though, it did not bother me, even a little, it just felt... natural. And that was the weirdest thing."

Alec shifted and continued.

"This fact changed after I gained the Mana Sense. My vision returned to normal, in accordance with my human senses. So, I am compelled to believe that the Blood Drake too, has the same vision as a reptile. The fact it missed the attack, only bolsters the theory further."

"What makes you so sure that it actually missed?", Jace asked, shifting his position across the round table surface.

"It's the way that the skills actually works. Perhaps it is due to my increased agility, I can clearly see when a skill activates, with my mana sense. The way the mana moves inside a body, when you activate a skill, the effect on target, everything. For example, take the blood bullet as the test skill here. It feels quite normal, just a ball of blood mana, condensed inside my throat. Nothing more. Now, there are two mechanisms that it follows, upon activation." Alec said, gazing at the big man, calmly listening as he laid on the smooth desk surface.

"First mechanism: Something moves inside my throat with a great force, striking and activating the first mechanism, that is, to launch the bullet at an extremely high velocity. But, this whole thing is still a mess, I can't identify what actually strikes the condensed ball, to launch it at the target. It feels something like gas pressure, but the fact that I don't feel any reverse impact, doesn't reinforce the theory any further. Perhaps, if I raise the level of my mana sense high enough, I would eventually be able to detect what actually happens, when I activate this skill."

"You lost me a bit there, but I think that I got the general idea. But aren't you analyzing a simple spell, a bit too much?" Jace asked.

"Wait for the second part before jumping to conclusions." Alec said as he raised his paw, proceeding with his calm tone like a saint.

"Pfft-"

He got interrupted as Jace let out a small chuckle.

"Hey!"

"Nothing, please continue.", Jace said, controlling his facial expression, shifting back to his cold maneuver.

"....I am trying to be serious here. Like seriously? Whatever, we have more important things to be concerned about." Alec said, veering across the giant cushion.

"The second mechanism, or, like the way I call it, the explosion mechanism."