Chapter 477: Ocular Abilities
Northern's eyes widened just as he flung them open. After answering Annette, he was slightly shocked.
But he also simultaneously understood what had happened with his eyes.
It was like something was keeping them inactive the whole time. And he had no idea that was what was happening until the situation forced him to react.
It just happened to be that he flipped to the other side when he heard about Rughsbourgh.
And that strong drive was what he needed to open his eyes. He just didn't have an idea because he was focusing on the wrong thing the entire time; waiting for the eyes to open on their own. Meanwhile, they'd been there the whole time.
Annette studied him silently, her single vermilion eye burning with awe.
A small smile curled the corner of her lips and she commented, "Your eyes... are beautiful."
Northern was also shocked by her comment. His eyes are beautiful.
He grinned belatedly, "Well, they've always been beautiful."
"No, no, this is different. Your eyes are definitely different, kind of dark beauty, and what are those black veins beneath your eyes?"
Northern turned to the cabinet beside his bed. He opened each drawer, rummaging until he managed to find a portable mirror, then he stared into it.
A small frown fell on his face as he saw himself, his eyes and his face.
"Why do I look... so lifeless...?"
Then he understood what Shin had said after his awakening as a Master. Indeed, he looked like a walking corpse. Too pale.
His irises swirled with electric blue, shot through with veins of deepest sapphire. At its center, a void of absolute black pulled at the senses, threatening to swallow.
Black cracks spiderwebbed from the void of absolute black across the azure expanse, like fissures in ancient ice, hinting at barely contained power straining to break free.
Light pulsed from within, as if the eye itself were alive with an inner fire, casting an ethereal glow that danced across its surface.
Framed by wispy lashes and set against the stark white of its setting, his eyes seemed to float in darkness.
It was beautiful and terrifying, alluring yet alien. To look upon it was to feel a ponderous weight burden one's soul; there was a sense of cold dread that accompanied his gaze.
All in all, it was breathtaking that even Northern was speechless.
While he looked the same, he was at the same time different. It looked like a dark and gloomy air was going to keep following him henceforth.
And when he did manage to smile, it'd be a horrible grin that instilled fear in the tenderhearted.
He could sense all the trouble he was going to get trying to socialize with this kind of face.
'Oh well, I'm not the sociable type to begin with.'
If he had ever had a hope to at any point socialize, that hope today had been crushed. It was sad, but life goes on.
'The likes of me and the power I wield are better away from the crowd anyway. It's better I get used to it now.'
Northern dropped the mirror, letting out a sigh, then he looked at Annette who kept her gaze stuck on his for a few awkward seconds.
Until Northern cautioned her.
"Please stop staring."
She blinked and averted her gaze, awkwardly apologizing.
"I'm sorry, there was just this pull about it that was irresistible..."
She then frowned to the ground and squinted her eyes at Northern as she asked, "Do your eyes have some kind of charming effects?"
Northern looked at her with a slight strain in his expression.
'Seriously, if that was all there was to it, I'd be so happy.'
He sighed and answered her.
"I don't think so... I kind of know its capabilities but not all at the moment. I don't think charming effects are a part of what my eyes can do. Why do you ask?"
Annette was silent for a few heartbeats, her gaze fell down in deep thoughts. Then she looked at Northern and said,
"You know of Heritage, right?"
'Of course, I have one myself.'
"Yes."
She pointed to her eyes, "My vermilion eyes are supposedly a kind of heritage. They say it's a rare occasion when one's true name, talent, and heritage are linked to the same source."
Northern raised a brow, "What source?"
Annette straightened her shoulders to gesture with her hands, "I'm not entirely sure, but because of that connection, my ancestors had a unique ocular heritage that went down the line as a lineage ability."
She paused and slowly removed the eyepatch covering her other eye.
It was dark and empty at first, but barely a second later, a vermilion spark ignited in the hollow socket of her eye.
She parted her hair to the side and hung it behind her ears so Northern could take a good look. He frowned interestingly as he observed her eyes, feeling his react slightly to it. Easily, some things resonated in his soul. Like he knew what he didn't know a second before
now.
"Your eyes amplify your soul essence?"
Annette nodded her head, "To be exact, we call it fire essence. My family found a technique to tap into the essence of fire through soul essence. This caused our soul to take on the form of a fire, and its essence is what we channel."
She paused and breathed, then continued, "We are the closest to the reach of fire that there could be. But we are not the only ones that have managed a feat of this level. You'll find several of them in the Central Plains, families in prestigious kingdoms and independent
clans."
Her gaze towards Northern became more stern, "I think you may have awakened a heritage like mine."
'Except that I'm damn sure that this isn't a heritage. And there's no link between my true name and my heritage.'
And as a matter of fact, he didn't even have a talent to begin with.
Except for the influence of Chaos, the origin of [All Eyes] remained a mystery even to
Northern.
But he followed what Annette was saying; the information was very useful to him.
'At least now, I know that I am not the only one with ocular abilities.'