Ascendant Path of a Lustful Vampire

Chapter 53: Study of Magical Beasts (2)

”That thing is NOT beautiful,” Eloise said.

As the first to arrive, she, Caius, and Kaya were at the front of the class and closest to the cage Professor Lea was holding out.

”Oh, I don’t know,” Kaya said with a gentle smile, ”It does look kinda cute.”

And then the Lizard turned its head at them and opened a mouth filled with fang-like teeth to let out a snarl that took the two girls by surprise and had them jumping back as they yelled in unison,

”Ahh!”

Professor Lea laughed in delight like the maniac Caius knew she was.

”Believe me when I say that this is a Fire-cracking lizard being calm. The cage is enchanted to soothe its more violet tendencies or it would have broken free already.”

As she was talking, Professor Gilligan lowered the cage onto the ground which caused her boobs to distend a little in a very eye-catching way. Staring at them, many boys didn’t realize she opened the cage and reached in to grab the lizard from inside it. They only really noticed when she stood upright again and had the Beast balanced on one open hand.

Immediately, the Lizard’s face became screwed like it was concentrating or trying hard to take a poop but then its red patch of skin began to glow bright until it was a bright orange and looked like it was going to explode.

”Um, Professor...” Eloise started to point out but it was already too late.

*BOOOOMMMM!!!*

The explosion was loud and every student yelled out either taken over by fear or just startled by the sudden sound. They all leaped back a couple of steps as a cloud of smoke covered Professor Gilligan’s entire upper body.

And then, they saw a fingerless-gloved hand waving through the smoke. The hand carried a gentle flow of wind and the smoke was quickly cleared to reveal the Professor smiling and looking as well as ever.

”Yes, these little things can do that,” she said in a gentle voice,

”That’s how they got their name. By exploding in many people’s faces and burning off more than a few hairs.

The rating given to Beasts by the Adventurer’s Guild Bestiary is determined by how much danger they pose. The ratings take account of everything from speed, strength, elemental affinities, and even intelligence.

Not all beasts are strong, not all beasts are fast, not all beasts possess elemental powers and certainly not all of them are intelligent.”

She raised the Lizard for the class to know it was the one she was talking about as she said,

”These little ones have only speed and Elemental powers going for them. They are rated only Three Stars because it has been determined that their attacks can really only damage Third Circle Mages/Mage-Knights and below. Anything above that and you can brush it off like I just did.”

Aurelius raised a hand and Professor Gilligan smiled at him.

”Yes?” She asked.

”If it evolves, does its rating improve?” He asked.

It seemed like a very random question to ask but Caius knew there was a reason for it. Before attending Lochxen and at the start of [To Kill A Demon Lord...], Aurelius had done a bit of hunting. He faced off against beasts that he’d easily defeat only for them to run away and return stronger. Even at the end of that plot, he never did understand why.

”Fire-Cracking Lizards don’t evolve. Over 99% of Magical Beasts lack the ability to evolve and this includes even the ones with near-humanoid level intelligence.

Most of the reports on beasts capable of evolution are about the Legendary and Mythical sorts like Dragons and Phoenixes. We don’t doubt it’s true but those creatures are also just born very powerful so any further development might just be part of their growth and not some conscious desire to get stronger like we humans and other humanoid creatures do.

Humanoids evolve through some form of the Arcane Codex but most Magical Beasts lack the intelligence to comprehend it. And the ones who do have the intelligence don’t have the patience for it because it is simply not their way.”

”When you say 99% Professor, are Legendary and Mythical Beasts the only exception?” Aurelius asked in a follow-up.

Professor Lea Gilligan looked to be musing about that for a second or two before she said,

”Not necessarily. In this world of ours, there are always exceptions, they are just incredibly rare.

For example, there have been cases where excessive cannibalism can force a Magical Beast to evolve. But by that point, it’s no longer considered part of its actual Beast genus but rather an ’Aberration’.

There have also been people in the past who have thought themselves geniuses for tinkering with the natural order and inducing ’forced Evolutions’. It never ends well and the ’Institute of the Conservation of Nature’ takes such matters seriously. The results of such forced evolutions are not simply Aberrations but even worse creatures that are referred to as ’Abominations’.”

Caius saw Aurelius mumble the word ’Abomination’ to himself like he was finally making sense of the issue that had troubled him for months.

Professor Gilligan continued with a smile,

”But you don’t have to worry about such things here. The inhabitants of the Lochxen Forest have been allowed to thrive as they naturally would. They don’t contain any rare exceptions that can evolve so whatever you learn in class will allow you to accurately traverse the Forest.”

”Traverse it?” Doran Langston asked suddenly in surprise and his eyes went over to the Forest where it was just shadowy because of the thick canopy that all the many gigantic trees cast overhead.

”Well, of course. You didn’t think it was just for show, did you?” Professor Lea asked and laughed a little like it was a silly thing.

The laughter didn’t appease Doran and although he was the only one in the class who seemed to be new to this piece of information, he was not the only one worried.

Most of the students had siblings or even their very parents who had gone through Lochxen and they had already been briefed that the Forest was a big part of the Academy experience. It’s a bit like a test run of how to overcome dangers and also improve your survival skills in case you ever end up in such a situation once you’re out of school and out in the world.

Of course, getting briefed about it didn’t remove the dangerous aspects. Especially since most of them had had the experience played off as very scary by Older siblings who maybe wanted to be funny.

Professor Gilligan shook her head at those expressions,

”There would be no reason for Lochxen to let the Forest fester if it didn’t serve a purpose. It’s there for your education. Of course, measures have been taken to ensure the creatures within stay within and also keep wandering students out for your own safety.

But, when it’s required, and with proper precautions in place, you will venture in and brave the dangers within.

It’s gonna be awesome!”

Lea Gilligan said the last sentence with a wide grin and a wild look in her feline blue eyes like she couldn’t wait to send them into the Forest. Like it would make for good entertainment.

Her expression and her words were not at all encouraging. If anything, it scared the class all the more. As Caius looked at their faces, he could see it dawning on most of them—especially the boys—that the Professor’s joy and overall positive attitude might not be cute and might be a bit too dangerous.

That caused Caius to smile.

’They’re starting to get it,’ he thought with his eyes now on the Fire-cracking Lizard in the Professor’s hand as its forked tongue continued to slither in and out of its mouth,

’She’s nuts.’