After strolling around the western part of Princeton for the whole afternoon, Locke and Angelina returned empty-handed.
It wasn't that they couldn't find food suitable for Angie, but that they didn't choose the ideal food. It was either too expensive or not suitable for Angie to grow up.
As the descendant of a high-ranked major monster with great potential, Angie only needed to grow up healthily to be on par with a high-ranked major monster. When it reached adulthood, it would have the strength of a base-ranked major monster. If it could go one step further and reach the level of its parents, it might even be possible for it to become a high-ranked major monster.
As an experienced caster, Angelina naturally had her ways to help Angie achieve greater achievements and reach adulthood in a shorter time. The prerequisite for all of this was abundant food.
Major monsters were different from casters and knights. Knights advanced through physical training and impetus cultivation, while casters reached higher levels by condensing mental power. Most major monsters, on the other hand, evolved passively throughout their lives.
Passive evolution depended on the lifespan of the major monster and the amount of food it consumed. Basically, the longer a major monster lived, the stronger it would become.
As Angie was a poison-type major monster, the flesh and blood of poisonous animals and major monsters were good medicine to help it grow faster.
There were very few poisonous major monsters in Morphey Forest except for the scorpiondrake family. As for the reason, it was probably because they'd all been eaten by the scorpiondrake family.
The scorpiondrake could also eat the flesh of ordinary animals and major monsters, but it wouldn't be of much help in increasing its strength. It could only be used to fill its stomach.
Without the flesh and blood of poison-type major monsters, it would take the little scorpiondrake about two hundred years to grow to the same level as its siblings. Angelina estimated that it would take at least five hundred years to grow to the same level as its parents.
Not to mention five hundred years, Locke didn't know if he could even live for two hundred years.
Therefore, it was imperative to look for the precious flesh and blood of poisonous major monsters.
In the evening, Locke and Angelina returned home with two kilograms of boar meat in their hands.
He took the food from the shadow guard and accompanied Angelina to her courtyard.
As soon as they got close to the courtyard. "Squeak, squeak, squeak..." The sound of something being sawed came from the courtyard. When he walked closer to take a look, he saw a large green scorpion lying next to a big tree in the courtyard, rubbing its pincers against the bark of the tree in boredom.
The trunk of the hundred-year-old tree, which required three people to wrap their arms around it, was already riddled with holes. Sawdust scattered all over the ground.
Angelina was a clean person. When she saw this scene, she felt dizzy and almost fainted. This was not the first time.
The large green scorpion knew that Angelina had returned through telepathy. It stopped sawing the tree and stared at Locke, who was carrying the boar meat next to Angelina with its protruding black eyes.
The giant scorpion licked its mouth with its grey tongue and clamped its pincers, shaking the barbs on its tail as it charged towards Locke.
"It still hasn't taught it enough," said Locke helplessly. "Should I teach it another lesson?"
Angelina facepalmed and nodded.
Locke tossed the boar meat in his hand into the air. The scorpiondrake's gaze followed the food and it leaped up unnaturally, as if it wanted to catch the boar meat in one bite.
Locke, who was not far away, exerted strength in his forearm. A touch of light-coloured impetus was applied to his arm. He stomped his left foot and suddenly rushed towards the scorpiondrake that had half of its body in the air.
He punched the scorpiondrake's exposed soft abdomen. Bang! In a split second, the green scorpiondrake was pushed back and hit the wall of the courtyard with a muffled sound.
"Hiss!" Unlike its parents, the scorpiondrake could not roar. The sound it made was more like a snake's shriek.
The green scorpiondrake was also irritated. It shook its scales, clawed the ground with its claws and swooped towards Locke.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
.....
Again and again. It could have been half an hour, or it could have been an hour. The little scorpiondrake was beaten to the ground countless times, or knocked against the wall.
Locke was very careful and didn't cause any substantial damage to the scorpiondrake. From the outside, the scorpiondrake didn't seem to have changed much except for its scales being a little dirty.
However, the people who witnessed the whole process didn't think so, especially the experts.
At least two-thirds of the scorpiondrake's muscles were strained to varying degrees. There was even blood seeping out of its scales.
In the end, when Locke swung his fist, the scorpiondrake was so frightened that it quickly lowered its head and begged for mercy. Only then did Locke stop.
"Are you still going to cause trouble?" Locke asked with his eyes wide open. He knew that the scorpiondrake could roughly understand what he meant. After all, it was a crystal Naser that had the strength of a low-rank major monster as soon as it was born. Its intelligence was comparable to that of a seven or eight-year-old child.
Seeing that Locke still had the intention to beat it up, the scorpiondrake nodded repeatedly. It was only a month old, but it could already communicate with outsiders.
At this time, Angelina came out and hugged the scorpiondrake's little head. She took out an embroidered handkerchief that she always carried with her, wiped the dust and dirt off its forehead, and comforted it with her mental power.
With a stick in one hand and a date in the other, Locke and Angelina worked together seamlessly. Now, in the entire mansion, the scorpiondrake wasn't afraid of the powerful capital guards and shadow guards. It was only afraid of Locke and only listened to Locke and Angelina.
Seeing that the scorpiondrake had become obedient, Locke picked up the boar meat that he'd thrown aside during the battle and threw it in front of the scorpiondrake.
When the scorpiondrake saw the food, it didn't care about the pain in its body. It crawled towards the boar meat and started eating.
Looking at its posture, it didn't seem to be injured at all.
The strong bodies of magical beasts endowed them with extremely strong regenerative abilities, especially superior creatures like scorpions. As long as they still had a breath left in them, with enough food and energy, they could definitely recover to their peak after a long period of recuperation.
Locke had been beating the scorpiondrake up for the past few days because it was too noisy. Angelina had changed three courtyards in a week, and every one of them was uninhabitable because of the scorpiondrake. She probably wouldn't be staying in this one tonight. There were scattered leaves and branches everywhere.
"Angie, when will you learn from your mistakes?" Locke patted the scorpiondrake's head casually, causing it to tremble in fear.
He retracted his hand awkwardly and returned to his room amidst Angelina's giggles.
Locke taught the scorpiondrake a lesson not only to make it learn from its mistakes, but also to improve his combat ability. He hadn't fought for more than a month and needed to loosen up his muscles. This low-rank major monster's strength was just right for him.
He spent the next month familiarizing himself with Princeton, Aomarian's imperial capital. He had visited about a third of the city's main city and left some impressions on many places, especially those that he hadn't been to before. He was thinking of visiting them one day in the future.
At the beginning of February, the academy officially opened. Students from all over the empire came from all over the place. The once empty and quiet campus became crowded and lively during this period.
The number of students in Year 2's class had also increased from around thirty to seventy. This was the actual number of students in their class.
Having more classmates meant more interaction and friction. Locke kept a low profile and only knew Henry and a few other members of his small group. He hadn't had any conflicts with anyone so far.
Compared to getting along with his classmates, he was more worried about his credits.
120 credits required the students to sign up for the projects they wanted to study. He didn't have to worry about knight training, but he was worried about his cultural classes. Perseverance had a strict requirement that students had to earn 20 credits in a semester.
'Goethe's Complete Poems', 'Three Thousand Years of the Empire', 'The Compatibility of Horsemanship and Actual Combat', 'Proof of Roosevelt's Theorem'... Locke looked at the pile of books that were as big as his head and thought hard about which one to choose.
Angelina had already helped him choose 'The Aomarian Language' and 'Basics of Magic and Impetus'. One of them was worth six credits, while the other was worth nine credits. He only needed to choose another subject that was worth five credits or more.
He had dabbled in one of the two subjects in Faustian and Angelina could help him explain part of the other subject. They were both easy subjects.