Among the races that invaded humanity, eblors were one of the strongest.
They lived in the world of Lyea, that in their language meant ‘Source of Life’. A world with an environment very similar to earth, filled with leafy forests, crystalline rivers, and dense jungles.
Eblors lived in the forest, using enormous trees as their houses and coexisting with nature. Unlike humans, eblors were vegetarians, so they did not need to hunt to survive. Their food was the fruits of the trees and the grains of the plains.
Their race could be described as children of nature. In fact, their living habits were very similar to fantasy creatures like elves.
However, nobody would confuse them with elves.
Although their habits were similar, their appearance was very different.
Eblors were humanoid creatures with vertical eyes, hair of vibrant colors like the leaves of trees, and brown patterned skin similar to the pattern of tree trunks.
According to their history, they descended from Ancestral trees. Enormous trees that grew near magic nodes and after thousands of years gave birth to life.
They were a miraculous lifeform that humans could not comprehend.
But just like humans, they were a very advanced civilization.
They lived in forests, but they were not primitive. Quite the opposite, they created giant forest cities that were just as big, if not bigger, than human cities.
Unlike humans, eblors did not develop technology. Instead, they developed magic. Using their natural affinity to mana, they used magic to advance their civilization to a level comparable to humanity, and in some fields, they were even more advanced.
After thousands of years of development, eblor civilization had become mature, with dozens of countries and thousands of cities spread across the world of Lyea.
And among these countries, the Losarig Empire was the strongest.
Unlike earth, the world of Lyea had only one main continent similar to earth’s Pangea. That made it easier for the Losarig Empire to spread its influence across the entire world and become the leader of the rest of the nations.
Even though there were dozens of nations in the world of Lyea, all of them were subordinate to the Losarig Empire.
Today, in the palace located in the capital of the Losarig empire, two young girls were walking through a long corridor.
The appearance of the two girls was almost identical, revealing that they were twins. They had clear brown skin, orange vertical eyes, and reddish hair similar to autumn leaves.
But although they were twins, it was easy to distinguish one from the other.
The older sister always had a stern gaze and ice-cold expression, while the younger sister carried a mischievous smile and playful gaze.
The name of the twins was Hyacinth and Lily. They were the princesses and heirs to the throne of the Losarig Empire, and now, they were headed to the emperor’s office.
“Sister, do you know why dad is calling for us?”
The older sister shook her head. “I don’t know. But it must be important. Otherwise, father would have not called us to the office specifically.”
“That is true.” The second princess, Lily, smiled pensively. “… I wonder what it is. I hope it’s something interesting.”
The two girls soon arrived at the office. They asked the guard outside to announce their arrival, and after receiving permission, they stepped inside.
As soon as they entered the office, they saw their father seated behind the desk with a stern expression.
“Your majesty.”
“Dad.”
The two girls bowed slightly.
“Hello, my two beautiful daughters.” The emperor smiled when he saw them. “Please, take a seat.”
The two girls nodded and sat down.
“I’m sure you are curious about why I called you here.” The emperor smiled. “Actually, I have a mission for the two of you.”
“A mission?” The two sisters looked at each other confused.
They were princesses, not warriors. Even though their strength was not bad, it was just that, not bad. Plus, they did not have much combat experience or military knowledge.
They were not appropriate for a mission.
Unless–
“Is it a diplomatic mission?” Asked Hyacinth.
“Something like that.” The emperor nodded. “You will go to the human world as exchange students.”
The older sister frowned, and the younger sister’s eyes lit up.
“The human world?”
“That seems fun.”
The emperor smiled wryly when he saw the complete opposite reactions of his daughters.
“Yes, the human world.”
“But why? Humans know nothing about magic, and their teachings are not suitable for us. Is there anything we can learn from them?” Hyacinth asked confused.
“You are right. But you are not going there to learn, but to meet someone.”
The emperor then opened an archive on his desk and took a photo from it. He then showed it to his daughters, revealing the image of a beautiful girl with bluish-white hair and sky-blue eyes.
The girl was so beautiful that even the princesses were briefly spellbound.
“Her name is Sylvia Quin. We received information that she will go to one of humanity’s academies. Your mission is to become close to her, and if it’s possible, to forge a relationship of friendship with her.”
The two sisters were stunned. They could see that her father attached great attention to this girl, but they did not know why this girl was so special.
“Dad, who is she?” Lily asked curiously.
The emperor stared at them for a few seconds before opening his mouth.
“She is the daughter of the Protector Duke.”
I am a bit curious about what you mean by vertical eyes. I would normally say that makes no sense. However, given that these are beings not evolved on Earth, that could hold actual meaning that begs further explanation.
Or you could have meant vertical pupils like a cat. Which hints at something very predatory about these plant people. There is a reason for vertical pupils on earth that comes with pluses and minuses. The same thing applies to horizontal pupils like a goat.
For example, I recently found out that horizontal pupils don't work in their intended function if they aren't parallel to the horizon. Which you would think would be an issue when an animal goes to graze, but they have muscles that actual turn their eyes to keep the pupils horizontal in relation the the ground no matter the orientation of their head. So weird! And cool! :D
They're trees @fox6s
If their eyes are vertical it is just because they are trees. Why would a tree have horizontal eyes? Tree bark rises its patterns vertically, it just makes sense the eyes would be vertical in alignment with the bark.
@felinoel you did not answer my question at all. What does the author mean by vertical eyes?
Normally, eyes are round regardless of their pupil shape. However there are fish that have super weird eye shapes meant to see in and out of the water at the same time. Or eyes that are meant to look and magnify directly above the fish and are shaped like vertical cylinders. If the author meant the Eblor's actual eyeball shape, what does vertical mean?
Or do they mean the opening for their eyes is more vertical? To contrast, you might say that someone who is very Asian has horizontal eye slits. Are the Eblor's eye slits more vertical instead? Like their eyes are peeking out from a vertical crack in the bark?
Or did they actually mean their pupils? Does this mean the Eblors look like they have Cat eyes?
To respond to you more directly, tree bark rises in a variety of ways depending on the species. I couldn't even begin to tell you if vertical strips of bark or horizontally banded bark is more common. Both are prevalent.
Adding eyes into the mix, vertical pupils tend to be on ambush predators for a variety of reasons. Hence why that would be an odd but interesting trait on plant people since you wouldn't think of a tree as being one.
@Aidka still waiting for clarification on this one.
@fox6s Normally, trees don't have eyes.
@felinoel I agree. Hence, why them having vertical EYES rather than vertical pupils is confusing and i wanted clarification.
@fox6s I still think my reason for their vertical eyes makes perfect sense.
@felinoel okay. Lets assume I agree with your reasoning, which i don't, though never specifically argued against. Then tell me exactly what YOU mean by vertical eyes. Their literal eye shape? The opening for their eyes? Or their pupils? Which of those things specifically are you talking about being vertical?
@fox6s The eyeballs themselves are likely round, but the opening which can be shut are likely vertical openings like how humans have horizontal openings
@felinoel Reasonable. That is the more likely of the possibilities IMO. I would also be fine with vertical referring to their pupils since that has other connotations about the Eblor's nature.
Regardless, this confusion is exactly why I started this comment thread in the first place.
@fox6s bit late to the party, but in a previous chapter their eyes were described as having a vertical slit like a lizard.
Though the idea of the eyelids being vertical as a natural camouflage is also certainly interesting.
@Emblyon I could easily have missed a previous reference to them having eyes similar to lizards. I also assume that by having vertical slit IN the eye like a lizard, you are also referring to pupils. 'Slits' is a bit nebulous in this context. However, a cursory image search for 'lizard eyes' does not seem to show me anything vertical other than pupils:
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=lizard+eyes&iax=images&ia=images
If they were referenced before as being similar to a lizard eye, i concede that the verticality must refer to their pupils. And thus, I finally have an answer! Thank you. :D
@fox6s you're welcome 🤗.
The only reason I could answer that too was because I just picked this up and read it all in one go. I also have an unusually good memory regarding things I read which definitely helps.
@Emblyon Vertical pupils are a trait pretty much exclusive to ambush predators and allows for superior depth perception without moving. That the plant-like Elbors retain that trait has a whole load of interesting connotations. Assuming the author has even put in any thought about it beyond it just being a quirky trait to throw on the baddies because it is cool.
@fox6s I don't remember many plant like traits for the Elbors though, aside from Thier tree bark l like skin.
Though I'm not 100% sure about the hair, one was mentioned to be the colour of leaves? But not sure about looking like leaves? Either way to me it sounds more like a natural camouflage for a denizen if the forest.
Though it doesn't elaborate if it's like actual tree bark or patterned skin/hide. I imagined it as the later, and that it was a trait to blend into the forest, like an ambush predator. Similar to many reptiles.
@fox6s that seems unlikely, if it was vertical pupils it would have said vertical pupils imo
Humans have horizontal eyes because their lids close horizontally so vertical eyes could only mean the lids close vertically from my understanding.
@felinoel assuming @Emblyon is correct and the phrase "like a lizard's" was used by the author previously, there are very few lizards with visibly vertical eyelids (note the image search I posted). Lizards have a variety of pupils but the most common seem to be round and vertical.
This is much more convincing an argument for vertical pupils than your like cracks in bark vertical eyelids argument based solely on the VERY unclear wording of 'vertical eyes.'
However, as I noted previously, the author could have been clearer and removed the ambiguity altogether. I am perfectly willing to forgive them for being unclear as you can tell they have ESL (English as a Second Language) and am enjoying the story regardless. I brought up the question in the first place hoping to help them improve as well as to help complete my mental image of the aliens.