One-Eyed Monster

Igor fell silent, not comprehending the significance of minority versus majority. He struggled to understand why the world was so cruel, why the majority’s fear could dictate the fate of the minority.

Too many ’whys’ plunged Igor into silence. He needed to think carefully; the purpose of his journey had completely changed, but his gains were by no means small.

The legends of the six professions were enough for him to digest for a while. The changes in the Kayne Empire’s Alchemy Workshop also deserved his meticulous consideration. And the hidden tale of the Glorious Seven Knights could occupy his mind for a long time as well.

But at the moment, his mind was not on any of these matters. Often, inconspicuous things exert the greatest influence on a person’s decisions.

He could not identify with the loneliness expressed by Kadi, nor could he fathom the real feelings of the creatures of Guru Mountain.

His head felt heavy and muddled, as if he’d suddenly been hit by something, leaving him unable to muster any energy.

”I know your confusion, child. But this world is often like this, without much reason to speak of.”

”But, there should always be right and wrong.”

”Child, everything in this world can change. Right and wrong are ultimately decided by those in power,” Grand Master Guzan said.

”So your apprentice, Kuyi Tulan, chose to climb to the top, betraying you in the process?” Kadi interjected from the side.

Igor was still completely bewildered; he couldn’t understand why Kadi had suddenly interjected with that.

”Kuyi Tulan is a child with his own ambitions, but his steps were a bit too quick; he was too eager for success.”

”And what about you? Do you think hiding from him makes you any better?” Kadi pressed, his questions relentless. The stories Guzan had told resonated deeply with him, making his heart churn like a pot of boiling water.

”Some things are not as bad as they seem on the surface. Everything that happens has its own significance.” The Great Mentor gazed into the distance; the sky had darkened without them noticing.

Igor scratched his head; he couldn’t understand what Guzan and Kadi were discussing. His mind was on other things. If I looked a bit strange, he wondered, would I also feel as lonely as Kadi, or experience the fear he talked about?

”Are monsters... destined only to hide?” Igor pulled Guzan and Kadi back from their profound discussion. This practical question still needed a clear answer.

”It’s not destiny, but a choice. Everyone makes their own choices. Besides, they’ve only changed in appearance; they can’t be called monsters at all.” Kadi sighed. He felt more and more alone; this was what he had always worried about most, and now it was becoming a reality he had to confront. However, for now, he had no way to deal with it other than sighing from time to time.

Although Kevin and the others are still very good to me, I’ll always feel strange when facing them. Without my own kind... it’s a feeling others can hardly understand.

”Even so, why choose to hide? Would something bad happen if they walked down the street together?” Igor suddenly became obstinate, for a moment forgetting all his earlier deductions.

Faced with Igor’s persistence, Grand Master Guzan simply smiled gently. At a time like this, only such a smile could reach Igor, who was already stuck in his own rut.

”Choices have good and bad sides. Once a choice is made, you have to keep going. You still haven’t understood what Guru Guru was saying earlier,” Kadi patiently explained to Igor.

”He is Master Guzan, not Guru Guru,” Igor said.

”In my eyes, he’s just Guru Guru, not some Grand Master of any Alchemy Workshop.” Kadi shrugged. Whatever the case, what happened here on Guru Mountain is what’s real. I haven’t seen the other things, so I can’t tell if they’re true. Maybe a lot of it was just made up by this Guru Guru. Of course, he knew Guru Guru wouldn’t actually invent stories to deceive them.

”But he’s clearly Guzan...” Igor still couldn’t let it go.

”Alright, alright. I am both Guzan and Guru Guru. It’s no big deal.” Guzan couldn’t help but laugh, seeing their flushed faces.

”In fact, I used the name Guru Guru to escape. Generally speaking, this name represents my cowardly side. But as for the name Guzan, I really don’t want to mention it again. After all, from the moment I walked out of the Alchemy Workshop, I knew I could never go back.”

”Why can’t you go back? You’re a Great Mentor of the Alchemy Workshop! How could anyone turn you away?”

”Disrupting another’s Alchemy Equation is the greatest taboo for an Alchemist. Someone like me is no longer fit to be a Great Mentor,” Guzan said calmly.

Igor said no more. Kadi, on the other hand, frowned. This leader of the Guru Mountain monsters is deliberately avoiding something, he thought. And he seems like he wants to say more but is holding back.

Igor often broke such awkward silences. The young man thought for a good while, then finally frowned and said, ”I feel like things are always strange. Everyone has their own story.”

”What are you talking about?” Kadi didn’t understand. Is Igor experiencing another Time Leap, or has he fallen into some Time Gap again? he wondered.

Kadi was still a bit dazed; he had no idea how much time had passed. It felt as if night to dawn, and dawn to morning, these stretches of time had all been cut apart, leaving him with no sense of time at all.

But time wasn’t the reason for Igor’s rambling. He had been going on for so long simply because he felt like he was a monster.

”I’m talking about this world! Everyone has their own version of events. No one can know who’s right and who’s wrong. It’s just like you said: the majority can always convince the minority. In the end, that minority must either choose to submit or choose to be destroyed.”

When Igor finished speaking those words, Master Guzan’s eyes lit up.

”So, the reason you’re all hiding on this mountain is because you still want to insist on your own views, right?” Igor guessed.

This guess astonished Kadi; he didn’t know how Igor could have deduced it.

”Oh? Why do you say that?” The Great Mentor voiced the question in Kadi’s heart for him.

”Because of what you said about the minority and majority! I get it now. I’m also a minority. At the academy, everyone thought I was an ’other,’ they all thought I was weird. Now that I think about it, I understand. In their eyes, I was just a monster.” Igor recalled his time at Yonder Travel Academy and couldn’t help but feel a wave of emotions, much like the Great Mentor.

”You’re also a monster?” The Great Mentor looked at Igor with interest.

”Yeah, aren’t you Guru Guru? You’re the monster chief,” Igor replied.

Kadi, who was standing to the side, felt a strange twinge in his heart. Is Igor mocking me? I’m the only monster here... But listening carefully, it doesn’t seem like it. He didn’t know what to say, or whether to be angry or relieved.