One-Eyed Monster

Igor looked bewildered. Who was this, and why did they sound so familiar?

He had just stepped into his Inner World. It was simply unbelievable that someone was there greeting him and saying they had been waiting for him for a long time.

However, that was exactly what was happening. He was in a passive position and could only look around for the source of the voice.

But after searching for a good while, he found nothing.

Igor absently scratched his head. At that moment, he was quite curious. He’d just entered an Inner World, but whose Inner World was it? Without knowing who it belonged to, he had no idea what kind of place he had entered...

Could it be Kadi’s Inner World? No, it couldn’t be. Kadi was congenitally unable to enter an Inner World, let alone create one...

So, had he entered his own Inner World?

Doubts began to sprout in Igor’s mind, growing more numerous and dense...

”Igor, come over here!”

The familiar voice called out again, leaving Igor even more baffled. He simply didn’t know what to do.

He could clearly tell that this wasn’t one of his seniors speaking. He was familiar enough with their voices and Spirit Power to recognize them.

At the same time, he had a hunch that this voice wasn’t his opponent’s either. His opponent had always concealed their Spirit Power, while this voice seemed to be releasing Spirit Power everywhere...

That’s right; the surroundings were filled with Spirit Power.

Igor could feel the Spirit Power just by reaching out his hand. What was even stranger was that this Spirit Power felt so familiar...

The voice was familiar, the Spirit Power was familiar, but Igor just couldn’t remember who the owner of the voice was.

What on earth was going on? This mixture of the familiar and unfamiliar...

”Igor, time is short; we must hurry.”

The voice sounded again, ethereal and elusive. But Igor was still thinking, completely unable to understand what the voice was saying.

”Follow your instincts, Igor.”

The voice began to prompt Igor.

Heeding this prompt, Igor cleared his mind and gradually felt he should head deeper.

Step by step, Igor moved deeper into the darkness. It was pitch black, with no hint of light, like a deep abyss.

”What is this place?” Igor asked curiously.

This bizarre scene greatly surprised him. He remembered that his previous few forays into the Inner World had never involved such a scene.

”This is a connecting vortex, also called a Black Hole.”

That voice rang out again, still ethereal and elusive.

”A Black Hole?”

”Yes, through this Black Hole is another world...”

Igor was suddenly confused. Another world? Could it be that he hadn’t entered an Inner World, but rather a Summoner’s world?

He was an Alchemist, not a Wizard. How could he possibly enter a Summoner’s world... This was absolutely impossible.

”The two worlds are undergoing Integration, Igor.”

This sentence made Igor even more bewildered. What was what? He constantly felt he had fallen into a massive trap.

”Who are you, exactly?” Igor returned to his initial question. If this question wasn’t resolved, the subsequent conversation would be very difficult to continue.

”I am Spirit.”

The voice remained ethereal and elusive, but with this answer, it exuded an even greater sense of mystery.

”Spirit?” Igor was taken aback by this answer. His thoughts returned to his encounter with Senior Kuren in the Inner World not long ago.

At that time, he encountered a being called Spirit; he couldn’t see its form, only hear its voice, and that being had told him a very, very long story.

Now this Spirit had appeared again. What on earth did it want to do?

”Time is limited; I cannot waste it. In this short interval, I need to let you know many things...”

”Wait, wait, wait...” Igor rudely interrupted Spirit’s incessant talk. He felt this Spirit was a bit too talkative. ”Don’t go telling stories like last time. You said yourself that time is limited, and my friends are waiting for me outside.”

”No, this time, I am here to seek help.”

”Help?” Igor was puzzled. What help could he offer?

”This is the junction of the two worlds. We were awakened by your people here. We, the awakened, rely on you, and you rely on us, mutually maintaining the balance between the two worlds...”

”I’ve heard this last time!” Igor found this Spirit truly long-winded; it was repeating the story it had told before.

Igor had already figured out what that long story was about last time.

Spirit and their kind lived in two mutually Parallel Worlds. But one day, the ancestors of the Adventurers with Class, using some unknown method, suddenly connected the two originally unrelated worlds. Then, the Spirits from that world continuously ran to this world. Of course, people from Igor’s world had to awaken them first. People from Igor’s world used techniques to awaken the Spirits from the Parallel World. Those awakened Spirits continuously provided Spirit Power to their Summoners, helping them fight and grow. They would only return to their own world to continue their slumber once the Summoner went to the Eternal Tranquility Realm.

This was a matter of awakening and assistance, very normal, and also conformed to the principle of Equivalent Exchange. As for how the ancestors of the Adventurers with Class opened the gates between the two Parallel Worlds, this remains unknown to this day.

Igor also clearly remembered that this Spirit had said the two worlds were now undergoing Integration, and many balances were being broken. He didn’t know what this sentence meant, but he vaguely felt that what it implied was definitely not a good thing.

”What exactly do you want? Don’t repeat the story. I know you said your world is being impacted, and many awakened Spirits have already lost their original nature...”

”I need your help, Igor!”

”What can I do to help you? I’m still nothing right now.”

”You are an Awakened One! How can you be nothing?” Spirit said in surprise.

”Huh?”

Regarding Awakened Ones, Igor also remembered this being mentioned in that long story from last time.

There weren’t many Awakened Ones. Anyone who could awaken a Spirit from the Parallel World had a chance to become an Awakened One. However, although this chance was high, the success rate was not.

Awakening Spirits was very common for Adventurers with Class, but being able to communicate with an awakened Spirit was very difficult.

So, even powerful figures like the Great Mentor couldn’t be considered Awakened Ones. But Igor was, because he could communicate with Spirit.

Igor also remembered Spirit saying that the reason for the imbalance between the two worlds was the Awakened Ones. Some Awakened Ones began to violate the principle of Equivalent Exchange and exploit Spirits, making the originally harmonious relationship complicated...

Igor scratched his head. ”Even if I am an Awakened One, I don’t know how I can help you.”