One-Eyed Monster

The Black Hole gradually revealed a void—indeed a void, without any discernible shape or state. However, around this void, gray dots floated.

”Pay attention. Those gray dots are the agreements. We put a lot of effort into deciphering them,” Spirit said. They felt no shame about this; after all, it was a very real problem. They only had a superficial understanding of Igor’s world, so it was quite normal for them to find many things incomprehensible.

”You found decoding these so challenging, yet you assume it would be effortless for me?” Igor was different from others; he always managed to think of things no one else did.

”These are the sorceries of your world. We understand Spirit Power, and you comprehend sorcery. This is quite normal, so you definitely won’t have any obstacles. After all, this is your way of understanding things.”

Spirit’s explanation held no persuasive power for Igor. However, Igor had no way to refute this viewpoint and could only brace himself to observe those small gray dots.

The small gray dots appeared to be spinning. But as Igor stared at them, he discovered their rotation wasn’t random. They followed a pattern, as if revolving around something, and as they spun, they seemed to converge and merge.

Gradually, Igor discovered that these small gray dots transformed into individual fragments. Then, in the process of spinning, they slowly formed a moderately sized piece of parchment...

The parchment was extensively inscribed with the common script of the Yowein Continent. It undoubtedly appeared to be an agreement.

Igor scratched his head. This agreement looks so ordinary, with no special features at all! He felt everything was utterly mundane, with nothing worthy of attention, and wondered why Spirit had told him to look at this thing.

”Have you figured anything out?” Spirit asked, his voice full of anticipation. It seemed he believed Igor would surely discover some clue and then quickly find a way to rescue his friends.

”Not really. I don’t know much about summoning, to begin with.” Igor was quite frank; he didn’t overestimate his abilities and answered Spirit’s question very honestly.

”ER...” Clearly, Spirit was a little disappointed.

From the moment he was awakened by Igor, Spirit had felt this young man was different. He could distinctly sense the shadow of his companions on this boy. Although he couldn’t ascertain who this companion was, a boy capable of awakening a second Spirit was definitely no ordinary child.

Therefore, he had been greatly looking forward to Igor summoning again. He just hadn’t expected the second time to come so quickly. Perhaps it was because his expectations had been too high that he felt so disheartened now.

Spirit had never understood this agreement. He didn’t understand why his friends couldn’t return, nor did he comprehend why some Spirits could continue to slumber even after being awakened.

The world is vast, and full of extraordinary things. Other than this saying, he could find no other fitting words to explain it.

Igor once again scrutinized the successfully assembled parchment. The more he looked, the more amazed he felt. This small, transparently bright Black Hole had, in just a short while, pieced together those gray dots into a parchment. The content of the agreement was once again clearly displayed before his eyes.

He knew he had no way to fathom the mysteries within, but he could still understand the superficial aspects.

From this agreement, Igor could see that the people who had awakened these Spirits had used a very simple method to trap them.

However, tracing it back to the root cause, it was ultimately because these Spirits were too fond of playing and had failed to withstand the temptation.

”Are your friends all a bunch of kids?” Igor asked.

Spirit faltered for a moment; he hadn’t expected Igor to say that.

That’s right. His group of Spirits had indeed slumbered in this world for a relatively short time; they were quite young. Compared to the other one Igor had awakened, they could be considered mere kids.

”Y-yes, you could say that,” Spirit replied, a little flustered. He didn’t want Igor to see him as a mere kid. Other things didn’t matter much, but if that happened, his standing in Igor’s eyes would definitely be diminished. Then, his own aura of mystery would suddenly vanish, and he’d become completely ordinary.

”No wonder. Someone even slightly more mature wouldn’t make such a choice.”

”What kind of choice?” Spirit asked, still cautious. He didn’t understand what Igor was trying to say.

”Sigh, your friends... the choice they made was one of playfulness. Didn’t you see that?” Igor asked in return.

Spirit carefully examined the agreement again. He had to admit it was indeed somewhat tempting; if it were him, he wasn’t certain he could have resisted such a temptation either.

”Being too playful comes with a price. This agreement exploited exactly that,” Igor said again.

Spirit understood where the allure of that agreement lay. Igor’s world was far more interesting than the one they currently inhabited. Many Spirits of his age, once they went there, were often unwilling to return. Unfortunately, those who had awakened them were not Awakeners. So, after the summoners had expended their power, the Spirits had no choice but to obediently return to their own world.

However, this time was different. This time, the young, playful Spirits were summoned by a group of Awakeners. These Awakeners harbored ill intentions, wanting to retain this kind of power long-term, so they came up with such a crooked scheme. Somehow, they managed to sign such an agreement with the Spirits. Then, those playful fellows, coveting the wonders of that world, remained there.

And then... there was no ’and then.’ After they stayed there, they could never come back.

”Then tell me, what should my friends do?” Spirit continued to ask Igor. He felt that now, only Igor could answer his questions, and only Igor could rescue his friends.

”Playful children always learn their lessons through hardship. I was like that myself. So, you don’t need to worry about them. Once they’ve had enough fun, they’ll naturally think about coming back,” Igor said.

”But how can they return?” Spirit felt Igor was making it sound too easy, completely disregarding the difficulty.

”Well, break this agreement, then,” Igor said simply.

”What do you mean? How do we break this agreement?” Spirit felt that Igor had finally hit on the crucial point, as if he were getting close to the answer...

”This agreement? It’s inherently unequal from the start. I don’t think there’s any need to abide by it at all. Look, they claim they use flesh and blood to sustain your existence in our world. Let me ask you, do you Spirits actually need to absorb our flesh and blood to be active in our world?”

”It seems... we don’t, right?” Spirit also found this very strange.

”So, you see! This is an unequal agreement. This agreement might just be a scam,” Igor said, puffed up with pride. He felt he was quite remarkable.