One-Eyed Monster

Igor suddenly felt energized.

He hadn’t expected the opponent who had been pestering them all this time to be a Spirit. This was beyond his expectations and filled him with excitement.

This was a very unusual experience, given that not many people could sense the presence of Spirits. Only Awakened Ones could...

However, at this thought, Igor suddenly froze, feeling that something wasn’t adding up.

Wasn’t it said that only Awakened Ones could see Spirits? Then what was the deal with Kadi? Stan Sol being an Awakened One made sense, but Kadi, who couldn’t even enter the Inner World, how could he see Spirits? What on earth was going on...?

Igor quickly voiced his doubt, hoping that the Spirit could provide a reasonable explanation. If the Spirit couldn’t provide a reasonable explanation, Igor thought with a grim little laugh, then he would definitely hold the Spirit accountable.

Igor was not someone who was easily fooled. If it turned out that the Spirit had been messing with him all along, he would get very angry; he might even never summon this Spirit again.

But, of course, the Spirit had not been messing with him.

Sometimes Igor was sharp, but at other times, he could get too fixated on trivial matters. Igor considered this a very important issue, a stance the Spirit found rather baffling.

Of course, the Spirit had no idea what Igor was thinking. He earnestly explained the phenomenon to Igor, hoping to clear up his misunderstanding. The Spirit had definitely not been tricking Igor.

”So, you mean, once you arrive in our world, you’re no longer controlled by the Awakened Ones?”

”We’ve never been controlled. Our relationship is complementary.” The Spirit was quite surprised. Why couldn’t Igor understand? He had already explained it many times.

This could be the legendary communication bottleneck...

”Then what’s the difference between Awakened Ones and others? When you come to our world, anyone can see you. Why even differentiate between Awakened and non-Awakened?”

”Our power can be transmitted, but we must be summoned by the Awakened Ones...”

”Still doesn’t seem like there’s any difference...” Igor wasn’t impressed by this explanation; he felt it wasn’t enough to dispel his doubts.

”It’s not as complicated as you think. We can only be summoned by the Awakened Ones. Once summoned, everyone can see us. But while they can see us, they can’t communicate deeply with us. The Awakened Ones are our partners; it is a complementary relationship...” The Spirit felt he had talked himself hoarse, but Igor still didn’t seem to comprehend.

It could only be said that the Spirit hadn’t had much exposure to Igor’s world and thus couldn’t explain things in a way Igor was familiar with.

The best methods of explanation were, of course, analogies and examples. But unfortunately, this particular Spirit had never been to that other world and thus wasn’t very familiar with these simple and clear approaches.

So no matter how detailed the Spirit’s explanations were, they were still ineffective.

This communication bottleneck continued, and who knew when it would end.

From his initial total rejection to his vague understanding now, Igor found this world fascinating and couldn’t help but want to embrace it. However, he hadn’t yet reached the stage of being able to summon a Spirit and fully experience its mystery, but he was already looking forward to the future.

The Spirit was in the most awkward position at this moment. Due to the communication bottleneck, he no longer knew how to explain things to Igor. Moreover, Igor had previously stated that if he discovered someone was tricking him, he would become very angry.

The Spirit knew he wasn’t tricking Igor, but he couldn’t prove it, which was a major problem. Moreover, he couldn’t quite grasp what Igor was trying to convey. The young man appeared to be quite happy, but on closer reflection, that didn’t seem to be the case...

The Spirit couldn’t figure out Igor’s state, nor understand why he always felt there was something special about Igor but couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

Igor was looking forward to the future, but he felt it was necessary to solve the problem at hand first.

And the current problem was how to track down the hidden enemy.

Igor began to analyze slowly. He had provisionally listened to the Spirit’s explanations and, for the most part, accepted these theories, even though many parts were still a bit confusing to him. However, this didn’t prevent him from proceeding with what needed to be done.

He analyzed carefully: since the opponents outside were also Spirits, and manipulated Spirits at that, then the situation should be more manageable.

He felt the key was to find the person manipulating the Spirits. Once they were found, they could break the false agreement and free the bound Spirits.

But this method didn’t seem easy to implement. The reason was simple: even the Spirits of this world couldn’t find the Awakened One behind this fraudulent agreement. What could he possibly do?

This method won’t work; I’ll have to think of something else... After racking his brains to no avail, he asked the Spirit, ”Can I still communicate with you when I’m outside?”

”Huh?” This sudden question left the Spirit somewhat flustered. Normally, this would be an easy question. They wouldn’t be able to communicate outside of the Inner World because Igor had not yet advanced to the stage where he could freely use Spirit Power. However, due to this communication bottleneck, the Spirit was at a loss for how to answer.

Actually, the Spirit had frightened himself and gotten himself all muddled.

”From your response, I think I may know the answer,” Igor said. The question was a bit complicated, and he needed more time to think.

”It’s not certain...”

”You mean it’s not certain whether I can communicate with your friends, right?” Igor interrupted the Spirit’s reply. He felt he had completely figured out this Spirit’s temperament and knew exactly what he was going to say next.

However, in reality, the Spirit wanted to say it wasn’t certain if Igor could advance after leaving the Inner World. If he did, he would then be able to fully summon him and communicate with them anytime, anywhere.

However, the persistent communication bottleneck prevented the Spirit from expressing what he truly wanted to say. Faced with Igor’s somewhat overbearing presence, the Spirit could only remain silent, unsure of what to say, caught in a dilemma about the right course of action.

Igor took the Spirit’s silence as an implicit agreement, and he was very excited. The future looked promising, and he felt confident he had grasped the Spirit’s disposition.

”I know what I need to do next. After I go out, I will get in touch with your friends. Regarding the earlier question about me communicating with your friends, do you have any suggestions?”