One-Eyed Monster

In the night, Igor was lost in thought, his mind a bit cluttered and unruly.

He was no longer sure whether what he had persisted in before was right or wrong. Having come this far, he felt he didn’t have much clarity.

Though his beliefs hadn’t wavered, the path he took was somewhat different.

What is the most important thing for an Adventurer? Is it truly courage?

So, is he considered courageous or not?

This answer eluded him, he could only stare dazedly at the increasingly dark sky in the distance.

But the sky didn’t change under his gaze; only with his prolonged observation, the sky became slightly clearer in the darkness.

The vastness of the sky made Igor instinctively feel his own insignificance. He chose the path of an Adventurer without regret, and now, facing a bottleneck, he couldn’t give up. The vast sky is there for him to explore, endless unknowns await his discovery.

Everyone around him had fallen asleep, yet he felt no inclination to sleep.

His heart felt tumultuous like a river, unsure of what to do.

He needed someone’s comfort, someone to guide him; he felt like a directionless bird, capable of soaring in the sky but unable to decide where to fly.

This really was a troubling problem for him.

He couldn’t always rely on a branch to decide direction for every future trip.

Which path to take?

Igor’s mind was a bit muddled.

Once back at the Yonder Travel Academy, he felt the need to have a thorough talk with Teacher Hadi.

Many things weren’t as he imagined, and he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know where this sense of helplessness came from.

He seemed to gradually perceive a significant problem.

Where did he come from, and where should he go next?

This problem troubled Kadi before, and now it was troubling him.

He couldn’t understand why he was in this world, it didn’t seem to be his own will, nor could he decide where to go in the future.

The insights he thought were clear before had become quite obscure because of the Great Witch’s wizard robe.

He no longer knew if he could achieve his goals continuing down this path.

His goal was unique, and no one believed in it.

On this continent, few people wanted to be Adventurers, because Adventurers yield no tangible harvest.

Adventurers cannot provide the king with a powerful army, nor can they bring much wealth to the nation.

Sometimes, Adventurers are even the culprits of stirring trouble.

Their discoveries are often strange, spread by the Crow to every corner of the world, leading various Empires to vie for them for their own benefit. This competition inevitably leads to battles, causing complaints among Non-Adventurers.

Thus, sometimes Adventurers do not have a good reputation among the populace.

Igor now felt very depressed, his thoughts were quite jumbled...

What was the plan for the future? Igor seemed to find it difficult to determine, he was already feeling lost.

Fear was his only feeling now.

”So late, you still don’t feel sleepy?” The Great Mentor walked over and sat down beside Igor.

”I can’t sleep. Too many things have happened, impacting my heart, making my already chaotic thoughts even harder to calm.”

”Heh, you, this is like a Wandering Bard.” The Great Mentor found Igor’s words quite interesting.

”I’m confused, I don’t know which choice to make.”

”It’s simple, then be my apprentice, everything will be fulfilling.” The Great Mentor didn’t forget his persuasion, he truly saw promise in Igor.

”Sorry, I really don’t want to be an Alchemist.”

”Aren’t you quite clear?”

”But, but I always feel like I might gain nothing.” Igor said softly.

”Heh, you want to be an Adventurer just to gain something?”

”Uh...” Igor didn’t expect the Great Mentor to ask him this.

”Want to gain something, isn’t it simple? Learn Alchemy, exchange, soon you’ll get what you want.”

”Great Mentor, please don’t add to my troubles, I really don’t want to become an Alchemist.”

”Heh, actually you’ve already decided internally, just tangled, or perhaps fearful, right?” The Great Mentor intended to comfort Igor and understood his pain.

”I…I cannot say.”

”In our world, it’s about Equivalent Exchange. But often we haven’t discovered where this equivalence truly is.” The Great Mentor gazes into the distance, speaking with deep meaning.

”This...” Igor didn’t know how to respond to this statement.

”Child, sometimes our efforts will not be rewarded.”

”Then isn’t such a choice quite tragic, investing so much, yet in the end getting nothing.” Igor finally expressed his biggest concern.

”Choosing wrongly doesn’t mean we failed. Even if we did fail, it doesn’t mean we gained nothing.” The Great Mentor uttered another cryptic phrase.

”I don’t understand.”

”What we pursue is not the result, child.” The Great Mentor looked at Igor, believing the young man was on a perilous path, needing a guiding hand to prevent him from stumbling into the abyss.

Sometimes, it’s just a thought that leads a person down a wrong path.

Igor’s rampant thoughts could lead him into an abyss, and the Great Mentor wanted to convey that not everything requires an answer.

”In Alchemy Exchange, without the process of the Alchemy Equation, could the target be exchanged?”

”No.”

”Yes, any matter is like this, the result we see might seem simple, but the process is far from simple.”

Igor scratched his head, seemingly understanding yet not.

”Perhaps we ultimately fail, failure’s outcome seems meaningless, but we still have a process of failure, is this process truly without meaning?”

”Seems like it’s not.” Igor seemed to understand a bit more.

”So, the pursuit of our goals isn’t measured by results.” The Great Mentor said.

”I understand now, most of us measure by results, in fact, we overlook the process, and this process is the most important thing.” Igor felt enlightened once more.

”Yes, you are correct.” The Great Mentor felt pleased, the young man had not veered off the path and naturally grasped the truth.