One-Eyed Monster

Just as Hustace was about to step out of the doorway, he heard someone let out a loud cry. When he turned back, he saw it was the senior named Stim who had made the sound.

This immediately drew everyone’s attention, and Hustace retracted the foot he had just stepped out with.

”Dean! Dean!”

The crowd saw the previously quietly reading Stim suddenly become excited, holding the Spirit Book in his hand, hurrying towards Dean Hoffman while carefully closing the book.

”So abrupt, what is he up to!”

”Uh, Dean, could I borrow a few books from your private library?”

The atmosphere had been a bit awkward, but Stim’s sudden outburst broke it, and Hustace now understood that the cry ”ah” was out of excitement. Although he didn’t know why Stim was so thrilled, breaking the tense mood between Igor and his father made him quite happy.

”Why borrow books?” Perkins joined in the excitement; he’d been silent for a while and now wanted to speak.

”Hmm? The questions Igor asked me before, I’ve now found a bit of a clue, but I’m not sure if it’s correct. Only by borrowing those Travelogue Series books can I draw a conclusion.” Stim was initially puzzled by Perkins’ question, but quickly responded, believing the focus of everyone’s discussion should be on the questions Igor had raised, specifically about the Spirit Books.

Stim wasn’t aware of other matters, as he hadn’t participated in the discussions before, and when he was reading, he almost never asked questions, focusing entirely on reading.

At this moment, Igor was quite excited: ”Senior, what have you discovered?”

”Hmm, a bit, but it needs to be verified.”

”Dean, the senior has made a discovery but needs a few books from your library; is it possible?” Igor also began to plead with Dean Hoffman.

Clearly, Igor trusted his instincts; he believed Stim could find the connections between these Spirit Books, hence he must plead to the Dean...

”Well, this old man must also carefully consider this.” Dean Hoffman did not readily agree; his private library contained many Spirit Books, and the spirits imbued in them were notoriously fierce, not something Stim could handle.

However, Igor knew none of this; he was only focused on finding out the answers as soon as possible, so he continued, ”Dean, please don’t be like this; I feel we’ve reached a critical moment now, and we can’t just give up.”

Dean Hoffman also didn’t understand what Igor was talking about; they were discussing Kadi from Guru Mountain, but now the topic had suddenly shifted to borrowing books from his private library. The leap was quite significant, leaving Dean Hoffman a bit puzzled.

”Well, let me say this; we’re all discussing future issues now. Igor, could you explain what you all have discovered? This way, the Dean can understand the context better!” Perkins, seeing Dean Hoffman’s dilemma, stepped in to mediate.

”Uh... yes, I was abrupt, just overwhelmed with excitement!” Igor suddenly came to his senses at Perkins’ suggestion.

”Then let’s set aside the matter of Guru Mountain for now and see what Igor has discovered first!” Perkins said with a smile, finding joy in speaking after holding back for so long.

”No, no, to be precise, it’s Senior Stim’s discovery!” Igor remained modest.

”So, what exactly is it you’ve been researching?”

”The Spirit Book!” Stim blurted out.

”Uh...” Perkins felt a bit disappointed.

”There’s quite a lot, hard to explain all at once!” Igor scratched his head, not good at summarizing or compiling, unable to directly articulate much of it.

”At least give us a general idea.” Perkins still wanted to learn a bit more.

”Let Stim speak...” Dean Hoffman looked at Stim meaningfully, believing Stim could clearly explain the ins and outs, ”take your time, there’s no rush; everyone has time to listen.”

”Yes, Dean.” Stim began to speak slowly. Though he wasn’t clear on other matters, he did have some insight into the questions Igor had posed earlier.

”Hurry up!” Igor urged continuously.

Hustace was also curious because he was determined to become a scholar himself, and the senior in front of him, Stim, was his best role model.

”Dean, the Spirit Book that Igor has is from Lord Soron’s Travelogue Series. Many believe this series is just a collection of travel essays without value, but I don’t think so. I believe it is a journey of discovery for Lord Soron, with this series containing many anecdotes about Dark Force and Spirit Power. The questions Igor asked initially were about whether these things are connected. Initially, I thought it was too complicated and took a long time to process, but after reading through the Kayne Realm Travelogue, I changed my mind.”

”Hmm, I know that you, child, have the talent of a photographic memory and conduct meticulous research on books. Very few in the entire academy could match you in this aspect.” Dean Hoffman stroked his beard, expressing his satisfaction with Stim as a pupil.

”Lord Soron’s Travelogue Series is something the Dean has collected three volumes of, demonstrating that the Dean also places great importance on this series, not treating it as ordinary travel writing. Today, I saw the Kayne Realm book from Igor, completing my reading of the series.”

”The books you wish to borrow are from this series?” Dean Hoffman continued to inquire.

It almost became a test for Dean Hoffman to evaluate his apprentice, leading all others to close their mouths involuntarily, listening to the dialogue between the two...

”Yes, Dean, I’ve found connections among these four Travelogues. In many parts of one book, the connections between the earlier and later sections are subtle, but when I extracted these descriptions, I discovered they form a cohesive system. For instance, the description of Guru Mountain in the Kayne Realm book: the second part can be extracted, which links significantly to the third part of the Mountain Monsters description in the Ghost Realm book...”

Stim’s explanation left everyone present astounded!