One-Eyed Monster

Dean Hoffman was clear in his intention; he affirmed Stim’s discovery, acknowledging Stim as an apprentice regardless of whether the discovery proved successful or not.

”Alright, everyone take a break for now. I, Jiggs, Skol… hmm, Stim, you too, come along. Let’s sort out this library first, so it doesn’t scare everyone later.” After finishing, Dean Hoffman took a white cape and gloves from Skol.

”Why would it scare us...” Only Hustace was foolish enough to ask this question, despite his determination to become a scholar, there were many things he hadn’t encountered yet, the only Spirit Book he had come across was the one Igor carried...

”This...” Igor wanted to answer but didn’t know how to explain.

”Because other Spirit Books aren’t as gentle as me!” A familiar voice suddenly emerged, and for Hustace, it wasn’t unfamiliar.

Igor’s Spirit Book, silent for so long, finally spoke up.

”Yo, you finally woke up, um, no, finally came back to life!” Igor sarcastically remarked. He had always considered this Spirit Book a good companion, but its behavior made Igor conclude it was unreliable.

”I was always clear-headed...” the Spirit Book said leisurely, completely ignoring Igor’s sarcasm.

”Clear-headed? No way, haven’t you always been silent? That’s not like you at all!” Igor continued.

”I didn’t expect your Spirit Book to be quite humorous.” Perkins said cheerfully, he had seen many Spirit Books but rarely dared to provoke them since most had bad tempers. During his travels, he once saw a Spirit Book burn a Flame Wizard Apprentice’s hair to cinders...

”This fellow is consistently unreliable. Honestly, if we didn’t have a Spirit Power contract, I would’ve tossed him aside long ago,” Igor turned his head to say to Perkins.

”Come on, I remember he helped us quite a bit on the way back!” Perkins referred to their previous discussions about his story, where the Spirit Book helped clarify the details...

”That was a coincidence; most of the time, this fellow is unreliable.” Igor tilted his eyes, completely disappointed in the Spirit Book.

”It depends on how my owner behaves; if you were as knowledgeable as that boy, I would definitely be dependable...” The Spirit Book continued leisurely, and the cautiousness and fear it previously had towards Igor vanished...

”Yo, are you calling me ignorant?”

”In front of that boy, you certainly are. Not just you, I feel ignorant too!” The Spirit Book sighed, referring to Stim.

”Oh, come on, you’re talking nonsense!” Igor said.

”I’m not talking nonsense, it’s true. In that boy’s hands, I feel completely seen through; his eyes seem to pierce everything, so much so that I feared speaking a wrong word!”

”Uh...” Igor scratched his head, surprised at the high praise the Spirit Book gave Stim.

”Hehehe, looks like that eleven percent chance won’t happen.” Perkins laughed, hearing the Spirit Book’s evaluation of Stim, gaining high expectations for Stim’s discovery connection. Stim himself mentioned an eighty-nine percent certainty, obviously modest.

No wonder Dean Hoffman quickly appointed Stim as the library’s curator.

At that moment, the private library’s door opened suddenly, a sound of clashing chains echoed.

”Everyone, when you come in, put on this white cape and gloves I’m handing out. These books dislike dust and untidy persons, so you must take care!” Jiggs, the administrator, stood at the door announcing loudly.

”Damn! Are Spirit Books so finicky!” Perkins exclaimed directly.

”Hey, we are books, books with feelings; when you encounter a dusty book, wouldn’t you wipe it down and blow it off?” Igor’s Spirit Book remarked.

”Of course, who wouldn’t!” Perkins replied.

”Exactly, the same with us; when we encounter dusty, untidy people we would swipe, pat, and blow air...”

”Uh...” Perkins was speechless, he immediately took the cape and gloves from Jiggs, wore them embarrassedly, while noticing Jiggs’s contemptuous grin...

Led by Jiggs, everyone entered Dean Hoffman’s private library. Since the library was at the back of the mountain and was Dean Hoffman’s private property, few people ventured there; even Governor Rostov was visiting for the first time.

The library was brightly lit, yet lacked any candlelight, illuminated completely by self-lighting stones and Night Pearls, emitting gentle, non-glaring light.

”Director Hoffman’s love for books could be described as obsessive; to prevent books from being burnt, he consistently uses Night Pearls and Sun Stones for illumination, very cautious indeed,” Jiggs explained as they walked.

”How many gold coins does this cost!” Perkins marveled.

”Oh, not much at all, compared to the daily expenses of clothing changes, much less. Many nobles change more than four outfits per day.” Dean Hoffman walked from a shelf, wearing reading glasses, placing a book back onto the shelf.

Indeed, many nobles change outfits multiple times daily to display their status, and each outfit is priceless. The stones used by Dean Hoffman were often embedded in the clothes of these nobles.

The library wasn’t large, it housed roughly ten bookshelves. On one side were six bookshelves holding non-spirited and gentler Spirit Books, whereas the other side held four with larger spacing; each shelf had a pillar behind it, chained to which were Spirit Books.

The sound of clashing chains came from these four shelves.

Igor looked at the four shelves thinking about how powerful the Spirit Books must be to warrant such precautions, it seemed like dealing with fierce pets!