One-Eyed Monster

Igor’s contemplation did not stop this spirit from continuing his narrative.

”We were indeed very rational, without any emotions, living our lives methodically. Waking and sleeping, sleeping and waking, though such things are dull, they allow the whole world to maintain balance, enabling this world to function well.”

”His appearance caused an anomaly in your world, breaking your balance, didn’t it?”

”Yes,” the spirit replied.

A moment later, he added, ”His appearance broke the original balance, but that wasn’t the reason for that tree’s trembling after all.”

”The tree you’re talking about, what exactly is it?”

”Your world cannot do without the sun, our world cannot do without the tree; this concept is not something I can clearly articulate, I can only describe it this way.”

Igor pondered. He felt that this tree must be the World Tree of the Spirit World, the energy source upon which these spirits rely for survival.

The existence of this great tree allows these spirits to effortlessly use energy, and after these spirits sleep, they provide nourishment for the growth of this tree. Repeatedly, they warm each other, assist each other, surviving together.

”Having emotions isn’t necessarily a bad thing; I’ve mentioned this before. After we possessed emotions, we communicated a lot more between each other, understood many things, and began to explore like you.”

”These benefits were all brought by him, yet why do you now harbor such hatred toward him?” Igor felt somewhat confused, sensing something strange about the development of the whole situation.

”I wouldn’t call it hatred; we’re just concerned. His changes have been quite drastic. His deep communication with you has made him no longer pure, and we even feel he’s no longer the same as before.”

”Hmm?” Igor seemed to have realized something; his previous research on Soul Devourers made him sensitive to such matters.

”The Awakener has a dual nature; this is what we’ve ultimately analyzed. Sometimes, spirits absorb the good sides, growing alongside the Awakener. Other times, spirits integrate with the Awakener’s less desirable sides, ultimately causing the Awakener to change their semblance.”

The spirit’s explanation was straightforward, and Igor understood it upon hearing.

”Perhaps his Awakener has been stimulated in your world, and his ambition has grown. This ambition has caused him to undergo changes.”

”Is his ambition what you’re ultimately worried about?” Igor asked. He felt that if it’s just this concern, then the spirits’ minds are somewhat narrow, but given their recent acquisition of emotions, it’s understandable that their minds aren’t broad.

”Honestly, ambition isn’t really a big issue. Without ambition, it’s hard to accomplish anything in your world.”

”So you guys...” Igor couldn’t quite understand what these spirits were up to, wondering if they were being redundant?

”His changes have brought danger; the emergence of Soul Devourers has begun to change the entire Spirit World. The original balance was broken, and the great tree began to tilt, causing our world to start teetering,” the spirit said, which was the only thing he could say to persuade Igor.

”Why do Soul Devourers threaten the great tree? Can’t you find a way to stabilize this tree?” Igor asked, feeling it hard to believe a single spirit could cause such a commotion; there must be many misunderstandings here.

”You heard what he said earlier; he called us all ants. This guy is intoxicated with power, completely disregarding others’ safety.”

Igor thought carefully, realizing that seemed to be the case. That guy appeared lonely, selfish, with no concern for others in his heart.

”He established Soul Devourers, keeping us who should be asleep continuously in a state of awakening, persistently seeking, seeking, never knowing to give back, causing the great tree to start changing.”

”Only knowing to take without knowing to give back, truly a selfish and egotistical bastard.”

”Not just that, he’s also someone who wants to conquer everything. Whenever he sees a capability he fancies, he must acquire it, completely ignoring whether others are willing to share with him,” the spirit continued, expressing his hatred for the spirit with ambition.

”This guy has brought danger to your world, which is not a good thing.” Igor stroked his chin, clearly having gained a deeper understanding of the whole situation.

A person having flaws is no big issue. Everyone has flaws; it’s impossible to be expressionless, completely rational like spirits used to be. Such a person is unrealistic, like a machine.

But when a person is selfish and egotistical enough to harm others, that’s a very bad behavior, although such behavior can always be corrected. But when this guy becomes single-minded, constantly threatening others, even aiming to destroy the world, such danger can’t be ignored.

Disregarding others’ suffering, focusing solely on one’s benefits, relentlessly taking, without equality between parties; identifying such a person as an enemy doesn’t have too much contradiction.

That spirit, for his desire to conquer, is willing to plunge the whole world into peril; such a person truly doesn’t deserve sympathy.

”Is the great tree really already teetering?” Igor was again interested in this great tree, ”Could there be no way to remedy it?”

”Continuous taking without giving back has placed this great tree in a dangerous state. Right now, we haven’t explored a way to remedy it, so we can only stop that guy first. Later, maybe after deeper communication with you, we might find a solution!” the spirit said, indicating that they didn’t reject the impact human emotions had brought them, just couldn’t accept the influence on the tree.

Igor pondered slightly, being very interested in that World Tree, curious about the balance and energy usage.

Really hoping to see that great tree someday!

”Anyway, we now have a common enemy; your emotions have brought us many things, causing many of our flaws to sprout. We’ve gained desire, joy, anger, sorrow, and our world has become richer because of this!” the spirit continued.

”The reason we summoned you this time is to let you know what the real adversary is like; they hadn’t appeared before because we were in our world engaging in similar struggles; his subordinates are as crazy as him!”

”Ah, I understand now!” Igor was now quite clear; mutual dependence is the shared goal of both worlds. Breaking balance may not be a significant issue as long as balance can be reestablished, but breaking balance and ignoring it is atrocious.

This great tree has provided so much for spirits, and now that guy has pushed his luck. Igor estimated that guy potentially plans to replace the great tree...