One-Eyed Monster

Igor’s complaints made Guzan and Soron feel quite dizzy. Never before had they encountered such a response. Most people they met were overly cautious, worrying about this and that, always fearing that overly powerful spells would bring disaster to the world.

But now, Igor’s simple answer was like a window suddenly opened in a sealed room, letting in a breath of fresh, invigorating air.

The view outside was entirely different; compared to the stale, dead atmosphere inside, the world outside was vibrant with life. Those tender green saplings would one day grow into towering trees.

Guzan and Soron watched Igor without a word. It had been a long time since they’d felt this way—a feeling both new and familiar, like the excitement a child feels upon seeing a new toy.

Only then did Lord Soron realize that Igor had always viewed the world with the heart of a child. This childlike innocence allowed Igor to have no inhibitions. His seemingly naive ideas stemmed from not yet knowing the world’s complexities and dangers, so it wasn’t strange for him to have such pure thoughts.

These pure ideas aren’t wrong, are they? he mused. On the contrary, people like us, who have weathered many storms, always complicated simple things. The more we deliberated, the more hesitant we became, and this indecisiveness eventually formed a fear of existing realities. Faced with fear, our thought was not to overcome it but to hide it. This is indeed a very serious problem.

More importantly, this serious problem was actually identified from a child’s perspective, even if the person voicing this view wasn’t entirely a child anymore.

Master Guzan gave the Spirit Form of Lord Soron a faint smile. A truth I only understood in my twilight years had already taken root and sprouted in his heart long ago. It’s just that the older one gets, the more muddled one becomes, always thinking those childhood ideas are naive. Now Master Guzan realized that a child’s gaze is the sharpest; even when facing fear, they can confront it with great composure.

Guzan had thought the Necromancy sealed in this mountain would terrify Igor and Kadi. But as it turned out, one was indifferent, and the other was sound asleep, neither of them feeling uneasy about this forbidden magic like Guzan and Soron did.

Master Guzan could sigh at how formidable the young are, or sigh at his own aging, but what he truly felt was a pang of guilt. At this moment, I feel my earlier thoughts were utterly naive and, moreover, lacked courage.

While blindly inheriting the traditions left by predecessors is a great way to show respect, the legacies they left behind are not merely simple spells. These legacies are also questions posed to later generations. These questions are the most precious things our predecessors left, the best kind of inheritance.

Inheriting tangible legacies isn’t unusual; being able to inherit these questions and learn how to think is the true gain. I’m so remorseful, Master Guzan thought. Only now do I understand the true intention behind our predecessors sealing those secrets.

This, too, made Grand Master Guzan appreciate Igor all the more.

But Igor didn’t notice the admiring gazes of the two seniors at all; he was still chewing on his dried fish, seemingly lost in thought.

”You’ve rambled on about so much danger, so many worries, so much power, and it all boils down to the spell recorded on that scroll. This spell is the mysterious power you mentioned, that’s right. But you always ignore the most crucial things. For example, who brought this scroll to this mountain? And why choose this particular mountain? You haven’t explained any of that clearly!” Igor’s voice was a little louder now.

This woke Kadi, who was dozing nearby. Kadi scratched his head, looked at the people around him with a puzzled expression, and asked, ”Are we going to tell stories again?”

Master Guzan looked at Igor’s serious face. This young man’s way of thinking is quite different from others. He’s not interested in the spell itself, but rather very concerned about the events behind it.

”I’m more interested in stories. Behind every secret, there’s always an amazing story. Those are the truly exciting things!” Igor shook his head thoughtfully. He said this to Kadi, who had just woken up, hoping Kadi could genuinely get absorbed in these stories.

And Kadi, quite perceptively, nodded. I’m so bored right now, he thought. Things have turned out so differently from what I imagined.

Master Guzan’s face was flushed with excitement; he felt a sense of release. Lord Soron must feel the same way at this moment, he thought. So, he quietly said to Lord Soron, ”I didn’t expect my comprehension to have declined so much. Only now do I understand your original intention, Lord.”

”No, no, I didn’t grasp it either. I was merely following a pattern, passing on the will of our predecessors,” Lord Soron replied, his voice calm and steady, flowing like a gentle stream.

”Now I am old, and I have no capital left to sigh over anything. I’m very glad I could meet this young man here. I feel as if I’ve returned to my childhood, my heart entirely filled with joy,” Master Guzan said softly. This happiness was even purer than before.

”I am also relieved!” Lord Soron said, squinting his eyes in satisfaction. ”I used to be unable to let go, always wanting to see how future generations would develop. Seeing such a young man, it was not in vain that I gathered my Spirit Power to leave the last vestiges of my consciousness in the book. Thinking about it now, I am very content. With youths like this, the world will become better and better. Wars will cease, all evil will be defeated, and what rightfully belongs to us will eventually return to our side…”

Lord Soron’s Spirit Power State was becoming increasingly hazy, his voice grew fainter and fainter, and his final words were almost inaudible.

”Hey, you can’t—” Igor wanted to say, You can’t just disappear like this! You haven’t told the legend of the scroll yet! How can you vanish so quickly? But Master Guzan’s gesture stopped him. The gesture seemed to say, Don’t disturb Master Soron’s journey to the Eternal Tranquility Realm…

Master Guzan was gratified. Lord Soron had departed very peacefully, his emotions exceptionally stable. This great man, both his teacher and friend, had finally passed away serenely before him, and moreover, had fulfilled a lifelong wish before his death. There could be no better end.

Lord Soron was gone, just like that, but Igor was very displeased because he still hadn’t heard the legend of the scroll.

”Why did you stop me?” Igor pouted. ”He hadn’t finished his story! How could you let him go like that?”

”His mission is complete. He has already gone. We will not see him again,” Master Guzan said softly.

”He won’t appear again?” Igor couldn’t imagine it.

”Yes, he won’t appear again. This time, he has truly gone to the Eternal Tranquility Realm. In the future, if we wish to remember him, we will have to go to his Spirit Book to feel his presence.”

”But his story isn’t finished yet!”

”Ha ha ha, then let me tell this story,” Master Guzan said, very much liking Igor’s spiritedness.

”You know the legend of this scroll too?”

”I am an old man; is there anything I wouldn’t know? Besides, I’ve already told you so many stories. Would one more make a difference?”