One-Eyed Monster

Kuren and Joseph pondered for a moment. Igor’s words were somewhat convoluted, and they struggled to understand them immediately; their thoughts processed slower than Igor’s. Perhaps it was an age-related issue. After all, they were no longer young men, and their physical and mental faculties had declined. This moment was quite a test of their acuity. Time spared no one; no longer in their youthful prime, they could barely keep up with Igor’s nimble thinking.

”What you’re saying is indeed exceptional,” Kuren analyzed. This line of thinking was new to him, but the circumstances demanded he grasp it. The matter was significant; he could not afford to be careless.

”Will distinguishing these Spirit Powers truly bring about a breakthrough?” Joseph asked cautiously. He had been treading very carefully for some time now, as he didn’t want to be a burden. In the past, he was the Hawk of Guru Mountain, leading the way with his keen vision, guiding others’ decisions. Now, however, he found himself always lagging behind.

”Yes, after differentiation, I can trace back to the source,” Igor responded, decisive and firm. His answer gave Joseph tremendous confidence, completely winning him over.

Igor’s charm lay not in his appearance but in his actions. His demonstrated abilities had won over Kadi and Kuren, and now Joseph as well. Igor himself hadn’t expected to possess such influence; he was simply doing things his own way, and in the process, had serendipitously uncovered many astonishing things that would cause a sensation anywhere. The opening of this Two-way Channel gave Igor a strong revelation; he felt all of this was like seeking the source of a river. As long as he could distinguish these Spirit Power flows, he could understand their direction, ascertain their origin, and determine where the Spirit Power they themselves released was headed. Distinguishing these streams of Spirit Power was therefore key.

Among them, perhaps only Kadi could accurately differentiate these Spirit Power flows. However, Kadi had only just grasped the rhythm of Spirit Power leaping and still lacked a clear method for differentiation. Asking him to take another large stride forward at this moment was unrealistic.

”I also sensed Kevin’s Spirit Power,” Kadi said, both excited and worried. He was thrilled at mastering something incredible but also concerned about what was happening outside. He didn’t want Kevin to be hurt; he still had many questions to ask him. Before then, Kevin had to remain safe and healthy.

”Kadi, push these Spirit Powers to us following the rhythm. Leave the division task to us,” Kuren and Joseph declared, having discussed it beforehand. They deeply believed in Igor’s suggestions. Differentiating Spirit Power flows would have been a considerable challenge before, but Kadi’s progress made the task less daunting.

Although Kuren and Joseph couldn’t grasp the rhythm of leaping Spirit Power, they were adept at identifying differences between various Spirit Power streams. If they couldn’t clearly distinguish different Spirit Powers in actual combat, then such Adventurers with Class would have no business being on the battlefield. Differentiating Spirit Power was an instinct they had honed on the battlefield. Although this skill might seem minor, it could be lifesaving in critical situations.

They were also curious why Igor seemed so unfamiliar with discerning Spirit Power. However, after a moment’s thought, they realized it wasn’t that Igor couldn’t clearly distinguish Spirit Power, but rather that he couldn’t identify who individual Spirit Powers belonged to.

”Do you aim to determine who specifically these Spirit Powers belong to?” Joseph asked.

”Yes,” Igor replied. ”I can sense their general characteristics—like some are ’taller’ or ’shorter,’ ’thicker’ or ’thinner’—but I can’t discern the finer, intricate variations. Some Spirit Powers are very similar, yet they flow in different directions, which confuses me.” In just a few words, Igor laid bare the doubts and worries in his heart, as well as the bottlenecks he had encountered. His honesty gave Kuren and Joseph a clearer idea of what they needed to do.

Differentiating Spirit Powers was their task, but directing the differentiated streams was not their forte. That required Kadi’s sense of rhythm. Luckily, Kadi was the prodigy from Guru Mountain, someone they all knew well. As long as Kuren could understand how Kadi perceived these Spirit Powers, he could guide Kadi in directing them effectively.

Therefore, before that, he needed to understand Kadi’s method of perceiving these Spirit Powers. Did Kadi sense their general characteristics like Igor—their ’height,’ ’breadth,’ or ’density’—or was it in some other way? This required a Shared Perspective. Kuren understood Kadi well; asking him to describe his perception wouldn’t yield anything coherent. After all, a thousand Adventurers with Class would have a thousand different ways of perceiving Spirit Power. Verbal descriptions would be useless, only leading to more confusion and proving counterproductive.

Kuren was an expert in the World Setting Technique and also had some knowledge of certain spells in Alchemy, such as the Shared Perspective ability of the Ant Connection Spell. Therefore, he initiated the spell to share Kadi’s senses. Through this empathic link, he understood Kadi’s way of sensing Spirit Power: Kadi differentiated by color, though he couldn’t yet fully separate these colors.

”Kadi, these colors each have their own patterns,” Kuren guided. ”Since you can control the rhythm of these Spirit Powers, you should be able to differentiate them by color too.”

”Let me try. I’m familiar with some of these colors. For example, this red one is Kevin’s,” Kadi said. He was slowly grasping the knack for it and began to separate the flows.

Joseph was now providing Kuren with the Spirit Power for the Ant Connection Spell. Kuren’s previous injury hadn’t fully healed, so Joseph was very careful, afraid Kuren might overexert himself.

Kadi learned quickly. Before long, under Kuren’s guidance, he had managed to gather the Spirit Powers, now completely differentiated by color.

”Over to you, Joseph,” Kuren said, excited. He hadn’t expected Kadi to pick things up so swiftly.

”A green ball of Spirit Power is flying towards you!” Kadi shouted, pointing to the space beside Joseph.

”That’s Yuga’s Spirit Power—bitter but highly therapeutic,” Joseph said, tossing the ball of Spirit Power to Igor.

”This red one is Kevin’s—full of passion, energy, and strength.”

”This mysterious purple one likely belongs to a Hunter from outside Guru Mountain...”

...

Joseph confirmed each one individually with Igor. Now they had created all the necessary conditions for Igor; they just had to wait for him to find the sources.