One-Eyed Monster

Hustace’s body was now occupied by the Witch Spirit, Kuruto, making his current state vastly different from his usual demeanor.

Igor remembered Hustace as a reticent fellow, not one to incessantly chatter away as he was doing now. Hustace was not the type to speak thoughtlessly; he mostly kept things to himself. He definitely wouldn’t be rattled by every little thing, trailing behind and making a fuss as he was currently.

However, Igor was not a particularly perceptive Hunter. Though he felt something was off with Hustace, he couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason. After all, a person’s temperament could change drastically under extreme emotional upheaval; for example, a rational person might completely break down in despair.

While Igor noticed Hustace’s abnormal behavior, he couldn’t confirm anything. Everyone in the cave was currently discussing the ”new” versus the ”old,” and he didn’t want to rashly interrupt their debate as Kadi had.

He would continue observing Hustace, but first, he needed to understand the severity of the situation outside.

Even though Igor had decided to stop paying attention to Hustace for the moment, things didn’t develop as he’d anticipated. The debate about the ”new” and the ”old” was reaching a minor climax, and the most effective way to persuade an opponent was by providing examples.

Although Igor didn’t know that Hustace’s body had been taken over by Kuruto, others did. When they saw Kuruto use himself as an example, they immediately latched onto it as a basis for their counter-arguments.

”Witch Spirits may be a new concept, but that doesn’t mean *you* are a new entity. You also appeared in ancient times. It’s just that today’s Adventurers with Class struggle to attain the level of those ancient practitioners,” Yuga stated. As a fellow Wizard, he found a slight comfort in seeing what could be considered a comrade, albeit not truly one. However, this Witch Spirit’s level of understanding seemed far from the sage-like wisdom that Wizards like them revered.

Kuruto shook his head. ”Hmph, aren’t you afraid of offending my master? She’s the only one in the entire Wizard Alliance who has successfully summoned her own Witch Spirit.”

”Something like that? If Yuga wished, he could summon one at any time,” Kuren interjected, his voice still trembling slightly. His recent experiences in the Inner World had given him much to ponder. He felt that the topic the Great Mentor was now discussing was surely connected to the events within the Inner World. He even suspected that the Great Mentor might have already detected the changes there.

Kuren’s words deflated Kuruto’s arrogance. Previously, he had stood proudly beside Bigas, but now he seemed utterly alone. His strongest backer wasn’t present, making him feel a sharp pang of isolation. What he felt even more profoundly, however, was fear. He sensed hostility from everyone around him, especially from the young man who was watching him relentlessly. That young man, of course, was Igor.

From the ongoing discussion, Igor began to understand what was happening. It seemed this ”Hustace” wasn’t the real Hustace but a Witch Spirit. He was familiar with the concept of Witch Spirits from his studies at Yonder Travel Academy. Therefore, he now understood the reason for Hustace’s strange behavior: his consciousness and body were being controlled by a Witch Spirit, resulting in the stark change in demeanor.

This realization also brought Igor some relief. After all, the Witch Spirit is merely *using* Hustace’s body. If Hustace himself were strong enough, he could fully control the Witch Spirit. Even if he weren’t that powerful, mutual cooperation might be possible. But with the Witch Spirit completely in control, it likely means Hustace is still unconscious.

A single Witch Spirit can’t completely occupy a person’s entire consciousness.

However, the current discussion revolved around the ”new” versus the ”old,” so Igor had to put these personal thoughts aside for now. He figured that, like Kadi, he should probably just step back and observe quietly for a while. When the time came for them to contribute, they could rejoin the conversation.

The argument over ”new” versus ”old” had reached a stalemate, with both sides acknowledging some validity in the other’s points. This itself demonstrated the strong connection between the two concepts: old things could evolve rapidly and transform into new things. Conversely, some new things were forgotten almost as soon as they appeared. Buried deep, they might remain undiscovered for ages, only to one day resurface and cause a worldwide sensation. At such a point, defining them as definitively ”new” or ”old” became quite challenging.

So, tell me, is such a thing a buried relic of the old, or a newly excavated discovery?

Listening to these debates, Igor found them quite thought-provoking. Although he and Kuren had both experienced the unbelievable Inner World, Igor, unlike Kuren, didn’t tend to dwell on past events or try to connect them to everything else. Igor was more spontaneous, taking things as they came. Kuren, on the other hand, liked to meticulously analyze all his experiences, identifying similarities and anomalies. This meant that Kuren, despite being skilled at summarizing, was often slower to react than the more impulsive Igor.

Igor scratched his head and unhurriedly joined the discussion. ”In the Inner World Spell, a spell suddenly appeared that had its own consciousness. Would that also be difficult to define as new or old?”

”Hmm?” Stan Sol looked at Igor in surprise. Clearly, he too had sometimes encountered such a phenomenon when entering the Inner World.

”A spell with consciousness?” Yuga echoed, equally surprised. He had just finished helping several people recover their strength. His healing magic was indeed quite potent; even Kuren, who had been a ”patient,” now spoke with a steady voice after the treatment.

”Yes,” Igor remarked, ”and this spell claimed it had existed for a very, very long time...”

”That’s right!” Kuren added, clearly proud of this discovery. ”I entered the Inner World with him, and what he described is objectively true. At first, I also thought it might be an illusion, part of the Illusionary Realm, but now I realize it was a genuinely conscious spell.”

”And what does this imply?” Master Guzan asked, frowning slightly, as if he had discerned something particularly significant.

”I don’t know how to classify it, whether it’s new or old,” Igor said, clearly puzzled by this distinction. ”If you call it new, it claims to originate from an ancient era. If you call it old, it only manifested after our own spells came into being.”

”The concepts of ’new’ and ’old’ are not for us to definitively define,” Master Guzan mused, a sense of wonder in his voice. ”We can never fully comprehend all of nature and its myriad creations. ’New’ and ’old’ are, at best, relative terms. Now I truly understand. Although Guru Mountain is an ancient mountain range, it clearly harbors an abundance of new, untapped power.”