One-Eyed Monster

Igor clutched a hundred gold coins and turned to leave.

”Hey, you’re leaving just like that?” Thin and Tall Pole just closed the box and hadn’t had a chance to ask if he wanted to count the gold coins.

”My task is done, and you’ve paid me!” Igor spread his hands, not understanding why he should stay.

”You...” For a moment, Thin and Tall Pole was speechless!

”What’s wrong, am I not allowed to leave?” Igor scratched his head, showing no fear on his face.

All eyes turned to the silent woman, as if waiting for her commands.

”Let him go then. He’s not wrong; his task is complete!” said the smoking old man, speaking on the woman’s behalf.

The trio immediately fell silent. Although internally unwilling, there was nothing they could do but exhale in frustration.

”Farewell then!”

With that, Igor walked away without looking back.

Not far away, Igor turned back to check, ensuring no one followed him before quickening his pace.

Using Simon’s Devil’s Steps, Igor ran to a secluded place.

He looked around, unleashed his spirit power, scanned the surroundings, and, once certain no one was around, breathed a sigh of relief.

”You can come out now!” Igor said, ”Causing such a commotion is not easy, huh, you!”

”Hehe, I told you I’d notify you in my own way.” Shortly, a blue-skinned, one-eyed creature appeared beside Igor.

”You’ve got some skills now, hiding for so long! You were hidden even before I arrived at the place, weren’t you? How could you stand it?”

This blue creature was evidently Kadi.

”I had no choice but to hide; if those guys saw me, they’d surely capture me!”

”What exactly happened? I told you to stay put, so why did you run out and set fire to their belongings!”

”I didn’t want to burn anything, but I had no choice...”

”Don’t tell me you set that fire just to get my attention!” Igor glared angrily!

”Partly, but not entirely!” Kadi said.

”Not entirely, then what’s the real reason? Why did you leave that barn, and why did you set fire to their things?”

”Don’t worry about that. Besides, my fire helped you earn money, didn’t it? The Swamp Flame isn’t something you can just put out!” Kadi said leisurely, paying no mind to Igor’s anxiousness.

Igor touched his money pouch, realizing what Kadi said made sense, though it was indeed deceitful to take their money.

”If you don’t have a good reason, I will return this money. What you did amounts to theft!” someone said with a tone of righteousness.

Igor had been cooperating with Kadi. When reasoning with the smoking old man, Kadi touched his shoulder, and they connected through the Ant Connection Spell.

Through the Ant Connection Spell, Igor understood Kadi’s intentions. He followed Kadi’s instructions to demand gold coins, and with Kadi’s help, used a simple technique to extinguish the exotic swamp fire! In reality, it wasn’t easy to extinguish; it required spirit attack to put out the flame!

But Igor trusted Kadi. Since Kadi wanted to deceive those people, he surely had his reasons, and now Igor wanted to hear them.

At this moment, Kadi looked at Igor as if gazing at a peculiar animal, his eyes full of astonishment.

”Explain, why did you do that!” Igor urged again, feeling he often didn’t understand what went on in Kadi’s mind.

”Wait, didn’t you say you were going to craft a mask today? Why are you now carrying a sword? Are you playing me!” Kadi suddenly seemed displeased, feeling Igor was deceiving him!

”Oh, that’s a long story!” Igor scratched his head. Indeed, he had been tied up for quite a while at Master Lao’s place, and he felt a bit guilty towards Kadi about this.

”No matter how long, you have to explain, or you’re just lying to me!” Kadi insisted relentlessly.

”But you haven’t explained your situation yet; why are you fixated on mine?” Igor, getting ruffled by Kadi’s persistence, reflected on how he had been expecting an explanation from Kadi earlier, only for roles to be reversed now!

”That’s unfair, you claimed to craft a mask for me but ended up crafting a sword for yourself. If you explained it to me nicely, I wouldn’t get mad, but you deceived me, and I can’t accept that, so you must explain properly!” Kadi insistently badgered Igor!

”This...” Igor, flustered, lost his logical train of thought, ”Look, here’s your mask hoop and faceplate, I wasn’t deceiving you.”

”That sword you have must be a big deal. Surely, you used my mask crafting as an excuse to craft yourself a sword; that’s a different matter!” Kadi seemed quite persistent on this matter, filled with reproach.

”I... if I tell you this sword was gifted while crafting your mask, you wouldn’t believe it...” Igor felt rather helpless now, unsure of how to explain!

”Indeed, I wouldn’t believe it. You must provide a proper explanation!” Kadi pouted, feeling very disappointed in Igor at the moment.

”This is something I can’t explain clearly right away. I met a master while crafting your mask who happened to be connected to me, hence gifting me this sword. It’s called Meteor, a name we thought long and hard about.” Igor explained.

Kadi wasn’t too interested in such matters; he glanced at the mask hoop in Igor’s hand and grabbed it: ”Tell me how to use this thing then.”

”Well, you have to trust me on this one.”

”I’ll believe you for now, but you need to provide convincing evidence!” Kadi said heatedly.

”No need, I’ll take you to meet the master. I can’t explain it all at once.”

”Good!” Kadi suddenly became excited.

”Can you now tell me why you did those things?” Igor asked in return.

”What?” Kadi showed a puzzled face.

”You...” Igor was exasperated!

”How does this thing work?” Kadi examined the mask hoop back and forth, paying no attention to Igor’s words.

Igor held his forehead, completely speechless.