One-Eyed Monster

Igor looked up. The moon above him was growing increasingly round, completely unlike the partial sphere he'd seen earlier.

"Something feels off," he said nonchalantly, facing a shocked Kadi.

"I don't understand what you're saying; it's hard to wrap my head around it. Things like 'two days ago,' 'discarded time,' feelings of Spirit Power Feedback—it's all too complicated and hard to grasp," Kadi confessed. His mind had been on the verge of overload recently.

"I don't fully understand either. I only have a vague knowledge; there are many things that we'll have to figure out for ourselves," Igor said, scratching his head.

"ER, I don't know what to say. What do we do now? We can't just keep dallying here, can we?" Kadi asked, his voice laced with agitation. "It's unavoidable; with so many things I can't comprehend, I need to find some way to let out some steam."

"Speaking of what to do, I just thought about our unreliable companion," Igor said, reaching into his bag and pulling out the Spirit Book.

The Spirit Book spent most of its time asleep. When it first started following Igor, it would often chime in. Now, however, it had become like a quiet child, sleeping constantly. It remained this way until Igor woke it.

"Master, how may I assist you?" Whether it was due to the power of the flame or Igor's harsh treatment, the once-arrogant Spirit Book now treated Igor with the utmost respect.

"Last time, you categorized the Reverse-Time People, Forward-Time People, and Time-Leaper People," Igor said casually, rubbing his hands.

"Yes. Would you like me to recap that for you, Master? I can arrange it immediately."

"No, no, no," Igor quickly stopped it. "You're a Spirit Book; you shouldn't just be organizing information."

"HUH?" The Spirit Book clearly didn't understand what Igor meant.

"You know, I once heard at the Yonder Travel Academy about a case where a bunch of you Spirit Books were kept in a specific place."

"HMM?"

"Because you Spirit Books have special Spirit Power, normal libraries simply can't hold you. So, you could only be kept in a specific place, doesn't that sound right?"

"What does this have to do with me, Master!"

"I mean you've been hiding your secret while being with me."

"Master, Master, I didn't!" The Spirit Book was very nervous, afraid that Igor would punish it again.

"If you didn't, then to the best of your ability, help me put together the pieces of the Time-Leaper People." Igor seemed like a different person at that moment.

"Master…" The Spirit Book was very flustered. Its experience wasn't very extensive. Most of the time, it stayed in lofts and storerooms where the lighting was dim, and its best way of understanding the outside world was by sleeping.

"I heard that this special place is called the 'Incarceration Cage' or something. They say that you have to thread chains through the Spirit Books and hang them on designated shelves. If needed, they even installed iron cages next to the shelves." Igor continued to speak nonchalantly, occasionally making gestures with his hands, although it was hard to see what he was gesturing in the darkness.

Kadi shrugged, knowing Igor was threatening the Spirit Book again, even though he didn't know what threatening this Spirit Book would achieve.

Perhaps, just maybe, something unexpected would happen.

Igor's few words had put the Spirit Book on edge. It understood Igor's words all too well; the Incarceration Cage and iron bars clearly meant isolation, and it didn't want to experience the 'taste' of the loft or warehouse again.

The smell of that place might be even worse than the loft or the warehouse, the Spirit Book thought.

"Master, Master, I will immediately find you the information you need! Please don't send me to that horrible place! I don't want to be imprisoned!" The Spirit Book immediately got busy after speaking.

"EH? How can it be considered imprisonment? It's clearly a collection. Oh, I remember now, that place is called the Demonic Book Collection Pavilion."

"Master, Master, I don't want to be collected…" the Spirit Book said hurriedly.

"HEHEHEHE." Igor's laugh was full of malevolence. Kadi was even taken aback by the sound.

Igor treated the Spirit Book like a mischievous child, without a hint of mercy. There was no love or care one would show a child whatsoever.

"Is it useful to be so dependent on it?" Kadi asked Igor quietly. He didn't trust the Spirit Book much.

"I don't know. Maybe it can find a special way," Igor said with a smile and a shrug.

Time was a little confusing for him right now. He didn't understand why this was happening. He wasn't a Reverse-Time Person, nor was he a Time-Leaper Person. He couldn't materialize time; he could only follow the line on this plane straight ahead.

But now, the line was inexplicably leaping. He hadn't noticed anything at first, but now he felt something slightly peculiar, which made Igor uneasy.

This peculiarity manifested mainly as memory confusion.

Everything before him felt familiar, like déjà vu, yet there was an unspoken unfamiliarity.

Kadi didn't understand this. He just felt that there was nothing special happening around him; everything was proceeding methodically and in an orderly manner, except for the moon hanging in the sky.

"Master, Master, I've prepared the information you need. It's not too different from last time..." The Spirit Book sounded somewhat dejected. It had searched and searched, but after all that, it still only found the same few lines. Damn Lord Soron! His studies on this world didn't have much explanation, not even a single example! He just casually mentioned it, with no details at all!

If one only understood the literal meaning of the text, probably not many people would understand Lord Soron's intent. The description of the Reverse-Time People and Time-Leaper People in the book was concise, offering no reference value.

The book described: Reverse-Time People, Living Beings that go against the Timeline; Time-Leaper People, Living Beings that can fold the Timeline...

Who could understand that? the Spirit Book despaired.

So, at that time, the Spirit Book had proudly explained these short phrases using its own understanding. That explanation was full of sincerity, solely to impress its master, Igor.

Regrettably, its master had become hooked. Dissatisfied with the previous interpretation, he had made it continue digging.

The Spirit Book was terrified, afraid that Master Igor would once again be unsatisfied with its summary and might devise new ways to torment it. Please, don't let anything go wrong! Its tiny heart was in its throat, and it truly lacked confidence.

"If we knew how to fold this Timeline, could we find the Time-Leaper People?" Igor finished reading the content organized by the Spirit Book in no time. Even though the night wasn't bright, it was a Spirit Book, after all. It had a night-light function, so there was no need to light a candle or put on glasses to see the content. If one's eyes grew tired, it could even read it aloud.

"Timeline?" Kadi's eyes widened again.

"So it is said. But everyone's Timeline is different, Master. This is quite a complex matter." Igor's calm relaxed the Spirit Book's tension a bit, so it immediately started explaining the peculiarities of the Timeline. It really couldn't figure out its Master Igor anymore.