Time inevitably started flowing again, and Alec slumped to the floor and leaned his back against the worktable. He clutched the book he had picked up close to his chest.

For some stupid reason, Shim wrote the logbooks from back to front. The last thing he did was recorded on the first page. That was how he had realized what they were so quickly.

From the description of the subject, Alec recognized it as Milo.

He didn't even have the strength to look up when Moira arrived.

"Oh, good, you're awake. Ready to get started?" She asked in a tone much too cheery for Alec's state of mind.

"No."

"Hmm? Oh, I guess you're hungry. That's why I moved that out," She said, pointing at the pile of monster cow meat that Shim had prepared for Milo.

The sight of the monster meat on the floor was a sharp reminder of the fact that Alec hadn't eaten for days. He was hungry even before monster Milo hauled him off and made him fight Shim.

And that event had drained him to the bone.

Upon hearing Moira's words, his stomach made its existence painfully clear.

Before Alec knew what was going on, he was already on his knees, stuffing the meat down his throat. After a few moments, when he realized what he was doing, he glared at Moira.

But he didn't stop eating.

"There," She said when he finally finished. "Get started now. I'm sure you'll find something if you put that brain of yours to use while reading the logs."

"No." Alec shook his head after wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Hmm? What now?" Moira tilted her head curiously. He had slept and eaten. What more could he want?

"I won't do it."

"Why not?"

"I won't use Shim's logs. I won't use the fact that he kidnapped, tortured, assaulted, and killed orphans just to find a clue to monsterification. He was no closer to figuring it out than a rock by the side of the road anyway. What purpose is there in using his materials?" Alec questioned angrily.

"Well, just because he was as dumb as a rock, doesn't mean you are. He didn't do all he did for nothing, after all. You might be able to see what he missed. If you don't, all the sacrifices he made will simply have been for nothing."

"..."

"Besides, I don't think you have a choice." Moira's words sounded like a threat. It sounded like she was going to force him to do it if he didn't want to.

They were not a threat. They were a reminder.

If Alec did not fix this, he would join Milo on the other side.

It seemed like Alec had resistance to becoming a monster for some reason, but there was no guarantee it would last forever. Considering how suddenly Milo had transformed, he could blink once and never come to his senses again.

Alec continued glaring at Moira for several long minutes before eventually sighing.

He decided to do it. For Milo's sake.

"Do you know what spell that fucker used to get a closer look?"

"Oh, that? I had a feeling, so I brought this," She said, stepping back to point at Shim's corpse in the hallway.

Alec frowned.

"If I'm not mistaken, it's an engraved spell formation called Eyes of the Mystic. He carved it into the back of his eyeballs." Moira flashed a bright smile as if happy to be of service.

Shim's face was horribly abused. But Alec had aimed for the jaw to knock him out before he could cast a spell, despite his rage-fueled onslaught. And Milo had aimed for the skull.

Surprisingly, Shim's eyes were almost intact.

With only a sliver of hesitation, Alec walked over and pressed his thumbs into the corners of Shim's eyes. With a gory pop and squelch, he removed Shim's eyes from their sockets.

Moira gave him a look of appreciation.

"Not bad, Glarey."

Alec ignored her and walked over to the workbench. He had to use a magnifying glass to find it, but once he saw the spell formation on each eye, he didn't need them anymore and tossed them to Milo.

He closed his eyes and focused.

It was a spell formation different from any he had seen. The way it used runes and connected the Core, Regulator, and Frame parts was unlike anything Alec had seen. It felt strangely old.

"I heard he found the spell formation in some ruin when he was younger," Moira said while looking curiously at Alec.

"I'm guessing he carved it into his eyeballs after he became a third-circle?"

"I wouldn't know. I'm not a stalker. Why do you ask?"

"It interferes with the circulation of mana in the body. A weak idiot like him would have been unable to progress further."

"I guess that makes sense. He was lauded as a talent in his youth and then suddenly hit a wall. He got desperate, even more so after his lover turned into a monster. It kind of just went downhill for him after that. I heard he was being eyed for a prestigious research position in the capital before doing stupid shit that got him exiled from his house."

"Why was a guy like that a teacher at the Academy?"

"Why not?"

Alec sighed. That was not a reason. But he wouldn't get a proper answer from Moira.

"Oh, do you think maybe it's cursed, that spell formation?" Moira suddenly asked with interest, walking closer to see what Alec was drawing on the paper in front of him.

"No. It's just incomplete. And that bastard was too stupid to realize it. He also probably got too addicted to voyeurism to do anything about the side effects."

"Side effects?"

"It gives you incredible vision. You can see around corners, through walls, the ground, and far into the distance. It also gives incredible visual acuity from what I can tell."

"What's so bad about that?"

"The human brain isn't meant to handle all that. It's like giving the legs of a horse to a rat. He probably went a little crazy and picked up a skewed sense of reality."

"So, he wasn't bad to begin with? The spell formation made him who he was?" Moira asked curiously, glancing back at Shim's corpse.

"Be fucking serious. That bastard was rotten to the core, and it had nothing to do with this spell formation."

"Oh, but you're still not going to use it, right?" Moira tilted her head. To her, it didn't matter what Alec chose.

"Are you kidding? Of course, I'm going to use it."

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