Chapter 18: Not Foul and Foul

Silently exploring the mysteries of runes, focusing on learning spells — that is what he should do; as for venturing out to pick up inheritances, that doesn't count as adventure, it's for the sake of learning spells better.

Along the way, after that pointed-ear elf, he encountered a group of fellow kobolds, and two lizardmen; among his kin he didn't show himself, near the lizardmen he also didn't act, he was like a perfect traveler, truly achieving a clear purpose.

Catching meat worms now can actually be corrected to picking up.

He waited until no one was nearby, activated Foul Skin for just an instant, dealing with meat worms only needed the ordinary form of a spell, simple and direct; the five Shallow Pit Worm Nests nearby could now be gone to for picking up.

Until he gathered ten, any more wouldn't fit, only then did he start the return journey.

Two held in hand, eight stuffed into the Storage Bag.

By the time he carried the meat worms and set foot on the road to the Half-Man, the meat worms in hand had already dwindled to just one.

About to see the Half-Man, his heart still held some trepidation.

In the empty passage only his footsteps sounded; usually walking back and forth he never paid attention, but now it felt like stepping on his heart's tip.

The large rock finally appeared before his eyes again.

Carrying the worm, he poked his head around to the large rock; compared to last time, aside from a few more mushrooms there was no change.

"Your spiritual power has become more condensed, little kobold."

The Half-Man's hazy figure appeared as expected; position, posture, exactly the same as last time, not a fraction different; the voice still rang in Luge's mind.

"Great existence, greetings to you! I have already become a Wizard Apprentice."

Luge humbly saluted the Half-Man, and raised the meat worm above his head.

This was based on what he had seen of kobold behavior in the tribe; if he truly was a slightly clever kobold, these actions had no problem.

The Half-Man seemed a bit strange, ignored his words, didn't speak; he could only continue holding up the meat worm like that.

Suddenly, it seemed a faint breeze brushed his face.

He subconsciously looked up, surprised to discover the Half-Man had actually sat up.

Although the figure was still illusory and hazy, that side-lying posture which had never changed became sitting cross-legged on the large rock; carefully recalling and comparing, the expression on the face had no obvious change.

He seemed to hear the Half-Man laughing.

For a moment he couldn't tell if it was his ears or his mind that heard it, or perhaps neither.

He became even more apprehensive.

"Clever little kobold, you truly surprise me."

Still the Half-Man's emotionless voice; this instead made Luge breathe a sigh of relief.

"Hm? This worm has a foul smell." The Half-Man suddenly said.

"This is my gift to you..." He might be used to it, couldn't smell it at all.

Luge took the chance to look up and notice the Half-Man's eyeballs and mouth and such parts still couldn't move; just didn't know why hearing he became a Wizard Apprentice would let him suddenly sit up.

"Clever little guy, what spell did you choose to solidify?"

The Half-Man's single eye unblinking; sitting up made him look even more awkward.

"It's Foul Skin..."

"Learned on the Inheritance Scroll you gave."

He chose to tell the truth.

The Half-Man fell silent again.

"Also good, not a bad choice, perhaps just right; you really are a little kobold who gives me surprises, knowing how to make choices under suitable circumstances."

The Half-Man's figure, always between hazy and clear, fluctuated.

Two small things, following the fluctuation, appeared out of thin air, floating before Luge.

"Your reward, you'll be able to use it soon; this can make the Zero-Circle Spell Magic Skin Technique stronger." The Half-Man said.

Luge reached out to receive them: a palm-sized piece of deep red skin of unknown origin, and a bottle of yellow potion; clearly the Half-Man wanted him to learn Magic Skin Technique first, perhaps had other plans too.

He thought a moment; although it wasn't Magic Skin Technique, he still wanted to raise a question he'd saved up for a long time.

A fluctuation, and three more potions appeared.

"Never mind, take them; the black bottle rapidly increases spiritual power, a potion to help you break through to Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice faster; the two white bottles are potions that increase focus to assist learning spells." Still that uncomfortable tearing sensation; the words contained intense vocabulary, yet spoken with zero fluctuation.

Don't know if it was because of sitting up, but Luge felt the Half-Man's speech had more words with tone.

Luge swallowed back the words at his lips; he recognized these two potions, named Spirit Heart Potion, very powerful; perhaps one bottle would be enough to break through the last difficult point he couldn't master. In Kalu's diary it was mentioned; this was something even he was reluctant to drink casually, only splurging a bottle when pondering important problems.

The other black bottle's potion he roughly recognized too; mentioned in Kalu's diary, a relatively common goods.

Mingxing Potion, can increase spiritual power, rapidly fill the Spiritual Space. Even someone who just contacted a Meditation Method and has basic preliminary spiritual power training, after taking it can in one go raise spiritual power to the level of opening a Spell Slot, then reverse-derive to master the corresponding runes of the Meditation Method, and smoothly become a First-Rank Wizard Apprentice.

For someone hesitating at the Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice threshold, exhausting methods to train spiritual power but growing slowly, drinking it also has a large breakthrough possibility.

Why say roughly recognize?

The Mingxing Potion's only drawback: drinking it makes future spiritual power growth even more difficult.

Mingxing Potion has always been quite famous among stupid apprentices.

Mostly used by exceptionally stupid old apprentices who've already given up their future; Kalu's diary language was very sharp — such people can barely scrape into Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice, leave the Wizard Academy to make a living outside. In Kalu's eyes, such people shouldn't be admitted to the Academy. It's said if one risks their life and drinks several bottles at once, it also has some effect on assaulting Third-Rank Wizard Apprentice.

Luge was a bit stunned; the diary was in the Storage Bag the Half-Man gave; could the Half-Man not know? Or knows, but knowing, why deliberately give him this kind of potion? He truly found it a bit unbelievable, but the potion characteristics all match the diary content; potions usable at the Apprentice level to increase spiritual power are very limited.

Drinking this isn't just ruining his future path.

"Thank you."

Luge lowered his head in thanks.

Speaking of which, he still didn't know the Half-Man's name.

It seems the great Wu Xue Da Ren also doesn't have the habit of reporting his name to a kobold encountered by chance in the mountains.

The Half-Man's figure gradually faded, then suddenly became clear again.

"Oh? Little kobold, you seem to have some doubts in your heart?" The Half-Man said unhurriedly.

"I only regret that you didn't accept my gift, great existence."

Luge buried his head even lower; he seemed to hear Half-Man laughing again.

"The negative effects of this Mingxing Potion have been erased by me; of course the effect is also a little weaker, smart little Kobold, this is I don't know how many times I've said this sentence, you always let me be surprised, sometimes I even think you are a human, subconsciously giving you an explanation."

Half-Man's figure gradually faded away.

"After learning the Magic Skin Technique, come here to see me, I'll give you an interesting gift."

(Chapter End)