Chapter 20: Wild Grass and Flying Dragon

"You might not even reach my thigh."

Inside the mist-shrouded hot spring Big Cave, the dark gray-skinned female elf occasionally blurted out words insulting kobolds.

Fortunately, she had already put on clothes, and they were loose robes that did not show her figure.

"If you are not a genius, then you must be an utter fool."

The female elf finally passed judgment on him.

I still like your cool appearance from when we first met, he thought.

Watching the other party's back, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief; this person was finally leaving. Although he had kept himself calm, the gap in strength still made his heart pound. After all, he knew his own situation—he was only a Rank One Apprentice who had mastered a few spells, a self-taught practitioner whose understanding of spell common knowledge was practically blank, and most importantly, he was not a Reformer.

From the other party's demeanor, they were not very angry; they had chased him mainly out of curiosity toward a kobold Wizard.

The person walked farther and farther away, but the voice still carried over.

"Sinking into such a lowly bloodline body is not easy to climb out of. In my opinion, Dragonborn Kobolds are not a good choice either, pure-blooded Dragons are even more boring. Be careful not to turn yourself into a freak in the end—the rigid Aberrant Dragon Management Association will come knocking to register and supervise you..."

At the end of the distant Passage, the female elf's silhouette finally disappeared completely.

Luge listened to the other party's last few words, but only raised his Claw and scratched his head.

As if Dragonborn Kobolds were guaranteed to succeed, as if he still had a choice. He hadn't been that carefree; at least for now, he was still a small blade of grass.

He turned to look inside the cave. Did the elf come here just to bathe? Was there some treasure under the water? Why would a noble Jing Shen Ling Wu Shi appear in this godforsaken place?

Wizards never do things without value—that was a line from the Kalu Diary.

Also, people like him, self-taught practitioners, were called Wild Wizards in Kalu's Diary. It sounded very environmental, with a meaning of thriving growth, like wild grass destined never to become a towering tree yet impossible to eradicate completely.

He walked and thought along the way.

There were things he wanted to say to Half-Man and the elf, thoughts on Freezing Ray spell knowledge, and thoughts on this small kobold tribe's settlement. Kobolds seemed to be gradually no longer the hunters of this place. He suddenly understood why kobolds always liked to find a master to serve and support with the strength of the whole tribe.

"Brother Luge."

Aijin, whom he hadn't seen in a few days, immediately came up to him.

Luge saw Old Gold Tooth dozing in the distance; the bean-sprout-like Light Silk on the old kobold's body had probably grown another finger's width, this being the result of not continuing to eat Bioluminescent Transplants.

"These are for you. I'm very strong now, don't worry." He cast Bull Strength, then patted the kobold girl's shoulder. Although the height difference made his action look a bit comical, he continued, "I'll be going far away for a while, and I'll help you catch some Underground Beasts along the way, for you and Old Gold Tooth."

Aijin happily took the cooked Meat Worms, and when she put them down, she took a big bite.

"Brother Luge, did you find Fruit?" Aijin was happy about his increased strength.

"No, but they're better than Dasha's Fruit; they can make you stronger. It's just a pity I can't give them to you." He said.

"I don't want them. I'm very capable. I wanted to find them for you, but Da Hen Hen is too stupid. He said his Nose can't remember that smell. We went out to look a few times and couldn't find them..." Aijin said angrily, "But soon it won't matter. There's a big injured weird Kobold who says he's a messenger of the Red Horn Tribe. He ate many Meat Worms from the tribe but still died. He says the great Red Horn Tribe is expanding, willing to protect all kobold tribes, and there are mines to dig."

"Hmph! They're capturing miners, those cunning Dragonborn Kobolds! They must have many of these worms over there. Food is so plentiful they can't finish it, so they want to expand their territory. Maybe they'll even go to war with those Pointed-Ear Elves. I'm sure of it. I, Old Gold Tooth, see through everything..."

Old Gold Tooth woke up at some point and said loudly, huffing and puffing.

Tribes like theirs were the losing side in fights over mines, then squeezed, forced to dig mines and offer food, and this would last for a while. But kobolds breed too much. When the expanded territory can no longer hold kobolds from other tribes, the squeezed side that has lost everything will be completely driven out.

And now, they couldn't wait for their own tribe to spend time accumulating strength. Obviously, they had something urgent to do, so what Old Gold Tooth said was very likely true.

Are there Dragons in the Red Horn Tribe? Pure-blooded Dragon Race? Would a powerful Dragon enslave several large tribes to gather treasures for it?

"I must warn you, young person. If you go far into the distance, to the farthest place, find the strongest tribe, there still won't be a True Dragon existing. Having Dragonborn Kobolds does not mean the tribe has truly noble Dragon Race."

Old Gold Tooth seemed afraid that Luge, a young kobold with many thoughts in his head, would do something stupid. He warned him repeatedly that the success rate of tribes transforming Dragonborn Kobolds was very low, and impulsively going to sell one's life would only waste an opportunity.

Actually, people like Old Gold Tooth and Dasha didn't miss any opportunity at all. As long as they could bathe in True Dragon Blood, they would most likely get their wish.

It's a pity that kobolds are insignificant beings who serve Giants Dragons. Bathing in Dragon Blood simply contradicts their very existence.

Luge told Aijin the location of his new home and agreed on a signal. If he wasn't there, she could leave marks on the wall.

"I didn't expect you to be so devoted..."

Luge had just sat down in his new home, which was open on three sides, when he heard this surprisingly unexpected voice.

The beautiful female elf slowly walked out from the shadows.

"I had thought before that perhaps your Mentor, for an experiment, caused you to be transformed. But seeing your appearance just now made me deny that idea."

"You might really be a genius, trying a path no one else has walked. Is that ugly but smart little kobold your friend in the tribe? And that old kobold who was about to die from lightification—you actually made friends with kobolds in this small tribe!"

Her dark gray face, because of excitement, flashed with a charming luster, like smooth silk.

The elf leaned in to look at Luge, her eyes shining with excitement. Seeing he didn't speak for a moment, she continued.

"I read in a book that ancient Bloodline Wizards had a method to deal with bloodline rejection—a hypothesis! Like a thief! To gain the approval of the bloodline source. In later hypotheses, the purpose was not just to reduce the restlessness in the bloodline, but even to steal the inheritance. Not passively inheriting through bloodline purification, but like prying open a treasure chest, opening a Treasury. That book was all hypotheses, but you are taking action. And I'm sure you haven't read that book, because it's a unique copy..."

The female elf grew more and more excited as she spoke.

Luge was first shocked by her sudden appearance, then speechless, and now he dared not speak.

"Of course, this hypothesis can only target beings with bloodline inheritance. Otherwise, there's no talk of gaining the source's approval. Fortunately, those with bloodline inheritance are powerful creatures, such as Demons, and also Giants Dragons. They are born with unique true names, as if approved by the World. Whenever they reach a certain rank, they gain strange talents and various spell abilities from that elusive long river. It is said that every Wizard's Secret Technique Mark is a byproduct of some scraps from when Great Wizards studied Demon true names."

The female elf sat to the side, watching him.

"And you—if not that, then what are you doing? I see bewilderment in your eyes."

(Chapter End)