Chapter 21: The Wrong Misunderstanding and the Right Misunderstanding

Those suddenly nearby, glittering eyes made his heart clench, and for an instant he felt his life was forfeit.

"Do you have any secrets?" she said softly.

His thoughts raced, and he slowly opened his mouth.

"Wait, don't rush..." she stopped him again, simultaneously extending a finger before him, saying, "I just learned a new secret art and haven't used it yet. Cooperate with me. Take this finger as an imaginary target, extend your spiritual power, and feel the shape of the spiritual power I've condensed on it. That way, by sensing the fluctuations of spiritual power, you can judge whether you've encountered a detestable fellow full of lies... supposedly this test is very accurate."

He hesitated for a moment.

Are you sure this isn't someone playing you? Who exactly taught you? What does that spiritual power condensed lip shape mean? Without sensing spiritual power you can't even see it—is it some little flirtation between wizards? he thought.

"I have an interesting little test too. If you pass, we can chat later. Let me say in advance that failing will cause a little discomfort, so don't get angry. People who get angry easily tend to get wrinkles," he said with a calm expression.

"Okay, how do we start?"

The female elf seemed eager to try.

"Mm, it's already over..."

He had already enveloped the entire three-room dwelling with Foul Skin, using the form of Malicious Feedback, but it had not been triggered by malice.

"You're playing with me! Hm? I seem to feel faint spell fluctuations. Your methods are very secretive! It must be a spell optimized many times over, or mastered with great proficiency, with extremely high compatibility... So, did I pass the test?" she said.

No matter what the other party said, as long as there was no malice, it was fine.

He didn't expect Foul Skin to slaughter enemies like it did against Lizardmen, so his original intent was simply not to defeat the opponent, but only to test for malice.

Luge directly extended his spiritual power to touch her fingertip, using this direct action to respond to her question.

"I'm just an ordinary little Kobold."

"Until recently I was worried about food, always starving. That feeling isn't pleasant. Although Kobolds don't easily starve to death, that only prolongs the suffering."

"Also, Aijin is indeed my friend. Although in your aesthetic she isn't good-looking, I think so too, and that's normal. But please don't use a sharp tone to call her ugly; that would make me very unhappy. She's just a simple-minded Kobold..."

With every word he spoke, the female elf's brow twitched up a small angle, until the amplitude grew larger, squeezing out three wrinkles.

"You actually didn't lie."

The female elf's expression seemed to be even more surprised after hearing the truth.

"No, you... used some method to deceive yourself, making yourself willing to starve as a Kobold. But what are you doing here? Really just researching bloodlines? Or do you also want to enter that city? Are the Kobolds here related to that city?"

"Perhaps I misunderstood you from the start! You also came here after accepting Wizard Niteli's mission, right? And then mixed among the Kobolds waiting for an opportunity?"

"We chased those worms for a long time before arriving here..."

The female elf sized him up.

"A strange Kobold Bloodline Wizard happens to appear in this place, and actually makes friends with ordinary Kobolds in genuine sincerity. Anyone seeing this would be curious. I'm just a bit more curious, so please don't blame my rudeness." Her eyes sparkled as she leaned in again. "You must know some secrets, after all. You're just too strange."

"I can consider giving you some Magic Stones," she said with a smile. "Sometimes, one person finds it hard to accomplish things and needs some cooperation, like those Kobolds."

Luge was very tempted.

He really wanted Magic Stones, or other things, such as books related to spell knowledge.

But he dared not move, dared not speak, and dared not let his thoughts wander.

"Do you have many companions?" he said.

He wanted to explain his own affairs, but found he didn't know where to start. Spells, meditation methods, and that Storage Bag all belonged to the realm of things he couldn't sort out, unless he brought the topic to the Half-Man, but he felt that might cause more trouble.

"Not exactly companions, just fellow travelers who accepted missions. Of course, there are also some like you, solitary types who never show their faces. I don't know if they're still alive."

Her words made Luge think of Crybaby Chong Ren.

His guesses could basically be confirmed. Crybaby Chong Ren was precisely being hunted by the female elf and her group. She could wander around nearby because she knew the little Chong Ren had appeared nearby.

And the map the little Chong Ren gave him—the wizard inheritance he had long expected—might come from her fellow travelers or solitary wanderers.

"Boring. Fine, if you won't say, then forget it."

She stood up again, looking as if she had lost interest and wanted to leave.

"By the way, be careful with your little Kobold tribe. Those Lizardmen are expanding like crazy. With sufficient food, their bodies will change, their breeding cycles will become frequent, and the number of eggs in each clutch will increase. There's also an annoying fellow using spells to ripen them, probably wanting to drive them to do things. Perhaps within a few dozen days, the number of those Lizardmen could double."

The news the female elf seemed to casually reveal was enough to shake Luge's mind.

"Since you like playing here, take it more seriously. Don't let your tribe be easily wiped out! Best of all, while you're at it, give that annoying fellow a beating."

The female elf returned to her cold appearance.

"Is that person more powerful than you?" he said.

She smiled and said, "I just find him stinky. Teaching him a lesson would easily get my own self stained with stench. Although he's an extreme Fifth-Rank Wizard Apprentice, he isn't qualified to compare with me, and can't even arouse my curiosity."

As she spoke, she leaned down to look into Luge's eyes.

Luge had to act, removing two stubborn eye boogers from the corners of his eyes, so as not to spoil the atmosphere of their eye contact.

"Actually, I'm also stinky. You just can't smell it," he said.

After removing the eye boogers and blinking, there was no one in front of him anymore.

He suddenly realized something.

Fifth-Rank Wizard Apprentice?

She was also a Wizard Apprentice?

Since they were both Wizard Apprentices, what about the map the little Chong Ren gave? Could the long-expected wizard inheritance also belong to a Wizard Apprentice? As soon as this thought arose, he suddenly felt it was almost certainly true. Perhaps the little fellow hadn't deliberately deceived him. In the little Chong Ren's eyes, powerful wizards and Wizard Apprentices were no different—they were both pursuers who could cause his aunts' deaths.

Speaking of which, perhaps an apprentice's inheritance would be more suitable for him. Now that things had come to this, he could only comfort himself this way.

He wondered how powerful a Fifth-Rank Wizard Apprentice would be.

He didn't know if he could withstand Foul Skin. Since everyone was scraping by with Zero-Circle Spells, for the apprentices themselves, it was a gap in spiritual power and Temporary Spell Slots. If a conflict couldn't be resolved immediately, the disparity between High-Level Apprentices and Low-Level Apprentices would gradually become apparent. As for external items, that was harder to gauge. For example, he only had a pair of homemade Shorts on him.

He placed the Crystal Stone Lamp upright in the corner, took out his book, and slowly turned to the page he had last seen. Don't panic when encountering things; first study some spells to calm your shock.

(Chapter End)