Chapter 31: Unknown and Known

As those bizarre scenes began to recede one by one, Luge still didn't even know what his name was; it seemed that in all the flashing images, no one had ever called his name — perhaps the focus of memory differed across different periods and occasions — until the final childhood scene flashed by, and he vaguely heard a gentle female voice softly call him Hayat, and then everything came to an end. Most fragments had already been lost, or were not the focus of memory, so they simply never existed.

When Luge decided to return and pass by that place again, he would set up a stone before that Donor's grave and leave a name for him, since the Donor had a rather bad temper.

After experiencing these strange and peculiar events, he had even more questions.

Would the very last sentence of that biography novel be true? Or was it merely the drunken fancy of a biographer? Thinking carefully, in the scattered and jumping memory scenes of that person who might be called Hayat, there really wasn't a single scene that obviously belonged to the Surface World; in his entire life, he had never seen a single image of a cloudless sky.

Only Wizards can walk upon the Surface —

What does that mean again? If understood simply by the literal words, could it be that these Wizard Apprentices didn't come to the Underground World to explore, didn't come specifically to the Underground to complete some Adult's mission, but instead nest here just like a little Kobold? Living forever in this endless darkness?

These Fifth-Rank Wizard Apprentices, whose Spiritual Power has already reached the limit — they really aren't from the Surface?

Is the road to the Surface really that hard to travel?

At this moment he discovered that his own ignorance regarding Spell Knowledge might not amount to much; the Ground World might give him an even greater Surprise.

He ate some Meat Worms from his Storage Bag, which also freed up more slots.

First he put a few books and Magic Stones inside.

Then he picked through a pile of things again; most were thrown away in the end — useless, and too burdensome to carry — and he also had to leave some space for the next Donor.

Thinking of the next Donor senior waiting to be buried, he thought of that shattered, pale gray, Translucent Crystal Stone.

He didn't know if every Wizard Apprentice would have this thing after death; he felt it should be that person's special circumstance, but there was no need to guess too hard — soon he would reach the next Inheritance Site, and the answer would be revealed.

After that unknown thing was consumed, he felt his Spiritual Power had grown somewhat; of course the degree wasn't large, and it was far from reaching a Breakthrough to Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice. Out here in the wilderness, he wouldn't engage in exhaustive Meditation Training and Spell Tests.

He took out Light Body Technique to look at it, and decided to rest a bit more.

After all, last time he was interrupted and didn't rest well at all.

"Counting on you this time — you keep watch. I can see you're still quite clever, a good clever Worm!"

He leaned half-lying against the rock wall, patted the Cultivation Bag at his waist, and the unhatched little worms inside trembled slightly in response to his patting, as if they really understood.

"Work hard now; you're not small anymore, you can worry for this family. You love eating those eggs, don't you? Next time I'll catch that Giant Snake and let you eat it all."

The Cultivation Bag shook violently.

He smiled, turned slightly to hug the convenient Long Stick, and slowly fell asleep.

This time there were no dreams, and no disturbances of any kind.

The accumulation of recent days had turned fatigue into an invisible pillow; no matter how he lay or rolled, he could sleep soundly and peacefully.

When he woke, he first ate a bottle of Shaved Ice, paired with half a treasured Cooked Meat Worm.

Laying a good mood for his new Journey.

The other target is also in this Small Hole Area.

Shouldering the Long Stick, he set out once more.

That person before said he knew something about the City those little Chong Ren were going to; Luge still cared quite a bit, after all so many bizarre Wizard Apprentices had gathered right in his survival zone — pity the Memory Fragment reading yielded no clues; they might have been lost, or that person might have been lying.

In his view, the Crybaby Chong Ren should have already entered that City; these people were destined to run a wasted trip and return empty-handed.

Traveling through the Small Hole Area is much more relaxed than in open places; although the Small Hole Area also has Big Caves comparable to multi-story towers, it still cannot compare to the feeling of crisis lurking everywhere in that wilderness outside which is like an Independent Small World.

He had checked the Crystal Clock when he set out; he had walked about a day and a half more, at most another half day and he would reach the final stop of this trip.

Over this day and a half he had again traveled continuously without rest or sleep, using Spells.

The happiness of soon seeing the Inheritance made his steps grow light.

"Black Calamity Tower's Wizard Apprentice?"

Luge turned a corner and saw three people sitting there resting; at the same time a voice carrying laughter drifted over.

This situation made him stand there, not daring to move, for a moment.

He calmed himself, looked at his own robe — it seemed his clothing had caused the misunderstanding — and unobtrusively observed the three. Their clothing had no unified features; one burly figure he vaguely found familiar, as if it were the person who had been chasing the Giant Snake that day. The other two were ordinary-looking young men; it was precisely one of them who had enthusiastically greeted Luge.

"Come rest, little guy, no need to be nervous." That man spoke again.

Luge wore a hood, almost his entire face shrouded in shadow, but a Kobold's mouth cannot be perfectly hidden; even in dim light, close inspection could still reveal some details.

"Low-rank Apprentice, alone is too dangerous; afterward you can follow us." The enthusiastic man said.

Boom! The silent companion beside him raised a hand and conjured a roaring bonfire; the sound nearly drowned out the enthusiastic man's voice.

Luge hesitated, first nodding thanks to the enthusiastic man, then steeling himself and walking on his short legs toward the temporary camp formed by the bonfire.

The tall burly man glanced over and suddenly spoke: "Leaving here, rolling back to the Black Calamity Tower — that is what you should do."

"Ba'angte, no need to be so vicious; Black Calamity Tower Apprentices aren't all that disgusting." The enthusiastic man said with a smile.

The burly Ba'angte showed no mercy: "A low-rank Apprentice coming here is just sending himself to death; you just want him to go scout ahead, and you — sitting there silently agreeing — are just the same."

"Going back might be even more miserable for him; dangerous missions are the Opportunity for people like them," the man who had been silent all along, never lifting his head, tinkering with the bonfire, suddenly spoke, saying slowly, "Judging by his appearance, he probably climbed out from among the Test Subjects; a portion of Apprentices in the Black Calamity Tower are like this, only none have been as thorough as him, reformed into something deformed."

"Kobold?" The enthusiastic man also looked surprised. "Actually a Kobold — your Mentor is truly crazy."

The burly Ba'angte, however, ignored this topic.

"Those big worms should all be dead by now, right? Perhaps we don't need to gather together anymore." Ba'angte said.

"Fine."

"Hey, I still wanted this little guy to join, yet you want to disband?"

The man who had been tending the bonfire spoke no more, took a step forward, walked into the fire and vanished.

The enthusiastic man looked left and right, seemingly unwilling to stay alone with Ba'angte, and also turned and left; with each step his figure seemed to flicker in the darkness.

For a time only Luge and the burly Ba'angte remained, with that bonfire between them.

"Come sit." Ba'angte said.

(Chapter End)