Chapter 39: Dice and Gift

In this realm that seemed to have no end, who knew how many forks in the road there were, and how many crossroads.

Luge stood right at one of those perfectly ordinary crossroads, except there was a large rock in front of him, and on the rock sat a person who wouldn't furrow his brow even if he cursed him with obscenities.

"Possessing a Curio is the dream of many people." Half-Man said.

The little kobold smacked his lips, and using the few remaining hairs on his head to think, he also knew that what Half-Man said was absolutely fact.

But this thing is hard to deal with; he was still using his Spiritual Power to read the little stories recorded on the dice. One of the dice's previous owners could be described as extremely miserable. This person used the dice many times, and was lucky enough to never encounter a five or a six; on the matter of using the Curio, it was smooth sailing all the way. But in the end, he was schemed against and captured, imprisoned until death in a deep pit built of metal and stone. During this period, he still had to throw the dice at intervals according to the will of his captors.

Endless imprisonment and torture, and the powerful Life Force unexpectedly gained through a transaction with a Demon during that time, made it so he would not die easily. In the end, this person chose to make a change in a transaction with a foul Demon, thoroughly turning into a monster, attempting to use the powerful power gained from the transaction to resist. He ultimately failed and died miserably. At the time of death, not a trace of human shape could be seen, but what was written on the dice was that he had succeeded, finally managing to seek a death.

Luge felt the texture of the dice in his hand, and felt that he might never be bored again in the future.

On the tiny dice, the stories seemed inexhaustible, one life after another, long or short, and each one heart-stopping. Especially viewing them from the identity of the current dice owner. Yes, he had already planned to accept this gift. As long as he didn't use it recklessly, as long as he was a little careful, only using it at the critical moment of a desperate situation, there shouldn't be a big problem. But when he thought of these things, he couldn't help smacking his lips again, even wanting to laugh a little, because in every story, every person had said the exact same words.

"Truly an interesting little kobold."

Half-Man had been watching silently from the side the whole time, as if appreciating a play of Luge's psychological struggle.

"That is only part of the gift. The shaping process of the complete gift requires you to personally participate, and is simultaneously helping me do something." Half-Man said.

Luge's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

The long-awaited matter had finally arrived. He liked getting benefits for free, but he didn't like others taking the initiative to send benefits for free all the time; that would make him uneasy, and would also drag his brain — which he already sighed over daily for not being enough — into constantly expending energy worrying about it.

"You can complete the bonding with this dice, and use it in a crisis. No need to worry excessively. In the first few uses, the dice rarely brings misfortune. Even if you truly transact with a Demon, you won't die that quickly. It understands the human heart better than most people." Half-Man said.

"It's alive?"

"Yes, and no. It is a Curio. Although it is just a relatively ordinary one among Curios, it is still a Curio that exists only once in this world."

Half-Man's words put Luge somewhat at ease. Not because of that unreliable explanation about the Curio, but because he still had use. As long as he had value, Half-Man would not easily let him come to harm.

A fragment even smaller than the Demon Dice, emitting a faint five-colored glow, drifted to Luge's front.

"This is the other component of the gift, a peculiar spatial fragment. Leave your Secret Technique Mark on it, so that you can touch it."

Luge followed the instructions, attempting several times on this peculiar fragment that constantly shifted between virtual and real, before barely managing to leave his own Secret Technique Mark.

He was also very crisp and neat about it. Once the Secret Technique Mark was done, he directly kissed the dice, completing this strange succession, becoming the new generation's Dice Master. Now only he could throw this joke-like yet fate-changing Demon Dice.

"Good. But now is not yet the time to cast it. Put away your dice, take this fragment. It will guide you to find something. Bring that thing back, and we can begin trying to complete this peculiar gift."

Listening to Half-Man's words, Luge surprisingly sensed a trace of expectation from that bland tone.

Luge thought for a moment, took out that bottle of deep green Potion Half-Man gave him and drank it down. Some painful spots on his body immediately started to itch, his throat also began to itch, and he started coughing uncontrollably, finally even coughing up some blackened blood. He felt his body seemed about to start growing new hair.

Truly a bottle of fine premium goods, he thought.

The spatial fragment that had successfully received the Secret Technique Mark with Half-Man's help seemed, under the Mark's effect, to have already formed a wondrous connection with him.

He reached out trying to grasp it, and that five-colored fragment actually leaned toward him.

"Go on. Remember, bring the thing back." Half-Man said.

Luge nodded. The moment he gripped the fragment, a guidance from the unseen had already emerged in his heart. It seemed not far from here.

He felt the numb itching all over his body, and his footsteps became faster and faster.

Sensing that direction in the unseen, he chose different passage roads. Seven turns and eight turns actually led him to a familiar road.

His expression unchanged, the itching and numbness on his body had already subsided. Walking all the way, his whole body grew hot, and his injuries had already been thoroughly swept away by the Potion's powerful effect.

Continuing on, following the guidance, he arrived all the way at the Saint Lord's Big Cave.

Dasha was not at the Cave Entrance. And at this moment, the kobolds' new king, King Tu Ya, was sleeping soundly inside the Big Cave. It seemed his belly, where the fur hadn't fully grown in yet, was a bit cold. In his sleep, he even pulled the grass skirt over to cover his stomach. Luge walked in with a stern face. As if not having seen him for many days, Tu Ya had inexplicably become even more afraid of Luge. Startled awake and seeing Luge, he directly leapt up in fright.

Luge waved his hand signaling Tu Ya to be quiet. Following the guidance in his heart, he walked a stretch around the Big Cave, his footsteps paused, and he went straight to a pile of bone fragments.

He looked at this pile of somewhat familiar bones before him, and the traces remaining on them.

The Gray Long-Neck Saint Lord's Nest? Could the thing I'm supposed to find be that egg?

It shouldn't be. That thing I already fed to the little worms. It logically shouldn't guide me here again.

He thought in his heart. After refusing Tu Ya's request to help, he started digging. Given that Giant Snake's size, the size of this bone pile was quite exaggerated. Blindly rummaging would only exhaust him to death. He dug while carefully sensing that guidance.

"What are you doing?" He suddenly turned his head.

Tu Ya started, and the water he had half-poured, he forcibly held back down.

"Go outside and stand guard for me. Wait until I leave, then come back." He turned his head and continued digging.

The guidance in his heart was right nearby.

His hand movements paused. He turned his head and looked around again. Tu Ya had already left. There wasn't a single human shadow nearby.

A peculiar sense of being watched.

He had thought earlier it was because of Tu Ya.

"Interesting little kobold. You seem to be a Wizard Apprentice. No need for surprise, even less for panic. It was you who woke me. And as a first meeting gift, I can give you a small present..."

An inexplicable, emotionless voice rang out in Luge's mind.

And Luge's surprise wasn't because someone suddenly spoke to him.

(Chapter End)