Chapter 5: Dog and Master

He narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the stone.

A human shape flickered in and out of sight, visible only when he focused his mind.

"A kobold's lifespan is only twenty-something years; you may not understand what a year is, you only need to know that you are already a teenage kobold, and the remaining time is not enough even for a human genius to become an Official Wizard. I can help you, ugly little kobold."

"The language spell from the introductory inheritance should let you understand my words better."

The voice kept echoing in Luge's mind, feeling very strange on his senses; even when speaking sentences that should be generous and passionate, he felt not a bit of emotional fluctuation from the other party.

He ignored what the other party said, only calmed his heart, and tried to muster the concentration he used during meditation.

A figure lying on its side, wearing a silver-gray robe, came into view.

A person, a true human.

Not a humanoid kobold monster.

He continued to focus his mind, his gaze slowly moving; he saw a clean chin, saw a missing arm, and continuing on was a head missing at least one-third, its remaining eye staring wide open, unblinkingly looking at him.

If complete, he should look like a young man who usually paid great attention to his appearance.

Luge unconsciously retreated.

"Are you still alive?"

He could not describe his mood at this moment, fear mixed with curiosity.

This strange man's missing arm disappeared from the shoulder; it looked as if it had been cut off from above his head by an unusually sharp longsword or axe, tilted downward, instantly taking away those important body parts, leaving neat traces.

"You indeed understand Yu Tong Shi now; you are truly different from other kobolds. Do not retreat anymore, do not waste our time anymore. Once you leave here, you will forget everything about me. Next time you come, who knows how long you will have to wait, and there might not be a next time."

The monster, wearing a terrifying appearance, kept stuffing voices into Luge's mind.

Luge stopped, watching his mouth; the mouth did not move when speaking, and there was that unnatural posture, those unblinking eyes.

This half-man might be completely unable to move.

"Have we met before?" Luge said casually.

"Be patient, kobold. When you become a true Wizard Apprentice, you should be able to remember me," the Half-Man continued to spew out an inferior, emotionless sighing tone, "Your progress surprises me; you can already stare at me for such a long time."

Hearing this, Luge shook his head, his spirit no longer striving to focus, and returned to only being able to vaguely see an outline.

"Strange little kobold, this is the gift I give you, a reward for your progress; inside should be what you need."

A small pouch appeared out of thin air, flying in an arc to Luge's front.

He had to raise his hand to catch it, and at the same time his spirit shook; this little thing could actually react to spiritual power, obviously not an ordinary small cloth bag.

"I have already erased the mark on it; you can barely use it, but cannot control it finely. Each time you can only dump everything out. When you become a Wizard Apprentice and learn the Secret Technique Mark, branding it on it, it will become your exclusively controlled storage bag."

"Thank you."

Luge had a sincere face, hesitated slightly, then bowed to the illusory figure.

He did not dare refuse.

"Your Yu Tong Shi is already mastered quite well. I originally thought that even if kobolds understood those characters and words, it would be hard to immediately change their way of speaking," the Half-Man said slowly, "You are truly a unique kobold; this is also a reward for bringing me a little fun."

Luge foolishly laughed without speaking. Although he thought kobold smiling faces were all ugly, now besides foolishly laughing, what else could he do?

He was very doubtful in his heart whether he had really seen this person last time.

The other party said there was what he needed in this small bag.

That would mean the other party knew what he wanted.

Assuming everything the other party said was true, giving him the Black Book, he luckily did not die, and returned here, saw the other party, and was again sent a small storage bag full of things. All this seemed as if nothing was said, yet also as if everything was said. Although there was no legendary contract restriction, he had already seen an invisible chain.

"Ugly little kobold, I hope you can continue to give me surprises. With your spiritual power performance just now, you have already mastered at least three runes, which also surprises me. According to your progress speed, the remaining time is enough to initially master a Zero-Circle Spell and become a Wizard Apprentice."

"Interesting. Perhaps you will be the first kobold wizard in the Di Ku Shi Jie..."

The Half-Man said as his figure gradually faded, becoming almost invisible.

He kept his head down, maintaining a humble posture.

He did not dare, nor did he want to say too much. Even instinctively he did not want to appear too smart, but he did not dare to act too stupid either. After all, he did not remember what happened last time, and did not know if the two of them had communicated before. But he believed in himself; even if they had communicated last time, he definitely would not have acted too outrageously.

Perhaps he should be happy. As a kobold, he indeed should be happy.

Seeing this point clearly, he raised his head again, revealing a bare-toothed, hairless smiling face.

Having gotten what he wanted, he indeed should be happy. The path of wizardry, half-understood, could continue forward. In the introductory inheritance brought by the Black Book before, there were a few sentences mentioning Official Wizards, stating that becoming an Official Wizard would sublimate the life form and greatly increase lifespan.

As a kobold, if it was truly as the Half-Man said, then lifespan was a dead knot. Becoming a wizard to change fate was like an antidote, but the antidote was right in front of him, yet he could not reach it. The fate of a short-lived species was like his thin little arms.

He knew he would definitely come here again. The invisible chain had already bound him to death.

The Half-Man's figure faded bit by bit until it disappeared from his field of vision, without saying anything Luge needed to do.

This instead made him feel as uncomfortable as if his whole body was shedding fur. Moreover, because of anxiety and nervousness, a lot of floating fur had really fallen off his back. If he shook himself hard twice, it would surely fall off endlessly with a rustling sound.

He held the small cloth bag and tried to retreat two steps backward. This time no voice came out to stop him.

It seemed he could already leave.

The joy of suddenly obtaining spell knowledge did not make his steps faster.

He had not expected things to develop this way. Before setting out, he had planned to pick up trash. In his imagination, the person who lost the Black Book might have lost more than one book, and he was also thinking of expanding the search range, hoping to pick up a book full of spell knowledge.

Walking on the road back, he was still cautious, identifying the marks at the intersections on one hand, and paying attention to the movements around him on the other.

After all, he was still a thin and powerless little kobold. The biggest weapon in his hand was still that long stick. As for the Black Book head-bursting spell, he did not know if it could be useful when encountering Underground Beasts.

The journey gradually passed halfway.

The road back was much faster than groping forward.

He heard a sobbing sound. At first he dared not believe it, but when he listened carefully, it was indeed crying.

He immediately stopped and confirmed whether his route was correct.

That crying sound was definitely not made by a kobold. He had never heard this kind of crying among his tribe. The voice sounded more like a human, like a sad child whose toy was snatched, but slightly different, occasionally accompanied by an indistinct humming sound.

He tiptoed and slowly retreated to the previous intersection. He was sure he had not taken the wrong road, but at this moment he had decided to break his previous persistence and deliberately take a fork in the road to bypass the sobbing sound that made the fur on the back of his neck stand up.

Along the way here, he already had the confidence to bypass a section of the road and return to the right track, eventually being able to return to his own little nest.

All along the way his nerves were stretched tight, and his mind recalled those horror stories he had once read — such as weeping sounds that would move along with a person — but fortunately none of those situations occurred.

Hurrying on tiptoe the whole way, he finally returned to his safe nest on an empty stomach.

The kobold girl was waiting right there.

"Aijin?"

He had just gone through a series of bizarre events, and to see a familiar face the moment he returned was truly a great joy.

"Brother Luge, you went adventuring again? It's dangerous, you'll starve if you get lost..."

Aijin clearly still remembered the things he had told her before.

"Look, this time I brought worm meat; to hurry back faster, I didn't even have time to eat the remaining piece."

He showed the kobold girl a small piece of worm meat.

Listening to Aijin speak that halting, grating Kobold Language, he suddenly also wanted to master that kind of spell that lets a person learn the Ground's Common Tongue in an instant.

Of course, if he truly mastered such a spell, he would only use it on Aijin; he had no intention of changing other kobolds' minds.

Kobolds, this kind of creature, although they have a "dog" in their name, possess no soft, beautiful fur, and are absolutely not associated with cuteness.

Irritable yet cowardly, they gather in groups yet are not united.

One moment they can pounce like mad dogs, the next second they can scatter in fright.

These dog-headed monsters are generally short; most also like to hunch their bodies, wrinkled skin, sparse hair paired with protruding mouths — like a little old man who can jump up and bite, or a bald, dog-faced giant rat.

If one must list virtues, probably only hunger resistance and the ability to barely see in darkness.

The kobold girl seemed stronger than before; during this time the tribe's meals must have been quite good — perhaps that Hui Chang Jing Sheng Zhu Ren did not exploit the kobolds excessively.

"Did the Hui Chang Jing Sheng Zhu Ren forbid catching those worms?" He suddenly recalled it and asked casually.

"There is no more Gray Long Neck Saint Lord; we now follow the Black Claw Saint Lord. It has beautiful black long fur, is stronger, more intelligent, and has big, powerful claws..." Aijin said.

The master changed again so fast, he thought.

Every change of master counts as a crisis, neither large nor small, for kobolds.

At least that is what he believes.

Serving — or rather, following — a new master, figuring out the master's habits, this process inevitably exacts no small price.

Moreover, the master's replacement also represents that the tribe has just suffered a cruel failure; accompanied by the old master's death, large numbers of tribesmen perish; every step of changing masters is soaked in kobold blood.

But kobolds' thinking is quite different.

Some kobolds even believe the heavier the casualties, the more it proves they are welcoming an even more powerful master.

Of course, the universally acknowledged best master is the kind who is powerful yet likes to sleep for long periods. Kobolds only need to prepare sufficient food before each time the master wakes.

If luck is bad, they encounter a foolish, gluttonous, and brutal one.

Then the kobold tribe will be rapidly drained dry; in past lean hunting periods, injured kobolds and useless, scrawny kobolds like him would be gathered up and directly offered to the master, becoming the master's next meal.

But now with meat worms everywhere, the situation naturally changes.

(Chapter End)