Chapter 6: Compatibility and Choice

During the time when he first decided to stop participating in the tribe's hunts, and the Fat Meat Worms had yet to appear.

Aijin often shared her hard-won food with him.

This went against Kobold instinct, and it was her unique trait; although she sometimes picked her teeth with her nails while talking, although the roast meat she brought was burnt and stank, although her speech was never fluent, and the so-called ability to communicate was merely clumsy compared to other Kobolds, he truly regarded her as a friend.

Although it was initially him who coincidentally saved Aijin during a tribal hunt, he knew Kobolds were not creatures that understood gratitude; not even Aijin would give up her own food just because he had saved her.

In his feeling, Aijin cherished him more—cherishing that in this tribe, there was finally a special little Kobold who could chat with her and speak words she had previously not understood, never heard of, and never thought of.

Just like that roast meat mixed with a burnt smell and fishy stench, it was because she learned from chatting that he liked cooked food, so she tried to make it.

Part of her thought was to make this friend of hers happy eating, and part of it was also Aijin wanting to try something new.

"Brother Luge, be careful when you go catch worms alone; there are stinky lizards nearby recently," she said with a solemn expression.

"Lizardmen? Did their hunting party cross the hunting grounds?" Luge was somewhat surprised; a hunting party rashly entering another's territory was not as simple as snatching prey, and often developed into war between two tribes.

"Not a Lizardmen hunting party, but Lizardmen one by one, also two by two, three by three; they are also catching Fat Worms," she said.

Luge felt this was very abnormal, as there were vast hunting territories belonging to each tribe between the two tribes.

The only thing Lizardmen and Kobolds had in common on this land was their powerful reproductive ability.

Both hunting outside and self-preservation relied on the scale of the tribe; a hunting party composed of a large group of tribesmen was a sharp weapon against large Underground Beasts, invincible.

But now, the living beings in this area seemed to have had their way of survival changed by the Meat Worms.

But Lizardmen catching worms shouldn't need to go this far.

The two then talked about the Black Claw Saint Lord; Aijin would still follow the tribe to hunt because Black Claw Zhuren did not like eating worms, but as long as the offered food was enough, he would not care whether Kobolds caught worms to eat, which was still better than the domineering Gray Long Neck Zhuren, and besides, the Gray Long Neck Zhuren had not died.

On one occasion when Gray Long Neck Zhuren led Kobolds out to hunt, they encountered the current Black Claw Zhuren; these two Underground Beasts that had already developed intelligence fought upon meeting, and ultimately, accompanied by the deaths of many Kobolds, Gray Long Neck Zhuren was defeated and fled, his whereabouts unknown.

"Black Claw Saint Lord dislikes being disturbed; he chose a guard for his Big Cave, the tallest Hengchi was selected," Aijin raised her hand, gesturing as she spoke, "The Saint Lord bestowed upon him a black fruit; after Hengchi ate it, he became taller, this tall! Stronger than three of me!"

Luge was stunned for a moment before recalling who this Kobold named Hengchi was.

"Now he stands at the entrance of the Saint Lord's cave, and he doesn't need to find food himself; he can eat a lot at once," she said.

This Hengchi was the stupid big guy he had previously let go; usually, when others said or asked anything, this big guy liked to answer with two hums, and some Kobolds started calling the big guy Hengchi; thinking about it, last time he had indeed coaxed and threatened Dasha into saying more.

Luge and Aijin ate half a Meat Worm together and chatted for a long time; he also taught Aijin how Ground Common Language friends pronounce things; unsurprisingly, she was very happy.

After Aijin left for a while, Luge was still thinking about Dasha.

He was very interested in the fruit Aijin described; eating it would quickly make one taller and stronger—it was practically a divine fruit.

He took out the small pocket he had treasured all the way.

Feeling excited, he used Spiritual Power to sense the items in his hand, both hands cooperating to open the bag's mouth, turning the pocket upside down to pour out its contents.

Whether he recognized them or not, a small pile clattered down.

He first gathered several books, then five Crystal Stones of very standard size.

After sorting, apart from a small number of unrecognized items, the main things were books related to Spells and several Scroll-like things. Looking at these, he felt no surprise at all; after all, they were given by the Half-Man, who knew his needs.

"Hmm? A Diary?"

He briefly flipped through several books, stopping at the last one.

This was actually the Diary of a Wizard Apprentice named Kalu; the Half-Man's preparation was truly thorough.

The Diary contained a young person's doubts, sighs upon first encountering Spells, and many reflections along the way; for Luge, who had not received related instruction, it was simply a priceless treasure.

He suddenly discovered a problem: he had still not forgotten the Half-Man to this day.

He clearly remembered who gave him this Storage Bag; remembered that fellow wore an exquisite long robe, had only half a head, and a beard shaved very cleanly, with a smooth chin.

Recalling the words the Half-Man had spoken.

He had already guessed something and immediately stood up to take out the long strip Stone used to test Spiritual Power.

Gripping one end of the white Stone Strip, he took a deep breath and focused his mind; the Stone Strip gradually emitted a soft white light, and he stared fixedly at the ten dots on the Stone Strip.

Finally, one dot gradually lit up.

The corners of his mouth turned up; pity that this Kobold had no tail, otherwise it would surely have wagged.

This showed that his Spiritual Power had already reached the standard of a First-Rank Wizard Apprentice ahead of time, achieving a prerequisite.

He continued to read the Diary, planning to read until he finished or reached something he didn't understand. This Diary was a window; through it, he could see a person, see an unknown field. At the beginning of the Diary, there was mention of life at the Wizard Academy, which was truly yearning, but Kalu mostly glossed over it, with more confusion about Spells and regret over wrong choices; between the lines, there was constant sighing, and through the words, one could feel strong emotions, paragraph after paragraph, on different days, always filled with anger and regret.

Who was this Kalu? The Storage Bag picked up by the Half-Man? Or did the Half-Man kill this Kalu and snatch these things?

The Diary mentioned two paths, namely two choices for long-term development: one was called Beast King Wizard, and the other path was called Condensed Book.

Interestingly, Kalu took neither path; Condensed Book was only mentioned briefly in a few strokes, and the thing Kalu regretted most was not taking the path of Beast King Wizard, because Beast King Wizard was a relatively easier path to becoming an Official Wizard.

When Kalu came into contact with this information, he had already completed the Solidification of Zero-Circle Spells and missed the best time to take this path.

Even more interestingly, when Luge searched around, there were no Spells or knowledge inheritance related to Beast King Wizard here; that is to say, he likewise could not take this path.

There was also a theory in the Diary: when learning Spells, do not be too demanding; everyone will have their own different Spell Compatibility; Spells with high compatibility are easy to master, and can even progress rapidly.

Luge read in fits and starts, finally finishing only one-third of this Diary before encountering more and more things he could not understand.

He roughly saw a Wizard Apprentice accompanied by confusion and unease, from starting Meditation to Solidifying Spells, and then to an even more confused process.

"Fortunately, I probably don't need to be too confused."

He put down the Diary and looked at the few things at hand.

There were few choices to make, so confusion should be less, and there would be less room for regret in the future.

(Chapter End)