Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 117 Invitation and Thanks
After two attempts, Ruger finally mastered the seemingly simple rune. It was indeed simple, but that was only from the perspective of its construction. The real difficulty lay in the interference with his mental power, whether it was sadness or something else—an additional dimension. He calmed himself down and constructed it twice more to ensure he had completely mastered it before opening his eyes after recovering from meditation.

He had originally intended to complete the task in one go and impress the other party, but unfortunately, he hadn't achieved the desired effect. Perhaps there was still a slight chance that he could learn about the characteristics of this type of rune in advance, he thought.

Ruger blinked and found the woman staring blankly at him.

“I think we can start working now,” he said.

The biggest problem with this seemingly young witch apprentice, in terms of her appearance alone, was that she rarely showed any change in facial expression, even when she was invited to visit his home.

Without an expression, it's hard to sense her emotions, so she always gives the impression of being difficult to communicate with and not easy to get along with. Luger had witnessed the biggest change in her emotions, perhaps on the day of the Star Festival, when she sat on a stone slab by the wall, gently playing her harp in the light of the campfire. Luger sat beside her, and although her expression was also calm at that time, he could still feel her sadness and loneliness from being so close.

“With your way of communicating, it’s hard to make friends,” Ruger said.

Luger found her behavior, which seemed out of place and reminiscent of Da Shaheng's early days, extremely uncomfortable. At least Da Shaheng would grunt a couple of times when he didn't know how to answer, which was at least somewhat respectful. But the woman in front of him, who was clearly looking at him, didn't utter a single hum.

“Not having friends isn’t a bad thing,” she said. “It allows me to focus more, and the path to greatness is always lonely.”

Ruger felt he had heard some seemingly reasonable things again, but no matter how reasonable they were, he would only take them as a reference. As the world's first kobold wizard, he had to be unconventional.

As she spoke, she led Ruger to the magic circle in the center of the basement.

The bottles and jars around her were quite in the way, but she didn't even glance at them. She walked around the magic circle, each step nimbly and precisely. There were also large boxes of alchemical equipment connected to various pipes on the side, which made it difficult for Ruger to keep up with her pace.

The magic circle seemed to have been carved on the ground and then poured with some kind of material. At this moment, some items that were obviously going to be operated on had been placed in specific positions within the magic circle. She took out a few more items and placed them in the magic circle. Then, a large number of magic stones were filled around the alchemical tools and the magic circle.

“We can begin,” she said calmly.

Ruger seemed a little nervous.

He gripped one end of the alchemical implement the woman handed him and stood beside the magic circle to begin his first job assisting a wizard apprentice.

As he successfully constructed the rune, the alchemical tool in his hand trembled slightly, and the mental energy consumed to maintain the rune also increased exponentially. He tried his best to prevent the rune from collapsing and to keep it stable. It seemed that the extra mental energy consumed was transformed into another form through the alchemical tool in his hand and surged towards the magic circle in front of him.

He wanted to take a closer look, but dared not be distracted. Only after he had a good grasp of the balance of energy expenditure could he glance at it out of the corner of his eye.

One glance reminded him of the dragonborn kobold most suitable to take on adventures, Old Gold Tooth with shimmering threads on his body. At this moment, similar threads were growing in the magic circle, but Ruger could sense that the luminous threads in the magic circle were a peculiar product of spiritual power being transformed and combined with something else.

The witch apprentice operated calmly, stringing together countless tiny, inconspicuous objects with her vast array of silk threads.

Those strange threads seemed to be weaving, connecting the small objects that had been placed in the magic circle in advance according to specific directions. Gradually, Luger saw a glimmer of hope.

The silk threads, woven together with various small objects, seemed to form what appeared to be a section of a finger.

Is this the alchemical puppet?
Is it really necessary to go to this extent for a magic puppet? In his understanding, alchemical puppets are the kind of rough, large, angular creatures like the alchemical toolbox next to him.

The one in front of me is so exaggerated, even a single finger has so many tiny things, it's even more complex than a real hand.

His mental energy suddenly increased, and he dared not look anymore, so he lowered his head and concentrated.

After a while, the energy consumption returned to normal.

He looked up again and saw that one finger had been completed, and it seemed that the construction of the second finger was about to begin.

“When I can’t hold on any longer, I can stop and meditate to recover. I will look for opportunities to recover on my own,” she said. “With your help, I have a good chance of succeeding this time.”

Luger was already struggling and didn't have the energy to respond to her.

Numerous silk threads shimmered with a soft light, intertwining and weaving together with incredible agility, stringing together a series of peculiar little objects.

Preparing these small items will probably take a lot of resources and time.

When the second finger was halfway down, Ruger finally couldn't hold on any longer. He gestured and then sat down on the spot to begin meditating to recover.

After a period of meditation, he felt as refreshed as if a long-awaited rain had fallen. Ruger got up and stretched first, without rushing to pick up his alchemical tools.

"Your mental strength recovers very quickly," she said absentmindedly.

"I have good talent."

Luger replied arrogantly.

The two began maintaining the magic circle by taking turns restoring it.

But after a few rounds...

Gradually, Ruger realized that something was wrong. This girl really was someone who wouldn't have any friends. She didn't seem to have any plans to stop and rest, which meant she might have to keep going like this for ten days.

Ruger felt that eighty magic stones a day was definitely too little, much less.

She's either short of money or deliberately lying to him.

Ruger even suspected that saying his mental strength was solid and excellent was part of a deception, and that he could just find any random wild wizard to do it.

As he had predicted, the ordeal of the past few days caused him to lose a significant amount of the shiny hair he had been cultivating.

She took out more and more things and placed them into the magic circle. The magic stones were replenished several times, and she used more and more tools.

Luger could only silently persevere, driven by his curiosity about the puppet and his desire not to be looked down upon.

“I need to recover further,” he said.

After several days of enduring hardship, he was able to concentrate on conversations, which can be considered progress.

“No need, I can handle the rest by myself. I will send you some more magic stones later as a token of my gratitude,” she said in a deep voice, as she took out a bottle of potion and drank it down. She continued, “But the exact amount will depend on how many magic stones I have left.”

Ruger was taken aback by what he heard.

I don't know if she really didn't need his help, or if she just didn't want others to see the final steps.

Upon closer examination, it was actually less than ten days, which was her initial estimate, including the time he might need to learn runes.

Luger was starving, so he nodded and turned to leave.

As he left, numerous strands of light spread down from above the basement, echoing each other and creating a world of light. When he passed the living room, the magic circle corresponding to the basement's location was indeed activated.

He stretched and returned to his house next door, where Daisy, who looked somewhat haggard, immediately perked up and busied herself.

The first thing he did after sitting down at the table was to release Aiskin and Big Shaheng. Although he was cautious and had prepared all kinds of food and drink in the Abyss bedroom space, the two kobolds were bound to worry after being gone for several days.

"How many days have I been gone?" he said lazily, sprawled on the dining table.

"Including the day he left, the adult was gone for exactly eight days."

Daisy then brought over a plate of fruit for the three kobolds to enjoy.

At the same time, a gorgeous invitation was placed in front of him.

“Miss Mautel sent this message. She said that Master Lorigo told you that what you were looking forward to has come to fruition. Please arrive early on the wedding day, by which time everything should be ready. He will personally hand it to you to fulfill his promise. He also thanked you for your secret help to him.”

Daisy spoke almost word by word, as if afraid of omitting any crucial word.

(End of this chapter)