Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 145 Restraint and Unwelcome
On the bumpy back of the six-legged pack animal, Ruger's body was tense. It was his first time riding such a thing, and he couldn't relax as easily as the old dog-headed Lunser. He always felt that if he relaxed, this seemingly docile creature would mercilessly throw him off.

This was the second day since he and old Lenser left the shop and set foot on the wasteland.

After three days of tireless effort, he and Old Lenser finally collected enough to meet the old dog-headed apothecary's goal: three thousand bottles of the mutated purification potion. Luger contributed about seven hundred bottles, and his mental strength was also significantly improved in an unusual way. Before leaving, he saw Old Lenser's actions and expressions and guessed that this dog-headed uncle definitely had a lot more stock, and that they might be selling far more than three thousand bottles this time.

Ruger kept adjusting, raising an eyebrow as if he had found a good posture, and gradually relaxed.

Looking at the boundless wilderness, I felt quite good. However, the power of the blood sun's rays was much weaker here. The light looked about the same, but the comfortable feeling of it shining on me was significantly reduced.

It was as if an invisible hand was binding that special power within the City of Burning Blood.

Only a small amount leaked out between the fingers.

After relaxing, Ruger looked at old Lenser, who seemed to be in a good mood.

He recalled what had happened three days earlier.

As he was walking up the stairs, the old man with the dog head called out to him, and a reminder came from behind him.

“Young Luger, I know young people like beautiful women, but I must warn you, don’t have too much contact with Elena. Although it may not necessarily lead to anything bad, it certainly won’t bring anything good. Only that bald-headed Newondo would keep her in the city and by his side,” Old Lenser said with a sigh. “She’s a mixed-race child, her parents are a vampire and a vampire infected, both of which are unwelcome in this city. Newondo inscribed a magic circle on her to suppress her, otherwise she would have been driven out of the city long ago.”

He stopped on the stairs and, out of curiosity, asked about vampires and bloodlines.

Old Lunsser simply said that he would be able to see him soon.

Thinking of this, and feeling the sensation of the blood-soaked sun on his body, Luger couldn't help but look at old Lunser again. Considering the change in his neighbor, Mr. Nuondo, that day, he was a little afraid that this cheap uncle would suddenly go crazy and bite him.

“Hey kid, throw away that worry in your eyes. When I was your age, I was much bolder than you, and I remember saying I’m in great shape right now,” old Lenser said gruffly.

"Of course, Uncle, you look great."

Ruger said it casually, but something else was on his mind.

“My Uncle Lenser looks very well. I’ve heard Elena mention before that it’s best not to go out during the rainy season, especially into the wilderness,” he said.

“Of course, you silly boy, how could I not know what that girl knows?” Lunser felt underestimated. “Because it’s not the rainy season right now. The rain before was just an exception. The City of Blood has been a bit unstable these past two years.”

Old Renser continued, “Some people had a bad feeling and left here following their spiritual revelation. If you can also leave and resolve your own issues, you don’t need to stay here any longer.”

As the terrain gradually leveled out, the two six-legged pack animals no longer experienced such a bumpy ride, or rather, they achieved a more stable frequency of bumps.

Ruger relaxed even more, and since he was able to relax, riding on the pack animal felt quite good.

He looked back.

Several sharp-toothed, sharp-mouthed subterranean beasts had been following them all the way, seemingly since yesterday, and they seemed to be taking turns, sometimes three or four, sometimes seven or eight.

Along the way, Ruger noticed that the tamed pack animals and the menacing subterranean beasts all had many blood-red features, some in fur and claws, others in carapaces and parts like eyes and ears, which subconsciously made people think that they were influenced by the blood-red sun in the dome.

Old Lenser seemed unconcerned, clearly having anticipated and was quite confident about any eventuality along the way.

“Ahead, there’s a stone I’ve solidified, buried underground. We can rest there for a while,” Old Lunser said, shaking his head and shooing away a small insect. These small flying insects were also blood-red, with blood-red pointed mouths.

"Uncle's safe house? I'm really looking forward to it."

Ruger loudly agreed. They had been traveling for the past two days, eating on the backs of their pack animals. If it weren't for the dragonborn kobolds, they would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago. Of course, these two tamed six-legged pack animals also possessed astonishing stamina.

"You can relax a bit there; there are some simple magic arrays inscribed inside..."

As they were talking, Old Lunser suddenly flipped off, patted the breeding bag at his waist, and put the rented pack animal into it as well.

“The beast’s tracks are too obvious. We’ll walk the rest of the way,” Old Lunser said, glancing back at the subterranean beast leisurely following in the distance.

Luger nodded and put the two pack beasts away. These two pack beasts were rented from the City of Burning Blood; they came with matching breeding bags, saving a lot of trouble.

The two began walking toward Old Lenser's secret safe house, while the subterranean beast hanging behind them drew closer and closer, as if it regarded the two as easy targets.

Until a certain point, old Lenser was no longer by Luger's side.

Luger smiled and continued walking forward.

He suddenly realized that the two of them were not much different from the wild beasts hanging behind them, and even their hunting methods were similar.

He struggled to climb a slope, and just as he reached the bottom, he heard bursts of pain and howls coming from behind him.

Old Lenser laughed and ran back with the chain net in his hand.

"One for each of you," Old Lunser said without further ado, tossing over a subterranean beast that was almost twisted into a ball. Seeing Luger's hesitation, he added, "It's not for you to eat. Put it in the breeding bag and feed it to the pack beast."

Ruger responded and did as he was told, his eyes sweeping over the chains on his hands.

“Uncle Lenser, I’ve never seen you use magic before,” Ruger said.

"How could you say you've never used it? Isn't the secret mark from when you sign the contract a spell?" Old Lunser said.

Luger couldn't help but roll his eyes.

The two quickly arrived at the bottom of the slope. Something seemed to have happened here before, as there were irregular, shallow, circular pits everywhere.

"Someone in my current state naturally needs to avoid using too much power, and the spells I'm good at will inevitably be related to my physical modifications..."

Suddenly, old Lenser, who had been smiling just a moment ago, became serious.

Unaware of what was going on, Ruger followed his gaze.

There are obvious signs of soil disturbance at the edge of a circular pit in front.

(End of this chapter)