Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 156 Volunteers and Spells
When Ruger saw the people walking ahead again, they had already hidden behind a large rock. Both the two lone travelers and the duo were obediently lying behind the rock, their bodies tense.

This piqued the curiosity of the two men, and for their own safety, they had always lagged behind by one step, yet the group showed no dissatisfaction, instead displaying an indifferent attitude.

Whoosh! The sound of something cutting through the air rang out! Then came a series of soft sounds.

The rock where those people were hiding was the place where the soft sounds were most concentrated due to its angle and location.

Ruger's eyes widened. After the dense series of soft thuds, occasionally a small object would remain—the very same blood-red pebble that the old vampire and the Scale Elder had bet and fought over earlier. Most of the flying pebbles shattered completely upon impact, but the few that remained were picked up by those hiding behind them.

One of the duo reached out a step too late, and his palm was pierced by the newly flying blood-red pebble.

The group behind the stone started arguing. Two large, blood-red pebbles fell into a dangerous spot, and the group hesitated, afraid that others would snatch them first. They seemed to start discussing the matter.

"Should we still go over there?"

Ruger watched from afar, then turned to Green and said.

Green seemed thoughtful: "Wait a minute."

Ruger nodded; he asked this only to see if Green had any special preparations. The flying pebbles only appeared after each heavy impact and roar, and when they were at the intersection, it was peaceful, meaning they could wait for it all to end. After all, they didn't have to wait like those others, who couldn't afford to, fearing someone else would snatch the blood-red pebbles first.

Luger and his companion retreated to the corner and sat down to wait silently.

At this moment, the five people who had been fighting rushed over in a hurry. One of them, with a bruised and swollen face, even looked at the two sitting on the ground with a surprised expression.

The advantageous location behind that large rock was also something they were vying for.

Ruger peeked out from behind a corner in the distance, watching their every move with a smile. He found it quite amusing, but as he watched, he also felt a sense of pathos as they hid and jostled behind the boulder. They had been disciplined by this strange environment into a peculiar kind of predator.

Suddenly, the apprentice seeking the Dharma who had been resting with his eyes closed opened them.

Luger also stood up.

The heavy impact had not been heard for a while.

The two men strode forward, and the nine people who had been hiding behind the large rock emerged, scrambling to search for any scattered blood-red pebbles nearby, which confirmed the two men's judgment.

Ruger paused, and happened to step on a small, blood-red pebble, which he picked up and held in his hand.

Under the astonished gazes of the crowd, the two walked over the large rocks and headed deeper into the passage.

"Hey, it's dangerous over there," the man with the bruised and swollen face suddenly warned.

Luger glanced at him with a smile and casually tossed the blood-red pebble in his hand in an arc.

The two kept walking, and the further they went, the more the cave walls around them emitted a faint blood-red light, as if they were walking towards the light.

Gradually, a heavy breathing sound reached Luger's ears.

Meanwhile, the blood-red pebbles were already everywhere at their feet as they continued to fall.

Ruger saw a spacious and bright cave. A tall, thin old man was sitting on a rock in the cave, holding a large, thick, blood-red book in his hands, carefully flipping through it, occasionally turning a page and muttering to himself for a long time.

Ruger glanced at Green beside him; the guy was also hesitating.

"Hmm, finally two nice little guys have come over..." The tall, thin old man raised his bald head, which had some marks from impacts.

Luger just silently looked at Green.

Green took a deep breath, raised his elbow and held up his finger, and the pattern belonging to the Temple of Knowledge slowly appeared.

“Grin, the apprentice seeker of the law, greets Your Excellency from the Temple of Knowledge.” Grin bowed.

Ruger also bowed, behaving as a polite junior.

The tall but thin old man chuckled.

"Seekers of the Dharma?" the old man said. "Very well, no wonder you're so bold. I thought you were going to run away. If you hadn't been sitting outside and hadn't come in, I would have been tempted to go out and catch you..."

“It would be our honor to serve you, sir, and to be of even the slightest assistance,” Green said.

The tall old man had a broad frame and must have been a tall and strong man in the past, but now he was skin and bones, yet he inexplicably had a fierce and powerful look.

The tall, thin old man laughed.

“I know what you want, an uncollected spell, huh? I’ll give you one right now,” the old man said, looking at them. “And you must learn it. If you can’t learn it, you’re worthless to me, just like them…”

The tall, thin old man pointed to a corner of the cave, where there were dozens of skeletons, some sitting and some kneeling.

Most of those skeletons were sitting in a neat posture, as if they were meditating in their last moments, thinking about death.

Ruger blinked, looking at the old man in front of him and recalling his earlier sigh. He suddenly felt that perhaps it was not the environment that disciplined those people, but the old man himself. This old fellow was constantly luring people in with blood-red pebbles, and once a newcomer to the Black Prison came here to pick up pebbles, the old man would take a liking to them and detain them.

It seems I need to help him with something, but the prerequisite for doing so is mastering a unique spell.

Ruger's heart was pounding a little faster, but along with fear came a strange excitement. He realized that he had never been the kind of person who sought thrills before, but now, looking at that row of white bones, he felt a little eager to try it out. Perhaps it was out of confidence in his own talent and aptitude, or perhaps he just wanted to test his confidence.

“My friend hasn’t reached the fifth level of mental strength yet. If I learn it, it can help you, sir. I hope you won’t make things difficult for him,” Green said.

“His mental strength is more solid and stable than yours, which has been honed to the fifth level for many years. You should mind your own business, apprentice seeker of magic,” the old man sneered. “If you don’t master the spells within the time I set for you, you will never have the chance to become a true seeker of magic.”

Green looked at Ruger in surprise, especially at Ruger's big mouth, ears, and other most eye-catching features of his bloodline.

That look in his eyes, combined with his stereotypical remarks about the City of Burning Blood and the Bloodline Modifiers, seemed to suggest that the sacrifices of these Bloodline Wizards like Luger were worthwhile, exchanging their lives and inhumanity for such excellent aptitude.

Ruger even saw a hint of attraction in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)