Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 165 Uniqueness and Favor

Clear footsteps came from afar. The person seemed to be quite far away. The footsteps continued incessantly, disturbing people's peace of mind. Although it wasn't a loud noise, it was obvious that the person making the footsteps was doing it on purpose. While not as rude as a clown making people shout and horses neigh, it was still deliberately trying to annoy people.

"Our only one who hasn't fallen into slumber, the esteemed first-ring wizard, don't you welcome your old friend?"

A person who may have grown up swallowing spiked balls, shouting loudly with a hoarse voice.

Ruger opened his eyes with a frown. He had just entered the state of meditation after casting a spell, and Green beside him did the same.

The two glanced at the bald old wizard who was still sitting upright in the large hole, and then looked together at the other end of the passage.

With that shout, the footsteps changed, and a tall figure walked out from around the corner of the passage.

"You bald old madman, you really are still reading a book..."

The tall figure suddenly turned his head and looked in the direction of Luger and Green.

This person looked to be about the same height as the bald old wizard, provided the old man stood up straight. Moreover, this person was much stronger than the old wizard, still maintaining his bulging muscles in such a place, with broad arms that could support two small dog-headed men, of course, the smallest kind.

Ruger noticed that the man's eyes turned blood red for a moment when he looked over, which indicated that the strong man was a vampire.

"Hehehe, it's rare to see guests here. I heard you have wine here, so these two guests must have brought you in, right?"

The burly vampire man wiped the messy, metallic stubble on his chin with his large hand, making a sizzling sound, before turning to look at the old wizard sitting in the cave.

Luger and the other man also looked towards the large hole.

The vampire burly man initially grinned maliciously, but gradually his face darkened. The old wizard, who was silently reading a book, sat upright like a quiet scholar, deep in thought, seemingly oblivious to the burly man's arrival, ignoring all footsteps and shouts.

Ruger stepped back, sensing that the situation was not good.

Suddenly, the vampire kicked up a blood-red stone, held it in his hand, and twisted it forcefully. Blood-red fragments began to fall from between his fists.

Ruger and Green exchanged a glance. The old wizard had said before that even a fifth-level wizard apprentice like Green would generally not be able to break through the Crimson Stone Food. The vampire strongman was also a superhuman at the level of a formal wizard.

Ruger remembered that the old wizard had said that there was more than one place in the Black Prison where these blood-red stone foods could grow, and this strong man must be occupying another place.

The burly vampire suddenly threw the fragments in his hand, and a flying shard of rock almost completely covered the bald old wizard.

The old wizard once again emitted that ever-shifting, hazy light.

All the flying debris was blocked.

The old wizard was still hunched over, looking down at the heavy book he held in his hands.

The burly vampire man curled his lip at the sight and suddenly turned to look at Ruger and his companion.

"Two newcomers, what's so special about you? Do you have any more wine?" The burly vampire said, stepping over. "Bring out your fine wines, I haven't had any in ages! I hope you don't bring any cheap junk! But it doesn't matter, as long as I can drink to my heart's content."

Bang! The heavy book was slammed shut.

“Perhaps it’s all fate, guided by the spirit. Is it really coming to an end?” The old wizard stood up and muttered to himself before looking at Ruger. “For me to meet two people who can wield magic, perhaps it really is a turning point in my destiny. Some trivial matters no longer need to be taken seriously.”

"You've gone even crazier, old man..."

The burly vampire stopped and turned to look at the bald old wizard.

The old wizard suddenly looked directly at the burly man: "I'm keeping you here only because you can break the stone food barrier, which means you can feed more people in the Black Prison, and those people won't all come here to bother me..."

The burly vampire burst into laughter.

“You’re old enough. Here I am the king. Even the wizards choose to slumber. How many spells can you cast now?”

The vampire man clenched his fists so tightly they cracked.

"I am a Star Knight, no weaker than a first-ring wizard—"

Before he finished speaking, the burly man appeared to the side of the old wizard, raised his huge fist, and slammed it down from above.

The old wizard didn't even blink; he simply raised his hand and pointed, and the burly man froze on the spot.

"Do you think those little tricks of the vampires are only for you?" the bald old wizard said, turning to face the burly vampire man. "Do you think you're the only one with great strength?"

Bang!
Ruger and Green, peeking out from their hiding places, their mouths agape involuntarily, watched as the old wizard actually used a headbutt on the knight. The bald old wizard smashed the vampire's face with a single headbutt, obscuring the man's expression and eyes in an instant, as both eyeballs had burst out.

"Not weaker than a single link?"

The old wizard muttered to himself, and then delivered another headbutt.

Bang!
The vampire's head exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

The bald old wizard touched his forehead, took out the strangely shaped, blood-red gem badge that Ruger had seen before, and waved it at the fallen strong man. A large cloud of blood mist also emerged from the corpse and surged toward the gem until the blood mist completely disappeared, leaving only a few broken bones and tattered clothes on the ground.

The bald old wizard glanced at the two men who had only half their heads sticking out and asked, "You have wine?"

Upon hearing this, Green immediately took out a bottle of wine, jogged over to deliver it, and was about to say something when the old wizard shooed him back.

The intern seeking the law ran back to his small room in frustration.

Ruger smiled, sat back down in his seat, and opened the large book that Bloodfortress used for sacrifices.

With the use of the Divine Artifact Technique, he successfully entered that wondrous state.

Interestingly, this wasn't a blood-red world, but rather a different kind of silver. Although the entire book was in blood-red tones, this silver gave off a mysterious and peculiar vitality. Ruger, floating in the boundless silver, felt as if he were about to fall asleep.

The silvery-white color trembled, and an image appeared before Luger's eyes.

It was a seed, rolled in a deep pit, seemingly a remnant of a broken storage bag. The seed began to absorb something inexplicable and slowly grew, gradually becoming a tall, blood-red tree.

Suddenly, Luger caught sight of a word drifting past where a large tree met a silvery-white landscape—the word "E" from the common language of the dungeons.

He immediately wrote it down with delight, and was about to break free of the spell to tell the old wizard when he noticed a vertical eye on the tree trunk. It was not surprising to see anything when using the magic of objects, but strangely, he felt that the eye was watching him, and it seemed to be moving with his movements.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Luger's mind: this wasn't an eye, it was a rune.

As soon as this thought arose in his mind, the eye that had inexplicably appeared on the tree trunk suddenly twisted and transformed into a complex and peculiar rune. He tried to memorize the rune, staring intently at it with wide eyes, but he only managed to memorize half of it before the rune vanished, and the tree trunk remained bare.

Ruger opened his eyes, sighed, and rubbed his forehead wearily. Green did the same.

However, after rubbing for a while, Luger stood up and walked towards the large hole.

The bald old wizard had a number of wine bottles lying askew beside him. When he saw Luger coming over, he immediately showed a rare smile, although the smile was not pleasant.

"You little rascal, it seems you've already made your first profit," the old wizard said, holding up the wine bottle.

"Yes, my lord."

Ruger was considering whether he should ask the old wizard about the rune.

“Hold that book up horizontally,” the old wizard said.

Luger picked up the book as instructed, and the old wizard took out the strange, blood-red gem badge from before, placed it on the heavy book, and asked Luger to think of the word and use his mental power to imagine writing it on the gem in the air.

After two attempts, he finally succeeded. The moment he finished writing, a flash of light appeared on the strangely shaped, blood-red gem badge, and the bald old wizard burst into laughter.

"Seven, seven more characters to go. We're almost done! I haven't discovered any new characters in thirty years. You two little guys really haven't disappointed me..."

The old wizard finished laughing and looked at Luger with satisfaction.

"Your transformation is quite remarkable. I didn't even notice it for so many days. I was too focused," the old wizard said, making Ruger a little nervous. "Don't be afraid. The fact that you're still alive after this transformation and can leave the City of Burning Blood shows that you've adapted well to it. This might be an unexpected good thing. Have you ever noticed that sometimes your luck is exceptionally good..."

Ruger shook his head and then nodded upon hearing this.

“Unique individuals are favored by the world. In fact, besides the miracles born from natural evolution, human modification can also create miracles that gain the recognition of the world’s power. This is what some bloodline modification wizards pursue. Of course, this is not the mainstream of bloodline wizards. Only a few people do this. It is difficult to succeed and the effect is hard to determine. It is easier to modify some weak bloodlines, but that would be putting the cart before the horse. After all, while gaining illusory favor, one’s own bloodline power will be very weak…” The old wizard said, taking a sip of wine.

This was the first time Ruger had seen the bald old wizard sitting here without a book in his hand.

"This kind of pursuit of bloodline research can only be considered an experiment that exists solely for the purpose of exploring results. It's just for the sake of proving something, and its practical value is limited. Wizards who can do this don't need this kind of bloodline modification, and bloodlines that match their power are unlikely to gain that elusive favor and recognition from the world. This kind of experiment has even been temporarily categorized into the field of research on fate..."

The old wizard said that a bottle of wine had been emptied.

Ruger blinked, carefully memorizing every word he uttered.

(End of this chapter)