Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 168 Change and Relief

Green didn't act impulsively or do anything unnecessary.

This relieved Ruger, and he was now in the mood to examine the contract in front of him more closely. The contract was tilted slightly, as if the old wizard intended to prevent Green from seeing its contents. First of all, there was a clause that forbade him from taking any action that would directly or indirectly lead to the spells being recorded and presented to the Temple of Knowledge. This direct or indirect action effectively restricted his private teaching. While he could understand these clauses, the following clauses left him somewhat bewildered.

He read through the lines one by one, as if he had a lot to do, and it wasn't as simple as just ensuring that the spell wouldn't be leaked.

The contract stipulated that after he left, he must immediately return to the City of Burning Blood, go to the teleportation array in the City of Burning Blood, throw the protective object given to him by the old wizard into the teleportation array, and only when he personally saw the object disappear into the teleportation array would the contract's requirements be met. Before that, he must protect the object, and must not let anyone touch it, lose it, damage it, tell anyone about it, or try to open it himself.

Ruger scratched his head and glanced at the dejected Green.

When he turned around again, the old wizard was smiling at him. The old man's eyes had regained their clarity, and his smile was exceptionally gentle. With a wave of his hand, the old man added another clause to Ruger's contract.

The old wizard smiled and winked at him, saying, "Little fellow, I'll give you extra compensation for all the work you've done. I'm sure you'll like it."

Upon hearing this, Ruger looked at the last newly appeared clause on the contract.

It clearly states that when the protected object disappears into the teleportation array, the contractor who fulfills this agreement can be considered one of the owners of the Divine Object Technique.

What did this mean? Ruger was a little confused for a moment.

Doesn't that mean that after completing the contract, one can remove their own restrictions, and even replace the old wizard to remove Green's contract restrictions? Ruger thought to himself.

But things soon changed again.

The old wizard then waved his hand in another direction.

For a moment, Green, who was looking dejected, showed an incredulous look. He looked at the old wizard and then at the contract in front of him.

“There was once a seeker of magic who requested the inclusion of the Divine Artifact Technique in the name of benefiting the development of the wizarding world. However, this technique is actually impossible to promote. Over the past hundred years, the Temple of Knowledge has secretly sent more than just you with talent. I don’t know the exact number because they did not reveal their identities as openly as you. Yet, in the end, you were the only one among them who learned the Divine Artifact Technique… Those people have been sitting here year after year, until their condition deteriorated, their spiritual power was exhausted, and they turned into a pile of bones…” The old wizard said, looking at Green.

"Since you desire it so much, as the owner of the Divine Artifact, I can now agree to include it. Seeker of the Law, you have seen the newly added conditions to the contract. Take this contract back and sign it in the name of the Temple of Knowledge to remove your restrictions," the old wizard said. "At the same time, according to the contract, the owner of the Divine Artifact will permanently enjoy the profits from exchanging Divine Artifacts. Regardless of the method of exchange, the profits generated will be converted into merits for the Temple of Knowledge and stored."

Green bowed again with excitement and said, "Thank you for your contribution. I think the Temple will agree."

Ruger, who had just been debating whether to help Grimm remove the restrictions, suddenly realized he had no use for his efforts. However, he seemed to have gained an anonymous account, which he could use to visit the Temple of Knowledge later. He just hadn't seen the specific profit-sharing ratio in the contract, and he was too lazy to look at it and expose his anonymous identity.

Ruger left his arcane mark on the contract in front of him. This contract seemed to be much more advanced than the one made by the old dog Lunser. After turning into ashes, the two arcane marks flashed in mid-air and disappeared with strange fluctuations.

Meanwhile, Green also left his own arcane mark, but the contract did not turn to ashes. According to the subsequent terms, he was to take it back to the Temple of Knowledge.

Ruger watched silently, vaguely sensing that after his own contract burned out, it had somehow become connected with the contract in Green's hand.

The old wizard took out a box and handed it to Ruger with a smile.

Ruger hurriedly took it and put it away, presumably this was what he was supposed to throw into the teleportation array.

On the other side, Green also carefully put away the contract.

The two of them stood in front of the old wizard.

The old wizard stroked his bald head, looked around, and began taking out the blood-red potion he had given the two of them earlier. He drank bottle after bottle, finishing more than twenty bottles before stopping. Then, the old wizard took out a mace-like staff and pointed it at the spot where the two had been striking it every now and then.

"I'll send you out now. I don't know how much of my previous arrangements I left behind, so be careful. I can only roughly determine the location. Even though you are just wizard apprentices, sending you out is still a troublesome matter."

As the old wizard spoke, the flesh on his face began to wither and shrivel. The already skinny old man became like a skeleton, with sunken eye sockets, as if he had aged more than ten years in an instant. However, his eyes became even brighter and more piercing.

An invisible fluctuation began to swirl around Luger and the other person.

The old wizard tapped his staff lightly with his other hand, then raised his hand and pointed at the cave wall. The undisguised magical aura had a familiar feel to it. Ruger realized that the old wizard was casting a divine spell on the cave wall that the staff was pointing at, a spell that was much stronger than theirs.

An invisible wave completely enveloped them, and suddenly everything before their eyes turned blood red.

Ruger instinctively closed his eyes, feeling a lightness under his feet, and at the same time heard the old wizard's deep voice in his ear.

"Remember what's stipulated in the contract, and don't make any mistakes..."

When Luger opened his eyes again, he found himself in an open space, falling headfirst from mid-air.

He hurriedly turned around, but there wasn't enough distance, and he ended up falling to the ground.

Green, standing nearby, was in the same state; the excessive exertion these days had made him look extremely haggard, and his reactions had become slower.

Luger got up and looked at the Blood Sun first. It seemed to be evening. He then looked around and saw irregular, shallow, circular pits everywhere.

Ruger stared at the shallow pits, and they all seemed strangely familiar.

“Looks like we’re in luck…” Ruger said.

Green nodded in agreement.

The two walked toward the place they remembered, becoming more and more surprised as they went. This also proved that this was indeed the place they thought it was. They saw some faint signs of earthwork around the edge of a round pit.

Ruger and Green exchanged a glance.

In that dark prison, they gradually fell into difficulties and became too lazy to care about the past few days. They only remembered the general outline, but they were certain that a considerable amount of time had passed.

So theoretically, old Lenser should absolutely not be here.

At Ruger's signal, Green began casting a spell to separate the soil in front of him.

The safe house where Uncle Lenser had once stayed was gradually revealed.

The specially designed small door opened, revealing Old Lenser's bewildered dog face. His already large eyes widened even further, and his drooping eyelids couldn't hide his astonishment.

“My dear uncle, why didn’t you tell me when you left!” Ruger said with a smile. “I thought you had been captured by the vampires and I was thinking of going back to inherit your shop.”

(End of this chapter)