Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 203 Expectations and Unexpected Events

A mysterious, short old woman, a dimly lit and quiet corridor, and an unknown fate—this is what Luger and his companion are facing. If there's anything good about it, it's that they're not the only outsiders still alive in the town, and that staying here seems safer than staying in the town for now.

Leiden fell into deep thought upon hearing Ruger's casual remark, as if it were something of paramount importance.

Although the mysterious old woman told the two to choose any room to rest, the rooms here were not meant for them to choose freely. After walking around and stopping, they only came across one place where they could open the door.

"If I had the chance to choose again, I would still reach for the bird's nest on the dead tree."

Leiden suddenly spoke seriously.

Ruger rolled his eyes; he had almost forgotten the teasing remark he made when he left the old woman.

After finding the room they could enter, the two did not linger but continued to explore the tower together.

"Can a broken soul be resurrected?" Ruger asked.

The only sound in the dimly lit corridor was their footsteps. After walking for a while, they could occasionally hear the sound of dripping water coming from somewhere.

“A remnant soul? No, it’s far worse than that,” Leiden said. “It’s just a remnant consciousness from a dream. What surprises me is that she realized her original body was dead, that she was dreaming, and that she was just a remnant in the dream… She’s incredibly powerful, I’m talking about her original body.”

Ruger nodded in strong agreement.

It's astonishing that she can directly sense the curse deeply ingrained in the blood of the kobolds.

The two walked to the stairs, where the wide stone steps led to the next floor, which was even darker than the corridor they had walked down.

Although the wrinkled old woman told them to try not to go to the top of the tower, she didn't say they couldn't go to the higher floors.

The two slowly walked up the stone steps.

“Baonte didn’t leave that mysterious city,” Leiden suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, Luger paused, then resumed his normal pace, but still fell half a step behind.

“Don’t be surprised. I expected it to turn out that way. Even if it weren’t for the Mystery City, it would have been somewhere else,” Leiden said as he walked.

Ruger remained silent. He was a man who didn't distinguish between good and bad, and was strongly self-centered, or rather, based on his own beliefs. Although Raden was his friend, Ruger believed that if Raden ever hindered Bayont, the man would definitely draw his sword without hesitation. Raden obviously understood this as well, so he didn't get involved in things that might cause problems.

"But he didn't die..."

As Leiden spoke, his footsteps clattered on the stone steps.

Ruger blinked in the darkness and said, "Could he be trapped in that mysterious city connected to the world of knowledge?"

“Probably! Maybe he went too far and got captured by that city, or maybe something delayed him when he left,” Leiden said. “All we know is that he’s still alive, that’s for sure. At least the arcane mark left on the contract is still responding, though it’s a bit dim.”

The two arrived at a new floor.

What we saw were still a large number of stone doors that could not be opened.

After exploring for a while, the two were quite disappointed, and suddenly a strange drowsiness came over them.

Luger strained to look at Leiden, who was in the same state and even swaying slightly. The two had no choice but to turn back, as sleeping in the room was certainly safer than sleeping outside.

The two had only taken a few steps when Luger swayed and reached to the side for support. A stone door that they had been unable to open before opened with a scraping sound.

If we can rest here, there's no need to force ourselves to go back downstairs.

The two exchanged a glance and cautiously entered the room.

After confirming that there was nothing unusual, Ruger waved his hand and released a small ball of light.

Rows of bookshelves stood in the room.

Ruger fought off his drowsiness, shakily grabbed the nearest bookshelf for support, picked up a book at random, but found it all blurry and unreadable.

On the other side, Leiden was also forcing himself to flip through book after book. Ruger began to wander among the bookshelves, then stumbled and fell to the ground, trying to get up but too weak to continue.

He turned his head and could see through the gaps in the bookshelf that Leiden was fast asleep.

Gradually, Luger's eyelids drooped uncontrollably, and he fell asleep leaning against the corner of the bookshelf.

I slept very soundly, but it wasn't a sweet sleep.

Ruger suddenly opened his eyes, feeling as if he had just fallen asleep and then woken up.

The bookshelves and the town are no longer in sight.

Leiden woke up beside him; the two of them were under the dead tree with the bird's nest.

Ruger looked into the distance, but the wizard apprentice who had run into the town earlier did not appear.

"They've left, they've just left?" Ruger looked at Leiden.

“I told you, there’s no need to worry. He’ll probably be back after a good night’s sleep,” Leiden said, getting up.

Ruger was speechless for a moment.

The two dared not linger there any longer, but after taking a few steps, they both turned back to look at the tree, only to see the bird's nest still sitting on the branch.

Ruger and Leiden hesitated for a moment, then cast Lightness Spell on the spot. Ruger added the Power of the Bull, while Leiden used Great Strength. The two of them suddenly leaped up and looked into the bird's nest, only to find that the nest was empty and the book that had been in the nest was nowhere to be seen.

The two walked toward the campsite in thought. Although it was also a dead tree, it made them feel much more at ease.

"Do you see any words on the books on those shelves?" Ruger asked.

“Most of them have words, but they’re not legible…” Leiden said.

Ruger nodded. He knew his own strength; he hadn't used any force at the time. The door that he couldn't open before opened with just a light touch, which made people suspect that it was related to the old woman.

If the mysterious town was created by the combination of many strange things and the old man's dream creations under the influence of the power of the nightmare world, then the tower they were in almost belonged exclusively to that old man.

"Could the opening of that door and the appearance of the bookshelf be because the wizard downstairs is deducing spells and sorting out his path to advancement..." Ruger murmured.

Leiden nodded as he walked.

“It’s very possible. If that’s the case, there might still be books with relatively clear text inside,” he said thoughtfully, “but they’ve already left.”

The two made their way back to the camp.

As soon as I stepped into the layered camp area, I heard the bubbling sound of hot soup.

The appearance of the campfire and the angle at which the pot lid was half open were not much different from when the two left, suggesting that they had not been gone long.

The only exception was the three people dressed differently who were standing by the pot.

"There's no one here!"

"I haven't found anything on my end either—"

Just as the three by the campfire turned to look at Ruger and Leiden...

Two heads peeked out from the treehouse in the dead tree.

There were five strangers in total.

"Are you from this camp?"

A woman dressed in black looked at Ruger and his companion by the campfire and spoke.

(End of this chapter)