Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 212 Deep Valley and Exploration

Although Squeak's size is not as large as the giant snake from before, it is still wide enough. The only drawback is that its shell is a bit smooth, but this is not a big problem for Luger and Leiden.

It took quite a while after I spotted the target before I got close enough to see it, its twelve pairs of short legs creaking and swishing as it turned.

It wasn't until we entered the valley that it slowed down, soothed by Luger. It seemed that the long journey had been very enjoyable for it, as it had only been awake for a few days.

Leiden and the original members of the camp had been to this deep valley once before, making it a major exploration site in this direction. The Nightmare World is a world that is both real and illusory, and sometimes it is illogical. For example, if you find a mountain stream and trace it back to its source for several days, you may find that the water is no longer flowing. Sometimes it makes sense and sometimes it is inexplicable. Sometimes you have to use inexplicable to explain reasonable, and sometimes you have to use reasonable to look at inexplicable.

The clever insect slowed down, but its body twisted more dramatically, undulating like waves as it strolled through the valley and headed deeper.

Luger sat on its back, looking at the scenery on both sides. There was more vegetation here than he had imagined, a completely different scene from outside the valley.

Leiden, like him, was looking around.

"That thing from that day..." Ruger looked at the lush greenery, especially after seeing a small tree hollow, and couldn't help but recall what happened that day, saying, "Nightmare, I remember you called it that. What kind of thing is it?"

Aside from a short rest yesterday, Raiden has been far from as relaxed as Ruger lately. The annoying spells have left him exhausted, but fortunately, he has mastered them and is now proficient enough. That wretched old woman had previously demanded that the slowest person be punished, but she seems to have completely forgotten about it.

Leiden hesitated for a moment.

"As far as I know, there are two kinds of Nightmare Demons. One is a mutated product that exists in the Nightmare World itself, which is hard to describe. In addition, there is a kind of Nightmare Demon born under special circumstances, which is Nightmare Wizards, especially Nightmare Wizard Apprentices who fail when trying to become formal wizards. Their advancement is to be carried out in this Nightmare World. After failing, some of them will turn into those indescribable Nightmare Demons..." Raiden said slowly, supporting the insect shell with one hand.

"When this happens, some become Nightmare Demons at the level of Wizard Apprentices, while others, although failing to advance, become Nightmare Demons at the level of Official Wizards... Moreover, the threat of Nightmare Demons is not so easily categorized. Wizard Apprentices have almost no way to deal with lower-level Nightmare Demons of the same level, and the same applies to First-Ring Wizards. They find it difficult to effectively deal with Nightmare Demons, and Nightmare Demons can also grow... Nightmare Wizards are stealing power, but at the same time, they are being stolen by the Nightmare World."

Leiden continued, "Only when the Nightmare Organ is cultivated to a sufficiently high level can one effectively resist Nightmare Demons, and even then, only the kind that directly attack and are easily detected. To truly harm them... requires magical abilities that master primal power... but under normal circumstances, it's very difficult to kill them, and compared to killing them, I think the chances of a wizard apprentice mastering primal power are even lower. Zero-ring spells and some peculiar bloodline abilities rarely involve such things at this stage..."

Ruger held the long, detached hair he had been nourishing in one hand and nodded slowly.

During these days, whenever he occasionally drifted off into thought, he would cast the Spirit Hair Nourishment spell on the hair he had previously removed from his leg, as if holding a plaything in his hand. After leaving that dark place, the already weak magical fluctuations of the Spirit Hair Nourishment spell were almost imperceptible in his hands. He could cast the spell with effortless grace, and even while lost in thought, he would continuously cast it, playing with the detached hair in his hand until it developed a unique luster.

"What usually happens to people who are possessed by Nightmare Demons?" Ruger asked softly.

“Some will be torn to pieces, some will become delirious and difficult to recover from, and some will simply disappear... vanish without a trace. The person who was huddled in the corner of the camp should have disappeared; there was no blood nearby,” Leiden said.

Luger had told him before that he managed to escape while the low-level Nightmare Demon was entangled with the man huddled in the corner.

The two people and one beast gradually entered the deep valley.

Ruger rubbed the fur in his hands while taking in the strange atmosphere around him.

It appears lush and green, yet possesses an extreme tranquility.

This stark contrast reminded Ruger of the omnipresent unease he often felt after arriving in the Nightmare World, only amplified by the intense contrast at this moment. The source of this discomfort was sometimes the excessive quiet, sometimes other reasons, always a little different from the normal world, an indescribable unease that always quietly appeared around him.

As they went deeper, Ruger put away the fur in his hand. The two also tried to minimize their conversation.

After walking for a while, the two got up and left Zizi's back. This was the place where Leiden and the others had finished exploring.

These so-called exploration missions don't actually have any strict requirements. They're more like treasure hunting for individuals. You just need to occasionally bring back some items or special discoveries from various parts of the Nightmare World and report them to the camp's chief wizard.

Luger walked slowly, then squeaked and burrowed underground, following behind.

A mushroom growing horizontally high up on a tree trunk caught Luger's attention; the little thing was bright red and its unusual appearance was quite striking.

Luger gestured with his eyes, and Leiden nodded. He then went over and took it off and put it away.

Gradually, he became bolder, checking out anything that interested him or simply taking it with him.

"squeak!"

Squeak! It popped its head out from underground, let out a soft chirp, and was carrying something in its mouth.

Ruger leaned closer, raised an eyebrow, and took it. It was a piece of wood about the size of a palm, a piece of wood that had obviously been artificially processed. Although it wasn't exactly carved, there were signs of processing, and it felt very comfortable to hold.

Luger looked down and saw that Zizi had disappeared; it had obviously gone back down.

"squeak!"

A moment later it came up again, carrying a piece of iron in its mouth.

Leiden also came over, but he didn't have a good haul.

The two examined it together. There were many round holes on the iron bar, which looked like there were originally some nails riveted on it.

The squeaking sound disappeared in the blink of an eye, this time replaced by an even longer wooden strip.

After repeating this several times, Luger realized something was wrong and quickly stopped the somewhat excited little guy.

The two of them placed these things on the ground, slightly adjusted their positions, and it seemed that they could form a door, an ordinary, most common wooden door.

But the mere presence of this door here, beneath this soil, in this nightmare world, was enough to lift their spirits.

"Squeak! Squeak!"

Squeak raised its head and called out to Luger twice more.

(End of this chapter)