Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 222 Children and Dogs
Around the campfire.

“If this weren’t the Nightmare World, he wouldn’t have been able to do this either,” Raiden said, pulling his hand away from the campfire, dusting off the ashes, and looking at Ruger before finally fixing his gaze on Vito. “Even if his strength had increased further, or his summoned creatures had advanced further, he still wouldn’t have been able to do it so easily. It was the environment of the Nightmare World that helped him.”

Vito nodded upon hearing this, his smile already back on his face, but perhaps still distracted by the commotion of the battle, he hadn't picked up his askew hat that had fallen to the ground.

Ruger glanced at the two people beside him and stood up like Vito.

The blue-robed wizard apprentice who had fallen to the ground in the distance had regained his senses and was raising his hand to wipe the shocking wound that spanned half of his body. The blood froze as he gently touched it, and then he began to pour medicine into his mouth without uttering a sound.

Ruger noticed that Vito's gaze was also on that man.

However, what Luger was more curious about was that he hadn't uttered a sound despite such injuries, so what was the cause of his previous screams?

He turned his gaze to the slowly walking yellow-robed Nightmare Wizard apprentice. He sensed that this guy hadn't used his full strength yet, and had just let that ugly, eyeless dog pet play with him. Moreover, he could play with it without worry, because playing with such a pet wouldn't kill it.

Ruger shifted his gaze forward, convinced that even the chubby apprentice on the path of a faith wizard couldn't kill it, at least that's what he thought.

Many wizards' paths to transcendence don't differ much during their apprenticeship stage because they haven't yet grasped the core of the path. In other words, although they are walking the path, they cannot yet fully utilize the corresponding abilities.

This highlights the uniqueness of this Nightmare Wizard Apprentice. In the environment of this Nightmare World, he is already a step ahead. He stands out among many Nightmare Wizard Apprentices and possesses this canine monster, which makes him even stronger. In fact, every outstanding wizard apprentice has his own unique characteristics. For example, this canine monster is not something that can be easily obtained. Otherwise, it would have been widely adopted in the path of Nightmare Wizards long ago. The wizard apprentices who can come to this rift space all have their own unique characteristics in their respective circles. Putting a bunch of such guys together is a competition to see who is more special and unconventional.

These self-proclaimed special wizarding apprentices, standing in this woodland for comparison, might actually appear quite normal to some. They no longer need to worry about their uniqueness or their childhood differences. A peaceful mindset and clear self-awareness might actually be more beneficial for their future development.

Luger watched with a smile, full of anticipation for what was to come.

Even though he didn't manage to reach the well in the end, he felt that coming here and seeing the excitement was still quite worthwhile.

Finally, another person couldn't hold back any longer.

A bald wizard apprentice who looked quite old stepped forward. He appeared to be in his forties and was wearing the most common light gray wizard robe, but the style was very special. There were buttons in the middle of the front of the robe, with a vertical row of buttons all the way to his abdomen. He was currently tugging at the buttons.

The sound of the button popping open drew everyone's attention.

A small child, no more than three or four years old, fell out of his torn wizard robe.

The child landed on the ground and wobbled twice before regaining his balance. He blinked his big eyes and looked at the yellow-robed nightmare wizard apprentice.

Most people were watching the sudden appearance of the child and the yellow-robed apprentice's reaction, but Luger was staring at the man's chest. The body was both strong and strange. Before the clothes were torn open, he was a sturdy man. After the clothes were torn open, although his shoulders were still broad, his chest was sunken. Judging from the appearance, the sunken chest was a size larger than the child's.

Ruger also noticed several bleeding holes in the collapsed chest.

“I’ve also dabbled in the path of the Beastmaster Wizard,” said the bald man with his shirt open. “And like you, I’m not a pure Beastmaster Wizard. Ever since I learned that there was someone like you here, I’ve longed to fight you.”

The bald man stretched out his hand, holding a handful of strangely shaped things, some of which were still wriggling slightly.

"These are nightmare organs I obtained on the road. If I lose... I hope these things can feed your magical pets and allow me to leave alive," the bald man said.

"can."

The Yellow Robe Nightmare Apprentice looked at the bald man and the child in front of him with great interest.

"Ee! Ee-ya!"

The child swayed and cried out twice. As if dissatisfied that everyone's attention had been taken away from him, the little guy's cries successfully drew everyone's attention back.

In an instant, the child's eyes turned pitch black, without a trace of other colors, and his tiny fists also turned black. As he raised his hand in a childish voice, wisps of black smoke began to rise from his fists.

What is this thing?! That was the only thought in Luger's mind at that moment.

The child swung his fist forward, and a large plume of black smoke disappeared, leaving only a trace on the surface of his fist.

The Yellow-Robed Nightmare Apprentice neither dodged nor evaded, seemingly intentionally letting his demonic pet try, and directly met the direction of the child's punch.

A black mark appeared on the shoulder of the canine monster, standing out against its pale, sickly skin.

"Giggle."

The child laughed, a clear and melodious sound.

Ruger, however, felt that it was not a child.

The canine monster that was charging toward the child suddenly swayed and slid off the ground, its left foreleg seemingly unable to move properly.

The child pursed his lips and giggled, then swung his fist again, three times in a row. The movement was so big that he fell to the ground with a thud, but he was still laughing.

More black marks appeared on the canine monster's pale body.

The child stood up with his bottom sticking out, clapping his hands as he laughed. This time he seemed especially happy, no longer pursing his lips, revealing a set of sharp teeth.

The yellow-robed wizard apprentice looked quite interested, rubbing his chin as he watched his canine-shaped magical pet stagger to its feet.

"The power of curses? I didn't expect that," the yellow-robed nightmare wizard apprentice said softly. "There aren't many curse spells at the wizard apprentice stage. You used a special method to cultivate a cursed object to generate its own curse. The key is this little guy, isn't it?"

The child suddenly looked up, giggling as he gazed at the yellow-robed wizard apprentice.

"Since you said that you are the same as me... then there must be a problem: the more powerful it is, the harder it is to control. It... is also difficult to control, right?"

As the apprentice in the yellow robe spoke, he looked at the bald man's slightly aged face and the wound on his sunken chest.

“However, I have done better than you,” the yellow-robed nightmare wizard said, shaking his head. “And you, it seems, have not yet found your own path.”

The bald wizard apprentice smiled upon hearing this, like a simple middle-aged man, and raised his broad hand in a wave.

The child's already jet-black eyes began to emit black smoke.

He stood there, crying out and clenching his little hands in front of him, his back hunched over.

Ruger even thought he was straining to use the toilet.

The large patches of black on the pale canine monster's body had turned into tiny black handprints. These handprints seemed to come alive and began to move and crawl across the pale canine's body. First, they crawled to the vicinity of the ears, but this creature had no ears. Continuing downwards, a large number of black imprints gathered near the eyes, but this creature also had no eyes. In the distance, the child was still crying and straining, his face flushed red. The tiny hands on the pale canine's body gathered more and more towards the head, their color becoming darker, before moving towards the nose.

(End of this chapter)