Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 225 Demons and Demons

*Snap!* A wizard apprentice who was retreating stepped on and broke off a tree branch.

“You can move away from here now. If you have a way to leave this space early, you can leave immediately,” the old woman stared intently at the rabbit and the hut. “I don’t like noise. I’ve already learned about the matter from the rabbit. I want one of the three qualifications. You can deal with the rest yourselves. Remember not to disturb me.”

Even as she spoke, the old woman had a wide, upturned smile, and her eyes never left the sleeping rabbit and the little house.

As soon as the words were spoken, even those who had already guessed it felt abruptly changed the aura of the wizard apprentices. An atmosphere of dissatisfaction filled the woods surrounding the rabbit hutch amidst numerous fluctuations of mental energy.

However, some wizarding apprentices quickened their pace to leave.

Seeing this, Ruger immediately turned around and left without looking abrupt.

To be honest, the two of them were still a little guilty, even though they didn't intentionally become the troublemakers.

As Ruger watched the wizard apprentices scatter, he realized an even more interesting problem: the rabbit Tuzel's dream about that glittering golden key was still alive. If that agreement still held true, the old woman's arrival had inadvertently added a heavy weight to the rabbit's playful scheme.

Vito suddenly looked conflicted.

“Lord Vito, if you wish to split up, that is also possible,” Leiden said.

Vito's smile vanished: "I just instinctively wanted to connect to the fake ear I had set up... but then I remembered what happened before, and I guess I'm not of much use now."

The three of them did not change their pace, nor did they return to their previous location, nor did they go to the boulder where they had first spent the night.

Ruger understood Leiden's meaning: find another place to build a campfire, and there would be another place to escape and move to by crossing the campfire.

Ruger remained silent as he listened to their conversation.

He was thinking about something else.

The old woman's arrival was unexpected, but he still didn't want to miss the chance to stand by the well. The more he thought about it, the stranger the old woman seemed. She had been talking about them, about some lucky star, when she stretched her arm out from her throat. But after the rabbit suddenly shut up, and the wrinkled arm transformed into an old woman at an apprentice level, she hadn't looked at them once more. At first, he was quite relieved, attributing it to the old woman's focus, but the more he thought about it, the more something seemed off. What first aroused his suspicion was the momentary blankness on the old woman's face when she recovered from her daze.

Ruger had a bold idea that he might be able to secure himself a fairly guaranteed spot.

However, we cannot try it rashly; we need to find an opportunity to test the waters before taking the risk.

They were testing whether the old woman, whose wrinkled arm had transformed into her, recognized them and whether she could establish direct contact with the one outside.

Moreover, if a spot can be obtained through other means, there's no need to take the risk. Ruger placed it in the last resort. Unless he couldn't compete with those wizard apprentices, he wouldn't do anything to the old woman, even though she was now a wizard apprentice herself.

The rabbit's snoring gradually subsided; perhaps it was a sign that it was about to wake up.

Just as Ruger was thinking this, the sky gradually changed. Although it didn't light up immediately, there were signs.

Suddenly, the three of them stopped in their tracks.

A violent surge of magic erupted in the nearby woods.

A pitch-black figure crashed down from the sky, accompanied by several screams, turning the area into a ravaged wasteland licked by flames.

The three maverick wizard apprentices clearly recognized each other's strength and didn't waste time on their mutual entanglement. Instead, they chose to compete for the key according to the rabbit's rules. The well's time was not yet up, and there might be more powerful wizard apprentices arriving. Therefore, the safest choice was to be the one to secure the golden key representing a spot first, far more secure than struggling to defeat the powerful enemy in front of them.

Their strong self-confidence gave them the confidence to deal with the other wizard apprentices. Ruger instantly realized that if these people had stayed a little longer, they were waiting for the wizard apprentices to scatter. After all, no matter how extraordinary they were, they were still wizard apprentices, and facing multiple wizard apprentices at the same time was quite dangerous. However, it was inevitable that these people would scatter and flee, all wanting to hide in peace, or even waiting to come out and take advantage of others' injuries.

The figure that crashed down was none other than the ordinary-looking student of the demon wizard, who was now facing two wizard apprentices.

In an instant, spells flew from both sides, and the three figures crisscrossed endlessly. The few surviving trees were also quickly destroyed, and strangely colored flames licked at the surroundings as the battle progressed.

The dark red patterns at the bottom of the black robe made the apprentice appear to be standing on strange flames.

With a wave of his hand, the black-robed apprentice revealed a claw formed of shadow, burning with strangely colored flames that were sometimes black, sometimes dark red, and sometimes like flowing blood.

The other two apprentices were about to be defeated, not because of their strength, but because of their lack of morale. They were clearly trying to escape while casting spells, otherwise they could have resisted for a while longer.

Ruger looked at the two people beside him.

Although they communicated along the way, when the time came, they inevitably had some foolish ideas.

Leiden waved his hand, and a campfire fell to the ground.

“If anything happens, grab the magic stone and jump into the fire. I’ll take control immediately,” Raiden said, looking at the eager Luger.

Luger smiled and nodded.

Vito looked at the two of them, somewhat puzzled.

“The aura of a demon is quite impressive,” Ruger said after thinking for a moment. “I haven’t been active in a long time, so you should hold off for now.”

By this point, Vito could clearly understand Ruger's meaning; perhaps this was the right choice.

But clearly, even if everyone knew this, they wouldn't necessarily do it. Even if the many apprentices joined forces to defeat several powerful enemies, they would still have to face struggles among themselves.

Ruger instantly cleared his temporary spell slots, having already cast Lightness of Body. As his form began to change, wings unfurled behind him, and he darted away in an instant. The aura of a demon appeared, causing the black-robed apprentice to pause, perhaps not only because of the aura but also because he was surprised that someone would willingly deliver themselves to his doorstep. Even more interestingly, the two dying wizard apprentices immediately seized the opportunity, feigning to cast a spell, and took the chance to escape.

The Lesser Sharpness spell model was finally fully activated, and Ruger imbued it into his right hand.

"A demonic body? Interesting..."

The black-robed wizard apprentice recognized the spell that had drastically changed on Ruger at a glance.

The claws, burning with strange flames, flickered on and off, occasionally disappearing from sight. They drifted toward Luger at varying speeds, sometimes turning like sharp arrows, sometimes like butterflies fluttering with black flames.

The black-robed apprentice unleashed a powerful spell, while simultaneously trying to utter something.

Luger focused intently, estimating the timing and distance, as the scenery on both sides flashed by.

The foul-smelling skin was gone in a flash.

The black-robed apprentice paused, unable to keep up with the words that were about to come out.

At the same time, the shadowy claws enveloped in flames paused for a moment. Luger rushed past, shattering the fiery claws with a single blow. His figure continued, heading straight for the man's face. As soon as the black-robed apprentice recovered, the foul-smelling skin flashed by again. This was a new casting method that Luger was trying out. Casting spells that did not easily expose the foul-smelling skin sometimes yielded better results.

(End of this chapter)