Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 227 Dogs and Demons
What is magic? What is a wizard? In Ruger's view, wizards, or at least some wizards, are exploring higher forms of life. This was something he often pondered while working at his shop in the City of Burning Blood, leaning on the counter. Some wizards gradually became strange, or became overly specialized in a certain spell, and their life forms changed accordingly. From another perspective, they were practically no different from bloodline wizards. The path and the person adapt to each other, or rather, they are each other's path, heading towards a higher form of life. He believed that wizards at least at a certain stage should be like this, while what wizards at higher levels pursue, as old Lunther said, is that even the view from too high a place is just unfounded conjecture.

Transformation is happening all the time.

Luger stretched out his body with a smile and threw a punch without hesitation. He found that his opponent's strength was far inferior to his own. The dragon-blooded kobold body, baptized by the blood of a different dragon, and the enhancement of two power-related spells, one strong and one weak, allowed him to use them recklessly. The reason he acted without restraint was because the chance of his opponent injuring him in the next two breaths was extremely small after he had just used the Stinginess spell. This made it worth seizing the opportunity to fight.

Meanwhile, another spell was quietly being cast. Ruger turned his fist into fingers, and the light of Lesser Sharpness shimmered at his fingertips. His foul skin was always ready to unleash its power, demonstrating the convenience of the Solidification spell.

The demon wizard apprentice retreated continuously, his face contorted with rage, and the malice that had inexplicably diminished earlier was now rising again.

This is exactly the kind of scene Luger is happy to see.

The demon wizard apprentice raised his hand and swept it over his head, grabbing a ball of flame in his palm. He then alternated between his two hands, throwing balls of flame toward Luger.

The strange flames were sometimes dark red and sometimes black.

Ruger intentionally let the flames brush against him as they passed each other, and at the same time, his fingertips successfully grazed the neck of the demon wizard apprentice, but unfortunately, he did not completely sever it.

The near-decapitation had infuriated the other party. He clearly hadn't expected that such an unknown, scoundrel of a wizard's apprentice would cause him so much trouble. Moreover, from the moment he started, his every move had been incredibly awkward, and he was only managing to keep going through all that with sheer willpower.

The demon wizard apprentice frowned, flames suddenly shooting up from his head, turning his short hair into long hair, and his eyes revealed a sense of frustration.

Ruger observed this with a smile, seemingly aware that his opponent's tenacity had exceeded their expectations. To onlookers, the fight appeared awkward and inexplicable, but only those involved knew the true extent of the conflict. The constant stench of the opponent's skin made it difficult to execute spells and movements, but Ruger knew that his advantage lay in this moment. The effects of the stinginess spell would gradually diminish, and his greatest advantage stemmed from his opponent's discomfort. While the advantage wouldn't disappear entirely, it would rapidly decline as the fight dragged on.

Fortunately, the other party's malice was escalating, and Ruger even deliberately reduced the harassment of the foul-smelling skin in order to deliver a heavy blow.

The advantage is built on this unequal information. Once the opponent has thoroughly studied you, even the strongest person can be defeated. The bald old wizard in Bloodfortress Black Prison vividly demonstrated this lesson to Ruger: don't let others easily figure out your secrets.

The booming explosions were the demon wizard apprentice's ultimate outburst, grabbing fireballs from his head and throwing them, something that seemed to be his forte in this form, and at this moment, this method of casting spells wouldn't be too affected.

Holes appeared in the ground, and no tree remained intact in the area the two had passed through. Both the tender branches and the dry bark had turned into the same black ash, perhaps that was their next life form.

A barrage of fireballs was unleashed. Once the opponent realized they were out of control, he stopped worrying about achieving perfection. Strange fireballs exploded under his control without even hitting their targets.

Flames rolled through the woodland, leaving behind a series of craters, as if the earth had sunk with a roar, as if a layer had been scraped away.

As the smoke cleared, the demon wizard apprentice's arm was severed from his body. Ruger had known the power of the fireball since the first time he brushed against it and had always been as careful as possible, but he was still covered in wounds.

This was largely thanks to the interference of the stingy technique. Although the opponent used brute force to overcome skill on a large scale, there was still a moment of hesitation when detonating, which caused the fireballs not to explode as expected, giving Luger more opportunities.

Despite being covered in wounds, he was still smiling. His recovery ability was slightly better than his opponent's, but that wasn't the reason for his laughter. He was just laughing to make his opponent even more furious.

Ruger had a chance to stop the unrestrained barrage just now, but he didn't. He was waiting for an opportunity to use the foul-smelling skin to take off the opponent's head.

“You intrigue me, young man,” the demon wizard apprentice gripped the wound on his severed shoulder and twisted it sharply to stop the bleeding, emitting a burnt smell. “Demon Body… When I saw this spell, I assumed you were a wizard apprentice without a mentor or lineage…”

Ruger did not reply, but quietly watched him, sensing the magical fluctuations around him.

"But you've managed to make things so difficult for me. I can sense that you're not a skilled fighter, yet you're still able to do this."

When the demon wizard apprentice takes this form, his mouth widens, and when he grins, all that can be seen is his ferocity; nothing else is discernible.

Ruger thought for a moment and asked, "Is there anything special about the Demon Body spell?"

The demon wizard apprentice grinned: "There's nothing special about it. It's just that it's a spell I created... or rather, not exactly created. It's a minor spell derived from demonized flesh and blood. This is the first time I've seen anyone use this spell, and in such a crucial battle no less..."

"Of course, it was just a failed attempt..."

The demon wizard apprentice added.

Ruger was somewhat surprised. Although they were both fifth-level wizard apprentices, the other party was probably quite old, even far exceeding Vito's previous guess.

“Young man, retreat!” the demon wizard apprentice said, pulling sharply at his severed arm to reveal a flame-evolving arm. “You cannot kill me, and I don’t want to waste my energy on you. The three of us avoided the initial battle to prevent serious injury at the start… Who knew I would encounter you here? Although you have made many of my spells difficult to cast, it doesn’t mean I’m completely helpless…”

Ruger watched as his arm, made of flames, constantly changed color, from black to dark red, repeating this endlessly.

Was he being threatened? Ruger wondered.

(End of this chapter)