Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 240 Pool and Campfire

Luger always perceived Leiden as quiet and composed, just as he had expressed his skepticism towards Kalu and Bayont. However, Luger always felt that beneath Leiden's calm exterior, who spent his days staring at the campfire, lay a heart that yearned for power. That intense thirst was no weaker than Bayont's, and perhaps even stronger. He wouldn't allow himself to fail, so he was constantly accumulating power and knowledge, just as his constant staring at the campfire was perhaps a never-ending act of accumulation.

“He was burned to death… my teacher,” Raiden said suddenly, looking at the campfire in front of him, “but I will follow his path, combining his ideas with my own, and I will go further.”

"Are you planning to get promoted?" Ruger asked.

Leiden shook his head.

"Not yet, not yet time for promotion," Raiden said softly. "And as for this wizard's matter... who knows how it will ultimately be resolved..."

Ruger understood that he was referring to the wrinkled old woman, but judging from his tone, it seemed that even without the old woman, he wouldn't be getting promoted anytime soon.

Thinking of the back of that yellow-robed nightmare apprentice, one wonders what kind of scene they will see the next time they are summoned by the old woman.

I just hope that guy in the yellow robe doesn't do anything to cause trouble.

Luger summoned Squeak and had it keep watch nearby.

The two began to meditate and practice separately.

For several days, the two spent time near the pool, mostly either exploring around it or returning there to meditate and practice.

Ruger has just entered a new stage. After initially condensing the Silent Magic Seal, he will begin to promote the fusion of the five magic marks and the magic seal in meditation. When they truly become part of the magic seal, the magic seal will be truly complete, which also means that he can become a formal wizard.

Each meditation session during this period was a clearer understanding of the chaotic yet orderly nature of the Demon Seal, and a step towards integrating the five Demon Marks into the Demon Seal.

Ruger opened his eyes.

Four of the demonic marks have developed an invisible tail, as if they have been stretched out, and that invisible extension has connected with a certain part of the demonic seal.

"Squeak!"

The little clever bug peeked out and stuck its head near Luger's leg.

It was this little creature's call that pulled him out of his meditative state.

Leiden was unusually away from the campfire, and was instead crouching low, observing something by a distant pool of water.

Ruger picked up the few tufts of hair he was playing with and walked over.

These days, whenever he finishes meditating, he plays with these few tufts of hair, casting the Spirit Hair Nourishment spell while pondering the creation of Blood Curse Dolls. Although it's written at the back of that book that this is her own interpretation of the modified puppet-making method, and not a Blood Curse Doll in the conventional sense, or rather, that there isn't a Blood Curse Doll in the conventional Blood Curse Doll branch at all—it sounds like those modified spells based on her own understanding—he remains deeply interested.

At the same time, he also thought of his medium, which was the fur in his hand. These little guys were absolutely close to him, and after a long period of using the Spirit Fur Nourishing Technique, they were close to the effect of spiritual awakening. Moreover, this was the Nightmare World, which was the second most suitable environment for spiritual awakening techniques after the Fairy Kingdom.

The thought of a moving and jumping dog plush toy is quite exciting.

Of course, he didn't like dolls. He felt that his emotional change was more because it was the first time he had made such a thing. He believed that every wizard apprentice was very excited when making a magic puppet for the first time, and probably couldn't sleep.

He came to Leiden's side, but instead of interrupting him, he followed Leiden's example and bent down at the same angle to look at the pool.

They had been living here for several days and had not found anything unusual except for the water droplets dripping backwards.

Of course, they didn't risk diving down; that was the final step in their exploration, and they weren't even sure they would do it. Every danger had to be considered for its value. Ruger's arrival didn't change Leiden's actions, nor did he utter a word.

This made him even more curious.

He followed suit, turning his head to look, and saw that it was still the same pond he usually saw.

He glanced at Leiden strangely, then crouched down again, shifting his position to adjust his stance before looking at the pool.

Through their squeaking communication, Leiden had been circling the pool, constantly adjusting his position for a long time, until he suddenly stopped moving at this spot. Only then did the clever insect notice the abnormality and come to inform him.

Luger tilted his head, constantly adjusting the angle of his neck, trying to get as close as possible to Leiden.

A strange scene came into view.

Ruger felt the hair on the back of his neck tremble, and saw a huge eye in the pool of water.

Occasionally, a tear will flow from the eye, cross the surface of the pool, and drip into the sky, disappearing without a trace.

Suddenly, his eyes darted around, first looking at Leiden, then at him.

Ruger felt himself crying. He couldn't even close his eyes, but the tears didn't fall directly. Instead, they gathered in front of his eyes after leaving his eye sockets, gradually forming a small puddle. Although the tears weren't flowing quickly, they showed no sign of stopping.

What is this? Is it also a Nightmare Demon?
Luger wanted to retreat, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't. It was as if all he knew how to do in this world was shed tears, and moving his limbs was beyond his ability.

Nightmare! Nightmare?
His mind raced, recalling the tree hole from last time.

Back then, they dared not move as a form of self-protection; any movement would provoke the pale, humanoid monster. Now, however, they were completely immobile. Last time, after Leiden left, he leaped out, attempting to enter the Abyss Bedroom space, but was blocked by the humanoid Nightmare Demon. He then turned and inexplicably fell into the tree hollow, ending up in that pitch-black place.

A crucial link is missing.

That means he didn't even have to cast a spell before falling into the tree hole, even though casting a spell wouldn't necessarily change anything.

But this time it seems there's an opportunity.

Ruger's eyes had become so swollen they could no longer move, and the tears that had accumulated in front of him gathered like a small pool.

Drop after drop, the tears fell like a broken pearl necklace. They seemed to fall a little faster than before, but Luger knew that the speed at which the tears fell had not changed. They kept falling without changing, which made it even more torturous.

He and Leiden both maintained comical poses, like two weeping clown statues.

Out of the corner of his eye, Luger saw a pool of tears floating in front of Leiden that was much larger than his own. It must have been frozen in place all along, silently shedding tears. But when he adjusted the angle earlier, he hadn't seen the pool of tears in front of Leiden at all.

His mind settled down, and the foul-smelling skin vanished in a flash.

In situations like these, solidified spells are the most reliable, as they can be cast at will and are unlikely to cause mistakes even when you're not in a good state.

The large eyes in the pool trembled suddenly, as if startled. The huge eyeballs quivered violently as they looked at Ruger, staring intently at him.

(End of this chapter)