Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 250 Right and Wrong, Blame

Vito's image flashed through Ruger's mind. Recalling their first encounter, Vito had said that he had accidentally fallen into a ravine and ended up in the crevice where the rabbit hut was located. Looking at that dirty hat, the guy must be in a bad situation right now.

"squeak!"

The little clever insect chirped, tilting its head back.

Luger pondered for a moment, then nodded.

Squeak chirped happily and tried to retreat back into the soil, but Luger stopped her. Squeak looked at him, twisted her body, and crawled out.

Luger lightly leaped onto Squeak's back and turned to signal Leiden to follow.

The cook glanced at the campfire and sat down as well.

With its claws squeaking and scratching, it suddenly leaped out, just like when it burrows into the ground. It doesn't just rely on the brute force of its claws to dig; in fact, its claws account for about 70% of the work when it runs. It's as if the earth favors it, as the soil and rocks cooperate with it when it burrows, allowing it to move underground with just a little effort.

Ruger has always believed that the solidification of magic at different stages of a wizard's life began with learning from or imitating strange beasts and peculiar subterranean creatures. Some of these creatures were born with certain magical abilities, allowing ordinary humans to be transformed into humanoid beasts through their own efforts and human intervention. This led to the development of countless different paths and different spells, allowing them to go further and further than those subterranean creatures they once imitated. They gradually surpassed dragons, crossed over demons, and forged the path of wizards we know today.

"It said it couldn't sense Vito's presence, but there was a foreign object not far from the hat..."

Ruger steadied himself and sat down, speaking to Leiden, who was still unsteady on his feet.

Suddenly, he felt a heat in his palm and looked at Leiden. This time it was Leiden's turn to throw the little thing. It squeaked very fast, and before Leiden could even steady himself, he hurriedly threw the cone-shaped object in his hand.

Luger smiled, turned around, and stroked Zizi. It seemed to have grown a little bigger, and he wondered how big it would eventually grow.

They sped along, during which time Ruger and Leiden each dropped a small cone-shaped object.

After taking twice as long as it took Zizi to travel back and forth underground, they finally arrived at a pile of rocks between the two mountains.

"squeak!"

The squeaking indicated that the thing was underground near the pile of rocks.

"Go dig it out, but be as gentle as possible."

Ruger whispered his instructions.

Although neither of them said anything along the way, they had inevitably already considered some bad outcomes.

It squeaked as it burrowed down, and soon came back up with a large clump of green ingredients.

Luger looked at Zizi. After bringing this thing up, the guy stopped diving down, which meant that this was the goal of the trip.

He glanced at Leiden again.

This green blob looks like a perfect snack. It's bigger than a person and could last for many meals as a side dish. However, we'll have to wait for Leiden to use his Nightmare Organ to check if it's edible.

Ruger was prepared to see Vito's corpse, and even considered that the reason why Zizi couldn't recognize Vito's aura was because Vito had been mutilated by magic.

"This doesn't seem to be from the Nightmare World..."

Leiden suddenly spoke, and stepped forward.

"squeak!"

It squeaked, indicating to Luger that this wasn't a gift, so it wasn't taken back at the time. Moreover, it could only be discovered upon closer inspection that there were strange fluctuations inside, very faint, neither human nor plant-like. If there was any danger, it couldn't be blamed.

Luger rolled his eyes at Zizi, thinking that apart from not being able to speak, its logic was no less than that of Da Shaheng and Aisjin.

This guy was even thinking about his previous warning, and categorized it as a reprimand.

Leiden moved very slowly and gently, without needing Ruger to remind him to be careful.

This greenish thing looks like some kind of fruit that Luger ate in Star City, only it's hundreds of times bigger.

Leiden touched it lightly, and it was softer than he had imagined; the skin sank in, like a fruit about to rot.

Leiden examined the thing for a moment, then reached out and pulled on the roots at both ends. Snap!

The green thing split open, and a man covered in wounds and slime, with his eyes closed, fell out.

It was Vito, whom they hadn't seen for a long time.

After spitting out Vito, the thing quickly withered, turned black, and merged with the slime on the ground.

"squeak!"

At this moment, Zizi recognized the aura belonging to Vito, clearly having been deceived by the greenish thing earlier.

It also fooled Leiden and Ruger's mental probing.

"He's still alive."

Leiden helped Vito sit up and began to administer the medicine.

Ruger looked Vito up and down, raising his eyebrows slightly.

This guy clearly hid here on his own accord; perhaps the two of them, along with their pet, meant well but ended up doing something wrong. He even suspected that the guy's current unconsciousness was due to him drinking some kind of potion to cover his tracks.

Vito woke up with a violent cough.

The first thing he did when he opened his eyes was to look around. He was clearly stunned when he saw Leiden and Ruger, then looked at his wet appearance and the withered puddle behind him, and forced a bitter smile.

"Did we do something we shouldn't have done?"

Ruger said in a deep voice, raising his hand to toss the crooked hat over.

Vito shook his head, smiled, and opened his mouth to speak, but coughed up a bunch of pale green mucus.

“It’s just a little early,” Leiden said. “His kind of seed that conceals his presence isn’t very well adapted to the Nightmare World. It will probably rot in less than a day, otherwise I wouldn’t have chosen to open it up and instead buried it back up.”

Ruger stroked his chin; it was yet another thing he'd never seen before.

Vito smiled and nodded, picked up the hat he had missed earlier, shook off the dirt, put it on his wet head, and shakily stood up.

Under the astonished gazes of the two.

He first gestured to thank Leiden for the potion, then thanked Ruger, and even after seeing the hole in the ground, he understood and thanked Squeak.

Squeak just tilted its head and looked at him.

After all that commotion, Vito had recovered a little and waved goodbye before leaving.

Ruger and Leiden exchanged a glance.

“Let’s go warm ourselves by the fire first,” Leiden said.

Vito's expression changed, and he hurriedly waved his hand, staggering away into the distance.

Judging from the direction he was heading, he was still heading deeper into the mountains. If his purpose was to avoid some trouble, then it meant he had some understanding of this place. Although Mutress had mentioned that they might encounter other wizards and wizard apprentices here when she left, the two of them hadn't encountered any during their time here, nor had they seen any traces left by anyone. They even speculated that unless a wizard had a special purpose, ordinary wizards and wizard apprentices would prefer to avoid this place.

Raiden waved his hand, conjuring a small fire that landed on the withered traces. Without a word, he took out the magic stone with one hand and grabbed Vito's shoulder with the other.

Luger also stepped forward, putting away Squeak at the same time.

Flames erupted and surged, and the three figures disappeared into the fire.

In the blink of an eye, Ruger and his companion, along with the filthy Vito, returned to the previous campfire. The three of them walked out together, and the flames suddenly surged and then subsided, almost extinguishing the once-burning campfire.

Before Vito could even appreciate the black, withered forest before him, he immediately leaned against a tree and vomited, expelling a large amount of pale green mucus.

After vomiting, Vito coughed for a while longer before finally saying in a low, labored voice, "You...you shouldn't have saved me..."

(End of this chapter)