Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 264 Bad and Worse

Vito was a clever fellow. Although his hat was oddly shaped and crooked, and Ruger always thought it was something that looked ridiculous, like those hunchbacked performers in taverns, Ruger felt there must be something deeper about it. Just as Vito's ability to escape from those men's clutches several times was certainly not as simple as mastering a seeded ear, there was also his ambition to hunt down dark wizards and avenge his family.

At that moment, the man turned to look at them, and no subtle change in Ruger and Leiden escaped his calm eyes beneath the tilted hat.

Especially for Raden, who usually doesn't show much emotion, Ruger thought that his furry face might not be able to easily reveal subtle emotions, but Raden was different. The words of the newly appointed wizard, Lady Myutris, and the old woman's constant movements had caused Raden to have some inexplicable changes compared to usual.

Ruger felt the heat on his shoulder.

“You can rest here for a while. This camp is relatively safe, and most importantly, there won’t be any Nightmare Demons or anything like that appearing anytime soon…” Ruger said softly.

Leiden watched silently from the side, as if Ruger had already said what he wanted to say, and then he turned around and quickly started to tend to the nearly extinguished campfire.

Vito shook his head.

“I don’t want to linger, nor do I want to stay in one place. As long as I’m careful, I should be able to cross an area and find a camp with someone in charge on my own,” Vito said with a smile, adjusting his dirty hat. “Although those strange fellows haven’t shown up yet, I don’t want to give them the chance… Good luck to you both, Lord Ruger and Lord Leiden. We will meet again, and I believe you will both overcome this difficult time.”

After Vito finished speaking, he adjusted his hat and bowed.

The two stood there, watching Vito turn and walk away amidst the crackling of the campfire as it reignited.

Ruger thought of the biographical novels he bought for Aiskin and the others. If each wizard apprentice was the protagonist, then each wizard apprentice would be a book, their own protagonist, with their own path to walk, whether it be a path of revenge, fulfilling a wonderful dream, or simply pursuing their own extraordinary path and striving to live.

Neither of them moved, nor did they even sit down by the campfire.

Because there is no longer any need for it.

The light and dark changed.

Ruger and Leiden reappeared in the library.

Before the two could even move, they heard a piercing scream.

It seemed to be coming from below.

Mütsuice?
Luger and his companion exchanged a glance, and without daring to delay, quickly ran down to the next level.

Halfway through the run, the screams rang out again.

Judging from the voice, it was indeed the newly appointed wizard, Lady Myuth.

An open stone gate came into view.

As soon as Ruger stood at the door, he saw Mütsuys suspended in mid-air by something invisible.

The old woman paced back and forth angrily below.

Whether or not the wrinkled little wizard noticed them, the two of them immediately bowed respectfully at the door with their legs twisted in a swaying manner.

The old woman suddenly turned her head, staring intently at Luger, then glanced at Leiden.

The two immediately tensed up.

The old woman's gaze swept back and forth between the two of them.

Ruger lowered his head slightly, glancing at Mutress hanging in mid-air as he did so, but was met only with a cold look. At the same time, the yellow-robed, withered-haired man stood quietly in a corner of the room.

“You two did a very good job, extremely well,” the old woman’s wrinkled, bitter face suddenly broke into a smile, “but, don’t be foolish enough to listen to anyone else’s arrangements besides mine…”

The two were taken aback for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

But what right did they have to refuse? It was the order from the First Ring Wizard, Muse.

As Ruger nodded, he glanced at Mütsu, who turned her head away.

After the old woman finished speaking, she ignored everyone and began to walk around the room as usual, pondering as she went.

The Nightmare Apprentice, dressed in an old yellow robe, glanced at the two of them with a strange look in his eyes, seemingly surprised by the old woman's attention to Ruger and Leiden.

The newly appointed wizard was still suspended in mid-air, while the three wizard apprentices stood cautiously, watching the old woman wander back and forth in front of them.

“You…” the old woman said, looking at Luger and the other man, “It’s time to move on to the next stage.” With a wave of her hand, the wall next to her flipped open like a door.

After Luger saw the scene clearly, he couldn't help but blink and glance at Leiden beside him. Sure enough, Leiden had more facial expressions than him, which was tantamount to slightly confirming his guess.

Several dying wizard apprentices lay on the experimental table in the next room.

Ruger even suspected that one of them might be a legitimate wizard, and that they were the same people from his and Raden's camp who had broken into the town.

Some of them were still staring straight at Leiden.

"The High Council of Wizards has created this Nightmare Organ... It's quite good. It can fill the last unresolved part of my life. Everything is so wonderful. I will use these useless people, which can be considered as giving them useful bodies so that they can contribute to me. I will experiment on them to develop my own direction for cultivating the Nightmare Organ..."

The old woman paced back and forth, her deep voice speaking eloquently, each strike of her long cane striking the hearts of those around her.

Ruger noticed that someone over there, upon hearing the sound of a long staff striking the ground, even trembled involuntarily.

"Apprentices on the path of the Nightmare Wizard are no longer of much use. I am not a Nightmare Wizard, so the two of you are the best choices... to verify my ideas. Don't be afraid; simply following the path I envisioned will not lead to success. You only need to verify different parts. I will fill in the gaps for you based on that, designing different advancement paths and different ascension rituals..."

The old woman paced back and forth as she spoke.

Ruger listened with trepidation. He had not yet reached the mental limit of a wizard apprentice. During this time, he had gained a good understanding of the advancement process. These rambling words made him quite nervous.

The old woman clearly knew about this, yet she still talked about it at length.

Finally, the old woman quieted down and stared straight at them, as if trying to read their minds.

Do you have any questions?

The old woman's voice was neither sad nor happy; one could not discern her emotions at first glance.

The two were silent.

“My lord,” Ruger said softly, head bowed, “my mental strength is not yet sufficient and may hinder your experiments…”

The old woman chuckled softly.

"Take these and master what's on them," the old woman said, her smile fading as she tossed two notebooks over. "The ones you have are different. I naturally considered that. What I need is your exceptionally high quality, yet lacking a bit of overflowing spiritual power. That way, I can better test you. If I'm not in good condition at the time, I might end up in a similar situation to you right now, hehehehe..."

Ruger reached out and caught the notebook, his mouth slightly open, but he didn't say anything more.

"Master them well, master the spells and ascension rituals on them, and I will call you again soon."

The old woman waved her hand and stopped looking at them, then walked towards the next room.

Ruger and Leiden exchanged a glance and slowly left the room, momentarily forgetting to perform that strange greeting.

The stone gate closed behind them.

The two walked slowly, and sighed.

“You seem to be more dangerous than I am,” Leiden said softly.

Ruger nodded silently, then suddenly quickened his pace and rushed toward the library as usual.

If the next time is when I have no choice but to rebel, then whether I succeed or not, this will probably be my last chance to step into the library.

Seeing that Ruger still had such energy, Leiden strode after him and rushed toward the library.

As always, the two began searching separately, one book after another. They both knew that even if they found a book with legible words, they would only acquire some knowledge that might or might not be useful. It was unrealistic to expect them to find solutions to problems here.

After an unknown amount of time, Luger, who was engrossed in his work, looked up. He had been searching through the library since he entered but had not found anything yet. But that was not the point. He put down his book and turned to look at Leiden, who happened to be looking over as well, clearly having also noticed something amiss.

Based on past experience, they should be feeling sleepy, but now that it's almost time, they are not sleepy at all.

Ruger reached out and touched his shoulder, which was also an anomaly. Since they left the old woman's room, when he carefully felt his shoulder again, although it was no longer burning hot, the mark still had a slightly abnormal temperature. Usually, before drowsiness came over, there should have been no abnormality on his shoulder.

(End of this chapter)