Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 274 Freedom and Loyalty

But this was something the two apprentices could neither imagine nor understand. The things they left behind were not meant to harm the Nightmare Lord, nor were they meant to secretly borrow power; rather, they were sacrifices. This was something they had not expected. And what that guy offered was not something common either; it was a version of himself that had been dead for ten thousand years, connected to a faint light like a winding stream that was related to the power of fate.

“How long will it take for him to arrive?” Ruger asked.

“If things go quickly, it might take three days,” Leiden poked at the campfire, knowing he was referring to the wizard who would take over the job. “If things go slowly, it might take about ten days. That’s how it usually is when a formal wizard takes on a job. And this is only a first-ring wizard. It’s said that those truly high-ranking wizards might be preparing to go out, already at the door, when they suddenly think of a certain question and stand there lost in thought, pondering for decades…”

Ruger blinked, slowing down his hand from playing with the dog-hair doll.

They just hoped they weren't waiting for someone like that. Of course, a first-ring wizard wouldn't have the time to be so capricious. Someone who could just pause for a moment at the door for decades must do similar things often.

"Are you planning to go home next?" Ruger asked softly.

Leiden shook his head.

"I don't have a home."

He said in a calm tone.

Ruger recalled Vito's ambition.

"Are you like Vito?" Ruger asked.

“No, I haven’t suffered the same tragic fate as Lord Vito. My family is still alive, most of them are still alive,” Raiden said, looking at the campfire. “My surname comes from my teacher. I am a person without a surname. Some wizarding families in the underground world divide talented children into two categories. For the sake of the family’s continuation and prosperity, one type stays in the family to be nurtured, dressed in fine clothes, given a surname, and enjoying all resources. I belong to the other type. Under the power of the contract, unless summoned by the family, I cannot reveal my family’s surname or tell others which family I come from…”

Leiden smiled slightly as he spoke.

“Actually, I’ve already forgotten my original surname. We were thrown out and raised like those wizard apprentices without any background. We live alone from our teens onward, and even in death, we don’t receive any help from our families in order to cultivate different talents,” Raiden said softly. “But that’s also a good thing. We don’t enjoy anything beyond our own abilities, and we don’t have to bear those responsibilities. Bearing that surname gives us absolute freedom.”

"I've even forgotten what my parents look like, forgotten the name of the steward who sent me into the crowd. We've had our aptitude tested in our families since childhood, so any random underground city throws us, the chosen ones, into the crowd for aptitude testing on that specific day... and our fate begins to change. At least we won't starve. With decent wizarding aptitude, we'll be noticed by some academies after the aptitude test..."

Leiden shrugged as he spoke.

“Have you thought about going back to normal—” Ruger said.

“Of course not, that would be incredibly boring. Although advancing in a wizard’s rank would trigger the contract,” Raiden interrupted him, speaking softly, “I don’t intend to return to the family. I didn’t want to a long time ago, I don’t want to now, and I never will… Wizards are free; the only thing that can bind a wizard is themselves… My teacher was my only family in this world. He was just a fifth-level wizard apprentice who spent the rest of his life in the academy, teaching some basic knowledge, and he has already left this world. But I will carry his name, traverse the dungeons, pave his path, and go even further…”

“Wizards are free. This world has no need for wizarding families. No matter how ancient a wizarding family is, it is just a fragile child in front of the High Council,” Raiden continued. “Perhaps it should be said that it is a fragile little jumping insect that dares not jump around recklessly.”

Ruger smiled as he listened to Leiden's relaxed description.

His understanding of these things, such as families and nobles, was still limited to the underground cities of the lower realms. He had not yet visited any of the underground cities of the upper realms since arriving there.

Ruger thought that if he were Leiden, he would probably make the same choice.

It wasn't out of hatred, nor out of heartache at being chosen and then abandoned, but simply a yearning for freedom. In his view, the so-called family was a destined chaotic and complicated community of interests. Perhaps they just ate better and had more advanced power. In essence, they were no different from the Starry Sky Family of the Lower Domain before their downfall. Maybe their conspiracies were more complex, their goals were more sophisticated, and if something happened, the commotion would be greater. That was all.

Rather than a so-called family, Ruger prefers to join certain powerful wizarding organizations to facilitate access to resources.

The campfire crackled and flickered. Luger flipped his hand, and a single hair fell out.

He stared at it closely. It wasn't something that had just fallen off the back of his hand. It must have accidentally stuck to the back of his hand when he was making the doll. He had had one before, which he had removed and added to the doll.

Ruger leaned forward, reached out and picked up the hair, then casually placed it on the doll.

He had just picked up the thin bone when the hair stuck to his little finger again.

He froze for a moment.

Under Leiden's astonished gaze, Ruger reached out his hand toward the campfire.

The hair stuck to his little finger slowly drifted down as he moved, but ultimately failed to touch the campfire and instead lay quietly on the ground.

Ruger laughed, reached out and pinched the hair, slowly extending it toward the flickering flame.

"Master, master, I am your loyal servant!"

That Mao actually spoke, his weak spiritual energy stirring up excited emotions.

“I am Miscellaneous Hair Number One! Don’t you recognize me? I used to chat with you all the time, but then you stopped talking to me, and I gradually forgot how to speak. But I absolutely love you and am loyal to you,” Miscellaneous Hair said. “In that dark place, I led my brothers to stop you from getting lost. You kept walking, until you were about to melt into the darkness. It was our shouts that woke you up! We tried so hard to wake you up, but we were too weak then. After waking you up, many of the newly awakened brothers lost their spirit. Only I remained, I, Miscellaneous Hair Number One, your most loyal servant…”

"You actually did it?" Leiden looked at the hair.

Ruger and Leiden were both quite dumbfounded.

This is no ordinary successful awakening of a spirit. This hair is so eloquent; it's truly amazing luck. Otherwise, it wouldn't be possible to achieve this effect in the fairy world or the nightmare world.

Wow! It can talk!

A petite figure entered the camp while they were distracted by surprise.

Luger turned his head to look.

She was a petite girl wearing a common gray robe and with her hair tied up at the back of her head. Judging from the fluctuations in her spiritual power, she seemed to be a wizard apprentice who was only at the fourth level.

"Oh, my apologies!"

When the girl saw the two looking over, she hurriedly and respectfully lowered her head to greet them, revealing her hair, which was tied into a ball at the back of her head. If that ball were to fall loose, her long hair would definitely be longer than her waist.

"I am an apprentice apothecary who has accepted an exploration mission. You two can call me Nana Erz."

The girl quietly exhaled, letting go of her restraint, observing the expressions of the two people by the campfire, while also taking in the somewhat desolate and peculiar camp.

(End of this chapter)