Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 364 Faith and the Beast King

Ruger's eyes lit up. The way he spoke, the look of disdain for the gods, the slightly upturned corners of his mouth that reeked of strong, sour alcohol, made it seem as if this was a trivial matter, or even as if he possessed such a vicious-mouthed demonic fish.

"Purpose, knowing the purpose is what I need to make a judgment. You don't just need to understand, you need it."

Zorn gulped down another mouthful of wine, as if waiting for his answer, or perhaps savoring the wine in his hand.

Luger pondered for a moment.

"Yes, my ascension ritual requires this kind of thing, and I need a small piece of... the mutated back skin of the Evil Mouth Demon Fish."

Ruger admitted.

“Those things are easy to obtain when they’re easy to get, but extremely rare when they’re hard to find,” Zorn said, tilting his head back for another sip. The liquor dripped from his chin onto the bushy underside of his chest, where several small heads peeked out to catch it. “Because the Evilmouth Demon Fish is mainly kept by humans, and it’s not often used, once a wizard has completed their experiment or no longer needs it, it will disappear from the market for a long time. Finding it in the wild is even more difficult…”

Ruger's face didn't fall, though it sounded alarming, as if he had walked into a dead end.

But he had faith in the wizard Zorn; that smile was not unfounded.

"I haven't heard of anyone seeing it in the waters around here... Of course, I don't have one either..."

As Zorn spoke, he gulped down the empty bottle of liquor in one go, but with a flick of his wrist, another bottle of liquor slid into his hand with remarkable ease.

Ruger's dog-like face finally started to crumble.

But it wasn't too serious. First, he was still young; having become a dragonborn, he wasn't an old kobold. Second, he had read Zorn's words and expression, realizing that this wasn't the end of the conversation.

"Fortunately, this is just a low-level material, and you're using it for an ascension ritual..."

As Zorn spoke, he pulled out a black, fish-like thing with four legs from his chest. The thing also had a strange, large mouth. At first, it struggled, but Zorn quickly knocked it down after tapping it on the head.

Ruger stared intently.

Zorn reached out, grabbed the strange thing's back, and ripped off a large piece of skin, about the size of two palms.

"for you."

As he spoke, Zorn tossed the strange fish back into his chest.

Ruger stared blankly as he raised his hand to catch it.

"My lord, this... is it the Vicious Mouth Demon Fish?"

Ruger held the crumpled back skin, somewhat uncertain. The skin was still twitching slightly, and black blood splattered on half of his face.

“I told you, I don’t have that stuff,” Zorn said, somewhat impatiently and urgently, picking up the rough bottle again. “Just like when I asked you about its purpose, if you’re honest enough, then there won’t be any problems…”

Glug glug!
A large gulp of cheap liquor soothed Zorn's impatience.

"Can it replace the deformed back skin of the Evilmouth Demon Fish?"

Ruger's eyes lit up again.

Zorn chuckled, holding up a finger and wiggling it from side to side. "Little one, don't be so hasty. It certainly can't replace that thing, but just because it can't now doesn't mean it can't later. Patience and knowledge are a wizard's most precious treasures," Zorn said, swirling the bottle to his lips. "You need to know the birth process of the Evil-Mouthed Demonfish. Of course, with your short lifespan as wizard apprentices, you don't even have enough time for meditation, nor the resources to acquire that expensive, non-immediately effective knowledge… My little darling, it was originally the same kind of subterranean beast used to cultivate the Evil-Mouthed Demonfish. After my nurturing, it also possesses a demonic aura, though the specific differences are still significant. But you need to know where this is…"

Ruger paused for a moment; this was the island of the god of sorrow.

This was clearly not the answer Zorn wanted. The wizard was probably referring to something much larger, the Endless Sea.

“The Endless Sea?” Ruger said.

Zorn took a sip of his drink and nodded.

“So this is enough. You’re not a potion maker. Just add a little bit of the panacea, a specialty of the Endless Sea,” Zorn said, glancing at Ruger. “A little bit of faith power… is enough to replace the mutated back skin you want.”

Ruger blinked, feeling as if he had heard something incredible.

"Don't be surprised. This happens to some wizards far from the Endless Sea. Don't make a fuss. The value of faith power far exceeds your imagination. But as wizards, we are not true gods. Even with all the benefits, it is difficult to utilize them. This has always been a problem to be solved. But as a wizard apprentice... such low-level materials are relatively easy to deal with. Replacing some materials that have disappeared and are hard to find is a significant function of faith power. Of course, it is only limited to the low level. High-level materials will consume a lot of resources and are difficult to perfectly replace."

Zorn smirked and let out a burp.

Ruger nodded with sparkling eyes, listening intently and carefully, not missing a single word of the wizard's complaints.

"For you wizarding apprentices, this is quite good. This has led to a year-on-year increase in the number of formal wizards following the path of wizardry. Although it is still a very small number for all wizards, in comparison to this single path, it is foreseeable that it will far exceed..."

As he spoke, Zorn turned around and lay half-reclined in the chair.

It could be said that they had absolutely no manners.

However, Ruger showed no disdain whatsoever, and even considered offering him a blanket and some delicious roast meat.

"But they also have problems, just like the most orthodox Beastmaster wizards of the past, or rather, their situations are extremely similar..."

Zorn gulped down his drink while casually telling a story.

Although Ruger was eager to know immediately how to utilize the power of faith on this piece of leather, there was no urging in his expression, and he didn't even need to control his facial expressions, naturally revealing a look of eager listening.

He was clearly a top-notch and qualified listener.

"The Beast King Wizard in the records was a boy with extremely poor talent who accidentally entered the Wizard Tower. He was so poor that he could only barely learn the meditation technique. To truly become a first-level wizard apprentice, he had to meditate diligently for several years... So it is similar to the path of the faith wizard, allowing some people with poor talent to create miracles. But the subsequent situation is also the same. In history, the path of the Beast King Wizard was once despised and was the choice of those without ambition, because there were no truly high-level beings at the top of this path... The path of the faith wizard is like that now."

As Zorn spoke, a drunken smile appeared on his face, as if cheap liquor could make him very happy.

"Fortunately, that Beast King Wizard eventually found a way to break through those constraints and successfully gained a seat in the Supreme Council... Beast King Wizards are no longer an option for those without ambition; more people are taking this path, and it has brought about more diverse development."

Zorn said with a smile.

Looking at him, Ruger figured this guy must be a Beastmaster Wizard, an unconventional wizard who raises demonic pets.

Moreover, they even let those pets live inside their bodies.

(End of this chapter)