In the spacious bedroom, open on three sides.
Luge ate insect-juice shaved ice while thumbing through the final section on Demonskin. The emptied potion bottle served nicely to hold shaved ice, its only flaw being an opening that was not quite wide enough.
Smacking his lips over the ice chips, he marveled yet again at how much easier Demonskin was to learn than Ray of Frost. It showed that so-called compatibility was not just a measure for the positive; it surely applied to the negative as well. That was to say, among incompatible spells, there had to be varying degrees—not quite compatible, very incompatible, and utterly incompatible. He should have realized long ago that such nuances were bound to exist.
"Maybe I should find a way to get some sour fruit..."
He glanced up at the crystal lamp just as it shifted between its upper and lower ends.
"Another day or so, and it should just about be done."
He felt he could save the last bottle of Clear Mind Potion for some tough nut to crack in the future. It seemed like it would also work well for practicing the meditation method, though burning a Clear Mind Potion on something that required slow, grinding accumulation felt a bit extravagant.
Too much of any potion was never good, even if no obvious side effects were listed.
Eating shaved ice made him think of the hot spring.
The thermal vents there were all scalding hot. If he could find a spot with just the right temperature, soaking in it while eating shaved ice would be pure bliss, he thought.
That female elf certainly had thick skin. Maybe once he mastered Demonskin, he could try it too: Demonskin plus Ray of Frost equaled a hot bath and shaved ice. These days, even taking a bath required formidable strength for a kobold; one slight misstep, and you would easily forfeit your life.
Not that he was chasing worldly pleasures.
This was spell practice—an essential cultivation on the path to uncovering the mysteries of magic.
After mastering Ray of Frost, the moment he recovered, he had tested how many times he could cast it.
From a fully restored state via meditation, casting one after another without rest, he could unleash Ray of Frost seven times before he could no longer sustain it.
To increase his casting frequency and speed, frequent use was a solid option, while the other prime route was naturally boosting his mental power to become a second-rank apprentice wizard.
Currently, aside from his fixed spells, the one he could cast the most times in short order was the zero-ring spell Hair Removal. His mental power could support fifteen castings. The spell naturally had a lower cost, and on top of that, he possessed high compatibility with it—and that was without any routine practice.
The truth was, practicing Hair Removal cost too many clansmen. They were only a pitiful little tribe, after all, and with their meager diet in the past, they did not have much fur left to begin with.
He could not bring himself to do it.
At most, he had tested it a couple of times on someone who rubbed him the wrong way on the road, earning two brief, grating shrieks in return.
He swayed as he rose to his feet.
Balancing work and rest was the true path to learning.
As he walked, he mentally reviewed the finer details of Demonskin he had just sorted through.
Winding through twist after turn.
The goal of this trip was to treat Aisjin to shaved ice! The young kobold female surely had never tasted it before! Along the way, he would also ask Old Gold Tooth a few things.
*Rumble!*
A massive roar echoed from the direction of the Gray Longneck Holy Lord's Great Cave, as if the ground beneath his feet were shuddering.
Luge froze in his tracks. He happened to be very close by.
*Rumble!*
Steeling his nerves, he shuffled forward, hesitated for a second at an intersection, and turned the corner to see what was happening.
In this place, he considered himself qualified enough to spectate.
Ever since learning that the dark-gray-skinned female elf and her companions were all apprentice wizards, his little kobold spine had suddenly straightened.
Not because he had the confidence to defeat any of them, but because that most terrifying veil of the unknown had been breached in an instant. The imagined dread born of scaring oneself—much like Big Dumb Hum's deep-seated terror of him—stemmed entirely from ignorance. Armed with some understanding of spells and apprentice wizards, he might still feel fear, but no longer the baffling, head-scratching kind. It was now a rational awe born of the sheer power of magic and knowledge.
Sometimes, even when facing death, at least knowing how you died was far better than facing the unknown.
Pressed tight against the cave wall, he poked out half of his little dog head.
An impossibly massive, grayish-white serpent filled his vision.
*So this is the Gray Longneck Holy Lord? If you put it that way, its neck really is long,* he thought.
Opposite the giant serpent stood a comparatively diminutive humanoid figure.
They were too far off to tell if it was human or some other humanoid creature.
The serpent slowly raised its haughty head until it brushed the ceiling of the kobold holy ground. Its demeanor and aura inexplicably gave the impression of formidable intelligence.
Luge even found himself hoping it would speak, just to hear what kind of tone it took.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a mental ripple emerged and echoed throughout the Great Cave.
Naturally, the ripple reached all the way to the corner where this little kobold was peeking.
"Strange kobold, get out of my territory! Provoking my wrath is a price you cannot afford."
The serpent's words startled the little kobold watching from the sidelines.
Wait, something felt off. Narrowing his eyes, he leaned out a bit further to look. Facing down the serpent was actually a tall kobold.
"The Red Horn Tribe will subjugate all kobolds! The King of Kobolds! Kobolds already have their own king! The King says he will break the wizards' curse! Kobolds won't need masters anymore! The Kobold Kingdom! No kobolds will have masters, only one king! The King of Kobolds! The King!"
The tall, unbloated kobold spoke haltingly and somewhat incoherently, yet his ability to speak in full sentences and the meaning behind his words were enough to shake Luge to the core.
Before Luge could recover from his shock, the giant serpent burst out laughing. Waves of mental power surged like a tide, every ripple carrying its uncontrollable mockery.
"Wizards? Ignorant kobold, to actually dream of defying wizards!" The serpent's reared head swayed with laughter, striking the cavern ceiling and sending a constant rain of dust and stones tumbling down.
This serpent possessed techniques for using mental power and seemed to know something about wizards as well.
And a kobold with grand ambitions, no less.
Luge was completely fascinated.
*Rumble!*
The tall kobold and the giant serpent clashed.
For a time, the serpent was actually at a disadvantage.
As the serpent thrashed, Luge noticed numerous scars across its body; a missing section of its tail was clearly an old wound. It was precisely these injuries that allowed the strange kobold to suppress it.
The kobold's arm muscles bulged and twitched as he brought down a large metal cleaver with all his might.
*Crack!* A muffled, discordant snap rang out!
The crudely forged blade, as thick and clumsy as a hammer, struck the serpent's head and snapped right down the middle.
The giant serpent surged forward like an arrow skimming the ground, lunging to snap its jaws around the retreating kobold. In desperation, the kobold braced both hands against the snapping maw, seizing the fangs on either side and locking them in a momentary standoff.
Dust billowed as thunderous crashes shook the cave.
The serpent began thrashing and slamming wildly throughout the Great Cave.
"Kobolds need no master!"
The kobold roared and violently snapped off one of the serpent's fangs.
The serpent's momentary agony allowed the kobold to break free.
"Don't run my way!"
Seeing things take a bad turn, Luge spun around to leave, but the footsteps pounding behind him told him exactly where this was headed.
A thought flashed through his mind. Bolstering himself with Bull's Strength, he whirled around and charged straight back.
A blood-red hue washed over the grayish-white serpentine body, and several stubby limbs sprouted along its sides as it charged the tall kobold with violent fury.
Luge was closer and far swifter. As the two rushed toward each other, he caught sight of the kobold's wide, shocked eyes—just before they rolled back. Even as the kobold collapsed and skidded forward under momentum, Luge, fueled by Bull's Strength, scooped him under one arm and bolted.
Witnessing this, the giant serpent hesitated and did not pursue.
Chapter 23