As those bizarre, kaleidoscopic scenes began to fade one by one, Luge still did not even know the man's name. In all the fleeting images, no one had seemed to call him by it—perhaps the focus of memory differed across various times and occasions. Only in the final, fleeting childhood scene did he faintly hear a gentle woman's voice softly call him Hayat, and with that, everything came to an end. Most of the fragments were already lost or had never been the focus of memory, and thus had ceased to exist in the first place.
Luge decided that when he passed by on his return journey, he would set a stone before the ill-tempered benefactor's grave to leave him a name.
After experiencing such strange occurrences, he found himself with even more questions.
Could the final sentence of that biographical novel truly be real? Or was it merely the drunken musings of some biographer? Thinking carefully about it, among the scattered, disjointed memory fragments of this man likely named Hayat, there really had not been a single scene clearly belonging to the surface world. In his entire life, he had never once seen a clear, boundless sky.
*Only wizards may walk upon the surface—*
What did that mean? Taken literally, could it be that these apprentice wizards had not come to explore the subterranean world, nor specifically to carry out some lord's mission, but had instead huddled down here just like a little kobold? Had they lived their entire lives in this endless darkness?
These fifth-rank apprentice wizards, fellows whose mental power had already reached its limit—had they truly not come from above?
Was the path leading to the surface really that difficult to tread?
At this moment, he realized that his ignorance regarding spell knowledge was perhaps nothing compared to the surprises the Earth Cave might yet have in store for him.
He ate some of the grubs in his storage pouch, clearing out a bit more space.
First, he placed a few books and magic stones inside.
Then he picked and sorted through the pile of belongings. Most of it he ultimately discarded; it was neither useful nor portable, and besides, he needed to save room for the next benefactor.
Thinking of the senior benefactor awaiting burial, he recalled that shattered, pale gray, translucent crystal.
He wondered whether every apprentice wizard left behind such a thing upon dying. He suspected it was unique to that man's circumstances, but there was no need to rack his brain guessing; he would learn the answer soon enough upon reaching the next inheritance site.
After that mysterious substance had been completely depleted, he felt that his mental power had grown somewhat. The increase was modest, of course, and nowhere near enough to break through to a second-rank apprentice wizard. Out here in the desolate wilds, he certainly had no intention of conducting exhausting meditation exercises or spell testing.
He took out Body Lightening, looked it over, and decided to rest a little longer.
After all, having been interrupted last time, he had barely gotten any real rest.
"It's up to you this time. You take watch. You look pretty sharp to me—a good, clever little bug!"
Reclining against the stone wall, he patted the nurturing bag at his waist. The unhatched larva swayed faintly in response, as if it truly understood.
"Do a good job. You're not small anymore; it's time you took on some responsibility for this household. You liked eating that egg, didn't you? Next time, I'll catch that whole giant serpent for you to eat."
The nurturing bag shook violently.
He chuckled, turned slightly onto his side while clutching his trusty long staff, and drifted off to sleep.
This time, there were no dreams and no disturbances.
After days of accumulated exhaustion, weariness had become an invisible pillow; no matter how he lay or rolled, he slept soundly and peacefully.
Upon waking, he first ate a bottle of shaved ice, paired with half a prized cooked grub.
It set a pleasant mood for the new leg of his journey.
His next objective was also located in this small cave district.
Heaving the long staff onto his shoulder, he set out once more.
Earlier, that man had claimed to know something about the city the little chrysalis worm-person was heading toward, a matter Luge still cared about quite a bit. After all, so many bizarre apprentice wizards had gathered right in his living area. Unfortunately, browsing through those memory fragments had yielded no clues; the memory might have been lost, or the man might have been lying.
To his thinking, the little crybaby worm-person had likely already entered the city, meaning these people were doomed to a wild-goose chase, returning empty-handed.
Traveling through the small cave district was far more relaxing than crossing open ground. Even though one might encounter Great Caves comparable to multi-story pavilions, it still could not compare to the pervasive peril of the wilderness outside, which felt like an independent little world of its own.
He had checked the crystal clock when setting off. After traveling for a little over a day, at most another half day would bring him to the final stop of this expedition.
Over the course of that day and more, he had once again journeyed without sleep or rest, relying on spells to keep moving continuously.
The delight of soon seeing the inheritance lent a light spring to his step.
"An apprentice wizard from Black Calamity Tower?"
Rounding a bend, Luge spotted three figures resting there, just as a voice tinged with a smile carried over.
The sudden encounter froze him in his tracks.
Composing himself, he looked down at his robe, realizing his attire had likely caused the misunderstanding. He quietly observed the three. Their clothing bore no uniform traits. One burly figure looked vaguely familiar, seemingly the man who had been chasing the giant serpent that day. The other two were young men of ordinary build, and it was one of them who had warmly called out to Luge.
"Come rest, little fellow. No need to be nervous," the man added.
Luge wore his hood up, casting nearly his entire face in shadow, but a kobold's snout could never be fully concealed. Even in dim light, a closer look would reveal telltale signs.
"A low-rank apprentice traveling alone faces too much danger. You can tag along with us afterward," the warm-mannered man said.
*Boom!*
A silent figure beside him raised a hand, conjuring a roaring campfire with a blast that nearly drowned out the friendly man's voice.
Hesitating, Luge first nodded in thanks to the warm-mannered man, then braced himself, using his short legs to walk toward the makeshift camp formed by the campfire.
The towering, burly man cast a sideways glance and abruptly spoke up: "Leaving here and crawling back to Black Calamity Tower is what you ought to do."
"Baonte, there's no need to be so harsh. Not all apprentices from Black Calamity Tower are so repulsive," the friendly man said with a smile.
The burly Baonte showed no mercy. "A low-rank apprentice coming here is merely throwing his life away. You just want him to scout the way ahead. And you, sitting there silently consenting, are no different."
"He might fare even worse going back. Dangerous tasks are the only opportunities for people like them," said the man who had been silently tending the campfire without looking up. He spoke at an unhurried pace. "Judging by his looks, he probably crawled out of an experimental subject batch. A portion of the apprentices in Black Calamity Tower are like that, though few as thoroughly modified beyond recognition as him."
"A kobold?" The friendly man looked astonished. "A kobold, of all things? Your mentor is truly insane."
Yet the burly Baonte paid no attention to that topic.
"Those giant bugs should all be dead by now, shouldn't they? Perhaps there's no need for us to stick together any longer," Baonte said.
"Fine by me."
"Hey, I was hoping to have this little fellow join us, and you two want to disband?"
The man who had been poking at the fire said nothing more. Stepping forward, he walked straight into the flames and vanished without a trace.
The friendly man glanced left and right, seemingly unwilling to remain alone with Baonte, and turned to leave as well. With every step he took, his silhouette seemed to flicker through the darkness.
In an instant, only Luge and the burly Baonte remained, with the campfire burning between them.
"Come sit," Baonte said.
Chapter 31