The Abyss? What was the Abyss? Could this really go wrong? Luge wondered.
"The Abyss, a realm where demons wander, an endless place—though what in this world can truly be endless?" Half-Man seemed to read his thoughts. "There is no need to worry. That tiny space cannot bear the descent of a demon at all. As for using that space as a springboard to reach the Earth Cave, that is even more impossible. Do not underestimate this place."
"What... do you need me to do there?"
Luge had already realized that not a single gift Half-Man gave came with pangs of guilt. He could straighten his back and use them generously, because every price had already been marked in advance, openly or in secret. In the past, he had truly misjudged Half-Man; this half-headed fellow had never underestimated him as a little kobold.
"A sacrifice, a summoning descent, and an abyssal altar," Half-Man said. "Take my half-face, find a low-grade abyssal altar—even a broken one will do. Demons are no longer as keen on causing chaos everywhere as they once were, so there should be plenty of abandoned abyssal altars. Find one and place my half-face upon it. I will prepare the sacrificial ritual here and summon my face back through it, making it descend here. A severed body part will not provoke the world's disgust and rejection. For the sacrifice, any random boot will suffice.
"Once you see the half-face vanish from the altar, you can return.
"That corridor-like space can now barely support living creatures inside. You can let some of your kobold kin live in it, which will make the space more stable. Once stabilized, the space will continue to expand, though it won't change as quickly and noticeably as it did this time."
Half-Man spoke slowly, as if praising the gift he had given. Of course, that depended on whether the subsequent task was dangerous; if it was, he was merely boasting about the hazard pay he had offered.
At least that was how Luge saw it. Yet after seeing Baonte and the other apprentice wizards, as well as the heaps of spoils in that burly man's hands, he felt that this level of compensation was not hard to accept. Half-Man could even be considered a decent employer—provided, of course, that this benefactor remained unable to move on his own and had only one top-tier, all-around talent like Luge to run errands for him.
Listening to Half-Man's words and sensing that space, he couldn't stop marveling inwardly at how wondrous it was.
The expanded space's connection to him had grown tighter, as if the arcane mark he had left behind had blended into it perfectly as the space unfolded.
He felt that as long as he focused his mind, he could try to open a door—a door large enough for him to walk through.
The very first thought that crossed his mind was that he seemed to have gained an incredible life-saving ability.
As for the task Half-Man wanted him to carry out, after Half-Man crammed him with some common knowledge regarding foreign realms, the Abyss, and descents, Luge found himself even more confused. It sounded as though Half-Man wanted to send that half-face on a trip to the Abyss so that it could become an otherworldly descended object obtained through a sacrifice on this side. If that half-face was still considered a living thing, it would be an invasion; yet it was originally from this world, so it wouldn't be rejected. What was all this for? Why go through so much trouble just for a face?
Luge didn't dare imagine how much trouble Half-Man would stir up if he could move around freely.
Such doubts remained confined to his thoughts. Refraining from asking reckless questions was his consistent principle when dealing with powerful beings. The appearance of the space fragment and the curio had elevated his estimation of Half-Man to a much higher level once more.
"The die can be left there untouched, or you can take it out. It will no longer affect that space."
Although Half-Man's eyeball didn't move, Luge knew Half-Man was gazing at him.
"You may wait until you become a second-rank apprentice wizard before going there. More spellcasting attempts will keep you safer. Keep that half-face in your space for now. If it says anything to you, you needn't pay it any heed."
Half-Man gave his instructions, and at the same time, a faint fluctuation of magic drifted over.
"Mastering Abyssal is necessary, but remember to avoid dealing with intelligent demons as much as possible. You can disguise yourself as a lesser imp that only squeaks and screeches, which will save you a lot of trouble." Half-Man seemed to have exerted himself a bit too much today, and his figure began to fade uncontrollably.
Sensing the magical fluctuation, Luge tried uttering a few awkward Abyssal words, marveling that Tongues was truly a wonderful spell.
Half-Man's figure gradually faded away.
Luge looked at the half-face in his hands—or perhaps a small half of a skull—and for a moment felt an urge to head straight to the Abyss and deal with the thing right now.
After a thought, he stored it into the space after all, turned around, and headed back toward his grand bedroom open on three sides.
A corridor space. Though it was called a corridor, it was indeed large, and it was still slowly growing. Leaving it bare inside felt a bit awkward. In Luge's view, such a name also revealed Half-Man's mindset: in Half-Man's eyes, it was merely a passageway to achieve a certain objective. But Luge wanted to work on it and turn it into a backing that bolstered his safety in this place.
In that case, this space ought to be called the Abyssal Bedroom.
He thought it was very fitting.
A bedroom adjacent to the Abyss.
Thinking this, he gradually altered his path.
Soon, he arrived at the gully where he had always hunted grubs.
*I wonder if this will work,* he thought.
He stepped on the ground beneath his feet; it was fairly loose. He began attempting to pull it into the bedroom space. When doing small-scale tests before, he hadn't noticed, but taking in such large quantities proved quite draining on his mental power. Whenever nearly half of his mental power was consumed, he would stop to rest and recover before continuing to draw things in.
Small stones, dark soil, rotting stems of unknown plants, and even sleeping fat grubs were all swept inside by him in one sweep.
Only when his belly grew unbearably hungry did he suppress that urge, reminiscent of a child receiving a new toy.
Fortunately, the effort was worth it. With the intake of soil, the bedroom space became more stable. The entire space softened—not with a dazzling brightness, but no longer so dim either. Previously, only that dark red rift had provided a bit of light. The ground paved with soil also looked far more realistic, rather than feeling like stepping inside an opaque, giant eggshell.
On the way, he gathered several large rocks, which could be used to make a bed in the future.
He planned to wait a few days to observe whether these fat grubs survived normally before trying to enter himself.
For now, he naturally had to return to his soon-to-be-retired grand bedroom open on three sides, fill his stomach first, and get a good night's sleep.
He longed deeply, looking forward with immense anticipation to the day he could relax and sleep inside the bedroom space.
His wish as a little kobold was just that simple. Of course, there were still many experiments to conduct with the bedroom space later on: whether he could meditate normally inside, whether he could cast spells normally, and whether inviting Aisjin and the others inside would cause any changes.
His stomach rumbled hungrily. Leaning against the cave wall, he lay down in his familiar spot, the last cooked grub dangling from his mouth. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't finish the meal; his head tilted, and he drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 41