Luge stopped distracting himself with other tasks and kept his eyes fixed entirely on the small pool of blood before him. Quite some time had passed—Luge had even eaten a meal during the wait—yet the old kobold still had not emerged. He was beginning to wonder whether Old Gold Tooth had drowned in the pool; the solitary bubble that surfaced every now and then was the sole culprit keeping him from reaching in to drag the fellow out.
In truth, the bubbles in the pool had turned sluggish and feeble long ago, only popping up once in a great while.
By his estimate, the intervals between bubbles were growing longer and longer.
*Glub, glub, glub!*
The pool of blood suddenly churned violently.
A smile finally appeared on Luge's patchily bald face.
Any change was a good sign, and one this violent likely meant it was almost over.
He watched in anticipation.
As it roiled and surged, the dragon blood in the small pool steadily diminished, as though Old Gold Tooth really were drinking it dry, just as he had joked earlier.
With the dragon blood receding, a curled figure gradually came into view. Only his flank was exposed, knees tucked up and hands resting before his chest, peaceful as a slumbering child. Looking closely, the blood was not being drawn through his mouth and nose; rather, his entire body was absorbing it through osmosis.
Old Gold Tooth had grown taller!
That was the first thing Luge confirmed at a glance, followed by the changes in his fur.
Old Gold Tooth had already been shedding before, permanently half-bald by nature. Now he had even less fur; on the parts emerging above the liquid's surface alone, large patches where fur once grew were now covered in scales.
Old Gold Tooth was also unique in that this was his second transformation into a dragonborn kobold, meaning he was still influenced by remnants of his prior transformation.
Take the color of his scales, for instance. Logically, they should have resembled the pitch-black hide of that foolish dragon. Yet among the visible scales across his shoulders and arms, most were green laced with black, while a smaller cluster of fine, dense scales was black tinged with green—as if proclaiming that should they grow larger one day, they too would turn just like the others.
Luge patted the restlessly twitching nurturing bag.
The little bug inside was already impatient.
If all went well with Old Gold Tooth, it could be arranged for the bug next.
According to what he had read in that diary, there was practically no difference between dragon blood taken from one part of a dragon or another. If one wanted higher-quality dragon blood from what was available, the only path was purification by a wizard.
Luge would certainly have preferred that purified dragon blood, but he was not going to force the matter.
According to the diary, that premium variety retained something closer to the source essence while filtering out unnecessary traits—such as making certain experimental subjects turn sluggish after dragonification, or leaving others prone to fiery rages.
A splash of bloody water resounded.
Old Gold Tooth finally awoke and stepped out of the pool. He dropped to his knees and began vomiting, heaving up vast quantities of fresh blood—whether his own or the dragon blood he had previously swallowed, it was hard to tell.
The dragon blood, which had been reduced to less than half the small pool, rose considerably with his retching.
*Partitioning the blood pool earlier really was the right choice,* Luge thought.
"My lord, Old Gold Tooth has been reborn! Hehehehe—"
Old Gold Tooth came before Luge and stretched his body, joints cracking and popping. He let out a chuckle with every limb he moved. His original gold tooth had been pushed aside by a newly sprouted sharp fang, somehow resting over its tip like a ring.
Luge had already cast his Fetid Skin spell. The outcome he least wished to see had not occurred, just as expected—Old Gold Tooth was a clever fellow, after all.
Old Gold Tooth was now roughly the same height as Big Dumb Hum. Though he looked nowhere near as burly as Big Dumb Hum or Bald Tooth, one could sense explosive power dormant within those slightly lean, scale-covered arms, likely far surpassing Bald Tooth's.
After all, this dragon blood was of no low tier—certified by the Aberrant Dragon Regulatory Committee—and provided in a luxurious quantity.
"Stand there and let me hit you once," Luge said.
Old Gold Tooth hesitated for a second, then seemed to remember he was different now. Chuckling, he nodded and drew himself upright.
Luge had already quietly cast spells, invoking Bull's Strength and Demonskin. Demonskin was meant to protect his own small fist; scraping his skin would be unbecoming of his standing. When dealing with lizardfolk, he usually charged straight in and swung a club.
He lunged forward and drove a fist into the reborn Old Gold Tooth's belly, where small patches of scales also covered portions of his chest and abdomen.
The punch landed squarely on the densest cluster of scales.
With no defensive posture whatsoever, Old Gold Tooth grimaced and stumbled back several steps before finding his footing.
Then, one large and one small, the two kobolds stared blankly at Old Gold Tooth's belly together. Across the area between his chest and navel, more than a dozen luminous threads were poking out through the gaps between scales, gently spiraling and writhing like tentacles. Some stretched longer and longer, as if probing their surroundings, while others seemed to have found their mark; after poking out a short length, they stopped, curving back to soothe the spot that had been struck, seemingly trying to ease the swelling on Old Gold Tooth's belly.
"Why are these things still here? It's over, it's all over! Old Gold Tooth's dream of rebirth is completely ruined..."
Old Gold Tooth began pacing in place.
"Haven't you always liked them? You get to be accompanied by the light. The dragon blood I found for you is quite potent, so you two should be able to keep each other company for a long time."
Saying so, Luge opened the portal and stepped out. Old Gold Tooth blinked, then followed.
*Next comes the observation period. Hopefully everything goes smoothly,* Luge thought.
Not long after stepping outside, the two saw Aisjin and Big Dumb Hum.
Aisjin was naturally wearing an anxious expression.
That was easily expected.
What was interesting was Big Dumb Hum. He stood off to the side wrapped in tension, every detail of his expression and demeanor radiating nervousness and fear.
This was very unusual.
"Old Gold Tooth?" Aisjin stepped forward, circling around him to inspect him left and right.
Only when she noticed the luminous threads on Old Gold Tooth's belly—which had not quite retreated entirely—and the golden band capping his sharp fang as he grinned did she dare believe her eyes.
"Hehe! Old Gold Tooth is alive again, and I've got a long life ahead of me! I didn't trick you this time. And listen, if you want to get smarter too, just do what I did. When I came out, there was still half a pool of that precious stuff left..."
Old Gold Tooth evidently assumed the pure dragon blood in the distance within the Abyssal Bedroom was off-limits.
Aisjin's heartfelt joy was deeply contagious. Her ugly little face carried far richer expressions than those of other kobolds, and she excitedly chattered away around Old Gold Tooth.
Luge walked over to Big Dumb Hum.
Without waiting for Luge to speak, Big Dumb Hum began gesturing, waving his hands and feet as he struggled to explain. Ever since consuming that black fruit, Big Dumb Hum had grown smarter than before, but speaking remained a struggle, especially when agitated.
After listening for a moment, Luge decisively gave up.
"A party of black pointy-ears... has been prowling nearby lately. A lot of kobolds who went out hunting were captured. It reminded me of the dark elf slave-hunting party Old Gold Tooth talked about. They're about to discover this place," Aisjin's voice chimed in from behind at the right moment.
"What about Bald Tooth?"
Luge did not look particularly worried.
"A kobold from the Red Horn Tribe came—big as Bald Tooth—and wanted to take him away. He refused, so he got beat up. Those pointy-ears drove off that big kobold, and now they've tracked down the holy master's cave and cornered Bald Tooth inside!" Aisjin said anxiously.
From her look, Luge gathered that she had meant to report this as soon as she saw him, only to forget in the excitement of Old Gold Tooth's return.
"Mining," Old Gold Tooth said with certainty.
"Mining is the only reason those pointy-eared elves catch kobolds. Only large tribes have the strength to trade with the pointy-ears; remote little tribes are always their targets for enslavement. It's always been this way. Those pointy-ears are constantly at war and need massive amounts of all kinds of ore. Their city-states are a mess, and the only place they dare not approach is the human Earth Cave Domain..."
Luge listened without paying it much mind. Before leaving the bedroom space, he had already decided to visit Half-Man once more and then begin preparing for his journey into the Abyss.
"I leave this slave-hunting party to you," he said.
"No problem! Old Gold Tooth hasn't seen these old friends in ages. Leave it to me. I know what these pointy-eared slavers can do."
Old Gold Tooth flexed his enlarged, claw-like hands.
Luge had already chosen a tunnel entrance and walked away.
Chapter 50