Staring at the Abyss's blood-red sky long enough makes it feel especially low. Even standing in the middle of a boundless wasteland, one still feels a wave of suffocation from it.
Luge looked back at the ruins behind him, which had nearly filled in a crack in the ground, then at the few oddly twisted, grotesque trees in the distance.
Maybe he could go back and consult the Half-Man, he thought.
He waved a hand and opened a spatial door. The location of the spatial rift on the Abyss side couldn't be changed, so the next time he came, he'd probably still be able to see these ruins. He wondered how long it would take the Abyss's environment to smooth away every trace.
He stepped through, and the illusory doorway vanished along with him.
He wondered how Old Gold Tooth was doing. He decided that once he got back, he'd see Old Gold Tooth first. If the old kobold was all right, then he could get ready. He also didn't know whether the Half-Man would like the extra gift he'd brought—one old boot traded for two things; buy one, get one free, an absolute bargain.
Honestly, he had always wanted to wait until he found the purer dragon blood mentioned in that diary, one with the unneeded parts stripped away, keeping only the powerful essence. But this experience had made him think of a scenario: if he were trapped somewhere he couldn't open a spatial item at all, or trapped in a state where he couldn't move in the slightest, then how much longer could his brief kobold lifespan hold out? So he planned to make one last attempt at the Half-Man's place. If that didn't work out, he'd use the dragon blood in the bedroom space to complete the transformation into a dragonborn kobold.
He stood within the Abyssal bedroom space, looking at the pile of debris at his feet. In the end, he had brought this singular succubus scholar into the space—you might call it inviting her to be a guest in the Earth Cave world, albeit in the form of debris.
He walked out of the spatial door and looked at his crude shelter, open wide on three sides, feeling it was ten thousand times more reassuring than any grand castle.
Out of habit, he picked up a long staff and hoisted it onto his shoulder. Humming a tuneless little melody, he sauntered unsteadily off toward Old Gold Tooth. To anyone who didn't know him, he'd just look like a somewhat short, utterly ordinary kobold—and that aimless humming was probably just something having gotten stuck in his throat while he ate.
Halfway there, he thought for a moment and chose a different fork—a road leading to the Sacred Lord's Great Cave.
Just as he had expected.
He had barely come near the Sacred Lord's Great Cave when he heard Old Gold Tooth's voice. On the open ground before the Great Cave, an extravagantly large fire had been lit, and an enormous subterranean beast had been cut into several parts and was being roasted around the blaze. What surprised Luge even more wasn't just these kobolds with their clear division of labor, but also the waves of spice fragrance drifting over.
"Aisjin, you keep an eye on them—don't hand out any more. All of you, use it sparingly, and be sharp about it! The master loves roast meat above all else. This time we're practicing, seeing how to make the roast meat taste good. These fine things from the pointed-ears are all to be saved for the master. The rest of you are borrowing the master's good fortune this time, getting to enjoy it once..."
Aside from Old Gold Tooth, it would be hard to find a kobold here who could say so much all at once.
Luge even suspected that Old Gold Tooth just wanted to talk to his heart's content; of the kobolds turning the roast meat, few could understand all of it—especially the ones drooling.
"Aisjin, in a bit you eat first. You have to try every single one, see whether any is as delicious as what you had with the master last time."
Old Gold Tooth kept giving instructions, walking a full circle around the great fire as he spoke.
Luge wasn't in any hurry to step forward. He stood in the shadows at the side of the path, smiling as he took in the scene before him. The flickering firelight made the place seem especially bright.
After finishing, Old Gold Tooth circled once more and returned to a stone that hadn't been there before the Great Cave. The dragonborn kobold's tall body abruptly lay back against it, and two kobolds who had long been waiting by the stone immediately stepped up and began to knead and pummel Old Gold Tooth's legs and arms.
Bald Tooth and Big Dumb Hum stood on either side of the stone where Old Gold Tooth lay, like bodyguards.
"Fine enjoyment you're having, Old Gold Tooth."
Luge stepped out from the side.
His voice made Old Gold Tooth jolt and spring up from the stone. Then came Aisjin, eyes streaming from the smoke, running toward him with big strides.
"Brother Luge, roast meat." Aisjin happily held out a slice of meat.
Luge took a big bite. The taste was average, and it was still a little hot, but eating it was a genuine pleasure.
"Master, you were gone so long this time! Even I, Old Gold Tooth, missed you a bit, heh heh." Old Gold Tooth sidled over.
Bald Tooth and Big Dumb Hum came over as well, looking at Luge with faces full of awe.
Luge naturally didn't believe Old Gold Tooth's teasing in the least, but seeing the looks in the eyes of Bald Tooth and Big Dumb Hum, and of the kobolds in the distance looking his way, he could already guess that Old Gold Tooth must have bragged plenty about him while he was away.
Settling onto the stone, Luge enjoyed the service of other kobolds for the first time. The roast meat was portioned out by Aisjin's own hands and served in a large bowl made from the skull of a subterranean beast. A crowd of kobolds bustled about, delivering piece after piece of roast meat cooked to every degree of doneness before him, each dusted with a different spice being tried out for flavor.
"These are spoils I took from the elves—I've already beaten them all off," Old Gold Tooth said from the side, stuffing meat into his mouth with a laugh. "The Red Horn Tribe's King of Kobolds heard you're a sage and wants to meet you. It's all Bald Tooth's fault for saying you're a rare kobold spellcaster. But don't worry—I know you find it troublesome and don't want to go, so I drove that envoy off too. The Red Horn Tribe has officially gone to war with those pointed-ears, and won't have time to bother our little place for a while."
"I heard it from those pointed-ears. The power the Red Horn Tribe has built up is greater than anyone imagined—enough to threaten the two city-states those pointed-ears have nearby. That kind of city-state has a great many slaves crushed underfoot. If the tide turns, it'll be a lot of trouble."
Old Gold Tooth ate his meat with a smile, seeming very satisfied with his current life.
"Were you hurt in the fighting?" Luge said.
"A little. One pointed-ear stabbed me in the butt, but it healed up fast. I didn't even feel much pain..."
Old Gold Tooth reached under the stone and groped around, pulling out a few dark, blackish lumps.
"Master, this is called Crying Mushroom Wine. I only secretly tasted a tiny bit—I saved all the rest for you." As he spoke, Old Gold Tooth handed over a few black waterskins. Another elven specialty, it seemed.
Luge took one in surprise and had a small sip. A sweet, sweet little drink, with a faint earthy taste and a hint of fresh mushroom fragrance.
He immediately waved his hand and stored away half.
As he ate and drank, he kept an eye on Old Gold Tooth. The dragonborn kobold's transformation seemed to be going just fine.
He turned to look at Aisjin and Big Dumb Hum. Aisjin still seemed unsatisfied with the taste of the meat, still mulling it over; Big Dumb Hum was simply eating his meat quietly off to the side. When the other kobolds around them also began to eat, the scene dissolved into chaos—now a yelp, now a clamor, without a single moment of quiet.
In the past, Luge had truly disliked such noise. Now, for some inexplicable reason, it felt all right. Of course, on the condition that he couldn't stay long.
Having eaten and drunk his fill, he packed some more roast meat into his storage pouch.
Before leaving, he instructed Aisjin and Big Dumb Hum not to run off anywhere, since he might come for them at any time. Both kobolds nodded obediently.
Luge planned to bring them along when he transformed, so they could all become dragonborn kobolds together.
Of course, first he had to confirm whether there was any way to get purer dragon blood at the Half-Man's place.
After winding his way along for a while, the crossroads appeared before him once more, the big boulder just the same as ever.
Chapter 63