Luge had, for the time being, calmed those three fellows. He tore open the already ragged, sorry-looking wizard robe he'd had and wrapped it around his waist, then stepped outside the Abyssal bedroom space.
He wanted to see whether, after so many days, Kaliu was still out there.
Just as he stepped through the spatial door, a bundle came flying at him. He raised a hand and caught it—several loose wizard robes.
"Put these on. Even if you look a bit strange in them, most people with some experience will understand," Kaliu was still sitting in the same spot as before. "How does it feel to have become a dragonborn kobold?"
Luge clenched his fist and said, "Full of power. And I feel like I can live a long time—my whole body is bursting with vitality."
As he spoke, he separated the robes and stashed them in his storage pouch, then picked out one with a hood and pulled it on.
"Let's go." Kaliu got up and dusted himself off. "This should be on the edge of an Earth Cave Domain. Maybe we can reach an inhabited town sooner, and even sit down in a tavern for a drink."
Luge nodded, and the two set off.
Soon he began to glance at Kaliu from time to time with a strange look. First he compared their heights—he found he was actually about the same as Kaliu, even a tiny bit taller, which instantly put him at ease.
Then his gaze grew even stranger, because this fellow had said they'd move faster before setting out, and Luge had assumed there was some special way of traveling—but it turned out they were just walking, and slowly at that, as if out for a leisurely stroll after a meal.
Sometimes they even walked and stopped, and there was a strange-smelling little trinket in Kaliu's hand right now—he'd just picked it along the road.
As they walked along, Luge, out of boredom, began fiddling with the few spells he'd mastered.
He had already decided to place Boiling Spirit into his future fourth demonic mark—not for its standalone spell effect, but to prepare for the composite spell that would later merge all five demonic marks into one. After the earlier battle, he felt this spell was very suitable; it could curb the various impulsive acts brought on by being empowered by Demonic Form and many other spells. In that earlier fight, had this unremarkable little spell not helped him keep his reason, he might well have had his judgment of timing thrown off by pain and anger.
When he occasionally fiddled with Fetid Skin, Kaliu would look over curiously too, with the look of someone who hadn't seen much of the world.
But he had indeed made some new discoveries. Each time he cast Fetid Skin, the color of his skin would change, and it would return to normal when the spell ended. This time, after he had grown scales and more patches of fur had thinned, he noticed that Fetid Skin had already left some faint spiral marks on his body. When he first discovered them he couldn't be sure they were the effect of Fetid Skin, until he tried keeping the spell going for a while and then ending it—those faint marks would darken, and then over time recover to a certain degree.
What Luge regretted was that he hadn't found them sooner, so he couldn't tell whether it was connected to his use of the Demonic Form spell, or even to the dragonborn kobold transformation.
"Is she still sad?" Kaliu said suddenly.
Luge was taken aback for a moment before realizing Kaliu meant Aisjin.
"Yes. It's her first time leaving her tribe, but she also longs for the world outside. She asked me to thank you for your Tongues spell," Luge said.
He had just sent Aisjin and Big Dumb Hum—who'd come out for some air—back into the Abyssal bedroom space, and on the way had also asked Kaliu to cast the Tongues spell of the Earth Cave common tongue for them. Aisjin longed for the novel world; even as she delighted in it, she missed Old Gold Tooth.
Luge was rather helpless about it as well, but the ways of the world could never be perfect. In truth, if he really were to bring a dragonborn kobold out to make his way, Old Gold Tooth would indeed be his first choice.
As for sending them and Zhizhi back into the bedroom space, that was because the first human settlement of the Earth Cave Domain was already close at hand.
Luge realized the two of them really had walked for three days, so from the very start, when Kaliu had said that, he'd already meant to travel in this strolling fashion.
As they drew closer step by step, the letdown in Luge's heart grew. Although Kaliu had filled him in on some common knowledge along the way, he was still somewhat disappointed.
An Earth Cave Domain was usually built around a massive Earth Cave City. Around the Earth Cave City were dozens to as many as a hundred numbered Earth Cave districts—essentially various small towns. They formed the main body of the domain and could also enjoy some of the Earth Cave City's light. Further outward lay the chaotic, unnumbered Abyss Den areas, where more people lived—a kind of buffer zone. Because almost no light reached them, they were called Abyss Den areas.
It was said that the numbered Earth Cave districts could grow some crops that needed sunlight, and many people made their living that way. As for the Abyss Den areas, the so-called buffer was meant to reduce the number of subterranean beasts, burrowing worms, and the like that went to ruin the crops.
Kaliu walked ahead while Luge followed behind, looking all around, his hood now up.
Ruin and stench were his first impressions of the place; the darkness, though, wasn't so bad—after all, they weren't noble lords who had just stepped out of an Earth Cave City.
He stamped hard on the ground beneath his feet and found that the houses and streets here were all very dilapidated, except that the ground was paved very well—all large blocks of stone set tightly together. Some had long been worn round and smooth, while others were clearly new, obviously repaired only recently.
The foul-smelling streets were actually busy with people coming and going; it had been a long time since Luge had seen so many people.
The two came to a small tavern on a street corner.
Crash and clatter! A group of people came storming out of the tavern—dozens of them—forcing the two to retreat to one side.
Luge, however, watched with an excited face; seeing so many people about gave him a feeling as though he'd suddenly returned to society from the deep mountains.
"Are they going off to fight? Should we go watch the fun?" Luge leaned close to Kaliu and said.
Unfortunately, all he got in return was an eye-roll from Kaliu.
The two pushed the door open and entered the tavern, choosing a table as sticky and stinking as the town itself.
After sitting down, Luge leaned on the slightly sticky tabletop without the slightest disgust. The waiter's arrival excited him even more.
He cleared his throat lightly, raised a hand to stop Kaliu, who was about to speak, and at the same time drew the waiter's attention.
"Got anything you'd recommend? Or you could bring me a menu," Luge said excitedly.
The waiter was taken aback, then sneered, "A young noble master down from the light? A little tavern in the Abyss Den has never had such a thing as a menu. Today we've only got Sour Mushroom Wine and Black Bug Wine. If you're hungry, you might consider some roast meat or Bug-Shell Stew—the Bug-Shell Stew is this establishment's specialty, that's the one I'd recommend."
As he spoke, the waiter shook the rolls of fat on his face; you could tell that if not for the scar on his face, he must have been a handsome young fellow in his youth.
"Alright, I'll have the one you mentioned, then, and two cups of each of the two wines," Luge said.
"Two servings of Bug-Shell Stew, four cups of wine—twelve star coins," the waiter said.
Hearing this, Luge caught on, and made a "please, go ahead" gesture toward Kaliu.
Kaliu had been watching it all with a smile—watching Luge's excitement, watching the waiter's sneer, watching the nearby tallow lamps giving off a strange odor. It all seemed very interesting to him, including the fierce, greedy Abyss Den folk in the dim tavern.
Kaliu took out the twelve star coins and set them gently on the table.
The waiter put away the star coins and said in a low voice, "Not-too-bright little young master, out here you'd best not show so much excitement, or you might not even make it to the end of the alley."
"Thank you. I'll remember your words," Luge said with a smile.
Only after the waiter had gone far off did Luge lean on the table again, move close to Kaliu, and lower his voice.
"Where are we headed next? Back to that academy of yours?" Luge said.
Kaliu smiled and shook his head.
"We may need to stay a while in this jumbled place where you can even see wanted criminals right by the roadside—I need to recuperate," Kaliu said, raising an eyebrow. "Besides, for apprentice wizards like us, we've generally already left the academy decades ago."
Ever since he'd been able to move again, the expressions on Kaliu's face had been overflowing rather freely.
Hearing this, Luge felt rather excited. He was more than happy to make contact with this world, where everything was unknown to him—especially the territory where humans lived—and this place didn't look as though it held any danger.
Chapter 79