Kobold Wizard's Journal

Chapter 12 Gold and Light

The empty and quiet environment, coupled with the dog-headed man's limited vision in the dark, made him unconsciously nervous.

Especially now, as he felt the sticky ground beneath his feet, he moved his legs cautiously. After only five or six steps, the hair on his insteps had already tangled into wisps, and a foul stench lingered at the tip of his nose. The only reason he stayed there and didn't turn around and run away was that he had smelled the scent of Aisijin in that stench, but by the time he could distinguish them, the subtle differences had been completely overwhelmed by the stench.

When he saw this exaggerated pool of blood, the first people he thought of were the Gray Longneck Saint and the Black Claw Saint. Only these big guys could bleed so much blood, and they didn't leave any bodies behind. Whether they ran away on their own or were taken away by the enemy, it must be related to another big guy.

In this place, strength is often linked to body size, and wizards, extraordinary individuals who defy common sense, do not belong here.

He blinked in disbelief, and his steps quickened, splashing the blood on the ground like water.

An oversized black claw stood alone in the middle of the blood pool.

He squatted down and carefully poked the big black claw with a stick. The cross-section of the claw was extremely regular, as if it had been cut off at an angle by an extremely sharp object, with no signs of repeated chopping.

Seeing this, he considered retracting his previous judgment. This didn't seem like something a subterranean beast could have caused.

He suddenly stood up, raised his legs but paused for a moment to break the spell of the foul-smelling skin, and then ran again, his steps even faster than when he saw the black claws.

He followed the scent that caught his eye and came to a place near the cave wall. The strong dog-headed girl Aisijin was lying there, breathing evenly as if she was asleep. The fishy blood that had lost its source had lost its power before it could spread to her.

There was a huge figure next to her. Upon closer inspection, one could tell it was Dashaheng, who had not been seen for many days. Unlike Aisijin, Dashaheng's body was almost soaked in blood, part of which was obviously the fishy smell from the ground, while another part of the blood had a faint sweet scent.

"Aiskin."

He patted Ai Sijin's shoulder gently.

Seeing that there was no effect, he directly used the long stick to help carry Aisijin onto his shoulders. This place was not suitable for staying for a long time. He took two steps to feel it a little, and still chose to trigger the spell model and used the zero-ring spell "Power of the Bull" in a disappointing way. The difference was that this time it was a normal casting after consuming mental power and waiting for empowerment, without mobilizing the temporary spell slot.

He thought about it, and as he passed by, he grabbed Dashaheng's ankle in his hand.

When you see something you like on the road, just throw it away.

After walking a short distance, he stopped again.

"It's a pity to leave this big claw here..."

Like a greedy hamster, he relied on his strength as a bull to run back to the big black paw, carrying it on his shoulders and dragging it with his hands, and put it in a storage bag.

After several attempts, he finally left without hesitation. If Aisijin had not been here, he might have hesitated. If he had not seen the cross-section of the big claw again, he might have hesitated and taken the risk to go to the Holy Lord's cave for a walk.

Dashaheng was bumped left and right as he was dragged by him, but he didn't wake up until the hair on his back was worn off.

After running for a while, he just raised his hand and stopped there.

"You've woken up a long time ago, right?"

He looked at Dashaheng, who was trying so hard to close his eyes. His eyes looked extremely unnatural because he was trying too hard. He didn't know if it was because of the pain, but the wrinkles around his eyes were squeezed out.

He was just about to sigh at this fool.

"I'm...I'm sorry." Ai Sijin suddenly spoke.

He exerted force with his hands and threw the two dog-headed men who were stronger than him to the ground.

"Is this the claw of the Black Claw Saint?" He took out the claw he picked up from the storage bag and shook it in front of the two dog-headed men. "What do the enemies of the Black Claw Saint look like? Don't be impatient, use the words in your own hearts." He had already anticipated the difficulty in obtaining information.

But when he saw Aisijin with a confused look on her face and trying to get closer to identify her, and Dashaheng immediately looked terrified, his heart sank to the bottom.

If Ai Sijin had not seen the battle scene, relying solely on Dashaheng to describe it would be a complete waste of breath.

The three dog-headed men looked at each other and found a moment of peace.

Ai Sijin screamed, jumped up from the ground, and tried to pull Dashaheng with her, wanting to leave. However, Dashaheng, who seemed strong, couldn't stand up for a while, and even after being pulled to stand up, his feet were weak and he could hardly walk.

"Brother Ruger..." Ai Sijin looked like she was about to cry.

It was the first time that Ruger had seen this. In the past, whenever the prey that was allocated to her was snatched away by other dog-headed men, she would raise her fists and pick up a stick to beat them back.

He walked over and carried Dashaheng on his back, without asking any questions, and followed the anxious Aisijin silently all the way.

The three dog-headed men soon came to a particularly noisy place.

This is a gathering place for gnolls. Most of the gnolls in the tribe live here. Gnolls live in big and small caves and passages. Various kinds of stench are mixed together. Ruger feels that it may be no worse than his smelly skin, and even reach the level of one ring.

Led by the dog-headed girl, the three dog-headed men soon came to a relatively quiet corner.

An old dog-headed man was lying there weakly.

Ruger grabbed Ai Sijin and pinched her shoulders tightly to stop her from getting any closer.

"Old Gold Tooth refused to eat insects. I tried to persuade him, but he was too old and injured, and couldn't go out hunting. For a long time, I gave him... I gave him meat, but he refused it..." Ai Sijin whispered.

The old dog-headed man lying there was emitting a striking faint glow, which was why no other dog-headed man came near him.

This little light is not some magical spell. In this world dominated by black tones, those glowing grasses, insects, mushrooms and other things cannot be touched. If you eat them and don't handle them properly, you will become a target of hunting in the dark. But this is not the most serious point.

What's even more deadly is that if a creature eats too much luminous things and the amount accumulates to a certain level, a kind of light thread will inexplicably grow on it. When the situation becomes irreversible, the light thread will spiral upwards, growing longer and longer until it reaches mid-air.

A dog-headed man that grows light threads will not last long and will wither like a plant and eventually die. Moreover, if he comes into contact with creatures that grow light threads for a long time, he will be infected.

Ruger frowned slightly. He knew that in the past, many injured or old dog-headed men would secretly eat those glowing mushrooms when they were starving, because only those things were easy to obtain, edible, and no one was fighting for them, so they could survive hunger.

"Oh, it's little Aisijin! Is this the clever friend you were talking about? He's really tall."

The old dog-headed man spoke even more fluently than Aisijin, which instantly widened Ruger's eyes.

"In my entire life, I have never seen such a tall dog-headed man, not even those powerful tribes that serve dragons. I am dying soon. Look, I am shining, but I don't know if it is as bright as the legendary sun..." The old dog-headed man spoke one sentence after another, like a chatterbox opening a box.

Ruger stared at Old Gold Teeth without blinking. The old dog-headed man spoke in a clear and logical manner, which completely shattered his understanding of the dog-headed man clan.

He thought this old dog-headed man was very abnormal.

Old Gold Teeth was still talking, as if he wanted to say everything before he died. Perhaps he was just like Ai Sijin, and it would be difficult for him to meet a talking dog-headed man in this place throughout his life.

The short threads of light on the old dog-headed man's body flickered as he spoke excitedly, as if they were breathing.

(End of this chapter)