Journey and Heart

Ruger sat slumped sideways, feeling along the rock wall, staring blankly into space.

In this pitch-black world, everything seemed frozen. Gradually, only the sound of his breathing remained. He instinctively slowed his breath, and then he could hear his own heartbeat.

A drop of water fell from the ceiling of the cave.

It struck him right in the face.

He raised a hand to wipe away the wetness, then casually scratched at the sparse, patchy coarse hair on his head. The movement tugged at the wound beneath his left ribs, bringing a faint spark of life back into his vacant eyes.

He had spent every day barely surviving in the cave, muddling through without ever seeing daylight. He had no idea how many days had passed. It was as though time no longer had anything to do with him. He only knew that he had gone hungry many times, eaten many times, and sometimes had to remain hungry without end.

A burst of footsteps sounded.

A figure slightly shorter than him groped its way over through the darkness.

The newcomer arrived before him and rattled off a whole string of words, its tone filled with obvious concern.

Ruger stopped sighing to himself.

He studied the visitor.

During this time, the only fortunate thing that had happened to him was that, by chance, he had saved the kobold before him—a kobold girl named Aisijin, slightly shorter than himself.

Aisijin was already one of the few kobolds he had encountered who could communicate with him.

"Big Brother Ruger, I knew you'd be here. Is your injury any better?" The kobold girl Aisijin moved closer and looked up at him. She picked at her teeth with a claw as she spoke softly. "Master is gathering everyone. He might lead the clan out to hunt."

Ruger froze for a moment, then braced one hand against the cave wall and swayed as he rose to his feet.

"Blackclaw Lord's appetite has grown again," he remarked.

"Not Master Blackclaw. Master Blackclaw... has already become food. The new master swallowed him in one bite! Now we must follow the even stronger Master Gray Longneck. He definitely won't be eaten so easily." She spoke far better than before, at least nearly fluently now.

With one shoulder against the cave wall, he rolled his eyes at her words.

He normally liked being alone.

First, it meant getting beaten less. Kobolds never spared their fists when swinging them at their own kind.

Second, he enjoyed savoring the feeling of being hungry by himself. Hunger could be said to be an important part of every kobold's life.

This time, however, he had not been alone for very long.

His stomach had only gone hungry once, yet the dynasty had already changed. It sounded as though their new object of devotion might have a rather long neck.

Aisijin continued picking at her teeth with one hand while spreading open the other and holding it out before him.

"For you."

Ruger raised an eyebrow at her words, already guessing what it was.

He lowered his head and leaned closer.

In her palm was a charred chunk of meat the size of a hand. Up close, he could smell the fishy stench hidden beneath the burnt odor.

The kobold girl knew he liked cooked food.

He looked up at Aisijin's other hand. A soft, faint glow glimmered from the claw she was using to pick her teeth.

"You ate those glowing mushrooms again?"

"Not many. I listened to you. I didn't eat many mushrooms, so I'll be fine. I'm strong."

Aisijin patted her belly, then held that hand out toward him once more.

He scratched the long hair near his ears. A kobold's ears grew almost at the back of its head, and he had never quite gotten used to it. Besides, he had recently discovered that he seemed to have some kind of bugs growing on him.

He scratched and scratched at a few stray hairs.

The kobold girl quietly held out her hand.

"Let's split it."

He took the burnt-but-raw piece of meat and, straining with all his strength, tore it in half. He placed one half back into the kobold girl's palm.

Grinning happily, Aisijin stuffed the meat into her mouth in one go.

Ruger watched her cheeks bulge as she chewed. He too lifted a hand, bit off a piece, and chewed hard, but unlike Aisijin, there was no blissful, contented smile on his patchy-haired doglike face.

The blackened roasted meat entered his mouth and slid down his throat before he could even chew it apart. His stomach immediately felt much better.

I can live another two days, he sighed inwardly.

It did not feel right to keep mooching food from the kobold girl when she had so little to begin with, but he did not want to starve to death.

He let out a long breath, carrying a sour stench with it.

Then, suddenly, he frowned again.

For no reason, an oddly familiar feeling welled up inside him.

He seemed to remember having once scolded Aisijin for eating those glowing things.

"Big Brother Ruger, why haven't you swallowed it yet?" Aisijin asked with a smile.

"I..."

He suddenly realized the chunk of meat was still in his mouth.

He spread his hand before him and opened his mouth to spit. Sure enough, it was that chunk of meat.

He had heard that many elderly kobolds, in their final days, suffered from this sort of mental muddle, even losing control and dying amid wild shouts and screams.

Could I be dying too? His thoughts began to spiral.

But I'm not old! Even if I die, I'd die of hunger! Could hunger have damaged my brain? And I haven't even become a wizard yet!

He wailed inwardly, then suddenly jolted.

He lowered his head again.

What he held in his hand was no longer that chunk of meat, but a round pearl radiating a faint glow.

As the dim light flickered, it was exceedingly beautiful.

The surroundings gradually began to sway, turning into a world-shaking upheaval.

He instinctively reached out to shield Aisijin, but before he could finish the motion, everything vanished with a crash.

He opened his eyes.

A flicker of anger passed through his gaze.

The world returned to peace, and the distant drip-drip sound continued.

Ruger lowered his head, looking at the pearl pinched between his fingertips, as well as the breeding pouch at his waist, which had been trembling with all its might without pause.

"Thank you, little fellow. You can rest for a while now." He patted the pouch.

"Your spiritual power is so weak. Are you a low-level wizard apprentice too?"

He looked at the smooth pearl in his hand and began talking to himself like a fool.

"For such a low-level apprentice to wander around outside is very dangerous. Did you grow up in a big city? One of those cavern cities? The dangers of the underground world are beyond your imagination..."

"Are you really not planning to say anything?"

"A few days ago, I met a snake. Even that snake knew how to use spiritual power to speak."

As Ruger spoke, he had already finished empowering two spell models. One was Mental Boil, a precautionary measure that could make him more alert and offer a slight resistance against mental confusion. The other was what he was doing now—quietly leaving a secret art mark on this pearl as a tracker.

"You rude fellow!"

A wave of spiritual fluctuation brimming with intense emotion surged from the pearl, and the secret art mark failed to imprint.

Suddenly, the faint glow flared, and the pearl began darting wildly up and down. Ruger grabbed it with his hand and was dragged into its frantic lunges in every direction. He had long sensed that this thing wanted to escape, which was why he had tried to leave a secret art mark on it. Seeing that they were locked in a stalemate, he quietly bestowed Strength of the Savage Bull upon himself.

"I'm a peak wizard apprentice, yet I'm being held by you... You're actually a kobold! If I'd known, I never would've gone dream-luring! What a waste of my spiritual power!"

Halfway through its words, the pearl's voice suddenly rose eight octaves, piercing Ruger straight through the heart.

Ruger was about to curse back when he suddenly froze. The pearl froze as well.

"Friend, you seem to have cracked."