Ruger suddenly opened his eyes, shifted position, and lay on his back on the little bed, staring unblinkingly at the attic ceiling.
After letting his thoughts wander all over the place, he tried his second method of relaxing his mind: zoning out for a while. Normally, that would let him fall asleep peacefully. Letting his thoughts run free, followed by some quality time spent staring into space, was his usual way of unwinding, but tonight it seemed to have lost its effect.
Something seemed to keep weighing on his mind.
He suddenly remembered that he had yet to name the Fighter Potion. He had originally intended to finish naming it after observing Aisijin's performance.
Lying in bed, Ruger carefully considered the effects Aisijin had displayed. Most of the fighter abilities she had awakened were related to sleep, so he could call it the Sleep Fighter Potion, though that sounded rather awkward. They were also connected to dreams, and it was a product of the Nightmare World, so Dreamsleep Fighter would work too. It was not a particularly good name, but it sounded reasonably fitting.
Ruger happily settled on the potion's name in bed.
Yet something still felt wrong.
That was not what had been weighing on his mind.
He thought again of how old Lunse had acted upon returning to the shop that day, that thoughtful look amid his chuckling.
The old kobold had brought fresh news about Emmanuel Caputo, the Demon Wizard's disciple.
Ruger pondered it.
From old Lunse's perspective, as a conventional, somewhat old-fashioned Wizard, this little kobold could already choose to leave. After all, a Two-Ring Wizard was willing to take him on as a student-and not an ordinary Two-Ring Wizard, but a powerful one connected to the Demon Wizard. The rumors had confirmed that he also