Dice and Gifts

In this seemingly endless expanse, who knew how many forks there were, or how many crossroads?

Ruger stood at one utterly ordinary crossroads. The only difference was the huge boulder before him, atop which sat someone who could curse him filthy names without making him so much as furrow a brow.

"Possessing a wonder is the dream of many," Half-Man said.

The little kobold smacked his lips. Even using the few remaining hairs on his head to think, he knew Half-Man was absolutely right.

But this thing was hard to come by. He was still using his spiritual power to read the little stories recorded on the dice. One of its former owners could only be described as pitiful beyond measure. He had used the dice many times and, fortunately, never encountered a five or six. Everything had gone smoothly for him when using the wonder, but in the end, he was captured in a trap and imprisoned until death in a deep pit cast from metal and stone. During that time, at regular intervals, he had to roll the dice according to his captors' wishes.

Endless imprisonment and torment. During it all, he had accidentally made a deal with a demon and gained tremendous vitality, ensuring he would not die easily. In the end, he chose to trade with a Stench Demon, completely transforming into a monster in an attempt to use the immense power gained through the bargain to resist. He ultimately failed and died, yet what was written on the dice was that he had succeeded—he had finally obtained the death he sought.

Ruger felt that he might never be bored again.

The tiny dice seemed to hold an inexhaustible supply of stories—one life after another, some long, some short, each more soul-stirring than the last. Especially when viewed as the current owner of the dice. Yes, he had already decided to accept the gift. As long as he did not use it recklessly, as long as he was careful, and only used it at the crucial moment in a desperate situation, there should not be much of a problem. But when he thought of that, he could not help smacking his lips again, and even felt like laughing, because every person in every story had said the exact same thing.

"What an interesting little kobold."

Half-Man had silently watched from the side the entire time, as though enjoying a show of Ruger's inner struggle.

"That is only one part of the gift. You need to personally take part in shaping the complete gift. At the same time, you will be helping me with something," Half-Man said.

Ruger's eyes lit up at once.

The thing he had long awaited had finally arrived. He liked getting benefits for nothing, but he did not like others endlessly taking the initiative to give him benefits for free. That made him uneasy, and it would only drag his already overworked brain into wasting energy thinking about it.

"You may complete the recognition of ownership for this dice and use it to preserve your life. There is no need to worry too much. The dice rarely brings misfortune during its first few uses. Even if you truly make a deal with a demon, you will not die so quickly. It understands the human heart better than most people," Half-Man said.

"It's alive?"

"Yes, and no. It is a wonder. Though it is only a relatively ordinary one among wonders, it is still a wonder unique in all the world."

Half-Man's words put Ruger somewhat at ease. Not the unreliable explanation about wonders, but the fact that he was still useful. As long as he remained useful, Half-Man would not easily allow him to come to harm.

A fragment even smaller than the Demon Dice drifted before Ruger, emitting a faint, multicolored glow.

"This is another component of the gift: a peculiar spatial fragment. Leave your secret art mark upon it. Only then will you be able to touch it."

Ruger did as instructed. After several attempts on the peculiar fragment, which continually shifted between tangible and intangible, he barely managed to leave his secret art mark upon it.

He was also extremely decisive. The moment he finished with the secret art mark, he directly kissed the dice, completing that strange succession and becoming a new generation's master of the dice. Now, only he could roll this joke-like Demon Dice that had nevertheless altered the fates of countless people.

"Very good. But now is not the time to roll it. Put away your dice, and take this fragment. It will guide you to find something. Bring that thing back, and we can begin trying to complete this peculiar gift."

Listening to Half-Man, Ruger somehow detected a trace of anticipation within that flat, indifferent tone.

Ruger thought for a moment, then took out the bottle of dark green potion Half-Man had given him and drank it. The injured spots on his body immediately began to itch, and his throat started itching too. He began coughing uncontrollably, eventually coughing up some blackened blood. It felt as though new fur was about to grow over his body.

That really is good stuff, he thought.

The spatial fragment, upon which he had successfully left a secret art mark with Half-Man's help, seemed to have formed a subtle and wondrous connection with him under the mark's effect.

He reached out and tried to grasp it. The multicolored fragment actually drifted closer to him.

"Go. Remember, bring the thing back," Half-Man said.

Ruger nodded. The instant he grasped the fragment, an unseen guidance surfaced in his heart. It seemed not to be far from here.

Feeling the numb itch all over his body, his footsteps grew faster and faster.

Following that unseen direction and choosing different passageways, he twisted and turned until he somehow found himself on a familiar path.

His expression did not change. The itch and numbness in his body had already eased greatly. He had walked until his entire body was hot, while the potion's potent effects had thoroughly swept away all his injuries and pain.

He kept walking, following the guidance all the way to the Saint Lord's big cave.

Big Silly Hum was not at the entrance. Meanwhile, the kobolds' new king, King Bald Tooth, was sound asleep inside the big cave. Perhaps his belly, whose fur had not fully grown in yet, was feeling a little chilly; even in his dreams, he tugged over a grass skirt to cover it. Ruger walked in with a solemn face. For some reason, after not seeing Ruger for several days, Bald Tooth had become even more terrified of him. Startled awake, he leapt up in fright the instant he saw Ruger.

Ruger waved for Bald Tooth to be quiet, then followed the guidance in his heart straight to a pile of broken bones.

He looked at the somewhat familiar bones before him, as well as the marks still left upon them.

Gray Longneck Saint Lord's nest? Don't tell me the thing I'm looking for is that egg?

Probably not. I already fed that thing to the little bugs. It shouldn't still be guiding me here.

As he thought this, he refused Bald Tooth's request to help and began digging himself. Given the size of that giant snake from before, this bone pile was outrageously large. Blindly rummaging through it would only exhaust him to death, so he dug while carefully sensing that guidance.

"What are you doing?" He suddenly turned his head.

Bald Tooth jolted and forcibly held back the piss he had already let out halfway.

"Go outside and keep watch for me. Come back after I leave." Ruger turned around and continued digging.

The guidance in his heart was nearby.

His hands paused. He turned again and looked around. Bald Tooth had already left, and there was not a single figure nearby.

There was a strange feeling of being watched. Before, he had thought it was because of Bald Tooth.

"What an interesting little kobold. You seem to be a wizard apprentice. Do not be surprised, and there is no need to panic. You awakened me, and as this is our first meeting, I can give you a small gift..."

An inexplicable voice, devoid of any emotional fluctuation, sounded in Ruger's mind.

But Ruger's surprise was not because someone had suddenly spoken to him.