Chapter 0082: Snorlax

Mary, on the other hand, seemed utterly unimpressed by Grimm’s gratitude. With a light snort, the scant remainder of the blood in the pool surged upward, transforming into a magnificent, flamboyant crimson gown that wrapped itself around her slender form.

Just as Grimm recalled his magic crocodile and prepared to hurry back to the wizard’s tower, Mary, only just recovered, abruptly twisted her head, her emerald eyes suddenly locking onto a particular spot.

“Huh, what’s that?”

Grimm was momentarily taken aback. He followed her gaze and saw only a yellow-green, meter-wide boulder placed in the center of the camp.

A rock...?

He swept the goblin camp with his eyes—scattered bits of gravel littered the grounds, but never had he seen such a large stone. Now, right in the middle of the camp, near the only tattered tent, one such boulder had appeared out of nowhere. It was indeed odd and out of place.

Grimm had been focused solely on rescuing Mary earlier, paying little attention to his surroundings. Now, sensing something amiss, he invoked his Elemental Sight.

Under the discerning vision that pierced the veil of all planar elements, Grimm’s handsome face twitched involuntarily.

Damn, that’s not a rock at all—it’s clearly...

Irritated at having been deceived, Grimm snapped his fingers. The earthen golem strode heavily toward the “boulder.”

Clearly aware it had been discovered, even before the golem’s spear could strike, the “rock” dissolved on its own. In truth, it wasn’t so much dissolution as exposure—a green-skinned goblin, just over a meter tall, threw off its cloak and revealed its true appearance.

“Mercy, sir! Great wizard, have mercy! Spare Kabi! Kabi can be your servant, work as your slave, anything! Please don’t kill Kabi!”

The green-skinned goblin no sooner showed its face than it prostrated itself, kowtowing frantically, chirruping and wailing in terror.

“Er... wait!” Grimm halted the earthen golem. “You can speak the common tongue? Since when do such lowly creatures as goblins develop intelligence?”

“Sir, Kabi isn’t an ordinary goblin! Kabi’s the smartest goblin in the world! I can serve your meals, make your bed, guard your door. Kabi can do anything!” Sensing the young “harbinger of doom” before him was intrigued, the little green goblin immediately began to extol his own virtues.

“That trick you just pulled—what was it? If my eyes hadn’t been sharp, you might’ve fooled me.”

“That’s a disguise spell and partial morphing that I secretly learned, sir. Forgive my presumption!”

“You know sorcery?” Grimm was even more astounded. “You’ve mastered two spells?”

“Kabi, in fact, knows three spells!” stammered the goblin called Kabi.

“Three? What’s the third?” Grimm felt faint. A mere green goblin mastering three spells, while he himself... To date, he’d only grasped four—no, since the Flame Spear was merely a variant of the Flame Arrow spell, strictly speaking, he’d truly mastered just three.

Oblivious to Grimm’s complex inner turmoil, Kabi lowered his head and whispered almost shyly, “Kabi... Kabi also knows Invisibility.”

Grimm was utterly speechless.

A green-skinned goblin, the weakest of magical creatures on the continent, not only possessed intelligence but had mastered three spells. And what spells they were: Invisibility, Disguise, Partial Morphing... An expert in concealment, through and through. If it weren’t for Grimm’s Elemental Sight and Mary’s ability to sense life, the little fellow might have actually evaded disaster today.

Grimm stroked his chin in contemplation.

While he pondered how to handle such a rare and peculiar goblin, Kabi, clearly terrified by his expression, frantically gestured and blurted out an even more sensational secret.

“Please, sir, don’t kill Kabi! Kabi knows about a wizard’s secret treasure! Kabi can take you there!”

If anything could move Grimm today, this was it.

His eyes narrowed, and he said coldly through gritted teeth, “So you’re a magical servant who escaped from a wizard’s tower. Speak, which wizard did you serve?”

It all made sense now. How could a wild goblin suddenly develop intelligence? And even if it did, how would it ever come into contact with the arcane mysteries of sorcery? Piecing the clues together, Grimm was certain: this was an escaped magical servant, likely once belonging to a formal wizard.

Kabi hesitated for a long while, his beady eyes darting anxiously. Yet with the earthen golem’s spear pressing into his shoulder, escape was impossible.

Realizing honesty was his only hope, Kabi finally hung his head and mumbled a name.

“Polar City! Master Priedka the Wizard!”

“Priedka of Polar City? That name sounds unfamiliar. Grimm, have you heard of him?” Mary asked, perplexed.

Grimm’s expression was cold, his words drawn out with an icy tone. “Mary, you really ought to spend more time in the library. Knowing your enemies is the best way to protect yourself.”

“Is this Priedka well-known?”

“He’s very well-known. Because Priedka is a second-tier wizard.” Grimm spit out the last words, one by one.

At this, Mary drew a sharp breath.

For all her usual swagger and recklessness, Mary still recognized her limits. In the presence of a formal wizard, she would never act as she did among peers—she would offer genuine deference. She knew that such a being could annihilate her with a mere gesture.

And as for a second-tier wizard, even full-fledged wizards would tread carefully around one.

Mary and Grimm exchanged a glance, instantly understanding each other.

Kabi must be kept firmly in their grasp!

Good heavens, this was a goblin who had once served a second-tier wizard! Any scrap of sorcerous knowledge or intelligence pried from him would be a treasure for the both of them. As for Kabi’s repeated claims of a wizard’s secret trove, neither paid it much mind—such tales were easily dismissed.

Did he take them for fools? What second-tier wizard would entrust the secret of his treasure to a green goblin? That was nothing short of an insult to the wisdom and cunning of all great wizards! No doubt, Kabi mistook some discarded experimental waste for a treasure.

With a thousand speculations swirling in his mind, Grimm climbed atop his magic crocodile, holding Mary and hauling the goblin Kabi along. Once more, they vanished beneath the earth.

...

Within the shattered tunnels.

Three figures of varying height crouched before the collapsed remains of the giant rock python, silently examining the scene. The shattered crystal core, now devoid of elemental glow, was held high in the hands of Apprentice Philly, who turned it over and over, scrutinizing every detail.

“Well? Have you discovered anything?” the squat Apprentice Hegel yawned impatiently. “You’ve been staring at it for half an hour—surely you’ve found something unusual by now?”

“This is an elemental core taken from an earth elemental of apprentice level,” Philly finally concluded after long reflection, his tone grave.

“Obvious! Anyone could see that. If that’s all you’ve got, why did we need you, Master of Earth, to come and evaluate?” Hegel’s tone was sharp.

Landon stood silently aside, his gaze cold and piercing, clearly still furious at the quarry’s escape.

“It bears fourteen specially inscribed rune arrays, most dedicated to channeling and storing earth energy. The others encompass life infusion, elemental summoning, will imprint, and elemental tempering. All these independent arrays are skillfully linked to form a brand-new three-dimensional sorcery matrix. That’s why this stone python displayed such tremendous power, even trapping a full apprentice.”

Stung by Philly’s implied rebuke, the squat Hegel bristled.

“Damn it, is that my fault? You only told me to block the escape of a senior and a junior apprentice. You never said they had something like this! Hey, Philly, in your expert opinion, is it reasonable for a junior apprentice to control a construct of apprentice level?”

“Hmph, he’s already a mid-level apprentice now.”

“Fine, whatever! Still, isn’t this unusual?”

“There’s nothing strange about it. If he found an alchemy master to properly harness the core’s inherent power, the mental cost to control it would be greatly reduced. It’s not so unthinkable for a junior apprentice to operate an apprentice-level construct. He just wouldn’t be able to unleash its full potential.”

Listening coolly to the exchange, Landon finally spoke.

“What if Grimm crafted these constructs himself?”

Philly was briefly startled, then shook his head with a sigh. “Then he’s a once-in-a-century alchemical genius! Otherwise, I can’t imagine any method to make such perfect use of an elemental core.”

“We’ll find out soon enough. He’ll have to return here eventually. When he does, we’ll capture him and get to the bottom of it,” Hegel interjected carelessly. “Oh, Landon, because you asked me to guard this place, my post at Shaft Seven was ransacked by those surface scum. You’ll have to compensate me for those losses! When Master Purnell asks, I hope you can calm his anger!”

At Hegel’s words, Landon’s handsome face twisted with suppressed fury.

The chill in the tunnel deepened once more.