Chapter 152: Kurg Misunderstanding

Ka’z was petrified, though even he couldn’t explain why. His eyes remained fixed on the Red Scripture, but his mind was no longer focused on the words written across the page.

The information he had just received about the Forbidden Elements had disturbed something deep within him.

"When was the last time these Forbidden Elements showed themselves?" Ka’z asked quietly.

[Negative. I cannot divulge such information]

Buzz!

Ka’z’s face twisted with shock. He stared blankly ahead for several seconds, his fingers tightening around the Red Scripture.

This was the first time the System had outright refused to provide information he had requested. It had withheld information before, but there had always been some explanation or limitation. This was different. The System wasn’t saying that the information was unavailable. It was explicitly telling him that he could not know.

"What event made the world believe people with Forbidden Magic are evil?" he asked, his voice becoming more serious.

[Negative. I cannot divulge such information]

Ka’z’s frown deepened. He stared at the System’s response before finally letting out a tired sigh. Clearly, there was something surrounding these elements that even the System considered beyond what it was willing to reveal. Rather than waste more time asking questions that would receive the same answer, he slowly flipped another page of the Red Scripture. He had barely begun reading when his eyes narrowed.

"There is no need trying to sneak up on me. I can even sense the birds flying over me and the insects around the vicinity. You will never catch me off guard," Ka’z said calmly without bothering to look behind him.

Kurg immediately glanced at Ru’k with an accusing expression.

Ru’k pointed at himself in disbelief. "Bastard, I did nothing wrong. I move silently much better than you!" he yelled.

Kurg rolled his eyes and walked toward Ka’z, while Ru’k followed him with an irritated expression. The two leaned over Ka’z’s shoulder from behind, attempting to peek at the contents of the Red Scripture.

Their eyes moved across the strange writing for several moments, but neither of them could understand what they were looking at. After a short while, their curiosity disappeared completely, and they straightened themselves.

"Has the training chamber been set up?" Ka’z asked.

Kurg nodded immediately. "Yes."

"We had to do it ourselves since you wanted it to be a secret," Ru’k complained. "You just made everything difficult for us."

"Idiot, some things are meant to be kept secret. Since it’s ours, we should be the ones setting it up," Kurg scolded.

Ru’k simply placed an arm around Kurg’s shoulder and rolled his eyes, clearly refusing to take the lecture seriously. Ka’z ignored their bickering and looked toward the clearing below.

The work had continued while they were talking. Kobolds and Ashmork artisans moved through the clearing, cutting away remaining vegetation and organizing the timber into carefully arranged piles. The first stages of the settlement were beginning to take shape, although there was still an enormous amount of work ahead of them.

Ru’k’s attention shifted toward the workers as he began helping organize the logs into one area. After watching them for a while, he looked back at Ka’z.

"How big do you plan to make this village?"

Ka’z slowly shut the Red Scripture and returned his attention to the clearing. "I want to make a village that can accommodate at least a hundred people for now. As we grow in population, we can easily expand."

Kurg, however, wasn’t paying much attention to the size of the settlement. His eyes were fixed on the small group of goblins scattered throughout the construction site.

They weren’t simply carrying materials. They were giving instructions to the kobolds, demonstrating techniques and correcting mistakes whenever someone handled a tool incorrectly.

"I thought we brought them back as slaves," Kurg said. "Shouldn’t they be doing all the work?"

Ka’z glanced over his shoulder at him. "Do you want the construction of our village to take ten years?"

Kurg frowned but hesitated to answer.

Ka’z returned his gaze to the workers. "If we force them to do everything themselves, nobody here learns anything. The entire purpose of bringing them back was to acquire their knowledge. Their hands can only build one house at a time, but if they teach twenty kobolds how to build, those twenty can eventually teach hundreds more."

Kurg considered his words before asking, "Then don’t you think you should have brought more slaves?"

"We killed almost every man in Ashmork," Ka’z replied. "Or would you have been satisfied watching children and women do heavy work for us?"

Kurg’s face fell.

"No."

The single admission came quietly, followed by a defeated sigh. He understood why Ka’z had made the decision, even if a part of him still struggled with it. Seeing their enemies alive and working alongside them felt strange enough.

"Aren’t you worried that these children will grow and become a problem later?" Kurg asked.

Ka’z shrugged indifferently. "I’m hoping they can grow so that they can all become a part of the kingdom I plan to build. Or have you forgotten that the goal is to subdue and unite all races in the Evergreen Forest?"

"Even Ashmork?!" Ru’k blurted out in disbelief.

"Yes, even Ashmork." Ka’z nodded without hesitation, his eyes remaining fixed on the working crowd below. "Their parents have paid for their crimes. So why must we kill the children and women too?"

The question silenced both of them.

Kurg and Ru’k exchanged a look. Neither had an immediate response because they both knew exactly where Ka’z’s reasoning led. If something terrible ever happened to them and their own people, they would want an enemy to show mercy toward their children and families.

The frustrating part was applying that same standard to an enemy.

Ka’z continued before either of them could respond. "Besides, goblins grow slower than us. They would need to be at least six years before they can pick up weapons and come knocking at our gates. By then, our village would have become a powerful force that can easily squash them. And without the artisans and the knowledge of the Red Scripture, they will never be as strong as they used to be. We have won the war completely. Ashmork will never rise again."

Buzz!

Both Kurg and Ru’k flinched slightly at the certainty in his voice.

Only Ka’z knew the full extent of what had happened at Ashmork. There was simply no realistic path for Ashmork to return to its former strength anytime soon.

"Alright... Alright... I’ll back off on this topic," Kurg said as he raised both hands in surrender.

Ka’z exhaled with a small smile before turning his attention back toward the clearing. The workers still had several days of preparation ahead of them. The trees had to be cleared, the ground leveled, the foundations planned and the first structures constructed. There was no reason for him to sit there watching every individual movement.

He stood and turned toward Ru’k.

"You are good at organizing people. You should take over from here."

Ka’z patted Ru’k on the shoulder and walked away before the other kobold could even decide whether to agree or refuse.

Kurg immediately followed him.

Several minutes later, Ka’z reached the entrance to the secret chamber and stopped.

A faint rainbow colored haze poured through the doorway, produced by the enormous chunks of aether crystals embedded throughout the walls. Their light reflected across the stone, filling the chamber with shifting colors and making the entire place appear almost otherworldly. The crystals they had taken from Ashmork were considerably higher quality than the ones the colony had previously possessed, and Ka’z could already feel the difference before even stepping inside.

He entered without hesitation and walked toward the center of the chamber. After sitting down, he released a tired sigh and adjusted his position until his legs were properly crossed beneath him. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

Almost immediately, the atmosphere changed. The aether throughout the chamber began moving.

Tiny streams of energy first drifted toward him before rapidly accelerating, forming increasingly dense currents that spiraled around his body. The rainbow colored haze seemed to bend toward his position as countless strands of aether were drawn into him. His breathing remained steady as his body absorbed the energy, filtering it through his core with an efficiency that would have been impossible for an ordinary kobold.

Kurg had just entered the chamber when he froze. His mouth opened slightly before closing again. He had spent three weeks under Kong’gong’s supervision learning how to absorb and refine aether efficiently, and even after reaching the Silver Core Realm, he had never witnessed anything like this.

The sheer amount of energy being pulled toward Ka’z made the cultivation process look almost effortless.

"At this rate... he’ll reach the Silver Core much faster than I did," Kurg muttered.

It had taken him three weeks under Kong’gong’s supervision to reach the Silver Core Realm, but judging by what he was witnessing, Ka’z might accomplish the same feat in a week or perhaps even less.

Kurg shook his head and pushed the thought aside. Comparing himself to Ka’z was pointless. Their circumstances were completely different, and Ka’z was the chosen one to lead their race to prosperity. He has already shown capabilities beyond what they possessed so things like this didn’t shock him much.

He walked deeper into the chamber and sat down several meters away. Aether slowly began flowing toward him as well, though the difference between their cultivation speeds was immediately obvious. His own absorption was steady and controlled, but Ka’z’s was considerably more intense.

Neither spoke again.

The two kobolds simply sat within the rainbow colored chamber, silently cultivating as the aether crystals continued releasing their energy into the room.