Chapter 65 Abyss Tomes
"Ssss…"
"When can you learn to keep quiet?" Alex muttered as he tried to swat away Asteria who was floating behind him. "Can"t you see that I am eating?"
Asteria, who was busy making the hissing sounds, gave Alex a sneer as she said,
"Hmph, are you thinking that I did not notice it?"
"Notice what?" Alex muttered as he continued on eating.
"That you do not like that golden woman that you brought in earlier, and that you a.s.sociate her with me." Asteria said as she frowned at Alex. "From what I can see, you are pouring your frustrations on me towards her."
"Um… yeah, I think you are a little right, but that is only one time." Alex replied as he gave Asteria a not-so-guilty look. "I admit that what I did to that golden girl earlier was a little… excessive."
Alex then slurped his remaining dish with relish as he said,
"I feel bad with what I did to her, so I will apologize to the golden girl later, after Alina talks with her. I am sure that she can understand me pretty well as long as I explain myself."
But it seems like Asteria is still not buying it.
"Hmph, so making a girl p.i.s.s in fear is just a little excessive?" Asteria scoffed, as if she could not believe what Alex was saying. "And here I thought you were a decent guy."
"Huh?" This time, it was Alex who was confused. " Why are you so worked up with what I did anyway? Do you have any special connection with that golden girl?"
"Of course none!" Asteria shot back as she kicked Alex"s head. Alex of course did not feel any pain from that. "I just … do not like what you did. That is all."
"Oh really?" Alex muttered as he looked at Asteria intently, who just stared back too.
"..."
"..."
"Tsk, knowing you, I am sure that you will not tell me anything unless I need it." Alex declared with reluctance as he stood up, with his tentacles moving freely. "I will just have to wait until you want to speak up."
Asteria"s only reply to that was a wet raspberry.
"..."
***************
"So, is there any way for me to learn Abyss Magic at a faster rate?" Alex asked as he watched Alina and the golden girls" discussion from the distance. "I could not help but have the feeling that many strong people will come to this place sooner or later…"
"Well, you need to read a Magic Tome if you want to learn a type of Magic faster." Asteria replied as she slurped some honey through her straw. "In your case, you need to have a Magic Tome related to Abyss Magic if you want to learn it faster."
"…" Alex"s eyes twitched as he recognized the business-like tone in Asteria"s voice.
From the way that Asteria talked right now, what she wanted was quite obvious.
"You want to sell me some Magic Tomes, right?" Alex said as he slightly ma.s.saged the symbol on his forehead. "Tsk, I could not help but feel like this whole Traveler thing is just sophisticated capitalism."
"Well, who cares about that when you can get special powers!" Asteria blatantly ignored what Alex said as she touched the symbol on his forehead.
The symbol glowed, and Alex once more felt Asteria"s connection with him.
"Sigh." Alex sighed a.s.she knew that she was back at it again. "Show me the goods."
"Affirmative." Asteria replied swiftly as she enumerated everything in the list.
Alex listened quietly, but it was quite obvious from his tentacles that what he heard were all making him quite happy.
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[ABYSS TOME – PRIDE] --- [1 Year and 6 Months of Lifespan]
By accessing this Tome, Abyss Magic user can use the Abyss Pride Series of Spells. Has 12 levels, and the user has to increase their Abyss Energy if he/she wants to use the spell inside.
[ABYSS TOME – SLOTH] --- [1 Year and 6 Months of Lifespan]
By accessing this Tome, Abyss Magic user can use the Abyss Sloth Series of Spells. Has 12 levels, and the user has to increase their Abyss Energy if he/she wants to use the spell inside.
[ABYSS TOME - GLUTTONY] --- [1 Year and 6 Months of Lifespan]
By accessing this Tome, Abyss Magic user can use the Abyss Gluttony Series of Spells. Has 12 levels, and the user has to increase their Abyss Energy if he/she wants to use the spell inside.
[ABYSS TOME – WRATH] --- [1 Year and 6 Months of Lifespan]
By accessing this Tome, Abyss Magic user can use the Abyss Wrath Series of Spells. Has 12 levels, and the user has to increase their Abyss Energy if he/she wants to use the spell inside.
[ABYSS TOME – l.u.s.t] --- [1 Year and 6 Months of Lifespan]
By accessing this Tome, Abyss Magic user can use the Abyss l.u.s.t Series of Spells. Has 12 levels, and the user has to increase their Abyss Energy if he/she wants to use the spell inside.
[ABYSS TOME – ENVY] --- [1 Year and 6 Months of Lifespan]
By accessing this Tome, Abyss Magic user can use the Abyss Envy Series of Spells. Has 12 levels, and the user has to increase their Abyss Energy if he/she wants to use the spell inside.
[ABYSS TOME – GREED] --- [1 Year and 6 Months of Lifespan]
By accessing this Tome, Abyss Magic user can use the Abyss Greed Series of Spells. Has 12 levels, and the user has to increase their Abyss Energy if he/she wants to use the spell inside.
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"...." Alex carefully a.s.sessed everything that Asteria said, as he felt shocked at the amount of Tomes that he can buy.
"I can buy… all of these Tomes, right?" Alex asked Asteria as he shook his head a little. "I really can buy them all?"
"You can, if you have the needed amount of lifespan." Asteria said as she gave Alex a pityng and condescending look. "However, from what I can see, you can only afford 1 Tome as of now."
"Stingy fairy." Alex muttered to himself as he remembered the amount of lifespan that he had left.
He exactly had 2 Years and 21 Days of Lifespan left.
If he buys one of the Tomes shown to him, he will be left with 6 months and 21 days of Lifespan.
That could be enough to let Alex finish the mission, but it will also mean that Alex will not be able to buy all the Tomes.
"Tsk, I want to buy them all! They all look so cool!" Alex exclaimed as he gave a pleading look at Asteria. "Can"t you give me a discount?"
"No!" Asteria coldly replied as she gave Alex a triumphant smile. "Didn"t I tell you that starting from your Second World, all of the things that you have to purchase will have no discount at all? If you want to buy all the Tomes, then you must have the needed Lifespan for that!"
"Tsk." Alex gritted hit teeth, as he knew that there is no way for him to persuade Asteria about this issue.
"Can I… still buy these Tomes even when I am in other Worlds?" Alex asked Asteria as he started to think of what Tome he should buy first.
"Yes, all of the Items that you did not buy will still be available to you no matter where you go, so you can buy the other Tomes even when you are in other Worlds." Asteria replied as she emptied her last jar of honey. "Yum, that was good!"
"In that case, I have a question for you." Alex declared as his mind began to spin furiously.
"Ask away." The current Asteria was in her post-digestive state, as she was busy on relis.h.i.+ng the delicious feeling that she got from her honey. "I am in a good mood now, so I can give you better answers than before."
Alex did not hesitate as he said,
"Can you tell me the kinds of abilities that will be gained from each type of Abyss Tome?" Alex knew that since he can only buy one Tome for now, he should at best choose the one that will allow him to succeed on his mission.
He cannot just buy a Tome because it sounds bada.s.s. He will buy a tome that will save his a.s.s.
"Well, I can summarize it to you easily." Asteria said after she cupped her chin for a minute.
"Abyss Tome - Pride will give you spells that are focused on enhancements. Abyss Tome – Sloth will give you spells focused on crowd control and support. Abyss Tome – Gluttony has spells that will allow you to devour objects or sentient beings which will enhance your body. Abyss Tome – l.u.s.t will give you spells that are more focused on illusions and manipulation of sentient beings."
Alex nodded his head as Asteria continued talking.
"Abyss Tome – Greed will give you spells that will allow you to steal objects or sometimes even abilities. Abyss Tome Envy will give you spells focused on shapes.h.i.+fting and matter manipulation. And finally, Abyss Tome – Wrath will give you spells that are focused on destruction and annihilation."
"Wow… from the sounds of it, Abyss Tome -Wrath sounds really cool." Alex muttered after Asteria finished talking. "Destruction spells? d.a.m.n, am I in S**rim now?"
"Nope, you are not!" Asteria replied angrily, as if what Alex said had struck a cord in her.
"….." Alex was not sure why Asteria seems to be angry with what he said, so he asked her,
"What"s wrong with what I said?"
"What"s wrong with what you said is the fact that you are thinking that we can go to S**rim!" Asteria said as she shook her head angrily.
"Alex, let me remind you about one thing. You should never ever think that we will go in a World that is based on a Fictional Story!"
"Huh?" Alex was more confused now, as he could not fathom how a simple statement of his managed to trigger Asteria this much.
"Don"t expect that we will go to the D***onball world or O** P**ce World!" Asteria said as she huffed in anger. "Those Worlds are just fictional, they are not real, ok?"
Asteria then started a rant which made Alex shrink a little in his seat.
"F**king Travelers, the first thing that they ask me is that if they can go to an Anime World. What the f**k? Those s**ty things are just fictional! What nerve do they have to think that they can go there? F**king weebs! The Endless Monarch only brings us to Real Worlds, not Worlds that are just made up from paper and ink!"
"...."
[[[Author"s Note: I love reading fanfictions, and Asteria"s view on them is not related to mine.]]]
Before he and Alina arrived at the clearing earlier, Alex was actually planning to ask Asteria if they can pa.s.s by an Anime or Video Game World.
But with the way that Asteria felt about these Worlds, it seems like Alex will have to stop thinking about them.
"Ok…" Alex shut his mouth, as he tried not to point out that the world that he is in right now just looks as fictional as some of the manga and books that he read. "No fanfiction world then."
"None of them. None at all." Asteria said as she crossed her arms in satisfaction.
"So, should I buy the Abyss Tome - Wrath then?" Alex inquired as he decided to avert the topic for now.
"Well, its offensive power is really high, but its Abyss Energy requirements are high too." Asteria commented as she inspected Alex"s body.
"Yeah, of course it will have a limitation like that." Alex replied while rolling his eyes.
According to what Alex knew, his power on Abyss Magic will depend on the amount of Abyss Energy that he had in his body.
Right now, the Abyss Energy inside him is about to reach Grade 2, which will allow him to cast until Level 2 Abyss Magic.
That amount was somewhat limited for Alex to use powerful spells, and he was not sure if he will really need to use powerful spells.
The other Abyss – Tomes might have weaker offensive potential than Abyss Tome -Wrath, but they look easier to use and handle.
"Should I go for firepower or for a more stable powerset?" Alex cupped his chin as he began to think.
After 10 minutes of intense brainstorming, Alex let out a sigh as he decided on what to buy.
"Ehem." Alex cleared his throat, presumably to get Asteria"s attention, who was busy threading some flower petals into a crown.
"Oh" Asteria only jolted lightly as she saw Alex looming over her. "So, what will you buy?"
"Well…" Alex scratched the back of his as he seemed to be struggling to get his words out. "What I plan to buy is the Abyss Tome…"