Chapter 35: The Grimoire can Evolve? (1/2)
In the shadow of the dragon’s legs was a set of stairs that led underground. At the mouth of the stairs, the robed skeleton patiently awaited my arrival. Upon seeing me, he slightly nodded then proceeded down the stairs in an unsteady fashion.
“Siii…huuu..” With the grimoire resting in arms, I breathed in deeply as I began my trip down the ominous-looking set of stairs.
Surprisingly, the stairs weren’t as dark and dreary as I had initially thought. As I took my first step underground, I was greeted with the sight of fairly lit cavern. The sides of cavern wall was peppered with numerous luminescent stones, lighting the cavern up as they fought against the consuming darkness.
After a minute of walking, I was brought to a giant laboratory. At least, I think it’s a laboratory, I don’t know of any other term that suits this place.
It was a vast room filled with the various prototypes of his experiments; which included weapons. Right in the middle of the room was an operating table made of stone. It was probably used to experiment on undead or devils.
Next to it was a bunch of untouched containers filled with strange objects. These were most likely materials for his experiments. Why? Because the materials within those containers are also what I had used for my own experiments; bones, claws and the like.
The robed skeleton continued to the right as he ventured into the room. The right side of the room was relatively less cluttered. Was that a row of bookshelves? Kind of reminds me of those libraries you saw in university. So the undead read books as well…
Not counting the bookshelves, everything on the right side was alien to me. Behind the row of bookshelves was our destination; a dark hallway.
As we walked down the hallway, I peeked at one of the rooms I happened to pass by. I wish they had medicine for regret…it was a biology laboratory. Within it, were numerous glass containers filled of organs, limbs and even whole corpses. As for where these came from, they were naturally the body parts of devils…
Don’t tell me he’s going to dissect me…s**t, I’m going to cry….Is it too late to go home…where’s that medicine for regret…
Having experienced the horrors within one of the rooms, I was in no mood to check out the others that we passed by. With every step I took, my heart pounded furiously as I wondered if the tour guide in front was going to dissect me…best not to think about it…it’s too horrific…
This hair raising stroll finally ended as we entered a luxurious room. The room was at least 100 square meters. Right in the middle of the room was a obsidian-esque crystal. It was roughly the size of a human fist and looked like a perfect gem from a certain game about devils, made by a certain company named after a snowstorm.
Half of this obsidian gem was fused into the ground, and around the exposed half, fine lines drawn with an unknown ink extended outwards in an extremely complicated concentric pattern. It was a magical formation. Just by standing near this formation, I could feel the mana being sucked towards that obsidian gem as if it was a black hole.
“Please give me a moment.” The robed skeleton said as he turned around to face me. He then turned back to the gem and focused on chanting an unknown incantation. It was definitely the devil’s language, but why didn’t I understand it? I’m a devil!
As the incantation droned on, a blackish green aura appeared around his body. In front of me, the magical formation experienced some changes as well. Initially, the outer edges of the magical formation began to pull back. It was as if time was being rewound right before my eyes, as the mysterious lines began retreating along the formation.
As this unusual sight continued for some time, the magical formation continued shrinking until it finally disappeared.
During this period of chanting, I had considered giving the skeleton a good knock on the head, but after careful consideration, I abandoned that idea. No matter what, he was still leagues above me in terms of strength. Given that I still did not know his level, and that he hadn’t shown any ill intent as yet, turning on him wasn’t a good idea. Biding my time is the best option for now.
More importantly, this was his territory; he definitely had some tricks up his sleeves; so resisting was pointless. Caution is my best choice now. After all, an excess of caution never hurt anyone.
As I concluded my harebrained scheming, the robed skeleton had finished his incantation as well. The magical formation was now gone, leaving only the obsidian gem behind. It no longer sucked in mana and merely looked like an ordinary ornamental crystal.
“That is now yours.” He said in a grave tone as he pointed at the obsidian gem.
“Huh?”
“Touch it.”
“…” I have a bad feeling about this…
As I looked at the skeleton’s fleshless but expressive face, a chill ran down my spine and my heart skipped a beat. I sheepishly smiled at him and said: “Err…Can I say no?”
“…”
He didn’t answer me but his calm eyes gave me all the answer I needed.
“…all right…I get it…” I said in a resigned voice, as I reached out with trepidation in my heart towards the obsidian crystal. Will it try to absorb me? Or perhaps it might drain me dry of mana…Damn it, all this reluctance is pointless! In the end, I still have to obey that skeleton.
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If I dared to disobey him, I would be turned into a pool of blood in an instant!
“Don’t worry, this old one won’t harm you.”
Easy for you to say! Aren’t your actions a little too suspicious!
Even after all that whining, what’s meant to come will come in the end. I closed my eyes and reached out to the crystal with my left arm…