Shadow Slave: Diaries of a Stranger in even Stranger Lands

Chapter XXXV: The Slums (6)

Here it is folks, the long awaited ending to The Slums saga. Before you start reading just a few notes:

1- I deleted the old MC status page and posted 2 new ones in the auxiliary volume titled MC Status, and Memories and Echoes for ease of access.

2- Grab a drink of your choice and maybe a snack cuz this beast is +10k words long.

3- Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Period of time spent in Leonia: 3 months)

He sat there sporting a terrible frown with his legs crossed in a meditative position. His eyes were shut in concentration as droplets of sweat trickled down his pale forehead and his back. 

Every few minutes, the youth's head would jolt abruptly as if he had been struck with something sharp.

With every moment that passed, the frown grew deeper and deeper; so much so that it wouldn't have been strange if it got permanently etched onto his face.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, William let out a shaky breath, and his eyes opened to reveal two pairs of cerulean eyes that seemed to be faintly glowing in the darkness of the room.

"Finally, it got engraved," he muttered as he brought up his runes to check for the fruit of his torture.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Memory Name: Profane Grimoire

Memory Rank: Dormant

Memory Tier: -

Memory Type: Tool

Memory Enchantment: [Magic]

[Magic]

Enchantment Description: The owner of this grimoire can cast spells written in it by consuming essence.

Spells Learned: [Prestidigitation], [Light], [Mental Acupuncture], [Shroud of Death], [Doom Bolt], [Comprehend Languages], [Crown of Madness], [Sound Barrier], [Arms of Hadar]

[Arms of Hadar]

Spell Description: You invoke the power of Hadar, the Dark Hunger. Tendrils of eldritch energy erupt from your location and attack all creatures around you (A.N. AOE is 10 feet {~3m}). The tendrils bind those it comes into contact with and devour their souls as sacrifices to Hadar. (A.N. This effect can be avoided as long as the target overpowers the grip of the tendrils in time or if their soul rank is higher than the caster.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He looked at the spell description with a heavy gaze. He reread the spell description several times while trying to come into terms with what he had just done.

He still didn't think that it was a wise choice to have anything to do with whatever eldritch monstrosity this Hadar was, but beggars can't be choosers; especially those in his position.

Moreover, with his Mental Fortitude reaching the rank of E-, the process of engraving the spell into his mental tower slowed down considerably. Whenever he tried inserting the Mental Acupuncture needle, he would experience great resistance that sometimes managed to break apart the needle entirely. Thus, it had taken him countless tried before he fully engraved the spell.

A sigh escaped him as he willed the floating runes to vanish. Getting up to his feet, he began doing some stretches, which caused his entire skeleton to pop audibly as an indication for just how long he had stayed in his meditative position.

His eyes glanced over the simple white, metallic ring on his middle finger, and his mind wandered to wandered to the description of his newest memory acquisition - or rather lack of it.