Chapter 529
Three Grimoires!
After Eivass drank the hallucinogenic coffee, the cafe’s originally forest-like decor underwent a sudden transformation.
The brown wooden walls around him instantly expanded and soared upwards, all the decorations shattering and reassembling with a whoosh.
The original cafe had now become a colossal structure, like a giant’s palace. The wooden architecture had turned into solid brick and stone, and the lighting had grown dim.
The books that had been on the shelves all turned into entirely different books during this process of fragmentation and reconstruction. The sunset light also dimmed to the darkness of night… Several candles, which hadn’t been there before, inexplicably lit up in the room.
Perhaps due to the sudden change in perspective, or perhaps a side effect of the coffee… Eivass only dared to stand up after the intense dizziness and sense of weightlessness subsided.
He turned to look at Haibasha.
She was no longer the petite, elven young girl she was before, but a beautiful woman of at least thirty years old with a mature aura.
She possessed radiant, golden, long curly hair, streaked with strands of sun-like deep red. Her pupils were no longer amber but a deep blue, twelve-pointed light wheel that spun constantly.
Her attire had also completely changed, now being a graceful and luxurious purple robe. The robe was adorned with constellations formed by golden lines connecting geometric patterns, and in her hand, she held a long staff—its outer edge an eight-pointed star, with a constantly rotating icosahedron suspended within.
“You go pick a book first,” Haibasha said again, her voice reaching Eivass now as a mature, intellectual, and indifferent tone. “As for the free gift… I need to prepare it carefully.
“Don’t worry, I’ll choose the best weapon for her—I have no use for weapons suited for the Path of Adaptation anyway. Consider it a testament to our friendly cooperation.”
With that, her entire being dispersed into fragments of afterimages and vanished, just like the book shelves that had previously rolled away. Eivass couldn’t even be sure if this was because he was hallucinating, or if she had truly turned into fragments.
Eivass turned his attention to the bookshelves.
On the enormous shelves, a scattered array of red and purple glows shimmered.
Some lights were small, like stars, while others were large, like suns.
However, Eivass ignored them—he wasn’t here to find a Grimoire for himself this time.
His own construct was already quite perfected, making it difficult to gain enhancement from acquiring a Grimoire.
Eivass closed his left eye, observing them only with his right.
After a brief period of dimness, the colorful lights brightened.
He adapted slightly before searching for the books radiating green light, confirming their names.
— *Spider Corpse Fragmentary Scroll*.
This seemed to be a Gray Heavenly Envoy’s ability, possibly a degraded version of the Spider Silk Grimoire…
— *Killing Intent Grimoire*.
Eivass also had an impression of this. It was an essential Grimoire for Assassins, with high power.
Since it was here with Haibasha, it should mean it was currently lost, which was good… at least it hadn’t been obtained by anyone else.
— *The Cat’s Fallacy*.
This Occult Classic recorded the “Cat Transformation Technique.” Extraordinary beings on the Path of Adaptation could gain “Cat Steps,” “Cat’s Agility,” and “Cat’s Speech” through study. Masters could transform themselves into a cat.
Lily might be interested, but then again, maybe not. After all, werewolves were, in a sense, dogs, and cats and dogs didn’t get along…
— *Treatise on Golden Chains and Silver Locks*.
This was a book for writers and screenwriters on the Path of Beauty.
“…Found it.”
Eivass found the book he was looking for.
It was a thin picture book with detailed explanations.
— *Hellish Transfiguration: Interpretation*.
This book belonged to the Path of Beauty and was an Occult book exclusive to the “Artist” profession. It could greatly enhance illusion-type abilities, allowing one to learn “Painful Illusions.” This was a crucial supplement for Isabel that Eivass was looking for… With this, Isabel would truly possess combat power.
It wasn’t a Grimoire, so it only occupied one gift slot.
Eivass picked it up first because this book was actually a set.
As Eivass raised the book, a faint green glow gradually lit up in his eye.
He walked directly towards it and took the book down.
— *Mask of Secrets Grimoire*.
This was Eivass’s primary objective for this visit.
It didn’t look like a Grimoire at all. The cover was plainly titled “Jewelry Appraisal and Care.” If not for Eivass’s right eye seeing its brilliant green glow, he would have thought it was just an ordinary book.
When Eivass placed *Hellish Transfiguration: Interpretation* on top of the *Mask of Secrets Grimoire*, both books changed—
They seemed to stick together. Eivass forcefully tore *Hellish Transfiguration: Interpretation* away—with a rip, its title changed to *Hellish Transfiguration: Puppetry*.
The *Mask of Secrets Grimoire*, however, seemed to have a layer of skin peeled away, revealing its internal structure.
This book was smaller than the disguised one. It was pure white like ivory, and its surface looked like a human face, or a white mask.
This book could grant the advanced professions on the Path of Beauty, “Tragic Performer” and “Comedic Actor,” or versatile individuals in the acting field, the Mystical Art of “Puppet Mask.”
Its function was simple.
It was to create special masks.
If another person put on his mask, that person could transform into Isabel’s appearance, and then could have their body controlled by her consciousness, and use Isabel’s abilities.
Conversely, if one put on another person’s mask, one could transform into that person’s appearance, temporarily have their body controlled by their consciousness, and simultaneously briefly use their abilities.
— In other words, a “Duet Act.”
This was the most powerful ability in the acting field. After transforming with the mask, one could control the other, or not—if not controlled, it was equivalent to creating a clone. And all the abilities this clone could use would be based on one’s own illusion proficiency.
Isabel already possessed [Resilient Illusion] and the new term [Cunning Spell].
If nothing unexpected happened, her ability construct would be pushed to the extreme with illusions. It was already impossible for her to inherit Bettinaydia Flower’s legacy and become the Queen of Flowers in the original timeline.
As for Janis, her mastery of illusionary abilities was not deep enough. She was a master artist specializing in painting, with some understanding but not mastery of other artistic fields.
This meant Isabel had to forge her own path from now on.
— But what good artistic legacies could be found in Avalon?
Either go to the Irises and trick them out of some legacies, or come to the Church to find Grimoires. The latter’s future was definitely brighter than the former—after all, if you got a Grimoire, you could still trick them out of skill legacies, but if you got skill legacies, you still wouldn’t get a Grimoire.
Eivass carefully put away the two books and placed them back on the table, waiting for the drug’s effects to wear off.
During this time, since he had nothing else to do… he found a few purple Occult Classics and began to read them with peace of mind.
Sherlock, who had taken the coffee first, was the first to emerge from the hallucination.
Although Haibasha had not let him hear the previous conversation, after Sherlock sobered up and looked around, finding the boxes gone, he had a general idea of what had happened.
…Are the books here so expensive?
Sherlock was inwardly shocked.
He had one, Lily had one, Eivass had one in hand, and two in front of him. A total of five books… hundreds of thousands of White Crown Coins were gone just like that.
Although Hermes Manor was considered a prominent family, their financial situation was not very good. Or rather, any Knight family that didn’t accept bribes from the Lloyd Society didn’t have much money.
This was the price of walking the righteous path.
And Eivass, with a flick of his hand, spent tens of thousands of White Crown Coins for himself…
This was difficult for the proud Sherlock to accept.
Despite being close friends, this was simply too much. A small manor in Avalon was only four to five thousand White Crown Coins… excluding the antiques and decorations within, this was equivalent to the value of ten Hermes Manors.
— Even the great artist keeping the Irises didn’t cost this much!
But Sherlock knew that Eivass would never agree to him returning the books. He might even think it was a sign of their relationship being too distant and potentially become angered.
…Is there any other way to help Eivass save some money?
Sherlock thought seriously.
Even if Eivass didn’t care about this amount of money, he couldn’t graciously accept such a valuable gift.
Or find a way to get some extraordinary items, or occult classics for Eivass…
At this moment, Eivass also exhaled and became clear-headed again.
He looked around and his eyes first fell on Sherlock: “Which one did you choose?”
Sherlock spread the book open and showed it to Eivass.
— *The Fool’s Eulogy Grimoire*.
“Not bad, good eye. It suits you perfectly.”
Eivass praised him and gave him a thumbs-up. “I have nothing more to say.”
He had initially chosen this book for Sherlock. This book was also the most valuable one here. Like the *Killing Intent Grimoire*, it was an absolute core for the entire profession. Without it, playing would be very rigid.
The effect of “Fool’s Eulogy” was incredibly powerful—simply put, after activation, it would exempt all chanting and ritual casting elements on the Path of Wisdom at the cost of increased mana consumption and cooldown, greatly reducing the casting time for almost all spells.
For most spells, the reduction was almost instantaneous. And many spells had no cooldown.
Furthermore, this ability could be toggled on and off flexibly. There was no need to worry about running out of mana directly.
Sherlock, however, raised an eyebrow.
— I haven’t explained the use of the knowledge recorded in this book yet, how do you know the effect of this lost Grimoire?
“Lily?”
Lily handed the book to Eivass. The cover read *Ovulatory Moon Grimoire*.
“…Is there one for the Path of Adaptation?”
Eivass stroked his chin, and after a while, he realized, “Isn’t that a Grimoire for the Path of Love?”
“Young Master, if you need it, I can exchange it for another one,” Lily said without hesitation.
“No, Grimoires… aside from essential inheritances, it also depends on personal compatibility. Although I don’t know why you chose this, there must be a reason. Trust your intuition!”
Eivass smiled.
He looked at Haibasha, who had returned behind the counter: “We’ve made our choices, Madam Haibasha.”
Haibasha came over upon hearing this and inspected them. “*Ovulatory Moon Grimoire*… it’s quite suitable for you too, the duality of love and adaptation. *Mask of Secrets Grimoire*? Are you taking this for someone else? And this…”
Her eyes widened when she saw the book in Sherlock’s hand: “*The Fool’s Eulogy Grimoire*?”
“…What’s wrong?”
Sherlock felt uneasy.
“Oh, nothing. I’m just surprised that your level on the Path of Authority is so high. For this book to favor you, it means that besides Wisdom and Authority, you also have an adaptability towards the Transcendent Path in your heart, child.”
— What?
Sherlock was greatly surprised and even a little guilty: I am so loyal and patriotic, and I still have the adaptability of those rebels on the Transcendent Path?
He only then realized what Eivass’s thumbs-up gesture earlier meant.
That sneaky fox! He knew Eivass wouldn’t give genuine praise!
(End of this chapter)
