Free Web NovelChapter 253: Eternal Companion
Belladonna had to quickly move away from the Chief’s makeshift throne, as while his body was disintegrating everything he had inside of his space was pouring out, creating a rapidly growing pile of trash that he had been convinced was treasure.
It filled the throne, spilled over the blood-soaked table and filled nearly half of the room, with the tip of the pile reaching the ceiling.
The cave around her shuddered and shook, causing a few pebbles to drop from the ceiling above and clatter to the ground, or bounce off of the pile of oh-so-valuable items. However this was not because of the Chief’s death, but from the Prisoner Mage working her magic, literally, as they made their escape.
Belladonna was too enraptured with the sight of that wonderful crystal to care about such things.
Without hesitation she tossed it inside her mouth, which was already salivating at the sight, as it immediately dissolved against her tongue. With a gulp she swallowed the dark liquid, as it sent shivers throughout her body as the power coursed through her.
[Source Devouring Constitution activated!
Purifying Source.... Purification complete!]
It made a loop through her body, as if it was analysing its new host, before delving deep into her chest and even deeper, into the realm of the soul. The power seemed to chip away at it, taking a small chunk for itself, before shooting through her body once again.
It raced out of her chest, dove down her legs and into her feet, before leaping out of her body with a chunk of her soul in its grubby little hands. However it wasn’t fleeing or making a dastardly escape with its loot.
Instead Belladonna could still feel the portion of her soul, a thing she did not think actually existed even now, as the power poured into her shadow. Even here in the dark, where few shadows actually existed and were instead just darkness, a shadow formed at the base of Belladonna’s feet and perfectly mimicked her actions as shadows were known to do.
Of course without the right vision, it would have been impossible to see. Darkness and Shadows were, for the most part, the same thing just in different quantities and locations. However just like freshwater and saltwater, although they seemed the same on the surface and under inspection, they were slightly different.
Although in this case the difference was not salt.
Even Belladonna was not entirely sure of the difference, but she could still look down at her feet and see a shadow being cast without a light source. A shadow only visible to her thanks to her darkvision.
[You have gained the following benefits from the purified source; freewebnσvel.cøm
Agility + 20
Esotetica + 10 ]
[You have gained the following skill from the purified source;
Skill: Eternal Companion]
Between this and [Blood Bullet] her theory was completely confirmed. Shadow and Blood, any source remnant from creatures with those types would give her a skill and a stat increase.
In this case, the stat increases were a bit pitiful, but then again so was the Grimshawl so this was actually a little better than she had expected. But she also did not care about them, the skill is all she was searching for.
[Eternal Companion] What a dramatic name, although it was hard to argue with its accuracy. It was the only thing in existence that would be by the side of everyone and anyone, no matter how old they got or how alone they were, wherever they went. Including inside caves without light sources, it seems, which boggled the mind a bit but honestly add it to the list of things in this world that didn’t quite make sense.
The description that came with the skill, which seemed to be a new recurring feature that must have been an update at some point, which was nice, agreed with Belladonna’s thoughts.
[Eternal Companion: From the deepest depth, to the tallest peaks. From birth till death. There is one who has been with you, and who will never leave your side. Even when you cannot see them, the eternal companion remains.
Now, they have gained a new strength. Companionship was not enough, as they now have sworn to carry your burdens. All will be safe within their grasp, and wherever you go, the eternal companion will loyally follow.]
Belladonna lowered her eyes to the impossible shadow that she was casting on the ground and activated the skill. The flat plane of darkness came alive, as the darkness sprouted black flames that waved and danced in the air as they emitted wisps of pure black smoke.
It was exactly the same way that Beans saw every shadow, and between that and what she got the skill from, it was more than enough for Belladonna to figure out what this skill was.
Plucking a random item from the Chief’s loot-pile, in this case a spear with half of its shaft broken off, Belladonna poked her shadow with the spear head, then pushed it in deeper. The shadow eagerly accepted the spear in its entirety.
Once it was gone, Belladonna cancelled the skill, and her shadow returned to normal. As normal as it could be, given the circumstances.
Then, she walked to the other edge of the room, and activated the skill again. This time crouching down and reaching into the shadow, and removing the spear from its depths.
’Just as I thought. Exactly like the Grimshawls. It’s a shame though, if I didn’t have my Bottomless Bag, this would have been extra useful. But I guess it can be good for an extra layer of security.’
Belladonna thought to herself, removing her money from her bag and tossing it into her shadow. She also removed the Wolf-mans half and half source, as well as a few other items that would be good if she ever lost her bag, such as the vial of Dragon Blood she kept spare.
She moved to toss the spear away, but paused for a moment as a thought crossed her mind. She rolled it around in her brain, before tossing the spear back into the shadow and deactivating the skill. Leaving her loyal and eternal companion to carry her burdens.
"Now... What’s behind door number one?" Belladonna muttered to herself, as she rose to her feet and looked towards the strange door that was seemingly bolted into the stone of the wall.
