The Endless Penumbra has developed the ‘Tempered’ attribute.

The ‘Tempered’ attribute will cause the following to occur:

-Weapons or relics manifested by you will undergo a ‘tempering’ process which allows them to gain increased power and durability.

-The Penumbra is now limited in what it can consume, once it reaches its maximum capacity, it will refuse to eat until it grows hungry again.

-In order to feed Penumbra low-quality items, they must be delivered in large quantities or else it will refuse them.

-The ‘Tempered’ attribute allows the Penumbra to digest consumed items carefully, as a result, greater benefits from consumed sustenance will be drawn out.

-Due to the increased restraint and discipline applied, the Penumbra will seek to assist you and actively search for items that relate to the power of death.

To remove the ‘Tempered’ attribute, you must feed the Penumbra souls reaching a value of 50,000.

To evolve the Endless Penumbra, it must be fed at least one ancient relic or artifact.

The current value of souls in your possession: 6,750

Path of The Death Bringer:

Bind: Bring forth any incorporeal foes and chain them to the material world for a period of time, making them vulnerable to physical attacks. If used against living creatures, the effectiveness is halved. The strength of this ability is connected to your understanding of death.

Cost: 5,000

Penelope’s Vow: Draw on the power of Penelope’s vow and call to all willing Death Bringers. Those who accept will manifest as spirits and assist you for a short period of time.

Cost: 10,000

Phantom Heart: This ethereal and unmoving heart will strengthen your soul and your connection to spiritual realms as well as protect you from the entities that may populate them.

Cost: Purchased

Soul Reaving: Beyond increasing the effects of siphoning the souls of the dead, this ability allows you to strip weaker beings of their souls which may outright kill them. When used against beings with souls either stronger than or equivalent to your own, it will serve to weaken them for a time.

Cost: 25,000

Invocation of Limbo: Invoke the power of the purgatorial realm itself and trap your foes between the land of the living and the dead for a short period of time. Any being caught within the radius of this invocation will not be able to move. The power of this ability will exert a terrible burden on your body, so it would be wise to exercise restraint in its use.

Cost: 30,000

Skeleton Key: This is a weapon forged by your soul and tempered with your flesh and blood. Your very existence grants this weapon power. As long as you persist, this weapon will not falter.

Cost: 50,000

Path Of The Dread Sorcerer:

Wield these ancient and forgotten forms to vanquish your enemies. These skills cannot be purchased with souls, only learned or taken. Acquiring each skill will strengthen your soul.

The Endless Penumbra: The Penumbra remains tempered, it follows your will. The path of its growth lies in your hands.

Art of Sanguina: Take control of your lifeblood and you will find the only restriction in the use of blood arts lay within your imagination.

Your blood hums with power.

Art of Mortality: To think that raising the dead is the peak of necromancy is pure ignorance. Only once you explore your own death and gain enlightenment will you gain an idea of the power you can wield.

You possess a greater understanding of death and yet, there is still more to be learned.

Form of Bones: For a Dread Sorcerer, your body is your greatest defense. To be bent, broken, and crushed is a small price in that regard, wouldn’t you agree?

Form of Flesh: To use this form requires you to act as a medium between worlds. If you use your flesh as a gateway, you may summon spirits to fight for you… for as long as you can withstand the pain, that is. Or perhaps you wish you carve runes upon your skin and make use of their effect for a time?

Song of The Crow: Because you possess an artifact with a small affinity toward death, you can enhance its powers further and permanently bind it to your soul.

Song of Silence: This will summon a death fog in the area around you. The longer your enemies stand within it, the more you can will it to weaken them. You cannot move or speak while using this power as any sound you make will cause the death fog to target your soul.

Penelope’s Song: A unique skill that is the result of walking the Path of the Death Bringer and Dread Sorcerer. Once a month, when the moon is at its brightest, you may meet with Penelope should she be willing.

Breathless Walk: Move as the spirits of the dead do, silent and unseen. Pass through any solid object that is not affected by magic or living. While in this state, you may not attack others. Beings with strengthened perception and eyesight may discover you if you are not careful. If discovered by the living, you will be removed from this state. In addition, the moment you breathe is when this technique will end.

The Broken Scale: A pound of flesh is the greatest collateral of all. Offer a vital part of your body and your sorceries will become more powerful. Any part that is exchanged will be rendered unusable for a year.

Stampede of Pale Horses: The ones atop pale horses acknowledge your existence, but have yet to be impressed by your actions.

Touch of Azrael: You cannot accept this in your current state as it would tear your soul asunder.

Inheritor of Thanatos: You are absolutely worthless and will continue to be seen as such until deemed otherwise, Casper Clay.

While I read the content of the grimoire, the penumbra slowly consumed the guardian’s armor. Though it usually could consume everything in one go, the pieces of armor were far too large. At the moment, the shadowy arm had expanded like a web and began dissolving the armor.

In the meantime, I closed the grimoire… If there was anything I would buy, it would have to be ‘Bind’ as the Hell Gate was likely full of demonic entities, some of which might be incorporeal.

‘I need to get more souls,’ I told myself.

If I was contracted with a guild, I would probably be able to clear the ruins they held control over as much as I wanted. Since that wasn’t the case, I could look for ones with higher difficulty that most would avoid. It would be killing two birds with one stone since I could get a steady stream of souls as well as a good amount of training.

I reclined back and waited for the penumbra to finish eating the armor.

“I guess I need to find a new place.”

One look around revealed immense damage that made staying in this humble apartment less than worth it.

There were houses created with the gifted in mind, added protections like enchanted doors and rare building material that had been obtained from ruins were commonplace. They usually carried massive price tags, but in my case, I definitely needed it.

After I spent an hour searching for listings on my phone, the armor had finally disappeared. I felt a change in my body, but I decided to try something else before checking the grimoire.

I removed the Dagger of Premonition, which was in its ring form, and placed it atop the heavy greatsword that remained.

If I could upgrade it, there was no telling what sort of effect it had… If I recall correctly, only by combining it with a greater artifact would allow me to upgrade the Dagger of Premonition.

‘Well… get to it.’ I tried communicating my intentions which caused the penumbra to move.

Dark and hazy threads began to wrap themselves around the greatsword and the ring, but the unthinkable happened in the next moment.

I heard a loud crunching sound and was forced to watch as the ring broke in half while the greatsword became covered in web-like cracks before it shattered completely.

“You're kidding me.” I slowly lowered my face into my hands.

The penumbra scooped up the pieces of the ring before sinking back into me. I was left speechless without any time to regret what I had done.

‘At least, there’s the armor.’

I brought out the grimoire and read the fresh letters filling the top of the page.

The penumbra has finished digesting. The items consumed have produced a lower manifestation of an armor created by ancient lich known as the Ivory Warden. In his tower of bone, he strove to create an osseous skin that would make him invulnerable to everything… While he failed to achieve his dream, his work resulted in the creation of a form with incredible strength, durability, and an innate connection to the spiritual realm.

When using Form of Bones, the Ivory Warden’s Armored Skin will be adorned. An additional layer of protection known as a ‘Spirit Barrier’ lies on the surface of the armor allowing the wearer to resist spiritual and arcanic attacks. The strength of the barrier is dependent on the strength of the wearer’s soul. Once the barrier is depleted, it requires one day to reform.

If you wish to obtain the full manifestation of the Ivory Warden’s Armor, thereby deciphering a small number of his secrets, a powerful set of armor must be consumed. If the process is unsuccessful, the Ivory Warden’s Armor will fracture and be rendered unusable until it is repaired.

Your attempt to strengthen the Dagger of Premonition has failed. A worthier blade must be combined with its remaining pieces of the dagger. Additional failure will permanently destroy any manifestation of the dagger.

Due to possessing the ‘Tempered’ attribute, The Ivory Warden’s Armor gains an additional level of strengthening.

I felt like I had seen the silver lining in all of this. Reading the description of the Ivory Warden’s Armor numbed the pain I felt from losing the Dagger of Premonition. The worth of the dagger wasn’t in its ability to be a weapon, but the fact it could save my life at any given time. If I didn’t have it, Grier and his two subordinates would have caught me unaware.

I would mourn its loss, but I now had a better way to protect myself. So, I deemed it to be a fair trade. At least, that’s what I told myself in hopes of consoling my broken heart.

I headed for the bathroom mirror so I could at least get a look at the armor.

“Woah!” I shouted at my reflection.

I didn’t notice at first, but my looks had changed. For one, my hair had gone gray, leaving all but one patch that kept its dark brown shade in an act of rebellion. My hair had also grown twice as long over the last few months, but that wasn’t something worth mentioning.

My skin, on the other hand, had become even paler. I wasn’t as pallid as Penelope, but if someone confused me for a reclusive vampire, I wasn’t in the position to prove them wrong.

I instantly used Form of Bones and quickly became astonished at the changes that occurred.

An illusory armor began to materialize before sinking into my skin and fusing with my flesh, causing my clothes to vanish. What appeared in its place were layers and segments of sleek, pearlescent, ivory that shaped itself to my body. A lustrous skeletal helmet covered my face like a mask,

The strangest piece that came with the armor was the dark waist cape that had a leathery, almost skin-like, texture. It was attached to the base of my spinal area, so it wasn’t as if it were some sort of accessory I could remove. As long as it didn’t hamper my movement, I didn’t care much.

I stared at my reflection, the haunting image of an ivory being was shown to me. I could hardly picture the appearance of the lich who created the armor itself. I felt that if I had left my apartment like this, I might be mistaken for a creature that had crawled out of one of the stronger ruins.

I undid the transformation and luckily, my clothes still remained. It seemed that once I summoned the armor, my clothes would only temporarily vanish, which was a good thing. If I happened to be naked all underneath the armor, I could only begin to imagine the problems I would cause by undoing the transformation in public.

‘Now, all I need to know is how much the barrier can withstand.’

I still had a few days before Alexandra’s practice run, but I didn’t want to register for a ruin. Instead, I would follow up on the memories I received from my attempted ambushers.