Dorothy’s Forbidden Grimoire

After sorting out her money and accumulated spirituality, Dorothy did not stop and continued organizing—next was her spiritual storage items.

Due to divination and appraisal, Dorothy's spiritual storage items, particularly those of the Lamp attribute, were consumed at an extremely fast rate. The five Lamp gold coins she had obtained from Brandon were already depleted after just a few days of divination and appraisal. After the events of the past two days, Dorothy realized her demand for Lamp was enormous—for no other reason than divination being simply too useful.

Fortunately, she managed to find some spiritual storage items on that mentor and within the Field Manor. After allocating some of the less important ones to Vania, she kept the majority for herself, deliberately holding onto all the Lamp storage items.

Currently, she had four Lamp gold coins, two Shadow silver coins, and one Stone coin. Including what she already had, her total storage now amounted to 4 Lamp, 2 Shadow, and 2 Stone.

However, the use of storage items was limited—they were primarily for rituals and charging. Only Chalice storage items, due to their inherent nature, could be absorbed through consumption; all others could not be ingested.

Next, she examined her sigils. Dorothy had obtained a large number of Devouring Sigils—around thirty in total, though she didn’t bother counting precisely. In any case, she would never lack them again.

She also acquired another Feast Sigil and two sigils of the Shadow attribute, whose function was unknown. She planned to consult Aldrich about them later.

Moving on, she turned to two mystical items now in her possession: a ruby cane and a black candle. Dorothy set up an appraisal ritual, placing both objects on the ritual table. As she used some of her precious Lamp storage items for the ritual, she felt a pang of heartache but ultimately decided it was necessary.

After all, to properly use these mystical items, she needed detailed knowledge of them. While Lamp was valuable, it had to be used when needed.

She retrieved a Lamp gold coin from her haul, arranged the ritual, and began the appraisal—starting with the black candle. As soon as she placed it within the ritual, the information was revealed.

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Extinguishing Black Candle

When infused with Shadow spirituality, this item will ignite with a silver flame.

Blowing out the flame will extinguish all sources of light within a set radius.

The more Shadow is infused, the greater the range and strength of the effect.

Maximum infusion: 5 points of Shadow.

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"So it's basically a tool for putting out lights. It must have been what was used to plunge the Field Manor into darkness," Dorothy mused.

The ability was simple but effective. However, she wondered if it could extinguish lights created by mystical means.

With the appraisal complete, she put the black candle away and began examining the next item—the ruby cane.

She placed the cane within the ritual formation, expended another gold coin, and soon received the results.

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Heart-Devouring Cane Sword

When this weapon pierces a living being, it absorbs their Chalice spirituality.

The weaker and more mentally vulnerable the target, the faster the absorption.

The absorbed Chalice is stored within the staff, with a maximum capacity of 7 points.

Once per day, if the wielder suffers a fatal injury while the staff is fully charged, the stored Chalice will be consumed to heal them.

However, if multiple fatal injuries occur simultaneously or if the body is too severely damaged, it cannot save the wielder.

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"So this is the item that allowed that mentor to come back to life—it can heal fatal injuries. What a valuable find!"

Dorothy's eyes lit up as she stared at the staff. Who wouldn’t want an extra life-saving chance? This was undoubtedly her greatest gain from the entire operation.

"It’s called a cane sword, and it absorbs Chalice upon piercing a target… meaning—"

Curious, she tried pulling on the cane, and sure enough, a slender, gleaming sword slid out from within.

"So it can also be used as a weapon… though the spiritual cost is high—7 Chalice per use. Still, if it can save my life, it’s worth it. I wonder where that guy got it from."

She then recalled something—this was the very weapon Bill used to drain Clifford dry. She hadn't recognized it earlier while it was sheathed.

"Had I known, I would've tried to absorb some Chalice from the corpses in the manor."

As she studied the blade, she noticed an inscription near the base. Looking closely, she made out the words: "Afterbirth Keeper."

"Afterbirth? Could this be related to the Afterbirth Cult? Aldrich mentioned them before—one of the largest Chalice organizations. Did this cane sword originate from them?"

Dorothy had heard Aldrich mention the Afterbirth Cult several times. They seemed to be deeply intertwined with many Chalice factions, including the Crimson Eucharist she had just dealt with.

This realization sparked a flicker of interest in the cult. If they were truly a dominant force among Chalice organizations, then she needed to remain cautious.

With the appraisal complete, Dorothy carefully sheathed the cane sword and turned her attention to two remaining spoils—two books of mystical knowledge.

Originally, she and Vania had planned to each take one and swap later, but since Vania couldn’t bring them back, Dorothy would keep them for now and send them to her once she returned to Tivian.

This meant she could read both tomes immediately.

She flipped open the first tome and used her Cognizer ability to read at an accelerated pace.

The first book, "Voodoo Forest Expedition Journal," was an adventure journal. It recorded the story of an expedition team venturing into a strange and eerie forest. After experiencing a series of terrifying events, the entire team perished, and in the end, the protagonist—who was also the author—was cursed and transformed into a plant.

The second book, "Wolf Rituals" (Fragment), was something Dorothy had found in the chapel’s advancement ritual array. It detailed hunting and gluttony rites dedicated to "The Gluttonous Wolf," a deity associated with the Chalice path.

It covered all advancement rituals from Apprentice Rank "Craver" to the White Ash Rank "Werewolf."

"So that mentor’s advancement ritual likely followed this book…"

After finishing both tomes, Dorothy estimated their spiritual contents. Voodoo Forest Expedition Journal contained 3 Chalice and 1 Revelation. Wolf Rituals was more profound, containing 7 Chalice and 3 Revelation. Combined, they held 10 points of Chalice.

As Dorothy prepared to extract the spirituality, she noticed a problem—she already had 11 points of Chalice. If she absorbed everything, she would exceed her limit of 20 points.

"I really did rob the leader of the Crimson Eucharist blind… I have more Chalice than I can store!"

Thinking for a moment, she picked up the cane sword and infused it with 7 points of Chalice, filling its storage. The ruby at its tip glowed with a deep red light.

After that, she extracted the spirituality from the books—balancing her reserves at 14 points of Chalice, while the Heart-Devouring Cane Sword was fully charged.

"Okay, finally done. Time to rest—"

Yawning, Dorothy put everything away, took a bath, and collapsed onto her bed, quickly drifting into sleep.