Trials of the Shadow Grimoire [Long]

**Yuki Mori** · Tue Sep 22, 2020 1:53 pm

Guild :

Avarice Vindice

Jewels :

100,000

Rank :

D-Rank

Race :

Human

Experience :

6,250

Reputation :

200

Class :

Spellhowler

Magic :

Shadow Judgement

Aura :

High Priestess

Strength :

1

Speed :

1

Constitution :

11

Endurance :

8

Intelligence :

11

Mana :

200

Boosts :

25% Returning Member Experience Boost (19/09/2020)

Name: Trial of the Shadow Grimoire

Difficulty: Long

Participants: Yuki Mori

Story: Before Yuki got separated with her mother, the lady’s wish was that she take care of the grimoire that was gifted to her and unlock its potential. Being the only memoir left to remind her of her family, Yuki always held the grimoire close to her and toiled hard to fulfill her mother’s wish. The task of unlocking the grimoire’s potential however, proved to be an arduous one for it was filled with thick blank pages leaving the lady clueless of how to study it. As years passed by, she was able to unlock the scripts of a few pages but found herself trapped in a dead end. Through her travels, she was able to consult a couple of mage and sorcerers to aid her in unlocking the mysterious tome however, all ended up fruitless. It was then that she was led to a witch in Oak that could help her tap the grimoire’s hidden potential.

Objective: Seek the aid of the witch at Oak to unlock the mysteries of Yuki’s precious Grimoire of Shadows.

Name: Trial of Sloth

Rank: D

Type: Good

Participants: Yuki Mori

Summary: The location of Elysia proved to be a pain to find however, a chance encounter with a couple of gossipers gave her a hint of a witch that lives deep in the forest just outside of Oak. Taking her chance, Yuki journeyed deep into the forest in search of the most feared practitioner of dark arts.
Yuki was able to confirm that the witch in the forest was Elysia and succeeded in gaining the witch’s aid on unlocking her grimoire’s mysteries. Decoding some scripts that were printed at the tome’s cover, Elysia recites some chants and transports Yuki inside the grimoire’s realm. Upon her arrival, Yuki meets with a shadow spirit who politely greets the former and introduces itself as the Shadow of Sloth.

Lazy for more introductions, the shadow spirit quickly jumped into giving her a task as the shadow was certain that Yuki entered the realm to unlock the grimoire’s mysteries. The task is to choose from among 25 pouches that hang on the ceiling of a nearby gazebo. She is to collect the pouch that has the orb of sloth in it. All pouches were all tied on a string, hung too high for Yuki to peek at what’s inside yet low enough for her to touch their base with her arm stretched. A single touch at any part of the pouch would be enough for the pouch’s string to automatically snap and fall to the ground. The feature appeared to be convenient as she need not to pull each pouch but that also meant that touching each of them to find the orb is out of the option. Adding further to the difficulty of the task is the fact that she could only collect a maximum of three pouches then after that, the whole gazebo along with the untouched pouches would disintegrate. Moreover, she is not to touch any of the gazebo’s pillars nor bring any outside object into it. The orb would act as her key to leave the realm and gain the shadow’s favor. Without it, she will be stuck inside the realm unless someone else comes to her aid. The only clue she has is that the pouches are empty save for the one that contains the orb. When viewed from below however, all the pouches appear to be of similar shapes, making it a challenge to identify which one has the orb and which one is empty.

Others:

Elysia [NPC]: Elysia was known for her practice of the dark arts and was feared among the citizens of Oak. As such, her abode lies deep in the forest outside of Oak. She has always been imagined as an old horrible hag but actually has the face of an alluring young lady. In spite of her youthful appearance however, is a witch that has already lived for more than a hundred years. Contrary to popular belief, she is actually good natured, practicing the dark arts only to come up with means of countering it.

Shadow of Sloth [NPC]: One of the shadows that reside in the shadow grimoire. This shadow embodies the sin of sloth, one of the seven deadly sins from which the grimoire was manifested.

Enemies: None

Objectives:

Search for Elysia deep into the forest of Oak and convince her to aid Yuki in unlocking the secrets of her grimoire.
Succeed the Shadow of Sloth’s trial.

Name: Trial of Gluttony

Rank: D

Type: Good

Participants: Yuki Mori

Summary: After succeeding the Shadow of Sloth’s trial, Yuki was transported back at Elysia’s abode. On the grimoire, a couple of scripts suddenly revealed themselves imprinted on some of the grimoire’s blank pages. With the additional scripts, Elysia was able to again recite some chants and transport Yuki back to the grimoire’s realm.

At the realm, Yuki found herself sitting at one end of a table in what seemed like the banquet place of a traditional Joyan palace. It was quite a long table, with the other end going a few meters away from where the lady was on which she saw another peculiar spirit. This time, sitting across the table was a spirit that resembled a large monster-like blob. The spirit is rather a joyous one who did not waste a second to invite the lady to a sumptuous meal. In front of Yuki was a large bowl, filled with orb-like things of various colors. The spirit quickly introduced them as fruits of the rain. He added that the orb of gluttony is inside the bowl but for the orb to reveal itself, she has to consume everything that is in the bowl. She is not allowed to throw a single fruit away for that would anger the orb and extinguish the whole bowl with it, making Yuki lose the chance to leave the place. Though hesitant, Yuki nevertheless started; however, upon consuming two of the fruits, three more appeared at the bowl. After having done that, she could see the spirit of gluttony laughing and at the same time apologizing that he forgot to mention another detail. She is to consume the fruits in a particular order but that’s for her to find out. The only clue she had was that the spirit of gluttony reiterated that what’s before her are fruits of the rain.

Others:

Shadow of Gluttony [NPC]: The Shadow of Gluttony resembles a large monster-like blob in appearance. True to its name, it embodies the sin of gluttony, evident at its round body structure and belly-like bottom.

Enemies: None

Objectives: Succeed the Shadow of Gluttony’s trial.

Name: Trial of Lust

Rank: D

Type: Good

Participants: Yuki Mori

Summary: After succeeding the trial of Gluttony, Yuki was able to come back to Elysia's place. Though a bit hesitant, Yuki agreed on continuing with the ritual for the sake of unlocking more mysteries on her grimoire.

Back at the shadow grimoire’s realm, Yuki found herself at what appeared to be a massive barren wasteland. A voice suddenly spoke which appeared to be coming from a cat-like shadow who sat just beside her. The shadow narrated that the orb of lust could be acquired if she walked a straight path from where she was, suddenly revealing a narrow cobblestone road before the lady. She also warned the lady that a couple of temptations would appear on the sides that would cause her to stray. Stepping outside the road would shatter the whole realm and trap her in a dark abyss. After quite a long walk, a simple park with a beautiful garden and a cozy sofa would show itself a bit on the lady’s right peripheral view. Should she succeed in resisting the temptation to walk towards the park for a rest, the next temptation would show in the form of a sumptuous banquet filled with Yuki’s favorite delicacies, after another long walk. Should she get past the banquet with her feet still on the road, another temptation would reveal itself after another long walk. A mountain of jewels and treasures would present itself, shimmering at Yuki’s right peripheral view. Should she succeed in keeping her feet inside the narrow path, she would encounter a pedestal after another long walk, showing itself on her left peripheral view. This would be a tricky one, for the shadow specifically instructed that the orb of lust could be obtained by walking a straight path and stepping outside the road could shatter the whole realm however, the pedestal was located several feet outside of the narrow path. This is obviously a mere decoy but should Yuki fall for this one, her journey would end right there, trapped inside the shadow grimoire’s realm.

Others:

Shadow of Lust [NPC]: A shadow that resembles the form of a black cat. She appears to be a former succubus but was cursed and imprisoned inside the grimoire as one of its keepers, embodying the sin of lust.

Enemies: None

Objectives: Succeed the Shadow of Lust’s trial.

Name: Trial of Envy

Rank: D

Type: Good

Participants: Yuki Mori

Summary: Yuki returned to Elysia’s place once again after succeeding the Trial of Lust. With new unlocked pages, Yuki bravely insisted on continuing with the ritual in spite of the challenges that she just went through.

Having been brought to the shadow grimoire’s realm once again, Yuki found herself inside a cave whose only source of light was from a lake of boiling lava lying before her. Atop the lava were a cage and a pedestal, separated by an almost 10 feet of distance, both accessible through two split narrow paths. On the cage was a young girl, and on the pedestal was a peculiar shiny orb. A voice suddenly rang inside her head narrating that before her was a young girl destined to be thrown into the lava lake and the orb of envy that would be the key of her trial’s completion. Opening the cage to rescue the girl would mean the destruction of the orb of envy while choosing the orb would instantly sever the chain that holds the cage, throwing it along with the girl to their demise. She only had 30 minutes to make a decision for by that time, the cage would have been sunked into the fiery lake and the orb of envy disintegrated into nothingness.

Others:

Shadow of Envy [NPC]: A spirit that resembles a lady wearing a kabuki mask, this shadow was believed to have been banished to the shadow realm due to an attempt to murder her siblings to be the sole heir of the throne. Since then, she functioned as the shadow that embodied the sin of envy to facilitate one of the grimoire’s trials.

Enemies: None

Objectives: Succeed the Shadow of Envy’s trial.

Name: Trial of Wrath

Rank: D

Type: Good

Participants: Yuki Mori

Summary: For the fourth time, Yuki was able to succeed in a shadow’s trial and brought herself back to Elysia’s home. Not wanting to break the momentum, she urged the witch to proceed with another ritual upon seeing more of the revealed scripts within the mysterious grimoire.

Inside the shadow grimoire’s realm, Yuki found herself in a monochromatic bamboo forest. Before her, floated a shadow that resembled a horned onmyoji, with its face veiled by an oni mask. Not wanting to keep the lady’s company for too long, the shadow went on with telling her the location of the orb of wrath. She is to collect the orb inside a nearby cave which is guarded by a fierce dragon. Fortunately for the lady, it was the time for the dragon’s slumber. Should she get past the sleeping dragon, the orb is hers for the taking however, waking up the dragon would certainly lead to her demise. After that, the shadow vanishes without any further clues.

Others:

Shadow of Wrath [NPC]: A shadow that was believed to be once a great onmyoji, could be seen wearing an oni mask and a traditional onmyoji kimono. A pair of longhorns protrude from its head, adding up to its sinister vibe. True to the sin of wrath that it embodies, the Shadow of Wrath has a very short temper, making it a challenge to deal with.

Enemies: None

Objectives: Succeed the Shadow of Wrath’s trial.

Name: Trial of Greed

Rank: D

Type: Good

Participants: Yuki Mori

Summary: Yuki returned to Elysia’s place once again after succeeding the Trial of Wrath. This time, not even a hint of hesitation to get on with another ritual could be seen on the lady who seemed to be actually excited for her next adventure. Heeding her request, the witch once again chanted a couple of spells from the newly revealed texts and brought Yuki back inside the grimoire’s realm.

This time, Yuki found herself inside another cave, brightly illuminated by a mountain of shimmering gold. On top of the massive pile was a sinister looking jar where a shadow suddenly popped out and introduced itself as the Shadow of Greed. The shadow narrates that the orb of greed which the spirit describes as its most precious possession, is within the pile of gold and she’s free to search for it however, she is not to touch the gold coins with any part of her body including her clothings for more than 5 minutes. Doing so would shatter the whole cave and leave her trapped inside the realm for eternity.

Others:

Shadow of Greed [NPC]: The Shadow of Greed is actually a small spriggan spirit, residing inside a cursed jar. The jar was said to once contain the treasures that the spriggan stole from nobles. Having stolen a particular treasure that belonged to the gods, the spriggan was cursed to be trapped inside his own jar and imprisoned inside the shadow grimoire’s realm. There it served as the embodiment of the sin of greed.

Enemies: None

Objectives: Succeed the Shadow of Greed’s trial.

Name: Trial of Pride

Rank: D

Type: Good

Participants: Yuki Mori

Summary: It had been six trials so far and yet, Yuki was able to once again come out as the victor. Filled with felicity of her successive victories, Yuki asked the witch to perform the next ritual for her.

With Yuki back at the shadow grimoire’s realm, she found herself inside another traditional Joyan palace but this time, she was before a shogun throne. At the throne sat a shadow who introduced itself as the Shadow of Pride. Cutting to the chase, the shadow gave Yuki a simple task, to retrieve the orb of pride from its right hand. Upon stepping forward, a wall of flame suddenly rose, creating a barrier between Yuki and the throne. The presence of the flames suddenly threw Yuki into panic for that was the very thing that she dreaded. Her success would lie on her courage to brave her fear and step through the wall of flames for the shadow assured her that none could ever extinguish the flaming curtain.

Others:

Shadow of Pride [NPC]: The Shadow of Pride was a fallen warlord who sought another throne in the afterlife. With the gods angered at his impudence, he was indeed given a throne yet not for a warlord, but for a prisoner inside the realm of shadows. He embodied the sin of pride, and amused himself in playing with the fears of whoever sought for its trial.

Enemies: None

Rewards: N/A

Objectives: Succeed the Shadow of Pride’s trial.

Epilogue

After a total of seven trials, Yuki’s excitement even grew stronger, and wasted no time on urging the witch for the next ritual. The witch however, denied Yuki of her request this time, explaining that clues given by the new revealed scripts suggest that the succeeding trials would include combat. Seeing as she was, the witch determined that the lady isn’t ready for such trials. She agreed however, to train the lady and continue with the next set of trials once she deems Yuki to be ready for them.