“You need to answer some of my questions for now.” Alex muttered as he glared at Asteria. “You can say that the Main Mission this time… is  a little surprising for us.”

Both Alina and Queen Mother nodded beside Alex, as they share the same feeling as him.

“Ask away then.” Asteria replied as she let out a rueful smile. “Just make it quick, as you need to prepare to face off against the other team.”

“I can understand that.” Alex replied as he took a deep breath. He then stared at Asteria’s eyes directly as he said,

 

“So, first of all, are we Travelers supposed to fight each other in this way? I thought we will have to do the missions alone?”

 

“Well, according to the Endless Monarch, that would be just boring if that was the case.” Asteria replied as she shrugged her shoulders. “He said that a Traveler’s Journey will be much more interesting if he or she gets to meet other Travelers too. Conflict breeds more power, and that power is what makes every journey interesting.”

 

“….” That Monarch is really an irritating person.” Alex muttered as he let out a sigh.

 

Alex can somewhat understand the logic given by Asteria’s answer, but that does not mean that he was happy about it.

 

“I have one more question.” Alex said as he approached Asteria. “Why is the announcement the Main Mission delayed until just now? Couldn’t if have been just announced when we arrived? Is it because there are more than one Travelers here?”

 

“Well… The Endless Monarch determined that it will be better if the Main Mission announcement will be delayed a little, because if it was announced earlier, you and the other Traveler might mess up some things due to panic.” Asteria replied nonchalantly. “If the announcement was delayed, then you and the other Traveler will have some time to get used to this place, allowing you to be more prepared once the Main Mission was announced.”

 

 

“…That reasoning is very vague in my opinion.” Alex replied as he hung his head down. “But what can I do about that anyway? What’s done is done, and all I have to do is just prepare.”

 

These words of Alex brought forth a grin from Asteria’s face, making Alex feel a slight twinge of irritation. “So, you want to buy now?”

“Tell me my net remaining Lifespan first.” Alex said as he waved he looked at Asteria. “We shall see what happens after that.”

 

Asteria did not delay her time as she gave Alex the rundown of his Lifespan.

 

“You stayed in the Monster World for a total of 3 weeks and 1 day. You also gained 4 Years of Lifespan from Bonus Missions, with you using 4 Years and 6 Months of Lifespan to buy three Abyss Tomes. After you finished the Main Mission with a grade of [A], you gained an extra lifespan of 85 Years. The cost of teleporting you here at this place costs around 80 years. You then spent 3 days in this World to scout out things. Combine all these numbers, and you are left with the total Lifespan of 6 Years, 5 Months and 26 Days.”

Asteria said these words in one breath, managing to confuse Alex a little.

“6 Years, 5 Months, and 23 Days huh. Now I can get the good stuff.” Alex muttered to himself as he let out a smile. “You already know what I want to buy, right? Come, give it all to me!”

 

“Right, right.” Asteria muttered as she reached in at Alex’s forehead. “Go, have fun on using them.”

*********************

When Alex tried to use his Esper and Monster Abilities in this World, he found out to his surprise that both of these abilities were not rejected in this World at all!

 

Alex can fully use his EM Wave Manipulation Abilities in this World, and even his Mental Power was growing quite nicely here!

As for his Abyss Tome Abilities, they were all perfectly usable in this World, and his Abyss Energy was also increasing at quite a stable rate here!

Of course Alex was slightly confused by this, as why would a World like these allow both his technological-related ability and his magic-related ability to be usable here?

Was it because this World has powers in it? Or was the reason a little more sinister?

 

Well no matter what the reason was for that, Alex knew that he has no way of discovering it for now…

 

 

With these realizations that he found out, Alex decided to just buy the remaining Abyss Tomes in order to complete the Seven Sins Abyss Tomes Set.

 

From what Alex knew, completing the set will allow Alex to use the Abyss Energy at its full potential.

Not only that, but this completion rate might allow Alex to succeed on doing something that he wanted to do before!

 

And that was to combine his Esper Abilities and his Abyss Abilities!

 

Alex had the faint inkling that he might succeed on doing these once he gets the complete Abyss Tome Set.

With that in mind, Alex had no qualms on buying them all!

 

***********************

While Alex was watching Asteria, who was about to get the remaining Abyss Tomes, he saw her stop in his tracks as she looked at him.

 

“Oi hooman...” Asteria muttered as she put her hands back. “By now, you should now that since we are in a new world, there will be another new cultivation body for you, right? Aren’t you interested on buying it? Its called a Superhero Cultivation Body, and you can buy it for the price of 5 Years of Lifespan. Its pretty cheap, right?”

“Hell no, I won’t be buying that.” Alex muttered as he shook his head.

 

Why would Alex buy another cultivation body right now, when he already had two cultivation bodies with himself?

Buying one more cultivation body will give Alex new abilities, but Alex had the feeling right now that buying one more will not be worth it.

First of all, Alex still had not reached the full power of his Esper Power and his Abyss Abilities.

 

With the current resources that he had right now, Alex was sure that he can strengthen both of his Esper Power and Abyss Abilities easily.

 

 

Why would Alex buy a third cultivation body that will be currently weak when he can just power-up his Esper Power and his Abyss Abilities?

 

Raising the power of this current abilities will be much easier than managing three cultivation bodies at once.

 

“Hahaha! At least you can think!” Asteria exclaimed as she seemed to be impressed with what Alex said. “I thought you would want to buy another cultivation body. Good thing you did not!”

 

“Wait…” From the way that Asteria reacted from Alex, it was as if the dilemma of having many cultivation bodies was a large problem.

 

This realization prompted Alex to glare at Asteria as he asked her,

 

“Don’t tell me that some of the Travelers have this problem? That they have too much cultivation bodies with them that they fail to become actually strong?”

“That’s right~” Asteria replied as she let out a snort. “Some of the arrogant Travelers think that they must have all the abilities that they can see, because they think that they will be stronger the more abilities they gain. Idiots, all of them! That’s why at the end, these Travelers die quickly as they were unable to realize their errors.”

 

“Umm.. don’t they have their own Guides to prevent them from happening?” Alina asked as she glanced at Asteria.

 

“Well, as I told you earlier, these Travelers are arrogant.” Asteria replied with a huff. “Even when their own Guides told them to not increase their cultivation bodies, these Travelers did not listen at all…”

 

“Hmph, at least those Travelers had their own Guides worried for them.” Alex muttered as she glared at Asteria. “But how about you? You did not tell me anything about that danger earlier!”

 

“Hmph, it’s because I want to personally see your plan on buying abilities.” Asteria muttered as she crossed her arms. “If you somehow wanted to buy the Superhero Cultivation Body, then I will do my best to stop you from doing so, and I will also explain to you the dangers about having many cultivation bodies. Fortunately, you were open-minded about stuff like these.”

 

“It’s just common sense, okay?” Alex replied as he tried to not show that he was pleased with what Asteria said. “Well, now that you have confirmed that I will not be a ‘Jack of All Trades, Master of None’, can we go on with the purchase section?”

 

“Hmph, you did not even say a single thanks!” Asteria pouted as she flitted towards Alex’s head. “Stupid hooman, you did not even pat my head!”

 

“There, there, let me do it for you.” Alina muttered as she skillfully rubbed Asteria’s head.

 

“Mn…” Asteria purred like a cat, looking extremely pleased with Alina’s headpats.

 

”Just get on with it.” Alex muttered exasperatedly, with him feeling no desire to headpat Asteria at all.

 

“Ok, here it is!” Asteria grumbled as she pulled out the last four Abyss Tomes from Alex’s forehead. “Enjoy them all, hooman!”

 

Alex was not able to hear Asteria’s words as he was  now just focused at the pile of Abyss Tomes that appeared in front of him.

 

He picked up the nearest of the four, observing its appearance.

 

The Abyss Tome that he picked up has no constant appearance. It’s color, texture, tactile sensation, and even smell always changed for every second.

At one time, it might look like a black book with a smooth texture, while for the next second it will look like a blazing red book with a hot cover.

Alex observed this Tome for another minute, before recognizing it as the Abyss Tome: Lust.

 

“Come to me now.” Alex muttered as he absorbed the Tome.

 

Once the Tome was fully inside him, Alex picked the next Tome, observing it too like before.

 

 

The Tome that he picked up this time had a huge hole at its middle.

Some faint sounds could be heard coming from the hole, as Alex found that the hole was sucking the air all around it.

 

No, the hole was not sucking just the air. Even the nearby insects that approached the hole was also being sucked inside it, including the dust nearby.

 

“Oho, so this is Abyss Tome: Gluttony then.” Alex muttered to himself as he looked at the Tome apprehensively. “I wonder how Mouth will react to this Tome…”

 

Alex then absorbed this Tome too as he picked up the second to the last Tome.

 

“….”

 

Alex had no words to say about this Tome, as he saw that it was just… limp.

Its pages were dropping downwards, its cover seemed to be just soft, while its spine was at the verge of falling of too.

Overall, this Tome was giving off a lethargic feeling, as if it was not interested on existing anymore.

 

“There is no doubt this is the Abyss Tome: Sloth.” Alex wasted no time absorbing it, as he felt a little depressed seeing that book.

 

 

“And if my deduction was right, you should be Abyss Tome: Pride.” Alex muttered to himself as he picked up the last tome. “Hmm… you certainly looked to be full of pride.”

 

“You don’t say.” Someone muttered behind Alex. Alex did his best to ignore that.

 

The Tome that Alex was currently looking was extremely polished, with its cover glossy, and its pages all straight and pristine.

 

Just by looking at the Tome, Alex had the feeling that it was purely thinking of its own cleanliness and appearance.

 

Alex absorbed the last Tome without a thought, feeling its remnants sinking inside his body.

“So, what will happen now?” Alex asked Asteria as he gave her a questioning look. “You told me that once I collect all the Seven Abyss Tomes, something special will happen and that I will be able to use it at its full power. So, what should I see?”

 

“Just wait for a few more seconds, and you will see it.” Asteria replied cheekily as she let out a smirk. “Learn to have some patience sometimes, hooman.”

 

“What do yo-“ Alex’s reply was cut off as he felt something happening inside his body.

 

 

“Oi!” To Alex’s surprise, he saw all of his Abyss Tomes flying out of his body, lining themselves into a straight line.

 

They all floated in front of Alex as they started to let out a dark, eerie glow.

 

“…” Alex did not dare to say anything as he looked at the Abyss Tomes in front of him. Whatever what was happening now surely is the ‘special part’ that Asteria was talking about.

 

The Abyss Tomes continued glowing for a few more seconds before their glows intensified greatly.

Alex had to avert his eyes from the sudden increase in brightness, with the other people in the room doing the same thing too.

 

It was only when he felt that the glow was gone that Alex looked back.

 

“What!!!”

 

What Alex saw made him fall down on the floor hard.

 

Instead of 7 ancient-looking books, what was floating in front of Alex right now were 7 Asteria-sized beings, with each of them having their own unique appearance.

 

“E@(*HI&%&^%$cfv(*)(@n)!!“ Alex’s mind was currently in jeopardy as he saw the 7 small beings looking at him with varying range of expressions.

 

|||Hello Master! Feed me now! Greed is hungry!|||

***Master, I am hungry too! Give me food too!***

{{{Master, where are your enemies? I, Wrath, shall shower them all with my fury!}}}

///I may be small Master, but I think we can have some fun together~\

---Master, can I sleep now? I don’t want to float anymore…---

^^^Sorry Master, but I am not sure if I can help you. All the other Tomes are much better than me… I am just a big failure…^^^

<<<Master, you dare look at me with that kind of look in your face? What a waste! Only those that I deem worthy can look at me like that!”

 

 

Asteria’s choking laughter in the background was the only thing that prevented Alex from thinking that all that he was seeing now was just a dream.

 

“What the hell?”