72 Yeoowww!!!

Alex readied the tip of his tentacle, which he filled with large amounts of Abyss Energy.

Alex made sure that all this energy was concentrated in just one tiny spot, which will form the sharp point that will engrave the rune.

"Technically speaking, I should only engrave one Abyss Rune, but according to Asteria, I will be able to engrave a total of 7." Alex muttered to himself as he remembered what he should do in his engravement.

According to his research along with his Abyss Tome, a Human or a Monster that steps on Grade 4 will have to engrave 1 Rune in their body.

For the Monsters it's called Energy Rune while for the Humans it's called Essence Rune.

This is the norm of all those who steps to Grade 4.

Only 1 Rune can be engaved.

But Alex found out that there are some exceptions to this case, and this exception includes him.

All in all, Alex should be able to engrave 7 Abyss Runes in his body, with each Rune representing one Abyss Tome.

But because Alex only have the Abyss Tome – Envy with him right now, the only Abyss Rune that he can engrave was the Abyss Rune for Envy.

If Alex wanted to engrave the other 6 Abyss Runes, then he must buy the other Abyss Tomes too.

Naturally, this made Alex feel bad, as he felt that his strength was being limited by this.

He complained about this case to Asteria when he found out this info, but what Asteria replied to Alex at that time managed to shut him up.

"You think you are weak just because you use one Abyss Tome? Ha, get a grip!" Asteria angrily replied as she shook her head in disappointment. "Do you know how powerful one Abyss Tome is?"

"Well nope, since I have no viable reference." Alex cheekily replied while giving Asteria a wry smile. "What is it? Like one-half of a legitimate cultivation method?"

"No, idiot." Asteria snapped as she tried to bop Alex's head. "That Abyss Tome you bought earlier? That is already comparable to the cultivation method that the people in this World use."

Alex felt his mouth go dry as he realized the implications of what Asteria just said.

Alex gulped his slightly parched throat as he slowly said,

"Does that when I buy all 7 Abyss Tomes, I will gain a cultivation method 7 times more powerful compared to the people living here?"

"You can say that it is like that." Asteria said nonchalantly as she trimmed her nails. "So do not get jealous if you only have one Tome for now. Focus on surviving and being able to buy more Tomes in the future."

"Roger…"

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

Alex took a deep breath as he allowed the tip of his tentacle to get nearer his right shoulder.

After some deliberations, Alex decided to engrave the Abyss Envy Rune on his right shoulder.

Why did he put it there? Alex just wanted to.

As the tip of his tentacle slightly touched his skin, Alex's mind spun as he tried to remember the appearance of the Abyss Envy Rune that he will engrave.

The Abyss Envy Rune was basically one small circle that was inside a larger circle. The smaller circle had an arrowhead placed on its top, with the arrowhead pointing to the left.

This is the symbol that Alex will engrave as his Rune.

[[[Author's Note: These are the symbols of all the Seven Abyss Runes that Alex will have to engrave. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b7/80/0e/b7800e8d96277328ee12e19d9e240d44.jpg ]]]

While Alex was busy on calming himself down, Asteria was just idly watching him from the background.

Although Asteria looked as if she was not worried at all, she was somewhat nervous as she watched what Alex was doing.

Asteria remembered some stories of Travelers exploding into pieces just because they messed up with the Engraving Part. Even those who are extremely talented sometimes fail too.

"Hmph, Alex surely will not fail like them, right?" Asteria thought worriedly to herself as she silently wished that Alex will succeed.

If Alex failed, then both of them might die, and Asteria's hooman will surely be implicated too.

"Don't be a prick now, Alex." Asteria muttered as she let out a hmph. "I still want to taste a Royal-Grade Honeycomb!"

While Asteria was silently waiting for the moment to arrive, she suddenly heard a blood-curdling scream of pain, which came from Alex himself.

"Yeoowww…" Alex sounded like a wounded mule, as he brayed loudly against the sky.

Steam was coming out of his right shoulder, as the tip of his tentacle started to do its magic there.

"…" Asteria winced upon seeing this, as she knew that the engravement process is starting already.

"By wounding his body and injecting Abyss Energy in the wound, Alex will be able to leave a permanent mark on his body." Asteria muttered to herself as he recalled the basic process of engraving. "Actually, that process sounds simple, but it is incredibly painful."

Asteria knew that the process of Rune Engravement sounds similar to making a Tattoo.

The only difference was that making a Tattoo creates a superficial pain on the skin, while Rune Engravement leaves pain that will leave the practitioner in tears.

Not only does the Rune Engravement leave marks on the skin, it also forcefully fuses itself with the soul and mind of the practitioner as the rune was being slowly made on the skin.

Nobody, not even a hardened criminal can resist that kind of pain.

"I wish you luck Alex…" Asteria muttered as she flew away. The engravement process will last for at least an hour, so Asteria knew that she should not waste her time waiting that long.

"Time to find some honey then. My hooman forgot to provide me one…" Asteria muttered as she whistled cheerfully, duly ignoring the screams of pain near her.

"Yeoowww!!!"

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

"S**t, its so hard to focus!" Alex shouted inwardly as he realized that he got more than he bargained from engraving runes.

Alex knew that his soul and mind will also be in pain, but he did not expect it to be this painful.

Alex felt like there are countless needles pricking his mind, with each needle filled to the brim with barbs and wires.

"Arggg!!!"

The pain that Alex is feeling right now could only be described as 'eye-popping, a**-wrenching, mouth-bleaching, nut-kicking, and bowel-stirring' kind of pain.

It really is one of a kind.

"Guh…" Tears started to flow from Alex's eyes as he slowly drew the Rune on his right shoulder. He had to stop drawing at every second, as each stroke just gave Alex more and more pain.

"Huhuhu, good thing that my first Abyss Rune is Envy. If what I got was Anger…." Alex shivered inwardly as he remembered how complicated the Anger Rune was. "Hmph, I do not know now if I will choose that Tome as my second one…"

The hissing and sobbing sounds continued as Alex painstakingly drew the large circle.

Once he was done with that, he took only 5 seconds of rest before proceeding to make the small circle.

The time that he took to make the small circle was shorter, due to his experience with the large circle and the fact that the small circle was smaller.

Alex then hastily made the arrowhead, making sure that the lines comprising it were straight and narrow.

"Yesh! Motherfather! I did it!" Alex shouted as the completed Rune started to glow. "I f**king did it!"

Alex started to shout in happiness as he felt power flowing into his body once more. He also heard a click in his mind as he gained access to the Level 4 Spells of his Abyss Tome.

"Oh, it seems like the crybaby is fine already." Asteria said as she saw Alex jumping around like a maniac. "Gugu gaga?"

"Tsk, quit making those baby sounds in front of me." Alex muttered as he glared at Asteria. "Picking on people like that is not righ- yeow!"

Alex doubled over in pain as Asteria poked the Rune on his shoulder ."Why the f**k did you poke that!" Alex shouted as he gritted his teeth in pain. "Don't you know that it hurts like hell?"

"I know. That is why I poked it." Asteria said as she looked at the Rune on Alex's shoulder with intensity. "If you did not feel any pain when I poked it, then it will mean that your Rune is weak. But if it has pain, then it means that you were able to engrave a powerful rune."

"Umm... yay, I guess?" Alex mumbled as he slowly backed away from Asteria. "So… how long should I wait before I can touch this Rune again?

"It depends on the quality of your Rune." Asteria replied with a shrug. "If I were you, I will wait for like an hour or two. Maybe you can touch it at that time."

"Noted." Alex nodded as he looked at Alina, who was busy playing with the little monsters.

"..." Even though Alina looked calm, it was quite obvious from her slightly pale face and red fists that she was also worried for Alex earlier.

"Don't point it out, Alex." Asteria hastily said as she realized that Alex was about to tease Alina. "Nothing good will come out with what you will do."

"Ok…" Alex knew closed his mouth, realizing that he indeed should not provoke Alina now.

"So, what will you do once you recover later?" Asteria mused as she and Alex fixed the chairs that Alex wrecked during the engraving process. "Are you going to get food?"

"Nope, I will clean out that pest." Alex said, giving Asteria a level look. "You know what I am talking about, right?"

"Yeah, I am sure you are referring to That." Asteria said as she gazed at her left side.

Nothing special could be seen in that direction, although it looked like Asteria had seen something in there. "Are you about to confront it?"

"Well of course I will." Alex replied with confidence. "I was not sure about fighting it two weeks ago, but now that I reached Grade 4, I am sure that I can beat that pest up."

"..."

Around two weeks ago, while Alex and Alina were busy on doing their stuff, both of them suddenly felt a presence spying on them nearby.

Both of them of course were alerted by this presence, although they decided to not attack it.

Maybe it was just passing by and was curious on them.

But to their dismay, this hidden presence continued to spy on them until this very day.

This of course made Alex and Alina worried, as they were not sure on what this hidden presence's motives were.

The only thing that they knew was that this hidden presence was a Shadow-Type Monster.

Because of the presence's blatant attempt to spy on them, Alina wanted to attack this monster already, but Alex stopped her, telling her that they should just deal with it when Alex steps to Grade 4.

And now that Alex is in Grade 4, it is time for them to flush the spying presence out.

"Well, good luck to you I guess." Asteria muttered as she sat on Alex's left shoulder. "You may need a lot of it."

"Hmph, I don't need luck to win." Alex replied confidently as he closed his eyes. "My slimy prehensiles here are enough squish my opponents to putrid oblivion!"

"What you said was really gross, you know that?"

"....."