“Hahahaha” Grimoire cackled ” oh you should have seen your face, you looked so shocked”

Right now Hal did not feel shocked, he felt murderous, even though he knew he could not strangle the grimoire, he was tempted to try.

“Would you relax?” Grimoire said, “I was just messing with you. The pouch was just an application of spatial runes”

Hal was instantly intrigued, he could tell it was a big deal so he prompted the grimoire to continue

“It’s the easiest application and makes the pouch the cheapest spatial treasure, even though in this city it’s a big deal. Another application is spatial rings.

“Spatial pouches are the cheapest no matter the amount of space they contain because they have a low level of security, anyone in possession of it can retrieve the items inside without the permission of the owner, objects in spatial rings, however, can only be retrieved by their owner after they have imprinted on it with their soul. Once again you don’t need that thrash. With the Primordial Cosmic Grimoire, you have access to an inventory of immense size accessible only to you” The grimoire Explained

“I don’t want a spatial treasure, I want to learn how to make one” Hal said

The grimoire allowed a moment of silence to pass before it told Hal “Spatial treasures are the work of rune-masters, to make one, you have to be able to harness astral energy”

“Can you help me with that?” Hal asked

“There’s only so much I can do. To harness astral energy you must have astral sense and it is an ability that is far from common, I can, however, help you to realize if you have it or not.”

“Do it”

Hal felt he had possibly found a solution to his money issues. While he could have asked for the money from Melinda as she was a sufficiently wealthy merchant, he still wished to be reasonably independent.

As soon as the grimoire began, Hal felt lightheaded, and then an ethereal perception flowed from his mind, even with his eyes closed Hal could ‘see’ his room, he could even ‘see’ his body cross-legged on the bed breathing gently, not to mention he could still feel himself sitting on the bed, it felt like being in two places at the same time.

He decided to extend his astral perception outside of his room and ended up in Melinda’s room. She was asleep but her eyes twitched, he knew that if his perception got closer, she would awaken.

Hal reined in his perception and cheered inwardly. Now that he knew he had an astral sense, he would find someone to teach him. The Grimoire had insisted that he couldn’t teach him anything without Gold.

The next morning, during breakfast, he asked Melinda if there was a rune-master in Salmon city. The city was named thus not because of its proficiency in fishing, but because of a legend that struck terror into the hearts of its denizens, but that’s a story for another time.

“Yes master, There are 3 rune-masters in the city but if you want the best, I’d have suggested you visit Master Swanson, but he only provides services to the Four great families”

The four great families were the strongest in Salmon city, were the Krast, Horst, Edgar, and Payne. The old Hal was a member of the Payne family.

“I’ll have castor lead you to one of the two others” Melinda signaled for her most trusted man.

“No, I want to visit master Swanson instead,” Hal said

‘If he refuses me, at least it won’t be for lack of trying’

…

Master Swanson’s shop looked small and comfortable, which made it seem out of place in the business district it was situated in, flanked by much larger stores, the look it received from a passerby was however filled with respect

What caught Hal’s attention was the burly, snot-faced youth crying his eyes out, yelling and screaming.

“Please make me your apprentice Master Swanson” The youth looked devoted as he yelled the sentence over and over bowing in front of the shop. Two men were trying to pick him up to prevent their young master from embarrassing himself further.

“You don’t have astral sense”, the plump manager said “without it, you can’t become master Master Swanson’s apprentice”

The burly youth sobbed harder.