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Description
As I was slowly walking away from that forest, I held the book close to my chest in a firm grip. It was a long wait but it was now finally in my possession. After all the research of history and occultism, after I bought the information from that crazy Muslim merchant, and all the training I went through in order to be sure I was up for the challenge...
My hands were still covered in the dirt I had to dig to find the book, but the Grimoire was absolutely clean, like if magical powers kept it from deteriorating. I looked at it as I was going, and I thought about all of the people that I would have to challenge in order to win, from all eras. Could I really do it?
I could sense a feeling of vertigo could be felt around the entire forest: The pine trees were so high that it was impossible to see the tops. The roads were so big that twenty men could be one next to the other right there, and feel comfortable. It as like a little part of the world made for giants. I didn't see any animals, but I was sure that if it was a weasel around, it would be the size of a wild boar. I wanted to get the hell out of there, in that instant.
But something stopped me. I don't know why, but since the moment I heard the monotonous sound of those steps, I knew I had to see what the origin was. I followed the sound of the walking man. He had to be there looking for the book, because of the Wish. There is no other reason for anybody to be in such an accursed place.
I hid behind a tree to take a good look at the walker. In a first glance, he was as imposing as he was peculiar: A tall, shaved man with short dark hair, he wore a long white coat in the middle of a dusty road which seemed to repel all of the dirt around it. On his left hand he was holding a bag of a lousy red color, tagged "Red Bag" on a side. On his right hand, he was holding a big, black, leather book that he held directly in front of him: "Arabian Nights, Volume 3 of 5". For some reason, I knew I had to follow him. Hiding behind the trees on my way, I watched him carefully as he went by the road.
His steps were long, slow paced, calmed, but always at the same rhythm, like if he was a clock, that gives all the seconds at the same pace with no mistake.
On the other hand, his reading speed was outstanding. Every forty seconds or so that passed, one could hear the noise of his thumb passing a page. All of his actions, his steps, the passing of pages of the book, even the sounds of whatever the hell he carried inside that bag, gave a strange echo to the forest, like if he had a mystical aura that made every sound around him much louder.
He was definitely heading towards the place where I found the book, going through every twist without taking his eyes off the book like if he had walked that same path thousands of times before. His slow pace was exasperating as he tranquilly approached the big oak tree that the Muslim told me about.
When he got closer to the tree, like twenty meters of distance, he suddenly stopped, put his book down, closing it, and with a penetrating look he stared at me. While I believed to have been hidden the entire time, I understood that the strange man in the doctor's coat was only playing fool with me all along. Counted times in my life I felt so intimidated by a single look.
-You have been following me. May I know why?- he questioned me in a British accent.
-I... I don't know, I felt I should. You are here for the Grimoire, right?
He looked at the book I had in my chest, almost smiling; his eyes felt heavy to look at.
-Too late- He told me- But I knew you would be here, Charles. Would you mind giving me yours?
Somehow, it didn't surprise me that he knew my name. Like a victim of a powerful spell, I handed him the Grimoire. Could I use it, anyway? There was a man there, that could paralyze me with a look, would it be different when I used the Grimoire? That was a reason good enough for me to give him the book without saying Anything.
I was going to leave before he said those words...
-No, you need to stay, Charles.
At that point, everything was illogical. Why did I keep taking orders from him? But either way, I stayed.
My new partner, who then told me, was called Dr. Grey, opened his bag and drew out a small trapdoor, of little more than 50 cm square, which he put in the floor, then he grabbed some mud from the floor.
Opening the Grimoire, he drew the symbols shown in there in the little trapdoor that went to nowhere. Then, the symbols shined, and the door opened by itself.
-You can tag along if you want.
He descended to the unknown, beyond the trapdoor that didn't close, along with his bag. Could I really go? Wasn't it a person per book? I descended, somehow, I knew that my destiny was tied to that man...

When I descended, I crashed in the floor, I was in a small, rock room. The man in the doctor's robe was ahead of me, in front of a mirror. I looked, when he touched the mirror, it broke, and a bleeding woman fell to his arms.
-Please, help me, doctor- I could hear her say, as I saw her bleed right everywhere, the legs, the arms, the chest. The wounds were horrible, one could see bullets in her arms, and even a dagger stocked in her chest.
Quickly, the robed man opened his bag, taking gases and and scalpel, and began to operate, as the woman again and again pledged for his help.
Five minutes passed like that, and it looked like thing were getting better, but when the doctor tried to take off the dagger, an unstoppable bleeding started, and from the mirror, I could see a Black Horse that began to appear, walking slowly, and above the majestic creature, a skeleton wielding a scythe. I could not believe that I was seeing the soul harvester, the Grim Reaper, riding slowly toward the doctor, who then stopped operating and stood on his feet, while his patient kept bleeding from her chest.
Suddenly, the Reaper held up his gigantic scythe to attack the girl, but the doctor blocked him with a bistoury. The skeleton tried again twice, but it was useless, as the mysterious man kept blocking him.
After That, the Reaper stopped, and laid his weapon down, staying wide open.
But the doctor did not attack, he waited. At that moment, I realized the bleeding had already stopped. Something like a minute after that, the horse turned back and returned to the mirror.
The mysterious man I was following returned to the operation, blocking the places where the girl was bleeding. I came next to him.
-Why didn't you attack him while he was wide open?
He looked at me
-Nobody can kill Death, so attacking it would equal letting him attack my patient, it would be useless.- Then he showed me the bistoury he used for the fight- But doctors have developed weapons that can stop him. They may seem weak to the unwise eye, but against the most powerful of the opponents, which resides and grows stronger inside all of us with time, a gun can't do a thing, while this can.
Just after that, the girl stood up, there were no sings of blood in her or the room.
-Thanks- She said before she walked slowly to the broken mirror, and passed through it.
-We must go, now- The doctor said, as he walked through the broken mirror, firmly. I followed.

Description
As I was slowly walking away from that forest, I held the book close to my chest in a firm grip. It was a long wait but it was now finally in my possession. After all the research of history and occultism, after I bought the information from that crazy Muslim merchant, and all the training I went through in order to be sure I was up for the challenge...
My hands were still covered in the dirt I had to dig to find the book, but the Grimoire was absolutely clean, like if magical powers kept it from deteriorating. I looked at it as I was going, and I thought about all of the people that I would have to challenge in order to win, from all eras. Could I really do it?
I could sense a feeling of vertigo could be felt around the entire forest: The pine trees were so high that it was impossible to see the tops. The roads were so big that twenty men could be one next to the other right there, and feel comfortable. It as like a little part of the world made for giants. I didn't see any animals, but I was sure that if it was a weasel around, it would be the size of a wild boar. I wanted to get the hell out of there, in that instant.
But something stopped me. I don't know why, but since the moment I heard the monotonous sound of those steps, I knew I had to see what the origin was. I followed the sound of the walking man. He had to be there looking for the book, because of the Wish. There is no other reason for anybody to be in such an accursed place.
I hid behind a tree to take a good look at the walker. In a first glance, he was as imposing as he was peculiar: A tall, shaved man with short dark hair, he wore a long white coat in the middle of a dusty road which seemed to repel all of the dirt around it. On his left hand he was holding a bag of a lousy red color, tagged "Red Bag" on a side. On his right hand, he was holding a big, black, leather book that he held directly in front of him: "Arabian Nights, Volume 3 of 5". For some reason, I knew I had to follow him. Hiding behind the trees on my way, I watched him carefully as he went by the road.
His steps were long, slow paced, calmed, but always at the same rhythm, like if he was a clock, that gives all the seconds at the same pace with no mistake.
On the other hand, his reading speed was outstanding. Every forty seconds or so that passed, one could hear the noise of his thumb passing a page. All of his actions, his steps, the passing of pages of the book, even the sounds of whatever the hell he carried inside that bag, gave a strange echo to the forest, like if he had a mystical aura that made every sound around him much louder.
He was definitely heading towards the place where I found the book, going through every twist without taking his eyes off the book like if he had walked that same path thousands of times before. His slow pace was exasperating as he tranquilly approached the big oak tree that the Muslim told me about.
When he got closer to the tree, like twenty meters of distance, he suddenly stopped, put his book down, closing it, and with a penetrating look he stared at me. While I believed to have been hidden the entire time, I understood that the strange man in the doctor's coat was only playing fool with me all along. Counted times in my life I felt so intimidated by a single look.
-You have been following me. May I know why?- he questioned me in a British accent.
-I... I don't know, I felt I should. You are here for the Grimoire, right?
He looked at the book I had in my chest, almost smiling; his eyes felt heavy to look at.
-Too late- He told me- But I knew you would be here, Charles. Would you mind giving me yours?
Somehow, it didn't surprise me that he knew my name. Like a victim of a powerful spell, I handed him the Grimoire. Could I use it, anyway? There was a man there, that could paralyze me with a look, would it be different when I used the Grimoire? That was a reason good enough for me to give him the book without saying Anything.
I was going to leave before he said those words...
-No, you need to stay, Charles.
At that point, everything was illogical. Why did I keep taking orders from him? But either way, I stayed.
My new partner, who then told me, was called Dr. Grey, opened his bag and drew out a small trapdoor, of little more than 50 cm square, which he put in the floor, then he grabbed some mud from the floor.
Opening the Grimoire, he drew the symbols shown in there in the little trapdoor that went to nowhere. Then, the symbols shined, and the door opened by itself.
-You can tag along if you want.
He descended to the unknown, beyond the trapdoor that didn't close, along with his bag. Could I really go? Wasn't it a person per book? I descended, somehow, I knew that my destiny was tied to that man...

When I descended, I crashed in the floor, I was in a small, rock room. The man in the doctor's robe was ahead of me, in front of a mirror. I looked, when he touched the mirror, it broke, and a bleeding woman fell to his arms.
-Please, help me, doctor- I could hear her say, as I saw her bleed right everywhere, the legs, the arms, the chest. The wounds were horrible, one could see bullets in her arms, and even a dagger stocked in her chest.
Quickly, the robed man opened his bag, taking gases and and scalpel, and began to operate, as the woman again and again pledged for his help.
Five minutes passed like that, and it looked like thing were getting better, but when the doctor tried to take off the dagger, an unstoppable bleeding started, and from the mirror, I could see a Black Horse that began to appear, walking slowly, and above the majestic creature, a skeleton wielding a scythe. I could not believe that I was seeing the soul harvester, the Grim Reaper, riding slowly toward the doctor, who then stopped operating and stood on his feet, while his patient kept bleeding from her chest.
Suddenly, the Reaper held up his gigantic scythe to attack the girl, but the doctor blocked him with a bistoury. The skeleton tried again twice, but it was useless, as the mysterious man kept blocking him.
After That, the Reaper stopped, and laid his weapon down, staying wide open.
But the doctor did not attack, he waited. At that moment, I realized the bleeding had already stopped. Something like a minute after that, the horse turned back and returned to the mirror.
The mysterious man I was following returned to the operation, blocking the places where the girl was bleeding. I came next to him.
-Why didn't you attack him while he was wide open?
He looked at me
-Nobody can kill Death, so attacking it would equal letting him attack my patient, it would be useless.- Then he showed me the bistoury he used for the fight- But doctors have developed weapons that can stop him. They may seem weak to the unwise eye, but against the most powerful of the opponents, which resides and grows stronger inside all of us with time, a gun can't do a thing, while this can.
Just after that, the girl stood up, there were no sings of blood in her or the room.
-Thanks- She said before she walked slowly to the broken mirror, and passed through it.
-We must go, now- The doctor said, as he walked through the broken mirror, firmly. I followed.