Chapter 3 - (3) Evolution

He stooped to pick it up, wondering about the item. The Grimoire hovering in front of him flipped back to the cover page on its own and began showing information:

Small Inventory Pouch - Capable of storing 25 pounds worth of non-organic material or items. No weight will be felt by the bearer. Thinking of the item as you reach into the pouch will cause it to be moved to the top of the space.

Page 4 will allow you to keep track of items in your possession.

'How useful!' He quickly tied the pouch to his wrist, not sure of where else to keep it at the moment. 'I wonder what the other pages of the Grimoire are for.'

Again, words started to appear on the cover page.

***

This page allows connection between User and Grimoire. Basic questions can be asked, and the Grimoires intelligence will grow over time with the growth of the User.

Page 1: User Attributes

Page 2: Choice and Battle Log

Page 3: Map

Page 4: Inventory

Note that more pages will appear as you learn new Talents.

***

"Wow, this is very similar to a game." Taylor mused out loud while looking through the information and quickly turning to the first page.

***

Geth: Level 1

Exp: 5/100

HP- 60

MP- 0

Strength- 5 + (Physical damage)

Agility- 5 + (Movement speed)

Defense- 5 + (HP and physical resistance)

Wisdom- 5 + (MP and magical resistance)

Intelligence- 5 + (MP and magical damage)

TP- 0 (Talent Points)

SP- 1 (Skill Points)

AP- 5 (Attribute Points)

Note: There are many hidden effects behind each Attribute, Grimoire level not high enough to detect.

***

'Hm, I suppose that there are no resets, so how you build is very important.'

As expected, the Grimoire turned to its cover page and responded: Correct. The way that you build along with your actions and thoughts also affects the Talents that you are offered on every 5th Level.

'That's almost dangerous!' He thought quickly, 'If my thoughts can affect my growth I'm screwed.' He chuckled and the Grimoire moved back to the 1st page.

'Put 3 AP in Defense and 2 in Wisdom please.'

A searing pain suddenly burned his skin causing him to scream out. Taylor fell to the ground, writhing in pain as his skin fell, showing the red muscles beneath. Blood poured over the ground and new skin began to cover the exposed muscles. Tissue quickly grew and he once again became whole.

As this was happening to his body, the opposite feeling was occurring in his mind. A cool and soothing sensation enveloped the inside of his head, as his thoughts began to speed up. As a moment of clarity was reached, both feelings were dispersed almost as soon as they had begun.

He lay there panting, cursing the Grimoire for not warning him.

It promptly cut into his thoughts, turning back to the cover page: To begin your growth, your body and mind must first be rebuilt with the energy of this place so that it can adapt.

Looking over at his wife he couldn't help but wonder. 'Grimoire, how could she sleep through that? No one in the vicinity has budged.' He looked around, also quickly noticing that he could see the neighbors further away with much more clarity.

: Their bodies are currently being rebuilt slowly, as yours was just a moment ago. You were woken early due to imminent danger. The rebuilding process will be completed in 19 hours, and they will begin to awaken on their own 10 hours later:

'Thank you.' Taylor thought to the Grimoire while deciding what to do. He walked over and picked up his daughter, Melody, and brought her over to lay beside her Michelle.

She was barely taller than 3' and had long dirty blonde hair. He then picked up his youngest son, Kael, and laid him on her other side.

'I wonder how Berry is, I wish this had happened while he was with me over the weekend.' After thinking for a moment he shook his head 'Hopefully Alex was there with him and his ex fiance when this happened, not working a late night. All I can do is try to meet up with them.'

'Grimoire, can others see you?'

: No. Each User has a Grimoire that will activate upon killing a hostile creature. Grimoires can only be shown to others by User command:

'Show me the Map page.'

The Grimoire flipped to page 3 showing a small black dot where Taylor was standing, but only a small area of green around him. The Grimoire then flipped back to the cover page.

: Map will be updated and saved as User explores. The current world is the same as your previous on a 10x scale:

'Thank you, again.'

He then took out the red egg he had found earlier and asked his Grimoire to inspect it.

: Slime Core- This was once the Core of a Slime that had weak ties to the fire element. Can be used to imbue tools or weapons with a very weak warming sensation, or crushed to gain experience equivalent to killing the creature:

After thinking about it for a moment, he decided to store it in his pouch. 'It may not be useful for making a strong weapon, but maybe to create something similar to a lighter.'

He expected many days of living in the woods in the coming days. Looking towards the southwest, he started thinking again. 'If we head that way, based on the 10x difference, my Mom's house should be around 30 miles out. My oldest son should only be another 30 miles further.'

He sighed as he thought about all of the work that needed to be done. It was almost certain that the road ahead wouldn't be an easy one.

"Welp," He stretched his arms and legs. "There's nothing to it but to do it!"