Chapter 6
Keith entered his room and walked over to his wardrobe, a flat piece of exotic wood hanging on the wall. Numerous Appearance Cards, similar in shape to a playing card, lay on the wardrobe’s surface. Painted on each card was a mannequin covered in clothes. Glancing around, Keith removed the only blank card and activated it. All the cosmetic equipment he wore disappeared in a flash of light before appearing on the card in his hand. Slotting the Appearance Card back into its spot, Keith used another to equip a set of pajamas.
Finished, Keith mechanically walked over to his king-sized bed with a tight chest. He was so anxious it felt like his heart would burst. It was funny. A common sentiment was that innate gifts determined whether you rose or fell, while simultaneously saying they didn’t matter.
Keith tried to use logic. He had access to more information than most, so he knew many famous adventurers had grown strong without powerful innate gifts. However, no matter how many times Keith reminded himself, it still didn’t quell his anxiety. Although his mom said she didn’t expect anything of him, he didn’t want to disappoint her. He knew more than anyone how much she’d supported him over the years, and he wanted to do the same for her and everyone else dear to him.
Thinking such, Keith climbed under the covers. Once comfortable, he withdrew the Introspection Pill from his inventory and popped it in his mouth. The pill melted immediately upon touching his tongue, turning into a floral tasting liquid and dissipating soon after.
Moments later, Keith fell into a deep slumber. The dream which followed was incredibly vivid, far surpassing any he’d had before. Scenes of his life flew past, starting from his birth until now. The insignificant moments sped forward at unbelievable speeds, leaving only the most important experiences of his life.
Keith observed it all as if he were a spectator watching from the sidelines, except that for any decision he made, the reasons for doing so became perfectly clear. It was like he viewed his decisions from top to bottom, drawing lines between cause and effect, all the way down to his core beliefs. It was a magical out-of-body experience, allowing Keith to gain a deep understanding of himself.
Beliefs, memories, likes, dislikes, aspirations, and emotions. These intangible things were all tangled together, creating an ego, a sense of self. Most people couldn’t unravel this web and see things clearly, yet the Introspection Pill was so unique it allowed just that.
There was no clear consensus as to whether an Introspection pill improved the quality of the innate gift you acquired. Some said it was a gimmick, a scam. Others said it helped. Regardless, no one would complain if they could use one.
Time passed as the sun slowly rose, with its rays eventually landing on Keith through a window in his room. The natural processes of Keith’s body started up, and soon enough, he awoke.
Keith had never been so at peace. His thoughts were clear and sharp, and he felt full of motivation even though he’d just woken up. By habit, Keith jumped out of bed and walked over to his wardrobe. Scanning methodically, he wondered what outfit he’d wear today.
It was then he saw it.
In the corner of his eye, a reminder that he’d missed a notification blinked in and out of existence. Keith froze, suddenly realizing what it represented without even opening it. With a thought, the notification flashed before his eyes.
You acquired an innate gift: Collection Grimoire
As soon as Keith read the words, a book popped into existence, hovering before him. Feeling a close connection with it, as if it were a part of him, he took it in his hands. The Grimoire was a few inches thick, with cyan lining its borders. On its surface were two words: Collection Grimoire.
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Overcome with emotions, Keith traced his fingers across the surface of the Grimoire. At that moment, information about his innate gift poured into his mind. Its abilities, usage, everything.
Keith’s jaw dropped as he suddenly grew excited. Unlike Elora’s straightforward innate gift, his was particularly complicated, yet it suited him perfectly.
Like an inventory, Keith could store things in the Grimoire. Each item stored had a corresponding value. Flipping open the Grimoire, Keith saw rows upon rows of empty boxes. Currently, the top of the page said “Collection Value: 0” because there was nothing inside. Keith tapped the top of the page, after which a colossal list appeared.
Collection Value: 1 – +1 Health
Collection Value: 5 – +1 Mana
Collection Value: 10 – +1 Health
…
Collection Value: 1,000 – +1 Primary Stats
The list was seemingly endless. Keith gasped at the implication. The more items he stored, the more stats he’d gain. The only downside was that once items entered the Grimoire, withdrawing them cost money. Otherwise, he’d have an inventory with infinite space.
Keith’s innate gift didn’t end there.
Flipping to another page, he saw the words Collection Points: 0. Collection Points worked similarly to Collection Value, except it was a currency. Once spent, it was gone forever. Keith looked down, finding a shop for spending his CP. At first, he rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was hallucinating. Unbelievably, the shop sold additional functions for his Grimoire!
Material Synthesis – 1 million CP
Description: Fuse two of the same material into a material one grade higher. Mana cost varies. No cooldown.
Material Fragmentation – 1 million CP
Description: Split a material into two materials one grade lower. Mana cost varies. No cooldown.
“Holy crap.” Keith sucked in a breath. Just the first two functions alone left him shaking in excitement. They were potential gold mines.
Ores, hides, metal, cooking ingredients, and countless other items were all categorized as materials. They were the bedrock of the economy and the most traded type of item. To make money, all Keith had to do was browse the market. For example, if he found two pieces of legendary grade mithril ingot cheaper than a mythic grade mithril ingot, he could fuse the two into one and make a profit.
Putting aside these two functions, he continued to browse through the shop, only stopping when something caught his eye.
Equipment Loadout 1 – 5 million CP
Description: Unlocks one loadout.
Loadout: Used to change into the pre-recorded set of equipment instantaneously. No mana cost. No cooldown.
Looking up at his wardrobe covered in Appearance Cards, Keith found that this function of the Grimoire was a waste of CP. There was already an item available in the world that was cheap and easy to use, so he found this upgrade disappointing. However, when he scrolled just a bit farther, his eyes nearly popped out in shock.
Battle Loadout – 100 million CP
Description: Automatically swap to different loadouts you’ve unlocked depending on the type of attack received. Low mana cost. No cooldown.
“Am I reading this correctly?” Keith muttered to himself. Didn’t this function mean he could swap to a fire-resistant loadout if a fire monster attacked him, then to a physical resistance loadout in the next millisecond? Keith’s mind rumbled at the possibilities. Depending on how many loadouts he had, he could create a loadout for every type of attack. He’d be an absolute tank at that point.
Keith browsed through the rest of the shop for a few minutes until he only saw restricted functions, ones he didn’t have access to yet. Closing the Grimoire, Keith suddenly skipped around his room in absolute glee. “Ahahahahaha!”
Sometime later, he fell onto his bed and gasped for breath, not with exhaustion, but because he couldn’t calm down. Keith held the Grimoire against his chest, wondering what he should do next.
After some thinking, he figured he couldn’t do anything until he gained CV and CP. Thankfully, Keith was somewhat of a hoarder. For almost a decade, he’d been accruing all sorts of items and storing them in his warehouse. Understanding this, Keith rushed out of his room and headed toward the garden. There, off to the side, was a small inconspicuous building with no windows.
Unlike its outside appearance would suggest, the space inside was enormous, larger than even a neighborhood. It had a teleportation array hooked up to the auction house, and a space array.
It only took a moment for Keith to get there, and as soon as he did, he burst through the door and looked around. Inside stood thousands of shelves arranged in rows, with items filling each one. There were so many items that if Keith had to organize them himself, he wouldn’t have time to do anything else. To solve this problem, he had purchased a few magic golems used for physical labor. After customizing their settings, they worked day and night without rest as long as they had enough mana.
As Keith looked at his collection of items, he felt a sense of pride well up in his chest. Rare materials, exotic monster eggs, unique equipment. Everything that caught his eye he’d buy and store here.
Sighing with emotion, Keith took a breath before raising his Grimoire and shouting, “Collect!”