Help Text: The Two Tomes Empire was founded over 2000 years ago with the help of 8 heroes that protected the people from dangerous creatures and cursed objects. These heroes set the foundation for the system of government, standards of education, and personal rights within the country.

A while after we left, Setsuo started talking about the history of the area. He said that over two thousand years ago, a group of eight heroes mysteriously appeared in the area, and assisted in the creation of the Two Tomes Empire. They brought technology and knowledge that the people of the past had never seen, and that even today they had no idea how to recreate. Most notable of these technologies were the Eight Tools of Ascension, one of which being the Rod I had in my possession. As time passed, they would defeat dangerous creatures that threatened people, and seal away dangerous objects in their home, The Heroes Tree. Even the name of the country comes from the two belief systems that came about to venerate and worship those ancient heroes.

Apparently, the North Tome Shrine believed that only the heroes themselves should be honored, while a branch of the faith now called the South Tome Shrine believed that they and their descendants should also be worshiped as gods. The current ruling family are descendants of those heroes, and while they are respected as the rightful rulers of the country, the North Tome Shrine does not worship them as gods. After a few hours of walking, we stopped to rest.

"So what exactly is this rod, Setsuo?"

"If what you said is true, then it's a lost artifact of the Heroes."

"Well, sure, but what exactly is it, and why is it attached to me?"

"This is only speculation on my part, but it could be one of the Eight Tools of Ascension that the heroes used, but I will need to confirm that by seeing the location."

Setsuo talked on and on about the eight heroes’ tools, talking about how they could change shape, and seemed to have a will of their own. He also explained that after the passing of the first seven heroes, the last one scattered the tools across the world in dungeons he created known as the Seven Peaks Dungeons. Each one was placed at the top of each mountain located at the centers of each continent so that only worthy users of them could claim them. Though, not a single person had ever claimed any of them to that day. At least not until I came along wielding the last hero's tool. Once he finished talking, we continued our way north for a while longer. Then I noticed that the three of them had suddenly turned around.

"Hey, where are you guys going?"

They looked behind themselves shocked.

"How did you get over there?"

"I walked in a straight line?"

It took me a moment to realize that they hadn't noticed they switched direction. I realized that it was around here that I had stopped seeing animals on my first trip to the tree. I went back, and told the three to try grabbing ahold of me as we passed through. Carefully I walked forward, and as I did the three of them looked as if their reality had been shattered. Setsuo would later describe it as "walking through a column of blindingly bright light while the weight of the world crashed onto your shoulders" with the guards nodding in agreement.

I knew that it wasn't far now, so we continued up the path, though exercising more caution. When we finally approached the tree, Setsuo's mouth went agape as he spotted the platform. As we stepped onto it, I showed him the altar where I had obtained the rod. He examined it carefully, just as I did my first time here. While he was doing that I made my way over to the tree, opening the doors, and when it appeared he was finished I waved him and the guards over to where I was standing.

"We're going inside of here, Setsuo."

"This tree is enormous, Mark, but how are we supposed to get inside?"

"Through the door?"

I pushed the doors open and entered the tree once again, then looked back and watched as Setsuo and the guards looked around the area like a kid trying to figure out a magic trick. Eventually they attempted to walk into the spot I had entered, but seemed to hit a wall.

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"That's a great trick, Mark, but how do you expect me to walk through a solid wall?"

Eventually I realized that this was another defense mechanism like the barrier early, and dragged three of them inside. As we entered I Setsuo's face lit up with excitement, and I explained that when I arrived here initially, vines covered the walls, and they tried to attack me. I explained that according to the information I received on the top floor, the heroes’ bodies were at the bottom of the pit, along with the dangerous items they had collected. Eventually, we started making our way up the stairs and entering each of the rooms briefly while I explained what I had found in each of them. Setsuo just calmly listened as we walked, occasionally taking a rest at the platforms, and jotting down notes. Finally a look of realization came over his face, and he asked to sit and talk for a moment.

"So, just to make sure I understand this correctly, you've taken everything out of this place?"

"Yes?"

"Where exactly are you keeping it all?"

It was at this point I realized that the inventory I had was not common place in this world. I took a moment to open the pause menu, and made my way to the inventory. I figured that if I was going to show him, it had to be something pretty impossible for someone to hide. So I dropped the mattress that I had taken from the bunk room, and exited the menu. As I did a look of shock came over the three men's faces.

"The same place I've been keeping that, in the tool’s inventory."

The two guards looked at each other to make sure they weren't seeing things, while Setsuo looked around the mattress like he had found the holy grail. Needless to say we took a rather long break after that and I had to explain everything I just did. In return, Setsuo revealed that he was a North Temple monk that specialized in the history of their religion. His official title was Keeper of Records, and that it was his duty to record any new discoveries. His goal and orders for this trip were to bring back as much information on the heroes as he could, and to confirm whether or not I should be considered a new hero.

Once he had finished speaking, I returned the mattress to my inventory, and we continued our way upward. The three of them insisted that we needed to make it all the way to the top before we took another break. Needless to say, once we were there, I was exhausted, and my legs were throbbing. I had to coax them into the bunk room as I had done while entering the tree, and walked them through what I had done there. The three had never seen a modern water faucet before, nor any kind of electrical lights, so they were quite astounded. Setsuo in particular was fascinated by the idea that he could have a hot bath without spending a huge amount of time boiling water, or going to a hot spring.

Eventually I convinced them that we would need to rest before heading back, so we made use of the bunks again. While they laid down and went to sleep, I opened the pause menu to read some more of the help section until I was tired. One of the entries that caught my eye was "Tool Forms" so I decided to read through it to at least get a grasp on this tool more.

"Each of our tools were built using technology that had been transported with us during our accident, then incorporating this world's 'magic' into them. Thankfully we had enough of the experimental A.I. core modules to make one tool for each of us. Unfortunately to maximize our aptitude with the tools, we had to lock them to a single tool type, however we found that we could still make use of the transformation function by copying new tools of the same type, or using the A.I. to artificially evolve and enhance those forms with simulations of the physical laws in this world. The incorporation of magic has resulted in the A.I. behaving more like living things. At the moment outside of technical tasks they have started to display behaviors similar to pets, which some of the other members have taken to steering them towards behaviors similar to those old pocket pet devices made in the late 20th century.

The other day I caught Jessica talking to her Tool, I'm not sure if she's going crazy, or if it is actually capable of speech now. Jessica was the first to try steering her tool into that new direction. The tools seem like they are evolving, possibly as a result of all this. I'm not sure we should just leave them around for random people to find once we're gone, but at the rate things are going we will absolutely need successors, otherwise all of the work we've done will be for nothing.

I'm astounded at the development of the Tools. They introduced us to new methods of improving forms, and started mixing their code with magic. The A.I. Cores have changed and resemble gemstones now. Sarah and the Davis's fed them a list of items their tools requested, and the tools created new forms using the materials. The abilities granted by the forms are strange though, they seem to resemble a games statistics. I'm going to set down with my own tool and see what I can do with it.

Jessica died today… Her granddaughter cried for hours… I'm the last of the eight of us… It pains me to do it, but Shimon is right, we need to seal you tools away somewhere safe so the people of this world don't destroy each other by using you. I won't throw you all into the pit with the rest of us, but it may be a long time before you can be together again. I hope that you can forgive me, you're going to be very lonely for a while.....

Final Log: My name is Brad Anderson, if you are reading this, then I am dead. This is the final thing I'm recording before… I have ordered my tool to transform to factory default mode, and will be leaving it on the old temple's altar. I have combined the changes that the other A.I. cores made to our tools' software and uploaded them and all of the information we have to this tablet to serve as a type of Help Menu. I erased the memory caches of all the tools but my own, I don't want them to be in pain due to our deaths, or to be driven mad by solitude. I have traveled to the top of the mountains in each of the seven continents, using the power that I have amassed during my time here. I created seven dungeons to test people who seek out the tools, but in order to do so they will need a leader with my own tool. I only hope that I have made the right choice. Goodbye, my old friends..."

Once I was finished reading, I felt more sad than tired. I wanted to know more about what those eight had done in this world, and what kindof person my predecessor, Brad, was. Eventually I fell asleep, but at the time I had no idea the events that were unfolding in this world due to my arrival.