But before we left the necropolis, Kel'Caldor came at us with a rather large book. It was almost half as tall as me, without the head. The party stopped and the lich caught up.
"Raina, thankfully I was able to catch up with you. Vlad had just procured this tome for you and I wished to give it to you before you departed!"
I stared at him as he acted super suspiciously. "Couldn't this wait until I came back?"
"No. The book needs time to bond with a new user, and you'll find it useful in your travels. Check its information."
> [Lost Sage's Insatiable Journal]
>
> * Price: Inestimable. Unique item.
> * Durability: Indestructible.
> * Soul-Binds after a month of constant contact.
> * Ability: Can devour books to annex their contents to itself.
> * Ability: Can retrieve knowledge at the bound user's request.
> * Ability: Weighs nothing. Can float in place but may be moved by a Strength of 20 or more. Bound user may make the book fly at will.
> * Ability: After bound, can be summoned and dismissed at will.
>
> The lost journal of a sage who wished to hold all the world's knowledge and paid the price. Its bottomless capacity may indeed one day achieve such a lofty goal. Beware though. Its hunger is ever-consuming.
> > Insufficient Appraise score. Information withheld.
>
> > You gained 3 points in Appraise
It was super fishy and terribly ominous. Not to mention bulky. "I'll not carry this monstrosity with me in the labyrinth," I decided.
"You must. Nobody can keep the book for more than twenty days or risk bonding with it. Once bound, it stays that way for life. It's such a hassle," the lich retorted. "And it has already devoured your whole library. I underestimated its power when I brought it to the castle, that's why I rushed to bring it to you. It will be a good tool for you in your future lives, I believe."
My instincts screamed to not accept it. But my books. All my books… And Kel'Caldor wouldn't do anything to jeopardize our deal, would he?
"Okay, okay. I understood it. Hand it over."
The book floated until it touched my stretched hand, then I felt a connection and knew I could control it and move it around as well as I did with my head.
"Thanks for the gift," I said, genuinely elated as I pushed away those dark thoughts of conspiracy.
"Don't mention it. Say, if you could do me a favor…" The lich said softly.
Surely the evil self-serving lich clone had selfish intentions.
"What is it?"
"Could I borrow one of your (heritage) Perks?"
Berna stirred behind me. She was clearly baffled by the request. A discreet glare from the lich made her straighten her face. They thought I didn't see it because it wasn't in the field of view of my head's eyes but I pretty much had an all-around vision from two spots, my body and my head.
"Uh? What is that? I don't think I have any (heritage) Perk. I have never even heard of that Perk category until now."
"Are you sure? They were supposed to stay with you during your reincarnations."
"Let me check my Status. Nope. No such thing."
Kel'Caldor lowered his head. "Is that so? I guess they are gone just like the rest of your other Perks. Too bad, it was worth a try."
He was about to turn around and leave when I reached and pinched the sleeve of his robe. "Wait, what the hell are (heritage) Perks?"
"They are Perks that are passed from father to son, mother to daughter, uncle to niece. They are usually some ancient achievements that give bonuses to specific Proficiencies growth. You had quite a few from your previous lives. I wanted to train [Alchemy] and borrowing the Perk would help a lot."
"Do I know [Alchemy]?"
"I think you know a lot of stuff. You should try different things to see if you would unlock other Proficiencies," the lich chastised me.
I was too focused on survival and combat ability. And I didn't want to push my luck.
"Well, I'm sorry. I trust you, I would totally let you borrow a Perk or two if I could. Do you want the book back?"
He shook his head vehemently, "No! It was my mistake your library was eaten by this stupid sheaf of paper, you can keep it."
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
The lich went away. Without much choice, I went to the Labyrinth with the cursed book in tow.
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Nenandil went to the Scorched Continent with Pandora in tow. Another swim through the ocean, another slew of sea monsters killed, making the oceans a safer place for navigators.
The crossing took two months of her time. Such was the density of oceanic dangers and monsters who made their lairs along the shipping routes. But she reached the Scorched Continent with three more levels to show for her efforts.
What she found when she made landfall was disheartening. In these centuries of silence from the Gods, the people faltered and lost their way. As depravity and corruption settled, so too the demon cults grew in power, occupying the vacuum left behind by the decadent churches.
Inside the fairy's soul, Pandora thrummed with a foreboding vibration. She saw flashes of a river of people killed in a massive altar. Blood running free like a storm's runoff. Cultists sacrificing themselves and a rift in the world's protective gauntlet opening.
The Fifth Demon Lord was on the loose. She could sense them through the [Wisp of Creation]. She could also feel the despair of the people, their fear, and the demons crawling in the dark corners of the cities.
The demons didn't wish for the total destruction of the world. They wanted to harvest souls and carry them off to their infernal dimensions. The people were allowed to live and breed but they kept a tight leash to avoid the birth of [Heroes].
The Broodmother had damaged the world in countless ways. Her vain and spiteful last-ditch curse and the gods' silence threatened to end the world as they knew it. The world of a thousand years later was a bleak, cynical place.
Nenandil felt pain in her tiny heart. Strong though she was, she was only a fairy. One whose connection to the wonders of the world dimmed now that the Green Moon was no more. She needed to find her partner. Together they could fix the world. Save it, even.
She set her course for the Kingdom of Ackerton. Along the way, she used many disguises to talk to the common people and learn about what happened in this last millennium. It was as she feared. Kings and nobles openly worshipped demons, enslaved the people, and paid the Gods only lip service. Priests who spoke out for the common man were quickly taken away or killed outright with false accusations. Those who grew in strength and weren't completely corrupt quickly found themselves set by the Kings on impossible and suicidal quests.
Ackerton and Atlantis were the last two bastions of "good" in this forsaken continent. Once they fell and the demons had complete control over this continent, it would be a matter of time before they infected the others. If they hadn't done so already.
She couldn't help but feel she was wasting her time. That the person she so desperately wished to find would be forever out of her grasp. She allowed the bleak landscape to affect her and she could feel the Demon Lord's claws slowly reaching to keep her from escaping.
*
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The shadows in the Labyrinth cave grew and shifted as I moved the lantern shield around to block the monsters' attacks. The [Eight-legged Basilisk] was pissed as its most powerful attack was useless against me. He couldn't petrify me if I didn't look at his eyes, and right now I was reading a romance novel while my body fought the overgrown lizard.
I blocked another bite and quickly shifted my auras from defense to offense. Then I shoved my Force-clad sword into the basilisk's throat and into his brain, delivering a critical hit that finished its life.
> > For killing level 56 Eight-legged Basilisk, you gained 5,480,264 Exp (1,370,066 x4 size).
You reached Cephalophore Saintess (unique, 5 slots, second rank) level 6
You gained 6 Attribute Points.
You gained 9 Strength, 6 Dexterity, 9 Endurance, 6 Mind, 6 Willpower, 3 Charisma, 3 Magic, 3 Faith, 3 Ego, 3 Luck, and 3 Soul.
You have 3 rank 2 Perks.
* Holy Wrath Aura (very rare): Range, (Faith/5) meters. Enemies in the aura suffer an extra 50% Holy damage from your allies' physical attacks. Undead take double damage. You can only have one Paladin aura active at the same time.
* Sanctity Aura (very Rare): Range, (Faith/5) meters. Debuffs on your allies last 60% less. All healing heals for 50% more. You can only have one Paladin aura active at the same time.
* Sacred Bulwark Aura (very rare): Range, (Faith/2) meters. Enemies in range must win a contested Mind vs Mind + Faith test or they cannot attack your allies. You gain (Faith/5) base damage reduction.
Level 46 (Next: 3,251,478 / 131.220.000)
Strength: 69+11 (80) / 139 - Dexterity*: 58+58 (116) / 139 - Endurance*: 99+31 (130) / 139
Mind: 60+34 (94) / 139 - Willpower: 60+34 (94) / 139 - Charisma: 38+52 (90) / 139
Magic: 61+19 (80) / 696 - Faith: 45+0 (45) / 696
Ego: 14+30 (44) / 139 - Luck: 14+44 (58) / 139 - Soul: 14+44 (58) / 139
256230 HP
67500 MP
11774 SP
5336 FP
You gained 13 points in Blades [ 651 ]
You gained 67 points in Shield [ 246 ]
You gained 14 points in Spellcaster [ 668 ]
You gained 18 points in Furtivity [ 780 / 791 ]
You gained 1 point in Physical Mastery [ 676 ]
You gained 3 points in Baker [ 331 ]
Shield [ 246 ]. Select 1 Ability.
* Hard Block: Increase block chance by (P/10)%. Attacks and spells that deal damage even on a successful block suffer an extra (P/10) base damage reduction.
That was the result of two months of dedicated delving and training in the Labyrinth. Six levels, 360 million Exp. After the first month, the book became soul-bound to me like Kel'Caldor said it would, and I could now make it shrink to the size of a pocketbook or grow as big as a tavern door as well as dismissing it into some sub-space when I didn't need it.
I grew rather fond of the book. Not only did it contain all the books we took from Vlad's library, but it also had all the other books that it collected over time, starting from when the Lost Sage first crafted the book. Since it could fly along with my head and flip the pages with a mental command, I could read it on the go because my head shed light if I wished it to do so.
But we were running low on supplies. I waited for the ghouls to remove the Core of the basilisk and dismantle the beast for useful materials, then added the Core to my list of summons.
* Eight-legged Basilisk (2nd rank)
I could summon it for the cheap cost of fifty-one thousand MP. It would stay for four minutes before I ran out of MP, though.
We went back to the Necropolis. The conversation and request the lich made before we departed were all but forgotten.
In hindsight, I should've read the signals better. I should've invested in Charisma and social skills. Looking back at that scene, I was sure I had a lot of failed social tests messages hidden from my view. But even the me who's writing this is powerless to change the past. What was done was done, and I was in a vulnerable situation. What Kel'Caldor really wanted was obvious If I hadn't my memories locked.
Too late for that now. My fate was sealed.