The evolution choices were full of perils, memes, and dad jokes. Opportunities? Not so much.
Adult Mimic was out of the question. People already freak out with me looking like an innocent pocketbook. Necronomimicon was so last life. No, thanks, I don't need to know more necromancy than I already do. Biblemimic wouldn't help me much and I didn't want to get involved with the church. Then Gray Almimicnac. Great Scott, I don't think I'll be bringing that back home, doc. Let it lie in the past where it belongs.
What the hell is a Deck of Mimic Things? Summon mimics? It's a game-changer, that's what it is. Now, not all game changers are for the best, despite what your 10th-grade gym teacher told your gullible self. It's one of those things where gamble too much and you are bound to lose. "I'll draw seven cards", famous last words. Pass.
Furnishimic reminds me of the joke the librarian told. The table laughed, we killed the table. Nope. The Neither Scroll could go back to where that Deck of Mimic Things came from. And take that with it. Now, with all seriousness, sorcery wasn't very useful for me. One of the advantages of Libromancy was that I could cast as fast as a sorcerer, with a bit less flexibility but with no chance to fumble the execution. If the diagram was painted right, it was painted right.
Finally, the Voynich Mimicscript sounded like another summoner-oriented species. Which was less interesting because I could create animals, plants, and other living creatures with other methods.
It left me with two choices, Greater Bibliomimic and Malefimimic. I wasn't too keen on growing up in size and having a curse-specialized species might give me insight on how to break the ones cast on me. So without further ado, I selected Malefimimic.
> > Starting evolution. You will be unconscious during the process.
Oh, crap…
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> You evolved into a Malefimimic (base). Your level has been reset to zero. Your size increases to small. Halve your HP and damage. You will evolve again at the 3rd rank.
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>
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> 1 Attribute point at every level.
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> +1 to all Attributes every 10 levels.
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> 1 Perk every 4 levels.
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> 2 HP and Energy per level.
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> You gained the Perk, Maleficarum (very rare): +25 to your Magic score to determine the strength of your curses.
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> You reached Maleficmimic (base) level 20.
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> You ranked up into a Malefimimic (unique, 1nd rank)
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> 1 Attribute point at every level.
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> +1 to all Attributes every 6 levels.
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> 1 Perk every 4 levels.
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> 2 HP and Energy per level.
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> You gained the Perk, Rule of Sympathy (uncommon): You can use an effigy of a target to cast spells on them with 50% lower effect.
So that's why Wyxnos didn't want me to be a monster. Free Attribute points and Perks galore. I had enough Exp to blaze through base species so I got those levels at once. The first rank, not so much but I wasn't too worried. I could always farm Exp on the way back.
My physical appearance changed a lot although my size remained the same. My cover now looked like it was made of rugged and cracked black leather, and small claws made of rusted metal gripped my corner guards. The headcap and tail of my spine seemed like the twin jaws of some fanged creature made of the same rusted metal, biting down on the book. The page edges were frayed and dry, giving the whole book an intimidating, ominous, and foreboding feeling.
I quickly shapeshifted myself back to my previous form. The plain brown leather tome with normal pages and no evil pointy things (even if they weren't projected outward) was better for my social life.
I had five base Perks to pick from, so I spent them on my new species' perk list. Before I committed, a thought came to me. What if I didn't spend these Perks, and kept the list of stuff to unlock to a bare minimum? Then after the curse was lifted, I could make better use of them.
Only one problem with that. I had no guarantee my future lives, which wouldn't have the memories or the book to read my story from, would not spend those perks on stupid stuff. I had no other choice than to spend them.
* Harmless Curses (very rare): +50 Magic score for curses that do not threaten death or injury.
* Dark Pact (rare): +25 Magic score if you can make the target willingly and knowingly accept a curse as part of a bargain.
* Dark Trade (ultra-rare): For an equivalent service performed, the target can give up a portion of their Status or being to you. The pact must give them a way to retrieve their offering later on or a set time limit agreed at the moment of the Dark Pact.
* Evil Eye (rare): You can halve a target's Luck. You lose the same amount of points. This curse lasts only while in visual contact.
* Evil Eye of Enfeeblement (very rare): You can halve a target's Strength instead of luck. You lose the same amount of points.
At the first rank, I spent the remaining Perks from pre-evolution levels on the new list.
* Evil Eye of Lethargy (very rare): You can halve a target's Dexterity instead of luck. You lose the same amount of points.
* Evil Eye of Sickness (very rare): You can halve a target's Endurance instead of luck. You lose the same amount of points.
* Evil Eye of Stupidity (very rare): You can halve a target's Mind instead of luck. You lose the same amount of points.
* Improved Evil Eye (very rare): You lose only half of the Attribute Points you drain with your Evil Eye ability.
* Reinforced Canvas Barrier (very rare): +20 Hardness and double Durability.
* Textured Canvas (very rare): Your canvas barrier has three layers of folding paper features, changing the bonus to notice the canvas as fake to +8 for every meter closer than 10. The canvas can be rough or soft according to your wishes.
* Structural Canvas (ultra-rare): +30 Hardness and quadruple Durability (supersedes the bonus from {Reinforced...}). The canvas barrier now can be folded in ways to give it structure and support up to (10*Magic) kilograms per square meter of the support area.
* Enlarged Canvas (ultra-rare): The canvas now has a total area of (2*Magic) square meters.
* Architectural Canvas: Double the MP cost. Your canvas barrier can fold and take the shape of complex structures. Change the bonus to notice the canvas as fake to +5 for every meter closer than 10.
The System automatically combined the Perks.
* Stink Eye (1/7): While you maintain visual contact with a target, you may halve one of Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Mind, or Luck. You lose half of the points the target lost on the same Attribute.
* Deployable Canvas (1/7): Pay (100*Magic) MP/hour. Summon (2*Magic) square meters of paper. It can be shaped as complex structures, textured, and painted any way you wish. It has (30+SQRT(Endurance)) Hardness and (4*(Endurance+Magic)) Durability. Viewers may make a Perception test against (Charisma+Magic) to notice it is paper. Starting from 10 meters and up to zero, each meter closer gives the observer a +5 bonus to this test.
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With the upgrades, {Deployable Canvas} could create an 88m2 house with kitchen, bathroom, living room, corridor, broom closet, and two bedrooms, with 195 square meters of paper left to fold for furniture. It was as strong as if it was made out of steel at 44 Hardness and 2,588 Durability. The difficulty to recognize it as paper up close, touching it, was 516. It went without saying that it was almost as good as conjuring the real thing. Stone, wood, fabric, even a fluffy down mattress. The windows were translucent paper and just as resistant as anything else. For a halfling and I, it would be a mansion. I could even make a second floor if we didn't need to accommodate taller people. [1]
I created one such house and examined it. The first issue was evident. It didn't have moving parts, so the windows wouldn't open, nor the doors. These would need to come from elsewhere. Windows didn't open either. What I needed was a gnomish contraption. A cartoon gnomish contraption. Like folding arms and retractable doors and windows that would be deployed over the roof and bend into place with meticulously placed slits.
Yes, If I put an angled roof over the ceiling, creating an attic where this contraption would then be deployed and extend everywhere it was needed. It would then stretch the window frames and doors into place and slide them down from these slits. It would take some of the leftover canvas I set aside for furniture, but I would have a functional house. I could even enchant the contraption so it would summon water and dispose of the sewage and garbage.
With that in mind, I started to draft a blueprint. I wouldn't finish though. As if summoned to test my Perks, a big ogre wandered into the mushroom cave.
> > Level 56 Fungaloid Ogre Mage
The ogre's skin was a shade between beige and gray, wrinkled but at the same time bloated. What does it remind me of... Oh, it looked like the surface of a brain. Its oily skin caught the light and glistened. His ears were enlarged and slanted downward, with mushroom cap gills between the lobe and jaw. It was naked but I couldn't see any genitals. If it were green, I would expect it to yell "WAAAGH!"
The ogre stared at me. "Little book. My God told me to kill you," he grumbled.
Bit did it? What was this, a trial, a challenge, a gift, or something else?
The ogre mage waved his hands at me and the mushrooms around the cave uprooted themselves. Eyes and mouths and arms sprouted from the fungi as they came to attack me, the larger shrooms walking over the smaller ones. Hundreds were coming at me, a veritable army.
> > Stink Eye (halve Dexterity)
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> > Royal Aura (-118 to all Attributes)
I was hoping it would halve then subtract but the System thought otherwise. It first subtracted the aura, then halved their Dexterity. The larger mushrooms halted in place and lost all mobility as their Attribute plummeted to the negative and the smaller ones slowed down. I gained fifty points of Dexterity for some reason.
Damn. Multiply two minus signs and it becomes a plus. The mushrooms who dropped to the negatives, let's say, minus forty Dexterity, had that minus forty halved. Subtract from my own score a quarter of minus twenty, and the System gave me five points of Dexterity. Even it out around the whole shroom army, and the grand total was plus fifty points.
Shelving the realization for later, I switched the {Stink Eye} curse to Endurance and lost about forty points but all the monsters had their HP pools ridiculously diminished. Then, my cover opened wide and the pages flipped until the diagram I wanted came up. An enlarged {Explosive Fireball} did short work of the shrooms, cooking everything in the cave except for me, who was healed by fire.
I felt movement in the smoke. The ogre mage was still alive, singed, but alive. Impressive. The glistening coat over his mushy skin was gone and it seemed dried and flaky.
"You die now, little book…" he drawled as his lips cracked.
His HP was down to 5% of the maximum. I waited to see what he would do. He raised his hands like a necro telling his undead army to rise from their graves. Mushrooms grew from the ground, red in color and apparently unaffected by the heat in the room. A modest army, about twenty mushrooms this time. In mere seconds, the walking mushrooms and the ogre were coming my way.
I flipped some pages and cast mom's favorite spell. {MITH Force Javelin Volley} skewered the ogre and his army of mushrooms.
> You reached…
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>
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> You ranked up into a Malefimimic (unique, 2nd rank) / Bibliomimic (unique, 5 slots, 2nd rank).
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> 1 Attribute point at every level.
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> +2 Dexterity, Magic every level.
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> +1 Endurance, Mind, Willpower, Charisma, and Luck at every level.
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> +1 Endurance, Willpower, and Soul at every even level.
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> +1 Ego, and Luck at every odd level.
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> 18 base HP at every level.
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> 26 base Energy at every level.
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> 1 Perk at every 2 levels.
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> You gained the Perk, Invisible Curses (very rare): Curses you cast do not appear on the target's Status sheet. The difficulty to detect such curses is equal to the curse's Magic score.
Jumping on the boss monster as his summons crumbled into nothingness, I plunged a ribbon into his chest and rummaged until I found Bit's gift.
> > Fungaloid Ogre Mage Core Level 56
I added him in one of the summon slots.
* Fungaloid Ogre Mage (2nd rank).
I felt pressure and {Detect Divinity} told me I had company. Bit, in a very smaller form, descended. I knew this talk had to happen between the real me and the other deity, so I used my daily {Suppress Curse}.
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Poor Netherbane. Doing its best to not be overwhelmed by everything around it. I looked at the not-so-giant urchin's avatar.
"Greetings, old friend."
"Greetings," the Urchin Guardian Replied. "How did you like my biome?"
It was hard to read his expressions but he was eager. "I thought it was a very good idea. It was about time the Labyrinth gained some features. If treasure or resources appear in these biomes, people will be very eager to conquer them. I got a lot of useful mushroom samples," I said and swapped them from Neteherbane's storage to my item box because this way they wouldn't spoil.
"I see you added my fungaloid ogre to your list of summoned monsters."
"He's quite useful if he can summon mushrooms. Hey, what's going..."
His spikes warbled with delight. At least I thought so. "I am glad you liked it. I have to go. Sorry, we don't have much time. I can't be down here for too long."
"What's going on with the other Gods? Why are they keeping silent for so long?"
His spines sank down, "I can't talk about it. Sorry. I'm really sorry." Then he was gone.
Damn.
Damn.
What the hell are those idiots thinking?
The world is falling to disrepair, the scorched continent is almost entirely dominated by demons, Windemere became a fairy tale, Aquilonia is in ruins, the Empire is gone. What is happening? I had too little time before my hour was over. Netherbane had the right hunch. Becoming proficient with curses could greatly enhance our chances of breaking free of this predicament. Or it could do nothing but become another tool in our ever-expanding swiss army knife of abilities.
Speaking of which, I had an Ability for [Spellcaster]. Raina didn't pick {Path Less Traveled} but lowering the summons' cost seemed like a good choice. I didn't fault her.
> > Spellcaster (**) [ 714 ]. Select 1 Ability.
In for a penny, in for a pound. Down into the rabbit hole, we went, with another summoning Ability.
* Horde Summoner: Lower costs as if (P/10)% fewer monsters were summoned. Lower maintenance costs by (P/20)%.
As the maintenance cost was a factor of the base summoning cost, for large groups of summons its returns were squared.
I took two artifacts from my {Item Box}. Madge and Mona's twin floating shields. One of them had Barbara's name in the item description, the other had some random man. I had no idea which of them were Madge's nor Mona's. As the shields leveled up during our fight with the dragons, they changed as the living silk on each shield selected different Perks. I put Barbara's in Netherbane's dust cover's storage and returned the other to the item box.
> [Lenneth's Twin Shields] - Level 69
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> Price: Inestimable.
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> Materials: Engraved Core, Steel, Adamantite shell
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> Durability: 40,567. Hardness: 456.
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> Soulbond: Barbara Lynn Ambrose.
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> * +10 Endurance, Willpower, Charisma, Ego, and Soul.
> * MP generation/Storage: Self-sufficient even in areas of low mana density.
> * Self-repairing. Repairs 3,000 points of durability per day. May use the wearer's MP to recover faster.
> * Twice a day, heal 25% of the user's HP. This effect triggers at the shield's own discretion.
> * Hovers about a handspan away from the wearer, one on each side. Anchors to the wearer's position and can follow at any speed.
> * Detects enemies and incoming attacks and spells with a Perception score of 269.
> * Four times each hour can project a Force dome around the user when targeted by an area effect.
> * Moves to intercept attacks with a Block Proficiency of 419. Shields are immune to knockback.
> * Relays information about the position of Twin Shields and nearby enemies empathically to the wearer.
> * Attempts to never block line of sight, bump into the wearer's body, or block attack paths.
> * Upon command, can enter dimensional storage without touching the wearer. If an enemy attempts to grab one of them, shields hide in the wearer's dimensional storage for a moment and then return on their own.
> * Teleports back to the user from up to 10 km away.
> * Floating shields with a deep desire to protect their owners. Three sets were made with fairy magic, three sets were bound to one another in sisterhood. They hid their true strength from their creator, who STILL cannot read this last sentence.
>
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The Attribute bonuses, teleportation, healing effects, and 69 extra points in Perception and Parry were the Perks the shield acquired.
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[1] - 525 meters of walls, 3 meters high, 88m2 floor and ceiling on ground level, 195m2 for furniture and roof