image [https://imgur.com/SPogxDT.png]

Nina gripped at her belly as she very very carefully opened Luka’s door using the extra key she had acquired. She had a tummy ache, and that’s why she was here, in case anyone was asking. Luka didn’t stir, his deep rhythmic breathing filling the room. Perhaps the ten ales he drank during dinner while recounting more of his stories had made it so he was too sleepy to wake up? Nina removed her hand from her belly. Her stomach was feeling much better, all of a sudden.

The book lay wrapped in a heavy cloth. She moved to it slowly. Earlier today she had walked around in this room and listened to areas that squeaked or made any odd sounds, so her steps were practiced and silent. She gathered the book, holding it at a distance by the cloth, and retraced her steps. She had mentioned to Luka that she sleepwalked sometimes, and she hoped she wouldn’t have to lean too heavily on that flimsy excuse tonight.

Thankfully she got back to her room without disturbing Luka or the other guests. She paused to think on that. The other guests were probably only here for her benefit. Did they even sleep in the inn? Or did they go home at night? She unwrapped the book with a long washing line pole, shaking her head. What a costly enterprise this all must be.

The cloth unfolded to reveal the horror that was the cursed book. Every part of it screamed “EVIL”. Nina looked at it, and gently bumped it with the pole. It seemed to shiver a bit, the eye bulging and staring up at her.

“So. “Power”? That’s what you’re offering, I take it?” She looked over at the unblinking eye, willing some form of communication to occur. Nothing did. It stared back at her, and then very very slowly opened up, the gigantic sharp crooked teeth parting with an unsettling scraping sound. She backed up, her hand reaching for the door handle. This was all very risky. She had her back to the door, and planned on running to Luca’s room if the book did something she couldn’t handle. Maybe it would curse her or kill her faster than she could respond. That would be unfortunate.

The opening teeth revealed… nothing. Well, that wasn’t correct. There were pages inside the mouth, but every page was *nothing*. Literally sheets that were the absence of a physical thing. Her eyes began to strain and she could hear the blood rushing in her ears. She tore her eyes away, panting hard. “I… fail to see… how THAT… is “POWER”...?” There was an afterimage of the pages in her eyes, slowly fading. She carefully glanced up and saw that the hand had emerged again. It moved slowly, as if it was attempting to be non threatening. It pointed to one of the large teeth. Nina held still, studying the book. The hand moved again, then pressed its palm against one of the teeth. It didn’t apply much pressure and the tooth easily sank in a small amount. A thin trickle of some kind of black liquid oozed out and down into the maw. Nina continued to watch, noting with interest that as soon as the hand moved off of the tooth it had healed.

The hand then pointed at her, then back at the tooth, then back at her, then back at the tooth. It was clearly going to continue doing this, and Nina held up a hand. “Yes. I get it. You want me to freely give you some of my blood. Here, why don’t you write down the exact terms. You’re a book, so I’m hoping you do know how to write.” She brought over a large smooth flat stone and a smaller whitish rock. “ I haven’t been able to procure paper and pen yet, but this will serve.” The hand trembled as it grabbed at the rock, and then began to clumsily but determinedly scratch at the rock. Nina watched with interest, then with growing concern. “I have no idea…” She peered at the tiny intricate scratches on the rock. “Is that some kind of ancient mesopotamian writing?? Does the auto translator for this world not work here or something?”

The book stopped scratching as it heard her frustration. It paused, and then flipped over the flat stone, and began to draw. It was clearly not an artistic book as these drawings were terrible, but Nina got the gist. There was a drop of some kind going onto a rectangle, likely the book, and then dotted lines leading to a circle with dots… a face. More of the untranslatable words were quickly scratched in next to the dotted lines. Nina studied this thoughtfully. “If I give you my blood, then you can send me the information directly. Go like this if that is correct.” She gave a thumbs up, and the book immediately and awkwardly responded in kind.

She looked at the book for a long while, and it trembled again. “And what kind of horrible thing will that do to me?” The hand shook in the air, waving away the accusation. Nina frowned. “So… nothing? I give you a drop of blood and then I get power?” The hand halted, and then slowly waved away that statement as well. “I see. The blood drop only forms a communication link, any further agreement needs to be made at that point. Right?” The hand paused, and then gave an enthusiastic thumbs up.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Nina stared at the book. She was fine with potentially destroying herself in the pursuit of power. This was absolutely a potentially terrible idea, but so was self immolation and that had worked out fine. She nodded. She strode forward and pressed her palm to the sharp tooth, dismissing the pang of pain. Immediately a presence was in her mind. [YES OH THANK YOU YES THANK YOU!!] Nina frowned at the exuberance of the mental voice, at odds with the horrific thing in front of her. She wrapped a cloth around her hand, binding the wound. [Hello. I am Samantha. Who else can you communicate with?]

The book seemed to mentally pause at the neutrality in her voice. [Samantha… a pleasure to meet you, Samantha! Also NOBODY!! ONLY YOU!! I can only bond with one person at a time, and either of us must break the bond mentally before I can bond with another.] She stared at the book, her face blank. [Mhm. Well then. You promised Power.] The book flapped the hand up and down eagerly. [YES! I contain VAST amounts of knowledge!! I innately absorb the knowledge of any place I exist in, and I have been in this world for a very very long time..!] Nina waited. [Go on then, disgorge something of value.]

The book seemed to twist under her gaze. [I… um… need a sacrifice first.] Nina’s eyes narrowed. [Be clearer with your terms. I am willing to break this bond and dump you into the town well.] The book shivered and rubbed its teeth together, possibly a nervous gesture. [I have acquired a powerful curse through my time in that Dungeon that has overlaid my natural restrictions!! I can ONLY dispense knowledge equivalent to the value of the sacrifice made! It can be any kind of sacrifice! However the curse has also tied me more deeply into this world, and the greater the worth to the person doing the sacrifice the more powerful the information!] Nina paused, thinking. [What would I get for a toe?]

The book scratched at a tooth with its hand. [Well, I could give you something for that? Not anything huge, but I’ll do my best! What did you have in mind?] Nina nodded. [I want information that will immediately help me plot a path forward towards achieving true and lasting power in this world.]

The book eagerly shook. [YES! Yes I can help with that!] Nina held up a finger. [One moment.] Moving quickly but quietly she returned to Luka’s room, making sure he was deeply sleeping, and then grabbed one of his small healing potions. He had explained these to her during one of their outings, and it should work. Returning to the room she laid out a small towel on the table, and then placed a foot on it, next to the book. [Left pinky toe.] The hand reached out, and hovered over the foot. The toe vanished. Blood immediately sprayed out onto the towel, and Nina dripped some of the healing potion onto the open wound, taking a moment to also apply some to her hand. both sealed, leaving her with a pink nub where the toe used to be. The large eye on the book scanned her face. [You’re a very intense person, did you know that?] Nina looked back at the eye. [That better not be the information that I just paid a toe for.]

The book held up its hand. [I’m sorry! Okay, the information that I believe will help you is this-] A page uncurled and filled in with silver script.

[Experience Enhancement Hidden Trigger-Fame/Infamy]

All experience gained is increased or decreased by the value placed on the individual by the denizens of the world in their faction, and inversely so by the denizens of the opposing faction.

Fame and Infamy are influenced by Charisma on a global level, increasing the experience gained.

There is no cap to this multiplier.

Nina looked thoughtful. [Not as good as I wanted, but still helpful to know. Still, I feel like this is something I could have gotten out of Luka, if he knew about it. Clearly I need to go bigger. What if I sacrificed a guest to you?] The book slowly waved its hand. [You care nothing for the guests, so it would be very minor information.] Nina nodded. [Okay. What if I sacrificed the ability to ever use one of my stat slots again. I can give up Physical, for now.] The book’s eye bulged at her. [I think that would be a very reasonable sacrifice! I have something in mind that I think you will be able to use, immediately.] Nina studied it. [Do it.] The book held out a hand. Nina felt a lance of pain that seemed to go deep inside her… and then it was gone. [It is done, here is the information I am able to give you for such a sacrifice]

Nina read the floating silver text, and began to chuckle deep in her throat.

“Useful.”

GLOBAL OVERRIDE DIRECTIVE

-FOR LORD USE ONLY-

-FOR LIMITED USE ONLY-

-Available SHARED G.O.D. points 1580/2000-

[Map Control]-VARIABLE G.O.D. points-

[Quest Creator] -VARIABLE G.O.D. points-

[Fast Travel] -VARIABLE G.O.D. points-

[Item Creation] -VARIABLE G.O.D. points-

[Character Sheet Editor] -VARIABLE G.O.D. points-

[Hidden Stat Editor] -VARIABLE G.O.D. points-

[Delete] -500 G.O.D. points-

Nina went to touch the floating letters, but suddenly the book’s hand was in her way. She glared at it. [Wait WAIT! You CAN use these abilities right away, and can now access them in your status screen. HOWEVER the G.O.D. points are shared by the five Lords, and any large use of them is monitored. I would advise against using them too hastily.] Nina paused. [I see. But I can freely look at what they offer, without arousing suspicion, correct?] The book gave a thumbs up.

Nina began to re-wrap the book. [I have a lot of thinking to do, let’s get you back to bed.] As the cloth covered up the book's large eye, it saw her smile very very widely.