Adrian gradually blinked his eyes open as his surroundings came back into focus. His head throbbed, and his body felt stiff. As he rose from the ground, he instinctively checked his head for injuries.
"Why does my head, ache so much?"
After ensuring his skull hadn't cracked open during his clumsy fall, Adrian reached down to retrieve his glasses from the floor. Although only one lens remained intact, he habitually placed them on his face. To his surprise, he felt a sudden disorientation and noticed his vision becoming blurry.
He promptly removed the glasses and found that his vision returned to crystal clarity. Memories of what transpired before he passed out flashed in his mind, all pointing to the book.
Adrian scanned the room frantically.
"Holy fuck! Where did it go? That mother fucker gave me 20/20 vison and then bailed." He wailed with a mix of aggression and gratitude.
His search yielded no results; the book had seemingly vanished within the confines of his room. It made no sense; how could a book disappear in such a confined space?
"Ugh, I can't be assed with this, life's too shit to spend time looking for a book that doesn't wanna be found."
He concentrated on recalling the moments before he lost consciousness. The book had levitated, and he'd heard a few words just before he blacked out.
"What were those words? Some kind of notification? It sounded like it was like that of a game notification, like levelling up or something... It had to be, it reminded me of the game I used to play.. Elfs Ring or something like that.. anyway-"
The stray thought surprisingly triggered something evidently, as the same book he had been searching for again materialised before him In a flurry of light.
It had defiantly gone under some crazy alterations, noticeably the centre of the book that was once a purple crystal had been replaced with the sculpture of a hand, Infact on the back of the book hand sculptures were covering it top to bottom, they had an intricate pattern layered over them like tattoos. A soft purple glow emitting from them. Its entire existence radiated something eerie.
The book opened to its first page.
[Tome of Pale Heart]
\u003c User: Adrian Essentech \u003e
\u003c Race: Halfling \u003e
\u003c Level 1/10 \u003e
\u003c 0/50 exp \u003e
\u003c HP 10/10 \u003e
\u003c SP 25/25 \u003e
\u003c Strength: 1 \u003e
\u003c Endurance: 1 \u003e
\u003c Dexterity: 1 \u003e
\u003c Soul Mastery: 1 \u003e
\u003c Charm: 1 \u003e
\u003c 5 Stat Points available \u003e
"This is, eerie. A book that displays my growth? Gods what the hell have I gotten myself into" Adrian exclaimed, eyeing the next page. Without much input the page turned.
|\u003c |Skills| \u003e|
\u003c Skill: Soul Lock \u003e
Cost = 1 Skill Points
\u003c Skill: Soul Mould \u003e
Cost = 2 Skill Points
\u003c Skill locked???? \u003e
\u003c 1 Skill Points available \u003e
....
The Skills page displayed two skills that had instantly captured his attention, along with the points he had to spend but noticing bookmarks to look through he made the effort to leave the skills for after he had explored what this book had to offer. Adrian moved on to the next page, labelled "Shop." The book understanding his needs and flipping to the page on its own.
\u003c |Shop| \u003e
\u003c |Unlocks at level 10| \u003e
"You fucker! Why have it as an option from this point if I can't even access the damn thing!"
Finally, the last page, "Quest," appeared accessible.
\u003c Main quest \u003e
\u003c Reach level 10 \u003e
\u003c Daily Quest: Consume two litres of water \u003e
\u003c Reward 5 Exp \u003e
\u003c Class Quest: Use Soul Lock 3 times \u003e
\u003c Reward 10 Exp \u003e
\u003c Race Quest: Consume a Soul \u003e
Adrian's jaw dropped. The reaching of a higher level was a little annoying but feasible, the consuming of water was also pretty easy but the racial quest? This was too crazy to comprehend!
"I have to eat someone's soul! Are you kidding me? This book is trying to turn me into a murderer! Fuck! What am I supposed to do with this information? Am i an accomplice to murder for simply owning this thing? How many people have you Swade into doing your evil biddings huh!"
Adrian cried, he thought this whole situation was completely unfounded. How could a magic book be telling him to kill someone. It was much too far fetched, if it wanted him to do that couldn't it warm up to him even a little and gain his trust at the very leased?
After exploring the mystical tome, Adrian thought about throwing it through the window after closing it, and it complied with his thought. Or atleased the second part of it. It closed its pages off and sealed shut, the hand sculptures on the front locking with the hands on the back to seal it shut.
It struck Adrian that the book his parents had left him must be an ability book of some kind, though none were known to disappear and reappear, nor to assign tasks let alone ones that could get him sent to jail. Typically, ability books required time and effort to understand, unlike this instant comprehension ability he seemed to have been given.
Adrian frowned. He knew that the book had told him to take a soul, and usually that would entail murder by the sounds of it, but the two abilities he was given the option to obtain gave him a little hope around this factor. Maybe soul lock meant that the person could continue to operate without their soul? Who knew. But what he did know was that this was an extraordinary opportunity. The book might be the key to breaking free from his Level 1 status, given that he had never been able to afford ability books before, and his family had prohibited anyone in the family from lending him one to learn from.
"Well its obviously not an ordinary ability book if that's even what it is, maybe it can help me get stronger? I suppose ill have to figure this all out in my spare time huh.."
In usual circumstances, ability books were associated with specific attributes, locking users into a particular category—be it Elements, Transmutation, Summoning or Transformation. However, what Adrian had obtained appeared far from ordinary.
He ventured to his mini-fridge, extracting bottles of water. He began downing them one by one, uncertain about the exact quantity needed for two litres.
"Since I drink a lot of water anyway, I shouldn't have to drink the whole two litres from scratch again right?
After finishing his third bottle of water, a notification appeared in the form of a voice in his mind. It felt as if the voice had lost all will to live while also sounding remote and robotic.
\u003c Daily Quest Complete, 5 exp granted \u003e
\u003c 5/50 \u003e
"Hey it did something! Iv really got an ability now!"
Excited about the opportunity before him he reopened the book to which it followed through with. He thought of the Skills Page and looked at his options again.
\u003c Skills \u003e
\u003c Skill: Soul Lock \u003e
Cost = 1 Skill Points
\u003c Skill: Soul Mould \u003e
Cost = 2 Skill Points
\u003c Skill locked???? \u003e
\u003c 1 Skill Points available \u003e
Seeing as he only had one choice available he immediately focused on buying the Skill called Soul Lock and as he had thought of it it happened, just like that.
\u003c Skill: Soul Lock Obtained \u003e
\u003c Skill Points Reduced to 0 \u003e
\u003c Complete Quests and Level Up to Obtain Skill Points \u003e
Just then a new bookmark was made with the title 'Soul Lock' and as soon as Adrian had seen it pop up he went to it immediately, the excitement and anticipation killing him.
On the page there was the name of the skill he had obtained and a description of its uses.
{Soul Lock}
{Freeze and Unfreeze parts of the targeted soul. WARNING: Leaving parts of the targeted soul frozen for long periods of time can have painful physical and mental repercussions. Freezing the entire soul for even a short period of time can cause parts of the soul to break down. If the entire soul is left frozen for too long Veiling is viable to take place.}
Adrian had to read the description 3 times over and started on the fourth before finally understanding what this meant and what it had said.
"I can freeze peoples souls? What the hell does that mean? And what's up with this Veiling? The description is extensive but I feel like it only gave me more questions reading it.."
Adrian's face felt a little hot, he touched his head and let out a troubled sigh before moving to sit down on his bed but suddenly, footsteps could be heard outside his apartment window and the sound of a car door shutting could be heard.
As if on que, a piercing buzzer sound echoed from the door. Adrian hastened to open it and was met by a red-headed man dressed in a brown military uniform adorned with a pin in the shape of a sparrow, his name tag identifying him as "Sergeant Simeon."
"Young man, I believe you have somewhere to be. We've been waiting patiently for your last day of school, if I were you I'd make it snappy. The place your going doesn't tolerate tardiness."
Amidst the whirlwind of recent events, Adrian had momentarily forgotten about his plans for the day and coincidentally the next few years.
"It's time for you to head to the academy kid." Simeon said.