I have always wanted to put down my journey into words, but it has also been something that I have been putting off for a long time. The reasons involved are varied, lengthy and full of spoilers for the future of this journey.
But I would suppose that the main reason for not having written down this story long before this point would be... perspective.
Should I just be upfront and be as honest as possible when writing it? Do I hide certain aspects of information about my much younger self? Should I only tell you what kinds of information I knew at the time or do I scatter various tidbits of knowledge during earlier chapters that I myself did not learn until into later chapters? Though I suppose that there's no well, feasible for anyone reading this to tell me or you that what you're reading is wrong, unless they were around at the same time as me, which'd be... unlikely to say the least?
Aside from that though, after so many years of procrastination, reluctance and at this point. Boredom. I have decided give my story in full and in as much detail as I can possibly remember. This means everything from when I was but a small Beowolf, and with that, all my hardships, mistakes, embarrassing thoughts and the extreme lack of knowledge that I had with literally everything around me. The only thing I do inadvertently ask for is that you go easy on me and remember that I was just a simple Beowolf up until the first chapter (or is it second chapter now?) of the story. It isn't like a Beowolf is going to know what is going on around it or, much of anything at all after it gains a higher level of intelligence.
Many individuals around me have been pushing me for months and some, even years to get this story finally on the road. For now, the purpose of this story is both to them, as a way to show my gratitude from the commitment and the many, many chances they have given me many years ago, but also as a way to be remembered in some regards.
Everyone want's to be remembered for doing something fantastical or great to the world as a whole, for me, this story will have to suffice in that regard as a way to immortalize my life as a whole, and to hope that it is enough for the time being.
To tell my name to the wider world, to wave my accomplishments around like a flag and to tell a much more, extravagant version of this Grimm's very long life-cycle.
Speaking on that however, I should probably begin the story in full at this point. Rambling on and on forever may appeal to my own self but, I would rather you didn't lose your interest before the prologue of the story even begins in the first place. Else I'm very sure of a certain individual trying their luck towards scouring Remnant to give your friendly, neighborhood Grimm another blemish on it's otherwise, exceedingly beautiful bone carapace!
Let us finally begin.
Once upon a time (this is how you are meant to start a story, isn't it?), there was a pack of Beowolves being lead within the depths of a forested area by the alpha, with one particular, special Beowolf, still in it's infancy stage, being transported and lugged around via the more mature Beowolves within the pack. That Beowolf is me, as you probably would have guessed already.
We entered through a small passing and there, were the first signs of the upcoming conflict around us, claw marks carved deep into the surrounding trees, the rocks, the soil and the terrain around us. The smell of blood was everywhere around the site, each claw mark was accompanied by the distinct stain of blood but for a few inches away from each one. Were they Human? Or were they just simply animals that didn't know better?
For me, I was still the child (mentally speaking) I was and with that, looked around with wanderlust, staring in awe at the carnage in front of me and feeling heady with the feeling of lingering negative emotions that were still encapsulating the area. We continued down the bloodied path with the surrounding environment only getting worse and worse as we went along, those negative emotions were getting stronger and I couldn't help but to keep pulling on these feelings, even for as small and as inexperienced as I was at, I could instinctively tell that this was a feeling I'd be constantly searching for, a feeling that I'd likely kill, tear and rend to get at all costs.
By the markings of night, we arrived at our destination. It was an open area near a cliff, surrounded by large rocks and boulders that had been repeatedly clawed on and left to stand. The tree's around us having suffered a similar fate, being clawed down forcefully and without much contempt for the land around us. Bones of different animals were littered across the ground with the quiet droning of the forest around us and the occasional, harsh caw of crows that took residence on the surviving branches of tree's nearby. Once we came out from the forest, so did many other Beowolves. I looked around and took notice of each of the older, stronger newcomers that came along. Several had some kind of skull or bone plating over their heads or chests, whilst others showed signs of sharper, bony spikes that were protruding either from their back, arms or knees that were varying in size and amount. Others were simply much larger then others in the pack and others had clearly invested into sharper, longer white claws then simple size or additional armor.
As I was staring at the newer members of the pack, several seemed to notice me observing them and surprisingly, they didn't take well to being apparently sized up by a much smaller, much more feeble Beowolf then they were. Now, I would like to say that whilst I am a Grimm, I was still in my infancy and as such, my voice and by conjunction, my growling, was anything but threatening to these older Beowolves. Looking back on that decision now, it probably sounded more like some high pitched whining on my part compared to the low pitched sounds of actual death that they were sending off my way, all the while made better with the sights of smoke being let off from their jaws, making them look even more imposing than usual.
With the situation around me at the time, my transporter kicked me off as fast as they probably could and now, the whole camp was staring and in other respects, looming my way slowly and carefully. I tried to find some form of escape and found the forest surrounding us, I knew that it'd likely be my best bet as even though all the other Beowolves were much more dangerous and more experienced then I was, I could probably use my smaller stature in some way to escape with my life intact within the depths of the forest.
Or at least I thought so.
I realized, a little bit too late in some ways but nevertheless, I realized that I was subconsciously edging backwards, back towards the cliff edge that inadvertently cut me off from escape. And with this realization, I made a final, mad dash towards the entrance of the forest. However a member of the pack, easily over twice my size, simply swatted me away like a piece of dirt and blocked my last escape route. As it moved forward, I instinctively took a step back and with that, I lost what little footing I had left on the edge of the cliff face, and I fell.
Trying to desperately claw back on, I found that my claws were useless at grappling. Honestly, I'd struggle to even call them claws at this point, you could classify them as long, white, slightly sharper sticks that would break under the tiniest bit of force. And what did you know? They did exactly that.
And I fell.
Within an instant, I felt myself submerged within a pool that was cooler then anything I had ever experienced before. It felt like everything I could ever experience was being thrown my way. From the deepest, darkest possible negative emotions of humanity to the almost saintly, to those that were pure of heart, those that were very obviously not Grimm. The pure, almost electric energy and heat of what was surrounding me was filling me up like no other, and my body was doing its best to absorb it all and heal whatever wounds I sustained from the fall. It was painful, oh so very painful. I couldn't move or do anything during whatever process was occurring and with that, I was stuck to suffer for several hours as something was playing doctor with my body.
After what seemed like the longest time, I groaned and cracked open my eyes to find myself staring up at something which very clearly, brought my attention towards the sky above. A blue, mildly transparent square floating just above my face.
Welcome, Gamer!
You have been selected to experience a once in a lifetime... experience!
(New Quest)
Would you like a tutorial to get started?
Rewards: 1000 XP, 10 free stat points, and a potential understanding of the new circumstances surrounding your life!
[Yes/No]
I admit, I blanked and fell in and out of unconsciousness during the, well, whatever the hell that whole thing was so as I was staring up at this blue square, without any knowledge of language or what the hell it was trying to tell me about, I got my newly mended paw back up and swiped across the box using my claws, hoping for it to disappear.
As soon as I did so, a searing pain absorbed my body and more specifically, my head in particular interest, as I felt something foreign and invasive make it's way deeper into my skull. I could feel it poking around, fiddling around with something excruciatingly painful within my head and worse, I could feel something growing inside. I scratched and scratched and scratched, eventually I nearly tore off my own head in response to the never ending torment of my own skull, and as fast as it came to me, It ended.
I shakily got back on all fours, taking note of the multitude of new, differing blue squares surrounding me, and I took notice of the one that was seemingly flickering in and out of existence before me, the one that seemed more... important to me.
Error!
Error!
Error!
Error!
Error!
Mending System Error.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Excellent Choice!
Due to changes within the system, it has now deemed it mandatory to induce this tutorial due to certain, extreme circumstances.
This is being made as an exceptional case for the first of your kind.
We have determined to set your commands as internal for the set future.
By thinking of the word "Status", you may continue onwards.
I realized soon after "reading" the first few lines, that whatever had just happened to me in that moment, and whatever these blue boxes were. It had grew my mind into something that only much more elder and wiser, much more ancient Grimm would actually inquire to have. A brain. A real thinking mind that could understand what words were being put in front me, even though such concepts like a written language were completely alien to me, and still were at this moment.
I grew fearful (odd for a Grimm, isn't it?), fearful of what these things could do to me even more then they already have, though with the massive increase in language, came with it something more. Intrigue. This newfound intelligence was overwhelming, exceedingly so, but I took note of the world around me more, of the cliffs above my head and as I looked down, the barren pit of dirt and soil that once held some unknown liquid, a perfectly sized crater for my size. Something clicked in my head at that point, but it was still too early for me to understand the finer details of the world around me.
I swiped across the box again, hoping to continue whatever process was happening to me, when as expected, nothing happened.
So I did it again.
I swiped and swiped and swiped to no avail. The box just wouldn't budge or do anything other then just exist right in front of my face. After several, even more less successful attempts, I sat down and gave up, now having to use the one thing I was still, literally, mentally processing at this point in time. My mind.
Now I should make a note that having my mind increased "massively" still isn't that much, especially for a Beowolf in its infancy, it's like having a brain the size of a pea suddenly grow into the size of an orange. It was still a huge improvement on my overall intelligence but I still more or less relied on my animal instincts to get by, without the need to constantly over exert myself and use the little mind I did have in my day to day Grimm life.
"Status," I thought to myself. A new window popped up out of nowhere in a flash of blue, and showing me something that... made no sense at all to me.
Name: ?
Class: The Gamer
Race: Grimm (Soul)
Level: 10 (Next Level: 0/5000)
Title: None
Bounty: 0 Lien
HP: 500
MP: ? ERROR/ERROR/ERROR/ERROR [Aura Not Unlocked Yet]
STR: 26 [Base 20 + 6(30%)]
VIT: 19.4 [Base 15 + 4.5(30%)]
DEX: 13 [Base 10 + 3(30%)]
INT: 6.5 [Base 5 + 1.5(30%)]
WIS: 6.5 [Base 5 + 1.5(30%)]
LUK: 15
Elemental Affinity: None
Attribute Points: 0
Lien: 0
Status Affects: None
Through the massive cascade of numbers and information coming through to me, I seeked to interact with the box even more and was seeking more answers then I was getting when, as expected of me at this point, I end up smashing my snout face first into the mass of dirt that made up the cliff.
[For intentionally injuring yourself and by extension, getting ahead of the tutorial, your VIT has risen by 1!]
Intentionally? Sure, we'll go with that.
As you can probably guess, this is your status window.
Oh?
I've just been notified of a certain situation, that I need to remedy, please stand by whilst we fix this undisclosed error.
The notification left as fast as it came. With a roll of my eyes I sat myself down on the dirt beneath me whilst I waited for the blue box to come back. I peered back into the status screen and swiped on "Race".
This is your current race, it can change throughout your upcoming journey.
Your current race is "Soul Grimm", you are THE only Grimm in Remnant and beyond to possess a soul. Thus enabling the Mana function and by extension, the ability to wield an Aura.
When all of a sudden, a massive rush of energy flowed through like an up-water stream. A huge rush of strength and power came with it, along with delirium from experiencing all these effects in my body and with that power, came a certain transparent but faint glow of something that was encircling my small frame. What was this? And why did it make me feel like I could go out and conquer the world? This heady feeling of untapped power left me shaken, even as another notification came up beside my head, I could barely even acknowledge it underneath all the feelings of rawpower that were making their way up to the rest of my body.
As you could probably feel, this is your [Aura].
Normally, we wouldn't have unlocked your Aura at all from the systems side in fear of what it would do to the participant involved, the fact that you even have the potential of an Aura speaks to the effects of that amount of liquid dust on your body. But since you are of the Grimm and therefore, break all the conventional rules, we have decided to impose this on you as a workaround for the mountains of errors you've been indirectly causing.
Because of your, uniqueness, I will be helping you in a much more direct way then of those before you.
Let us look at your [Status] page again, shall we?
I bring up the status page as fast as I can to see what changes have occurred.
Name: ?
Class: The Gamer
Race: Grimm (Soul)
Level: 10 (Next Level: 0/5000)
Title: None
Bounty: 0 Lien
HP: 500
MP: 180 [Aura Recently Unlocked!]
STR: 26 [Base 20 + 6(30%)]
VIT: 19.4 [Base 15 + 4.5(30%)]
DEX: 13 [Base 10 + 3(30%)]
INT: 6.5 [Base 5 + 1.5(30%)]
WIS: 6.5 [Base 5 + 1.5(30%)]
LUK: 15
Elemental Affinity: None
Skill Points: 5
Lien: 0
Status Affects: None
A Soul Grimm huh? Guess that explains a few things.
I look across the status page and I take notice of two things in particular, the first of something called "Mana", I looked thoughtfully at it, before pressing on the word with the tip of my claw.
[This is your Mana, or as any normal person would call it, Aura, is the resource that is used in most spells and skills. Current MP regeneration is 1% of max MP / minute]
I looked at each word with keen interest in my eyes, I didn't know what spells or skills were but if they gave me the same heady feeling that came with my Aura in the first place, then I was already on board for trying to get as many of them as possible.
I went on to keep looking through each stat individually.
[This is your Health, or HP. It is your life essence, and it is how much damage that you can take after Aura before dying. Current HP regeneration is 3% of Max HP / Minute]
[Strength is how strong you are, what else could it be? Increasing this stat will affect and individuals physical carrying capacity and how hard you can hit using melee or melee weapons!]
This wholly appealed to me on some fundamental level, most Grimm were nothing, if not for their strength, those that were the strongest usually rose to the top of the pack and usually stayed that way until a stronger Grimm came by. I already internally decided that I would invest most of my time into this stat in particular.
[Vitality is how tough your body is! Increasing this stat will allow you to actually take a stand against those with claws, blades, guns and explosions without running off like a child. Each point in this stat will increase your overall HP by 10]
I acknowledge this as important as well. Wait. Are they all bound to be super important as the rest? Aw man.
[Dexterity is how agile you are. It increases your attacking speed, overall movement, your chances at dodging attacks, skills, and overall hand-eye (or is it hand-paw?) co-ordination. It also aids in more... heinous skills down the line as well.]
[Intelligence is the accumulation of how smart you are. Higher input into this stat will increase ones learning ability and speed, memorisation of key things, thinking up new idea's to a problem and solutions to get out of sticky situations. Each point in INT will also increase ones MP by 10 per stat point in turn.]
[Wisdom is the ability to take any decisions you have in front of you and in the face of it, know and choose the best one out of all of them. Increases in Wisdom will also increase MP regeneration by an extra 0.5% every 5 levels.]
[Luck is the ability to come out of any situation favorably. Increasing the Luck stat will also increase the chances of rarer events taking place in the future and by extension, any rarer mobs you may come.]
Now that we have finished with the Status Screen,you may have otherwise noticed that there are currently, 5 Skill Points that aren't allocated yet within your status page. I will be putting all 5 of these into INT as a way for your mind to catch up on what is happening and to streamline the tutorial process for one of your kind.
As soon as the notification disappeared out of sight, I could feel it yet again. That pain. That rooted itching that's occurring within the deepest parts of my own mind. It eventually all becomes too much for me to handle and I collapse on my back, paws up in the air, twitching slightly in the wind as I lay myself out for whatever mental collapse just occurred then.
A few short, embarrassing moment later, I get back on all fours, looking none the wiser for what just happened to my mind in that short space of time. But I could feel it, that my brain probably just grew that much bigger within a short while could not possibly be healthy for my small state but nevertheless, I could feel it. I could think quicker, clearer, new knowledge flooded in en masse and with better understanding of the situation. Looks like I'll need to also induce INT as another stat I need to keep on-top of as well.
Sorry about that :(
But now that we have finally finished with the Status screen, lets move on.
Try thinking of the word, "Inventory" now.
"Inventory," I thought, and with a flash, the status screen was very quickly replaced by the inventory screen. So far, all I saw in the inventory was one thing, a container of liquid dust. I tilted my head at this and brought up a claw to take it out and observe the unknown that dwelled within my inventory.
I took it out and observed it. It was small, very small, considering it only made up the circumference of my whole paw, it contained very little of whatever was inside. The golden case that encapsulated it did nothing to perturb the myriad of colors that dwelled within, from the lightest teal to the darkest maroon. It was the same mesh of color that surrounded me in the pit and from this realization, my newly developed mind concluded that this was very dangerous.
This is your inventory, you can put anything you desire into it and pull them out whenever you wish. You can also equip gear and items in this screen without having to manually change them on your own body.
That vial of liquid dust within your inventory is all that remains from, "The Pit". As you have so deemed it. For now, keep it in your inventory, I shall notify you when it can be used since it is a relatively rare form of dust.
When you are finished observing, please think "Skills."
I put the golden vial back into my inventory.
"Skills," I thought, the inventory screen being replaced with a mostly blank one. It only had around three skills currently inside of it. Now... using my mind, I can predetermine that the tutorial should be making a fuss about that issue pretty soon!
Uh Oh! It seems that you are lacking certain skills for someone of your level. How about we fix that?
I internally smiled at this.
[For accurately estimating the system and it's probabilities to the situation, your INT has risen by 1!]
Heh.
Whilst I wasn't paying attention however, a couple of "skills" appeared to have come into existence inside the menu. I tapped my claw on one of the newly appeared ones first.
[Bite Lv15 (Active) EXP 0.0%: This skill allows you to bite (Duh.)! To rip and tear and to cause as much damage as possible to the offending animal or individual until they give out. May cause bleeding.
Base chance of a successful Bleed: 40% (Can be increased or decreased by your strength relative to theirs. Yours minus theirs applies to the base stats, mostly applies to other hunters as other civilians will likely not come near you in the first place.
Cost: None.
Passively increases strength by 10%]
I decided to check up on the other two skills on the screen, they were seemingly there beforehand and decidedly, weren't new.
[Gamer's Mind (Passive) Lv: Max
Allows the user in question to calmly and logically think things through with little worry. Allows a peaceful state of mind. Immunity to mental attacks from other beings, unfortunately though, it doesn't apply immunity to mental attacks imposed from your own self..]
[Gamer's Body (Passive) Lv: Max
Grants the user a body that allows them to experience the world around like a video game.]
Video Game? I twisted my head and looked around the forest, not noticing anything differing from the ordinary. Looks normal to me at least?
I closed the skills description and closed the screen as well, noticing the *ding* of a differing screen, I focused back on the tutorial.
Finally. We are all finished.
You can gain new skills in a variety of ways, by repeating certain actions, experimenting with differing skills or your Aura, by increasing your stats or by reading skill books as well.
And with that, you have finished the basic tutorial and all that's left is for you to go on your own way and make your mark in this world. I will not be directing you from this point onwards, you will be left to your own devices, you have that freedom to choose whatever path you want now. Any further information about the tutorial will be found in the "Help" section in the options menu/
Good Luck!
I tilted my head as the tutorial closed itself, I had an inkling of what I needed to be doing, but I was still processing all this new information into my newly awakened mind. A new window appeared pretty soon afterwards.
Tutorial Quest Finished!
Rewards:
10 Free Stat Points
1000 XP
I internally decided to use five of those stat points immediately on Strength, If I was to meet more Beowolf packs down deeper into the forest then I'd desperately need the strength to fight them off, especially since I am so weak compared to the alpha's lurking around.
As I nodded my head and internally put the status page back up, inserting those skill points, I felt it again. The itching, though this time it crawled across my entire body. The feeling of new muscle, of my claws growing sharper and stronger, the feelings of bone spikes in their infancy, making their way across my back, shoulders and paws, and the growth of my teeth. They felt an inch bigger then they were before, with more serrated cutting edges accompanied by them as well. With my frame growing slightly larger in turn, I stood taller in the Pit, and looked upon myself once more. I still likely looked like a Beowolf in it's infancy, although one that was nearing it's hunting period of it's life cycle and was almost ready to go out on its lonesome to find its prey.
I decided to put an additional five points into intelligence, and already, the haze was clearing out from my mind, making it think slightly clearer and faster then it was before, it wasn't a huge difference but for how minuscule it was, any improvement would feel impressive at this point.
I eventually went to look over my other skills. One was "Intimidate", which obviously, allowed me to impose or do whatever I wanted if the skill was high enough.
[Intimidate Lv10 (Passive/Active) EXP 0.0%: The ability to frighten or overawe (someone), especially in order to make them do what one wants.
Passively amplifies the Fear emotion by 10%
Actively amplifies the Fear emotion by a further 20%
Cost: 20 Mp / Minute
Can only be leveled if there are others nearby to intimidate.
Another skill was called "Smash!", which at level 10, increased the chance of inflicting lasting wounds by utilizing blunt force on an individual. It also increased the chances of inflicting several other status effects like concussions, bleeding, broken limbs and etc. Using this skill would give me a 30% extra experience gain towards any strength based skill in the future.
An additional skill I took note of was one called "Grimm Mastery", which was at level 8, it increased the chance of inflicting or amplifying negative emotions (Fear included) by an additional 12%, and gave any Grimm or negativity based skill a whole 25% extra experience gain on top of that.
Talk about OP much?
The last skill was simply named "Aura". And with a flick of my claw, another screen had opened up.
[Aura Lv1 (Passive/Active) EXP 0.0%: The manifestation of your soul. When active, it creates a transparent force field around your body, protecting it from any harm.
Passively increases all stats except LUK by 30%
When active, it increases all stats except LUK by 60% and allows MP to be used as a second health bar in cases of emergency.
Cost: MP regeneration is disabled until it is deactivated. (Level Parameters to remove the cost has not yet been achieved.)
Those are some impressive passive and active effects, my mind noted. I took notice of the level parameter notification and decided to start leveling it up in the meantime since Aura seems to give me my biggest total buffs.
I experimentally activated my aura by using the skill screen and closely looked at the EXP system to see what would happen. It went up eventually. By around .02%, so I internally knew that leaving it on would take a while to level itself up. Since this Aura thing is likely to be closely related to combat, considering all the passive and active buffs that I receive from it, I should probably find an opponent soon enough to test it on, provided I can find any under the darkness of night of all things.
I got out of the Pit. I felt like I may have overstayed my welcome a little bit and as such, I wandered my way into the depths of the surrounding forest, hoping to find prey tonight to test on. Before I even went a few feet into the forest however, I had gotten the message that I had created an "Observe" skill as well. I was likely going to abuse that skill during the night, both as a way of finding prey and making it easier for me to do so, but also as a way to further understand and develop my surroundings.
And with that out of the way, I finally made my way into the depths of the woods.