Welcome to the second chapter of "Grimm's evolution".
I was really glad that so many of you liked this new story. Hopefully, every next chapter will be better. Now to give you some additional information about this story.
I still haven't decided upon a name for the MC. Your opinions on this aspect are still welcome and I will probably wait with the name until I give him a human form.
One person asked if there will be a pairing. As of now, I don't know. I don't have any special plan for this story and I just go with the flow (It will probably change after 3-4 more chapters). So if you guys want for this story to have a pairing, let me know. I can do it, but don't ask me about harem. While I could try and write a harem, it would just take away from the story. At best I can manage 2 girls in the pairing and even then it is stretching it.
I also decided no the timeline. Some of you probably expected it, but I think it should be a good amount of time for the MC to get familiar with the new world.
As you all know every Gamer fanfiction meets one important problem sooner or later. I am talking about the Gamer becoming too OP too fast. While I am not against a powerful character, I won't make him one shot everything in one chapter. I already plan to introduce some small arcs and ancient Grimm so my character can develop.
Lastly, I am looking for a beta for this story. My English is not the best and it is always better to have someone to help you with things like that.
Enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 2. Where it all began
I am really beginning to think that everything that happened earlier was just a dream. Really it would be easier to believe if I wasn't falling. Again. After the Game decided to throw me wherever I am going now, I thought that it would be a moment and I would arrive in Remnant.
Of course, it didn't happen and here I am, falling down in the void. The gamer system is not working and I still don't have anything akin to a clock to check the time.
I am beginning to think that the Game is just taking revenge for annoying it. If that's the truth then I am sorry. Please just let me leave this void, I think that I am going mad and it shouldn't be possible with the gamer's mind.
I guess it didn't work... or never mind, I see a red light before me?
Wait, light? Why is it red?
And I just went through it and let me tell you it wasn't the nicest of experiences. I assume that whatever just happened gave me a body as I feel like a fucking elephant just sat on me.
Alright wherever I am, I feel a hard ground beneath me. Most likely rocks. Yea, that's probably it. Now I just need to open my eyes, get familiar with my new body and then I am all set.
Of course, it was easier said than done as whenever I tried to open my eyes, I felt like someone was trying to tear them out. And my body wasn't fairing any better. Whatever I am now, I feel so clumsy. I still have four limbs, at least that what those feel like. I really need to open my eyes and see what I became.
After what felt like a few minutes, I finally managed to crack one of my eyes open and see the world around me.
Let's just say that if I could move, I would run as fast as I could away from here. Why?
I was in a barren wasteland, with rocky terrain and where enormous purple crystals were sprouting from the ground. The sky was a dark red and Grimm spawned from the various numbers of pools.
Of course, I would start in the Land of Darkness. In the place from where all Grimm came from and where Salem resided. I was just thankful that I didn't see the Evernight Castle. I didn't need Salem on my ass just yet.
Of well it was high time to get the rest of my body moving. First I opened my second eye and I was surprised to be able to see in almost every direction besides my behind.
With that done I finally took a look at my body. Well... I at least tried to and let me tell you when I finally managed to turn and see downwards, my jaw would fall if I had one.
What I saw were two pitch-black, feather wings, a long feathered tail and instead of legs, I had talons. Shit.
I am a Nevermore. I don't know how to feel about this. I knew that I would become a Grimm, but I thought that I will get a badass dragon form, not that. Ah well, beggars can't be choosers, let's just hope that the Evolution system can give me what I want.
Wait... wasn't Nevermore supposed to have four eyes?
I quickly tried to open them but to no avail. Huh, weird. I definitely was something akin to Nevermore, but without the additional pair of eyes. OH, and I was small. like really small. Probably even smaller than a normal raven.
Alright, from what the Game told me, the Grimm won't attack me without any provocation from my side, so I am safe for now. Still, I need to get out of here as fast as I can. Like I said I don't want to meet Salem so early on. I just need to learn how to fly and then follow the packs of Grimm out of here.
Just when I wanted to start on getting familiar with my body I heard a ping and a blue window appeared before me.
[Congratulations, you completed the tutorial.]
Rewards:
- Skill book
- 100 EXP
- 5 stat points
[You gained a level.]
Huh, I completely forgot about the tutorial. And I gained a level, that's nice. Now how to get rid of the blue box?
I spent another few minutes trying to stand up on my talons and I can proudly announce that moving with them was easier than I thought. Still, I am getting rid of them as fast as I can.
Next, I tried to open my wings and use them to swipe the message away. If someone saw me they would think that I was even more stupid than normal Grimm and perform a mercy kill. Really, I stopped counting how many times I fell down when I tried to control my wings. God, (or is it Gods now?) how even the birds move with those. Ah, well hopefully with enough practice I will be able to move and soon fly.
Finally, I managed to swipe the box away with my wing, but another appeared right after.
[New quest acquired.]
Take to the skies and stop being useless. Really, you are a bird and can't fly. What a joke.
Rewards:
- Skill book
- 1 Evolution Point
-100 EXP
-5 stat points
Failure: You will be stuck in the Land of Darkness for the rest of your pitiful life.
No need to be rude Game. Really what is it with the rude gaming systems. It is almost like it wants me to fail... Yeah, that's probably it.
[For solving the mystery of the world you gained 1 WIS and INT]
You know what? Fuck you Game. And here I thought that we were friends...
What no response? Oh, well time to get moving and think of a plan. First, I really need to learn how to fly. How hard can it be?
With that, I awkwardly moved to some more private place behind some crystals and began my first official training in this world. Of course, it wasn't as easy as I thought. Even with Gamer's body I still felt pain to some degree and exhaustion. It appeared that like with every limb, I needed to build up muscle memory with them so I could move them without any focus.
I can't imagine how weird it will get when I get the second pair of normal limbs. Even now I am having problems with moving my legs and wings at the same time. Thankfully the use of my tail is a lot easier and it helps a lot with maintaining a balance.
Finally after a tiresome few hours, or at least I thought it took me that long, I finally managed to move without any problems. I even gained one point in DEX and VIT. I still didn't try to fly, but before that, I wanted to check something.
'Inventory,' I thought to myself. The new window appeared before me and I quickly noticed the one lone item in it. I used my beak and clicked on it, in hopes to get it out.
Thankfully it did and now before me stood a small book. Good, it was time to get my first two skills. I stared at the book for at least ten minutes before I almost facepalmed.
I didn't have my MP unlocked so I couldn't create a skill that needed it.
[Thanks to not being an idiot anymore you increased INT by 1.]
Alright, I deserved that. So no 'Observe' for me, at least for now. I guess I will see what the skill book contains. I again tapped the book with my beak and waited for a notification.
[You obtained a skill book. Do you want to use it?]
Yes/No
I tapped the yes button and waited for another window.
[Skill obtained!]
[Negativity absorption (Passive/Active) lvl: 1 (0%)
As the creature of Grimm, you are drawn to negative emotions. Thanks to the system you can now feed off them to gain experience. The more negativity the more EXP you get. You can only absorb negativity from creatures with a soul.
Passively absorbs negative emotions. Radius: 50 feet | EXP gained: 1 to 10 per hour
Active: Sense negative emotions around you. Radius: 1 mile | Cost: 10 MP/min]
Holy shit! And here I thought that I will need to hunt wildlife to gain some EXP in the beginning. This skill should make everything easier even if the amount of EXP gained is very small. Hopefully, it gets better with the level. I will need to find some human settlement that doesn't have any strong defenses. I don't want to die because I was stupid.
Huh, another point of WIS. That's nice, even if I know that I am only getting them because it is the start of my new life. Still the more the better for me.
Anyway, it was time for me to learn how to fly!
I already can feel the pain...
A few hours later
Learning how to fly is not easy!
No, definitely no. At first, I thought that it will be like learning how to ride a bike. You know, try to move my body a few feet into the air and then slowly make my way up.
It didn't work like that. For the first few hours, I couldn't even get off the ground. It appears that flapping my wings randomly is not the way to fly. I only managed to fall multiple times. At least I gained something out of it.
[Phycial Endurance (Passive) lvl: 3 (7%)
Your body becomes more durable and you take less damage from physical attacks.
3% decrease in damage taken by physical attacks.]
Standard gamer skill that I almost forgot about. Anyway, after some practice, I finally managed to get myself a few feet in the air. Thankfully I was never scared of heights so when I lost control of my flight and pummeled towards the ground I was fine. Well mostly, I lost about 50 HP but it would regenerate in a few minutes.
From there it was a bit easier as I already knew the basics. So here I am standing on one of the crystals I managed to climb using my talons and clawed fingers on my wings. I decided that if I could fly from here to the nearest hill, then I should be fine, and hopefully, the quest would complete itself.
"Alright you can do this, just focus," yeah, I could talk. Don't ask me how that even works as I don't have a clue myself. I am just glad that I can, I might be a Grimm but taking my ability to talk away would be too much.
With a leap of faith, I spread my wings and began gaining in altitude. That was the easy part, now I needed to remain in control of my flight and move towards the designated target.
Again, it was easier said than done. I practiced my take-off more times than anything else, so my control was still average. I could stay mid-air for some time, but if I lose my focus for a moment or if a gust of wind hit me, I would crash land into the ground. One time I almost crashed into the pool and if it wasn't for the gamer's mind I would have probably died there.
I quickly threw those thoughts away and focused on my current situation. With another flap of my wings, I began moving forward.
It was going so good that when I heard a ping accompanied with the pop out of another blue box, I lost my control and crash-landed into the rocks below me. I really needed to work on my landing.
I groaned and pulled myself to my feet- or talons- I need to get rid of those pop-outs. They would kill me one day. Thankfully the game appeared to be at least a bit helpful and the previous box disappeared and another came into its place.
This one contained some options and I quickly found what I needed. I turned down the sound of pings a bit and disabled the pop-outs when in battle or other important situations.
With that done I returned to the previous notifications to see what I got.
[Due to hours of training you increased your STR, VIT, and DEX by 1.]
Thank you very much. Next!
[Thanks to learning how to fly you created a skill]
[Flight Mastery (Passive) lvl: 1 (3%)
Let's you move in the air more easily. Your speed increases, every maneuver becomes easier and maybe, just maybe you won't fail the landing.
2% increase to movement speed when in the air
1% increase to DEX when in the air]
Huh, I will be honest and say that I didn't expect this. And the bonuses on this thing are great. Well, maybe not that great, but still good. Fights in the air, traveling, and dodging will be a lot easier with this.
Now with the last notification.
[Quest completed.]
You learned how to fly, mostly.
Rewards:
- Skill book
- 1 Evolution Point
-100 EXP
-5 stat points
Great, another skill book for me. Hopefully, it will unlock my aura. I really don't want to go through that process myself. I am not even sure that I know how to do it.
With a sigh, I took out the skill book from my inventory and tapped it with my beak.
[You obtained a skill book. Do you want to use it?]
Yes/No
Again I clicked yes and waited for the book to disintegrate.
[Skill obtained!]
[Feather Spears (Active) lvl: 1 (0%)
Fire spear-like feathers from your wings at your enemy. It is one of the basic abilities of a Nevermore.
-Cost: 5 HP per projectile
-Damage based on your STR
-It cannot penetrate even the weakest armor]
Not what I wanted, but still nice. At least now I have something to defend myself with. It is interesting that the skill uses HP and not MP. Not that I am against it as who knows how long will it take me to unlock my aura. But still, does it use HP because it is a skill of a Grimm? Probably.
I decided to test it out so with a few flaps of my wings I was a few feet in the air. I noticed with a no small amount of surprise that now that I have the skill of flight mastery, flying came to me a lot easier.
After I recovered from my surprise, I focused on the skill I wanted to use and aimed at the nearest rock. Then I flapped my wings a bit more forcefully and released ten small feathers in the rock's direction.
I missed a few of them, but the rest managed to hit the target. They didn't even leave a mark and I was a bit confused by this. Quickly I pulled out the description of the skill once more and read it carefully.
'It cannot penetrate even the weakest armor,' Alright not the best news. Hopefully, that will change as I level up the skill and become stronger. Now though I would like to rest a bit. I don't think that I need to sleep anymore, but I did a lot today and I deserve some time to relax.
With that, I took off into that air and searched for a spot that would grant me a semblance of safety.
I took me some time but I finally managed to find a small crack in the rocks where I could hide. I got as comfortable as I could inside and closed my eyes. Maybe it wasn't the best, but it would work for now. Tomorrow I will decide what to do next.
[You have slept on uncomfortable ground. Your HP and MP has been restored by 20% and all negative status effects have been cured]
Let it be known that never before in my life have I slept on rocks. Furthermore, I don't think that I will do it again. Really I thought that thanks to the gamer's body I wouldn't be able to feel pain from sleeping. Guess I was wrong.
Anyway, I don't know how long I have slept as the Land of Darkness doesn't have things like day and night. It makes me wonder how that even works but knowing that some time ago a god lived here, nothing is impossible.
Now that I am awake in my new bird body -I am still not sure how I feel about that- I should probably decide what to do next and isn't that the question of the year. When I arrived here yesterday, I didn't care what happened next. I was just too hyped to care, but now? What am I even supposed to do on Remnant?
Become the best Huntsman after I obtain my human form? No... well maybe someday to have some fun. Go to Beacon and meet the main cast? If I am in the right timeline then definitely, but there is no way in hell that I am going there as a student. It would restrict me too much.
Maybe I could just ignore everything and find some peaceful place to live the rest of my life in... Haha, yeah, there is no way that I am doing that.
The next problem on the list is Salem. If I arrived before canon or during it then she is still active and sooner or later she will find out about me. She rules the Grimm and I am one of them even if I don't plan to help her in any way. So yes, defeating Salem is one thing on the list to do, but it is not what I want to do in this new life of mine. I just want to get rid of her so I won't have an angry Witch Queen on my ass all the time.
Wait... I am a Grimm, so what if I became the strongest of them. What if I beat all of the ancient Grimm and create a legend of my own. When I watched the show, I always wanted to see more of the older Grimm like the Wyvern which attacked Beacon. And now I will be able to see them and kill them.
Yes, that could be fun. Become the strongest, the best. Maybe even take control of the Grimm away from Salem. And if the Brother Gods came back and didn't like what they saw, I just might have enough power to fight them. There is no way that I am dying again.
[New Quest Obtained]
Become the strongest creature on Remnant and become a Legend.
Requirements:
-Defeat all of the Ancient Grimm
-Get rid of Salem
-Prepare for the eventual arrival of the Brother Gods
Rewards: A new Title, 10000000 EXP, Skill Book, 10 EP
Huh, I was kinda expecting it after my decision. Now I just need to find out where in the timeline I am. But before that, there are still a few things that I need to do before I leave the Land of Darkness.
I stretched my body as I exited the small crack in the rocks. There are still two skills that I want to create before I leave and they should work without aura.
First I found an isolated place and tried to crouch as best as I could with my current legs. Then I waited in hopes that it would work. Finally, after some time I heard a ping. I quickly opened the new notification and read.
[Even if it is not how you create that skill, I will give it to you. Just next time don't make and an idiot out of yourself and use your brain.]
[Stealth (Active) lvl: 1 (0%)
This is your ability to move undetected with, well, Stealth. It also covers your ability to perform actions unobserved or unnoticed.
2% smaller chances of getting detected when active. It can be nullified by a person with a higher level of stealth.
Cost: 50% reduced movement speed when active]
Okay, that's awkward. Maybe I should have tried to sneak by some Grimm then. Ah, well I got what I wanted so who cares.
[Me]
No one asked you Game. Earlier you didn't even answer my question, so now it is my time to not care.
Anyway, that skill will be useful when I will need to get close to human settlements if I want to get some EXP from them. I will probably try to level it up later by keeping it active. I wonder how well it will work when I will be in the air. Another thing to test later on.
Now to create my second offensive ability. Hopefully, it doesn't need MP.
With that, I took off into the sky and observed my surrounding for an acceptable target. In the end, I decided upon a smaller crystal that in my opinion should get destroyed quite easily.
Even then I was a bit scared that I would take too much damage with my next action so I reduced the distance between me and the crystal before I rushed at it head-on.
I hit the crystal with my full speed and thankfully it shattered to pieces. I also lost almost half of my HP but it was fine as I heard another ping.
[You created a new skill.]
[Charge (Active) lvl: 1 (0%)
Charge at the single enemy that's away from you. The bigger the distance the higher the damage. With leveling this skill you deal more damage at a smaller cost. The basic skill of a Nevermore.
Cost: The amount of MP or Hp used depends on the distance. Minimal cost: 10 MP/HP
- Damage can be increased with STR, VIT, and INT]
Alright, that's should be all. I would try to unlock my aura, but I don't feel too safe in the Land of Darkness. I will do it when I will find someplace to hide for a longer time. It is time to finally depart and find out where in the timeline I arrived. The question is where I should go. I don't really remember the date from the show so I need someone from the main cast if they are alive of course.
I could go to Beacon but that would be suicide even if I look a bit differently from a normal Nevermore. Oh I know, I can just fly to Patch and find Ruby and Yang. It should be easier to hide on the small island and if I level up my stealth before I arrive it should be able to do what I need.
[New Quest Obtained]
Travel to Patch Island and find out where in the timeline you arrived. Be careful, even if it is a small island you can still be killed.
Rewards:
-1500 EXP
-1000 Lien
-1 EP
-5 stat points
Thank you game. Now, do I have a minimap anywhere?
[Minimap is not available in this location.]
Okay, less helpful but I can manage. Anyway, I want to see my stats once again before I leave. I haven't checked it ever since the tutorial.
'Status.'
Name: Nameless
Race: Soul Grimm
Title: None
Level: 2 (100/200)
Evolution Stage: Draconic 1 (64%)
Title: None
HP: 270
MP: 280 (locked)
STR: 6
VIT: 7
DEX: 7
INT: 8
WIS: 9
LUC: 5
Elemental Affinity:
SP: 20 | EP: 2
Lien: 0
Not bad for a start. I really need to think of a new name for myself. It is weird to not have one. Apart from that everything looks alright and I am already near my first evolution. I wonder how that will work.
I sighed and closed the window, just when I wanted to begin my journey I saw the destroyed pieces of the crystal. I shrugged or at least tried to and put the pieces into my inventory. Who knows, maybe they are useful for something.
With a last look around me, I took off into the sky and began flying. After a few minutes, I stopped and groaned, "Shit, I don't know where to go."
This is it for now.
I really enjoyed writing this chapter and hopefully, you will like it too.
Again I am still looking for a beta. If there is anybody interested, please PM me.
If you enjoyed the chapter, please leave an opinion/follow or favorite.
See you soon.