Welcome to another chapter of Grimm's Evolution. Thank you all for the warm response to the last chapter. I hope you will like this one.
Now let me answer a few questions that appeared in the reviews.
To all of those who again asked about a pairing, yes it will happen. When? I have no idea. How many people will be in the pairing? Like I said in the last chapter, I am going with a single pairing. Who or MC will be paired with? Not a clue. You can drop your ideas about that in the reviews. I will take them into consideration.
Everpeach - I never said that he will fight the God of Darkness, just prepare for them. Who knows how it will go in the future.
Arclight001 - Oh, he won't be joining anyone's side directly. He might help someone, but for him, there is only one side. His. He will do what he wants and when he wants. I will show more of his way of thinking later and you will see what kind of person our MC really is. About his human form, I am still thinking about how it will look, so I can't really tell you anything.
Finally his name. He will be getting it in the next chapter. Not this one. I can go with the name that is not related to color, but I am not sure about this. Angra Mainyu is one of them and I am not against it. So I am still waiting for your ideas and opinions.
That should be all, at least I think so. Like with the last 2 chapters I didn't really plan this one. I just know what needs to be in it, but apart from that, I am doing everything on the fly. Not the best idea, but surprisingly it is easier for me to write this way.
Enjoy the chapter.
Beta: Eleventh Crow
Chapter 3. Far from home
You know what? My discovery that I didn't have a clue where to go, hasn't helped me one bit. Let it be known that I was never big on making plans. Nah, I always preferred to go with the flow, and if a problem came my way I would deal with it head-on. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't.
Going back to my problem, I really didn't know how to get out of the Land of Darkness. I was a Grimm, shouldn't I have been able to leave like every other creature? And yes, I saw plenty of Grimm just disappear without any sign. When I tried to go to the spots in which they disappeared, nothing happened. It seemed like I was going in circles.
Was it because I had a soul?
Who knows.
Apart from that, during my travels around the Land of Darkness, I came across the one place I wanted to stay the hell away from.
The home of Salem. The big ass castle where the main antagonist of RWBY lived. Yes, it was quite beautiful and if it weren't for the fact that I was scared to death, I might have stayed and admired it. Of course, I didn't do that. I hightailed it the hell away from there as fast as I could. Let me tell you that I had never flown that fast before, and I also had stealth activated.
Just from this small escape, I gained two levels towards flight mastery, now it was sitting at level five. Very good progress, even if I had no plans of getting close to that castle again. I really hope that Salem doesn't care about one small Nevermore. I can live without her on my ass for at least the next few years, thank you very much.
Never mind that though, it was finally time for me to find a way to leave this godforsaken place. Flying in one direction didn't work, and following the other Grimm just left me with a headache. So this time I wasn't planning on following them. No, this time I was getting a free ride out of here.
[New Quest Obtained]
Get a ride out of the Land of Darkness upon another Grimm's back. Stupid plan, but it might just work.
Time limit: 5 days
Rewards:
-1000 EXP
-Skill book
-100 Lien
-3 INT and WIS so you won't think of such a stupid plan again
Failure: Possible death, Salem might capture you.
YES/NO
Warning: Even if you don't accept this quest, you will need to get out of the Land of Darkness within 5 days.
Ohh... So it was doable, and I have a time limit. That was all the encouragement I needed. If there was a quest for this, then that meant that my plan could succeed.
I quickly tapped 'YES' and decided this time to plan ahead. I wasn't stupid enough to gamble with my life.
[I think the Quest you gained speaks for itself.]
.
.
.
Fuck you Game. Again. Besides, if you have any better ideas, I'm all ears.
Nothing? That's what I thought. Now leave me the hell alone and let me work. I have a lot of preparations ahead of me, and I don't need your sass. That being said, I pulled up my skill window and looked at one of the skills I would need to use if I wanted to succeed.
[Stealth (Active) lvl: 3 (23%)
This is your ability to move undetected with, well, Stealth. It also covers your ability to perform actions unnoticed.
6% smaller chance of getting detected while active. It can be nullified by a person with a higher level of stealth.
Cost: 49% reduced movement speed when active]
If I could level this skill up enough for me to be able to sit on a newly spawned Grimm's back without it noticing, then this should be easy. The question was, would a single stealth skill be enough? If I had some kind of skill that masked my presence this would be a lot easier, but that kind of ability probably required MP. I could try and unlock it, but with the time limit, it would be a risk.
I'll need to run some tests. I needed to check how the Grimm would react to me in close quarters, and how close I needed to be for 'Stealth' to fail. Then I can level up the skill until I'm able to hitch a ride with a pack of weaker Grimm.
Yeah, that should work. Hopefully.
[For coming up with a surprisingly good plan you gained 1 INT and WIS.]
Now you're agreeing with me? Oh well, I won't complain about the free stats, so whatever. Hopefully, the additional INT and WIS will help me with any further plans. Now I just needed to find some Boarbatusks or Creeps and begin my tests in earnest.
I would try it with other Nevermore, but all of the newly spawned ones are too small to carry me, and I'm not suicidal enough to approach the bigger ones. Aside from that, I can at least escape from Boarbatusks and Creeps by taking to the skies, while a Nevermore could still hunt me down and kill me.
So with my plan ready, I departed my hiding place in search of my first test subjects. Gods, I sounded like some evil scientist. Ah well, it's not like anyone can hear my thoughts anyway.
[I can.]
...
I don't care.
Finding a lone Boarbatusk or Creep was harder than I thought. Don't get me wrong, the Land of Darkness was infested with the creatures of Grimm, but most of them stay in packs. At least those ones I didn't fear. There were some types of Grimm I'd never heard about that stayed alone, but those were either too big or looked too dangerous.
Man, 'Observe' would be really nice right about now. Even the knowledge of their levels and HP would be enough to guess who I can and can't approach. I really hate whoever left me with my MP locked.
[Surprisingly, it was my Creator's idea, not mine. A pity.]
I hate you too.
Anyway, I finally managed to find two small Boarbatusks that just emerged from the pools. It took me exactly two hours. Thankfully, I could count time now because of the quest timer.
With my test subjects ready, I landed about fifty feet away from them and began my slow approach. For now, I decided not to use the 'Stealth' skill to see how close I could get without it. At first, the Grimm didn't care about me, but when I was about twenty feet away, they turned to look at me with their four red eyes.
I stopped dead in my tracks, waiting for the Boarbatusks to do something. One minute. Five minutes. Ten minutes... nothing. Weird.
They just stood there - frozen - and watched me like I was a piece of meat. I shuddered slightly at the thought and decided to try my luck. Again, I began to slowly move forward. When I got another five feet closer, the Boarbatusks finally moved.
They both released something akin to a growl and began to run at me. Fortunately, I was prepared and flapped my wings to escape the attack. The young Boarbatusks stopped when they saw me in the air, and after a while, they lost interest and walked away.
"So fifteen feet is the limit without using my skill..." I grumbled as I landed some distance away from the boar-like creatures.
The result wasn't bad, just a tad disappointing. I expected to be able to get a bit closer. Hopefully, with 'Stealth', I would be able to get at least five feet closer. Not that I believed it would happen though. Six percent was not much after all, but who knew how that really worked.
With a sigh, I activated the skill and began my approach. This time the Grimm only noticed me when I was about sixteen to seventeen feet away. Once again, they didn't do anything apart from watching me. It was a bit creepy if you asked me.
Anyway, I managed to move another three or four feet before the Boarbatusks attacked me again. I dodged without a problem and decided to have some fun. First, I pulled out my base stats to see how much HP I had.
HP: 270
HP regen: 5.4/min
Alright, so I can test a few things. I looked around to see if there were any Grimm that could attack me, and luckily there weren't. I lowered my altitude a bit and fired five feathers at one of the boars.
I tried to aim at the spots where I couldn't see any armor, but I still wasn't sure if it would pierce its hide. Surprisingly, three of my feathers did just that. I thought that you could only defeat these things by hitting them in the underside. Huh, maybe they're just too young and their armor isn't that strong yet. You learn something new every day I guess.
Even though the feather pierced the Boarbatusk's hide I don't think it did any damage. Just looking at the creature, I can tell that I'd only made it angry. Thank anybody that's listening that the boars can't reach me here. Now, to lead the lone boar away from its companion so I can run a few more tests.
It was easier than I thought, as the only Boarbatusk that followed me was the one I attacked. The other one didn't seem to care. Either it was too stupid to understand what was happening, or it simply didn't care.
Either way, I got what I wanted, and now it is time to have some fun. First, I flew high into the air, and when I saw the boar stop, I dived down. It was the first time I was doing something like this, but hopefully, it would work.
I positioned myself so I could get a clear shot at the boar's side and prepared my talons. Just as I was about to crash into the Boarbatusk, I pulled up, and used my talons to grab the boar.
In hindsight, I should have known that I didn't have enough strength to pick it up. Still, it was funny how instead of knocking the Grimm down, I got launched about fifty feet away when I lost my grip on the Boarbatusk's hide.
It was a bit less funny when the Grimm tried to finish me off with its rolling attack. It was a bit weird seeing it in real-life, and not in the animations I'd watched. Still, the attack looked awesome. I wondered how the lightning breath from the Sea Feilong would look. And even better, how my own attacks would look from an outside perspective.
Damn, for now though, it would be better if I focused on the pissed off boar that was still following me. It was like the Grimm always knew where I was.
I stopped midair and watched as the Boarbatusk did the same beneath me. Really, what did I need to do to make it leave? Fortunately, any other Grimm that saw the weird chase didn't care, so that's a plus. Now, how to defeat this little pig.
I could try my previous plan again, and try to knock it down, but we all know how well that worked. My health has already regenerated, so I could try to kill it with my feathers. I just needed my aim to be on point. Heh, easier said than done.
I flew a little lower and fired four feathers at the Grimm. Again, two of the feathers managed to stick into the boar. I was pleasantly surprised this time when I heard the Grimm release a squeal of pain.
Good, it was in pain, so I could probably kill it.
I repeated my previous actions until the Grimm began to run away from me. It probably realized that it couldn't harm me when I was in the air. Still, I spent about half of my health on it, and I'm not stopping now.
There was no way for me to kill the Grimm if it didn't stop. I could hardly hit it when it stood in one place, but now. Nope, no chance. Not with the amount of practice I had. So for now I decided to follow the Boarbatusk and see if it would tire and stop anytime soon.
It did after another fifteen minutes. I didn't know if the wounds I inflicted on it were that severe, but the Grimm just collapsed. From there, I just threw another bunch of feathers at it and hoped that it would die.
Thankfully, after a moment, I saw the Grimm disintegrate and before a notification appeared before me.
[You killed Freshly Spawned Boarbatusk lvl. 1]
[You gained 50 EXP]
All that work for 50 EXP?!
Fuck.
I wasted nearly an hour for 50 EXP, and the Grimm didn't even leave any loot. And it was level one? What the hell? Well, at least the 'Feather Spears' skill leveled up two times. Let's see if it changed.
[Feather Spears (Active) lvl: 3 (2%)
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
-10% Chance to penetrate weak armor]
Okay, the chance to penetrate armor was very good. I'm just curious as to what exactly counts as weak armor. Maybe when I have 'Observe' I'll be able to see how heavily armored my enemies are. Well, another thing to find out when I finally unlock my aura...
The list is getting bigger and bigger.
Oh well, I had my fun. Now it was time to focus on my stealth training.
After four days of straight-up stealth training, I managed to get it to level 26. Let me tell you, those four days were some of the most boring moments of my whole life, the old one and the new one. I literally spent about 96 hours sneaking around different types of Grimm. If my life didn't depend on this skill, I would never have done such a thing. But hey, at least the skill now has some nice effects.
[Stealth (Active) lvl: 26 (0%)
This is your ability to move undetected with, well, Stealth. It also covers your ability to perform actions unobserved or unnoticed.
54% smaller chances of getting detected when active. It can be nullified by a person with a higher level of stealth.
lvl 25 bonus: If you stay still for 10 seconds, the stealth effect is 25% stronger. Or you can double the cost for the same effect.
Cost: 37% reduced movement speed when active]
A neat bonus, let me tell you. While the first option wasn't too useful, the second one was much better. With it, I could sacrifice more of my movement speed and get the same bonus. I tested it already, and with the bonus activated, I managed to land on the back of a freshly spawned Creep without it noticing me. The Grimm knew that something was wrong, but couldn't find out what it was.
It was funny to see the Grimm confused.
Thankfully, with the amount of walking and flying I did, I also gained a few levels in 'Flight mastery' along with some stat points. Mostly vitality and dexterity, but somehow I also gained one point in strength. Intelligence and wisdom only gained one point each, and that was only because I did some deep thinking when I was bored. I think the Game got even more annoyed with me after some of the things I thought about.
Not that it changed anything, the Game was still rude and sassy towards me. I didn't mind it now, I preferred to have bad company than be alone. Maybe I should be a bit nicer so it would talk to me more?
Nah, where was the fun in that?
Anyway, with my grind complete, I hoped that now I could just find a pack of weaker Grimm, and hitch a ride out of the Land of Darkness. The lack of a day and night cycle was beginning to piss me off.
With that said, I left my previous place of grinding - a big area with almost nothing in it apart from multiple packs of Beowolves - and began my search for traveling Grimm.
From my previous observations, the Grimm stayed in the Land of Darkness for a few days, then left in packs if they were one of the weaker types. The stronger ones came and went as they pleased. I didn't know why they even came back here, but it probably had something to do with Salem. Or maybe there was something here that I didn't know of.
Meh, I just wanted to get the hell away from here.
Lucky me that not even after five minutes of searching, I found a pack of seven small Boarbatusks walking in the direction of an area where I'd seen some of the previous Grimm disappear in.
I quickly activated 'Stealth', and mounted the back of the last Grimm. It stopped for a moment, but when it couldn't detect anything amiss, it began walking forward again. I sat there for another few minutes before the world around me started to change. Instead of the red sky, purple crystals, and Pools of Grimm, I saw a normal blue sky, and a rocky terrain. Only this time with broken trees, and no crystals
I looked behind me, and saw that there was no sign of the Land of Darkness anywhere.
Hearing a ping, I confusedly made it appear before me and read.
[You just passed an illusion barrier and left the Land of Darkness. Minimap and map are now available to you.]
[Quest Completed!]
Get a ride out of the Land of Darkness upon other Grimm's back. Stupid plan, but it might just work.
Rewards:
-1000 EXP
-Skill book
-100 Lien
-3 INT and WIS so you won't think of such a stupid plan again
[You leveled up thrice.]
[Your evolution meter is full. You have gained access to the Evolution menu. You can evolve now, or wait and gather more evolution points.]
Three levels, I forgot that this quest gave me so much EXP. I could evolve now too. I needed to see what was in this evolution menu. Unfortunately, all of this would need to wait, as I was still currently riding on the Boarbatusk's back. It was time to spread my wings and find out where in Remnant I was.
With that, I flew up into the air and onto the nearest broken tree. I needed time to check all of these new things I gained. After I landed on one of the bigger trees, I first opened my inventory to check what kind of skill book I had obtained.
[You are unable to learn this skill. You need to unlock your MP to do that.]
That's disappointing, but not unexpected. Really, how many skills can the Game give me that don't cost aura?
Shaking my head, I put the book back into my inventory and decided to see if the map could tell me anything. It didn't. Most of the map was gray, and it looked like I needed to explore all of the world by myself, or find a way to update this map with one I could find later. Not the news I wanted to hear, but it could be worse.
Meh, let's see what the deal with this evolution thing was.
'Evolution menu'
[Welcome to the Evolution menu. Here, you can find any evolution available to you in the current stage. Don't worry, you can prolong your evolution as long as you want. Beware, that when you decide to evolve to the next stage, it is recommended to find a safe place. The evolution can take up to ten hours and it will be easier to harm you during this time.]
Your EP: 3
Current Stage: Draconic 1 (100%)
Evolutions available to you:
-Dragon Grimm | Cost: 1 EP
Take your first step towards becoming the strongest of the Grimm and unlock your full potential.
Passively increases all stats except LUC by 5%
Additional 10% to Max HP
Unlock the rest of the evolutions
- Armor (Weak) | Cost: 1 EP
Upgrade your skin, hide, or scales to withstand attacks from low-quality melee weapons and weak guns. Don't get your hopes up, you are still paper for anyone with a brain. This evolution can be upgraded further.
- Dragon's body | Cost: 1 EP
Transform your body into that of a dragon. You can choose between different types, and then modify them to a small extent.
- Dragonskin | Cost: 1 EP
Exchange your current skin for that of a dragon.
10% less damage taken from all sources
- Predator's Eyes | Cost: 1 EP
Grants better vision, and the ability to see in the dark. This Evolution can be upgraded further.
- Scales and Spikes | Cost: 1 EP
Exchange your feathers for scales and spikes. Really, why do you still have them?
5% less damage taken from all sources
New skills available
- Faster growth | Cost: 1 EP
You grow a bit faster. This evolution can be upgraded further.
10% faster growth speed
- Second pair of limbs | Cost: 2 EP
Gain your second pair of limbs (not including wings) and become a true Western Dragon.
Alright, color me impressed. Even for the first stage, there was a lot to choose from. Unfortunately for now, I only have three points. I knew that I would get another one for getting to Patch, and one more for leveling up. I only needed to complete my main quest, and I would have another two points to spend. With what I saw on the list, it should be enough for the first stage of evolution.
I wonder what kind of evolutions I would be able to get next. For now though, I needed to find my way to Patch and see where in the timeline I was. Maybe I should try to unlock my aura before that? An additional defense would be really useful during my travels.
I guess I could find a quiet place and try to unlock it by myself. I really shouldn't rush into things now that I was finally free of that twisted land.
Yeah, I should at least try to unlock it and get some rest. Yeah, yeah, I know that I didn't need to sleep.
Back in the Land of Darkness, Salem, the master of Grimm and the immortal witch, smiled as she felt the Nevermore with a soul leave her realm.
Never before in her long life, has she happened upon something so interesting. She might be the current master of the Grimm, but they were originally created by the God of Darkness. He crafted them without souls, and even she couldn't change that.
Yes, she could form Grimm with her magic, but to give them a soul wasn't possible. To do that she would need the Relic of Creation, and even then Salem wouldn't waste its power for such a trivial matter.
She also discovered that she couldn't see through its eyes, or even attempt to control it. Maybe this was due to its possession of a soul? Salem wasn't sure, but that would be remedied with time.
The Queen was tempted to take the new Grimm to her castle and see how it would act. But through the eyes of the other Grimm she saw how the two-eyed Nevermore acted like an intelligent being. She speculated that this was because of its soul, but she deigned to leave it alone and observe the curious creature.
Even more interesting was the scene in which it killed a young Boarbatusk. None of the Grimm in the Land of Darkness fought each other, as their instincts warned them that she would not permit such actions within her realm.
After that little event, Salem definitely wanted to discover more about this little soul. She felt it grow stronger during the five days it lived in the Land of Darkness. It would be so easy to just snatch it from the sky and cage it within her castle.
In the end though, Salem decided against it, mostly due to the fact that the moment the Nevermore came close to her castle, it escaped as far as it could. She would admit that it was the first time in many years that she was left surprised.
The Nevermore somehow knew what lurked inside of the castle, and it feared her. That was good, if it feared her, then it would be easier to control. Any weapon would be useful in her future plans.
After that, the little soul somehow managed to get through her barrier that hid the Land of Darkness. It was something she created long ago after Ozma had betrayed her.
It was not only an illusion, but it also served as a sensory barrier. It only detected creatures who were alive and had a soul, so she wouldn't get overwhelmed by the feedback when her Grimm passed through it. Of course, there was no way for anybody who didn't possess magic or wasn't invited to pass through the barrier. But it did serve to alert her when one of her subordinates arrived or departed her realm.
For now the Nevermore may have escaped, but Salem was patient. She would wait for it to become stronger, and then put it under her control.
She simply needed to wait.
So here you go people.
We are finally out of the Land of Darkness and in the next chapter, we are going to Patch. I also showed a bit of Salem POV, add a little twist. What will she do? Who knows. Also, you all now know that we are in the timeline where Tyrian is alive. Where exactly you will find out in the next chapter.
I am putting here the status page for all to see. Let me know if you guys want me to put it here after the end of every chapter.
Name: Nameless
Race: Soul Grimm
Title: None
Level: 5 (0/1000)
Evolution Stage: Draconic 1 (100%)
Title: None
HP: 470
MP: 480 (locked)
STR: 7
VIT: 12
DEX: 10
INT: 13
WIS: 14
LUC: 5
Elemental Affinity:
SP: 35 | EP: 3
Lien: 100
That's all. Have a good day/night.