"Hu-kh-Cough!!" Alph exhaled harshly causing him to break into a coughing fit.
He rolled on the ground as intense pain burned through his chest and throat, as if he had drank a bottle of acid.After few moments, the pain slowly receded, leaving Alph confused and flabbergasted."I-Im Alive?"He clearly remembered that his throat had been slit by the crazy old serial killer."That morherfucker! Piece of shit!" Thinking of that detestable bastard made him clench his teeth so hard that blood started dripping from his gums.He still couldn't believe that people like that existed."But how can I speak? Even if I was somehow saved, my throat should still be badly damaged!" He immediately started touching his neck.Even though his clothes were still drenched as if he had took a bath in blood, the wound was nowhere to be found."All that aside, where then hell am I?" As someone who was quick to adapt he decided to throw everything aside and focus on the current situation.He quickly surveyed his surroundings, rocky walls, dim light, damp and humid air."Am I in a cave?" He was extremely shocked."Don't tell me that crazy bastard kidnapped me? Fuck!" He could only come up with such a conclusion.But there was still something that was off, if he was really kidnapped he should be shackled or bound with a rope or something."Whatever it is I should make a run for it!" He didn't know how such a deep wound could suddenly heal nor why he was in a cave but doing nothing would solve nothing.He shakingly stood up, his head was feeling as if it was about to split up so he stretched out his right hand and grabbed the wall to support himself, and there he saw it.A strange golden mark could be seen on the back of his hand."What the-" Alph could hardly believe his eyes as he gazed at the golden mark which was pulsating with a faint golden light.He leaned on the wall and pulled back the hand to take a closer look.It looked like a strange symbol but no matter how hard he focused Alph couldn't figure out what it was.It was as if it was constantly changing form yet he knew it wasn't, he was staring at it but yet he couldn't comprehend it's shape.As he dazedly stared at the mark, a strange sensation took over him, as if a calling from deep inside his soul."Activate!" Alph subconsciously put out his hand and shouted.Suddenly the dim golden light being emitted by the mark intensified, making Alph squint his eyes.It remained intense for only a second before it dimmed, and as he regained his vision Alph saw a golden rectangular holographic screen floating above his hand."T-This..." Alph was at a loss for words as glowing texts started appearing on the holographic screen.[Assimilation Complete! Activating The Grimoire System!][The Grimoire System allows the user to bind any Grimoire to the system and use it without having to follow it's clauses or conditions.]"The what?!" He stammered.The texts soon vanished and a set of new texts appeared on the screen.[Main Menu]-Library-Configurations-????????-????????For a long time Alph didn't know how to react, his mind went blank at the absurdity of the events unfolding."Could it be?" He thought of a possibility which would have sounded very ridiculous under normal circumstances, but the situation he was in right now was anything but normal.As the owner of a bookshop, Alph also liked to read in his spare time and his favourite books were fantasy novels, mostly eastern ones.Among the novels that he had read were those where the protagonist would die and reincarnate in another world, mostly a fantastical world with dragons and demons.There were also those where the protagonist would awaken a so called System, a cheat like device that would grant them various abilities and powers.His current situation was completely similar, he had presumably died and transmigrated to a different world and right in front of him was the floating system menu as described in the stories."Am I going insane?" Even though he had a strong will and was quick to adapt he was still unable to wrap his head around the situation, the whole situation wasn't something that one could easily accept.But no matter how much he doubted himself, the glowing screen in front of him didn't go away.He focused on the Library option and immediately the screen changed again.[Library]All the Grimoires binded by the user will appear here, the user can select the Grimoire they want to use by thinking about it.(Grimoires)1. Grimoire Of Gluttony {0%}}........"This is it!" Alph was excited, it was going as he had expected."Gulp!" He gulped down a mouthful of his own saliva and focused his mind on the Grimoire Of Gluttony and as he did Alph saw a ripple appear on the golden screen.A dark purple smoke like substance flew out of the screen, appearing in front of Alph before condensing into a dark purple book.The book was thick and old, and even somewhat tattered and it emitted blackish purple smoke as it floated in front of him.The text on the golden screen also went through a minor change as an °Equiped° Tag appeared in front of the Grimoire Of Gluttony.Alph hesitantly put out his hands to hold the evil looking grimoire, once his hands touched the book it immediately stoped floating and Alph felt the heavy weight of the thick book in his hands."Is this the same book from before?" Alph muttered suspiciously, the book looked a bit different but the strange circular symbol on the hardcover page was still there.Alph flipped open the book, the first page was a title page, and a big "Grimoir Of Gluttony" was written on it in an eerie font."Author Requira Elgrain Mavius?" He read the small line of text at the bottom of the tittle page before continuing to flip.The next page was titled "Introduction" and was filled with words written with a purplish ink.[The Grimoir of Gluttony is the embodiment of the Primordial sin of Gluttony.The grimoir can devour any creature killed by the user and either store them, if there are enough empty pages available, or directly digest them.Stored souls can be summoned as slaves or be assimilated by the user. Using the assimilate function will render the page the slave was stored on unusable for 30days.At the beginning, the user is granted 3 free usable pages, new functions and additional usable pages will be unlocked as you continue to feed souls to the Grimoire.Clause Of Use: Any who seek to use the Grimoire are to fullfil the following clauses.1. Flesh and Blood: The user must provide the Grimoire Of Gluttony a set amount of flesh and blood everyday. The amount depends on the number of currently unlocked pages, the more pages the user has unlocked the more they will have to provide.2. All But Holy: The user must not have any attributes corresponding to the Holy attribute. Nor should they have any connection to any Holy Factions.3. True To The Sin: As the embodiment of the sin of Gluttony, the user of the Grimoire must also indulge in Gluttony.]"Indeed, this is a magical Grimoire..." He would have been extremely shocked and excited under normal situations but right now his emotions were too numb to feel any of that, he was somewhat blaming the old book for everything that had happened to him in his heart.It was a human nature after all, it would become much more bearable when you had someone or something to blame, if not then you would probably start blaming yourself even if it wasn't your fault.Going to the next page he found something even more astonishing.[Dane RobertRace: HumanAge: 55Slave Rank: UniqueTitle: First Slave(Stats)Strength: 40Agility: 70Vitality: 20Mana Pool: EMana Density: EIntelligence: Medium(Normal Abilities)-Acting(Intermediate): An actor is someone who can make others believe their act.-Agile Movement(Intermediate): Quick and flexible, could have made it big as an acrobat.-Knife Wielding(Intermediate): Wielding the knife to butcher a cattle or a person? Well, why not both?-Vehicle Driving(Basic): from cars and bikes to carriages and horses, he can drive them all, or can he?(Special Abilities)-Assassination: The slave can mark one target at a time. The marked target will have a harder time spotting the slave or feeling their presence. Also, the slave's first attack will deal twice as much damage as usual. The skill will be cancelled if the target pinppints the slave's identity and intent.-Blade Magic (Elementary): Can use elementary level blade magic.(Title)|First Slave| The first slave is akin to the very first chapter written by an author, it might be their favorite or it might be their most hated one but one thing is for sure, it's the start, a start that can only happen once.The first slave shares an extremely deep connection with the master and aside from the basic observe and command function the master can also send and receive non animate objects to and from the first slave.•The first slave's basic states are slightly enhanced and they gain extra special abilities that fit their character.•The first slave doesn't have any cool down when they are killed meaning they can be instantly summoned again and again without any restrictions.•The first slave is easier to develop and strengthen than other slaves.(Options Available)SummonAssimilateObserve]The picture of an old man wearing a white uniform which was stained with blood was drawn on one side and on the other was written his information."That old bastard? He became a slave? So I can summon him?" This time Alph's numb emotions started to well up again."Lets see, summon!" Without anymore hesitation be decided to just summon it and see.The book emitted a purplish glow and the figure of a man appeared in front of him out of nowhere before condensing into the old man.As he summoned it, a strange feeling welled up inside Alph, as if a link was made between him and the old man.Along with the connection came some basic information about his role as a master."So as a master I can order my slaves to do anything, I can even order them to die and they will die?"He looked at the detestable face of the old killer, holding himself back from flaring up with rage."But then again, the old man is probably dead!" He controlled his impulse, which was only possible because his emotions were currently numbed from all the shocks he had received."Kneel!" For some reason, it was the only thing he could come up with to check of the old man followed his orders.The old slave didn't even hesitate, he immediately knelt on the ground."Hmmmm, jump?" He spoke, doubting his own words.Swishhh-"What the-" Alph looked as the seemingly frail old man jumped with astonishing force.It was at least two stories high or more as the old man almost touched the roof of the cave which was by no means low.Tak-He landed softly on the ground like the scenes from those unrealistic Chinese martial movies."I guess the Grimoire really did boost his attributes!" Alph was beginning to accept the reality of his situation.It was now certain that he wasn't kidnapped, but that didn't mean he was out of danger. He needed to first and foremost figure out where he was.The sun shone brightly over a vast forest filled with giant trees as a thin old man wearing a white uniform swiftly traveled along the tree branches.He moved his body agily as he jumped from one tree to another, but despite his rapid actions there wasn't even a drop of swaet on his face.Thud-He suddenly came to a stop and quietly hid himself behind some tree branches to observe.On the ground a muscular humanoid creature with green skin was facing off against a large grayish blue wolf.The green skinned humanoid had a hideous face with sharp canines sticking out of it's mouth, he wielded a large rusted sword to keep the wolf at bay but the wolf was more agile and would occasionally land some hits.The green skin was slowly but surely getting injured and exhausted, if things kept on going like this he was bound to fall."Gwaaaargh!" The green skin roared furiously at the wolf and in a bid to end the fight quickly by risking his life charged at the wolf with his sword pointed forward.
"How can you be alive?" The elegant girl was severely dumbfounded this time.She had been the guardian of the golden lotus lake for so long that even she didn't know how long it had been and in all her years she had seen people of all types come seeking for the golden lotus.The golden lotus was a treasure that had many uses, the most common of which was using it as supplement for one's body.Eating it would not only greatly enhance one's physical abilities but it would also wash away impurities from both the soul and body and grant a powerful holy attribute, making one with a normal body capable of practicing high level holy arts.There were even a rumours that there was once a man who had continuously taken the trial and won a hundred times, gaining a hundred golden lotus flowers, and after consuming them he immediately became a holy saint.For this reason, the golden lotus lake was an extremely famous location but not many people could find it because it wasn't fixed at one place.T
"Kyaaaaa!" A loud cry echoed in the depths of a huge forest, causing many beasts and monsters to look about in confusion."What kind of abomination are you!?" A beautiful girl sitting on a giant golden lotus in the middle of a lake was currently throwing a tantrum.An old man wearing a bloodstained white suit was standing in front of the lake emotionlessy.It was the guardian of The Golden Lotus Lake and Dane.Back then, Alph had sent Dane again just for the sake of it.He hadn't known that the trial could be taken by anyone infinitely and it didn't matter which method one used to pass the trial as long as it was aknowledged by the lake it was valid.Alph had of course pondered over the fact that the Grimoire should have been labeled as an outside force but since the elegant girl and The Lake, as she said it, acknowledged Dane's method then it could only mean one of two things.Either that the Grimoire Of Gluttony was too powerful for the lake and the girl to detect or that the lake d
Clang!A giant silver battle axe collided with a large rusted sword, neither of them being pushed back by the slightest."Hmph!" The burly man wielding the battle axe jumped backwards before he snorted in displeasure as looked at the ugly orc facing him."I gave you a chance but since you are so stubborn then don't blame me, Mountain Fall!" He cried out and jumped high in the air.The blades of his giant battle axe started to shine brightly as a tremendous amount of power welled up inside them.Booom!He crashed down heavily with his battle axe on the orc who raised it's rusted sword to defend.But alas the strike this time wasn't anything like before and it broke the sword into pieces and fell on the orc like a mountain, completely crushing it's body splattering it's remains all over the place and creating a deep crater on the ground."Damn bastard! We should be arriving there in a week! Fuck you and your calculation errors!" Raiden, who's body was now covered in orc blood, bellowed
"Huuup!"Swish~"Haaaa!"Swish~Inside the dimly lit cave a topless Alph continuously swung a rusted sword as beads of sweat rolled down his body.Over the course of time his originally skinny body had gained some muscles and now he had a lean but well defined build.After swinging the sword for quite a while, he threw it on the side and sat on a wooden stool.He picked up a wooden cup, dipped it in a bucket filled with water, and scooped out some water before drinking it.Savoring the sweet liquid, Alph drank a couple mouthfuls before putting the cup back.It had been about two weeks since Dane had entered character development and Alph had started his caveman life.Surprisingly the days had passed by quite peacefully.During the initial week, Alph had been constantly tense. Always worrying about what might happen next, but after a week of nothing major happening he had gotten quite relaxed for some reason.He didn't know why, he could swear that such terrifying traumas would take so
Alph looked at the cautious group, trying to make himself look as fierce as possible.When he was lazily waiting for dinner he had suddenly felt the orc engaging in battle and he had been observing from the start.The axe wielding brute, the small and frail looking priestess, the witch with voluptuous body, the shadowy assassin and the sharpshooter at the back.He could see all of them with the grimoir's aerial view, being able to locate the hidden enemies, it was like a cheat.However the orc was outnumbered and outmatched but Alph had decided to let it fight in order to figure out the group's strength.The group was strong and he might not be able to defeat them even with both of his slaves working together.However he had still decided to meet them on his own accord because there was a great probability that the group might enter the cave and if they did, they would face off sooner or later.He felt that it was better to make an impactful entrance, maybe he could use it to negotiat
"Instead how about this? Seeings that you seem to know your way around this place, I want to hire the lot of you" Alph decided to strike while the iron was hot and directly got to the point."You see I'm not exactly from this region so I'm not that familiar. It's good fortune for me to run into an experienced team of adventurerssuch as yourselves" He further added."Uhm, I see. I'm very grateful for your generosity sir, and of course we don't mind helping you in exchange. What can we do for you?" Kane spoke, feeling a heavy burden being lifted off of him.After all, there really was no reason for Alph to start living in the forest if he was there just for the Elven Forest.The Cave Of Tranquility was said to have the effects of calming the mind and inducing tranquility, hence it was possible that Alph was really there to train his mind and soul as he had said."I just need your help getting to the nearest city and of course I can pay if needed" Alph was wiling to give up a few Golden
Rooaarrrr!A giant bear standing on two legs with wisps of flames covering it's body roared in pain.There was a green, glowing arrow sticking in it's left eye and greenish veins covered the left side of it's face, squirming erratically.Raiden faced against the huge bear which was more than double his already big size, there was a visible claw mark on his chest.The piece of white cloth, which was tied on his left arm, poured out a burst of white light which started to quickly heal his wounds.Bang!He gripped the silver battleaxe tightly and blocked the fiery claws of the giant bear which caused the ground around him to cave in."Haaaaaa!" Raiden roared and dense silver aura erupted from his body, temporarily increasing his strength threefold.His muscles bulged to their limit and he jerked the battleaxe against the bear's claw, causing it to be thrown back and take a few steps back, creating a split second of opening."Now!' Kane shouted from a tree with the green elven bow in his