[ — Cypher Card —
Name: Crayon V. Wyatt
Race: Human
Gender: Male (♂)
Age: 19 years, 1 month, 29 days
Health: Healthy, Energetic
Gioncore: Peak-Grade (Maturing)
Grim Deck: Awakened (4/54)
Grim Cypher: Fractured Fate
You are a Grimlock with two fates that obscure your fate to others. You can switch between them at will.
i) Fateless: You have no fate of your own and can temporarily mirror another's fate, if identified and recorded in the Fate Index.
ii) Fate Report: You may get reports about others' fates.
iii) Multi Fate: You may mirror multiple Grim Cyphers at a time. As an awakened Grimlock, you can mirror two Grim Cyphers simultaneously.
Note:
i) The number of fates that Multi Fate allows Fateless to mirror simultaneously increases by one every time the Grimlock ranks up.]
I walked out of the medic bay alone, reviewing my updated cypher card as I went. Mary Lou still had due process to complete, and her staff were busy cleaning up. She promised to bring me my complimentary Engram Enhancer card later.
I could collect the card later myself from the institute's administration block, but now that I possessed a gioncore and gion circuit card, I rushed to my dorm, hardly resisting the urge to test my grim cypher, gioncore, and gion circuits abilities. There were strict rules and regulations governing the use of cards in public spaces.
Still, temptation won. As I passed a small flower bed outside the medic bay, my gaze lingered on the most eye-catching bloom among them. Almost without thinking, I murmured, "Fate Report."
[ — Fate Report —
Name: Moon-Lit Orchid
Race: Floral Grimmon
Gender: Hermaphrodite (⚥)
Age: Spiritless
Health: Healthy, Full Bloom
Gioncore: Low-Grade (minor)
Grim Deck: -/-
Grim Cypher: -/-
A low-grade floral-type grimmon lacking perception. Their petals glow under the moonlight. They have thorny roots that allow them to take root in any terrain, and their full bloom period can last well over a decade.
i) Chemical tunneling: Their thorns drill a pattern of holes into the rock face and pour a soundless chemical demolition secretion into the holes. The chemical mixture hydrates and explosively expands, generating tremendous force, exceeding the tensile strength of the rock, causing it to shatter safely and disintegrate into the surrounding mud, creating a mineral-rich soil and allowing the orchid's roots to spread.
Note:
i) Moon-Lit Orchids are an aggressive race. They will use their chemical tunneling on the roots of other races of flora if they are in their way.
ii) The residuals of chemical tunneling produce a fragrance that repels insect type grimmons.]
"Holy shit," I blurted out, experiencing the magical effect of my Fate Report skill for the very first time. I used Fate Report on a variety of objects on my way back to the dorm, but never on people.
I restrained myself. I had no intention of doing what the Chief Grim-tech Director Mitchell had done to me. I had no intention of using my Fate Report on people without their consent unless it was a medical emergency or they were trying to kill me. If a grim cypher was really handy, I could always try buying the rights to use it from its Grimlock. That's legal, as I said, Mimic archetype grim cypher were uncommon but not rare.
More importantly, I had no idea if the target could sense the use of my Fate Report, or if some could even reject it outright. If I were caught, it would not end with mild embarrassment for me like it did for Chief Grim-tech Director Mitchell. I would be charged with a crime.
On the walk to the dorm, I truly felt the weight of my ultimate undead physique—or rather, the lack of it. My stamina loss was virtually infinitesimal. I couldn't help but get excited thinking of the possible implications of this. The combat benefits were obvious, but... let's just say I'd probably be a beast between the sheets, too.
After reaching my dorm, I spent the entire morning testing my gioncore abilities and mirroring the grim cyphers recorded in the Fate Index. I was elated, personally experiencing just how fundamentally broken the mimic archetype truly was. Especially aided by my gioncore's crowned fate and martial unity abilities along with my gion circuit's 'crowned circuit,' my mastery of these grim cyphers was flawless, it came to me instinctively.
To be fair, I was only able to experience my grim cypher at its peak because I had already recorded powerful grim cyphers in the Fate Index. Otherwise, it would not have been nearly as exhilarating. With my curiosity finally satisfied, I headed to the cafeteria for lunch.
Watching the researchers enjoy their lunch with their colleagues, I could not help but reflect on my own future. I needed a career. Thanks to the internship, the next six months of my life were secured, but what came after that? Especially when, for the foreseeable future, most of the money from my book sales would be funneled into repaying my gioncore and gion circuit cards loans and fulfilling the donation I had promised the institute.
I had already considered this issue when the internship was offered to me, which was precisely why I insisted on unrestricted access to the institute's library, databases, and educational programs. I hoped to learn some kind of craft that would allow me to make a living without making it mandatory for me to enter the Grimmyth.
I would love a tour of explored and occupied Grimmyth, but going for expedition and shit, I will pin it for later when I have built my grim deck.
As a high school dropout, the only viable option realistically available to me was becoming a grim raider.
Typically, a newly awakened grimlock would attend quarterly evaluation to showcase their grim cypher abilities, after which Guild recruiters would headhunt them and assist with loans for their gioncore card, gion circuit card, and grim deck building to train them as grim raiders by raiding a couple of low-level grimlores in Grimmyth with veteran grim raider team.
The pay would be just enough to live a decent life after making one's loan payments, but the risks were immense. Crayon's parents were a prime example of this. More importantly, that kind of lifestyle was not for me. As someone from the modern age, violence was never my preferred solution. If matters ever came to that, I would rather hire others to handle it on my behalf.
I knew that such a mindset would not take me very far in this world, so I planned to adapt to it in a way comfortable for me. Even so, I had no intention of going out of my way to seek trouble in the Grimmyth anytime soon.
With the abilities of my grim cypher, gioncore, and gion circuit, I could easily build a respectable career as a grimlock healer, farmer, or something similar. However, my ambition would never be satisfied by such conventional paths with minor challenges.
Instead, I decided to set my sights on becoming a Card Crafter, specializing in the creation of all types of grim cards. In time, I might even take it further and establish myself as a Grim Card Researcher, pushing beyond crafting into researching and creating new grim cards.