"AGH! UGH! ARRGH!"
In the dark, secluded regions of a forest, a pink-haired demon aggressively swung their staff repeatedly, sweat trickling down their twisting face.
BOOM! A large ball of fire exploded.
"I'll never forgive her...I'll never forgive her...", Lully spoke through grinding teeth while wiping off soot that landed near his mouth, repeating the same words like a mantra, drilling it into his mind. He swung his staff again.
BOOM!!
A large fireball hurled over and blew a tree to bits, the flames dissipating shortly after. A crater formed on the ground with the intense heat threatening to set alight the tree leaves nearby, if not for the cool night.
Ssss...
"Haa, haa, haa-", he breathed shallowly and rapidly.
However, despite exhaustion slowly taking over his body, Lully swung his staff and casted spells without breaks, blowing up the forest with wide, manic eyes. The layers in his clothing were put together perfectly tidy but were stained by dirt and debris that stuck to it.
"I'll kill her...", as if not knowing what to do, Lully grasped his chest where his heart was, grabbed his head, pulled at his face, the emotion within overflowing with unrequited rage.
"I'LL KILL YOU!!"
"Huaa~", I yawned, sitting at the side of my bed.
Even with the nightmarish 'worst case scenario' spirals last night before I fell asleep, I was able to have a refreshing sleep with no dreams. At the very least, nothing was better than something.
Ka
I opened the curtains, birds flying through the sky, chirping and jumping around. The demon civilians were just as boisterous, and when I activated [Immersion], I was able to confirm that Lance and his henchmen were still gone
Today was my last day at the inn.
The entrance exams were supposed to start today as well, and I need to get back to the Demon Academy Registration Office before night to get transported to the examination area. Thus, I should have around..8 hours left?
"First, a weapon.", I skimmed through my todo list on the desk, then crumpled and ripped it to unrecognizable pieces.
Even a half-demon's physical ability is above average, I wouldn't have been able to rip it to such small pieces back on Earth. I mentally noted.
Opening the door, I flinched slightly with the inn receptionist standing in front, about to knock and wake me up to tell me to get out or pay up.
I asked the receptionist to convert some gold coins to silver, and after a slightly long stare at the two gold coins, they went down to pick up the necessary silver and exchanged them with my gold.
I nodded in thanks. Giving the room key to the receptionist, I left the inn.
Step, step, step
Walking on the streets, I looked around for a specific alley whilst avoiding getting too close to the other alley openings.
There was a specific weapon I had in mind to get in Yura town. Since this was the first town the protagonist decimated in the novel, there's no way it would have left him with no reward. After all, I knew nearly every single thing that happened in the novel.
As such, there was a specific item here that the protagonist collected after he destroyed the town. It was exceptionally durable given it had survived his destruction.
And that was exactly what I'll be robbing the protagonist of today.
I skipped merrily, just the thought of robbing the protagonist making my blood bounce and cheer. Ohh, come here! My first weapon~!
Though, I knew that weapons weren't actually necessary for the Demon Academy's entrance exams. But I figured that if I didn't obtain it here, I would: never have a chance to do so in the future, would be handing over a powerful item to the protagonist's party, and be missing out on something that would make my life easier anyway. Not to mention, the weapon I thought of is really cool and elegant..!
Ing! Something shimmered in a dark alley across the street.
"!", I turned my head over, squinted my eyes and rejoiced. That was the indicator I set!
Crossing the street, I prepared myself to enter the alleyways once again.
I narrowed my eyes. Remember. Don't respond to any beggars, ignore people calling me familiar names, stick to the walls and stay low-key.
"In I go.", I smiled and headed in.
My eyes adapted to the dark alley quickly. It was about as big as 3 people standing side by side and was almost too dark for me to see anything at all.
Immediately, upon my entry, nearly 7 beggars lined through the walls turned their eyes toward me, their expressions shining with hope.
"Young man! Young man!"
"I wonder what's in that pouch..."
"Help! Please, spare a single coin and I will be your slave forever..!"
"Why can't the nobles just leave us ALONE?!?"
"Hey, don't you remember me..?"
Beggars with various intentions displayed very different emotions, all aimed and directed at me.
I didn't pay any heed to the attention and moved past them, swiftly dodging any attempts to touch me. I moved over a shimmering amulet on the ground with my foot.
A left turn...right...straight... I lowered my head, hiding my gaze that darted around the surroundings.
After some time of searching, going deeper and deeper into the alley system, I reached a deadend.
Trash was piled up in the corners, dust and black mice scurrying, some trying to knaw the bottom of my pants. Thankfully, my pants were as durable as two silver coins.
Looking at the deadend, I stood still, frowning slightly.
It should be here. Did I make a wrong turn? I didn't want to rummage through trash excessively, lest I dirty my clothing again and stand out in the entrance exams.
However, just beside a box at the wall of the deadend, a dusty book laid there, tints of purple hinting through.
My eyes widened with glee. That, that's it! The book I'm looking for!
Hurriedly, I ran over and picked it up, dusting it carefully. On the cover, several symbols were slowly showing through, slightly more of a purple color slowly being revealed.
"A grimoire.", I mumbled under my breath.
Grimoires were books imbued with magic. Most came with unique supernatural features enchanted, with most having at least one or two abilities to assist with spellcasting. They were clean alternatives to staves.
Now, time to head back-
Step- A footstep that wasn't mine quietly sounded from behind me.
My breath hitched.
Without hesitation, I dashed and hid behind one of the boxes, being careful not to touch it.
Someone's here. I held the book tightly, and held my breath.
Step..step..step- Slowly, whatever was nearby walked closer, and headed past the deadend in the intersection I arrived in.
I focused on my hearing and made sure I couldn't hear any footsteps, before peering above the box to check for people.
I clenched my fist. ...No one.
I need to get out of here quickly. Leaving the hiding spot behind the box, I quickly made my way back to the bright streets and out the alley system.
Soon enough, I made it out without anymore mishaps.
"Feels great to be alive.", I breathed in the fresh air of the town.
I looked down at the book I clutched in my hands. This purple grimoire would help me a lot in the years to come.
Hello, Mundane. I smiled widely.
This grimoire was named {Mundane}. It was one of the most powerful grimoires I had written in the novel. It was created thousands of years ago, and was deemed a failure by its creator who had thus named it so.
After being thrown away, it rotted in a corner of its creator's lair, and was forgotten. Over time, it gathered dust and looked just like any other old, dirty book. For centuries, it wasn't touched, no one remembered it existed, and as a magic book intended to help its spellcaster, it was never used once.
I caressed the book. It was indeed a bad grimoire at first, though. The creator wasn't wrong to deem it a failure.
However, that long history of being overlooked and forgotten was exactly how it had manifested its unique abilities. It became stronger through neglect, unlike other famed grimoires.
Unfortunately, this grimoire was only used by the protagonist's party for the first few arcs, burned after having been discovered to be created by a demon. Truly, a tragic ending for a book that's done nothing but exist.
For now, let's find a safe place to open it.
I walked through the streets with another destination in mind.
A building just on the corner of the block offering secluded training rooms stood out.
Entering, I paid 1 silver to rent a room.
"Thank you for purchasing.", the receptionist repeated for the thousandth time.
The training room was emptier than the inn's. Nothing inside, just a plain, cold room, except that the air was slightly fuller of mana particles than the streets.
I sat in the middle of the room, Mundane in my hands.
Even with the dirt dusted off, it was only a dull purple color, the symbols on the cover faded away.
"I know that it doesn't actually look like this though.", I said. However, the grimoire's true form was now about to be revealed.
Putting my hands between the cover and the first page, with buried excitement, I slowly opened it.
Sshhh...
What gradually came into view was worn-out pages, stained blurry symbols, and dust falling from beneath the cover as it came apart from the first page.
When the cover was fully turned, a burst of purple mana erupted!
Whoosh!
The book then lifted itself from my hands, floating up and levitating above me as purple mana spurred, pouring out and filling the entire room. Never being opened in thousands of years, the book frantically ate up all the other mana particles in the room, feeding itself to activate what had otherwise been buried under countless layers of dust.
In the room, wind naturally picked up and centered itself on the book.
I watched silently in fascination.
There were 3 types of grimoires that existed in both realms.
There were grimoires that were typical manuals, used as vessels to contain magic formulas, instructions, and to teach specific spells or ways of using magic.
Then, there were those that stored magic spells, of which would be limited in use. These were the most common, often called spellbooks.
Finally, there would be grimoires that would already have spells enchanted and embedded into them. The most suitable to replace staves and other channeling mediums.
Mundane was part of the third category.
It was created not to rot in a corner of a library, not to be opened arbitrarily and closed after its use perished; it was meant to be prized, to be used and appear in a magician's legacy.
Without that fulfilled, its failure slowly became its defining trait, which resulted in a few abilities naturally forming and reinforcing.
In just a moment, the grimoire activated, glowing an intense purple color. The mana soon calmed, and it floated down to just below eye level. It turned to have its blurry pages face me, as if beckoning for me to see what's inside.
And this was one such of those naturally reinforced abilities. I put my hand on the book, and the grimoire's mana grabbed and seeped into my hand, crawling through my body and eventually reaching my heart, merging with my bones and soul. The mana almost seemed to have a life--crawling so carefully, as if afraid I would notice and run away.
After a moment, the merging process completed, and the spell hidden within the book activated.
{Soulbound}
The book then automatically turned to the page holding the spell, and the mana circle engraved on the page glowed in zeal. Pounding with vigor for the first time.
And now, because of this spell, Mundane would forever be bound to me, no matter what happened, and I'll be the only one who could use it.
With the grimoire finally having an owner, I watched as the cracks of dirt fell away and revealed Mundane's true form.