Nearing the edge of the city, a large forest stood before me. I guess it wasn’t just the inside of the city that changed. The outside world felt almost foreign. As though another world had collided with our own. The road I had taken many times before had become uprooted and craggy. The concrete was mere pebbles of its former self. Lowering myself onto the road, I followed the rocky mess as best I could. 

After a few hours, I found myself in the heart of the forest. The road was becoming even more increasingly hard to follow. A low rumble turned into a rustle of leaves. As I turned around, a dark shadow ran off in the opposite direction. What was that…? My heart rate began to quicken as I launched myself further through the woods. I need to find someplace to hide. What if it's a high-level monster? Entering a small clearing, I found myself face to face with an old dilapidated building. It looked as though it was a mixture of a small log cabin and a wizard’s tower. The tower sat where I thought a chimney might once have resided. Quickly I showed myself inside, closing the door behind me with a BAM. I could hear birds flying off at the sound. After waiting a moment, the silence returned once more. 

Glancing around the house it appeared to be abandoned. White sheets covered some of the furniture, while dust collected on the rest. Exploring the mantle of the fireplace, dusty frames revealed pictures of a family from underneath their grimy exterior. They look happy. I thought as I placed the picture back down. 

A winding staircase mimicked upward motion as it wound around the chimney leading upstairs. Traversing the stairs, I soon found myself in the small tower I had seen from below. Inside was a chest as well as some runic art that clung to the walls, held on by rusty nails. Resting at the foot of the chest, I cautiously examined it. I’m way too low-level for this to be a mimic. Taking a deep breath in, I lifted the lid. Instead of a tongue popping out to swallow me whole, a book laid bare inside. Black leatherbound, Mystical. I wonder if this is one of those spell books the tutorial said were hard to find. Looking around the tower room once more, it didn’t really seem like the type of place to house such a rare item.

[Nero’s Book of Enchantment] This book evolves based on its user’s level and stats, gaining more power based on how much it is used and the amount of magic power its wielder holds. It can be used to enchant weapons and objects with certain buffs that can be obtained through said “evolution”. Ultimately, Nero’s goal was to make a book that would change along with its user, allowing it to adapt to different situations. The book’s size also changes depending on how much knowledge is contained within.

So its size changes too... Turning it around in my hands, the book was quite small. Almost the size of a field-guide book.

“I don’t know if I’ll have much use for this right now… I can barely cast a spell, let alone increase my magic power.” 

Opening my bag, Grendel’s head lazily popped out. He had been curled up on some clothes and other assorted items I had been carrying in there. I gently placed the small book in a side pocket on the inside of the bag. Grendel purred, softly vibrating, as I stroked his back. 

Mroah? Grendel sounded, peering around towards the walls. Does he hear something? Gazing out of one of the nearby windows I could see what was the matter. A tall buck had appeared in the clearing. Maybe that’s what spooked me earlier… It swooped its head down to munch on a patch of weeds. 

“We should probably get going Grendel. We need to try to get to Fanny’s before sundown.”