“I won’t be taking Gary down as a G grade. Let’s go.” Harvey declared.

  “Wait, before you evolve, I think you should read this,” Elena remarked, handing him a book from her slipsack. Confused, he took it from her.

  John’s Guide to Inscriptions for Idiots, Morons, and You

  It had the same goofy photo of John surrounded by runes and iconography that he recognized from the copy he bought her. How did she still have this? Shouldn’t it have dissolved like the rest of their guides had?

  “How do you have this?” Harvey asked.

  “I bought it?” Elena chuckled.

  “With what merit? You haven’t killed a monster in over a week. You aren’t charging people for inscriptions, are you?”

  “What? No, of course not. I bought it with my…” she paused. “Allowance.”

  “You’re kidding,” Harvey scoffed. “Gary’s giving you an allowance?”

  “Yeah?” Elena looked mortified, stepping back and forth while avoiding eye contact with them. Harvey couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity.

  “And your allowance is enough to buy a 10,000 merit guide?” Julian asked.

  “It went up after he got the tax skill.” She muttered.

  “Hey, you go, girl. If you gotta put up with that maniac, you might as well make some money for it.” Hannah chuckled, giving Elena a reassuring pat.

  “I really appreciate it, Elena, but I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with it. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to take Gary’s money, but even if I am really enjoying inscriptions, I’m not just going to abandon the forge.” Harvey puzzled, turning the cover over to read the glowing reviews on the back, all written by John himself.

  The best book I ever read! 5 Stars - John

  Opened my eyes to a whole new world! I am so grateful John took the time to document his vast wisdom about the subject, and can’t wait to read his other books! - John

  I’d give it 4 stars, but then I’d be vaporized! - John

  “You’re supposed to read it! The guides don't give professions, right? They give you enough of a foundation that you can get the profession if you want it. Who’s to say you can’t read more than one and use the extra book as a piece of your evolution?” Elena asked.

  Harvey felt the gears in his brain come to life, and his jaw dropped as he realized she was right. At the end of the day, it was just information. Single-use information that disintegrated after you read it, but that didn’t change the fact that it was just a book. He could probably read dozens of guides and combine them into some strange profession that made him the master of all crafting, but he assumed the Loom would have a rough time trying to condense all that information into something coherent. The Loom doesn’t care where the knowledge comes from, just that you have it and can turn it into a viable path forward.

  He wasn’t ready to test combining random guides, but he’d already proven that combining blacksmithing and inscriptions was viable with his last two Profession skills. Adding another book should be nothing but helpful for his F Grade evolution.

  “You’re a genius!” Harvey exclaimed.

  “Thanks for noticing.” She chuckled. “I thought it was a good way to say thanks… for everything.”

  “You didn’t have to, but I’m so grateful you did.” Harvey beamed, flipping open the book and taking a seat at the workbench.

  “Are you seriously going to make us wait LONGER for you to evolve?” Hannah complained. “You know we have stuff to do, Harvey.”

  “Then get to it! You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to, but I’m not going to waste an opportunity like this because you’re bored.”

  “Fine,” she groaned. “Have fun reading, you nerd.”

  “We’ll swing by later.” Julian chuckled. “Before we leave, we brought back some materials for you, Elena.”

  She screamed as the bodies of two massive spiders clattered to the floor between them, the sliced legs still oozing blood and guts. An acrid stench of singed venom filled the room, and they all buried their noses in their clothes.

  “Can you put them out back?” Elena choked. “God, that’s horrible!”

  “Oh sure!” Julian chuckled, the bodies disappearing. “They’re called Kalthera Widows. They were some pretty vicious F Grade monsters, and a single bite from one of the babies nearly killed Harvey. You could probably make some powerful poison inscriptions with it.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Harvey’s eyes shot open, tearing away from the introduction to glare at Julian. She’s freaked out enough already! Don’t tell her that! Luckily, she seemed not to notice that little detail.

  “Thanks. I guess…” She replied, furiously waving her hand to push the scent away from her nose.

  Hannah and Julian left to do who knows what, and Harvey got to reading. Elena’s apprehension about the spider corpses turned to fascination as she used her new profession skill to inspect the items. It was almost impossible to know what could be combined to make powerful Inks when you knew nothing about the materials, so she’d made sure to create a skill that improved her inspection skill, just like Harvey’s Inventor’s Insight.

  The F Grade materials were still out of reach for her G Grade Willpower, so she gathered up a few fangs and acid glands from the weaker soccer ball spiders and got to work. The noxious fumes of sizzling acid returned as piece after piece was broken down in the inkwell, so Harvey moved to the opposite side of the room before getting engrossed in John’s erratic prose.

  Congrats, you managed to scrounge up enough murder money to buy my little book that teaches you to draw pretty little pictures. But don’t worry, these pictures aren’t just for show. They’ll help you make walls and weapons that help you earn even more murder money, without becoming merit for another sucker to spend on one of these guidebooks. My name is John, and I’m going to teach you all about the wonderful world of Inscriptions!

  I hope I get to meet you someday, John. You’re nuts. Harvey chuckled.

  Most of the information was things Elena had already shared, the book's perfect recall enabling her to teach him without missing a beat. Still, his own understanding grew significantly deeper as he was afforded the same magical effect. Instead of being forced to memorize the basic runes making up the more technical language of inscriptions, they were burned into his mind, allowing him to see clearly every socket and strand that would need to be strung together to create the myriad effects he wanted. It also gave him a perfect blueprint for a skill to interact with an inkwell, meaning he wouldn’t have to rely on her for that step in the future.

  Stepping into the F Grade was a major milestone, and he had a feeling it would be a long time before he got another chance to redirect the course of his Legacy. Honestly, he’d prefer to take some time to really plan out his future. It would be nice to spend a few days brainstorming the skills he’d create, how he’d spend his free points, and a plan for upgrading his Mark, but the trial wasn’t going to give him that luxury. He’d been flying by the seat of his pants so far… throwing his free points into whatever stat felt right in the moment. Other than his abysmal dexterity, it had worked out for the most part. It took a few hours, but the book eventually turned to dust, slipping between his fingertips.

  Alright, Harvey. Now that anything’s possible, who do you want to become? Who am I going to be?

  It was a big question that only seemed to get harder to answer the older you got. No kid froze in fear when their parents asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up. They just answered with their heart. They didn’t worry about how many years of school it would take to become a doctor or the constant danger of being a firefighter. All they could see was the dream.

  Eventually, you get old enough to learn the logistical nightmare of making those dreams a reality, and all you can see is the time, money, blood, sweat, and tears it’s going to cost you. He’d cursed his overly logical brain for reducing every dream he had down to the input/output relationship.

  He’d dreamt of building something that mattered at Empire Engineering, but got lost in hating his boss.

  He’d dreamt of being a great husband someday, but neglected Cleo to the point she turned to someone else to make her feel loved.

  He dreamt of being perfect. Doing everything right for everyone he loved every single time, but that dream was never possible. He wasn’t perfect, so failure was inevitable.

  The only way his new life would be better than his old was if he picked his path and stuck to it, logistics be damned.

  If perfect was off the table, what would he be?

  Strong.

  Strong enough to stand on his own. To not just survive, but thrive in whatever situation the System put him in. To have the strength to chart his own course through the universe and protect the people he cared about.

  Being able to stand tall in any situation meant he needed his class and profession to be adaptive. Brute strength might solve most problems – Julian being a perfect example – but that just wasn’t him. Just like his mark said, Harvey was an innovator. Able to solve any problem as long as he had the right tools, and with the combination of blacksmithing and inscriptions, he would be able to build any tool he wanted.

  He wanted his class to allow him to fight effectively at any range while making use of all the equipment he crafted for himself. He already had Flamestrike and Fangbreaker for close-quarters combat, Booster to rapidly reposition himself, and Fireball for long-range damage. Now, he just needed a good mid-range option. He could always aim for the standard lightning whips or walls of fire his D&D characters had used, but he’d already seen how a simple spell like Fireball isn’t always going to be the right answer. It’s usually a good one, but not always the best.

  Luckily, he had an idea for a Capstone skill that would accomplish both his goals... a powerful mid-range attack and something adaptive for any situation. What if he could conjure spectral projections of his gear that mimicked the real thing? Part of the reason he struggled against the F Grade Kalthera was that he couldn’t get his hammer past the flurry of legs blocking his path, but if he could conjure a giant version of it out of essence, he would’ve been able to ignore the legs altogether. Having the skill be a projection of his own gear let him always use the right tool for the job. If he needed a hammer to crush a bug, he’d pull one from his Slipsack and conjure one. If he needed a shield to block a large attack, he already had one strapped to his arm. He didn’t have enough skill slots to create the perfect solution to every problem, so he’d make a skill that helped him solve them all at once. If the projections could mirror the inscriptions, that would open even more doors.

  Then all he needed was a profession dedicated to making the best tools possible. Crafting powerful weapons and armor, and infusing them with versatile inscriptions. His Modular Array skill already helped him make his gear adaptive, and Soul Forge let him gain stats from the inscriptions. Need more strength? Wear this armor. Need more vitality? Switch to this helmet.

  It was perfect, and it fit so well with his Mark that he was sure it would become an Imprint in no time.

  The Born Innovator would become the perfect weapon against whatever the System sent his way.