Grey turned the page of the book, ignoring the many weapons pointed at his skull. He sat in the center of a room surrounded by towering stacks of tomes much thicker than his own. He was gambling that the information in them was quite different, however. In fact, his entire plan depended on it.

“Why have you come, human?” The voice was flat, unemotional.

Grey turned another page, sparing a glance up at the paper-man in the robe. “Information.”

“Ask and begone, then.”

“What is the name of the Evolution that powers the symbols on your… skin.”

A silence swept the room. “Why?” it asked.

“I want to use it, obviously.” Dungeon Master had given him the idea. He had limited slots, and the Keys only empowered him temporarily anyways. The sort of enchanting the paper-men did seemed as though it would require long-term access to the ability. Why not buy it, then?

A soft chuckle came. “You can’t. It requires actual knowledge of runes. Of our language.”

Another page turn. “Then teach me.”

“Why should I?”

Grey held up two fingers. “First, your people are vulnerable. Soon, teams will conquer this Dungeon. I am willing to sign a contract that requires me to protect your Dungeon and protect your Key. Second,” he lifted his book, “I will give you access to the libraries of my people. We are a technologically advanced race. I am sure you will find many things you do not know.”

He truly didn’t know how much value the paper-men put on information, but they lived in a library. Knowledge seemed to be to them what conquest was to the Steel Legion. Once more, he wished the paper-men had more raw strength. He would’ve rather made them his primary Dungeon.

The paper-men spoke in a language he could not understand, but their leader spoke to him after a moment. “I will tell you the name of the Evolution for three books, not that I think that will help you any. If we find them valuable, we can decide more conditions.”

Two more books fell from his Inventory. He had recovered them from the city’s main library, which had remained relatively untouched. He slid the books across the floor.

“I hope you can read quickly.”

They could. Grey waited patiently while they read, his eyes closed. The curse had lodged itself in a wound across his chest, and it wept black tears, burning with an ever-present pain. His Evolutions drained his body and mind more quickly now. She had thought to break him. To prevent him from fighting.

The desert had broken him long ago. What remained now was something much stronger. His impurities had been bared, stripped away. He was steel now, all the way to his core. His mind stood in spite of his body’s failure.

“The name of the Evolution is Battle Scripting. It originated several generations before I was crafted from my parents’ remains, and it comes from the war runes we used to adorn upon our bodies. Before the Archons locked us away, it was considered one of the most difficult of our unique Evolutions to both attain and use, so you can understand why I am… in doubt about your own capabilities,” the paper-man said.

Grey pulled up his Store and searched for the Evolution. He found it. It was thirty Evolution Points. After killing all of the people on the rooftop, he had more than triple that. He bought it. Information flowed into his head. He summoned his status.

Grey Shor

Evolution Points: 79

Rank: E

Evolutions (4/7)

Single Player: E (64/200)- Diamond

Dungeon Master: E (0/200)- Diamond

Metallurgy: E (10/125)- Silver

Battle Scripting: F (0/63)- Gold

He was an anomaly himself. Two Diamonds was not supposed to be possible for a Rank E, but now, both himself and countless others most likely had two. He also felt that filling out the rest of his Evolutions was important. The list would continue to shrink and grow as he combined abilities, but not using all his slots felt like putting himself at a disadvantage. That was something to consider later, however.

“Alright,” he said, “I have it. Are you ready to negotiate?”

The paper-man tilted his head, whispers crawling through the room. “Interesting. That is a powerful Evolution you have. It protects your mind and allows you to pick and choose your Evolutions without having to form an idea of the ability first.”

Grey’s eye twitched. Protect his mind? Single Player wasn’t supposed to do that. He wanted to ask, but exposing his ignorance meant showing weakness. In a negotiation, that was unacceptable.

He would have to research further. This was not the first time he had suspected the Evolution of doing more than he had initially assumed. Were his thoughts being altered? It was a disturbing thought, but he remembered taking notes on such a phenomenon previously. Perhaps it was time to read them over once more.

“Yes, it is.”

The paper-man shoved his hands into his robes. The lanterns that lit the room seemed to dim. “On my home world, I was called many things in a language that has long been bastardized. It is our practice, however, to choose our own names. Therefore, you may call me Curious. I can try to teach your our runes, but as you have guessed, there will be prices. Steep ones.

“I can feel the Evolution upon you, the one that calls out to our… Dungeon.” It said the word with a sneer in its voice. “I would like the details of it. I would also like more of these books. A library’s worth. Finally, I would ask that you protect us in the manner you have previously stated.”

Grey nodded. Those terms were acceptable. In fact, the paper-man could ask much more of him. He needed this.

“My Evolution is called Dungeon Scent. It makes me… more acceptable, I guess, to your senses. Basically, it allows me to pass through Dungeons without being attacked, which I have paired with another of my abilities that allows me to enter Dungeons.” Lies, of course, but trust was expensive.

“Two interesting Evolutions? An Irregular, then.”

Grey allowed no sign of his ignorance to cross his face. “As for the other two requests, I agree. I will reside here as you train me and protect you.”

Grey had already decided to not enter the domain of the Steel Legion until he had managed to regain at least a portion of his former strength. Jessica’s curse could be lifted, but he feared it would require her death. He definitely didn’t want to waste EP’s on an Evolution just to find out.

The paper-men had knowledge of Evolutions, of their own Genesis, and of the Archons. It would not just be Battle Scripting he learned. He had a whole game to flesh out, and with his suspicions about Single Player and his Tutorial, he had answers to search. So he would learn. Conquer. Train. And when he was ready, he would kill Jessica and take the city as his own.

“Let me tell you a bit about Battle Scripting, then. As you have no doubt assumed, it is an Evolution that doesn’t require physical strength. It does require intelligence, however. And forethought. Scripts cannot be changed in battle. They require hours of preparation. They are more than just runes put together. There are calculations involved, delicate interactions between Scripts, and relationships between Runes to consider. Moreover, your current Rank limits what types of Scripts you can work with.

“Take the Script I use to enhance my speed and strength, for example.” It lifted an arm, the sleeve of its robe sliding back to expose waxy skin covered in strange symbols arranged in circular patterns. “It does not produce the energy that powers me on its own. It stores it. Whenever I am hit, these runes here,” it pointed, “absorb a portion of the impact and store it. It is then transformed by this rune into energy that my body can use.”

Grey mulled the information over, and an idea came to him. “Could you craft a Script that stores a portion of the kinetic energy of one of my own movements like the curling of an arm to release it later?”

“Perhaps, but the longer energy is stored, the more you lose. With higher quality runes that problem can be mitigated, but the Rank for such things might be above your own.”

Grey nodded. If he could devise such a Script, he could increase the resistance on certain movements and store their energy, effectively using workouts to store kinetic energy. He had no plans of pursuing the Rank necessary for that, however. The paper-men would be obsolete by then, and Battle Scripting would be combined with something suitable to make what he really wanted.

“Could you-”

The paper-man raised a hand. “Learn first, and then we can discuss the possibilities of certain things. You have a quick mind, and be thankful. It is the only thing that gives you a chance at comprehending our runes in any reasonable amount of time. Even then, you might consider an Evolution to increase your learning. Unless whatever protects your mind and allows you to choose Evolutions does that as well.”

Single Player had the most growth potential, but he didn’t believe it aided his ability to learn, not at its current Rank. If he upgraded it, though, the story might change. He made another mental note. He had a lot of research to do.

He retrieved the black king once more. “Give me all the books you have on these runes and some time. I can figure this out.”

“It will take more than books, but starting with reading is what I had in mind anyways.” Curious waved a hand, and the others of his kind retrieved several books and sat them beside Grey. “I hope you can read quickly.”

He could.