Grimoire

Allen was startled by the large book that appeared before him.

"F-fwaaaah!!!"

"Allen?!"

(Oh no, I started crying without even thinking! C-calm down. Count prime numbers.)

At only one year old, Allen was still too young to control his emotions, and the sudden shock made him burst into loud tears. He desperately tried to regain his composure.

Allen's home was a single-story house. An earthen-floored entryway lay in the center, with a living room and hearth beyond it where the three of them ate. There was a room at either end of the hearth, and Allen always slept in one of them.

It was what you might call a child's room. Telesia hurried over in response to the loud crying from Allen, who was lying at the back of the room.

(Oh no, she's going to find this book. P-please disappear!)

"Allen? Are you okay?"

The large book vanished at Allen's wish.

"Aye, aye."

(Whew. Speaking baby talk is hard work. Well, my mouth hasn't developed properly yet, so I can't speak clearly.)

Allen smiled at Telesia to show that everything was fine. She patted his shoulder as if to say, "Don't scare me like that again," then returned to the earthen-floored entryway.

(Did I get away with it? No, given the timing, I think I was busted. Maybe other people can't see this book?)

Judging by Telesia's line of sight and the timing, she should have seen the book floating in midair, but her gaze never went to it. She didn't seem to have noticed.

Thinking there was no problem, Allen tried to summon the book again, willing it to appear.

Whoosh.

(The book appeared just fine. I thought I saw a silver or white pattern on it, but it's a thick, pitch-black book. Did I summon a book because I'm a Summoner?)

Allen closely examined the book in front of him. It was extremely thick, with a black hardcover, like one of the hefty dictionaries kept in a national library. It was a plain black book with nothing written on its spine or cover.

(Hmm, hmm. Turn.)

When Allen willed the book to rotate, it began spinning. He tried drawing it closer in the same way, then touched it. It felt just like an ordinary book.

(It really looks like a real book floating in midair. I'll try opening it.)

Allen opened the first page. Since the book was floating in midair, he willed it to open to the first page.

(Oh! It's my status!!!)

A wave of joy unlike anything Allen had ever felt welled up inside him. His status was displayed on the first page.

【Name】 Allen

【Age】 1

【Job】 Summoner

【Level】 1

【Stamina】 4 (40)

【Magic】 2 (20)

【Attack】 1 (10)

【Defense】 1 (10)

【Agility】 2 (25)

【Intelligence】 3 (30)

【Luck】 2 (25)

【Skills】 Summon〈1〉, Create〈1〉, Delete

【Experience】 0/1,000

(Hmm, how should I read this?)

Allen's motto was, "Whoever masters the status screen masters the game."

The key was to find a way to beat the game by studying the status screen.

(The numbers beside Stamina and the angle brackets beside Skills are different. Are the brackets different because they mean different things? Oh? There's something written on page two as well.)

・Skill Level

【Summon】 1

【Create】 1

・Skill Experience

【Create】 0/1,000

・Summons Available to Create

【Insect】 H

【Beast】 H

・Holder

【Insect】 H 0 cards

【Beast】 H 0 cards

Allen checked the second page. It seemed to show details about the Summoner Skills.

He compared the first and second pages.

(The Skill Levels on the second page match the numbers in parentheses beside the Skills on the first page, so those must represent Skill Levels. Then the 4 for Stamina is one-tenth of the number in parentheses, so maybe my stats have been reduced because of my age?)

Allen deduced that his Stamina, Magic, and other stats were roughly one-tenth of the numbers in parentheses. It was only natural for an adult's stats to differ from a baby's. He guessed that the parentheses represented the reduction in stats due to his age.

(I can't go any further than that without making assumptions.)

Rather than analyze things without reaching an answer, Allen decided to start with what he could understand.

He shifted his gaze to the second page.

(So Summon and Create are different. Summon doesn't have it, but Create has something called Skill Experience. Is it zero because I haven't used a Skill even once? Since there's a denominator, does that mean I level up after earning 1,000 Skill Experience?)

The conditions for increasing Skill Experience weren't listed, so Allen couldn't tell.

However, to a gamer who had played games extensively, it was common knowledge that the more you used a Skill, the more its Skill Experience increased.

(From the looks of it, I can summon insects and beasts? What's H?)

Rather than puzzle over stats he still didn't understand, Allen continued analyzing the Summoner Skills on the second page.

(In otherworld stories, adventurers have ranks, like S-rank adventurers. In that case, S, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H would make this the ninth rank? No, surely it wouldn't start that low. E at the lowest, maybe. I've never seen an H-rank monster.)

Allen had been a gamer back in the real world.

However, to unwind after gaming or pass the time on his commute, Allen regularly read otherworld fantasy novels. He knew quite a lot about the genre.

(That's about all I can figure out for now. I guess I'll decide after trying to summon something.)

Before trying to summon anything, Allen checked the other pages of the book to see if there was any information besides his status.

(There aren't many pages, considering how thick it is.)

There weren't many pages, and the thick white pages turned in big clumps.

The next page was pure white, with long, rectangular indentations.

(Hm? Am I supposed to put something in here? There are ten indentations in all. I see, I see.)

There was no explanation, just rectangular indentations. Allen guessed they were meant to hold something like cards. There were four indentations on each page, spread across three pages.

(Is that everything? Hm? The pages near the end are glowing!)

Allen noticed a single page glowing faintly and opened it.

(Th-this is a letter, or maybe a notice?)

'Dear Allen-sama,

Thank you for your continued support.

Are you enjoying your time in the other world?

We sincerely apologize for the delay in sending you the 【Grimoire】.

Please accept our humble apologies.

As you selected a Job whose testing was not yet complete, the administrative procedures had not been finalized.

Our staff hurriedly prepared it for you.

Please understand that we cannot accept any questions about this book or requests to cancel your Job.

From Elmea, God of the Other World'

The letter explained why the delivery of the book had been delayed.

(I see. Well, I'm the one who ignored the warning that testing wasn't complete and chose this Job. Besides, if they spent a whole year setting it up, it should be a solid Job.)

Allen received the message from the god of the other world with surprising optimism. It also reaffirmed Allen's conviction that this was another world.

Once Allen finished reading, the writing disappeared, and the page returned to blank.

(Is that everything? If I haven't missed anything, I think I'll try summoning something.)

Allen decided to attempt his first summoning.