Well, it looks like this story wasn't taken down by FF admins so I guess that means it's alright to keep updating it. Something of note, I recently started using the free version of Grammarly so some of the wording from the novel itself is changed due to that, but overall I think that it feels a little better to read. Unfortunately, it's a little hard to tell if some of the grammar errors are intentional or not.
One review I got in the first chapter was asking about why would the cast of RWBY even bother with reading something like this since it has no relation to any of their lives whatsoever. There does not need to be a relation to the main cast, for them to be interested. The idea is that they read a story with the host, Fox, before and enjoyed it. Therefore, if offered to read something else with him why wouldn't they? The idea that an "RWBY reads X" needs to have X being an RWBY or RWBY crossover fanfiction is just silly.
The only thing I think a "RWBY Reads…" story needs to have is that the readers be in character according to Canon, which admittedly is something I struggle with myself sometimes.
Weiss accepted the book politely and cleared her throat as she prepared to read the next chapter.
1-2. Written Dream Read as Ephemeral
Yang frowned as she tried to understand the title. "What?" she eventually asked before looking around for help from her friends. "Okay what does that mean?" she continued getting shrugs from Jaune and Ruby.
"Ephemeral means to be short-lived or fleeting," Blake explained simply as the others looked at her. "Like a dream for example." She added to getting nods of understanding from her friends.
Hello, Suzuki here.
Having a weak presence, I've been called Satou since my school days for some reason, this is Suzuki. Even though you don't feel pain in a dream, you can still feel the signs of pain when you dream of dental cavities.No?Well, that's good too.
"Uh…" Ruby muttered as she tried to make sense of the random bit of information given to her.
"I don't think that was relevant information Ruby, don't worry about it," Weiss stated in concern as she saw smoke beginning to pour out of her team leader's ears. Silently looking to Fox for confirmation the Schnee heiress was relieved to see him pulling out a piece of paper and reading it over.
"According to this note I have here, chapters that feature Satou's perspective start out with a random musing of his." Putting the paper away Fox smiled at the red reaper, "So you don't have to worry about making sense of it little one." He assured her before handing her a cookie.
I seem to have fainted for two hours following the severe pain after the Meteor Shower receded.
Time is displayed on the menu. Convenient. My body is half buried in the ground. Huh? I can't get up...Feels like when you can't get up off the bed during winter.
"Wait…" Weiss muttered as she stopped reading in order to rub the bridge of her nose. "…Not only does he lose consciousness for two hours, but he also ended up being half buried within the rubble and the first thing he thinks of is how similar it is to not being able to get up off the bed during winter?"
"Poor common sense," Blake stated in response as she made a praying gesture. "You will be remembered fondly.
Ruby frowned "Blake you shouldn't kill common sense so soon." She pointed out.
"Yeah Blakey I thought that was my job." Yang supported her sister with a goofy grin.
"Too late Yang, Nora already killed it," Ren muttered in monotone a small smile the only indication he was poking fun at the bubbly girl.
"Common sense?" Nora asked looking up having been engrossed with the story. "What's that?" None of her friends could tell if she was serious or not.
My hands seem to move but menu operation is troublesome since it feels heavy.
If only I had ESP to operate the menu and check the log. When I imagined such a thing, it really happened. Truly a dream. It's unrestricted in strange places.
"Well, that sounds convenient," Jaune muttered getting odd looks. "What you've never wished to have psychic powers before?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Not really…" Ruby muttered with a tilt of her head.
"Nope," Yang added in while popping the P.
"Can't say that I have," Blake stated seriously.
"Admittedly control of Polarity is similar enough for me so I never really thought about it before," Pyrrha explained simply.
"I never bothered to waste time thinking about other abilities other than my own." Ren reasoned.
"Where's the fun in breaking legs if I don't do it with my own two hands?" Nora asked getting weird looks from the others. "What?"
"Maybe…it was just me then…" Jaune muttered unsurely.
When I see the log while thinking that, the message [Satou Level Up] showed up and harassment-like [Chararacchara~] famous level up SFX rang when I scroll through the log.
Continuing for a while, I finally found a different message log. Skill [Summoning Magic: Foreign World] Acquired. Summoning Magic [Meteor Shower] Acquired.[Meteor Shower] is that meteorite summoning magic, right?
"So does that mean he can use Meteor Shower whenever now?" Nora asked tilting her head cutely.
Ren nodded his head mutely while Pyrrha wrung her hands worriedly. "That…does seem a bit…dangerous." She muttered trying to word her thoughts thoughtfully.
"Wait I'm confused." Ruby began as she placed a finger on her chin in thought. "So is magic itself a skill and then you have to learn the different spells as well?"
"Seems inefficient if you ask me." Blake mused as she considered what her team leader said.
It's a magic that does not exist in FFW. Summoning magic is only supposed to summon spirits or golems. Though the world part bugs me. There is no [Foreign World] in either FFW or WW. It bothers me even for a dream. The [Level Up] messages continue on. Since there's a time stamp, the order of message can't be wrong. In order, it's [Skill Acquired] [Magic that belongs to the Skill Acquired] [Level up]In other words, this is the kind of RPG that does not let you automatically learn skill and magic as your level rise!
Weiss paused in her reading as she regarded the recent passage. "Hmm…" she mused as she went over the statement in her mind. "So in this world, abilities are independent of actual level. Anyone can learn any skill if they meet whatever precondition the skill has."
Yang nodded her head. "Yup, sounds like it." She grinned as she thought about what it would be like to live in a world like that. "Games like that are pretty fun if they get it right."
"No no, why am I doing analysis inside my dream..."Apparently, my habit of analyzing thing from the gamer era surfaced. But it's alright, even if it's embarrassing inside a dream, let's continue the analysis. Even in this situation, my real body is properly taking a rest anyway!
"He still thinks this is a dream?" Jaune asked curiously. "Didn't he get hurt earlier? Wouldn't that debunk the dream theory?"
"He is refusing to accept the possibility that being in a new world is even possible," Ren explained as he subtly motioned for Weiss to continue.
I close the log and decided to check the magic and skill tabs."But, before that."I set the [Log] to open by default from [Setting]. It's troublesome to switch every time.
"Hey Yang, that means he can see every time something is updated around him right?" Ruby asked since she honestly always turned her log off when he could.
"Yup I can see why he did that too." She paused before correcting herself. "Well, I can see why someone who knew they were in a different world would do that."
"Go on, seeing you reason things out is a rarity that I like to indulge in." Blake urged her with a small smile on her face as the others chuckled softly.
"All of my hate Blake." The brawler muttered with a sour look, but she continued to explain her reasons all the same. "It just makes sense to me." She began as she tried to word things properly. "Like if someone tried to mind control you or something or maybe you're given a poisoned drink, the log would let you know."
Pyrrha nodded her head thoughtfully. "But wouldn't that only work if you resist the effects in the first place?" she questioned the brawler.
"It's not a perfect system, of course, there would be situations that having a log ready and available won't help you with," Yang explained as Weiss smirked before continuing to read.
The magics are [Meteor Shower] and [All Map Exploration]. The skills are [Summoning Magic: Foreign World][Nature Magic: Foreign World]. Seems that [All Map Exploration] belongs to the nature magic category. Are usable magic and skills registered? But I can't use it if I don't remember it anyway, this time the exclusive use of an initial bonus seems to be an irregular pattern. As a programmer, I immediately deny the notion.
Ren hummed as he considered the words. "I guess programmers prefer having easy to recognize patterns in their work then." He mused getting nods of understanding from his friends.
My status has changed considerably. After all, my level has been raised to 310 from 1. The limit in FFW should have been 50 at the time I went to sleep. Though we raised it to infinity when we ran stress tests for the server, so the memory from that time might've affected this dream. The experience points are lined up to an astronomical 9 digit number I don't feel like reading. I want to have a comma splice for every three digits. Let's propose it for the next update. Strength (STR) and Intelligence (INT) attribute values are 99. FFW client stopped the value at 99 but there is no actual upper limit. During the time when we lifted off the level restriction, the attribute value also rises accordingly... In other words, the actual value might be higher here too? Endurance (HP) and MP (Magic Power), and Stamina (SP) became 3100 harmoniously. These were set to rise by a fixed 10 for each level. There are many approaches to reduce consumption through various skills.
Jaune chuckled nervously "Those are really high stat values aren't they?" he asked looking at the two gamers in the group.
"Well considering that his HP at level 1 was 10 then yeah, those stats are very high," Ruby stated simply. "I may not know the full details about character stats in games like hardcore players and designers, but any character with those kinds of stats are usually characters that aren't supposed to be beatable by players in the game."
"Meaning that Satou is essentially the strongest mortal being on the planet probably." Blake summarized. "Depending on the logic of the world he's in, he might even be on the levels of the gods."
Before they could go even deeper into the discussion, Nora slapped the table hard enough to startle everyone. "Let Weiss finish guys. Debate about things after the info dump."
Ren smiled and patted his friend on the head getting a blush out of her that he missed. "Nora's right, your questions might be answered this chapter you know." Sharing looks the others shrugged their shoulders and let Weiss continue.
It's made this way since, according to the Planner, the adjustment is troublesome if we raise each one differently. In addition, available skill points are also 3100. Did it decrease from the acquired skill earlier? When I properly look at the skill column, both skills just now are greyed out. [Magic Art: Foreign World Lv0] shows up when I tap it. Tapping the Lv text shows [Please Allocate Point (1-10)] confirmation dialogue, so I tried to put 10. Without any SFX the text becomes white and changes to [Magic Art: Foreign World Lv10]. Skill points become 3090. 1 level = 1 skill point. Easy to understand. When I try to tap on it again, [Maximum Level] message shows up.
"I wonder what it means to have a maxed out skill in this world." Ruby thought aloud getting a look from Weiss as she paused her reading. "I mean let's say there's a skill related to using a rapier, using Weiss as an example. What level would Weiss be? Would her rapier level be high or low?"
Weiss hummed slightly before answering. "I'd imagine I'd be around a level 8 rapier user considering how long I've trained with my weapon." She explained getting a nod from the others.
Blake, however, thought otherwise. "What if level 10 is considered to be on the level of the gods? Would you say your skill with a rapier near the level of a god?"
Weiss frowned but conceded that Blake may have a point. "Well talking about it is useless if we don't actually know what it means to be a level 10 skill user." She stated as she continued to read.
On the magic column, [All Map Exploration] text is white while [Meteor Shower] remains in grey.
It seems that you can't meet the condition to use magic if you don't allocate points to the skill level. So I also put 10 points to [Summoning Magic: Foreign World Lv0].
"So even if the knowledge on how to use a skill is there, it won't do anything if you don't allocate points to it?" Yang asked while tilting her head. "Well, I guess it helps to know that we're all on the level with these things eh?"
There was a collective groan from everyone else. "Does that even qualify as a pun anymore?" Ruby moaned in anguish.
There are also many things added to the title column.
First [Monster Slayer]. Yep, I understand this. Then [Scale Tribe Slayer][Scale Tribe Calamity][Scale Tribe Natural Enemy] I'm not sure what scale tribe means but they're probably reptile monsters. Furthermore, [Wyvern Slayer][Dragon Slayer[Lower]][Dragon Slayer[Infant]][Dragon Slayer[Adult]][Dragon Slayer[Ancient]], and other [Dragon Slayer] with [] inside continue endlessly.Well, with this many dragons I can understand why such an impossible level-up to the 300 range happened. The map was dyed red before the attack earlier.
"NOOOOOOOOOO THE POOR DRAGONS!" Nora cried out seeing that so many had died to Satou.
"I hope that doesn't destabilize the natural order of the world or anything serious," Pyrrha muttered worriedly.
"It's a fantasy world Pyrrha, have hope that there's more than one area in the world where Dragons live." Jaune comforted the red-haired warrior getting a nod of thanks from her.
Then, just like the title for Scale Tribe, [Dragon Tribe Natural Enemy] appeared and the last title is [God Slayer].
Do you believe in god?"Wait, when did I kill one?"
There was a pregnant pause within the room as they all registered that fact. Fox calmly set his tray down and stood up. "I think I'll get some snacks ready." He mentioned before simply disappearing.
"So…" Yang began slowly. "He killed a god."
"Yup." Blake nodded.
"That…that's totally going to fuck him over isn't it."
"YANG LANGUAGE!" Ruby shouted out, pointing an accusing finger at her older sister.
"Yup…" Blake nodded again.
I tap the log and search for [God]. Defeated the Dragon God AkonKagura!There, the cause for god slayer. I see, the meteor shower also killed the god. I see I killed it...Only 2 remain, god slaying technique! No no, why would I kill them? However, the log doesn't show damage so I don't know how powerful it was. In FFW and WW, the last blows damage should have been displayed but... I guess there's no point questioning a dream.
"I think he's broken; like he totally just ignored the fact that apparently, he killed a god with a meteor shower," Nora stated with a grin. "You think he'll kill anymore?"
"Wait and see Nora." Ren chided her simply.
Since it's become easier to move, I raise my body.
I turned off the display icon for [Meteor Shower] in [Setting] since I don't want to become the enemy of humanity by carelessly clicking it.
As one, both teams raised a hand and gave the screen a thumbs up. "Good job."
Oh right, I haven't used the magic column yet. I switched to the tab with [All Map Exploration] and [Meteor Shower] in it. Now then, how do I use it? I wonder if tapping it normally work. There is no particular change when I try to use [All Map Exploration]. When I check the log there's [Magic: All Map Exploration used] message. MP become 3090 in the status. Seems like it uses 10 MP. I added HP and MP to the basic indicator since it's annoying to check it every time. There's nothing reflected in the radar besides me. It's nice that there's no enemy but mass killing like this is not funny. No, wait, it's normal for a game.
Weiss frowned "Thank whatever higher being of existence that watches over us, that there aren't too many people who think killing massive amounts of people is normal."
"Yeah…criminals are bad enough…but genocidal maniacs with magic powers? Remnant would need more than just hunters and huntresses." Ruby muttered slightly fearful of such a reality.
"I'm surprised you know what genocidal means Ruby," Weiss admitted as she regarded the younger girl.
"It was in a game I played before, so I got curious since Dad wouldn't explain it to me." I ended up dropping that game when I found out that the faction I was playing as committed genocide against like…6 different other factions.
Since there are no victims I guess it's okay? I slowly tap on [Meteor Shower]. It feels like something is greatly pulling out my vigor. I saw my MP continue to decrease. It stopped after consuming exactly 1000 points.
It didn't feel like this the first time I use it, guess it wasn't using my own magic power back then. I look up at the sky. There's no meteorite yet. Considering before, it should be soon. And then groups of meteorites tore apart the cloud. Huge. What the heck is that? It's 100 times bigger than the earlier meteorites. I instinctively run before thinking. Of course toward the opposite side of the drop zone.
Fox, who was just returning with snacks in hand nearly dropped them seeing the devastation wrought by the super meteor storm. "Oh my." He muttered recovering quickly as he set the snacks down. "Go ahead and enjoy every one." He urged seeing the stupefied looks on the teens' faces. Quietly they began to eat slowly mulling over what they had just seen. After finishing her snack Weiss slowly picked up the book and continued reading.
I run as fast as I can with the continuous huge meteorite impact sound in the background. As if running through water, the air resistance is too strong. It normally feels sluggish when you run in a dream, is it just me? I rolled over to the other side of a table-like small wall of rocks. Even though I said small, it's about 100 meters in radius so it will do fine as a shield. A tsunami of dust sweeps apart just right after I went into the shelter. People-sized rock occasionally rolls through the dust cloud, my spine becomes a bit cold. I wonder how long it will elapse. When the dust cloud settled I climb the rock wall to see at the fall.
"I'm sure the landscape is completely different now," Jaune muttered in slight fear. "There isn't anyone who can actually do something like that in Remnant is there?"
"I hope not." Pyrrha agreed with Jaune as she rubbed her arm.
Since the slope is pretty steep I tried jumping over 50 cm height. Pon. I fly 5 meters feeling like hearing such SFX. Landing on the ledge of a rock with slight panic."This status rise, what a joke~"I tried to deceive my trembling body by speaking to myself."That giant meteorite earlier is probably thanks to INT increase too~"
Ruby tilted her head "What's the difference between those two measurements?" she asked looking at Blake. "I'm only used to inches and feet."
Blake quickly did the math in her head. "5 meters is 10 times the length of 50 centimeters Ruby." She paused when she saw that it still didn't really register with the hood wearing scythe user. "50 centimeters is a little less than 20 inches."
"Oh…that's a really high jump."
I run up the wall by alternatively kicking through various ledges and rock edges like some kind of ninja in games and manga. How convenient. Even in a dream, I have pretty high adaptability if I may say so myself. I can see the collapse of a mushroom cloud in the distance. Most likely, it's sediment that got caught up on the fall. This would create crop failure and health damage disaster if this was the real world, due to the reduction of sunshine."It's a dream anyway, there's no helping it even if I think about it."I think it's bad that it's too real.
"So…" Ren began getting everyone's attention. "When do you think he'll figure out that it's not a dream?" he asked with a small smile on his face.
"Nothing fazes you much does it?" Jaune asked looking at his only male friend oddly.
"I grew up with Nora," Ren stated as if that explained everything. To Jaune, it kind of did.
Anyways I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I will try to update this on a bi-weekly basis.
And before anyone asks I will not have the teams complete the entire series in one sit through, you'll find out how I plan to handle the multiple volumes later on.
