Chapter 4

Making Progress

Hello – Text

"Hello" – Talking

'Hello' – Thinking

Hello – Emphasis

Hello – Game Text/Game Options/Skills

oOoOoOoOo – Scene Break

xXx – Chapter Start

xXx – Chapter End

'Hello' – Important Title

xXx

Joshua swayed back from the swipe of the Ursa coming after him, countering with a quick pair of Hooks to whatever passed for its solar plexus.

The effect was obvious as the Grimm bowed over in pain, leaving it open to an Uppercut that laid it flat out on its back.

"Damn. These things look so much more dangerous when you're at a lower level," Joshua mused, smirking down at the dead Ursa as its body slowly turned into smoke.

It had been almost a week since the incident with that first small pack of Beowolves and the near-death incident at the claws of the Adult. A full week since he almost died before unlocking his Semblance. Joshua was honestly having a little difficulty grasping just how far he'd came since that terrifying first day.

At least until he looked down at the Ursa that he just killed. Not to mention the other three he'd left behind him.

As soon as he woke up the next day, Joshua had established a rhythm to how his days went. He'd have something to eat and buy a lunch to store in his Aura, head out into the surrounding woods to train and hunt down Grimm until dusk, head back to town to sell his loot, then return to the 'Winters Rest' for the night and check his progress and distribute his new points.

After taking a moment to collect all the Loot Bags, the young man took a moment to check his Menu and see his stats a little earlier than usual.

Name: Joshua Bridger

Level: 19

Health Points (HP): 580

Aura Points (AP): 705

Stamina: 580

Strength: 20

Vitality: 25

Agility: 20

Dexterity: 10

Wisdom: 45

Intelligence: 30

He'd gained another four levels and twenty stat points in addition to the levels from that first day. While he'd been sure to raise his Wisdom and Intelligence the most, he made sure to spread out some points in other areas to make sure he wouldn't be lacking. Specialization was good, but overspecializing was just begging for something nasty happen.

Honestly, he was a little surprised he'd made this much progress at all. Grimm over level 15 rarely got close enough to major towns for him to hunt, leaving mostly the weaker ones. Even these Ursa here were only at around levels 10 to 12.

While he hadn't had any near death incidents since that harrowing experience, he also hadn't really made significant progress in leveling up.

Fortunately, he'd been developing in other ways.

After collecting all the loot from the dead Ursa, Joshua headed off into the trees in search of more prey.

Plodding through the snow, he put one of his more recent Skills to use.

Sneak (Active) Lvl. 7 XP: 12.27%

To move unseen among those who seek you. To prowl in darkness from prying eyes. This is what it means to bring stealth to bear against your enemies.

Effect: Once activated, the user becomes harder to distinguish from the sounds and environment around them, quieting their sounds and blending into their surroundings. Perceptive and powerful enemies may be able to detect the user. Once noticed, the user may not use this Skill against the same enemy/enemies again without diminishing results. Ability to remain hidden will increase as the Skill levels up.

It was a Skill he got while sneaking in the forest two days ago and it was already proving useful. Especially with another recent Skill.

Ambush (Passive) Lvl. 6 XP: 14.13%

They say victory goes to whoever strikes first. Taking this saying to heart, you have become adept at maximizing the effect of that first blow, shifting a fight in our favor before it even begins.

Effect: When making the first strike against an unaware enemy, the attack is empowered with a 45% boost to damage. This effect is only applied to physical attacks, but can work on both physical attacks and physical Skills. Damage boost will increase as the Skill levels up.

Needless to say, the two Skills formed a pretty effective combination on the enemies he'd managed to catch by surprise. The fact that he'd killed quite a few Ursa on his first attack made it pretty clear he was hitting for a lot of damage. These Ursa were way more durable than almost any Beowolf. It was a good thing he hadn't encountered any of them on his first day out, otherwise he would've died right off.

That said, these Skills weren't the only things he'd been working on.

Joshua stopped moving for a moment, listening for the steps of any nearby Grimm. Some of them were easier to detect than others, like the Ursa and their own plodding footsteps. He easily heard one nearby.

Following the noise, Joshua came upon a particularly large example of the species. It was easily bigger around its chest than the trunks of some of the trees, limbs thicker that Joshuas own body and coated in that bony chitin like plating typical of Grimm. Amazingly enough, it had a level to match.

Ursa Major

Lvl. 22

He grinned as he spotted the level. Now this would give him some decent XP.

Slowly sneaking towards it from the back, Joshua carefully stepped through the snow as he prepared a trick he'd developed to practice with his Semblance.

Reaching out to grab a handful of its shaggy fur, he activated Rewind.

After experimenting with his Semblance a few times, Joshua had discovered some very interesting details regarding its capabilities. One such revelation was that he could, in fact, pull other objects and people back in time with him. He'd first tested it with just an object, a piece of wood, seeing if he could keep it by storing it in his inventory. Then if he was holding it in his hand. The answer was a yes to both. And there wasn't another one in its place when he went back in time with it. Apparently, when he went back in time with something new, its presence in the past was, for lack of a better word, overwritten. If he was so inclined, he could probably steal something from a glass compartment, activate Rewind, and then walk off with it in his hand instead of inside the compartment.

Testing it on people was something of a challenge, though. He wasn't sure if anyone but him would come out unscathed, so he was reluctant to really test it on them. There was a good chance that whoever he pulled back might drop dead or something.

Fortunately, he neither had nor needed any such compunctions regarding the Grimm.

It was always an odd sensation when he activated Rewind. It felt like his body, senses and consciousness were briefly being stretched between one point in time and another before the now snapped to before like some kinda rubber band. It was still pretty disconcerting, even after practicing with it.

The Ursa Major though, didn't have anything resembling experience with it. In fact, the damn thing looked like it was about to throw up from the weird effect as it found itself rebounding back in time with him. Joshua could sympathize, he'd almost thrown up a few times too.

Unfortunately for the large Grimm, that sympathy wasn't enough to keep Joshua from using the opening.

Jumping onto its back, he activated Aura Strike and dropped an Overhand right onto its head, breaking the plating on its scalp before jumping down and slamming a Hook right into its (stunned?) face.

Badly hurt and disconcerted, the Ursa stumbled back with a pained and angry growl. Injured, but still very much alive with 20% of its HP left.

A 20% that did nothing to save it from the second Hook to its throat, this time empowered by Aura Strike.

Hitting it in a place consisting of what passed as soft tissue, even Joshua was a little surprised with the result. Instead of simply pulping tissues, the Hook literally tore through the monsters vulnerable throat. Literally tore through it and almost ended up completely severing its head, if it weren't for some skin and muscles holding it at the back of its neck.

The Grimm didn't even have time to notice it had died, falling to the ground as a dissipating corpse.

Your Level Has Increased By One!

Ignoring the announcement, a stunned Joshua just stood there, looking down at the almost decapitated carcass. "Okay. That was actually kinda cool."

Collecting its Loot Bag, he couldn't help but notice he didn't get a special mask this time. This was the first higher level Grimm he'd encountered since the Adult Beowulf, and while this thing was definitely much stronger than the Beowolf, he couldn't help but find it strange he didn't win another mask. Maybe they were random chance drops or something?

Thinking about it, he hadn't really tested the thing yet.

Pulling the Adult Beowolf Mask out of his inventory, he held the deceptively light object in his hand, turning it over a few times.

At a glance, it looked like nothing but a well-crafted porcelain mask with a series of blood red markings. Appearances could be deceiving, though. While someone might expect it to be cold, it was strangely warm on his skin, like he'd first noticed after retrieving it. It also seemed to have a pulse, for lack of a better word. Like he could feel a subtle force flowing through the material.

Most disturbingly, though, was when he turned it around and looked at it from the front. Whenever he stared it in the eyes, he couldn't help but feel like it was somehow staring back. As if the damned thing was looking him in the eye and reading every slight twitch of his face.

It was like the damned thing was still alive. It was downright creepy.

He still hadn't found out its effect because he'd yet to actually put it on. He just kept putting it off because he was worried what the results might be. Would he just drop dead? Go insane? Spontaneously transform into a Grimm and start trying to eat people?

On the other hand, it might actually do something useful. Given from its description, it might enhance his stealth abilities, or maybe make him physically stronger. But the potential risks kept him from putting it on.

Still, he couldn't just let it gather dust in his inventory. His only options were to use it and find out its effects or just sell it.

Listening carefully for any movement around him, Joshua noted there weren't any Grimm nearby. He also knew Silberlicht was a good distance away, so he probably wasn't putting anybody in danger if he experimented out here.

Staring at the strange mask in his hand, Joshua made his choice and put it on.

As the mask slipped into place on his face, the result was instantaneous. The mask itself seemed to attach itself to his face somehow, albeit only enough not to immediately fall off. A more noticeable effect was the changes to his vision. Everything seemed to take on a red tint and somehow get…..darker. Like there was a weird overcast over everything in sight, except spots of light around the trees.

Wait a minute. Those weren't spots of light, those were the shadows of the trees. Was this how the senses of the Grimm interpreted light and dark? Maybe that's why they were more active at night, because they saw so much better in darkness.

Off in the distance, however, he saw something much more interesting. A huge mass of burning lights. Glowing and searing in his vision. Silberlicht, he realized. That mass of lights was all the living souls of the people of Silberlicht.

IT as so…entrancing. Joshua didn't even notice as his feet slowly plodded forward through the snow, drawing closer to the town. Didn't notice as he leaned forward in a predatory stance, like the Beowolf he'd killed for the mask. Didn't notice as it filled him with a strength he didn't even know he had, even as he tore clean through a tree in his way with all the speed and force of a cannonball. All he noticed was the countless, squirming, searing souls just waiting for him. Warm and waiting for him to sink his teeth into them. To draining their bodies into lifeless husks as he tore them apart. To rip and shred and-

Joshua thrashed his limbs and tumbled to the ground, suddenly realizing just what he was going to try and do. Forcing his eyes away from the town, Joshua reached up to the mask and pulled.

'Dammit,' Joshua thought, panicking. 'The fucking thing won't come off!'

It felt like it was glued to his face around the edges somehow, refusing to budge I face of his defiance. His eyes wildly moving in his sockets, Joshua vaguely noticed something odd with his AP bar.

It looked like…it looked like it was turning into a bar of black smoke.

Panicking even more at the strange sight and its rather dark implications, Joshua pulled at the mask even harder! He pulled and pulled until it felt like his hands would break.

But the mask was starting to give. And the moment before his whole AP bar was swallowed up by smoke, it came off. Shocking Joshua so badly that he immediately fell to his back.

Taking in and letting out great shuddering breaths, Joshua stared wild-eyed at the mask in his hand and what it almost made him do. "What the hell was that?"

Checking the clock on his HUD, Joshua noted that only thirty seconds had passed since he put the mask on. It almost made him do that after wearing it for just thirty seconds? What the hell would've happened if he kept it on for another five!?

Well, at least he got some valuable information. The mask was dangerous, but its effect was definitely useful. A pair of abilities to see more effectively in darkness and sense people through their souls. Apparently even through great distances and physical cover or obstructions. The problem was that he could only use it for brief moments before it started driving him nuts.

Taking a moment to check his AP bar, he was relieved to note that it was back to normal. Apparently, taking the mask off had done the trick and saved it. Didn't make the implications and less terrifying, though. AP was more than just a bar of spendable points, it was a measurement of his Aura. His soul. If the mask was somehow affecting it, that could only mean something bad. REALLY bad.

And no. He didn't shiver like a scared kitten at the thought. If anybody said he did, he'd bluntly deny it.

Pulling himself up from the ground and dusting off the snow on his coat, Joshua decided to call an early day and head back to town. Dismissing the Grimm mask back into his inventory, Joshua slowly walked back to Silberlicht, swaying slightly for the first few steps.

At least one thing was for sure. That mask was dangerous, and he'd have to be careful if he ever used it.

He honestly hoped he'd never have to.

oOoOoOoOo

'I'm really starting to hate this restaurant.'

Really, it wasn't actually the place's fault. The 'Oakwood Lodge' was actually a pretty good place. Nice and warm despite the cold outside, a welcoming atmosphere and good food wrapped up in a building constructed like a very large old time log cabin. There was a reason he often ate out here after a long day of his routine.

It was the people he was having trouble with. More specifically, it was their conversations.

"I'm telling you, those animals have gotta learn their damn place."

"Seriously, they aren't wearing chains anymore, right? What do they have to complain about?"

"Maybe they should just be deported back to Menagerie again. Saves us the trouble of listening to them complaining."

The conversation was between a trio of male patrons using a table in the corner. They looked young, probably only a few years older than his avatar, 19 to 20 at most. They hadn't ordered any food, but they'd been ordering drinks since before Joshua had even arrived. They were obviously pretty smashed.

They were also having a blatantly racist conversation in such loud voices that the other patrons were getting uncomfortable. Joshua could actually see some people inching away from them, some going so far as to scrape their tables on the floor. This was just a recipe for trouble.

Honestly, Joshua couldn't really understand what they found so wrong about Faunus to consider them worth so much discrimination. When it came down to it, they were really just people with a few extra body parts, like a tail or an extra pair of ears. Hardly worth waging a hate campaign over.

Then again, humans had never failed to find excuses to hate each other, even over silly stuff. Whether it was culture, social norms, religion, national pride or even something as pointless as skin color, people always found ways to demonize and hate everyone else.

In lieu of that, racism over something like having a tail was disturbingly easy to believe.

Still, they weren't causing any actual trouble besides the noise. Besides, he was hungry. Joshua came to get something to eat and he was gonna do just that.

His food seemed to be taking some time to arrive, though. Were they busy today? Nah, not enough customers inside, must've been something else.

With nothing better to do, he decided to take care of the new points he'd gained, and dropped them straight into Wisdom. The resulting announcement didn't even surprise him, he'd seen this particular message before.

Congratulations! By raising your Wisdom to 50, you have unlocked the Skill: Elementalist!

Elementalist (Passive) Lvl. 1 XP: 0.00%

People speak of the elemental forces as if they were chaotic and beyond control. You know better, that, while they may not be truly controlled, they may still be harnessed. It is merely a matter of will.

Effect: The power of all Elemental Skills and attacks are enhanced, granting a 20% increase to damage and 10% cost reduction in use. Effect will intensify as the Skill develops.

Oh yeah, he'd seen this particular message before. It was a Skill he often got for many of his Character Builds. People tended to think that Elemental Skills were only useful to Builds revolving around Dust, but that couldn't be further from the truth. While Dust users might get some more out of the Skill due to their focus, many different Builds could benefit from it. Such as people with Element wielding weaponry, which was actually a rather common practice for physically oriented combatants.

Not to say he wasn't interested in getting some Dust for his own use. It was a very potent resource in battle, after all. The problem was that he wasn't sure how to get it. You needed a special license to legally buy dust, a license he couldn't get due to being…..well, he wasn't exactly a Persona non Grata, but his lack of any identification didn't make him much better.

"Sir," someone said, pulling Joshua from his musings. "Your order is ready."

The server set down a deep plate of Browned Beef Stew. A deep and savory broth filled with peas, carrots, potatoes and, of course, very well browned beef. There was literally nothing that tasted better in the cold days of the year than good hot food.

…No. He did not cry a few tears of joy at the sight. Shut up!

"Thank you," he told the server, an elderly man with a slightly balding head, as he gave him an early tip of 50 lien.

Unfortunately, fate chose that time to interrupt. Because the moment before the man could even thank him, there was a quick scream and brief crashing sound from behind him. 'Oh, come ON!'

"What the hell, bitch?!" A certain familiar voice called out. Turning around, Joshua noted, unsurprised, that it was one of the noisy trio. He'd rather violently stood up and accidentally sent some of the beer mugs on the table crashing to the floor.

He was also towering rather menacingly over another server. A female with long, light brown hair. And a Faunus, if her wolf ears and tail were any indication.

Oh boy, he just knew this was gonna get ugly. These guys were drunk and angry, always a bad combo, and it would be even worse now that they had a Faunus to take it out on. Judging from the look on her face, the Faunus knew that too.

"I-I didn't do anything," she desperately defended, trying to back away from the drunken man but only ending up against the wall.

"Oh, really," the offender asked, voice low and dangerous. "So now I'm a liar, huh!?" He raised his left hand up against the wall, trapping her. "I heard you muttering, you got something to say? Come on! Spit it out already ya damn freak!"

He raised another hand, his right, and curled it into a fist. His intent couldn't be clearer to the people looking at him, jeered on by his friends.

"Yeah, get 'er!"

"Punch her lights out!"

His curled fist shot out, aiming right to the face of the defenseless and cowering Faunus. She couldn't move, couldn't escape, and couldn't fight back. She just stood there, wide eyed, as the fist descended before she closed her eyes.

But the hit never landed.

Opening her eyes, she saw another hand holding the man's fist in place, mid swing. Following the arm of the hand back to its source body, she saw the one who stopped it.

Joshua shot across the room the moment he saw the man curling his hand into a fist, catching it before it was even fully extended.

'Damn. I'm actually getting pretty fast.'

Shoving the man's fist out of the Faunus' face, her assailant stumbled back slightly before regaining his balance.

"What the fuck!?" the man questioned, still looking at Joshua like he'd appeared out of nowhere. Which, in all honesty, he kinda did. Unfortunately, the confusion was quickly replaced by anger when he regained his bearings. "Stay outta this!"

"No."

"What was that!?"

"Are you deaf from all the beer? I'm staying right here." Ooh, a rhyme.

….Ugh, a rhyme. He desperately hoped nobody would notice.

The man was apparently too drunk to get the message (and fortunately the rhyme). It wasn't helped when his two buddies rose from the table to back him up, eager for a fight themselves. Looks like he was their new target.

Looking at the shaking Faunus beside him, he decided it was better than the alternative. These guys would really hurt her. On the other hand, they couldn't hurt Joshua no matter how hard they tried. Their Levels were all in the single digits, and their Stats were pathetic regardless. Unless he literally stood still and let them start pounding on him, he couldn't see these guys winning. Hell, even if he did stand still, they might not beat him regardless.

The guy to the man's right spoke first, "Oh, you wanna fight dude? There's three of us, do the math."

"I have," Joshua answered calmly, unafraid. "The numbers might make it a little more difficult."

This time it was Tweedle D, "Hear that, guys? The kid's scared."

Scared? Yeah right. Maybe he should be clearer this time.

"Makes it more difficult to choose whether I should beat you up one at a time or thrash all three of you at once."

That got their attention. The three suddenly stopped smiling and started looking at him like he'd suddenly become the strangest thing in the room. In all honesty, he definitely was. Just not in the way they were probably thinking.

After a moment of silence, the apparent leader of the small group decided to speak. "What? What the hell does that mean?"

Joshua's smile was cold enough to free water and sharp enough to cut the ice. "Well, beating you guy's one at a time is just safer. For you, not me. After all, when I'm only fighting one of you, I can knock you out leisurely, no rush. All at once is harder, I have to keep my punches in check or I might seriously hurt you. Y'know, broken jaw, broken rips, punctured organs, concussions or skull fractures. I might kill one of you by accident."

The whole restaurant went quiet at his declaration. All of the customers were staring at him now, some of them bug-eyed. He noticed the Faunus server was staring too, but he didn't pay them any mind.

His attention was focused on the three guys that had caused the commotion. Pinning them in place with his eyes, daring them to call his bluff. These guys were nothing, and he was making sure they knew it.

"You're bluffing." That was the leader, the one in front who started the whole scene.

"Then call me on it."

Silence reigned, everyone in the building standing or sitting stock still. They couldn't bring themselves to move, not with the tension thick in the air. All they could do was wait until it was over. Until one side gave.

The trio gave first, their leader shooting him one last glare before he turned to leave. His two goons followed behind him, shooting him some nasty looks of their own.

Joshua didn't care. They couldn't do anything to hurt him.

The three of them left the building, the last one slamming the door on his way out.

For a moment, nothing happened. Nobody made a sound, nobody moved. It's like everyone was frozen in time even as Joshua walked back to his table.

The, once Joshua reached his table and moved to sit down, he was surprised when a lone clap sounded through the building. A slow one, from somewhere he couldn't see.

Then more people started clapping and an applause slowly built up, interspersed with occasional shouts of "Good job" "Nice one" and "That was a gutsy move".

So Joshua just did what he thought any stereotypically cool dude would do. He quietly sat down and started eating like he couldn't hear a thing. For crying out loud, cool guys walked away from explosions without even looking back, no way they'd respond to clapping.

The other patrons just clapped even harder.

oOoOoOoOo

Joshua was patting his stomach in satisfaction, walking back to his apartment after dinner. "Damn that food was good."

After the little debacle in the 'Oakwood Lodge', Joshua was finally able to sit down and eat. Fortunately, the clapping died down after a while. Some people still shot a few curious or impressed looks at him, but he largely ignored them.

The Faunus he'd helped though, couldn't seem to stop staring at him. She was probably surprised anyone had helped her at all and was trying to think up some way to thank him. He remembered some guy in a suit had talked to her before she left. Left too early for it really be the end of her shift. Maybe it was the manager letting her off early.

Well, at least she was safe.

Strolling back to the 'Winters Rest', Joshua started thinking over his immediate plans. He was getting stronger, but he still had a long way to go before he was strong enough to be even remotely safe in this world. Moving further off into the forests was an idea, but that carried some risks. He didn't want to have another close call like with the Adult Beowolf. There was a difference between confidence and recklessness. Besides, going out too far meant he'd take more time to get back to town. That meant extra proble-"AAAHH!"

He almost tripped on his next step. What the hell was with that scream? Where did it come from?

Focusing on his hearing, Joshua tried to hear the source. There was only a few sources of sound around this late at night, so it wasn't hard to hone in on the apparent source. There wasn't another scream, though. Just the sounds of struggling and….whimpers?

Gagged whimpers.

He shot off in the direction of the muffled sound, fearing the worst. He'd long since developed an appreciation and fear for irony, and he had a good idea of what this was gonna be.

His suspicion was confirmed as he finally tracked the sound to an alley away from any major population centers. Dark and out of the way, it was the kind of place that you saw all the time in the crime scenes of old crime dramas.

Because, right in front of his eyes, was the three trouble makers from the 'Oakwood Lodge'. Pinning the Faunus who worked there down on the ground. Gagged and struggling as one of them was ripping at her clothes with his pants pulled down.

"You guys just don't learn, do you?"

They startled slightly at his voice, their eyes turning his way. Not that they'd recognize him right away, he could actually smell the alcohol coming off them. If they were smashed before, they were practically blind and deaf from what they've been drinking now.

The one with his pants down, their apparent ringleader, let out a drunk hiccup and recognized him. "You? What're you doing here, jackass?"

Joshua's voice came out as an angry growl. "Apparently, I'm seeing you guys about to commit a felony." He cracked his knuckles. "You might wanna stop now."

"You kiddin'," the leader challenged with a lopsided grin. "Things are about to get fun." He punctuated his statement by slapping the face of the Faunus beneath him, causing her to let a pained cry from behind the gag in her mouth. "It's sooo fun putting these animals in their place, y'know? So nice hearing them squeal lik"-Smack.

He was interrupted by Joshua dashing down the alley fast as a bullet and slamming his head into the wall.

It was, in retrospect, pretty hard to talk when you were unconscious with your head rammed against a wall of concrete. The poor guy might even have brain damage. Then again, Joshua didn't particularly care about that right now.

"You're right," he said, his voice a chilling calm as he stared at the other two guys. They were wide-eyed now, staring. Scared.

Good.

"It really is fun putting animals in their place. Maybe I'll do it right now."

The effect was immediate, the two older teens letting go of the Faunus beneath them as they attacked him in a panic.

The first tried to hit him with a sloppy punch, easily caught in Joshua's hand as he gave him a Hook to the Solar Plexus. Nasty place to get hit. He'd probably have breathing problems for the rest of his life, but that wasn't really Joshua's concern.

The next guy pulled out a knife and tried to stab him. Against some normal person, it might've worked. But against Joshua? The blade stopped and bent to the side on contact with his Aura.

The goon looked dumbly at his bent knife for a while, wondering just what happened. He didn't even notice Joshua's leg moving.

Now, let it be said, Boxing revolved around punches, not kicks. That's just how it was designed. But what most people didn't seem to realize, was that a Boxers legs were just as strong as their arms. The majority of a punch's power actually came from the legs and lower body, learning to throw good punches meant you were also strengthening your legs as a byproduct.

And this guy found that out the hard way as Joshua's shin connected to his crotch. All the strength and power of his leg being brought to bear in his most vulnerable point. The best part? Critical Hits in the original game, and this world here, weren't decided by chance, but by attacking weak points.

So, Joshua had just, literally, given him a Critical Hit to the nads. The rather loud cracking sound was also extremely satisfying.

The end result was actually a little comical. The poor sap seemed to be frozen in time, held up in the air by Joshua's extended leg with his eyes wide open and his mouth held in a silent scream of agony.

The high-pitched squeak of "Mommy" as he slid off Joshua's leg just added to the moment.

Looking down on the three, Joshua lowered his leg and wondered if he should be feeling guilty. He beat these guys badly. They would probably have serious health complication for the rest of their lives. Shouldn't he regret that?

Taking a moment to look at the shivering Faunus on the ground, he decided that, no, he didn't need to regret it. These guys crossed a line, a big one. They deserved what they got. Probably deserved worse, in fact.

But enough about them. Some else needed his attention.

"You alright?" he asked the Faunus below, gently. "Did they hurt you?"

She was shivering, maybe from the cold? Or maybe shock. Joshua took off his coat and draped it around her, causing her to briefly freeze. Unsurprising, considering what just happened. Taking a moment to calm down, she slowly pulled the coat closer to herself, as if using it as a veil to hide from the world.

"I'm okay," she whispered. He barely heard her, and her voice sounded stilted slightly. But she was responding now, and her shivering had calmed slightly. "Y-you stopped them before they could…before they could…." She couldn't finish.

"Do you need to see a doctor? Would you like some help getting home?" It was best to speak to her calmly, try to get her to talk a little. To keep her thoughts from lingering on what just what happened.

She hesitated, as if unsure if she should even speak. "M-my leg hurts a little. They kicked it hard when…."

"Is there a doctor nearby?" He asked. He had to diver the conversation away from what almost happened to something they could do to fix the shock. Something to keep her occupied.

"….Yes," she answered, a little more life in her voice this time. "There's a doctor not far from here. He treats people out of a clinic in his house."

"Would you like to go there?" He couldn't come across as too forceful. She needed to make the choice herself, be assertive. It would help her get over the shock.

She took a moment to think it over. She was probably a little tor over getting herself fixed up or just getting somewhere she felt secure. Either way, it had to be her choice. Fortunately, it didn't take her long to make her choice.

"I think I'd like to go to the doctor."

Joshua nodded in assent, offering her a hand. She stared at it for a moment, as if she wondered if it was even real. But, after a moment, she reached out and took it, allowing him to help her up.

"Can you walk?" he asked.

Her response was a brief nod before she almost stumbled out of the alley. Whoever this doctor was, Joshua hoped he was a good one. Her leg definitely wasn't doing too well.

Hearing a low groan behind him, Joshua turned a grimace on the three punks behind him. Maybe he was feeling a little more vindictive than he thought, because he suddenly got a very evil idea. He'd pretty much castrated one of them already, his balls were either past or somewhere up in his chest cavity. Might as well spread the attention.

"Wait outside the alley," he called out. "I've got something to do."

oOoOoOoOo 5 Minutes Later oOoOoOoOo

"You sure this is the place?" Joshua inquired, looking up at what apparently counted as a small mansion. If this guy was really a doctor, he was either damn good or got extra money on the side.

"Yes," the Faunus, Lori, answered. She'd given her him her name on the walk over. "This is the place. Doorbell?"

He nodded in affirmative, heading up to ring it. She might be walking, but he left leg was still pretty bad. Chances are she couldn't get up the stairs without wincing.

After ringing the doorbell, Joshua stood in front of the house and waited for a response. Fortunately, it didn't take long for the shuffle of feet and a hurried "Just a moment!" to signal somebody was coming. After a moment of hearing the locks and tumblers in the door twist to open, he finally saw the apparent doctor in person.

He was tall, for one thing, and had his dark blonde hair in a ponytail tied at the back of his neck. His eyes were blue and seemed slightly sunken in, like he hadn't gotten much sleep recently. In fact, his body showed a few signs of exhaustion and lack of sleep in general. Was this guy really a doctor?

But that was all secondary to something else Joshua noticed.

Andrew Hamilton

The Hands That Support the Armies

Lvl. 92

"Hello, do you need any-"he spotted Lori still standing in front of his house. Particularly how she favored her right leg and was currently draped in Joshua's coat to ward off the cold. "Oh. Come on, my clinic is in the attached building. We should go there."

Joshua and Lori followed him around, Joshua himself helping when her leg gave her trouble. He moved stiffly, though, like his limbs were suddenly made of wood. And who could blame him? This Andrew guy had the highest level he'd seen yet. Hell, he even had a Title!

Unlike in other game, a Title in 'World of Remnant: Online' wasn't something you just got from a quest or killing an enemy. It was a long, personal, and extremely intricate process. Reflecting a combination of the characters personal Level, combination and Level of Skills, their Semblance, and their own personal accomplishments and uses of their abilities. As a result, not two Titles were ever really alike, albeit some may have had similarities.

It also meant that this guy was WAY more than just a doctor.

After following the man around to a smaller attached building on the side of his house, they entered into a place that wouldn't have been out of place in a real hospital.

Joshua didn't personally recognize all of the equipment by name, but he'd seen enough real-life examples to know they were genuine. The place even had that sterile hospital smell from the chemicals down. Whatever else this Andrew guy may have been, he was definitely a doctor.

Walking in further, the man led them to a room with a series of comfortable beds lined against the wall. How cozy.

"Lori, just lie down on one of these beds and we'll get started."

Joshua quirked an eyebrow. That's it? Lie down and let's get started? Shouldn't there be more to it than that?

Ignorant to his confusion, Lori crawled onto a bed on the right-hand side and lay down, Andrew walking over.

When Andrew put his hands to her leg and it started glowing, Joshua liked to imagine his eyebrows didn't actually skyrocket off of his forehead in surprise.

"It's my Semblance," Andrew said, apparently aware of his shock somehow. Did the guy have eyes on the back of his head, or did he get this reaction often? "I can link with the Aura's of other people and, for lack of a better term, bolster them. Make them stronger, faster, make their injuries heal much more quickly. It's quite useful."

True to his words, the effects on Lori were immediate. Her injured leg was mending and healing right before Joshua's eyes in a corona of pale green light. In a matter of less than fifteen seconds, her leg was completely healed. Then, Andrew moved onto her other injuries, all the scrapes and bruises. In less than a full minute, Lori was as good as new.

"There you go, Lori." Andrew comforted, smiling down at her on the bed. "Is there anything else? Any lingering aches or pains?"

Lori shook her head. "No. No, I'm fine now."

"Would you still like to go home? Or would you rather stay here for the night?"

She glanced down. "…..Is it okay if I stay? I don't want to go out right now."

"Of course."

Turning away from her, Andrew walked back to Joshua and his expression changed immediately. His formerly comforting smile was replaced with a straight line and his eyes turned cold. "Come with me to the living room."

Somehow, Joshua just knew he couldn't refuse.

oOoOoOoOo

Andrew released a deep sigh. "So that's what happened."

After making sure Lori was comfortable, Andrew led Joshua back to the living room of the main house. The inside was just as impressive as the outside, all hard and finished wood. With a large fireplace in the wall and a good sized coffee table, it was like any of those well off Victorian style designs. The furniture alone would probably be enough to pay for his apartment room for several years, all of it well-crafted and maintained.

Currently seated on a very comfortable leaning chair, Joshua had just explained exactly what had occurred between him, Lori and the three people he'd smacked around. He was careful to leave out the part at the end though. No point in making this guy wince.

Which made Andrew's next choice of words all the more surprising.

"You should've just killed them," he said simply. His tone as flat as a board.

If his objective was to make Joshua cough up the coffee he'd been offered, he almost succeeded.

Joshua's words still came out as a slight croak. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"You should've just killed them," Andrew replied, his tone still level as before. It's like he was talking about the weather rather than suggesting Joshua should've committed a triple homicide. He raised an eyebrow in question. "Does that sound so strange?"

"Yeah, actually." Okay, this guy definitely wasn't just a doctor. "You're supposed to be a doctor, right? Y'know, Hippocratic Oath? Supposed to help, not hurt?"

Andrew shrugged. "Lots of ways to help people. Sometimes cure a disease, sometimes heal an injury, sometime put down a dangerous criminal before he can hurt anyone. It's like removing a cancer. Besides, I never took the Hippocratic Oath."

The kettle in the kitchen started whistling, showing Andrew's tea was ready. Joshua just watched as he rose and headed into the kitchen to fetch himself a cup.

'Something is definitely up with this guy.'

Seriously, there was just something really off with him. Joshua couldn't put his finger on it, but somehow, he knew there was something different about him. Call it paranoia but he just didn't feel like someone normal. His level, the way he acted, this mansion, and of course there was his Title. If Joshua didn't know better he'd think….no way.

'Is he really a…' Joshua couldn't even finish the thought. It just seemed so out there that it couldn't possibly be right. But if it was…

"Hey, Mr. Hamilton?" Joshua shouted. He might as well give it a try.

"Just call me Andrew," was the reply from the kitchen, the whistling of the teapot finally dying down. "What is it?"

Here it goes. "Have you ever heard of World of Remnant: Online'?"

….

(Crash)

Joshua heard whatever cup Andrew held fall and shatter on the floor. A sound quickly followed by rapid footsteps as the doctor rushed out of the kitchen to stare at him wide-eyed. Joshua imagined his own expression was much the same.

If anyone saw them both at that point, they'd have caught the amusing sight of the two of them pointing at the other and shouting, "YOU'RE A PLAYER!?"

xXx

Oh, that's right. I never actually said Joshua was the only Gamer in the fic. How forgetful of me.

Also, if any of you may have noticed something up with the numbers in Joshua's stats, specifically his HP/AP/Stamina bars and the boosts from the associated stats, there's a reason for that. I originally planned for his Stats to increase the three bars at percentages, but then I started running into problems. If I was originally going to improve the three bars by 5% per point, what would the 5% actually mean? Fife percent of the original 100? If that's the case, why didn't I just write it as improving the associated bars by five points per point, in addition to the obligatory ten new points on each bar per level after level 1? Then, I tried making it 5% of the current total, which led to all kinds of calculation problems.

Eventually, I settled on this. 10 new points into the HP/AP/Stamina bars per level after 1, and 15 points per point in the associated stat. Then it became much easier. I also did some error fixes on the previous chapters and realized something. There's something wrong with the document and chapter uploads. Look at the writing carefully, and you'll realize there's only one space after every period instead of two. In fact, I haven't actually seen any double spaces on any of my posted chapters. Weird, right?

Anyways, hope you folks liked the chapter, it was a real doozy to write.