"A- Are you sure, like, completely sure?" I asked, unable to keep the nerves out of my voice
"you said yourself, you'll advance the fastest if you get actual hunting practice in" Pyrrha said from the podium above me
"I know, I know, but still... I'm BARELY level 5, and I can easily see that Boar over there's twice that" I shouted back
"I'm here if things go wrong, and I've seen you practice well enough with Nemesis that I'm certain you can take it"
"if you say so... just let me psyche myself up." I shouted back
I needed to prepare and quickly, before Pyrrha got bored and shot the lock off.
I checked the Heads-Up Display. Full stats on the gauges in the lower left, ammo gauge in the lower right is reading the ridiculous number of throwable knives in my inventory, somewhere close to 70 right now, and the mini-map in the top right was gonna be useless in this fight
I checked my status menu again, trying to settle my nerves
Cobalt Jinn
Race: Human
Class: Gamer
Sub Class: Militia
Title: The New Guy
lvl 5
2045/3000 xp
HP: 305/305
MP: 320/320
SP: 220/220
Points: 22
STR: 15
DEX: 23
VIT: 19
INT: 27
WIS: 10
LUK: 11
Spending points to round out my lacking stats and a calendar month of working out had left me with a respectable total. Along with the corresponding boosts to my Strength and Dexterity my body had toned out. Gone was the potbelly at long last, replaced with hard, lean muscles.
Nemesis sat comfortably in my hand, it's now-familiar weight a comfort knowing what I was up against. My skills had progressed along similar lines to my stats, and all my active skills and defensive passive had hit the realms of level 10 and beyond.
"are you gonna get ready or what?" Yang shouted from the sidelines
I shifted from foot to foot, taking a few deep breaths and rolling my shoulders, feeling the rattle of the metal on my arm. I was wearing a stripped-down uniform with a chest-protector and some shin guards, and plate mail on my left arm for proper defence. I'd been meaning to go shopping, but hadn't had much time between grinding all my skills and re-applying the food and rest buffs.
"okay, Ready!" I shouted, but couldn't complete my sentence before a loud bang echoed across the arena
The Boarbatusk erupted from the cage as soon as the lock was compromised. It sniffed around for a few seconds before catching sight/scent of me and charging.
I charged back, spear held at the ready.
Once we got within feet of each other, I planted Nemesis' point into the sand and used it to lever myself upwards in a big Vault. I sailed over the Boar and landed behind it as it pulled itself around and into a halt. I quickly leapt forward with impale, but missed as Nemesis' point skittered off a bony plate.
"shit" I cursed as the Boar charged me again, and I narrowly spun out the way, using Nemesis to inflict a shallow wound on the Boarbatusk's more lightly-armoured flank.
"god, this takes me back" I said, remembering when Weiss did this in the show
"go for the underbelly, it's got no armour there!" Ruby shouted
"man, this REALLY takes me back" I said to myself
Then the Boarbatusk curled up and began to spin in place like a flywheel.
I waited for the inevitable charge, dodged to the side again and spun nemesis like a quarterstaff, using the blunt weight I'd installed in the socket as an impromptu pole-mace to smacked the boarbatusk like a baseball.
A New Skill has been created! Heavy Strike!
Cunning Brutality at it's most basic: Hit them even harder when they ARE looking for stunning results that will knock their socks off.
The Boarbatusk was knocked back two feet by the strike and uncurled, dazed and stunned.
I quickly saw this was my chance and went in for the finisher. I leapt and brought the spear over my head, landing on the boar at the same time I plunged my spear between them, aiming for the heart (or at least where it should have been), the gravity- and frenzied-muscle-driven point of nemesis easily puncturing the Pig's hide.
The Boarbatusk let out a choked squeal before collapsing. I twisted the spear and pulled it out just to be sure.
I fell backwards, landing roughly on my butt, panting from the exertion and the adrenaline
"holy shit I did it!" I said
Congratulations
+24,832 xp
Level up! Level up! Level up!
HP, MP and SP Restored!
+HP, MP and SP
Quest Complete: First Test
+2500 xp; +5000 cr
Level Up!
+Hp, Mp and SP
A New skill has been created: Leap
Leap impossibly high and drive your spear down into the enemy. Death from Above!
Thanks to learning it's Signature Skill, you have unlocked a new Class! Dragon Knight
A high-damage spear-weilding Class that focuses on spear and polearm techniques, and gains bonuses to movement and critical damage.
Title Gained: Apprentice Dragoon; +50% Spear and Polearm Damage, +50% Jump Height
My eyes bulged out their sockets
I didn't realize I'd frozen up until Pyrrha shook my shoulder
"are you okay Cobalt? You were all frozen up"
I quickly shook off my stupor and replied "yeah, I'm okay. Just got some insane rewards from that fight... the good news is, I'm level 9 now, and I feel like I could wrestle an Ursa- please don't actually make me wrestle an Ursa."
"the Bad news?"
"there is no bad news. I just created two new and useful skills for my spear, gained a new class and title, and drew my first blood, and know I could do that last part again easily... all in all, today is a good day"
"hey, did your wallet explode Cobalt? There's a wad of cash over here" Nora shouted
"firstly, when did you get here, two I own neither a wallet or money to put in it" I said walking over to see what all the hubub was as an out-of-breath Ren ran into the arena
I was stopped short when I saw that there was in fact something in the Boarbatusk's ribcage. I looked closer and, sure enough, there was the aforementioned money, next to a small crystal or gemstone.
I picked both up, and didn't expect my semblance to chime in.
1500 Lien acquired
Small dust crystal (Red) acquired
"Dust... and Lien... from a Grimm... guys, I now officially am receiving those inexplicable random RPG drops from dead mobs."
"say again, in plain Valic this time" Yang requested
"if you smack a monster enough times it explodes into goodies like a grisly pinata" I clarified, chuckling at my own euphemism whilst I stashed the loot in my inventory
"what?"
I sighed
"it's simple: kill bad guys, get loot" I explained
"where have you been all my life?!" Yang asked
"plotting, planning and wishing in the wondrous land of Far Far Away." I replied with only a moment's hesitation
Yang paused for a moment before saying "I'm not sure how I'm supposed to respond to that"
I could only shrug.
I checked my watch and saw that it was lunch time.
"who's up for grabbing a bite to eat?" I asked
"...So, there we were, in the middle of the night-" Nora recounted
"it was day" Ren interrupted
"Surrounded by Ursa-" Nora continued as if Ren hadn't just interrupted
"they were beowolves"
"Dozens of them!" Nora shouted
"two of them"
"and me and Ren made a boatload of lien selling ursa skin rugs" Nora finished
"she's been having this recurring dream for a month now" Rean explained.
"that sounds oddly familiar" I said, brow furrowed
"really?!" Nora asked
"I personally haven't had that dream, but I swear I heard that story somewhere bef- before" I said, unable to stop my hesitation as I remembered exactly where
"say, Jaune, I hear you went up against Cardin earlier, how'd that turn out?" I asked
I had to check, had to know
"did someone else tell you?"
"I kinda overheard it, but I didn't catch the results" I lied
"it was close, and Jaune got a few good hits in" Pyrrha said
"but Cardin won, and Jaune tried, but couldn't quite keep up" I summarized
Jaune hung his head "yeah"
Crap. I might've been a bit strong on him
"chin up man, sucking at something is the first step to being sorta-good at something… and, honestly, if it were you before Pyrrha's training, Cardin would have pounded you into the ground like a Jaune-shaped nail... er, moral of the story: you're not as shit as you think you are" I said
"I'm sorry, what does this have to do with Nora's dream?" Weiss asked
"everything and nothing. I'll explain later if it's gonna bother you, which I'm certain it will, but that's a conversation to be had behind closed doors" I explained
I was interrupted by laughter echoing across the cafeteria
"cue the school bully picking on the timid minority, for no particular reason other than might makes right."
Sure enough, Cardin and his team were making fun of Velvet.
"and thus begins the tale of an ensemble dark horse" I muttered
"did you say something?" Blake asked
"more to myself than anything. Auditory learner, simulated discussion conducive to learning" I said, beginning to motormouth as I recited the quote.
"who, Cardin, nah, he just likes to mess around" Jaune said
"I draw the line at locking you into a rocket-powered locker and firing you off to a set of random coordinates. Don't kid yourself Jaune, if you'd landed in the emerald forest, I'd be pulling you out of a beowolf's teeth, and Cardin wouldn't have even felt sorry" I said "don't pull this machismo, 'I can sort my own problems out' crap on us."
"ooh!" Nora exclaimed, standing from her seat "We'll break his legs!"
I snickered
"besides, it's not like he's just a jerk to me, he's a jerk to everyone" Jaune defended
"Ow that hurts!" Velvet shouted as Cardin grabbed her rabbit ears roughly
"are we seriously gonna just sit here and let this happen?" I asked
"but starting a fi-"
"fuck the rules, Justice must prevail" I said "whose with me for pulling him down a peg?"
I only got stares.
"fine." I said, drawing a knife from my inventory.
"don't-" Weiss started
"Oi! Piss-for-brains!" I shouted
Cardin looked up to get a very sharp knife landing point-first in his face. With his aura the potentially-lethal strike was more akin to being punched in the face
"what the hell was that for?!" Cardin shouted angrily
"if you really don't know, you don't deserve me telling you, but I'm not gonna stand around with my thumbs up my arse whilst you do it." I retorted
"you mean her? Seriously? You know bestiality's illegal right?" Cardin replied
"still picking on someone for no good reason. Or do you mean to tell me you've got such a complex that you need to be an arsehole. I mean, yeah it might be small, but that's no reason to be a dick about it." I fired back.
Cardin was seeing red, he let Velvet go and stalked up to me.
"what're you gonna do about it pipsqueak?"
My answer was a knife to the balls, which, again, his aura blocked
You could almost hear the entire crowd wince in sympathy.
Cardin immediately dropped his hands to his assaulted groin. Fighting through the pain, he raised a hand for a haymaker only to find my favourite kukri at his throat
"now, now. Let's not"
"give me one good reason" Cardin demanded
I glanced over Cardin's shoulder "for one, professor Goodwitch right there" I lied
Every head in the room immediately snapped to where I was looking
As Cardin turned back, I sucker-punched him.
"sucker" I punned
"Why you little-"
"That's enough! the both of you!" Professor Goodwitch shouted, her glyphs immediately propelling us apart and holding us there.
The room immediately went silent.
"well... speak of the devil" I said
Glynda sent a stern glare my way
"Mr. Winchester, I'll see you for detention later and I expect more professional conduct in future. Mr. Jinn, you'll be serving detention until you can learn not to pick fights outside surpervision"
"doesn't Ozpin see all in his school?" I asked
Glynda blanched "whilst I must commend your observational skills, that is still not a valid excuse."
Before Goodwitch left, I had one more card to play.
"yo, Cardin. Wanna wash your hands of this business? If so, consider this an official challenge to a duel in a week's time" I shouted
"ha, you're on dickweed."
"Excellent. Let's sweeten the pot: winner takes all: I win, you leave Velvet, Jaune and myself alone. You win... well, I'll leave that for you to decide. Within reason" I said
"deal. See you later, loser"
I watched both Goodwitch and Cardin leave the cafeteria, and soon things went back to normal
I walked up to Velvet.
"you alright?" I asked
"y-yes." Velvet replied "You didn't have to do that you know; now he's going to be after you"
"well, I didn't like him already, and that sort of shit is just inexcusable" I said "what sort of sadistic fuck enjoys other's pain? Anywho, I was thinking you might want to sit with us y'know. Safety in numbers and all."
"um-"
"you don't have to, feel free to say no and all... just, if your team aren't around-" I babbled
"I'd like that"
"oh, well, okay" I said
RWBY and JNPR silently regarded me as I sat down
"what the hell was that?" Weiss asked, breaking the silence
"an improvised plan" I said "step one, challenge Cardin. Put bluntly, he's a monster in the making, and if he's going to be a defender of humanity, as per the job description of a hunter... I weep for humanity."
"that seems a bit dramatic" Blake said
"step two, get good enough that this gamble isn't going to bite me in the ass. To that end, I'm looking for a trip out to emerald forest to grind levels." I continued "if anyone wants to come with, I'd appreciate the bus"
"how does that-" Velvet began
"it ties in with my semblance" I interrupted "second, use the loot money to buy arms and armaments. Exactly what depends on what strikes my fancy and what I have a mastery for"
"shouldn't you-" Pyrrha began
"if my masteries were higher, and I had time, yes. For now, all I can do is grab something spectacularly strong and hope Cardin goes down quick" I interrupted
"have we met?" Velvet asked
"I'm sorry?" I replied
"you knew my name, and I'm very sure we've never met" Velvet clarified
"ah, that'd be my semblance... more or less, I'm a videogame character, and my body and mind act as such. Part of that is freely seeing information about people. I can so far see your name and 'level', which is a rough approximation of your fighting ability just floating above your head... which, I puts me at quite an unintentional advantage. Sorry. I'm Cobalt Jinn, and these are teams RWBY and JNPR, who I'll let handle their own introductions" I explained
"that explains a lot" Velvet said
I turned to the rest of my friends "Everyone, this is Velvet Scarlatina."
There was a round of greetings
Eventually talk drifted in and out and things returned to normal as we enjoyed lunch.
Hola friends, I'm here with your weekly update.
my resident grammar Nazi (read: Proof-reader) has gone dark, so once again things are all sloppy on the spelling/grammar front. hopefully you can ignore such things.
other than that... well, real life looks perfectly poised to absolutely shrek me within the next fortnight. here's hoping it clears up soon.