Hello, there internet! I welcome all of you to yet another chapter of The Paladin's Game! Now, get ready to sit in. Because I plan on this being a big chapter! As a little thank you for sticking with me through all the changes in my schedule. It really means a lot. Also, go check out the Arc Chronicles to see some of the options in the polls. Now, why don't we get right into this shall we?
Beta: Grano_Onis
Tsuyo No Seishin: First I would like to apologize for not seeing your comment last time. Secondly, I will specify that Sacred Flame if you are referring to that. Is not a holy fire. It is straight up a magic fire. Still pretty useful though, especially against Cinder. Thirdly, don't worry we should be back at Beacon after this chapter. His harem shall continue to grow like the degenerate flower it is.
Comment of the Week goes to...Zathol: First of all, I think you might need a HAND with that pun there. Second, yes crafting can lead to many possibilities, and I mean many. But one of those possibilities is not iron panties and bras. (Maybe, idk ask me on a different day.) Also, there will be no unlimited storage space...yet. Second, you would be right that Yang could become one hot momma. But she gonna have to wait a while. Also, I would agree with you on how huntsman dress. But, got to look unique in the public. What better way then bright flashy clothing? And you are correct that the fire does some interest in Ozpin. But you just have to wait and find out.
Honorable Mentions:
Merendinoemiliano: Ah you see my man there is a simple answer to that. Jaune is in denial. Jaune is quite dense when it comes to things. Like people affections. So I imagine that the same could be applied to his abilities. To others, it might all seem like magic. But to him, it's just his semblance. A really, really diverse and overpowered semblance. So when he is told something is magic. He will be a little freaked out.
Phalanx30: Yeah, Affiliation charts and skills will only show up when there is a change.
StallionWolf: Wow, I'm really sorry that happened to you man. Yeah, shipping can be pretty bad. Especially when it involves a certain Catgirl (Btw, Black Sun for the win.) But I agree some people take the shipping way too seriously in this show. But I manage to still find enjoyment and just mostly ignore the talks of shipping. And stuff, I agree that as long as it doesn't affect the show or characters *Cough* Adam *Cough* then I am fine with most ships really. But it's when the fans are toxic or when they do something that harms the show in a negative way. That's when I start to dislike a ship. But hey, I am glad this story brings you some joy. And I hope it brings you more.
I do now own RWBY or anything made by Roosterteeth…
Walking down the street with an extra kick in my step and my new leather duster flapping in the wind, I felt like a complete and utter badass. If only the wind would stop blowing so hard. It's making my chest cold. At least it would if not for my fire enhanced leather duster. I could literally be wearing only this and I would be fine. Thank you, cold immunity.
The night was drawing towards its latter ends, and I was about three minutes away from my goal. It was supposedly an office building where Donovan worked his job as an accountant. In actuality, it was where Donovan did all his paperwork for the gang. Whether it was business transactions, reports from jobs, new contracts coming in from their clients, or just reports about harassment, Donovan managed it all. That meant he could, and probably did, have any info I needed to take Jett down as well as find any information on their employer who was after Junior. I was just going to have to find a way in.
Luckily, this was in a good part of the city and, in wanting to keep a low profile, Donovan only had maybe one or two goons with him. That meant easy picking for me.
I finally reached the building, which was a simple one-story building with a door that had one guy standing outside. I'm guessing the other one on the inside. Deciding to make quick work of him, I used Sprint to get close enough to where he couldn't react. I then slammed my hand over his mouth before he could scream and sent him to the ground, knocking the guy out. I searched his body and found a key chain and some lien. Quickly storing said Lien, I went every single key on the key chain.
There were 30 of said keys, so it took me a while before I found the one that actually unlocked the door. It was the last one.
"I hate it when that happens," I muttered before stashing the keys in my inventory. Looking down the hallway, I could see the other guard standing right there. He was also looking at me.
"Uh...hi," I gave an awkward wave.
The grunt made to grab his rifle, but, with a Flash Step Strike, I used Dragon Grasp on the man's wrist. I seemed to put too much pressure on it, though and heard a snap. I winced as he made to scream in pain, only for my hand to cover his mouth.
"Sorry about that," I apologized before quickly knocking him out via slamming his head on the ground. I then grabbed my scroll and looked up how much it would cost to have his wrist fixed. In lien, not mana. I don't have the ability to heal others.
I then walked to the office door. Using Aura Sense I saw that there was a man waiting by the side of the door holding something. I smirked as I grabbed the handle and swung the door back. Moving back with it, the guy who was hiding still made to swing with what looked like a briefcase. However, what advantage he might have had was long gone as I ducked under the swing before quickly pinning him to the wall.
"Ow ow! I-i'm sorry! Please let me go!" The man pleaded.
I raised an eyebrow before I cast Insight.
Henry Waters
Lvl. 6
Main Title: The Accountant
Sub-Title:
Str: 8
Dex: 10
Vig: 7
Int: 18
Wis: 14
Chr: 27
Luck: 4
Born 32 years ago, Henry is a simple man with a simple job and a simple life. He has a wife and two kids and is working hard so that they can all go to visit Vacuo and its wonderful beaches.
I closed the tab after ready and let the man go.
"Sir, why are you here?" I asked. Unfortunately, the man was too shaken to speak, so I had to try a different approach. "Sir, I want you to take some deep breath with me, okay?" I asked, and he gave a nod. Together, we both a couple deep breaths, each one calming the man down until he shaking was no more.
Congratulations! You have earned the skill Pacify! For having previous experience with the skill before you unlocked the gamer, Pacify has been moved up to level 12!
Pacify (Level 12)- A very useful skill when you have seven sisters. Too bad it never really worked out for you. (Able to use your Chr against someone else's to calm them. Can be used on a person or beast. The higher your Chr is to their's, the higher the success rate.)
"T-thanks." He meekly replied.
I gave a smile. "No problem. Mind telling me what you are doing at the office this time of night?" I asked.
"I was working overtime" He explained, "I'm trying to save up money for a surprise vacation with my family to Vacuo."
"Alright, I'm just going to need to ask you a question first. Do you know if a man named Donovan works here?"
"Yes," he said, "it's all the way at the end of the building."
I gave a nod. "Alright. Well, sir, I believe that you should get home to your family. I'll take care of things from here," I said before walking out of the office.
"W-wait!" He called out, "A-are you a huntsman?"
I smiled. "Something like that."
With that, I walked towards the office, and Henry took that as his cue to leave. I went back to searching for the office in question. Wasn't hard to find, since it was right where Henry said it was. I tried to open the door, but it was locked.
I sighed."Makes sense, but it doesn't make it any less annoying." I activated Aura Sense and turned around full circle, keeping an eye out for any yellow outlines that would help me find a way past through the door. My search eventually leads me to the security room where I could see a yellow outline of keys. I opened the door, this one actually unlocked, grabbed the keys, went back to Donovan's office, and then opened the door.
The office was simple. There was a generic painting of a farmhouse on the right wall, a potted plant on the filing cabinet, and desk in the center. There was a button on the bottom of the desk that was made obvious by my Aura Sense. After walking over and clicking the button, I heard a click to my left. I looked towards the click came from and saw the painting reveal itself to be a false panel as it slid sideways on the wall where it exposed a now open safe. Going to the safe, I looked inside to see just one small, folded piece of paper. Unfolding the piece of paper, I read only one word.
"Boom!"
I turned to leave the room. An explosion erupted from the wall. I quickly activated Absorption Shield and saw all of my AP drop in almost an instant. Thanks to my skill, though, I didn't take nearly as much damage as I should have.
I coughed as smoke filled my lungs burn my eyes. With my Aura Sense still active, I noticed that there was a new yellow outline, but there was more important stuff to take care of first. The alarms were ringing, and the sprinklers outside the office, which I was only able to see due to that door being blown open by the explosion, were spraying water as the smoke filled the office and came out of the newly made hole in the building. The sprinklers in the room I was in, though, were destroyed, and a fire was starting to spread. So, rushing out, I saw a fire extinguisher in the hallway. I smashed the glass it was behind, pulled it out, rushed into the office, and began to spray its contents on the fire like a mad man, filling the room with foam. The fire was almost gone when I started to hear the sirens.
Looking back to the yellow outline, I saw that it was a door in the alley that I could now see thanks to the new hole in the building. Not having the time to wonder why I needed to go to a door that was part of a completely different building, I made my way to the door, only to find it locked. With any form of subtlety out the window anyways, I put my full force and any aura I managed to regenerate after tanking the explosion into a spartan kick. My foot made contact with the door, almost sending flying off its hinges.
Congratulations! You have earned the new skill Aura Kick!
Aura Kick (Level 1)- Aura...KICK! (Charge your Aura into your legs or feet to give a 50% boost to damage) [100 AP]
Closing the window, I stepped through the door and saw a set of stairs spiraling downwards around a large pillar. Seeing no other way to go, I closed the door behind me and went down them, keeping my guard up for any noise the whole time.
I kept going down.
And down.
And down.
"Gods, how deep does this place even go?" I questioned in my head as I kept my Aura Sense up to make sure I could tell when I was close to people again.
Eventually, I noticed that the walls were shifting from a dull grey to a pristine white that was like what one would see in a lab or hospital. Eventually, everything was pristine white; even the stairs.
When I looked over the railing, I found that I could actually see the bottom and two people who were down there as well. Using my Stealth skill and the center pillar, I got close enough to the pillar where I could actually see them without being exposed myself.
It seemed like there was one guard who was wearing a flak jacket under a shirt, cargo pants, some nice boots, and an Atlesian styled helmet with a visor standing in front of a doorway. The other one was simply wearing a lab coat. Looking at my attire, I realized that I would stick out like a sore thumb if I went in the way I was. That meant I needed to get a change of clothes. Fortunately, there were two soon-to-be donors nearby. The question was: did I want the security guy or the scientist? The doctor had blonde hair just like me, so I could just switch my wig to my own hair and blend in pretty well. The guard, though, had a helmet; which meant I could still keep my disguise up. Not only that, he could have better access than most of the scientists that may be down here.
"Guard it is," I thought to myself as I waited for the scientist to leave. As soon he walked through those doors, I pulled out some Lien and threw it down towards the bottom of the staircase. The guard took notice of the sudden appearance of money and, clearly not one to pass up some free cash, he made his way over for his too-good-to-question tip. When he bent down to grab it, I grabbed him and put him to sleep. Once he was good and knocked-out, I changed into his gear and hid him under the stairs for good measure. After doubled checking to make sure that I was not missing anything important for the disguise, I made my way through the door.
On the other side, I was greeted to a long hallway with three doors on the right and two on the left, and a set of double doors on the other side. There was also some scientists walking around as well, each holding clipboards and other things. Lastly, there were two cameras on each side of the hallway. Luckily there were no guards, so I didn't have to risk getting my cover blown for some unforeseen reason like a superior wondering why I wasn't at my post.
I made my way to each of the doors on the right, taking a quick peek through the small windows on the doors to see what was inside each of them. From the glimpses that I could see, there was a chalkboard with what looked like two diagrams, one of a beowolf's biology and the other of a Human's biology, in one, a cage in another, and I wasn't able to see anything at the last door due to it being too dark.
Moving on, I went through the double doors. I was met with another hallway that went to two different directions, a camera placed at each corner, and this time there actually being guards. I knew that I should try and find the security room before continuing. I wanted to know what was going on here, and that likely involved going places my disguise likely couldn't go without setting off an alarm. To prevent that, I needed to either shut off the alarms, take out whoever was monitoring the cameras, or, preferably, both.
Aura Sense was able to help me with finding the security room via a faint yellow outline on a door to my right. However, I also noticed an orange glow surrounding a door to my left. If yellow was meant for the main objective, red for the enemy, green for allies, and purple for new quests, was orange for additional or bonus objectives? Curiosity overtook me, and I made my way to the Orange Glow. I pulled out a keycard that I had looted from the Guard, swiped it through card lock, and was met with a green light from the lock and a soft click from the door that indicated it being unlocked.
Walking in, I was greeted to a decent sized room filled with filing cabinets and paperwork. One cabinet, in particular, had an Orange Glow around it. I opened it up and sifted through the folders before I found one that had the same orange glow that had been around the cabinet, which had died down the moment I opened it. Pulling it out, I sifted through a bunch of research notes on...Grimmification?
"Where did I hear of that before?" I asked myself before a window opened up with Cardin's stat screen. There, right below/above –––, was the Grimmification status. While this folder would certainly come in handy, I had more pressing matters to attend to right now. I put the folder into my inventory to read at a later date and checked for anything else that could prove useful.
This turned out to be a wise idea as I found a map of the building I was in.
Would you like to morph your minimap to match this map?
Y/N
Clicking the Y button, I watched as my Minimap fill out to match the layout of the building.
There were three floors in total. The security office, which was as long as some of the research rooms and offices, was on the first floor. There was also an elevator on the opposite end of the building, and a staircase further to the doors left. The second floor was where the main laboratory and research facilities were, and the third floor seemed to be a testing grounds of sorts.
So, with a better layout of the facility, I grabbed as much else that looked potentially useful as I could from the room before I made my way to where the security office was.
I passed by a few other guards who either ignored me or gave me a nod, which I returned before I reached the security office. Once again, my key card was enough to get me inside the room. There, I found one man sitting in a chair eating some takeout while watching the cameras. He gave no indication that he had noticed me yet, so I made sure to close the door slowly so as to not alert him. I needed this guy out of the way so he didn't notice me going somewhere I likely should be.
I walked slowly up to him, pulling out a combat knife that was part of the uniform as I did so. When I got up right behind him, I put the knife against his throat and covered his mouth to muffle any noise he made before he even knew what was happening.
"You scream, you're done for. Nod if you understand," I commanded.
He nodded slowly. I slowly moved my hand away from his mouth while applying just a bit more pressure to his throat with the knife. He immediately started to cough up, controlled due to my knife on his throat, some of his dinner that I must have inadvertently shoved down his throat.
"Sorry," I apologized, slightly embarrassed. He may be able to drop me headfirst into a world of trouble, but having food go down the wrong tube always sucks. After a few seconds and his coughing died down a little, I quickly went back to interrogation mode.
"So, how do I turn off the cameras?" I asked. The guard pointed to the consul to my right, which had a big red button and a small blue button. "Oh," I said before I knocked him out and put him in a corner. "I really should buy some rope before I do these things," I said as I was forced to just leave the man the way he was.
I then walked over to the consul with the two buttons. "Now, which one to press…" I mused while rubbing my chin. It was fairly obvious, though. I mean, you don't just push the big red buttons. Those are the ones that mess everything up.
So, with that solved, I pressed the small blue button.
Immediately, sirens blared and the room went red.
"Attention, all doors have been opened. Have a nice day," An electronic voice said over the intercom.
"What? No! That's what the red button is supposed to do!" I yelled.
Event Quest: The Destructive Research Facility has started!
The Destructive Research Facility
Objective: Destroy the lab before anything can get out.
Bonus Objective: Rescue at least 15 People. (0/15)
Reward: 120,000 Exp, +4 Hero Legacy, +20 Affiliation with Vale Police Force, and?
Failure: Death, Destruction of Vale
Do you accept
Y/N
Not, really seeing any choice in the manner, I clicked the Y button. As if signaled, the door swung open and two guards came rushing in.
"Hold it right there!" One shouted as they both had their rifles pointed at me. With a quick use of a Flash Step Strike and a couple of Divine Smite fueled punches, though, the two were knocked down and out.
My cover now useless, I requipped my sword, my pistol, and my duster while having to put the flack jacket in my inventory. But my duster was more important in this scenario. I wanted that extra fire damage. Plus I think it looked good with the current equipment I had on.
Walking into the hallway while closing and locking the door behind me, I saw the scientists scrambling and running, grabbing as much of their research as possible.
I hadn't even taken a step when I heard a scream in the distance.
I rushed towards the noise and found myself back into the first hallway where I saw a scientist backed against the wall with a beowolf standing over him. Pulling up my pistol, I used Divine Smite as I shot it in the back, sending the bullet ripping through what would be the spinal cord. Instead of dying from what should have been a fatal wound, though, the Grimm just turned to face me. I felt myself hesitate for a moment as I looked into green eyes instead of red eyes of the beowolf.
Insight.
Mutating Beowolf [Tank]
Lvl: 25
HP: 3933/4500
SP: 450/450
My hesitance was quickly gone as the Grimm started to run towards me. Six Divine Smite fueled bullets within three seconds, and the beast went down, dissolving at my feet.
"T-thanks," The scientist said before rushing upstairs.
I looked at the room the beowolf came from, the door had been ripped open from the inside, and found that it was the room that had the cage inside it. Quickly going inside, I saw the aforementioned cage that was now wide open and a confetti of paper scattered or ripped to shreds on the floor.
I made to leave when something caught my eye. On a nearby table was a perfectly fine folder. Temporarily sheathing my sword and gun, I rushed over to take a look at it and saw that it was filled with notes on Grimm that I have never seen before. What interested me more, though, were the notes on what was classified as Mutated Grimm.
The loud sirens not letting me forget about the immediate disaster-in-the-making, I tossed the folder in my inventory to read later and made my way to the stairs that led further down. Once I reached them, I looked to see that, unlike the stairs that led to this place, these stairs were much more like an office building: spiraling, but more how they were depicted in the movies.
"Going down," I grunted before hopping over the railing and falling for about a minute or two before my feet once again touched the ground on the second floor. Keeping my sword out and ready, I opened the door and stepped inside. I was in a narrow corridor, the only lights active being the red emergency lights. I could also hear shooting in the distance along with some screams. It didn't take me long to make a connection between said screams with the blood splattered on the walls. Pushing down my regret at accidentally causing this, I moved forward hoping to try and save anyone else I could.
After making my way through the corridor, I turned the corner and was suddenly greeted to the sight of a guard being flung back with his flack jacket torn to shreds and a long gash across his chest. The culprit soon revealed itself, and I could barely hide my disgust. It was what I could only say was once a man, but now was a twisted and deformed version of it. His arms were snapped off at the elbow, leaving two sharp jagged blades that seem to be made by bone. The legs were bent the opposite way they should have been, and the head was twisted upside down with a hole in the forehead.
Insight.
Necromorphs {Transforming} [Mini-Boss]
Lvl: 32
HP: 32,000/32,000
SP: 3,200/3,200
The necromorph started to approach the guard, and I saw its jaw open up four ways as a mass of tentacles started to spew out of it. The guard frantically backed away to get away from the monster, but it was clear he wouldn't make it. Not without me interfering at least.
Before the tentacles could wrap around the guard fully, I shot a Heaven's Fury fueled bullet. My eyes to widen as the bullet barely left a dent in the skin. I did manage to catch the attention of the beast, though, and it gave a horrible screech that forced me to cover my ears before it charged towards me. It moved with surprising speed, and I was just barely able to move out of the way of the bone blade. It gave another screech as it swung its arm back, but I brought my sword up in time to block it, the force of the impact pushing me back. More tentacles came from its mouth. I pulled out my pistol and shot at one.
Critical Hit!
My eyes widened at the screen as the necromorphs screeched in pain. I fired off another four rounds before my clip ran empty. The thing gave out another screech from that additional pain, which I smirked at before I felt pain stabbing into my right side. I looked down and saw that one of the bone blades had pierced my gut. I had also looked down at it just in time to see it run up my body, cutting a jagged line until it left from my right shoulder.
Pain Tolerance increased by 2!
My body healed itself a second later, but the pain itself was enough to cause me to lose my grip on my gun. I muttered a curse as I was forced to jump back lest I be gutted by the angered necromorph. Pulling out the combat knife I had kept from the guard, I locked eyes with the beast as spewed what I could only say were larva from its mouth at me.
I tried my best to cut as many as I could down, getting about six with the knife and my sword, but I just couldn't get them all. Some of them got onto my clothes and proceeded to slither up towards my head. I tried to get them all off, but more kept coming out. So, seeing no choice while also panicking a bit, I activated Sacred Flame. The blue flames wrapping around my body, killing all the larva. The larvae let out dying shrieks as they shriveled up and turned to ash. The necromorph charged me after I did that, letting out another shriek.
I activated Heaven's Fury one more time, the blue flames channeling into my knife instead of my sword. I used my blade to block the necromorphs attack with its bone arm and get it into its guard. I then jammed my knife into its mouth.
Critical Hit!
I let go of the knife and watched as it screamed in pain as blue fire erupted from its stumbling body. To my horror, though, the beast was still quite alive and kicking as the flames extinguished. It tried to screech at me again, but the knife got in its way. So, in response, it used it's re-grown tentacles to pull the knife out of its mouth before snapping the blade in half.
"Shit," I breathed. I was then the victim of multiple stabbings as the beast rushed at me with newfound speed. It was after the eighth stab in the gut when I was able to use a Shockwave to get the thing off me.
I was given no room to breathe, though, as it charged at me relentlessly. I soon found myself slammed and pressed against the wall, the initial impact caused me to lose my grip on my sword. I moved my head aside to prevent my skull from being pierced by the bone arms. The only reason I was able to keep up with this new speed was because of the boost that Sacred Flame was still giving me, something which I was grateful for, and the fact that my feet still had purchased on the ground. My luck was clearly out to get me, though, as I managed to trip on the leg of the now dead guard that I tried to save and land on the floor. The necromorph sprang at me, ready to take the opportunity to no doubt finish me off. On reflex, I put my hand up to block the attack and was shocked to see Sacred Flame come and form a shield around me, making the necromorph reel back in pain as it's bone swords, which it had held out to impale me with, crumbled to ashes.
Congratulations! You have unlocked the skill Flame Shield!
Flame Shield- I'm too hot! Gods Damn. (You produce a shield of fire that blocks the attack towards you and deals a part of that damage to the attacker. It has a 5% chance of destroying the enemy's weapon upon contact.) [500 ap]
Closing the screen, I watched as my Sacred Flame finally disappeared. The necromorph had lost one of its weapons, leaving only a stub. Quickly getting up, I looked towards my AP and found that it was still in decent condition, which didn't really make sense seeing as how I should have spent at least 3,000 of it. Did Sacred Flame have something to do with it?
Whatever the case, I still had to take advantage of the opportunity presented to me. Getting up, I grabbed my sword and I chopped at the thing's leg, my sword cutting through like butter. I didn't stop there and aimed for its still good arm. It lost its balance and fell to the ground. I then gave a yell as I plunged my sword into its skull, cutting off its shriek.
Critical hit!
However, the thing was still moving, if barely. I managed to fix that with a twist of my blade. I then saw black ash leave the body, leaving only the mutilated corpse it had created.
You have leveled up! You have gained a skill point!
I felt the breath of life course through me as my stats all went back up. I still had to wonder, though, how I had a good amount of my AP left. With Sacred Flame, Heaven's Fury, and my new Flame Shield ability, I should have spent at least 3,000 AP. Instead, I only spent half that. I went to the description of my Sacred Flame, which I found to coincidentally cost 1,500 AP to activate, but found nothing that could lead to me believing that the skill would do something that would explain it. Maybe it had a secret ability of some sort that would explain this. This would require further experimenting. Grabbing my pistol from off the ground, I loaded a new magazine before I went to the two bodies. I respectfully closed their eyes, as that was all I could do at the moment for them. I looked around for anything useful and managed to find another knife from the guard to replace the one I had lost. I then listened to see if my fight got anythings' attention.
Lucky for me, I heard no screams, though that also filled me with dread as that also hinted that no one else on this floor survived. Either way, I had to keep going. I had to see if there was anyone I could help, or if I could find Donovan and find out what the fuck was going on here.
Blackwood had made no mention of anything like this, so either he didn't know, or he led me to a trap. If that was the case, though, why tell me anything about Xian?
It didn't make sense, which meant this was a secret that Blackwood, and possibly everyone else in the gang, was unaware of. I also needed to know if Jett was also a part of this, and I needed those answers now. This had just become much more than taking down a simple mercenary group. This was about protecting all of Vale.
Making my way through, I kept my gun stowed away. I didn't want to make any loud noise and risk drawing out any more necromorphs. If there were any more. I was not going to bet against it.
Moving down the halls, I came to the conclusion that Aura Sense was a godsend, and there was nothing that anyone could say that would tell me otherwise. With it, even though the halls were filled with a dark red, I could still make out where enemies were and which way to go. Thanks to that, I was able to avoid more necromorphs, which I had confirmed were running around after a near close encounter with a few.
It was as I was making my way through the halls that I found a scrawny man in a bloody lab coat clawing at a door. Despite his lanky frame, it looked like he was about to bust the door down. I could tell that the man had been recently transformed thanks to Aura Sense highlighting him with a dull, yet still noticeable, red glow. This necromorph had yet to make any major modifications. Keyword: Yet.
Grabbing my combat knife, I used Blazing Smite and threw the knife. The blade landed in the back of his skull, and the body went limp as the momentum from my knife made it slam against the door. It slid down the door, and I watched as the body turned to black dissolving ashes before me, leaving only the knife as evidence.
Walking to the door, I picked up the knife before knocking
"Hello?" I called out, "Is anyone there?"
"Go!" I heard someone yell through the other side, "Go away!"
"Hey, I'm not here to hurt you guys," I said. After getting no answer, I decided to go for a different approach. "I'm a huntsman. I'm here to help get you guys out."
"...R-really?" I heard someone from the other side ask.
"Yeah, promise." I said. Slowly, the door opened slightly, and I saw someone peek through the crack.
Seeing only me, the door fully opened to reveal about five scientists and one injured guard who seemed to have held themselves up in a research room.
"Come in quickly," He said, gesturing me in. I followed his order as he quickly closed and locked the door behind him. "Boy, am I glad you showed up," He said as I looked around the room.
Unlike the others, this room seemed to be researching aura or energy fueled weapons, as shone by the many blueprints that were laid out. "What are you doing here anyway?" The same guy who let me in asking.
"There was an explosion up top I was in the area and found the entrance to this place." I said, telling a half-truth. "What is this place anyway? Some kind of underground research facility?"
The scientist nodded. "This is- well was the G.R.A, or the Grimm Research & Abatement," he explained. "We were originally a part of Merlot Industries, but we had nowhere to go when that fell apart. Then some anomalous backer said they would continue our funding if we shared our research with them. We agreed, and we have been down here ever since."
I looked towards the man. He seemed to be in his late sixties and early seventies. His hair was thinning and mostly, if not all, grey. His face was adorned with wrinkles, and his skin was a light tan.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"My name is Ash," He replied, and I nodded my head.
"Alright, Ash, I have a couple questions for you." I said.
He looked a little nervous. "C-can we get out of here first?" He asked.
I looked towards the door before looking back at him. "There are no monsters nearby. Plus that door is pretty sturdy," I said. "Now, the first question: Why where are you researching necromorphs?"
"I-i'm afraid that's-"
"By the gods," a younger scientist cut in, "Just tell him! This place is already going to shit." He snapped.
Ash seemed resigned before nodding. "We...were researching the process of Grimmification." He said.
I raised my eyebrow. "Grimmification?" I asked, waiting to finally get my answers about what this is.
"Y-yes, the process of which when a Human or Faunus is injected or infused with the blood of the Grimm," He explained. "Studies have shown that when someone is under the beginning stages of Grimmification, their physical prowess is multiplied to a similar degree that aura does, and gain the durability to boot. We were seeing if we could possibly use this to enhance soldiers or Huntsman."
I nodded my head. "Okay, and necromorphs play into this how?"
Ash looked away.
"You see, there is a problem with the process. Once infected, the host goes undergoes drastic changes until they themselves are turned into grimm. The necromorphs specifically, as you have no doubt seen, have their own process of transformation." He said.
"And you were hoping to find a possible connection?" I finished for him, and he nodded.
"Y-yes." He said. I gave a low hum to show I acknowledged what he was saying. I could see why this would be researched. Having super soldiers that don't require aura to do something that Huntsman can already do would be a boon for the military's mortality rate.
However, something tells me that the anonymous donor wasn't with any military.
"Okay," I said, "Second question: Where is Donovan."
This time, it was the guard who answered. "He is on the bottom floor."
I nodded towards the guard before walking towards him and casting Cure Wounds a couple of times to heal him.
"You're good as new. This time, keep a distance away from them."
He looked at me wide eyes before nodding dumbly. I then looked at the rest of the group.
"Alright, I'll lead you guys to the stairs. After that, you're on your own."
They all nodded their heads at that. I then looked to the guard, and seeing as he had no gun on him, handed him the rifle that I had taken from the guard at the entrance to the lab.
"Here, take this, but try not to shoot unless necessary," I said. "Don't want to waste the bullets."
The guard's eyes shown with determination before he nodded, stood up, and walked with me to the door.
"Alright everyone," I said, now addressing the scientists, "I need you to stay calm. Those things out there may have once been friends and coworkers, but they're grimm now, and grimm can smell fear from a mile away." I then looked to the guard. "You watch the back?"
He nodded.
I didn't say anything else as I slowly opened the door, looking outside and with Aura Sense, and saw no Grimm nearby. Looking towards the group, I motioned them to follow before I fully opened and stepped out the door.
Once we were all out, I started to lead them through the hallways and corridors. It was a close call a few times, but I managed to either stay away from the necromorphs or wait for them to pass us without being spotted, and I was able to successfully escort them all to the stairs.
"Alright, just go up these stairs and you should be good to go," I told them before I looked to the guard. "Hey, you're going to have three of your buddies held up in the security room. Mind grabbing them for me?" He nodded before he took the point and started to lead the group upstairs.
However, before the last scientist left, I grabbed his arm and stopped him. "I just have one question for you: how do I shut this place down?"
"On...the third floor, we have a bunker that, once activated, will bring the whole building down." He said.
"Okay, so how do I get out of the bunker?" I asked.
His eyes became downcast.
"Y-you don't."
I looked at him for a second before nodding my head. I then let the man go and I starting heading back the way I came.
This time, though, there were about fifteen necromorphs all over the place. Right around the corner to be specific.
"This is not good," I muttered to myself. It looked like the scientists had left a bread crumb trail leading right towards me for these guys, which meant that I could not go back the way I came. Well, I could, but I wasn't exactly excited about being impaled numerous times.
Looking around, I found a vent that looked like I could… Maybe fit in? Oh, who was I kidding? I was too big for that. Maybe my old self could fit through that, but I had grown substantially bigger since then. "I Can't believe I'm lamenting the fact that I'm buff," I thought to myself before looking over the pool of necromorphs.
Well, when in doubt...
Precognition.
I was greeted to the slowing of the world as paths started laying themselves out before me. There was one to the vents, but that just showed me trying to get through, getting stuck, and then getting stabbed to death. There was another that showed me rushing through them all only to get, surprise surprise, stabbed to death. This kept going for a while. Jumping over them? Bump my head and stabbed to death. Wall running? Don't have enough momentum, fall into the pile, stabbed to death. Shooting myself? Don't die, they hear the noise, and, wait for it… stabbed to death.
There was simply no way around them without getting stabbed to death. "Unless…" I trailed off remembering that there was, in fact, an elevator back on the first floor.
"That's it!" I said… out loud… loudly. All the noise that was previously coming from all the necromorphs stopped.
"Uh oh." I said.
That all too familiar shriek resounded from the group.
I made a bolt for the stairs, looking behind to see the necromorphs not that far behind. Thinking quick, I grabbed a couple of my earth dust shards and threw them to the ground before shooting them with my gun. Spikes of earth formed a wall/barricade as the grimm threw themselves onto it. This impaled them, but it was far from killing them. It did buy me some time, though, as I used Jump to ascend the stairs landing back on the first floor.
Once I was there, I used the rest of my earth dust to seal up the stairs. Taking a breath, I turned around to see the group I just saved look at me.
"Just...taking precautions." I told them, before walking past them and towards the elevator.
Once there I called for the elevator, and it only took a couple of seconds before it opened. There was a necromorph in it. It was staring right at me.
"I'll take the next one." I said clicking the button inside to close the elevator.
But the grimm had a great sense of dramatic timing. As soon as the doors closed, it ripped the metal apart with its bone blades, and then it began to try and do the same with me. It would have too, had I not activated Sacred Flame to launch myself back.
"Alright, let's see if I'm right about you," I said. I activated Blazing Smite and, after checking my AP, I saw that I still had the same amount of AP I had before using Blazing Smite and after activating Sacred Flame.
"So Sacred Flame also acts as a catalyst for my other flame spells; basically removing the AP cost for them altogether," I said to myself. "I wonder if it works with other skills." I didn't have time to figure out an answer before having to duck under the necromorphs bone blade and retaliate by giving it a deep gash to the joint in its leg with my sword. Ignoring its screams of pain, I activated Blazing Smite again, not wanting to get too experimental with my skills when facing a necromorphs.
Insight.
Necromorph {Transforming} [Special]
Lvl: 30
HP: 27,056/30,000
SP: 3000/3000
Though this one was still weaker, I knew I shouldn't take any chances with these things. The beast made to attack again, but I swung my sword at its arm this time, carving and cauterizing the wounds at the same time. It shied away from me while crying out in pain, and I used that time to get another Blazing Smite filled attack across it's no exposed back. And before it could say anything more I used a Heavens Furry to lob of its head.
Critical Hit! You have leveled up!
I closed the screen as I watched the body turn to ash, my Sacred Flames dying down to more resemble floating embers. "So it seems the best strategy is to aim for the limbs, otherwise these things will just keep attacking you," I thought to myself. "Good to know."
I went back to the elevator and clicked on the button for the bottom floor.
"Going down," The robotic voice said with a ding. It made its ways down, a different sight to behold with the door practically gone. We passed by the second floor and, thankfully, there were no necromorphs waiting to hitch a ride. Thus I had a nice safe path to the bottom floor.
Once there, I found it was just a giant empty room that was maybe a mile or two from one side to the other, if I had to guess, with empty cages, machinery, and what looked like weapons. "Well if this isn't a boss arena…," I muttered before stepping out of the elevator and into the dark area.
Suddenly, the lights came flashing on, and I was momentarily blinded before I realized that I was standing on a metal platform with an area of about eighty feet. In a bunker in front of me was a tall, man with coconut skin and black hair with similar colored eyes. There were also two other people with him, but I was much more interested in the tall guy.
Insight.
Donovan [Mini-Boss]
Lvl: 35
Main Title: The Mad Dog
Sub-title: The Experimenter
HP: 10,000/10,000
AP: 6000/6000
SP: 600/600
Str: 22 (33)
Dex: 20 (30)
Vig: 48 (72)
Int: 126 (221)
Wis: 116 (145)
Luck: 7 (11)
Chr: 150 (225)
Born twenty years after the Faunus Revolution, Donovan was labeled a prodigy in the art of the mind. He quickly became the head of his division in Merlot industries. After it was shut down, Donovan had to seek other forms of funding.
"Shit. Isn't he just supposed to be a glorified accountant?" I thought to myself before Donovan's voice came over via intercom.
"Welcome. I am so glad you decided to join us for our tests today. Though I must ask that the next time you visit: please don't try and make such a mess of the place," He joked.
Suddenly, the platform I was on became surrounded by a dome of pure energy with a max height I guessed to be about sixty feet tall.
Not dust. Energy.
"Like it? It's one of the many things we have created here at the G.R.A. Now before we begin, are there any questions?" He asked.
"Yeah, what the hell is going on?" I yelled, "I came here to take down the accountant of the Bloodhounds, not fight for my life in some underground lab!"
I could hear Donovan chuckle over the speakers.
"Well, you see, my subject, I haven't always been an accountant. I was once the head researcher in Merlot Industries before it was taken down. After our benefactor came around, I made a deal with Jett: I hire his mercs to guard my facilities, he gets first dibs on the weapons and a little financial aid here and there," He quipped. "Now, enough talk. Let's get to experimenting!"
Hearing sudden groaning of machinery, I looked upwards to see the top of dome open up to allow a crane to drop a large box inside before snapping shut once more. I glared at the box and, having no choice but to play along with Donovan's game, held my sword at the ready, activating Blazing Smite once again, ready for whatever Grimm is about to pop out.
However, the metal box fell apart to reveal not grimm, but robots instead.
There were eight of them, each human in shape with a vibrant green outline and blue metal plates. They had thrusters on their backs, each with a streamlined flap in the back that ended with a point. There was a visor that seemed to be their eyes and a horn on their foreheads. For weapons, they each held either a rifle or a shield with a sword sheathed at their side.
"Say hello to my Gamma Troops Mark III. Impressive aren't they?" Donovan said before I saw him press a button, and the bots came to life. "Gamma Troops, initiate protocol 34."
Their visors lit up a dark green as five of the bots flew up into the air and pointed their rifles at me while the other three pulled out swords, which I had noticed were also glowing green.
"Begin!" Donovan shouted, and the robots went into action immediately. The three sword-and-shield robots charged as the other five began to fire at me with their rifles.
I quickly cast Insight at them.
Gamma Troop #0145 [Tank] {Attack Mode}
Lvl: 15
HP: 15,000/15,000
AP: 500/500
Gamma Troop #0156 [Tank] {Attack Mode}
Lvl: 15
HP: 15,000/15,000
AP: 500/500
Gamma Troop #0177 [Tank] {Attack Mode}
Lvl: 15
HP:15,000/15000
AP:500/500
Gamma Troop #0006 {Support Mode}
HP:10,000/10,000
AP:100/100
Gamma Troop #0050 {Support Mode}
HP:10,000/10,000
AP:100/100
Gamma Troop #0046 {Support Mode)
HP:10,000/10,000
AP:100/100
Gamma Troop #0099 {Support Mode)
HP:10,000/10,000
AP:100/100
Gamma Troop #0032 {Support Mode}
HP:10,000/10,000
AP:100/100
"Do these things seriously all have aura?"
I managed to deflect some of the bullets the supports fired at me, but I couldn't stop them all, aa a little over a dozen bullets and my HP could attest to. The firing stopped as the three tank robots charged in; one for the center and the other two went to flank.
The one in the center reached me first, using the thrusters on his back to cross the distance between us in no time. The robot went to thrust with his green blade. I dodged to the side and tried to strike his back, but I had to quickly dodge again to avoid a barrage of bullets that came my way.
I was then met by the two other bots that were flanking me, both going for a swipe to bisect me at the waist. I equipped my combat knife and used that to block one attack while I used my sword to block another. Taking advantage of my current stalemate and position, the first tank who charged me jumped up with an overhead swing to cut me in half.
I pushed the other two away and used Aura Kick to the gut on the third one. To my surprise, my foot was wrapped in my fire instead of just aura, and I saw smoke come off of the robot I just sent back.
Congratulations! You have unlocked the new skill Blaze Kick!
Blaze Kick- {Insert Fire Pun Here} (Channel fire into legs to do 50% fire damage and have a 10% chance to leave the burned status on the target.) [200 AP]
I didn't have any time to marvel at my new skill, though. I jumped away from another barrage of bullets and saw that my Sacred Fire had burnt out with that last attack. I reactivated it and looked towards the support bots that had been hanging back the entire was making it much more difficult for me to attack. I quickly looked around myself in time to see the three tanks charging towards me again, this time as one.
They wouldn't make it in time to stop my attack, though. I launched a Flaming Crescent at one of the robots, the wave of fire hitting the robot in the midsection and slicing it in half.
"That's one down," I said.
Then I had to dodge a strike from a blade. I wasn't quite fast enough, though. While I was able to avoid most of the attack, it was still able to make a cut on me. What happened next, however, really surprised me. I saw some of my fire go into the blade, the attacking robot's green outline turn blue, and blue fire erupting around the sword and covering the blade.
"Did that thing just steal my fire!?"
I heard Donovan chuckle from the speakers up above. "Like it? It's a special feature we have implemented into the Gamma Droids. What you are fighting are some of the first ever Aura Hunters." The pride with which he said that was really thick in his voice.
I felt a growl escape my throat as I saw the one who stole my fire somehow share it with his other comrades. All of them now held my fire. My fire that I had earned. I felt anger burn within me, and my flames responded to it, growing louder and more intense. "You think you can control it?" I challenged, "Go right ahead."
As if on cue, the fire sprang from the blades and wrapped around the robots.
"What!?" Donovan yelled out as the fire began to melt the robots down. They clawed at their throats with panic, if a robot could feel such a thing, only for their fingers to melt as well. before I knew it, all of my opponents were now pools of melted steel, and the fire they had stolen returned to me, my anger quelling as it did so.
I stared at the puddles in both shock and confusion. "How did I…" I trailed off as the words from the journal came back to my head.
"The Fire has a mind of its own."
Looking toward the blue flame surrounding me, I felt it grow as if it acknowledged my attention. "You did that?" I asked, and I felt my body grow slightly hotter, but not uncomfortably. It was more akin to a warm blanket. I really didn't know what to say.
"I really don't know what to say," Donovan said, echoing my thoughts, "Something like that has never happened before. Oh well," his earlier confidence and excitement returning to his voice, "I guess that means you can simply help us with some other tests."
I looked at my fire. "Well, seeing as how you are, you know, alive, is there anything you can do to help me out here?" I asked. My fire branched away from me before it went to the dome. It went to touch it gingerly, only to have to recoil back, as if shocked by the dome. It then returned to me. "Well, guess it is plan B then," I said, and I tensed my legs.
I watched the top of the dome carefully, waiting for the crane to bring another box. And as soon as the dome opened itself for the next box, I used my Jump ability to clear the hole and land on top of the box.
"Activate the turret!" Donovan yelled, panic lacing his voice, "I want him to look like swiss cheese!"
I heard the sound of a turret's barrels winding up. I jumped off the box right as thousands of bullets fired at where I once was, breaking the crane's chain and sending the metal box down onto the dome where it, and whatever was inside it, turn to dust.
I landed on the ground and used Sprint and Haste to move up to speeds as fast as 112 miles an hour. My body was moving so fast, I was sure that if it hadn't been for the powers of The Gamer, I would have run into a wall and turned into a human pancake. Instead, I was staying ahead of the bullets that were trying to catch and rip me to shreds.
"Why isn't he swiss cheese!" Donovan yelled.
"He is moving too fast sir. The turrets can't track him." One of the other people in the bunker said.
"Well stop having it follow him and-"
Donovan never finished what he was saying as I used my Leap ability to go flying to the bunker window with a flying kick. My feet slammed into the glass, and, while not breaking it, left a big crack in it. That also had the effect of cutting off my momentum, but I still had firm enough footing to use Lunge to quickly get back up to speed before gravity pulled me off of the window into the bunker and before the turret's line of fire caught up to me.
"Shit! Cut the turret off!" Donovan yelled.
Looks like the guys with him knew what they were doing because right when the trail of bullets reached the window, the turret shut off. Fortunately, it wasn't really my intention to rely on the turret to do my dirty work for me anyway. With the turret shut off, I had a new window of opportunity opened for me. I drew my sword and used Lunge once again, this time breaking through the glass.
"Take this!" I yelled out, slamming my blade into his side. His aura shimmered as the force of the attack sent him crashing into a wall where it finally broke. I looked to the two scientists, they were both wearing lab coats, that were with him, both holdings their hands up in surrender. I then looked to Donovan, my blade at his throat. "It's over, Donovan." I said.
He laughed.
"Is that so?" He asked. He then coughed a little before speaking up again. "Well then, I just have one final thing to say." He opened his hand. In it was a detonator. "Boom." My eyes widened as he pushed the button.
A rumble was heard below, and the floor began to shake.
"Shit!" I yelled, before knocking out Donovan with a swift punch to the head.
You have leveled up! You have gained a skill point!
I closed the screen, grabbed the two scientists, and threw them both over my right shoulder while I shouldered Donovan on my left.
"I would hold on if I were you," I warned.
I used Leap to rush out of the broken window and ran towards the elevator with everything I had, dodging rocks, building materials, and the occasional falling necromorph that seemed to aim itself at me.
Unfortunately, the elevator was now crushed by a giant rock that I had no way of moving, especially not in the amount of time I probably had. Fortunately, luck seemed to realize that it couldn't screw me over if I was dead and threw me a bone. A desperate lookup revealed a nice big hole had opened up to the second floor.
With a Jump, I made it about halfway before a falling rock got in my way, forcing me to shift my position in the air. Luckily, there was another rock that I could push off of with another Jump, and thus made it to the second floor.
I ran as fast as possible without using Sprint or Haste due to both how low my SP reserves were, and the fact that I didn't know if my passengers could handle it in such a small space. Time was not on my side and the rumbling of the building kept building in both volume and intensity. I was running, dodging rocks, chunks of the floors above, and necromorphs alike. After what felt like a few hours of this, I made it to the stairs that lead to the first floor.
I used Jump to cover the distance in no time. I bolted across the first floor and used Jump again to get up the final set of stairs, bouncing off of the center pillar, the walls, and the stairs in a rush to reach the top.
I ran through the entrance where I found police and the other scientists I had saved earlier.
"Move! The ground is about to cave in!" I yelled out.
They proved to have some common sense and intelligence as they all took my instructions sprinted away from the office building. It was not a moment too soon as it and a couple of other surrounding buildings were swallowed up by the collapsing ground.
You have completed the Event Quest! The Destructive Research Facility! You have leveled up! +5 Hero Legacy! +20 Affiliation with Vale Police Force! You have gained +5 Hero Legacy! You have become a Good Samaritan!
Good Samaritan- +5% gains in affiliation with anyone who has a positive alignment.
The Destructive Research Facility [Completed]
Objective: Destroy the lab before anything can get out.
Bonus Objective: Rescue at least 15/15 People
Reward: 120,000 Exp, +5 Hero Legacy Legacy, +20 Affiliation with Vale Police Force, and?
Failure: Death, Destruction of Vale
"Well." I panted, setting down the people I was carrying on the floor. "That was close."
"Uhhh," I heard someone behind me say. I looked back and saw a police officer with a notepad in hand and a semi-apologetic, semi-pleading look on his face.
"Ah, right, my statement." I said, turning to the man. "Well, first my name is Leon. I have been hired to take out the Bloodhounds. I haven't killed anybody," hurried upon seeing the look on the officer's face when I said that, "I was searching for Donovan, one of the lieutenants. I stumbled across this underground lab while I looking for him. It looks like Donovan here was a member of Merlot Industries and was given funding from an anonymous source. While I was in there, the Grimm they had kept in there were released. So my goal changed to getting into the bunker they had on the bottom floor to seal the place off. After evacuating everyone, of course. Donovan didn't like that. We fought, I won, he decided to blow the whole place to bits, and now, we're here." I explained in all one breath. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take care of Bloodhound leader before he decides to skip town."
Before the poor officer could say anything, I used Leap to get as far away as possible. When I touched the ground, I began running towards where Jett was supposed to be located.
Hey, splitting this up to two chapters. Will post the second one tomorrow. If you liked this, leave a review. And don't forget to vote in the polls for what new story you want. This is Journeymen, signing off.