I am nearly done with school. I just have to get through finals next week. Anyways, thanks for reading.
AsuravartintheCreatorDestroyer: Technically, Dust Crystal is a mana rock and an Explosive Apparatus.
MCZ: Never say it could be worse.
"It's the Grimm!" Ataldis shouted. "That's what's causing the spike in the data!"
"They're mana constructs, correct?" Tamiyo guessed. Then her eyes widened. "No…"
"Hold on." Ataldis examined the data again. "The anomaly actually peaks at a slightly different frequency than normal black mana."
"It could just be an error with the instrument." Tamiyo responded.
"It could be…" Ataldis reached into his pack and pulled out another mana detector and turned it on. "These are the results for fifteen minutes ago. See there?" He pointed to an area in the data drastically higher than the rest. "That points to where the Grimm were when they attacked Beacon. It peaks at the same frequency!"
Tamiyo nodded, tentatively convinced by Ataldis's reasoning. "So the Grimm show up on the mana reading at a specific frequency."
"But why would Bolas need to have that amount of Grimm?" Ataldis asked. "If he has the ability to concentrate them there, why not just have them attack us?"
"Perhaps his goals require people to be kept alive." Tamiyo offered.
"What would these people have that Nicol Bolas can't obtain?" Ataldis wondered. As he said the words aloud, he realized he knew the answer.
"Aura!" He shouted. "Nicol Bolas is trying to exploit Aura!"
"That makes no sense." Tamiyo refuted. "Why attack the Kingdoms with the Grimm at all?"
"He wanted to weaken them." Ataldis explained. "Make sure they couldn't fight back."
"He could have stayed undetected on that dragon continent for as long as he wanted." Tamiyo responded. "And why the Grimm?"
"Because…" Ataldis trailed off. "Yeah, you're right. That makes to sense."
"He could be trying to use them as an army." Tamiyo hypothesized. "You could likely summon the Grimm the same way you could summon any creature. Perhaps due to the nature of the Grimm it is easier to use them as an interplanar force. The attacks on the Kingdoms could just be Bolas testing their capabilities."
Ataldis nodded.
"We need more data, of course." Tamiyo added.
Ataldis reached in and held up the mana detectors. "Let's get started." He agreed.
Tamiyo projected a composite image of the results in the air.
"Well, the spike is still there." Ataldis commented. "It appears to be the same size and everything."
Tamiyo flipped through the individual frequencies of mana. "The concentration of black mana is higher the farther you go from this spot. Green mana seems to emanate from the various forests around here. Red mana seems to come from the mountains over there."
"Hold on." Ataldis said. "That's funny…"
"What is?" Tamiyo asked.
"I don't think the composite results caught that." Ataldis noted. "Can you bring up the results for black mana next to each other?"
Tamiyo obliged.
"Look at that sharp increase in black mana right at that specific point." Ataldis observed. "You can barely see it in the earlier reading, but in the later reading, levels have increased by about 160%."
Tamiyo nodded.
"But the most important part is where it is located." Ataldis explained. "Right where the other large spike is."
Tamiyo gasped and quickly flipped through the data. "If this means what I think it does, then-"
She projected the two graphs of the frequency of mana that marked concentrations of Grimm. Sure enough, the amount of Grimm in the spike was lower.
"How much you want to bet that spike decreased as much as the spikes in mana increased?" Ataldis asked.
He flipped through more data, confirming their findings.
"Yup, increases in red mana, black mana, and even a little blue mana with the corresponding decreases in Grimm. This has all the marks of everyone's favorite dragon planeswalker."
Tamiyo turned back to the data.
"The initial concentration of Grimm is at a specific level." Tamiyo noted. "We can assume that Bolas chose this number for a reason."
"The good news is that there aren't a lot of things that take that much mana." Ataldis laughed. "It's actually almost exactly the amount of mana needed to seal a time rift."
Then Ataldis stopped laughing.
"Wait a second… oh shit."
"Kami guide us." Tamiyo gasped.
"Yeah. That's the exact amount of energy taken from each planeswalker during the Mending. And by definition the exact amount of energy needed to for a planeswalker to gain Oldwalker status." Ataldis explained. "Perhaps the Conflux of Alara was not enough for Bolas."
"He's trying to become a god." Tamiyo breathed.
"Not the most original of evil villain plots." Ataldis noted. "But that won't matter because there's very little we can do to stop it."
He sighed. "I'm going to call for Jaune and Ozpin. We need to figure out our next course of action."
As Ataldis flew off towards the top of Beacon tower, another anomaly in the data caught Tamiyo's eye. It was a smaller spike, concentrated in an area due east from their present location. The data nagged at her curiosity. She would call it her biggest weakness, except she did not imagine traditional weaknesses were as amazingly beneficial as hers. She was cross-referencing the observed values when Ozpin and Jaune walked up with Ataldis.
"Tamiyo and I will fill you in on the specifics." Ataldis explained. "But in a nutshell, the situation is quite Grimm. Pun intended."
"Nicol Bolas is using the power stored within the Grimm to become a Pre-Mending planeswalker." Tamiyo summarized. "At this moment, Bolas is converting vast amounts of Grimm back into mana, which is then trapped somehow. Nicol Bolas plans to absorb this energy into his own body, making him essentially omnipotent."
Jaune and Ozpin stood in shock.
Tamiyo continued, addressing Ozpin. "To my knowledge, Bolas was originally willing to operate behind your archenemy, Salem. However, Salem sensed the Grimm's restlessness after Cinder's attack on Beacon and decided to destroy humanity, and you, once and for all. However, Bolas needed the Grimm alive. If enough of them died in the conflict, Bolas would not be able to harvest them, so he killed Salem and forced the vast majority of Grimm into his lair, where he is currently converting them into mana."
Ozpin nodded. "That seems about right." He shook his head. "It's highly disturbing, though. The only reason Bolas has not wiped us all out is because he needs enough of the Grimm to survive."
"And he sends out his planeswalker cronies to fight us because he needs to conserve his mana." Ataldis finished. "That explains a lot, actually. Bolas probably determined the exact amount of energy needed to kill Jaune when he first encountered him, but I guess Jaune's aura threw his calculations off."
"Only one problem, though." Tamiyo interjected. "If all the Grimm are being corralled into one area, why is there a sizeable concentration right here?"
She pointed to the result she had investigated before Jaune and Ozpin's arrival.
"Any idea where this location is?"
"It probably points to Vytal Peak, a tall mountain accessible only from the air." Ozpin explained. "And home to the Scourge of Vytal."
"Wait." Jaune interjected. "The Scourge of Vytal? Like, from the stories Scourge of Vytal?"
"The very same." Ozpin confirmed. "Legend has it developed a sentience over the eons of its existence. It was one of Salem's earliest, most powerful creations."
"Would it be possible that such a being would be able to resist Bolas's control?" Ataldis asked.
"If Bolas is simply hijacking Salem's method, then yes, the Scourge of Vytal has likely broken free of any method of control, especially now that Salem is dead." Ozpin answered.
"But the increase in the readings cannot be explained by one creature, however powerful, alone." Tamiyo noted.
"True." Ozpin responded. "But the Scourge of Vytal has always commanded a brood of Grimm Dragons."
"So it could exert its will over the Grimm Dragons and bring them to his side?" Ataldis clarified. "It could be gathering them at its mountain."
"That seems a likely conclusion." Tamiyo added. "Did you see any Grimm Dragons when you explored the continent when Bolas is?"
"Now that I think about it, it was strange that I did not." Ataldis answered. "The only Grimm Dragon I have encountered was at Beacon Tower, and that one flew away after the fight. Actually, no. It was like its directive switched mid-flight. It was going to attack us, but then it decided to fly away."
"That might signify the exact time at which Salem died and Bolas took over." Tamiyo deduced.
"So all that Bolas accomplished he did in… a day?" Jaune shook his head.
"We need to move fast." Ataldis concluded. "We will need to defeat Bolas with our army before he reaches pre-Mending levels, which could be within a few days at most, but our forces right now are barely strong enough to fight Taigam and the Rhinomancer, let alone Nicol Bolas."
"So what is our next move?" Jaune asked.
"We need someone to travel to Vytal, and try to negotiate an alliance with the Scourge." Ataldis said. "Since Ozpin is needed here, Jaune needs to watch his soldiers, Daretti should build us more weapons, and Tamiyo should research more options, I will be the one to go."
Ozpin frowned. "Keep in mind that the Scourge of Vytal is still a Grimm. It is just a Grimm that has prioritized its survival instinct over its instinct to kill every last human and faunus on Remnant. It will kill you."
"You forget than I am a green mage as well as a blue mage." Ataldis responded. "I'm banking on that survival instinct realizing that Bolas will kill us both unless we help each other."
"That doesn't sound like a safe bet." Tamiyo noted.
"Have you ever heard of playing to your outs?" Ataldis asked. "If the Scourge of Vytal will not help us, we fail. If we do not try to enlist the Scourge's help, we fail. The only way we succeed is with the Scourge of Vytal as an ally. Therefore, we can assume that the Scourge will help us and plan accordingly."
Tamiyo mulled this logic over. "I don't like it." She admitted. "But you're right. Be careful."
Ataldis nodded. "If I'm not back in a few days, well, by a few days, Bolas will have killed us all, so no need to worry. But if I'm back with an army of dragons, we are taking this fight to Nicol Bolas, so be ready."
"What about Taigam and the Rhinomancer?" Jaune asked. "Are you also betting they won't attack when you're gone?"
Ataldis laughed. "Of course they will. Be ready."
Then he turned into a Storm Crow and flew off towards Vytal.
Path to Omnipotence 2UBR
Enchantment {MR}
Sacrifice a creature: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool.
16UBBR: You win the game. Activate this ability only if you have sacrificed ten or more creatures this turn.
Godhood, at any cost.