Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY
Warning: This is an AU story
32 minutes later and the 'feeling' from [Create] is showing a nearly complete ursa.
I have to say, watching a grimm grow from baby to adult in the span of half an hour is likely to be one of the most uniquely horrifying and mesmerizing sights I'll ever experience.
I step away from the tree I was resting against, stretching my back wearily as I do.
It has become apparent I neglected a small, but important, detail when coming up with my plan of constantly making grimm.
SP is my stamina.
And having low SP sucks.
A lot.
Because the system calculates my total SP at how much my body can spend before I'm knocked unconscious from over exertion, so sitting at 28/100 right now is toeing the line of exhaustion.
What I should have done- and will do from now on- is rotate which body is using create every ten minutes or so instead of waiting until the grimm is fully formed.
It would make it so that none of my bodies had full SP but would also eliminate the risk of exhaustion.
I sigh.
I suppose in this case it didn't make much of a difference anyway since body three used up a good chunk of SP making clothes for both itself and body two.
Both sets of clothes are essentially replicas of the clothes body one is wearing, with one noticeable difference.
The lack of a mask, since it wouldn't give me night vision without being fused with Bio Gear and only body one has Bio Gear.
That, and I didn't have enough grimm life force after making the two sets of clothes and swords to enhance the masks, so they wouldn't even provide a stat boost.
The swords did get fused though, since weapons don't need to be in direct contact of Bio Gear like armor does.
Speaking of weapons, the arm wrappings body two and three are using are the same ones body one is using.
I mean literally the same.
As in the partially stored wrappings branched out from the runes on bodies two and three to cover their arms as well.
It was an accidental discovery made after body three finished making the clothes and was about to start on the bindings before noticing it shared the tattoos body one had.
A short experiment later and I discovered that not only could the now much longer bindings travel through the tattoos for use on multiple bodies without issue, but the tattoos themselves could be moved.
So now, I have tattoos lined around my shoulders with bindings wrapping all the way down to my fingertips, and a general confusion on the rules the shards follow.
I was originally under the impression that the shards can't be used by more than one body at a time, but the storage component of [Create] clearly shows that's not universally true.
Naturally I conducted some experiments to attempt to figure out the rules governing shard use through multiple bodies, since I had some time to kill while body one was making the ursa.
The result?
I don't have the slightest damn idea on how this shit works and neither does third.
I had bodies two and three attempt to use the shards simultaneously and as expected, pretty much all of them came up duds.
The only noticeable exceptions aside from [Create]'s storage are [Precision], when used to control the body, and [Adaptation]'s passive.
In short, it's just a migraine in the making to think about and 30 minutes of experimenting is too short of a time frame to come to any solid conclusion.
Add it to the ever-growing list of things to research later.
I let out another sigh.
My third body reaches down and takes a stick from the mouth of one of my beowolves before pulling its arm back and throwing it as far as possible.
I quietly chuckle as I watch the two of them run after it, competing with each other to be the one to retrieve it.
I'm not really a dog person, or an animal person in general for that matter, but there's just something oddly soothing about playing fetch with enemies of humanity.
Drip.
Aaaand rain comes to ruin it.
I grumble to myself as I wipe the side of my face and glare up at the sky.
Of all nights, of course id arrive on the one with rain, because being a walking skeleton fighting murder monsters in the middle of a forest at night wasn't enough.
… ignore the part where I'm now playing fetch with said murder monsters.
At least I still have plenty of bone and fur to make an umbrella.
Turning back to face the wolves, I frown when a sharp stinging sensation appears right where I wiped the water away.
Mosquitoes too?
I bring my hand back up to my cheek and my expression turns perplexed.
A cut?
What the hell-
-20 HP
"Gasp" I stagger forward, reeling from the sudden sharp, piercing pain shooting through my abdomen.
My legs grow weak, and the air is knocked out of me as I bring a shaky arm to press against the wound.
I groan, leaning forward as the pain skyrockets.
"f-fuck." I take a sharp breath and cough up a mouthful of blood.
My second body's eyes widen in surprise, before hurriedly checking the motion sensor while my first body tenses up as it looks over my third body before taking out a sword and moving to scan the surroundings.
My third body grimaces at the visual feedback my first body provides on the injury while simultaneously utilizing [Awoken soul] to numb my pain once again.
Whatever this attack was, it managed to completely pierce my body…
I sway slightly as bead of sweat rolls down the side of my face and I cough up more blood.
Did it hit a lung?
I grit my teeth and apply more pressure to the wound.
'Status!'
Name – Third body
Title- 7th soul
Level- -1
Race-?
HP- 79/100
SP- 47/100
MP- N/A
STR- 5 (18)
VIT- 8 (21)
DEX- 9 (22)*
INT- 30
WIS- 50
CHA- 30
Debuffs-
[Bleeding]-
-1 HP every 4 seconds
[Punctured lung]-
-35% value from DEX stat
Not only is my lung punctured but it reduces my DEX by a third!? With this bleeding debuff I've only got roughly 5 minutes to live!?
And why does [Awoken soul] only reduce pain after its inflicted?
"Cough" I-it's so hard to breath…
"Snap out of it, you're not dead yet."
I'm bleed-
"There's a big difference between dying and dead. Focus on getting yourself combat ready, we don't know what attacked us yet and need to preserve our strength."
I…. you…. fine!
Forcefully suppressing my fear and panic, I lower myself to kneel on one leg and close my eyes as my minions return and move besides me defensively.
As my third body attempts to craft a bandage to stop the bleeding, my second body finishes looking over the motion sensors and looks back down at my third body in puzzlement.
I didn't just miss it, there was nothing that triggered the sensors. Where did this attack come from?
Any ideas?
"There's nothing on my side of the system to explain what hit us."
I curse under my breath and move to take cover by a tree as my first body stands by my third body to guard it.
A few tense seconds pass as I watch my surroundings quietly with nothing but the sounds of nature and ragged breathing to break the silence before my third body finishes bandaging its wound and stands up, making a large shield of bone to hold in its shaking left hand.
"Kid."
I really don't like that tone…
"Use [Mind] to send out a psychic pulse, like a bat sonar."
Bad feeling getting worse here…
Doing as third says, I send out the pulse, getting a 3D image of my surroundings as the wave crosses the terrain, getting further and further away. Soon, I have the environment fully mapped out and-
Oh.
"Damn."
…
Birds.
Pitch black with red beady eyes and white bone beaked grimm birds littering the treetops. Dozens upon dozens of palm sized terrors all staring directly at my location…
Damn it! Had I known this type of grimm exists I wouldn't have set the motion sensor to have a size requirement!
[Analysis]
STR- 3
VIT- 6
DEX- 72
INT- 5
WIS- 8
CHA- 15
S-seventy two!?
Both my first and third bodies simultaneously shiver while my second body grips the bark of the tree hard enough to turn its knuckles white.
Why… why haven't they killed me yet? There's no way I could dodge all of them if they charged me, but there just sitting there watching me… could it be that they're confused about the beowolves not attacking me? There definitely smart enough to be…
More importantly, what the hell do I do now? I'm surrounded and low on energy.
Now would be a great time for you to come up with a brilliant plan third.
"I'm trying to figure something out; you'll need to stall."
Better than nothing.
Sending out regular sonar pulses, I pull my gun off the work bench before pausing and reluctantly putting it back.
I can't use the rifle without risking the noise attracting even more grimm, and my survival chances are slim enough as is.
Pulling a sword off the bench instead, I brace myself and wait for the flock to attack.
And as if to act as both a starting signal and a sign of bad luck, my motion sensor triggers, and five birds immediately rush forward, splitting up as they draw close, with two targeting my third body, one to my first body, and the final two going after my second body.
My second body hastily shifts its positioning behind the tree seconds before the black blurs zip by, leaving deep gouges in the wood as it passes while my first and third body make their own moves to deal with the threat.
The living bullets make another pass and I'm forced again to duck behind the cover of the tree, their sheer speed making it impossible for me to counterattack.
The third pass has the birds splitting up and taking different angles to their attack, forcing me block one with the tree before sprinting to another tree to evade the other.
Seeing through the psychic pulse that the birds have perched on nearby trees, waiting for a couple more grimm to join up with them before starting their fourth assault, I begin silently swearing again.
So, this is what a CHA stat of 15 looks like for monsters huh? The ability to actually coordinate with each other?
My grip on my sword tightens.
If it's like this, then I need to find a way to fight back, or I'll be overwhelmed by their cooperation.
Seeing the other birds about to arrive, I rapidly run a few ideas through my mind before swiftly selecting one.
I move close to the edge of my cover, watching over the sonar the placement of the birds as a white throwing knife appears in my right hand.
Taking a breath, I mentally count down from three before moving out of cover just enough for my arm and head to be visible and throw the knife towards the closest grimm.
Diving back to cover as three feathered projectiles cut through the air my head was just at, I don't get to physically see the knife hit, but the 3D sonar image of the bird on the floor missing its head tells me all I need to know.
Thank you [Precision].
As the three monsters land and turn to launch another attack, three more knives appear in my hand.
Taking a step forward, I swing my arm down diagonally, launching all three knives simultaneously.
My eyes widen and I hastily drop to the floor when one my three target manages to evade my attack and pierces halfway through the tree behind me, right where my head would have been before, before dying.
Slowly standing up, I feel a chill go down my spine as I look at the damaged wood in disbelief.
Smart, agile, numerous, and a complete willingness to kill themselves if it means inflicting damage to their target…
What a nightmare.
Seeing more enemies approaching me on my sonar, I run to the cover of another tree, forming more knives as I do so.
Dodging the incoming attacks and launching my own in response, I continuously move from tree to tree, attempting to conserve strength and stall against the endless tide of grimm while hoping third comes up with a way out of this soon.
My sense of time soon starts to blur as the battle gets more and more intense and I'm forced to strain my resources to keep up while the grimm seem to become increasingly intelligent in their teamwork against me.
Eventually it all culminates to me being trapped behind a shredded tree, panting from exertion while a dozen feathered bastards watch me from nearby branches, having either placed themselves in cover or ready to pounce the moment I show an ounce of skin.
Covered in light cuts with an increasingly diminishing energy supply, I'm all too aware that something needs to change now, or I will die.
Though I think I have an idea… ill need to test it before I actually put it to use, and if I'm wrong ill loose a hand. So, the question is, is it worth the risk?
As another bird carves out another chunk of my cover and I'm forced to kill it with a dagger before it can take a position that compromises the safety of my current location, I decide that yes, yes it is, and I'm tired of playing a game of chess against God damn birds.
Holding my left hand in front of me, I withdraw the binding back into the tattoos, leaving my arm bare once more before I equip it with freshly made bone plate armor.
Looking over my now completely armored arm, I open my and close my fist experimentally before nodding, satisfied that it doesn't impair movement by too much.
Strictly monitoring my sonar, I slowly move my arm out of cover…
THUD.
And just as expect, one of them immediately took the bait.
I smile creeps onto my face even as my arm swing forward in recoil from being struck.
I could tell just by the noise that the bird didn't do any significant damage to the armor, seeing its corpse on the ground and barley an indent on my gloved hand just confirmed the validity of my idea even more.
I should still have enough SP to make a full plate armor set-
A scream echoes out across the silent battlefield and I freeze.
I had been so absorbed in fighting and planning I had been ignoring the memory feedback from my other bodies.
Looking over my memories and checking their location on the sonar-
Ah… this changes things…
I quickly make body armor and attach it to my clothes.
The armor itself being a solid bone plate on the upper chest and back with smaller plates overlapping each other on my abdomen, sides, and back to allow for extra maneuverability.
With that done, I turn right and break into a sprint, tossing a few daggers at some of the grimm I knew would attack the second I left the shelter of the tree and letting a few more kill themselves against my armor while I flee away from my other bodies.
POV Third body
-20 HP
I let out a scream as the monster tears through my right shoulder before killing the pain with [Awoken soul] and glaring hatefully at the bird.
Gathering up my energy, I lash out in retaliation, hitting the creature with [Null] and reducing its STR to zero before my eyes swivel to its 'friend' that played the part of distraction and tagging it with [Null] as well.
Both birds freeze in midair before dropping to the ground, having lost the ability to move, and my minions run over, snarling in rage as they rip them apart.
This has been my combat style during this fight, hide behind the shield, tag targets with [Null] and let my minions deal with it while I move on to the next target. That combine with using [Null] to reduce my weight and my patched-up abdomen lowering the DEX percent reduction has let me just barley manage to hold out… though I suspect I'm actually just being toyed with…
The constant taunting chirps after they manage to cut me, and the fact am quite literally surrounded right now are supporting that theory heavily… that, and I'm confident these birds are smart enough to know that if they all rushed me at once I wouldn't be able to do a thing to stop them.
They're smart enough try and avoid striking my shield after first few died to it and have constantly been improving their strategies against me so there's no way they haven't thought of it.
So, either this is some fucked up practice session for them to better learn how to murder someone, or the combination of intelligence and hate for humanity has led them to collectively deciding to torture me before I die.
Either way, its succeeded in both frustrating and pissing me off.
Keeping my blurry gaze locked on the surrounding trees, I attempt to move my right arm as I use [Forge] to craft another bandage that (somehow) has adhesive properties and applying it to my shoulder wound.
Taking a few pained breaths, I grimace as my arm slowly wipes the sweat from my forehead before falling limply to my side.
As expected, my arm is currently useless, barely moving at all.
I let out long drawn-out sigh as I struggle to force myself to stay on my feet before drowning out the chorus of mocking chirps and bringing up my status.
Name – Third body
Title- 7th soul
Level- -1
Race-?
HP- 31/100
SP- 25/100*
MP- N/A
STR- 5 (18)*
VIT- 8 (21)
DEX- 9 (22)*
INT- 30
WIS- 50
CHA- 30
Debuffs-
[Bleeding]-
-2 HP every 12 seconds
[Bandaged Punctured lung]-
-14.5% value from DEX stat
[Bandaged shoulder wound]-
-80% arm mobility
[Exhaustion]-
-25% SP regen
[Multiple minor cuts]-
-3% value from STR stat
-1 HP every 31 seconds
[Blood loss]-
-10% value from STR and DEX stats
Oh? Exhaust kicks in at 25 SP? … I can't even bring myself to complain anymore. The blood loss debuff is new as well… and how nice to see all the wounds I've suffered finally effecting my stats... wonder how different percent debuffs are combined to reduce my stats, are they added together first? Or is the second percent taken from the remainder of the first?
…
Sigh.
Imagine finding out you died and coming back to life, only to die again six hours later, while also still being alive, and then finding out you're soon going to die again… potentially twice given the situation body one is in… hell, it might be three times if body two is unlucky.
I stare resentfully at the red dots decorating the darkened trees surrounding me before taking a step forward with more than a little reluctance.
In terms of options available, the only real choice I have is to stall here and hope I proved to be enough of a distraction that my second body managed to get away.
Readying my shield, I look over at my minions and consider whether I should send them to my second body to act as an escort.
"Kid, have your other two bodies come over here. I have a plan."
I raise an eyebrow.
Is your plan suicide?
"Hmm, well this body will probably die at least."
…Great.
POV Body one (Earlier)
To say I was feeling helpless would be an understatement. Both my other bodies were currently under heavy assault, and there wasn't all that much I could actually do about it.
My second body is currently using [Mind], my third body [Null], and destruction was a melee ability and therefore didn't have a place in this fight. On top of that, I can't use my gun, or I risk attracting even more grimm to a battle I'm already massively outnumbered on.
I have my sword, of course, but these damn birds are smarter than they have any right to be and completely stopped attacking me after they saw the first one die against Bio Gears shield, which means nothing's coming close enough for me to take a swing at.
I shake my head.
Well, I guess I could adopt my second body's tactics and start throwing knives…
Hearing a noise, I turn my head, eyes widening at the clawed hand approaching my neck and barley bringing up my sword in time to block the strike.
Groaning under the strain of resisting my opponents obviously superior strength, I disengage, leaping back and narrowly avoiding a swipe to my midsection.
Looking over the alpha beowolf in front of me, I resist the urge to tear my hair out in frustration.
Second body…. I know your busy, but could you have not paid more attention? Just how did you manage to miss this on your sonar?
[Analysis]
STR- 52
VIT- 29
DEX- 61
INT- 12
WIS- 18
CHA- 11
Guess this settles what I'll be doing, for a while at least. There's a pretty easy fix for this monster.
[Adaptation]
-1 HP
-1 HP
-1 HP
-1 HP
-1 HP
Ow ow ow- what the hell!?
'Status!'
Name – First body
Title- 7th soul
Level- -1
Race-?
HP- 95/100
SP- 23/100*
BG- 95/100
MP- N/A
STR- 5 (66)*
VIT- 8 (43)*
DEX- 9 (75)*
INT- 30
WIS- 50
CHA- 30
Debuffs-
[Exhaustion]-
-29% SP regen
[Adaptation strain]-
-15% value from STR, VIT, and DEX stats
-1 HP every 10 seconds
+100% SP cost to maintain
Damage every ten seconds? Was the five damage I just took an initial cost then? Ugh, forget it, I don't have to be thinking about this.
Dodging out of the way of the grimm's pounce, I steady myself before rushing towards the wolf and aiming a slash at its neck.
Demonstrating its mental stats, the wolf leans back, causing my sword to miss by inches before it takes another swing at me with both its claws.
I roll to the side as its arms descend to the ground, tearing up the earth as dust fills the air and the monster snarls.
Recovering quickly, I brace my legs and rise, thrusting my blade towards the armpit of the creature.
I'm caught off guard however, when my target suddenly swings its arm out, catching my side and sending me flying.
-10 BG
I reorient myself midair and manage to land on my feet, skidding to a halt a few feet away from the alpha beowolf and it lets out a low growl before lowering its stance, seemingly getting ready to lunge at me again.
For a few seconds we stare at each other motionlessly as we share a look of annoyance with each other, likely having realized at the same time that this wasn't going to be the short fight we thought it was, before we simultaneously charge each other, sword meeting claw.
This time, my strength doesn't wilt before the monsters and I hold my ground as we clash, my sword not budging an inch. A fact that seems to both surprise and irritate the monster, and it soon gives up on a direct contest of strength and aims an attack at my side with its other arm.
I take a step back, avoiding the swipe before moving forward again with an attack of my own, which the monster parries in turn, resulting in a flurry of blows between the two of us as we each attempt to use speed to gain the upper hand.
We begin to blur around the battlefield, rapidly creating and closing distances as we exchange blows at a blinding pace.
After a while, I begin to feel my focus sharpening, as though all unnecessary thoughts are being thrown away, any unnecessary information ignored and as I sink further into this state, my movement and swordplay seems to become increasingly refined while my opponent, as though sensing the change, appears to grow all the more determined to kill me, bringing out further speed and strength it had apparently hidden until now and the battle intensifies.
Adrenaline courses heavily through me as the fight becomes more and more dangerous with a myriad of small hits whittling down my energy shield even as I score a number of similar strikes on my target and despite the fight reaching a stalemate, I can't help a small smile growing on my face while I continue to block and parry razor sharp claws before throwing out my own attacks.
This is the kind of fight a person could get addicted to, nothing but wit and steel pitted against strength and claw, and with the increased stats I'm fighting with? It's downright intoxicating…
"It's great your having fun and all, but you need to finish this and get back to your third body before it kicks the bucket."
Huh?
"I have a plan to get us out of this alive, but you need to get all of your bodies in one place for it to work."
Already? That was… quick.
"No, it wasn't, you've been fighting this monster for minutes now."
What!?
"You let instinct and bloodlust take over."
Hold on, you said minutes!? Oh god, that HP debuff!
'Status!'
Name – First body
Title- 7th soul
Level- -1
Race-?
HP- 41/100
SP- 11/100
BG- 55/100
MP- N/A
STR- 5 (66)*
VIT- 8 (43)*
DEX- 9 (75)*
INT- 30
WIS- 50
CHA- 30
Debuffs-
[Exhaustion]-
-53% SP regen
[Adaptation strain]-
-15% value from STR, VIT, and DEX stats
-1 HP every 10 seconds
+100% SP cost to maintain
Son of a- 9 minutes!? How did I not notice my HP falling to 41?
"A combination of adrenaline and [Adaptation] I'd imagine, but we're getting of track here. You need to kill this thing now and get back to your other bodies."
You must be joking, there's no way I'm going to be able to kill this with only 11 SP left.
"You fought this thing for close to 9 minutes and only used 12 SP, play this smart and there's no reason you can't kill it."
How did I only use-
"I don't know kid, and frankly, we don't have the time to waste right now on figuring it out."
Wincing slightly at third's tone, I turn back towards the grimm and my eyes widen as I realize just how distracted I was talking to third.
BOOM.
-20 BG
I'm lifted of my feet and the air is knocked out of my lungs as the snarling wolf's clawed hand comes in contact with my chest and my energy shield sparks. I'm thrown backwards and into the air before colliding violently against the side of a tree, breaking of chunks of bark with me as I continue to fly past it.
-2 BG
Shifting myself while still in midair, I barley manage to right myself before I land back on the ground, my momentum still carrying me back as my feet drag across the ground until my back hits another tree.
-6 BG
I stare back at the wolf with a frosty glare.
Extracting myself from the indented tree, I begin to make my way back to the grimm, slowly building up speed until I've broken into a sprint while the monster lets out a bestial roar before mirroring my actions.
Instantly we collide, falling right back into the blistering speed we were at before, with neither of us gaining a clear upper hand.
"…Kid."
I know, damnit!
Gritting my teeth, I continue to defend while attempting to think of a way I can end this quickly. A number of ideas appear in my head but there's a consistently glaring flaw with a majority of them.
They all require me to attempt something that I've either never done before, put my other bodies in greater danger, or risk me losing instantly if it doesn't work.
But if I had to choose… try something new it is.
Deflecting another strike, I begin my counterattack with a combo 'ed string of slashes as my opponent switches to blocking and parries.
Seeing the grimm moving as predicted, I mentally brace myself and swing my sword down towards its chest once more.
It once again moves as expected, attempting to bat away my attack with its armored hand before launching its own offensive, but finds its arm hitting nothing but air as my weapon blinks out of existence, only to reappear past the arm and cut deep in the wolf's fur as a stream of black blood erupts from the wound.
The beast howls out in pain and rage, leaping back in an attempt to gain some distance.
Concentrating heavily, I thrust my sword forward, my bindings unwrapping themselves from my arm but maintaining the shape of a hand as it carries my sword rocketing forward, reaching the grimm before its feet are even fully touching the ground and impaling the creature's left shoulder, my sword piercing halfway to the hilt.
As the wolf howls out in pain for a second time, I rush forward, another sword already in my hand as I quickly close the distance.
Having clearly seen my approach, the grimm slashes at me with its only working arm, which I easily evade before stretching out my left arm.
The bindings begin to writhe and squirm as the extra length of bindings stored in [Create] begin to pour out and before long, my entire arm has grown several times in size, shooting out towards the monster and grabbing hold of its right shoulder before squeezing.
As the wolf howls for a third time, I use my bindings grip on my target to yank myself forward, plunging a second sword into its chest and gripping its neck with my free hand before activating [Destruction].
It takes a scarce few seconds before I see the light fad from its eyes, accompanied by the familiar ping in the system and soon after, I step back, deactivating [Destruction] and moving my bindings back into place before storing my swords and staring at the slowly dissolving corpse.
…I'm feeling a surprisingly diverse set of emotions about this…
"Tsk"
Somehow, this feels like a very cheap way of winning…
With a sour taste in my mouth, I shake my head, turning in the direction my other body's in before breaking into a run.
POV Third body
You're sure this will work?
"If it doesn't, we're dead."
… really endearing me to this plan right now Third…
"Trust me, if I believed there was another way out of this mess, I never would have even suggested this."
I spit out a mouth full of blood.
Oh, I trust that much… what I don't understand is why you think this is somehow a better alternative than having my second body continue running away.
"Aside from the fact you're trying to outrun a flying monster that's both faster than you and has a seemingly inexhaustible supply of stamina?"
It's not that simple, with the bone armor I could-
"Kid."
I clench my fists.
You're ask me to-
"This will affect me just as much-"
No it fucking won't!
My fist tighten further as blood begins to drip from the palm.
Sure, the side effects of this plan will hit us both, but I'm the only one that has to die…
"… It's not a real death."
It is though, in every way that matters.
I let out a tired breath.
This body… regardless of whether you want to label it first, second, or third, is a person- is me, with its own set of thoughts, feelings and emotions. Sure, it shares its memories with the other bodies, and they have the same personality, stats and appearance, but if bodies one and two were to die, this one would remain, a living, breathing, person.
"… you lost two bodies to the first grimm fight."
And I've been trying heavily to not think about that, or did you think I just got over being mauled to death?
I chuckle mirthlessly.
No, I'm sorry but I'm not that strong of a person. If you wanted a host to throw at waves of enemies for entertainment, you should have given them gamers mind.
"I…sigh …sorry kid… I shouldn't have disregarded what you're going through."
My shoulders slump.
I… know this body is likely to die regardless of any plan we could possibly come up with… and I also know that whether my second body escaped or not wouldn't do a damn thing to change that…
It's just…
I massage the bridge of my nose.
… I really hate this planet… because while I know there are worse places I could have ended up, I also know there are just as many, if not more places that would have been much safer.
Places where I likely wouldn't have died on the first day.
"Can't say this world has really grown on me either."
Yeah…
I grimace.
The hell am I even doing… losing my mind when I'm presented with a way out and yelling at you like everything is your fault…
"…You're stressed…and I shouldn't have acted so casual about asking you to sacrifice one of your bodies… it's easy to forget how nerve-racking this can be if you're not used to it."
I quietly snort in response before noticing that Third seems completely serious and my eyes widen disbelief.
Are you telling me-
I gesture to the surrounding Grimm decorating the treetops and silently staring, seemingly content to wait for me to bleed to death.
-that you've been in these kinds of situations so often you've grown used to them!?
"Chuckle I've seen weirder, though these creatures are definitely up there… most of my fight were usually on a larger scale as well."
I shiver.
I honestly don't know whether I'd want to hear about those kind of fights…
"Hm? You sure? I feel like they'd make some good ghost stories to tell around a campfire."
I let out a bark of laughter that quickly turns into a stream of coughing.
Ugh… stupid punctured lung…
I shake my head to clear my mind as notice my second body's sonar has begun showing me and my first body on it again.
Guess it's about time to start…
"… are you sure you're up for this? If we put our heads together, we might be able come up with a plan that-"
I appreciate the sentiment, but we both know we'd just be prolonging the inevitable.
I smile ruefully at the surrounding birds.
No telling how long they plan on cooperating either.
"…"
Seeing my first body stopping besides me, I close my eyes and begin to gather every scrap of SP I have left before pouring it all into the newly made skill while activating [Awoken soul] for even more energy.
Leaning forward, I cross my arms across my chest and let out a pain filled groan as my soul begins to ache from the strain, becoming more and more painful as I continue to ignore it in favor of putting as much power into the skill as possible.
*Ping*
Warning!
Soul is destabilizing!
Further use of soul energy risks soul dispersion!
Immediate cessation of soul energy usage recommended!
'T-that's… easily… the m-most… terrifying war-ning… I've e-ever receive-d…'
"That will have to do kid…we can't take anymore."
'R-right…'
Cutting off the power flow, I hold the energy in the skill and wait, knowing I've only got one chance to do this right.
-20 HP
Ah.
It seems the grimm have realized I'm attempting something.
I clench my jaw and ignore the spike of pain ripping through my stomach, my entire focus centered around keeping the skill ready while my first body move behind me in a defensive position, slashing at the swarm of birds that have decided to engage with it.
The entire flock seems to have grown restless, with the majority having lifted of their branches and started circling my two bodies in veritable tornado of grimm.
Growing more anxious and afraid by the second, I mentally urge my second body to hurry up as I fight to keep on my feet.
Slowly becoming lightheaded as my few remain HP slowly tick down, a sense of despair starts to wash over me, and I begin to debate having my second body start running away again.
"Use the skill."
What? But the grimm attacking my second body-
"Have rushed over here ahead of you, hurry and use the skill."
A-alright!
'[Null aura burst STR reduction]'
Swing my arms wide, I let out a wordless agonized shout as the energy rips through my body before erupting in all directions like an invisible bomb.
-20 HP
A part of me finds it amusing that one of these monsters deemed it necessary to launch one final attack at me when I'm already about to die, but an even greater part is very, very glad that I at least got to witness my skill reach the tornado of birds and see every single one of them just drop.
Nearly simultaneously, they fall to the ground as the colorless wave washes over them, clearly still alive, as is evident by their twitching, but completely drain of strength and utterly helpless to defend themselves as my first body immediately eagerly rushes forward with its still currently [Adaptation] enhanced stats and begins to snuff out their lives like a strong wind in a field of candles.
Shortly after my first body starts its massacre, my second body finally arrives, followed closely by three more beowolves it apparently found and reprogramed, and together they, along with my first two minions, immediately join the first with the systematic slaughter of my now defeated enemies.
I allow myself a small smile as I watch my second body pick up one of the birds, having not forgotten to collect its bio data, while the last remaining tension bleeds off my body.
Swaying lightly, I let myself to fall on my back and my vision blurs before refocusing on the brilliantly illuminated broken moon hanging above me.
Feeling my senses begin to shut down, I chuckle weakly, unable to so much as lift a finger from the blood-soaked ground.
I knew this would be how the fight would end the second Third told me the plan… but even still, I can't help but feel extremely bitter about this victory…
Even more so, just how much of this could have been avoided had I not stopped to make the ursa?
…
Perhaps I would have encountered these bird either way…
"Haaahhh."
I put my full focus back on the moon.
Well…at least I have…..beautiful view to…..be the last thing I see…
…
…
D-damn it…I-I….real-ly…..don't…w-want…die….
POV Second body
I pause, shivering heavily as the memory feedback from my third body dying hits me, managing to even eclipse the waves of pain the soul ache is assaulting me with in severity.
I grit my teeth, forcefully ignoring both as I go back to frantically murdering the grimm before the STR reduction skill wears off.
When this is over, that memory is getting heavily repressed, in fact, all the memories from my third body during this encounter are getting repressed.
I shake my head.
First torn apart by a wolf, and now this….
My expression turns grim as the number of living birds decreases at a rapid pace.
For better or worse, [Multibody] does its job well. Too well, perhaps… these bodies can't be just considered as tools or weapons, they're me, and losing one is…
My gaze hardens.
Never again.
If there is one thing to take away from these experiences, one memory of my third body to hold close, it's that the death of one of my [Multibody]s is a very unique torture, one that I never want to experience again.
Twice was enough.
From now on, I will do everything in my power to prevent the death my [Multibody]s. There will not be a repeat of this.
Resolve made, I swiftly finish clearing up the remaining monsters before coming to a stop besides my first body, wiping the sweat from my forehead as I do.
Soon after, I watch my first body lurch forward and fall to the ground, face planted in the grass and groaning softly while I grimace.
Looks like Third was right about [Adaptation] keeping my first body on its feet, he's completely exhausted now…
I tiredly wave over the three grimm I picked up on my way back- silently thankful they showed up and gave me the reinforcements I desperately needed to dispatch the birds- and have them go over and touch my first body to fuse with Bio Gear while I refocus on the current issue I'm facing.
Getting out of these woods safely.
The present problem is three-fold; one, I don't know which direction civilization is in. Two, I'm both suffering the effects of a soul ache and exhausted, to the point that saying walking to a city is a problem is a gross understatement. Three, this forest has aptly demonstrated its fucking terrifying, and I now need to find a way move through it without more grimm spotting me.
Feeling my runes hum to life on my arms as I activate [Create], I frown.
The first two problem are relatively easy to solve, I just need to create one of those feathered pieces of shit and have it fly up and scout, and finish making the ursa to have it carry me, which I'm currently doing.
The real problem is….
I glance down at my slightly shaking hand.
Right now, my emotions are a giant beacon to these creatures… and I'm definitely not going to be able to change that, not after…
I take a shaky breath.
So, from the tools I have available to me, my options are to either utilize the [Null] aura discovery Third made to somehow stop my emotions from leaking out… or hope that [Mind], being all things mental, has a way to control my emotions.
"I can tell you right now that using [Null] would be a quick ticket to turning into a robot."
[Mind] it is.
"Hmm…"
…I'm guessing you have a suggestion?
"…I'm not entirely sure it would work better than [Mind]."
But?
"But it has some advantages [Mind] doesn't have…assuming it works."
… you're talking about [Awoken soul], aren't you?
"Yeah, since it's such an innate part of you, you don't need to use energy to utilize it."
Which means not spending SP…
The warning the system gave was pretty clear on the consequences of continuing to use [Awoken soul] …
"The warning was using soul energy; this would probably be more like a 'settings' change."
…and if you're wrong?
"Then the system gives you a warning and we fall back to giving [Mind] a try."
Guess it's worth a shot then…
I close my eyes, focusing on [Awoken soul] and- wait that's it!?
My eyes snap open as I look at my newly acquired perk in disbelief.
[Emotion dam]-
When active, prevents emotions from leaking out. Status: ON
Grants [Poker face]
[Poker face]-
When active, prevents emotions from being expressed through facial features,
body language, or tone of voice. Status: OFF
… all it took was a thought, huh?
I shake my head.
Guess I should just be grateful it was so easy to accomplish… don't really understand why this is a perk and not a skill though…
*Ping*
Request acc-
I wave the notification away while messaging my forehead to ward off the incoming headache.
Hopefully with this I'll be undetectable once I remerge with my first body, given that he looks like a humanoid grimm and I no longer have emotion to give me away.
I glance back to my arms as a small stream of black emerges from in between the bindings before reforming into the shape of a bird and landing on my finger.
I raise an eyebrow as I examine it, idly noting how it was already managed and named by the system, before ordering it to go to my first body for fusing and focusing on finishing up with the ursa.
A few minutes later and the bear is fully formed, and I eagerly will my power to draw it out, more than ready to pack up and leave.
I watch with morbid fascination as the creature quickly exits my still completely wrapped arm like its being ejected from a black hole, its warped body snapping into place and forming a carbon copy of the ursa its data was collected from, down to the styling of its bone armor.
Seeing how it's also already being managed by the system; I have it move over to my first body while I follow behind it.
"To be on the safe side, I made a couple more aura skills that should help us remain undetected."
I raise an eyebrow in amusement.
Are they as poorly named as the last skill you created?
"ha…ha…"
Smirking lightly, I open the skill list, before reading over the newly made aura skills and nodding appreciatively.
'[Null aura scent]'
'[Null aura sound]'
Both of these skills, combine with [Precision] and the motion sensor- which is now altered to trigger from small creatures- is getting close to the limit of what I would deem manageable with my current SP regen.
Hopefully, this will be enough to get me through the rest of this safely…
I look over at my other body as it finishes fusing the ursa to Bio Gear and extend my hand.
My other body stares back at me for a moment, before sighing heavily and grasping my hand, staggering to its feet.
A moment later and we're merged back together, with my first body in the pilot seat and finally ready to get out of this forest.
Having already sent my bird into the sky to find the direction to take, I look over to the waiting entourage of minions before gesturing for the ursa to stand on all fours.
It complies easily with my request, though I can tell through the bond that its confused, and I immediately walk over to it before tiredly throwing myself on its back like it's a giant mattress.
Its surprisingly soft… although….
Laying on its back and facing the sky, I rest both my arms at my sides before once again unraveling my bindings, drawing a majority of the extra length out of [Create]'s storage and using it to wrap around the bear, securing myself to it like an oddly shaped backpack with only my head uncovered, before activating [Forge] and editing my 'cocoon' to be coated in bone armor.
Now being fully secured and having found a direction to take, I let my body slump before allowing the ursa stand back up and commanding it, and by extension all my minions, to start walking.
POV
'This post is sooo boring' The guard yawned as he read a magazine, idly flipping pages as he did his best to stay awake.
'Soon' he thought 'just a few more minutes and it will be 3 a.m. and I can kiss this post goodbye'
He leaned back with a sigh and closed the magazine before tossing it onto the desk.
In all honesty he didn't actually hate this job, hell it was probably one of the best a guy like him could get, with good pay and easy work.
Seriously, all he had to do was sit at the guard station built into the wall and admit people in and out of the city, you can't ask for simpler than that.
No, it was the boredom of this particular station that bothered him. Of the numerous entrances to the city, this one was likely the one to receive the least traffic, especially at night and he, therefore, had nothing to do.
'To think that some people actually enjoy this…haaah, please trade with me. I'll gladly give you this post!'
"If only that was an option…" he grumbled bitterly.
But no, in order to fight smuggling, the guard Rota had included swapping the guards throughout the different posts so bribery would be harder… or something like that, he wasn't really paying attention when the reason was given.
All he knew was that somewhere in the city, a politician had screwed him over in some hollow attempt at appeasing the masses. Scoff Like it actually mattered if people smuggled something into the city, it already had every form of weapon you can think of, and even more you can't… fucking mecha shifts.
He shook his head in disgust.
Or maybe he should just blame the grimm. The council of vale wouldn't bother with the general public nearly as much if it wasn't for the fact that negativity could actually get them all killed.
Although….
He sighed.
He supposed it could also be argued the opposite. A good many people had better lives because the leaders had to care about them. Take the Faunus for example, just a few years ago they might as well as been mud, and now? At least in the eyes of the law, they were equal to humans.
Yawning again, he glanced at the clock expectantly.
In a few minutes, someone would come and take over for him and he'd be rotated out of here for what he hoped to be a long time.
He pulled out his scroll began searching for something to watch when he suddenly heard some tapping on the glass window.
"Eh?"
"Uh, hello?"
He was honestly surprised. It was the first time since his shift started that someone had arrived seeking entrance.
He looked over his late-night visitor.
The traveler looked to be six feet tall with long wild brown hair resting past his shoulders and a slim build with very little muscle to speak of, wearing a set of all black casual clothing… with what appeared to be a blind fold?
Glancing at the man's side, he noticed a pure white cane held lightly in his hand and raised an eyebrow.
'What's a blind man doing wandering outside the city this late at night by himself?'
He was immediately suspicious but retained his professionality.
"Ah, sorry about that. I wasn't expecting to see anyone this late." He said leaning back into his chair.
"No, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I didn't realize it'd take this long to reach here, it's my first time traveling." The man replied scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
"It's fine." he waved dismissively. "Not exactly much going on at the moment anyway, ID?"
"Err, I'm from a small town on the outskirts of the kingdom that hasn't really been around long… I was hoping I could get an ID inside the city?" the man responded nervously.
"Well, you're at the beating heart and center of vale now." he chuckled "What made you travel so far?"
"I was hoping to get a huntsmen's license."
This eased the guards tension a bit. It wasn't that unusual for people born and raised in one of the villages to not have IDs and with Frontier Corp on their expansion crusade, it was a common occurrence for people from the newer settlements to come to the city to take a huntsmen qualification test.
It wasn't even really a requirement to have an ID to enter the city either, just procedure to ask if they have one and if not tell them where they can go to get one issued to them with a warning that if they got in trouble with the law and didn't have one, they might face quite a bit of jail time.
"Well, if you managed to make it to the city in one piece from a place that far away, I'm sure you'll be able to get your license no problem." he said with a smirk. "Though I'm curious, what happened to your luggage? You didn't walk here with just a cane yeah?"
"… I was attacked by a rather strong grimm I didn't expect to see this close to the city and in the chaos my luggage was destroyed." The traveler replied with a bitter smile.
The guard winced at that.
It was a rather polite way to say the city screwed up, and by extension screwed him over.
"Can you tell me what you fought?"
"…sorry but I don't know what it would be called. I can tell you that it was a flying monster and was definitely stronger than a nevermore."
"Can you describe its appearance for me?"
The stranger shifted uncomfortably at the question before replying awkwardly. "…my semblance allows for me to have some sense of what's going on around me but…" he gestured to his blindfold.
The guard's eyes widened at the realization "I see- cough – It must have been quite a difficult fight." he replied inwardly kicking himself for being stupid.
"It certainly wasn't fun." The stranger chuckled "I suppose I should just be happy everything worked out."
"I'm sorry, that shouldn't have happened to you. The city has regular huntsman patrols for this exact reason, can I ask you to fill out a report so we can dispatch someone to eliminate it tomorrow?" the guard replied, now fully serious. If there was something that could trouble an aspiring huntsman this close to the city, it was extremely lucky no one died yet.
"That won't be necessary, it didn't survive the battle." The visitor replied, shaking his head
"That right? Then on behalf of the citizens of vale, I thank you."
The stranger waved him off "I intend to be a huntsman; I don't need thanks for doing my job."
"Haha, I wish there were more huntsmen that adopted that attitude. You see to many nowadays acting all high and mighty." The guard chuckled bitterly.
The truth was, ever since the first EX rank Grimm was killed, humanity has all but worshiped huntsmen, obeying their every whim as they sit in the lap of luxury. It trickled down all the way to the point where even a new huntsman would receive a shower of praise and a line of people ready to kiss their ass just for existing. To see someone on the path of becoming a huntsman being so humble was a breath of fresh air.
"Hey, I'm here to take over your shift" said a new voice from behind him and he half turned to see the guard that was here to relieve him of his duty.
"Ah, let me just finish up with this and I'll hand it over to you." He replied gesturing to the future huntsman.
His replacement nodded and moved back to wait.
Turning back to the stranger the guard shot him an apologetic look. "Well, there's no need to keep you here any longer, go ahead and head on in" the guard said as he pressed a button unlocking the entrance to the city.
This post wasn't a large one meant for heavy traffic or vehicles to enter so the entrance was little more than a reinforced metal door.
The stranger glanced at the door with equal parts confusion and relief. "So, there's not entrance fee or anything? I don't need an ID?"
"Ah, I guess I forgot to mention that earlier." He laughed before taking out a pamphlet and handing it to the aspiring huntsman. "With frontier making so many new towns and reclaiming land from the grimm, the council of vale decided to allow entry without an ID and the entry fee is paid for by Frontier as well for people coming from settlements to become huntsmen. You will need an ID to leave the city however, that pamphlet will show you where you can go to get one."
"They sound like a rather generous company." The stranger replied as he accepted the pamphlet.
"That's one way of looking at it." the guard shrugged "I'd say it more likely that the council merely said that Frontier was paying for it and instead they're just waving the fee entirely. Gives good publicity to the company and vale as a whole with the whole 'raising defenders and taking lands' shtick."
"Why would the council do that?"
"It's a gift to please the company making them tons of money by getting them more land to tax, Frontier corp is all about clearing out grimm and establishing new settlements and searching for dust mines. Its plenty profitable for them to be friendly with each other." The guard replied.
"I see…" the stranger replied while yawning "Well, I'll be going then, it's rather late and I really want to find somewhere to sleep."
"Alright then, take care." The guard nodded as the stranger left, before opening an app on his scroll and submitting a quick report, simply stating that a new huntsman had been admitted into the city using the frontier corp promo to gain admittance, along with the date and time.
He grabbed his things and turned his replacement feeling rather refreshed, before frowning at the peculiar look on his replacements face.
"…did you just give a blind guy a pamphlet?" the replacement asked with a raised eyebrow.
The guard froze before letting out a groan and facepalming.
POV
I let out a sigh and relaxed as I entered the city of vale.
…that guard was definitely suspicious of me at the start… probably wouldn't have been able to convince him I was a huntsman without the extra stats I received from maintaining [Adaptation] for so long earlier making my body look barley passable when paired with a baggy shirt and pants.
Its honestly ridiculous, all my physical stats have shot up above ten- which is supposedly the average for humans- and I still look like am about to die from starvation?
The only explanation I can think of is my 'custom race' has a biology with a different stat requirement on what would look 'normal'…
I was also extremely lucky Frontier Corp is around, it made it much easier than I should be for me to enter the city, although It's also surprising to me that I don't remember such a big and seemingly important company existing in the show, another thing I'll need to look up more information on it later.
I begin walking through the city taking in the scenery through my psychic vision while keeping my head facing forward and unmoving as I pretend to be blind.
Honestly, the decision to wear a blind fold while trying to enter the city as a huntsman was likely not the most…optimal, option I could have chosen, but it wasn't without precedence. I know for a fact there was a blind huntsman in training at beacon in the show… from team coffee if I recall correctly, and if I had to choose between deactivating the shards and wearing a blind fold…
Well, the choice I made was obvious, I wasn't about to deactivate my only source of defense, and call me paranoid, but the idea of Ozpin somehow catching word of someone entering the city with unique eyes felt like it would've ended badly for me.
The only real concern I had with this plan was covering Bio Gear, but I soon discovered an easy solution to that problem.
I just switch which body was in control.
And let me just say, discovering that, not only could my armor and Bio Gear be swapped out with the body it was equipped to, but I would also keep the stat boosts the armor provides even when it wasn't on the active body was…
I mentally shake my head.
That, combined with the stat boost I received from [Adaptation] and given time to rest…well
'Status'
Name – ?
Title- 7th soul
Level- -1
Race- Custom
HP- 100/100
100/100
100/100
SP- 99/100
98/100
97/100
BG- 100/100
MP- N/A
STR- 19 (85)
VIT- 14 (70)
DEX- 23 (97)
INT- 30 (90)
WIS- 50
CHA- 30
…The system changed my race to 'custom'? Why? Because I called it that?
…
Just…ignore it.
The point is, my stats are now looking stupidly strong in comparison to before, and although I'm still not entirely sure how they'd stack up to an actual huntsman, I should be relatively safe now that I'm in the city.
And speaking of the city…
I seem to be in a shadier part of it, as far as I can tell… the buildings are run down, the street filthy, and the people I'm passing are wearing worn and dirty clothes. That alone would make me peg it as simply a lower-class residential area, if it weren't for the rather… sharp, look on the faces of some of the people. The glint in their eye, and the way they have their jaw set makes it look like they are both looking for, and expecting trouble at any moment, and a good portion of them are traveling in groups of two or more… it just screams danger, and more than a few of them are eyeing me…
I mentally shrug.
I seriously doubt that they'd do anything out on the streets, and it's not like a have a wallet to pick pocket now anyway.
Instead, I need to decide on my next course of action.
I obviously need to find a place to sleep, that's my first priority. It's more of a question on how to go about it really. I didn't need to pay anything to get into the city, but a hotel would definitely cost lien. So how do I get money?
… The most immediate thought is to simply mug someone, which is rather concerning.
It shouldn't feel so natural to consider breaking the law, or even more to the point, harming someone to achieve an objective I have…
What's worse is I don't even feel bad about it, there's no repulsion about hurting someone else, no little voice in my head telling me it's wrong.
… did [Awoken Soul] do something to my thought process? Normally this kind of lack of a conscience would be from gamer's mind, but since I don't have that…
… this probably isn't worth thinking about right now.
Flipping through the pamphlet I received with psychic vision, I decide to head to the closest huntsmen's guild branch and see if I can't request compensation for the 'grimm attack' I suffered, or at least get lodging, failing that, I'll try the ID place.
Using the map from the pamphlet I cut across an alley.
"Hey."
I pause and mentally look behind me as I remain facing forwards and frown.
Oh for the love of-
Click.
The thug pulls out a switchblade and flicks it open with a sneer.
"Alright kid, hand over your wallet and anything else you've got, and you might keep your life." He growls as he slowly walks towards me.
My frown thickens.
… he has a really bad grip on that knife.
How the hell do I know that? … something else to think about later.
I guess I don't need to worry about how I'm getting a place to sleep now.
And… since I have such a willing volunteer, I might as well test a few more things about the shards before I go to sleep.
I slowly begin to turn around.
POV
Instinct.
It was funny, how varied its value was viewed by the different races.
The faunus looked at it like it was just an everyday norm, something to learn the use of, especially so if they lived near danger, and a resource huntsman were grateful to have, but not overtly important to everyday life.
The 'Purebloods' were far different in this regard, viewing instinct, along with their other bestial traits, as a divine gift, marking them as superior the other races.
Humans were by far the most diverse on their opinion, possibly due to just how varied the amount of instinct each person had was, with the depressing general consensus being that humans were more 'evolutionally' advanced than the other races and didn't really need instinct when they could simply put trust their trust in logic and reason.
He knew better. After all, your instincts exist for a reason, it was your natural danger sense, much faster and more reliable than rationalizing, to the point that, before your slow brain ever came close to thinking something could kill you, your body had already decided on it and was yelling at you that you were in danger.
And right now? His instincts were far past yelling and were screaming at him to get as far away from the man in front of him as possible.
Others would call it absurd, a blind, skinny brat being dangerous? It was funny to even consider the possibility. He was alone, with only a cane as a weapon to defend himself, how could that be dangerous? A huntsman, perhaps? The idea was laughable. In order for a blind man to be a huntsman, they'd need to have a semblance to cover up for their lack of sight. The amount of huntsman that have a semblance was actually only a small percentage of the whole, which combine with the man looking so young brought the chances of him having not only unlocked it, but having unlocked it as a sight ability being absurdly low. It was almost more likely to win the lottery than it was for this guy to be a huntsman.
Which is why he had marked this guy to rob in the first place, taking him to be a rich kid that had ditched his guard, and had he been the type to ignore his instinct and act on rationality, he might have ignored the chill that ran down his spin as the man started to turn around, shrugged off the fear that began to pool up in his gut.
Instead, without hesitation, he turned and ran.
He made it three steps.
And then all his momentum was killed instantly, like it never existed. He stumbled and dropped his knife as tried to regain his balance.
He discarded the idea of picking it up in place of attempting to run again, but this time he didn't move even a single step. He couldn't move his legs, or the rest of his body for that matter.
The only thing that worked was his eyes and they frantically darted around as he struggled to move an inch, a centimeter of his body.
His eyes widened when his body finally started to move, but it was in horror as it was against his will.
He turned, slowly, mechanically towards his would be target.
His eyes shook as he fully turned and faced his captor, taking in his full appearance.
The man just stood there, looking at him with his head tilted slightly. He seemed more curious than angry that he was just targeted in an attempted mugging.
The thug's heart sank as he saw how nonchalant he was, completely overpowering him didn't seem to strain him in the slightest.
'Fuck, fuck, fuck, what do I do?!' he was panicking, he couldn't move his mouth to apologize. Breathing itself was difficult, he couldn't even hyperventilate.
"There's nothing you can do."
He froze, his terror intensifying 'I-I didn't- '
"Speak? No, no you didn't"
'l-l-look I'm sorry, ok? Please- '
"Quiet, there's something I need you to do."
'Anything! Just please let me go' a small sense of hope blossomed inside as he eagerly awaited the man's request.
The man grinned "Think about where you live."
His hope was instantly crushed as he realized what the man wanted, and he desperately tried to not think about the address of his apartment.
The man's grin grew as he turned and started to walk, the thug forcefully following after.
'This direction…. oh, gods no…. someone, anyone please, help me!'
POV
A small, tired smile settles on my face as I walk in the apartment and the thug closes and locks the door behind us before standing in place with a blank expression.
I can honestly say I'm surprised with how nice and clean this place is, everything seaming to have been recently dusted, the carpet free of stain or dirt, and the widows completely spotless.
The apartment itself looks like the kind of place id expect a rich 'sophisticated' college kid to be staying in. The living room is massive, but sparce, with only a table surrounded by a comfortable looking couch and two chairs decorating it, alongside the giant wall mounted tv they're all facing, of course. The most notable feature of the room being the wall opposite of where I'm standing, being completely made of glass, with a double set of sliding glass doors leading out to a balcony, which thankfully has a curtain.
Stretching my back, I turn right and walk with lightened steps towards the kitchen, the thug walking quietly behind.
The kitchen, which is divided from the living room by an island counter with a set of three stools placed on the living room side, is just as clean and tidy… and unfortunately also seems to have been infected by 'sparce', with very little ingredients stocking the fridge and cabinets. Aside from the cabinets directly above the counter, which is filled with alcohol, amusingly enough.
Ordering the thug to take a seat on one of the stools, I walk over to a basket of fruit and pluck an apple from it before shifting my focus back onto decided my next move.
Primarily, what am I going to do with the would-be mugger?
Originally, I was going to try and brainwash him like I did the beowolves, but I've both run into a problem with that plan and also found a good reason not to.
The problem being the unexpected appearance of a 'force field' protecting the 'control orb' of the mind from outside access, kind of like a fire wall, that prevented me from gaining full control of the mind. It wasn't enough to stop me from controlling his body or suppressing his will, since the desire and movement locations of the human mind were almost identical to a grimm, which meant I just had manually go to the parts I needed to use, but it did mean my enslave skill wouldn't work.
Of course, I could just hammer at the shield with psychic attacks until it breaks, but I had a realization on the way over here.
I take a bite of my apple, frowning at the lack of taste, before using [Analysis] on the thug.
STR- 9
VIT- 8
DEX- 12
INT- 9
WIS- 6
CHA- 6
Simply put, this guy is an absolute idiot, and I could tell that from his surface thoughts long before I looked at his stats page. I mean really, 'some rich kid who slipped his guard'? How many mental hoops do you have to leap through to come to that conclusion from a skinny blind man in baggy clothes?
More to the point, what would I even use him for? Making money? I could do that quickly by pickpocketing people and using [Mind] to either make them not notice, or outright forget it. combat is an option, but my grimm are far stronger. The third and final option would be gathering information… but I have his scroll- which I forced him to unlock on the way over here- so I can also do that myself, and the idea of him having any information on the criminal underworld is… unlikely.
Which begs the question, what the hell do I do with him?
… I could just erase him with [Destruction]…
I pause, mid bite of my apple, before closing my eyes and messaging my forehead with my free hand.
Gods… it shouldn't be so easy to consider murder…
I shake my head.
…I should just take it as a blessing, rather than a curse…
Finishing my apple, I move to stand before the still mentally suppressed thug, frowning heavily.
There is one more consideration I need to take into account before I make a decision…
Will his death become a problem for me later?
I glance around the apartment and my frown grows.
Id like to say no… but I'm having a hard time making sense of how the guy got a place this nice. It has to be expensive, there's no way a place with a view overlooking a park wouldn't be, especially in a world like remnant, where inhabitable space is limited…
Well, he definitely isn't making the money to pay for this himself, considering he was trying to threaten people into giving him money, so it'd have to be a relative of some sort?
… damn this is annoyingly complicated.
I sigh.
So, my options are.
A: break the mental shield and search his memories to see if he knows anyone that would become a threat to me if he died.
B: break the mental shield and alter his memories so he doesn't remember ever meeting me and find a different place to stay tomorrow.
C: break the mental shield and follow through on the brainwashing.
D: do one of the above but instead of breaking the shield I go and search manually for the memory section of the mental ocean.
E: just kill him and be done with it.
…I'll admit, option E has a certain appeal to it. All the other options have the added benefit of learning more about mental manipulation, but they'd all also take a great deal of time to accomplish as well.
With A, I'd have to manually search for the information I want since I can't just ask my powers to 'find dangerous people', B would force me to learn how to actually alter memories, which I have a feeling would take at least equally as long as searching his memories. D is out merely on the grounds that it's needlessly more time consuming, and C… well, I guess C would be the safe option, but that doesn't necessarily mean the best option.
Hmm… I don't suppose the system could be prompted to make a skill that copies the targets memories and compile them in such a way that I could simply find what I'm looking for via search bar?
"We both know the system isn't that intelligent."
Worth a shot.
I stare down at the floor for a few minutes, deep in contemplation, before looking back up at the lifeless looking body.
Could [Analysis Destruction] be altered to also copy the targets memories?
"It already does that."
I blink.
Huh.
"You wouldn't be able to look through easily though, and I'm warning you now, don't try to merge the memories with your own-"
Yeah, I'm not an idiot.
I deadpan.
Doing that would be the rough equivalence of living the dude's life…
I mentally shiver before forcefully removing that thought from my mind.
So, going back over the options again…
… I think… the best option is still to kill him.
Keeping the memories from [Analysis Destruction] means that I still get the information from option A and the opportunity to practice from option B. Option C is missed out on, but again, the safest option doesn't mean the best option, and while killing this guy without knowing what's backing him is risky, I can't imagine he's cared for that much if he was wandering around trying to mug people. The thought he had about me potentially being rich is a good indication he probably doesn't see any actual rich people.
On top of all that, this option gives me a unique advantage the other options don't.
Bio data.
The possible uses of human bio data alone cements this choice as the best one, I mean, just imagine the possibilities…
I mentally shake my head to clear my mind, before refocusing.
Right.
I take a breath.
It's decided then… this guy has to die…
I hesitantly place a hand around his neck, tilting his head to face up at me.
…
Err, what's your opinion on this, Third?
"Hm? Are you asking me if you should kill him?"
Yeah, you have more experience with these things right? What do you think?
"You'll need to decide for yourself on this one."
What?
"Kid, your first kill isn't something to be taken lightly, it needs to be something you've decided for yourself. Otherwise in the future you might come to regret it."
I… I'm not feeling hesitant to kill, I'm asking-
"You might believe your not feeling hesitant, and you might not actually be hesitant, it doesn't matter. Justifying and accepting your own actions is always easier then doing the same for orders."
I pause for a few moments, thinking things over and slowly considering what it is am about to do…
Looking at my target for a few more minutes, I tiredly dequip my blindfold, my expression turning grim as I stare at his face.
"Made your decision then."
It has to be done.
"As long as you won't regret it."
I nod slowly before activating [Analysis Destruction], spreading the effect from the contact point to encompass the entire body at once.
I keep my sight firmly locked on target, making sure to take in the entirety of what I'm doing as my power begins to take hold.
In a final act of mercy, I've dulled his mind of both awareness and pain, causing his death to feel like nothing more than falling into a deep sleep.
In reality, the entire matter is a gruesome thing, his body shriveling up as though his very life force has become the first target of my power, with his skin becoming hollow, boney and dry.
I wince at the sheer lethality of the skill, already sure he's dead as I continue to watch him age from young man to wrinkly elder in the blink of an eye, before his body switches to a different stage of destruction and begins to dissipate in some twisted mockery of a grimm's death except the particles are absorbed into my hand rather than disappearing into the air.
Its at this stage that a peculiar hunger hits and I tilt my head slightly in puzzlement.
This hunger starts small, seeming to originate deep within, but soon bubbles up with all the intensity of an erupting volcano.
My eyes widen in surprise and fear as I attempt to get a grasp on what's happening, but the confusion remains as the hunger somehow envelops itself in unidentified energy.
A second later I become acutely aware of exactly what energy it's using however, as the soul ache that had dulled earlier comes back at full force, spiking past previously reached heights.
I clench my jaw tightly to refrain from screaming out in pain, my mind almost grinding to a halt under the agony as the hunger, with its stolen energy, gathers together before shooting forward.
My eyes widen further in absolute shock as the energy rushes out of me and into the body in front of me, quickly scanning the entire thing before enveloping an intangible object with a very similar energy and attempting to yank itself back out.
A brief struggle follows, with the opposing energy very quickly falling on the losing end before being defeated entirely and my expression shift to disbelief as the energy immediately flies back into my body, settle back deep inside.
Still resisting the pain, I attempt comprehend exactly what just happened-
*Ping*
[Awoken soul] has detected a compatible energy source!
Consumption in progress…
I- What!?
*Ping*
Consumption complete!
EXP gained!
The pain from before quickly vanishes, replaced by soothing comfort as my face distorts, with several emotions fighting to take hold.
'No fucking- Status!'
Name – ?
Title- 7th soul
Level- -1 (5%)
Race- Custom
HP- 100/100
100/100
100/100
SP- 98/100
95/100
90/100
BG- 100/100
MP- N/A
STR- 19 (85)
VIT- 14 (70)
DEX- 23 (97)
INT- 30 (90)
WIS- 50
CHA- 30
My expression twists further as the body in front of my collapses into a pile of clothes.
"That's… not how I was going to suggest you increase your level."
I shut my eyes tightly, fists clenched and hearing my heartbeat rapidly in my ears as I count slowly to ten.
This…
THIS!
Is how I level up!?
Did I just fucking eat someone's soul!?
"…"
haaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAA-
You know what?
I think this is about where I draw the line of bull shit am willing to deal with in one day.
All this can be resolved tomorrow.
I'm going to sleep.
AN: Friendly reminder that this is literally the first story I've ever written, please have mercy.
Side note, it turns out I'm actually terrible at fight scenes, who knew?
Double side note, I'm aware the ending of this chapter might be a bit heavy on edginess and or angst with the whole, eating souls for levels shtick, but in my defense, it be super hard to argue against the character just sitting in the woods for hours on end grinding to god levels of power by slaughtering the grimm... well, that or I'd have to heavily nerf the grimm and i kinda don't want to do that either.
I'm also doing this for fun, and I currently think writing a little edge and angst is fun, adds a little spice to the mix.