Chapter 6: Drawing Aggro
It was with a surprising amount of efficiency that the dust within the mine was mustered to the walls. It was brought up in crates where the tops were removed with care as they were set by the edge of the wall.
All of this was done under the direction of Weiss and the miner who had spoken up. She was apparently the foreman and her name was Ember. She seemed to command the respect of the miners as there had been no arguments as she directed them to bring the dust to the wall.
That left Jaune and Pyrrha standing there behind Weiss as she arranged the crates about the wall evenly muttering under her breath to herself.
Finally Jaune mustered up the courage to interrupt her train of thought, "Uh Weiss?" he said.
She spun around at him, "What!" she asked sharply.
Jaune raised his hands in a placating manner, "I was just wondering what the plan was, you know so we could help."
"Oh, right," Weiss said her expression softening, "I'm still trying to figure out the details. We should be able to use the dust in bursts to hold back the horde. The problem is we need a vehicle to deliver it."
"We can't just throw it?" Jaune asked.
Weiss shook her head, "Disregarding how dangerous that would be to the throwers we would need to consistently dump it over the sides so the Grimm can't find a gap and push through."
"I could help with it," Pyrrha suddenly said and both Weiss and Jaune turned to her.
She looked around before she turned back to them, "My semblance. My trainer and I have been keeping it under wraps as an advantage but seeing the situation we're in," she gave a humorless chuckle, "Anyways, semblance is polarity, I can manipulate and move metal. So I could probably lift all these crates in unison."
Jaune looked at Pyrrha in astonishment. That was her semblance? That was incredible!
Not to mention the advantage it would give her in a fight. Though it seemed from how she had fought so far against the Grimm he wondered if she even needed it.
Weiss was all business though, "I can work with that. We want dust to pour over at the same time. But only in small chunks. We need to try and keep the Grimm a far enough distance below that they can't crest the wall. Can you do that?"
Pyrrha's brow creased with worry as she looked at the crates, "There's so many, I- I'm not sure."
"Even a little bit will help," Jaune said looking her directly in the eye, "Can you try?"
Pyrrha's shoulders firmed up and she nodded, she raised her hands at the crates and slowly they rose in the air a small black shimmering glow around them easily dismissible if you weren't looking for it.
The crates tipped together as one pouring the unstable dust out in a tidal wave of red colliding with the Grimm just lighting them on fire. The flames roared empowered by the fire dust searing through the Grimm.
The dust was forcing the Grimm back and Jaune was reminded of a saying he had heard used at his primary school.
That it was only with the advent of dust that mankind had managed to push back the forces of Grimm.
Shaking his head free of the thoughts he watched as Weiss used some of her Glyphs to launch some of the more particularly stubborn Grimm free of the walls.
One of the Grimm, a Beowulf desperately tried to leap up using the bodies of its comrades to attempt to get the necessary height to clear the walls but Jaune was ready batting the body of the Grimm back with his shield letting it fall to the Ground below where it was engulfed by the fire dust fueled flames.
The crates were lowered and Jaune turned to see that Pyrrha was looking haggard. She was doubled over on herself taking ragged breaths.
Jaune looked at the Grimm below and could see that they were already surging back to the walls. Their numbers were thinner and a good number of them were injured but Jaune knew that it was still far too many. They couldn't hold out like this.
That was when he heard a dull roar and he turned expecting to see a large Grimm but instead he saw Bullheads flying over the forest toward them their engines audible even over the sounds of the Grimm below.
They had bought enough time.
"Weiss! Pyyrrha!" He called out pointing toward the rapidly approaching bullheads. Weiss and Pyrrha turned Pyrrha still partially bent over out of exhaustion.
"Well it's about time," Weiss said and Jaune attributed the fact he could hear the relief in her voice after having spent so much time around her.
The bullheads crossed over the walls and came to a touchdown. Workers were already running toward the ship. Jaune was already seeing a problem though. If the workers who were manning the turrets left they would have maybe a matter of minutes till they were overrun.
As the first miners began to pile into the bullheads he turned to his fellow hunters in training, "How are we going to get everyone out," he asked in a low tone.
Weiss looked frustrated as she too looked at the turrets that were still firing away at the Grimm below.
Already a couple of the workers had exited the turrets running back towards the bullheads.
With the reduced rate of fire the Grimm were already beginning to make slow progress up the wall.
Jaune sprinted to one of the turrets grabbing it and relying on the simplicity of the mechanism and the abundance of targets opened fire.
The turret ripped through Grimm but just as quickly the Grimm were replaced. Worse the armored Grimm were managing to push through giving cover to the Grimm behind them as they slowly clawed their way up the wall.
Jaune gritted his teeth together continuing to fire into the Grimm.
It wasn't enough. As the last worker sprinted for the bullhead the Grimm were at the crest of the wall.
A Beowulf leaped forward grabbing the metal of the barrel and crunched down breaking the turret gun. Jaune drew his blade slicing through the Grimm but found himself retreating backward as more Grimm began to crest over the wall.
Weiss and Pyrrha both backed up with him slashing at the Grimm that attempted to push forward.
Jaune chanced a glance behind them estimating in his head the distance to the Bullhead as his Intelligence stat worked for all it was worth.
Only one conclusion came to him.
"Weiss! Pyrrha! Get to the Bullhead I'll be right behind you!" He shouted not waiting to see if they did so before with a kick he launched one of the mostly empty crates beside him at the Grimm bashing into a group of them and sending them back over the wall.
His sense told him that both Pyrrha and Weiss had headed his words and were already at the last remaining bullhead.
He turned sprinting from the Grimm but unlike when they had ran in the forest there were no tree's to slow the progress of the Grimm down.
Also unlike in the forest was a cloud of what he recognized were Lancers flying towards them. The insectoid Grimm would bring the Bullhead down right into the horde.
Cold fear ran through Jaune's mind before it was subsumed.
Gamers Mind has negated Overwhelming Fear
If the Bullhead didn't take off now it wasn't going to outrun those Lancers.
He knew what he had to do.
"Go!" he frantically waved at the people, before turning his course and running toward the mine entrance.
The engines of the Bullhead roared as the pilot evidently hearing his words or maybe more likely realizing that they were about to be overrun by Grimm pulled in the sky.
Even the roar of the engines wasn't loud enough to drown out a piercing shriek of, "Jaune!" before the Bullhead rose further in the sky back toward Argus.
Jaune could only hope they would be able to outrun the Lancers but he didn't have time to worry about that now.
He kept running back towards the mine going through the entrance of hollowed out stone running parallel to the tracks which must be how they carted the dust out. Jaune pushed his body to the limit putting every ounce of his agility stat into outpacing the Grimm.
For several minutes it worked.
Deeper and deeper he ran into the mine the sound of Grimm behind him lending motivation to his run. He had got his friends out of this situation. Now he needed to find his own way out.
The further and further he ran in though the more he realized that he was at best delaying the inevitable. There didn't seem to be any other outlet from the mine. Which meant he could keep running but only until he found a dead end.
Only the fact his Gamers Mind skill was running out full throttle kept him focused as he continued deeper into the mine. Arriving into a large hollowed out section he scaled a wall of stone desperately grabbing at the rock and pulling himself upward until he had gained a respectable distance from the ground.
Spotting a crevice he pulled himself into it taking a deep breath as he turned back looking down below at the room still lit by the dust powered excavation lights.
He looked down and not seconds later he saw Grimm beginning to fill the room spreading out below.
Jaune braced himself gripping his sword steeling himself his Gamers Mind skill filling his mind with comfortable blankness. He wouldn't go down without a fight. He could at least take comfort that with his sacrifice the miners would live.
He would- Why weren't the Grimm attacking?
The Grimm milled about below him seemingly searching for him none of them looking up at his crevice.
But why? Grimm were attracted to fear. He was-
He wasn't afraid.
In the comforting grip of Gamers Mind he felt nothing. Not a single emotion rippled through him.
Jaune took a deep breath not letting go of Gamers Mind. He hadn't truly thought much about the skill since it had negated a panic attack on his unexpected trip a year back. It was just there. But now it was occurring to him he had completely ignored what it meant for the Grimm. They were creatures who sought fear something which they rarely failed to inspire in Humanity and the Faunas.
With Gamers Mind though he couldn't feel fear.
Jaune took a deep breath and in the calm of Gamers mind began to slowly work to come up with a solution. How was he going to get out of here? The Grimm may not be able to sense him but they would be able to see him.
There was no way he could walk out through the crowd of Grimm that still remained below.
Jaune leaned back against the wall as the first obvious solution occurred to him. He could wait.
With time the Grimm should disperse somewhat even though he knew from his studies that given the former habitation of the mine. Plus even if he wasn't physically tired he needed for his aura to recover from its physical expenditure.
He leaned back against the crevice closing his eyes trying to ignore the mortal enemy of sentient life on Remnant below him.
He didn't know how long he rested like that but it was some time later that he opened his eyes.
In front of them a screen had appeared, the notifications he had been ignoring up until now all showing up at once.
You have Leveled Up!
You have Leveled Up!
You have Leveled Up!
You have Leveled Up!
You have Leveled Up!
You have Leveled Up!
Hunter Sword Arts has Leveled Up by 3.
Hunter Shield Arts has Leveled Up by 1.
Aura Control has Leveled up by 2.
Class Has Unlocked!
Class?
Despite the situation Jaune couldn't help the curiosity that surged through him. He opened his stats page only to be disappointed to see that it hadn't changed except for a new line labeled Class.
Class:
As he focused on it a dialogue box appeared.
Class: Currently undetermined. Further actions will serve to determine the players Class.
Blinking his eyes Jaune dismissed the box.
Under normal circumstances he would have been elated. He had finally leveled up! By a lot at that! On the other hand given the circumstances he had no idea how long he would be able to appreciate that fact.
Jaune cautiously peaked his head out of the crevice. Below him he could see the crowd of Grimm had thinned somewhat but there were still far too many to even make an attempt at the exit.
Frowning to himself he pulled up his stat page again. He was in serious trouble. Trouble he couldn't fight his way out of. He needed to spend some stat points
+2 Intelligence for Realizing the Gravity of a Situation
Shrugging to himself taking it as further confirmation he added 20 of his new points to Intelligence.
He gritted his teeth as he felt his world shift like an ice cold bucket of water was dumped directly on his brain.
Closing the menu he turned to gaze out of the crevice again.
He looked about the cavern and his eyes lit upon a massive dust crystal sticking out of the wall some meters away from him. It was a bright yellow indicating its lightning element nature and it was surrounded by scaffolding evidently in the middle of being removed.
Jaune looked down at the Grimm making sure they were still unaware of his presence.
The seething black mass of creatures seemingly remained unaware so carefully he crawled along the wall positioning himself over the crystal. Taking his blade out he positioned it above the crystal before he realized that even if he broke the crystal free he had no way of making it ignite.
The powder was volatile by itself but in this form how could he use it?
Perhaps because of his recently enhanced intelligence a terrible idea came to him. He remembered reading once that one of the first ways Humans had channeled dust was by using their own bodies. Such methods had been abandoned though not only because of easier mechanical methods and processing but by the unbearable pain it caused.
Hesitantly Jaune looked at the crystal would Gamers Mind protect him from feeling the pain if he tried channeling a chunk?
Did he even have another choice?
Hesitantly he focused on his aura drawing it back from his hand before he raised his hand over a sharp spike of dust connected to the crystal. He hesitated for a moment before he slammed his hand downward.
He felt the spike of dust pierce his flesh for a moment before the feeling disappeared and he was left with the strange feeling of something imbedded in his flash.
His nostrils filled with a strange scent reminding him of the ozone in the air before a thunderstorm.
He could feel the energy of the dust. A vast pool of alien energy that at the same time felt like a different flavour of a taste he had long grown used too.
The current ran through him raging like water loosed from a broken dam.
He directed his other hand shakily at the floor of the cavern as yellow electricity crackled into existence in front of it a massive ball of electrical energy forming in the air growing and growing.
Distantly Jaune nodded his HP was slowly ticking down but he dismissed that fact.
The ball of energy had grown until it was larger than even the biggest of the Grimm that were in the cave.
He hoped it would be enough.
The ball of blinding yellow light flashed outward impacting into the mass of Grimm and Jaune was blinded by the light and deafened by the concussive sound that was emitted as the lightning ripped into the cave floor.
Jaune was stunned for a moment before he realized he needed to take the opportunity he had just made for himself.
Leaping off the crystal he hit the floor at a run sprinting for the exit taking note that his health had dipped.
The cloud of dust ripped from the floor in the explosion made it impossible to see where he was going leading him to rely entirely on what his sense stat could make out as he exited the tunnel using every bit of Agility he had.
There were only a couple of scattered Beowolves remaining in the complex which he dodged around sprinting up the stairs to the wall. Without hesitation he leaped over the wall running over the grass toward the forest where he thought that he Weiss and Pyrrha had originally come from.
Shifting black shapes in the trees though caused him to divert away running straight into the tree line.
A number of Grimm had followed him from the former mine but the larger ones were slowed down by the trees and even as the smaller ones maneuvered through the branches after him he managed to maintain some distance.
Ducking and weaving through the trees one by one the Grimm fell behind.
It was only when he came to a stop that Jaune realized he had no idea where he was. He was surrounded by a verdant forest that stretched upward but he had no sense of where he should be going.
He couldn't be that far from Argus could he?
As he turned about he realized that there a crow on one of the branches, strangely it seemed almost as if it was looking at him.
Shaking the thought away he checked his health and winced as saw that he had lost a chunk of health from that stunt he had pulled with the dust crystal.
As he looked down at his hand he saw no visible marks on it to indicate what he had done with the dust crystal.
He sighed leaning against a tree idly wishing that his ability gave him a map. Right now that would be incredibly helpful.
It was as that thought was drifting through his mind his senses alerted him to the sudden change of the crow to something human sized.
He spun hand on his sword to see a man with swept back black hair and a small amount of stubble. He was wearing a white shirt and black pants with a dark red cloak draped across his back not covering a large metallic object that looked very much like a weapon to Jaune, though he couldn't tell what type.
"Take it easy kid, I'm no Grimm," the man drawled out.
Jaune slowly nodded lifting his hands away from Crocea Mors slightly. If he had to guess this man was a Hunter which still didn't explain why his senses were telling him that the bird had transformed into the man before him.
"That's a strange semblance you have there," Jaune said slowly.
The man cocked an eyebrow something indiscernible crossing across his eyes.
"My Semblance?" the man asked questioningly.
"You were the crow," Jaune said, "I didn't even think there was a semblance like that."
The man's eyes narrowed but he responded in a disarming tone, "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a simple Huntsman having a drink… in the woods."
He finished smoothly pulling out a flask and taking a long pull from it.
Jaune narrowed his eyes at the man. He didn't like the dismissal of his statement but perhaps the man just like keeping his semblance a secret.
"Long way from Argus though aren't ya?" the man said.
Jaune nodded slowly not sure how much he should tell the man. For all he knew this man could be a bandit.
"A little bit. There was a Grimm attack on a dust mine near here."
"A Grimm attack?" the man's stance straightened slightly and something resembling steel flashed through the man's eyes.
"Yeah," Jaune nodded, "Everyone's safe though," he said somewhat hurriedly not wanting to give the possible Bandit any ideas, "The workers were able to escape on an airship."
"Oh? That's good then," the man took another somewhat smaller sip from his flask, "I can't help but noticing you don't seem to be among that number."
Jaune hesitated, before he carefully worded his next statement, "I had them leave without me. The Grimm were overrunning our position and if they had waited for me they wouldn't have gotten out."
A small pang disturbed his heart, Weiss probably thought he was dead. He needed to find a way to contact her and let her know that he was okay. Ebi too.
As that thought occurred to him he distantly realized that he would also have to explain how he got away from a horde of Grimm that should have by all rights killed him.
"And how exactly did you get out?" the man raised an eyebrow.
Jaune froze slightly at the question. It had been combination of quick thinking, two of his gamer skills, and a stupid amount of fire dust.
"I got lucky," he said softly. Really he had. Without his Gamer ability he would have been dead. If he had even gotten to the point of channeling dust with his body the pain would have probably have incapacitated him.
The man let out a soft snort, "Must be some kind of luck to survive a Grimm horde. Well come on I wouldn't very well be doing my job if I left someone stranded in the forest. I'll get you back to Argus."
"Oh that would be great! Thanks! Uh-" Jaune paused as he realized he still didn't know this man's name.
"You can call me Qrow," the man who was evidently named Qrow said.
"Qrow, right, My names Jaune Arc."
Qrow nodded before he gestured in a direction, "Well that way's Argus so let's get a move on."
"Alright."
And so they walked through the forest. It was during that time that Jaune decided to look at the new notifications he had gained.
Received skill Dust Channeling
Dust Channeling has leveled up by 3
He dismissed that notification faintly hoping he would never have a need to use that skill again.
The next notification gave him pause.
Class has been determined.
Hesitantly he swiped.
Hidden Quest has been Completed
Through Sacrifice: Class has been set to Necromancer
Mana Unlocked
Jaune felt as if something in him had cracked and a coldness suffused his body blue light shining over him.
Blue light that was all too noticeable to his companion who stopped and was now looking at him.
"You know Jaune, I've seen enough in my time to know what Aura looks like. That wasn't Aura."
Jaune looked at Qrow trying to keep his face blank, "What do you mean. What else could it have been?"
Qrow didn't hesitate, "Something that I've only seen in a very limited number of people. What's particularly strange to me is that you don't seem to be a girl."
Whatever Jaune was expecting it wasn't that. He choked looking at Qrow in shock.
"A girl!"
Qrow paused looking at him closely, "Well either way I think the man I work for is going to want to talk to you."
"But- What- Why should I?" Jaune choked out in shock stopping in his tracks.
"Because if you don't yourself and the people around you could be in a great deal of danger," Qrow said calmly not reacting as Jaune's grip settled on his weapon.
"Easy. That wasn't a threat. Myself and the Organization I work for wouldn't do that."
Qrow said raising his hands in a disarming fashion, "What I'm saying is that there are people out there who would."
This man was crazy. Except he knew that the Mana that had surrounded him wasn't Aura. He even seemed to know other people who had this ability. Was he saying that there were people who would hunt him down for what he had? Hunt his friends and family down.
"Look I know it's hard to believe," Qrow said, "That ability I told you was my semblance earlier, that wasn't actually my semblance. My semblance is… Well that doesn't matter. What matters is that I can turn into a Crow because of Magic I was given. Magic that I was given by the person who leads that Organization I was talking about."
Jaune didn't say anything for a moment attempting to process what the man was saying before eventually he said, "What if I say no."
"Then that's a no," Qrow said, "I can't force you. What I said stands true though the people around you would be in grave danger."
Jaune stood there. The fact of the matter was that Qrow was telling him something he couldn't ignore. He knew something about Jaune's strange ability that Jaune didn't. Furthermore and most importantly if Jaune went back now and his ability put the people around him in danger.
Weiss's terrified voice flashed through his mind. He couldn't put her in danger. He couldn't put anyone else in danger. He had to know.
"All right," Jaune said quietly, "I'll go with you."
Authors Note:
It's been awhile and I'm sorry. Life has a way of interrupting.
A large level jump so that's exciting. Of note this is because of the experience he gained from the all the fighting from a chapter ago and this chapter. The notifications have just been minimized until this point because he wasn't paying attention.
I've really appreciated all the favorites and follows.
Stats:
Name: Jaune Arc
Class: Necromancer
Level: 10
HP: 300
AP: 3000
Mana: 5000
Strength: 36
Agility: 30
Health: 30
Sense: 20
Intelligence: 50
Luck: ?
Available Ability Points: 60
Skills:
Gamers Mind: Level Max
Dancing: Level 50
General Studies: Level 35
Hunter Martial Arts: Level 15
Hunter Sword Arts: Level 31
Hunter Shield Arts: Level 25
Aura Control: Level 27
Dust Channeling: Level 3
Survival: Level 3
Stealth: Level 2
Inventory:
Crocea Mors
Assorted Food Supplies
Camping Equipment