Here we are.

The adventures of Raven-chan, the world's biggest power-gamer, who equates levelling up as comparable to sex. In the words of one reviewer: "what a nerd!"


Beta: College Fool

Cover Art: Dishwasher1910

Book 7: Chapter 13


It was… some time of day. Trapped in the small room with no windows, it was impossible to tell whether it was night or day, let alone get an idea of the hour, but considering the constant footfall outside the room our cages lay in, I assumed it was day time. Morning probably, since there hadn't been any food for what felt like a good six or so hours. My stomach felt painfully empty and although my fever had broken, I still sported a headache and a throat that felt as dry as sand. I was almost certain the wound in my shoulder had become infected, and just the reminder of it made me feel sick. That marked day five, or so I assumed.

Grunting past sore muscles and the tightness in my back where my wound was finally being allowed to heal, I rolled over to look towards Lisa. She was already awake, picking at some straw on the bottom of her cage.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Y-Yeah. Sure." Her smile was brittle and faded, much like her. Much like the both of us. "Do you think they'll make you fight again today?"

"Raven said no."

Lisa looked confused for a moment and I realised she hadn't been close enough to hear what Raven said to me in the arena. I gave her a brief run through, missing out the part where I'd become, at least for a moment, desperate for more Exp. It wasn't something I was proud of, and no matter what Raven thought, I wasn't about to snap now.

"She's a maniac," Lisa said once I was done. "And yet somehow Vernal is worse."

"Raven is a bitch, but she obviously has some plan in mind. Vernal is just cruel for the sake of being cruel." Not that Raven having a plan excused her, or this, but it at least made it feel like she was being cruel for some purpose other than personal enjoyment. I couldn't see what it was, though. I'd have to be forced up to near level one-hundred to give enough Exp to make a difference to her, and even then it might not even be a full level. Probably not even half of one.

"I can't believe you kept fighting. Over and over, even when you could barely stand. It…" Lisa shuddered. "I want to say it was amazing, but it was terrifying. You were like a golem, all blank faced and inhuman."

That wasn't a good thing to hear, even if I'd half expected it. "Were my eyes glowing?"

"I don't know. I guess?"

They probably had been, if only faintly. I think it was Yang who described me like that before, all the way back in Atlas where I'd lost myself digging through the wreckage of a faunus village. Qrow noticed it again in Mistral, when we'd tried to defend the town with me, him and Cinder against a horse of Grimm. At the time, he'd called me a suicidal idiot for standing in front of an Ursa's charge with not a care in the world. He'd been right; I hadn't had a care – because my Resilience kept it from me.

There had been other cases where my Resilience kicked in to keep me going and focused on the task at hand, like the first battle we'd witnessed in the war, but the times where I'd gone into some kind of trance were rarer. Most of the time I just felt an unusual calm in stressful situations. I'd have called it a fugue state, but I could still remember most of it.

Guess this is the only reason I'm still alive. My body would have given up otherwise. Or my mind. Through the haze of hunger, pain, despair and sickness I didn't think I'd have had the fortitude to keep fighting, but my Stats hadn't allowed me the choice. For the best, really.

"Sorry if it frightened you."

"No, it's fine. I know you were fighting to save both of us. I just… wouldn't want to see you like that against me."

"Heh. Don't worry; it doesn't work like that."

Hopefully, it would work against the addiction to Exp Raven was trying to foster in me. I knew Resilience didn't prevent good feelings because I'd have felt that before, becoming like Ren. It would have left me unable to enjoy base comforts, and back when I'd had my first kill, what felt so long ago, I'd still felt some pride at it, some pleasure. That was proof enough it didn't erase my emotions entirely.

It also didn't permanently remove anything, because even when I'd relied on it before like when the war began, I'd felt the crash of emotions afterwards. It just held them back at a time when I needed them held back. It was never a permanent thing, and now that I was out of immediate danger, I didn't know if it would do anything for me. Cravings were definitely a thing, because I was craving sunlight, my friends and a proper meal already. Also, Vernal and Raven's heads on a platter, but that was a different kind of craving altogether.

As if summoned by my thoughts, the door opened and Vernal strode through with her usual smile. That was to say a scowl that bordered on murderous. I had the distinct feeling she'd been told to look after us by Raven, and that she didn't appreciate the task.

"Still alive?" she taunted.

"Yes."

Vernal's brow furrowed. "Still sane, too." She seemed surprised by that, probably rather fairly given what I'd been through. Four days of constant fighting while badly injured should have left me in a worse state than I was. "You think you're so fucking special," she hissed, throwing a chunk of bread at my face. I caught it easily, enraging her all the more. "You're-"

"Vernal," the man who'd come with her warned. He was passing food and water through to Lisa and being far kinder about it. "Raven wants him untouched. You know that."

"Untouched, but not unbroken."

"Uninjured, then. It's the same thing."

"Tch. Fine." Vernal scowled down at me. "Nothing to say he can't be pushed a little further, though. Not going to touch him," she assured the man quickly. "Just providing a little… motivation."

Vernal knelt and placed the bowl with the cooked fish inside on the floor a few feet away. It wasn't measured, but it was obviously out of my reach. I didn't try and grab it, refusing to give her the satisfaction.

"You and your temper," the man said. "Fine. But if anything happens to him, you're the one explaining it to the boss."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Vernal made to offer the bowl of clear water to me and then grinned, feigning a stumble that spilled a good four fifths of it onto the straw under me. "Oops. Well, you can suck that out I'm sure." The pathetic remainder was left on the floor of my cage. Vernal strolled back with her companion, leaving the room.

"You can have some of mine," Lisa said immediately, breaking the white meat into two with her fingers and holding some out to me. I made to refuse, but my empty stomach growled piteously. "Take it," she insisted with a small smile. "I've lived on less and you need it."

Shame pooled in me as I gave in to my hunger and took the proffered meat, laying it atop my bread. I had to hold my water bowl under hers as she rationed some out as well, sharing what meagre supplies we had. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to anger her."

"I know. All you said was `yes`. I'd say your very existence angers her."

More the fact I was alive, but close enough. I wasn't sure if I'd killed someone she liked in the ring or if she hated the idea of being made to look after us so much, but even then she focused her rage on me and left Lisa alone. I'd have called it personal except for the fact I'd never seen her before in my life. Munching my fish in silence, I watched the two remaining guards in the room as they sat at a table, chatting to one another and playing cards. Every couple of minutes one would glance over, but it was lazily. They knew they'd hear me burning my way out the cage, and there was no other way for us to get out. Only for Raven to let us out when she came for whatever it was she wanted.

"Lisa," I whispered.

Her eyes met mine quickly, one eyebrow raised. I nodded back, making a show of leaning down to rest my head on my arm, my face close to the bars beside her cage. Catching the hint, Lisa mimicked me, laying down on her side so that she faced me. Our cages were only a few inches apart, close enough to speak quietly. The guards never tried to stop us talking and had stopped paying attention days ago.

"What is it?" she asked, voice soft.

"I think I might have an idea."

"To get us out?"

"Maybe. It's risky…"

"Jaune, we're waiting to die at this point. I'll take any risk."

We really were. At this point, it was a toss up between Raven becoming impatient and killing us, the arena finishing the job on me or Vernal losing her patience. The common theme seemed to be that they, namely Raven, were waiting for something to happen. Likely waiting for something to happen to me.

"Vernal mentioned me being broken. I think they're actually trying to break me."

"For what? Information? They've not even asked you anything."

"It's something else then," I said. "Maybe they think I'll join them, maybe they want me to do something." Like summon Salem or make another wish. It seemed possible, and they'd no doubt rather have me die to Salem than one of their own. "Point is, I think the cages, fights and everything else is to try and break my mind. That's why they never let me have enough rest and never healed my injuries. They wanted me to be sick and delirious." I paused to let her take that in and then said, "I think I should give them what they want."

Lisa's eyes widened. "You mean fake it? Can you…?"

"I won't know without trying, but I think that if you could do all those speeches despite having a low Charisma, then I should be able to do this."

I'd always thought of my poor Charisma as something that held me back, but that was a fallacy. I'd been able to haggle and barter for the Guild with it being my lowest Stat, and Lisa was a low-level Farmer, yet was able to whip up a crowd with her passionate words. Charisma, like Resilience, helped, but it wasn't the be all and end all. Heroes with low Resilience could still stand up to difficult situations due to personal bravery and discipline. Lisa could still speak on a stage.

My acting might not be reinforced by my Charisma, but if I did a good enough job on my own, it might be enough. Better still, Raven and Vernal expected me to break, so I'd not even have to convince them of something they didn't want.

"I can still remember what it felt like in the arena," I explained, "I didn't break there, but I was breaking. I felt the symptoms." Despite my Resilience. It was high, ridiculously high, but that didn't make me immune to what Raven was doing. It only meant I could take more of it, and that she'd have to work harder and for longer. Even if the Resilience was willing, the mind had limits. "I think I might be able to mimic it."

Lisa nodded. Her eyes hardened. "What do you need me to do?"

"Help me sell it. I'm warning you in advance so you don't panic and give up hope, but you can help convince them if you play along. Act worried, make stuff up, call for help."

"I can do that. I'm a good actor."

"Good." I smiled weakly. "I'll start after our next nap, make it look more realistic."

"Good luck," Lisa whispered.

I had a feeling I might need it.

/-/

Saying I was going to act like I'd gone mad and doing it were two different things. I knew what the end goal was, what the final stage of my `breaking` would look like, but the problem was the transition. If I went from completely sane to stark raving mad, the guards might be a little suspicious, or just plain confused. I also doubted that `madness` would strike while I was asleep. I also didn't intend to go `raving mad` because I had a feeling that was too far. Raven wanted me addicted to the Exp, and that required at least the mental faculties to understand what Exp was and how I'd earn it. Instead, I tried to think of how someone addicted to alcohol or other substances might act.

As such, under Lisa's subtle supervision, I began to twitch.

I kept it slow at first, kicking my feet a little more, tapping my hands on the bars. Moving around and shuffling like I couldn't quite sit still. I started to rattle the cage after an hour or so of that, first by bumping against the bars, and then by kicking them with my feet.

More than once the guards came over to tell me to stop. First with the butt of a spear they used to poke me, but soon with thrown objects. After weathering the storm and continuing to fidget, the two gave up, talking louder to mask the noise.

Lisa nodded in a way that seemed to say `keep going`, even as she spoke, "Jaune. What's wrong?"

"Sorry," I mumbled, not quietly at all. "Just feeling cramped. Can't move much. It's not right."

For the sake of not looking too out of place, I toned down the fidgeting for half an hour or so. When two new guards came to relieve the old ones, I had to hide a smile as the first said, "He's starting to fray at the edges. Just ignore the noise he makes."

When the original guards left, I skipped a few stages. The new guards didn't have enough to go on, so they wouldn't notice it. I began to groan and grumble. I complained loudly to myself about not being able to move and then made a habit of tapping my hands together, as if I was trying to amuse myself or keep my hands busy.

When Vernal came back hours later, I forced myself to stare her in the eyes and ask, "Is it the arena?"

"Bastard." She kicked my cage harshly, making it rattle. "Did I say you could talk to me?"

I gritted my teeth. "I want to fight!"

Vernal paused. A small, cruel smile slipped across her face. "Yeah?"

"Let me fight in the arena."

"Raven is the one who gets to decide that. Tell you what, I'll ask on your behalf. Any chance to see you get stabbed is worth it in my book." Vernal tossed me some bread and this time didn't bother with any games over the fish. I made a show of tearing into the fish ravenously, despite that I wasn't all that hungry. "Heh. Like a fucking animal."

She gave the cage a final kick before she left, knocking my head back into the bars. I groaned and tried to kick back, an act of aggression I'd never dared show before for Lisa's sake. It caught Vernal by surprise, stubbing her toe.

"Ow! Son of a bitch!" Vernal brought her foot up, prepared to kick through the bars and into my face.

"Leave him alone!" Lisa suddenly cried, surging to the bars and my defence. "Haven't you done enough?"

"I've not done nearly enough." Vernal drove her foot down, aiming for my face. I shifted enough that it missed and hit my chest instead, then snapped a hand out to grab her belt through the bars. Vernal realised her mistake a second too late. "Shit!"

"DIE!" I screamed, dragging her in. Vernal's face collided with the bars and I grabbed her collar with my other hand, trying to pull her through the bars entirely. Her hands scrambled for her weapon, but she couldn't quite reach it. "I'll kill you," I hissed, "I'll kill you!"

A wooden pole slammed into the side of my head. Lisa screamed suddenly. The two guards had finally noticed what was happening and come over, both beating me across the head and arms, one with the haft of a spear, the other with a wooden baton. I made a show of holding on as long as I reasonably could, before a solid blow hit my temple and I slumped down, retching. My vision swam, and that was before Vernal kicked me in the face.

"Filthy dog!" she roared, kicking again. "Think you can kill me. I'll murder you!"

"Enough." One of the guards pulled her back, his arms under hers. "That's enough, Vernal. You're going to kill him."

"Damn fucking right I am!"

"Get her out," the other said, nodding to the door. He tapped my back with the spear's butt, staying out of reach of me himself. "He's not going anywhere. Tell someone else to come in, then find Raven."

The guard struggling with the wildly kicking Vernal grunted his agreement. Leaning back so that her feet were dragged off the floor, he bodily carried her out. Even with her levels and strength, there wasn't much the Rogue could do without footing.

"Not the wisest move you could have made," the guard left behind remarked.

"I want… to fight…" I rasped.

"Please," Lisa sobbed, actually managing to cry. The tears might not all have been fake, with her having to watch me be beaten like that. "He's had enough. Please, just leave him alone. He's not a threat."

"Yeah, yeah." The guard sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Thankfully, he didn't share Vernal's appreciation for pain and grumbled to himself as he walked back to his table. He came back with a bowl of water that he pushed through the bars with his spear. He was never foolish enough to come close enough to be grabbed.

Lisa took the bowl and then made a show of drawing me back to lean against the bars closest to hers, reaching her hands through and into mine, cradling my head. With her other hand, she brought the bowl to my lips. "It's okay," she whispered, "I've got you. Drink."

It took fifteen minutes or so for Raven to appear, and by that point Lisa had put the bowl down, though she still ran her fingers through my hair. Something I'd have found awkward in any other situation. Right now, with the bruises forming from the beating, the motion was soothing. It reminded me of my mother stroking my head when I had a fever. Lisa's hands were cool and soft.

Raven was the opposite. Her red eyes sought mine the moment she entered the room, but I kept mine on the wall behind her shoulder, hoping it made me look hazy eyed or unfocused. I caught her smile, however.

"Well, well, well. Vernal tells me you've been quite the naughty boy."

"She tried to kick him!" Lisa argued.

"And he tried to kill her, I hear." Raven crouched before my cage. Lisa's hands tightened, holding me protectively. "Why?"

With a grunt, I let my eyes focus on hers. "I wanted to kill her."

"Why? For what reason?"

"Because she's an ass and I don't like her."

Raven laughed. She threw her head back and laughed; a rich and hearty sound. "I think that's the best answer someone's ever given for wanting to kill someone. Is that all it is, however?"

"Yes," I said quickly, desperately. "Nothing more."

"Oh? I think there is something more."

The Exp lust. Or addiction. Whatever she wanted to call it. I wasn't sure how to emulate it, and instead decided to go the whole way. I thought of what I'd felt in the arena when I gained a level. I recalled the rush, the sensation of growing stronger. I even fought of Cinder, where I'd gained a heap of levels at once. Back then, the whole war situation and the grief of having killed her outweighed any positive feelings, but here and now, with my body genuinely exhausted and suffering, the memory was a tempting one.

Worse, like an addict thinking of what they were addicted to, I began to feel the same hunger again. Subtle, seductive. I didn't long for it and I didn't snap, not like I had in the full throws of it in the arena, but that desire must have shown on my face because Raven smiled.

"Yes. There it is. Vernal is quite a bit higher level than you. You'd probably get more than one level from killing her."

The excitement I bit back on wasn't entirely faked.

"Not that I'd let you. Vernal still has her part to play." Raven stood. "Still, it seems you're not enjoying my hospitality quite so much. Tell me. What can I do to satisfy you?"

"Let me out."

"I'm not prepared to release you just yet…"

"Not release," I said. "Let me out. Let me move. Let me fi- feel the sunlight."

"Let you fight?" Raven said, seeing through me. "Do you want to go into the arena again, Jaune? Do you want to taste the life and death struggle and the rewards that come from it?" She placed her face close to the bars. "Do you want the sweet kiss of Exp to push you over the edge and cause new strength to flow out of you. Do you want that? Do you long for it?"

As much as I was playing it up for her, my body reacted. Much to my shame, I felt myself harden. I growled through gritted teeth.

"I want it."

"Ha. It took a while. You were unusually resilient."

My blood froze at the word as I wondered if she knew the truth of that statement. She carried on, however, either not knowing what I did or not realising its significance.

"That said, you've already torn through quite a few of my Greycloaks. I'm not sure there are many left who would volunteer to fight you. Other than Vernal, of course." Raven tapped her fingers on the bars and watched me with an amused expression. Her eyes slid to Lisa, too, who hugged me and glared back. "Hm. There may be another way, but it will take a little time to organise. I'm sure you can wait until tomorrow."

"N-No. I want it now…"

"Tomorrow," she said again, standing. "And just think about the feeling, Jaune. Think about how it felt to level and savour it. Absence only makes the heart grow fonder." Turning away, Raven looked to the two guards, the one that had left to find her having accompanied her back. "Increase their rations. I want him well fed, and he'll only share it with her if you don't up hers as well. And I want you to deliver it. Vernal is not to see them without my supervision."

"Understood, ma'am," the first Greycloak said. "What should we do if she forces her way in?"

"Tell her that your orders come from me and that she will pay the price for breaking them. Angry as she is, she won't dare cross that line." Raven walked to the door, though she paused to look back to me one final time. "I'll see you tomorrow, Jaune. Try to hold on just a little longer."

For the rest of the day, I made sure to groan, kick, spill my water and generally act like someone deprived of something they desperately needed. All the while, Lisa whispered encouragements, tried to feed me like one might a baby and called out for the guards to "help him, please help him" to no avail.

That night, Lisa's eyes met mine through the bars of the cage. She smiled hopefully, but there was an undeniable tinge of fear to it. We could both see it was working, but there was no telling what Raven's next `stage` of the plan was, or what the morrow would entail. With the only other option remaining here until I genuinely did break, we didn't have much of a choice. Still, I wondered what game she was playing.

I prayed it wasn't a summoning.

/-/

For once, it was Raven who woke me up. She used her foot to do it, but unlike Vernal didn't kick or stomp. Rather, she placed her foot on my shoulder and rocked me back and forth, until my eyes blearily opened and met her own.

"Rise and shine, my little Blacksmith. I've a treat for you today."

Fear wormed its way under my skin, but I forced myself through it and tried to look interested.

"Eat first," she said, holding a bowl of meat and vegetables out to me. More fish, but now with onion, lettuce, carrot and some cauliflower. Simple vegetables, but ones I devoured hungrily. The added taste and texture was something I hadn't realised I missed.

"What do you want with us?" Lisa asked.

"With you, my dear, very little. You're just coming along for the ride."

"What do you want with Jaune, then?"

"It's not so much what I want as what he wants. Isn't that right?" Raven grinned towards me. "I've found a way for you to gain another few levels. Won't that be exciting?"

For her, maybe. I refused to acknowledge the sudden excitement I felt and instead focused on finishing my food. Raven didn't appear bothered by the lack of a response and called for more Greycloaks to lift our cages up. We were carted out the door once more, but for the first time, we were brought upward, up a flight of steps and towards what I hoped was the surface.

The corridors were much the same, however, wet stone walls that were lit by lanterns, no tapestries or carpets lining the walls or floors – more due to the moisture than anything. Some of it ran through cracks in the walls, though it drained below through slits cut into the corners of the corridor, where the wall met the floor. Where it drained to, I had no idea, but it was clear this was a place either hit by constant rain or close to the ocean. More likely the latter given that every meal consisted of fresh fish. The `Mirage Isles` I think she'd called it when announcing the fights in the arena.

I'd never heard of them.

The corridors subtly changed as we went up another flight of stairs. Suddenly, there were thick rugs in a royal purple, black and purple tapestries on the walls with the emblem of an odd flower on them, and, I noticed, a faint breeze coming from the side. There was a window, telling me we'd been brought above ground for once, and that Raven and the Greycloaks apparently didn't live in some subterranean dungeon. This was a stone building of some sort, the Greycloaks lair being an unusually labyrinthine basement.

Sadly, we were carried away from the window, and a door I was sure led outside. I tried to memorise the route nonetheless. Taken through another door, we met Vernal waiting glumly by a set of double doors, one of them pushed open. She scowled at me but didn't say a word, stepping into the room and pushing the other door open as well.

The interior was a largeish circular room with a stone floor. There were tapestries on the walls, but the floor was bare, but for a stone seat and some racks set aside with various tools in them. The roof was tapered to the right and led to an obvious opening in the wall that led outside, ventilating the room. The reason why was obvious to me, for in the centre of the room sat a fully equipped forge. This was a smithy's workshop.

"Combat isn't the only way for someone like you to earn your levels. Working at your craft isn't as efficient as fighting in the arena, but it's easier to find material than it is volunteers to die to you."

I wanted to ask her why, why she'd brought me here and what she wanted – but I was supposed to be broken, my will reduced to little more than a desire to earn Exp. Raven was giving me that. I let out a hungry sound and reached out towards the forge.

Raven chuckled.

My cage was carried towards the forge itself while Lisa's was held back, closer to the door. Raven made a show of shooing the guards away, hardly needing them to deal with me. She whispered something to Vernal as well, who nodded and hurried out.

"As I understand it, the Exp someone from the Labour Caste gets for doing their job depends on the difficulty of the task. In your case, the materials used. Is that right?"

"Yeah. I won't get anything from working with iron or steel anymore."

"Hm. That won't do. I'm trying to be a proper host, so you'll need something a little more… esoteric. Don't worry, I have something in mind."

Raven opened my cage and stepped back, letting me crawl out and stand. I took a moment to stretch my back and muscles, luxuriating in the feeling of not being trapped in so small a space. My back hurt, but it was a satisfying pain.

"I can make whatever I want here?" I asked, hoping I sounded sufficiently eager. "I can keep making and getting more Exp? Will you provide me material?"

"Not quite. Rare material is difficult to find, especially out here. If I'm going to put the effort in to find you ingots rare and powerful enough to have any affect on your Exp, I'll need to be… compensated."

This was it. My eagerness wasn't faked as I turned to her, "What? What do I need to do?"

Raven smiled. "Make me a sword."

The excitement died a quick death. Fury replaced it, crashing over me. For a moment I thought of leaping for her throat. That was it, a sword? All she wanted, the very reason she'd kidnapped and tortured me, was so that she could have a custom-made sword? Hadn't she considered walking up to a Blacksmith and asking for one? Offer a little coin?

"You're quite easily the strongest Blacksmith alive. The strongest in all of Remnant. No one can match your skill, your potential. I could travel the world and never find a Blacksmith your equal. Any sword you create would be especially powerful." She spread her arms. "I am Raven Branwen, the most powerful person in the world. No one can match my level, but the sad truth is that no equipment can match my level either. My blade has served me faithfully for many years and levels, but I've outgrown it. I need something better. You will create something better."

Ah. Suddenly, it made a lot more sense. I'd never really considered it because I was limited by what materials were available and, for the most part, any Blacksmith could work with them, but I was the best Blacksmith in the world at this point.

No wonder Ozpin had wanted to keep me close to Beacon, even after I'd been expelled.

The bigger question was, should I make a sword for Raven? She'd use it to kill obviously, but then, she'd still kill people if I didn't. Her current sword was good enough for that. She'd also kill me if I refused and expected me to be broken enough to agree without thinking of the consequences.

"Do this and I shall release you," Raven said.

"The sweet release of death?"

"So paranoid." Raven chuckled. "You're no threat to me, Jaune Arc. Even armed with the finest sword in existence, you wouldn't be able to face me. I've very little to gain from killing you, and much to gain from keeping you alive. You'll forever be only a portal away. It matters little if I keep you here or let you return to Vale. At least with the latter, I don't have to feed you or deal with Vernal's constant whining."

"And Lisa…?"

"Equally unimportant to me. Not even worth the Exp to a single one of my Greycloaks. She can go with you."

I didn't doubt that neither of us were important in the grand scheme of things, but I was less sure on whether she'd keep her word or not. On the one side, keeping me alive made sense. She could come back whenever she had material for a new weapon or some armour and force me to make it. I'd probably never be strong enough to resist her. On the other, she might kill me to prevent anyone else having access to equipment as fine as what I might make her.

Ultimately, I realised I might not have much of a choice. If I refused here, she'd put me back in the cage and continue the treatment. With my Resilience, I could last for a long time, but eventually I'd break. Or die. Neither option was appealing.

"I need material. And your sword, to base the design off."

Raven unhooked her weapon and threw it to me. I caught it under the guard, placing my other hand on the hilt. "You may draw it if you wish," she said. "Attack me if you want to but be aware that when I take it from your broken hands, I will kill her with it. If you are strong enough to kill me, however, you should. We're alone and I'm unarmed. You'll never get a better chance."

I drew the sword but did not attack her. Raven's laughter haunted me as I made my way to the forge, laying it down flat on the table beside it, ready to use as a reference for the new one I'd have to make.

Vernal arrived back with a crate carried between both hands. She placed it down near the forge, revealing a lump of some rock I'd never seen before. It was almost crystalline in appearance and looked incredibly cold to the touch.

"There was once a man who made a wish by Salem," Raven explained. "He, too, desired a powerful weapon. Salem brought this forth, claiming it was taken from a distant star. Rather unoriginally, we decided to call it Starmetal."

"What happened to the man?"

"The chunk fell from the heavens. I'm sure you can guess precisely whom it fell on. Technically, Salem claimed, it was a weapon. After all, is not a weapon something capable of slaying a man? This certainly did."

I bit back a sigh.

Raven heard it. "Her sense of humour leaves something to be desired, I agree. Still, the wish was fulfilled and the one making it dead. Since she left it behind, we decided to take it for our own purposes. It is stronger than any material we've found to date. I trust it will suffice."

I shivered as my fingers ran over the unnaturally smooth metal. There was a certain hum to it, a resonant vibration that travelled up my arm. I knew instinctively that I could forge with it, and that whatever I made would be of a unique quality. Quite possibly a unique item that Remnant would never see the like of again.

"I can make the sword."

"Good." Raven crossed her arms and sat atop Lisa's cage, her legs dangling over the edge. "I'll be watching, of course."

"It's not going to be quick. I'll have to melt it down. It might take hours."

"I've done many foolish things in my life but leaving a killer Blacksmith alone in a forge with equipment to make a weapon isn't going to be added to the list. Patience is naught but strength of mind." Raven looked to Vernal. "You, however, may leave."

"What? But Raven-"

"You may leave, Vernal."

The younger girl hesitated, hearing the steel in those words. She bowed her head and took a step back. "As you command, Raven. I'll go and train outside, if that's alright."

"Of course. Training is valuable. Go. I shall spar with you later if you wish it."

Vernal cheered up immediately. "Thank you, Raven." With a final sneer for me, the Rogue turned and left, closing the doors softly behind her.

Crossing one leg over the other, Raven gestured towards the forge. "It's time to earn your Exp."

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The forging process was one I fell into almost too easily. Comfortable and familiar, it let me imagine a world where I wasn't a prisoner making a weapon for the most dangerous person on Remnant. Only for a moment, of course. Raven's constant presence prevented me from losing myself entirely. I worked the Starmetal into a billet, bringing the forge to temperatures no normal coal could achieve. I had to keep it there through Stoke the Forge alone, and even then, it took an unnatural amount of time to break down. I didn't dare imagine how strong the material itself would be. As I worked, I considered my options.

Raven would have no idea what I was forging for a good portion of the process. I could make Crocea Mors from this, but even if I did, I'd have to face her with it. A good sword wouldn't account for the seventy or so levels that separated us, however. Raven thought I was somewhere between forty-eight and fifty, but I'd only gained four levels from my ordeal in the arena, reaching forty-seven. That still left sixty-five levels between us. My own level and a half again, almost.

Fighting her was out the question. Worse, even if Raven wasn't a Blacksmith, she wasn't an idiot either. Her sword was long and thin, so far different from mine in disguise that she'd be able to tell the difference long before I got to the heat-treating stage.

She might not kill me – whatever I made could be remade – but Lisa would suffer for my arrogance. Unable to fight her, unable to beat her, the only thing I could do was make the weapon.

Another option was to make it but make it flawed. Create a weakness that would not be immediately apparent, but which would cause the blade to fracture later. The problem there was that I wasn't sure how to go about that with this material. There was a good chance that even if I left a weakness in the blade, the Starmetal would be so strong that it wouldn't matter. Alternatively, it might be so reliant on a strong base that it shattered, revealing my trick immediately and leading to Lisa's death, or worse, torture.

Or, I could make the sword and trust in Raven's offer to release us, as far-fetched as it seemed. At the end of the day, it would still be a sword. If I ever had to face her, my unique Swordmaster Skills would let me destroy it. Any weapon I made her, I could unmake later.

"Is there a problem?" Raven called. "You've paused."

I winced. "Just considering the dimensions of your weapon. It's not something I've made before." I made a show of holding the billet over her weapon, measuring out the dimensions. Bringing it back, I began to hammer it into shape.

As I did, I concentrated on the Starmetal itself, heating a small amount under the hand I was using to hold it in place, having eschewed tongs in favour of my Passive, Fire from the Forge. Disguised under the rain of sparks, I used my thumb to smooth out a portion of the Starmetal, pushing some of the fluid metal under my wrist.

Concentrating, I used Engraving to engrave a line under it. And then repeated it sixty or seventy times, until the `engraving` was so deep that the metal was cut. The sliver of Starmetal fell, but I caught it with one hand and began to heat it again.

As I did, I rained blow and blow on the billet that was slowly lengthening, taking the form of what would be Raven's weapon. The Knight herself watched with a smile, pleased to see her new sword taking form.

Of the sliver of metal I'd taken, it had become red hot and entered a near-liquid state. Disguising the motion in bringing my hand up to wipe some sweat from my brow, I let the piece fall down my tunic. It landed on Blake's pendant, wrapped around it, moulded to it. Fused to it.

As Raven's sword continued to form, I took three more the same size, working them into the pendant, and then, when that began to look suspiciously lumpy, the chain itself. Touching the chain on my neck during another brief pause, I Engraved it to match the design of the locket, forming a shell of Starmetal around the little thing. Now a silvery colour instead of gold, I hoped that neither Raven nor Vernal had cared to pay attention to it, or that they wouldn't see under my tunic at all.

So lost was I in handling it that I didn't notice Raven approach, not until she touched my elbow. I jumped. "W-What is it?" I asked, praying she hadn't noticed.

"It is nearly complete?"

"Nearly. It needs to be tempered and quenched. The edge will then need sharpening."

"Before that, I understand you have a Skill to inscribe Rubes onto the weapons you make…"

My shock was palpable. How? How had she known? The only ones who knew that were the Guild, Ozpin and the King of Vale. I hadn't even told the Nobles since they didn't care for anything that wasn't related to my Swordmaster Class. Had someone talked? Or was it just that Ozpin had written the information down and a spy found it?

Or did Raven know something I did not? Something about Runesmithing in the first place? Either way, while she phrased it as a question, it was obvious she knew the truth and expected the answer to be a yes.

"I… can…"

"There is a Rune I would like imbued into the weapon."

"My knowledge of them is limited. I can do some basic ones for each of the Stats. That's about it."

Raven brought a piece of parchment from her pocket and unfolded it. "I would like you to inscribe this onto the blade."

The drawing was something done in charcoal, but with precise detail. It resembled an eye stood on its edge, pointing up vertically. Surrounding it was what seemed to be the spokes of a wheel. Four points of a compass were at the cardinal points, while five diamonds dripped past the southern edge, fanning out like some kind of flower.

I'd seen it before, but for some reason, this time, it gave me a headache just looking at it. Something about the layout, the spokes digging into the eye, made me feel uncomfortable, almost nauseous. It was the pattern that had been on my amulet, and the door in Vacuo that contained the temple Watts sacrificed people within.

Never once had I thought it might be a Rune.

"What does it do…?"

"That's unimportant. You will place it onto the blade." Her words brooked no argument and I nodded, indicating that she should place it down on the table beside me as my hands were too hot to touch the parchment.

Keeping my eyes locked onto the bizarre Rune, I activated my Engraving Skill and began to etch it into the metal, cutting the curves and the spokes with my mind, infusing the Rune with power. It glowed an eldritch green on a sword slowly turning a vivid hue of blue. The sword was finished with a crash – a literal crash inside my skull – as the Exp all came in one devastating blow.

This metal was otherworldly. It was impossible for it to exist on Remnant. My eyes flashed angrily as a level came and went. Two. Three F-Four.

My legs buckled under me, toppling me backwards. The sword clattered onto the floor and hissed on the stone tiles as I gripped my head, riding out the sudden changes to my body. Four levels, four levels and all the Stats associated. I'd gained as many levels before, and all at once, but never before had I been on the verge of collapse due to my weakened body and overall lack of health. It felt all the worse for it. All the more a delicious experience. Pleasure and pain. Growth.

All this time I'd been pretending to be unaffected, but I was. I was affected more than I dared admit, especially to Lisa. The feeling of gaining levels, now that I knew to look for it, to experience it, was incredible. A faint, satisfied groan escaped my lips. Raven was right. There was nothing on Remnant that felt quite like this. No pleasure so intrinsically perfect.

More than that, something was coming to me. A Skill. A Blacksmith Skill, I instantly knew, for I'd levelled as one and that – I felt – was how it worked. Four levels as a Blacksmith in the blink of an eye, not to mention all the forging Raven had put me through in the arena. Always throwing me metal I had to forge into a weapon myself. The last four levels especially had come while I was working a Rune into this Starmetal. My Path determined what Skill I would receive based on what I spent more effort doing.

In that moment, I'd been working on a Rune. Trying to understand its secrets.

My Path recognised that.

My eyes tingled, burned and then felt incredibly cold, like a spring breeze was being blown directly into them. The world was the same and yet slightly different, muted of colour and detail, fuzzy like I was seeing through a thin curtain. The sword before me glowed brightly, however, and that light came from the Rune down near the bottom of the blade, above where the cross guard would go.

"Seal", the Rune read. "Contain".

My eyesight snapped back into reality a moment later, the light fading, the understanding fading, but still there, on the edge of my vision, waiting to be activated once more. A Skill which seemed to work on vision alone, activated by will.

Runesight

A hand appeared before me, grasping the blade by the tang and picking it up. "Perfect," Raven breathed, swinging it. Without the hilt, it was awkward, but she compensated for it easily, testing the balance and weight. "A perfect weapon for a perfect fighter." The blade swished through the air with a light whistle. The edge hummed, threatening to cut through whatever it touched. "No other weapon like this exists on Remnant, nor will a weapon like it ever exist."

Raven brought it before her and looked at her reflection in the Starmetal's surface.

"With this, I might even kill Salem herself."


Yep. What Raven wanted was a weapon. Kind of mundane when you think about it, but also kind of obvious. Why kidnap the world's best Blacksmith? Well, for what other reason than what he can create for you? Forged of metal wished into existence through Salem herself.

As a heads up, I've tried to make it really clear this and the last chapter that Jaune is being kept in a constant state of being exhausted, in pain and sick. I.e. not at his best and definitely not healthy. I feel like I've mentioned it enough, but if I haven't then here it is, mentioned again. Important to understand it as it's the core reason why the levelling is hitting him so hard here, making him stumble, etc. In past cases where he levelled he was tired from fighting, but his body still had the strength to stand. Here, he does not.

No other PoV this week as we'll be getting back to the others with the next chapter in a bigger way. And, as promised, here is a big chunk of Stats.


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Jaune Arc

Level 51 (+9)

Blacksmith

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Str: 188 (+47) (A)

Con: 147 (+37) (B)

Dex: 54 (+20) (C, formerly D)

Agi: 91 (+31) (B, formerly C)

Int: 83 (+18) (C)

Wis: 132 (+32) (B)

Cha: 23 (+4) (D)

Res: 220 (+52) (A)

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Passive Skill

-Fire from the Forge-

Immunity to heat, flames and associated damage caused from his forging process.

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Known Active Skills

-Stoke the Forge-

Generate intense heat in the hand for a short period of time, capable of super-heating metal to forging temperatures without the use of a forge.

-Quench-

Rapidly cool metal-based material to achieve a hardening effect during the forging process. Quench can only be used in metallurgy, as opposed to Stoke the Forge, which can generate heat in the hand irrespective of what it is then used on.

-Runesmithing-

The ability to etch Runes onto weapons, the effect of which is determined by the Rune itself. Limited to a single Rune per weapon.

-Engraving-

Engrave intricate patterns into metal-based material without the use of tools. Speed of technique determined by complexity and size of design.

- Purify Object –

Remove Curses from Cursed Objects, Weapons or Equipment. Imbue items to resist and repel Demonic Taint, and effects associated with it.

- Runesight –

Activated Skill that grants the ability to identify and understand Runes.

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Almost ten levels!? Say what you will about the Raven Branwen School of Intense Physical Training (and there's a lot to say, especially the lack of customer service) but man, it gets results. Still not getting a tip, though. That member of staff, Vernal, is the worst waitress ever. Beds were also lumpy and rooms were cramped.


Next Chapter: 14th January

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur