So the white fang issue was still an issue, but I didn't want to hastily join them and first tried to do some research but without a scroll that left only with asking random people on the streets.
And the consensus was a net positive for the white fang. Menagerie doesn't idolize them but has them in high regard as protectors of Kuo Kuana, as they not only supposedly fight against the unjust treatment of faunus but they keep the Grimm at bay.
And those who were not native from Menagerie were rather neutral, as they only attacked Schnee's property.
Even I couldn't help but feel vindicated only because the Schnee suffered.
Their reputation is just that bad.
There are some mixed feelings in my opinion.
I guess we should give them the benefit of the doubt, but still follow through with my plan and see how deep the rabbit hole goes. Would that saying be considered offensive now?
I shake off all those thoughts from my daydreaming and keep watching Levi growing more flustered as her first catch fight with all its might.
Levi and I pretty much spent the past couple of days learning more about each other than the fishing lessons. She is fun to hang around with and is very cute to see her get all flustered whenever she fails at putting in practice her lessons.
And I finally learned that she is a lynx, not a cat. It makes sense why she got offended for failing to recognize her heritage because I would too be offended if the same thing were to happen to me, but my status only says 'feline faunus' so I just accepted that I'm a cat faunus, is easier that way.
"Now you need to spin the reel slowly but steadily. If you go too fast, you risk the cord snapping and if you go too slow, then the fish will get away. There must be a balance between the two." I say as I watch Levi slowly lose more ground with her catch. At this rate, it will gain its freedom back.
She tries to spin the reel, but for every loop she manages to complete, she gets pulled closer to the sea. "How can… it be so strong?!" she yells as she plants her foot and pulls back.
Sadly, that is a bad call as the unique sound of snapping cord is heard and Levi almost falls on the ground, but I quickly catch her back.
"And it snapped…" I sigh as the unique ripples disappear between the waves of the sea, it could have been her first catch and the perfect moment to celebrate her progress but that idea is at the bottom of the sea along with the victorious aquatic animal.
"Ugh! So frustrating!" She stomps her feet on the ground and tries to throw the rod out on the ocean, but I quickly stop her from following through as it is rented.
I wish I could have the freedom to lend mine or buy one, but I still need to save up money for the scroll of my dreams, browse through the dustnet and waste my time on social media.
I lower the fishing rod and tie a new lure on the tip. "Well, you know the saying 'practice makes perfect'." I move closer to the edge and prepare myself to cast it out.
A smirk forms on my lips as I catch her pouting with her arms crossed with a sidelong glance .
"Like this." I watch the lure disappear into the distance before falling into the ocean. I should probably strike a pose just to show off even more.
"WHO THE FUCKS THREW THIS HOOK?!" A screaming head popped out from the sea along with a hand keeping a tight grip on the cord, preventing me from dragging it back.
"...shit." I curse as I watch the aquatic faunus swim to the coast after noticing me.
I become torn between running or staying, but when I turn around, Levi is standing with her arms wide open, preventing me from fleeing the scene.
"I must commend you Ma'iq, you got quite the catch." She says with a mischievous grin.
With my escape blocked, I look back for the approaching faunus who, much to my dismay, is already standing in front of me, holding the lure to my face.
"You think it is funny to fish in a forbidden zone?!" He shouts, revealing his fins making him look more intimidating.
I gulp. "Forbidden zone?"
He points at a floating white beacon. "See that, you asshole?! From that point onwards, you can't fish or you will end up hurting someone!"
I take a quick glance at the beacon calmly floating on the ocean. "I thought it was a marker for boats. You know… to not get too close to the shore."
"I will mark your face if you don't leave." He warns and goes far enough to clench his right hand into a fist.
I frantically nod and grab the rest of my things before leaving the place, along with Levi. I was in the wrong. There was no basis to complain or resist.
"What a bust'' I let out a sigh of defeat, looking back at my now banned spot with so much wasted potential. "At least things didn't get violent."
Just my luck when I decided to go to a different spot almost got me into deep trouble. But an angry person is better than getting into trouble with the police.
"Don't worry about it. There are many other places for our lessons! Besides, we now have all the mornings for ourselves. Wanna have some fun?" She pats my back, trying to cheer me up.
"You have a good point. I can teach anywhere and I deserve a break. Just help me get all of this to my home." I hand her my fishing rod while I carry the other rod and the basket that has barely any fish inside.
We headed straight to my home, and it was quite the walk, but with her around, time wasn't an issue as she knew how to keep a conversation besides teasing me for my mistake.
Despite my room being relatively cheap, the zone where it was built wasn't bad or as grim looking as the shelter's neighborhood. But unlike other homes of Kuo Kuana, my home didn't have a garden or had much green around, as it was a large block of buildings built next to each other.
Cheap and affordable housing, not a luxurious place but good enough to call home.
"Home sweet home." I unlock the door and drop my fish pole on the wall as I need to store the lone fish in the freezer. Ice dust powered the small fridge to prevent food from spoiling.
"Looks kinda empty." Levi comments as she carefully places the second pole on a corner before heading inside to check my home.
"I have enough to go by, and it is a temporary place. I'm not gonna waste money until I get a better and probably permanent place to stay." As I open the fridge, I speak with honesty and let the cold wind refresh me.
Besides, furniture can be ridiculously expensive and moving cost grow exponentially with them. It is just better to adapt everything that was included when renting the place, which was enough.
"Mmmm" She frowns as she keeps looking around.
[Affection decreased with Levi Fang by 2, 10/100]
I turn to look at her.
'Fucking really?'
I too feel disappointment. She didn't seem the type to care about it.
"Hey what's that?" Her attention lands on my working desk where I left my knitting tools out in the open, and the embarrassment immediately kicks in, making me look away.
"Those are….my practice tools." I hesitate to fully answer, as it is weird for a guy to be knitting. I don't try to judge, but the general consensus tends to judge badly no matter what.
She only giggles and grabs the needles, along with my unfinished work, for a better look. "I didn't know you enjoyed knitting. I kinda expected to find weights or a boxing bag. You look the type, after all." She returns the piece of yarn back to the table and shifts her attention to my single bed.
I let out a long-drawn sigh as I closed the fridge. "You aren't wrong, in a way. It would be nice to have dumbbells to keep these biceps in shape." I flex my arms to show off, but she giggles in response. "But I wanted to learn something different and I'm planning to learn how to play an instrument in the future." I answer truthfully, but mostly because I am curious if musicians are part of the job system.
"You should try the guitar." She playfully pretends to play an air guitar.
I stop at her suggestion and think about the cost of owning one, "Sure, it is a pretty popular instrument last I've heard." I return my attention to the sink and thoroughly wash my hands.
[Affection increased with Levi Fang by 1, 11/100]
I wipe my hands with the towel and hang it back on the wooden bar from the wall, "And I'm done. Where do you want to go, Levi?"
She gleams a smile, "To eat ice cream, of course!" The lynx quickly leaves my humble home and waves me back.
Since I don't want to be left behind, I exit my home and lock the door before running to catch up with her.
Neither of us is tired from all the running, but the sun did make us thirsty. Thankfully, the plaza is a busy place made to cater everyone needs for an enjoyable day. And a nice-looking ice cream shop would be our solution to fight the heat.
However, as we approach the store, Levi's hand shakes my shoulder as she points in a specific direction. "Look! Is Ghira Belladonna!"
Listening to her words, I turn my gaze and frown when I find a tall, muscular man in the middle of a crowd waving and shaking hands with everyone. "Isn't he the city leader or something? Why is he here?" I ask, rather confused. It might sound bad, but higher ups don't mix with the common people as far as I'm concerned unless it is to gather support.
"Well, yeah… but he likes to take strolls around the city and give a public speech, if possible." She scoffs, "But we aren't here to talk about the chieftain!" She points at the ice scream store where a guy came out with a large frozen drink.
"Buy me strawberry with vanilla!" She exclaims as I enter the shop.
It is very clear that I'm the one paying for it or she would have accompanied me inside or given me some lien at least.
So I pull my wallet and pay for two ice cream cups, my choice being vanilla with cookies n' cream. With the digital wallet, I only need to do a single scan and everything is paid, truly convenient and time efficient.
We sat together on a metal bench under the shadow of a palm tree after handing her the cup.
Her ears perk up whenever she takes one bite from it.
And it is good ice cream. I should buy more when I get another chance.
"So, what do you do in your free time? I have only seen you work all day." Her question makes me look at the sky for a moment as the memories slowly come back.
"Well, just now I can give myself the freedom to do other things besides working, since I didn't exactly have that much free time after arriving at Kuo Kuana." It was a very confusing time for me trying to adapt to the new things that made little sense.
"Why is that?"
'This crazy and unreliable gamer system' I wanted to answer.
"I got robbed clean and thrown into a dumpster so I had to work every day and all day just to make ends meet for the first month." I truthfully answer.
"Oh…" She looks down.
"I should have been more careful, but there isn't much to complain about now. I got a decent room for myself and good food on the table every day." Before giving a self-mocking smile, I shrugged. "The very first day really sucked."
"I can't imagine how it feels… wait, does that mean you aren't from here?" She leans closer in curiosity.
I nod. "Yup, I come from the mainland. One of the many villages from Vacuo."
Not the nicest of childhoods, I may add, probably why I remember so little about besides living another day in a forsaken dessert.
"Wow, that's like half a world away." She says in awe and takes another spoonful of her dessert.
"Yeah, it was quite the journey to reach Menagerie. Getting a ticket to Vale without getting attacked or the journey to the coastline to finally set sail for Kuo Kuana and hope no aquatic Grimm attacked on the way here. Like trains are more than capable of defending themselves, but boats?" I let out a dry laugh, "Pray that the captain hired experienced hunters."
An army of Beowolves, or colossal Grimm looking birds attacking your ride? Sit down and enjoy a free drink. A single gigantic sea serpent Grimm showed up on your voyage? You can kiss your ass goodbye.
"So you went to Vale?" Her face lit up. "What is it like over there?"
I quickly shake my head, "Not really, I just passed through Vale before taking another train at the major station. But even from a distance, I can say it is really big."
"Aww shucks." She looks away with a pout.
"You want to go to Vale?" I ask.
"Of course I do!" She happily exclaims but quickly calms down as some people turned to look at her in confusion. "I mean Menagerie is nice and all, but there isn't much to do here. Compared to Vale, Kuo Kuana is a village. I want to see the enormous buildings, big cars, variety of food, entertainment and so much more!"
So she is the country girl wanting to see how big the world really is.
Kinda like me.
"Also, I want to become a pilot." She finally adds.
"That's interesting." I take one spoonful of vanilla. "An airship pilot, right?"
She nods and points at the blue skies, "Yup, the skies might be infested with Grimm, but it would still be amazing to watch everything from above!"
"Doesn't the White fang offer something similar?" I ask.
She shakes her head as her top ears fall in disappointment. "Not really, I looked into it and they only teach how to drive a bike or car at most."
It surprises me that she considered joining the White fang for something so simple as piloting school. Maybe my reasons for joining don't sound so crazy now. "Oh, that's disappointing to hear."
She shrugs and takes another bite. "Yeah, it sucks. But it doesn't surprise me, like I think I only saw an airship pass around here like two times in my entire life."
"Kuo Kuana might not be as advanced as the other kingdoms, but still is a nice place to live." I say, recalling my experiences on the island. I highly doubt the other kingdoms invested in extensive welfare programs for the less fortunate people.
She rolls her eyes and leans back on the bench. "I didn't say it isn't but if I want to be a pilot, Vale is my only option. My parents promised to help me with the tuition costs."
"You aren't wrong to say that, Vacuo… is a mess. Atlas will arrest you for the slightest offense, and Mistral will very likely kick you into the slums. Vale is your only viable option."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." She deadpans.
I force a smile, "Good luck?" I slowly give her a thumb up.
She only giggles and lightly punches my arm.
We continued eating our ice creams and shared a couple of anecdotes. The fishermen's crew had lots of stories to share, after all.
With the ice cream cup totally empty, it is only natural to throw them into the bin. Good riddance that one of them was very close to the bench.
Levi got up to stretch her arms before spinning around, her eyes look down and her smile turns into a mischievous grin, "Thank you for the ice cream, Ma'iq!" She hastily leaves, mixing with the crowd.
[Affection increased with Levi Fang by 4, 15/100]
I finally took notice of my tail swishing as it was hitting the bench hard enough to make sounds. Of course I grabbed it to stop it from doing more embarrassing stuff and pray others didn't see it.
I really wish my tail didn't act on its own.
I took the opportunity to buy more yarn and rest before my heading to my shift since I was in the middle of downtown. And it was time to try something new with my weaver job.
"Time to work…" I sit on my chair and dump all the additional supplies on my desk so they have easy access because I had a feeling that I will need a lot of it for what I plan to accomplish tonight.
I grab the needles along with the incomplete piece of cloth and start my work, not bothering to check the time.
Loop and go down.
Probably more than a thousand times.
I was practically moving on auto-pilot.
When I finished the first ball of yarn, I tied the end with the next one and resumed my knitting.
[Novice weaver increased to lv 5!]
I smiled when the notification appeared and quickly dismissed it, as I wanted to appreciate my very first work to the full extent.
A long multi-colored knitted scarf.
I quickly wrap it around my neck and let out a satisfied sigh. A scarf might not be ideal for a tropical city where most of the time it is summer temperature and the mixture of color makes it hideous to look at.
But the scarf represents the beginning of an aspiring craftsman ready to step into the big leagues. And being capable of making and repairing my own clothes is a long-term investment as my money no longer needs to be budgeted around it.
I grabbed the remaining red yarn ball and proceeded with the next idea that comes to mind: the weaver job is not tied to merely clothes after all.
Why not start with something cute?
But I should try my hand at tailoring since the book also taught me the basics, but I tried knitting first as it was easier.
However, taking a glance at the clock stopped me from going forward with my ideas, as there was time left for a decent sleep.
AN: Huh, RWBY Ice Queendom just started. Time sure flies. I hope they fill all the plot holes they left on the original and I heard that the studio is pretty good so the franchise is in good hands, so let's see how this ends up. Though I can see the complaints, skipping some content and fights like Glynda's or the train hijack.
Don't forget to fav and follow if you liked the story so you don't miss the next chapter!