Training under the White fang wasn't exactly what I came to expect from a political/military organization because it felt more like training for a team sport. Blake didn't want me to spend any night inside the camp and she oversaw my training, but in empty places, away from the rest of the trainees.
She went so far as to even arrange transport that would take me very early in the morning and take me back when we were done with her training regime. And something that caught me by complete surprise was that my rent was no longer an expense I needed to worry about.
Blake didn't tell me any of that. I just learned as the days passed, especially when the time to pay for my room came to be and the manager explained how I was exempt.
While I'm thankful, I am also very confused about the lengths she went to help me.
However, those benefits barely helped with my motivation to continue the entire plan to join the White Fang, since I didn't gain any extra strength, nor did I gain any skills. I could sum it all up in a simple checklist. Assist for the morning training session, getting beaten up and going to sleep only for the next day to go through the same experience.
At least I used some free time to keep improving my weaver job and have more than enough confidence to declare out loud that I can fix my clothes by myself, leaving no mark. Not like it matters in the grand scale of things.
Overall, my motivation or drive to move forward is at its lowest point.
Reason why is that I am fishing again on my usual spot. It feels pointless to continue something if there is no gain. Why suffer and work hard when I can focus on what I already have and can improve further?
It is unknown to me what Blake will think or react about skipping classes, but that's a worry for a future which doesn't affect my present. Maybe I am destined to remain as level one until I grow old and die.
What a tragic but ironic end.
"Aren't you supposed to be training with the White fang?" The sweet voice of a friend breaks me away from my depressing thoughts.
"Yeah, but my new instructor is kinda aggressive, and she packs a punch, so I just want to fish rather than get beaten to the ground. Again." I lazily turn to look at Levi's calm expression.
My attention immediately returned to my fishing pole as I felt a strong tug forward.
A big one fell for it.
Following the same steps, like always, I am able to easily win the struggle and bring ashore a green fish the size of my arm, which I quickly put off of its misery by whacking the head then throwing it on the open basket.
"Show off." Levi approaches with a smirk, "Now is my turn." She takes the rod from my hands and casts it out at the edge.
I watch the lure sink into the ocean and then look back at her.
"So… learnt something interesting?" I awkwardly ask, since I am not teaching her for today and being disconnected from the world news, it is a bit hard to come up with new topics.
She rolls her eyes and turns at me with a knowing smile. "You should really swallow your pride and let me help you buy a scroll, Ma'iq."
"You know that I cannot do that. It will set you back with your tuition savings." I would feel like an asshole if I allowed her to use her hard earned money on something so small, besides with no rent to pay, I only need a little more time to finally buy one.
My reply makes Levi look at me with a frown, "Don't be a hero now, it doesn't suit you."
I don't say anything and look back at the sea.
Just in time to catch the sight of the cord pulling really and bending the pole so fast that Levi doesn't notice until it is too late and the cord snaps.
Her face looks at the damaged tool with incredulity for long seconds before her cheeks redden and fume with anger.
"Dammit!" She stomps the ground several times.
I too would be frustrated and sulking if I were in her shoes, since it was too fast to do something.
"Oof, that was very quick, even for me." I chuckle and take my fishing rod back for a quick fix.
Levi only grumbles and sits on a rock with her arms crossed for a short moment before she pulls out her scroll and starts texting on it.
Knowing her personality is probably for the best let her vent as I finished the knot on the spare hook. Is a bit hilarious that Levi cost me quite the number of lures, but I do not blame her or get mad since they are cheap to replace.
Besides, she is really cute when flustered.
Giving a quick glance at my half-full container, I deliberate between continuing catching more or close it to be done with the day.
Not a hard choice as I kick the lid closed and left my fishing pole next to it before sneakily approaching Levi, hoping to catch what she is doing with her scroll, since she usually never pulls it out unless it is something big.
But that idea crumbles as she covers the screen and looks up to me with a smug smile and a raised brow.
I try to salvage the situation as if my original intention was to stretch my limbs while muttering whatever came to mind, causing her to snort. "So prideful to refuse help, but shameless enough to peek."
I tug my shirt collar while nervously laughing. I am way too curious for my own good.
"Since you are that curious, then you should know that the Vytal festival is getting close, and as ever, the champion of Mistral is the spotlight."
That intrigues me quite a bit. It is always a good time to watch hunters duke it out in the arena, but the champion is a bit hazy when I think about it. "The champion of Mistral? He must be really strong then."
"Of course she is." Levi corrects me and shows me the picture of a red-haired girl wearing a set of bronze armor on her scroll. "I watched one of her fights on dustnet and she beat a hunter with a single move. Like she just stood there until the other got close and she sent him flying out of the arena with her shield!"
I picture the fight in my mind. While it is an amazing show of strength, it could also be a bit anticlimactic as it defeats the purpose of watching a fight, long build up and excitement for it to end in a single move.
And my lack of a device to watch the oncoming fight puts me down, even when I still had a scroll in my possession; villages spread all over the deserts of Vacuo didn't exactly have a reliable connection or proper signal to speak of.
"Cheer up! If you don't save enough before the festival, you can always come to my home to watch it!" Levi tries to cheer me up as my sudden negativity clearly didn't go unnoticed by her.
"I will hold you on that."
"Ma'iq Rakhan." A stern voice calls out my name from behind, making me freeze in place and shivers run down over my spine.
"...shit." I slowly turn around to face the very pissed faunus girl with amber eyes glaring daggers at me.
"The white fang isn't kind to deserters." She states and closes the distance in a blink, standing right in front of me like a looming threat ready to blow up.
I force a painful smile, trying to appear innocent. "Technically, I'm not an official member of the white fang. So technically it is not desertion, just a…. unofficial break?"
My reply makes my instructor growl in displeasure while Levi tries to muffle her snickering, feeling both sorry and amused by my current predicament.
[Affection with Blake Belladonna decreased by 1, 01/100]
[Affection with Levi Fang increased by 1, 16/100]
That is still a terrible trade.
"I'm sorry for skipping my daily beating?" She only got infatuated even more by my terrible apology, "Fine, I will go. Levi, please keep my stuff safe."
Her ears perk up and slowly save her scroll in her shorts, "I don't know…" She turns her gaze with a teasing smile, her head slowly nudging to the direction where I stored everything.
With the clock ticking, I do not put up any resistance and accept her demands, "You can keep some fish as compensation!" I throw her my spare keys, which she catches mid air.
"Gladly!"
I don't really worry about her potentially stealing from me and my money is safely stored in my wallet that I always carry around.
[Affection with Levi Fang increased by 1, 17/100]
I dismiss the notification as my mind is more preoccupied with Blake dragging me back to our training. She has quite the strong grip, I may add.
In dreary silence as she takes me away to a more empty place only makes me more nervous than necessary, the little care and carefree attitude gone as the future now is present.
"You know that I had to lie in your absence, right?" She releases my hand before sharply turning around, her voice expressing how irritated she is.
"Okay? I don't know why you would do that, but I guess you have my thanks?"
She is really going to so many lengths to help me, but why?
"Are you going to take things seriously?" Blake finally snaps. In her amber eyes I could see the fury and the desire to punch me.
[Affection with Blake Belladonna decreased by 1, 00/100]
Why am I antagonizing her again?
She is literally paying for my living expenses.
Even then, I have a lot of repressed thoughts I can finally divulge.
"I don't see the point, Blake. These days have only been beating after beating what I'm supposed to learn from that?" I sigh as I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Is not nice to wake up in the morning only to return with a bruised body at night for practically no reason."
My young instructor flinches and looks away. "… I want to improve your reaction time." She answers after a moment.
I shake my head, her answer failing to address the issue. "There are better ways than just being punched in the face. I'm not a thing that you can throw around until it breaks."
"...You are right. Is it just that this is my first time ever training someone." Her honest answer catches my attention, maintaining my silence to let her continue, "I read in a book that this was a good way to learn as fast as possible."
I look incredulously at her after she finishes.
What sort of book would teach something so wrong? Even myself with no teaching experience was able to teach the basics to Levi in the art of fishing.
"Was it a book about training and how to train others?" I dare to ask, yet the answer is already in my mind when she bits her lower lip.
"No…" Her ears flatten as she shakes her head.
"Now it all makes sense…" I let out a hollow laugh. Blake has been trying to train me like those protagonists from movies and fantasies. "Well, I don't blame you. We all need to start from somewhere but at least I know you weren't doing that out of malice."
The brunette suddenly perks up and grabs something from her belt.
"I wanted to give you this."
She hands me a pair of leather gloves, but they weren't only leather gloves, but each of them had three long metallic claws on top of the knuckles and wrists.
How I didn't notice them hanging on her belt all this time?
"These claws… are for me?" Even then I won't question or reject her gift, she appears excited.
She is usually all reserved and serious.
"You need a weapon. Even if you are decent with unarmed combat, it is a bad idea to fight the Grimm without a weapon. This is the best I could come up with that might fit your style."
A pang of guilt digs deeply into my heart when I take the pair and strap them tightly in my hands.
I should have spoken up before, voice my concern rather than suck it up and let it fester, "... I'm sorry for being a problem too."
I lower my head in shame. We both caused a bad misunderstanding.
"Is okay, I didn't take your feelings into consideration." She holds out her hand, which I want to take and shake, but my sharp new claws are in the way. Fact that she soon realizes and looks away with a faint blush of embarrassment.
Even with the uplifting mood kinda ruined, I gave my thumbs up. "We will do better from today onwards."
-Later-
In an empty spot, I get to familiarize myself with my new weapons, and compared to the swords, they felt right in my hands. Slashing the air never felt so natural and fluid, or maybe it is thanks to my giddiness to test them on something.
My enthusiasm for a test run not failing to go under the notice of my sole instructor as she decides to take me to another place.
I am already accustomed to walking around with her, so I pay little mind to the destination, or that was my belief until I saw the wall of Kuo Kuana standing proud and strong.
"This isn't the direction to the camp." When I look around, the scenario is quite different from all the other places I've visited so far.
"You are right. I have something much better planned." Blake heads to the small door and pulls out the key, giving us both access to the wild jungle beyond the safety of the city walls.
It feels illegal to do so, but I can't lie but feel excited to see where it leads me.
We venture deeper into the jungle until we reach an open area where we stop.
"Close your eyes and focus." She orders before I could question or check my surroundings.
I obey her words and willingly enter the world of darkness while trying to focus on whatever I am supposed to focus.
She didn't give me specifics after all.
But soon I find the target as her hand gently grabs my shoulder and starts to apply pressure, the effects drastically changing in seconds as a warmth sensation spreads through my entire body. It started slow as it was trying to find something within me, but soon picked up speed when it found the way and grabbed whatever it was supposed to be and pulled it forth.
My eyes shot open as I gasped for air, my legs trembling but still capable of barely supporting my body as I staggered back, but Blake quickly grabbed my hand to stop me from falling.
"...what was that?" I croaked. My senses and strength slowly coming back to me.
However, my vision catches the sight of my disoriented teacher having difficulty to remain standing.
Instinctively, my hand reaches forward to catch her before she collapses, but she raises her hand to stop me while the other rubs her temples.
"I'm fine. I just never tried to unlock someone's aura before." She replies as she regains her composure.
It must have taken a big toll on her.
"Wow… I don't know what to say."
"Is okay, that's the least I could do to make up for all those… fights." She replies with a hint of regret.
Such drastic change must have been recorded or done to my body and only one thing can specifically tell me the immediate changes..
'Status'
Ma'iq Rakhan
Race – Feline Faunus
Age 17
Level – 1 (0%)
Mentor – Blake Belladonna
Apprentice – None
HP – 370 [45 regen per minute]
MP – 1500 [350 regen per minute]
SP – 1700 [200 regen per minute]
STR – 22
END – 30
DEX – 25
INT – 20
WIS – 20
CHA – 25
LCK – 10
What. The. Hell.
Why did unlocking my aura increase my stats?
Even if it was barely anything in raw numbers, my MP had a ridiculous 50 percent increase!
I have gained so much in a matter of seconds, how can I not be grateful?
"No still, thank you. I can cook you a nice dinner for you to apologize as well."
"Don't get so overworked is not a big deal." She rolls her eyes, but I still notice the corner of her lips slowly forming a smile.
"So what's this place?" I point at my surroundings, trying to look for anything to give me an idea for the answer.
"Menagerie wild jungle. And Grimm territory." She doesn't hold back punches with the truth.
"Grimm?!" I exclaim, frantically checking my surroundings again, only to be met with a very empty jungle with the occasional bird chirping.
"One of the many places where we train our members to fight against these monsters."
"Shit." I hastily put on my weapons and strap them tightly around my wrist. I don't want them falling off in the middle of a fight.
However, Blake gives me a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, the Grimm in this place are very weak and if worse comes to worse, I will help you escape."
I finish arming myself and check the trees, "Okay… shit, so don't you think that fighting Grimm after getting my weapon might be a bit too far?"
Her eyes go wide for a moment before she nods, "I would have agreed with you, but I saw your movements when you were familiarizing yourself with them. You have natural talent with them and with your aura now unlocked, is more than enough to join the oldest war on Remnant."
"But I just got my aura moments ago." I feel myself deflate, it feels way too soon for me.
The brunette pats my shoulder with the same reassuring smile to give me some confidence back, "I believe in you."
Soon after, she jumps up and sits on top of a tree, leaving me all alone on the ground.
I try to swallow my worries and frantically check my surroundings for anything that moves. Even the minimal sound makes me jump in fright.
I must look like a coward, but the Grimm are dangerous creatures and my only defense is a pair of metallic claws and my aura.
I don't know why Blake thinks that trial by fire is an effective method of training, but she put her faith in me so I shouldn't disappoint.
Yet all of my thoughts become pointless as the ground crack under me, my mind roaring to jump or move or whatever just to get away.
My instincts proven right as I watch a large black and white ant emerge from the ground, revealing a pattern of red stripes all over its body and could easily match the size of a large dog.
The insectoid Grimm instantly charges at me with open mandibles showing off vicious, salivating teeth under it.
My mind screamed at me to move or attack it but my nerves got the better of me as I stupidly remain on place watching it get closer.
My hands shoot up and grab the Grimm by the mandibles, preventing it from eating my face, but the force of the jump transferred to me, making me lose my balance and hit the ground while still struggling to get it off.
I am glad that I was wearing my claws as the metal was preventing the grimm from closing its mandibles, but at the same time my face is getting drenched with saliva. The monster gets more vicious as it starts using its many legs to hit me on my lower body.
Despite the dire circumstance, an idea pops in my head and use changes my hands, rather than preventing me from pushing the mandibles apart. The grimm shrieks and begins thrashing around, hoping to get away, but I do not relent and use more strength on my arms to successfully break its disgusting mouth.
The sickening crack showing my success in my plan.
With one hand finally free from the life and death struggle, I use the broken mandible to stab the grimm through the mouth as deep as possible and push it off my body.
The insectoid grimm writhing on the ground, giving me the perfect opportunity to push myself off the ground and stomp on the disgusting monster that gave me a bad time, crushing its head in the process.
How convenient that they don't bleed.
The defeated grimm no longer moves, as it is finally dead and the physical body turns into a black mist that quickly dissipates in the air.
My first victory of many.
How can they call it weak?
If I was any weaker, it would have eaten my face in seconds.
"Don't get distracted!" I look up at the tree where my teacher is shouting, "They always travel in groups!"
True to her words, more grimms like the last one emerge from the ground and lock their red eyes on me.
"Shit…"
They don't even give me a moment to count them as all of them lunge in unison to rip me apart.
The last encounter taught me more than enough. I no longer stay like a statue and jump, but my jump surprises me as I watch the grimm crash against each other from above.
Way above.
But that doesn't last long, as gravity takes effect and pulls me down.
Thinking quickly, I use gravity to my advantage and bring down all my strength on a downward kick at the confused mass of grimms. Their big white heads shattering and their bodies turning into smoke.
I don't know what drove me to do that because in all senses my leg should have been a mangled mess with shattered bones by the fall alone, but it is perfectly fine.
Is this the strength of Aura?
Looking back at my surroundings, there are more grimms closing the distance, but no longer charging recklessly like the ones I recently killed.
I am high with adrenaline and my body demands more, making me charge at the group of monsters.
Before I get close to their range, I jump again over their heads and land behind them.
Using the opening, I stab both claws on the closest thorax and twist, getting everyone's attention as they turn to look at me and jump with their mandibles wide open. With my newfound strength, I lift the body of the grimm where my claws were buried and turn it into a temporary shield.
My attackers crash and bounce off.
Knowing my time is limited, I smash the ant on the ground and dig my claw on the head as deep as I could, killing it in the process.
My focus shifts again to the remaining grimms and raise my weapons, mentally preparing myself for their next move. But my jaw clenches when more monsters keep coming to the fight.
'They are endless.'
I need to be careful and wait for their next move.
Except that move will never come as a lone wired blade shoots forward and impales one of the grimm on the head, killing it instantly. Before Blake lands on another one, crushing it in the process.
She grabs her weapon and performs a graceful horizontal arc attack and all the grimms around her split in half and collapse on the ground before turning into the black mist.
"Thanks…" My body instantly dropped my arms, as there was no more danger to worry about. "I thought you wouldn't help me for a second."
"I won't make the same mistake twice. Your safety is more important." She looks at me with a faint smile and steps closer.
I look around for anything out of the ordinary me, but only the green trees and holes in the ground remain. Blake's attack must have gotten all of them, but that doesn't mean we are safe, as it is a known fact that more will come if we stay long enough.
Yet after a long time, I feel tired and take the chance to sit on the ground to rest for a moment. I am very tempted to lie down for a while and watch the sky. I think a bottle of water might be enough refreshment to get up, but a man can only wish.
"Can you stand up on your own?" The brunette finally speaks up. Her amber eyes occasionally check her sides. She is right to be wary, as I am technically incapacitated to put up a fight if more grimms decide to give us a visit.
That's very sweet of her.
"I think so." I push myself off the ground and try to give a couple of steps, "Damm, I'm sure tomorrow all my body will be sore."
With the adrenaline slowly withdrawing from my system, my leg and its joints started throbbing along with a burning sensation all over my arms.
My lungs were also burning and gasping for fresh air.
Just how exhausted am I?
[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]
No way…
AN: I had to do a little rewrite as I realized Blake was acting more like Weiss and ended up increasing the size of the chapter a little more.
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