Here it is, the next installment of Among Men. Fun fact: The original title of this story was actually going to be Gods Who Live Among Men Never Have Free Time. Needless to say that was too long of a title so it was shortened to just Among Men. Besides, it's not an anime so I couldn't possibly get away with an absurdly long title like that.
Anyway, please leave a review of anything you think could be improved and if there are any inconsistencies or typos and other stuff like that. Constructive criticism always appreciated.
Chapter 7: Grimm Encounters
Ryler walked through the Emerald Forest just whistling a tune to himself. He was here to test his control during combat. This would be the deciding factor for whether or not he should attend Beacon. If he failed here then no one would be hurt. But if he lost control then the worst thing that could happen would be a big chunk of the forest mysteriously vanishing.
While he kept walking he also thought about why he was testing himself now. He had reacted to Cardin when he tried to strike the innocent... umm... defenseless... the dog, when he tried to strike the dog. "Innocent and defenseless my ass, he told me his name was Cujo. CUJO!" Ryler thought to himself about what had happened earlier that day. He was pretty sure Cardin would never be the same again and that his failed prank probably might have altered the future in some way. He decided not to think about that for too long. "That's future me's problem."
It was about an hour since he left the city and wondered into the forest to hunt some Grimm. So far it was very dull, there weren't any Grimm close to the city walls because of all the patrols. That meant he had to go further away from the city so there would be something to kill. He started to think about the different Grimm and how he would take them out.
A Beowolf would be the most common type of Grimm he could come across. They were pretty fast and often traveled in packs. Their bodies were built for fast attacks and swarming their prey before they could counter. They weren't very bright though, a hunter quick enough to break their ranks would have a better chance at picking them off one by one until they were all dead.
if Beowolfs were fast pack fighters then an Ursa was the opposite. They weren't often seen fighting together with more than one other Ursa but that didn't mean it didn't happen. They were built for taking hits and shrugging them off. Large bone spikes on their backs made it hard to attack from behind. Their claws made for extremely dangerous close encounters. The best way to deal with an Ursa would be by keeping your distance and hitting any weak spots it might have. The neck is a good place to aim for, again if you can get passed its back spikes.
Creeps weren't very strong, not skilled strategists, and often died with a single strong hit. Their main method of attack was what really set them apart from the rest. They burrowed under the ground and waited for someone or something to cross its path. They are large subterranean lizard like creatures but could dig like no one business. Being subterranean didn't mean they always lived underground though, there were still a few of them that walked around above ground. Seeing one often meant that there were more lying in wait somewhere nearby.
Boarbatusks, probably the worst one to run into if you were alone. While Beowolves were speed and numbers, and Ursai were pure defense and close range; Boarbatusks were the perfect balance of all these attributes. Their hardened bone plate armor was a bitch to get through, their rush attacks were hard to avoid. Not to mention their tusks were incredibly dangerous stabbing implements. The only weakness they had was their soft underbelly which was constantly protected. Luring them into rushing a large rock, or glyph, usually dazed them long enough to knock them over and attack their weak point.
Then there were the big three. Death Stalkers, Nevermores, and King Taijitus. Anyone unlucky enough to come face to face with one of these without anyone there to offer support was usually a dead man. Especially if they were fighting their elder forms. Ryler shuddered as he learned about the extent of these three monsters. Having universal powers also meant having universal knowledge at his disposal. It's a good thing that he listened to Sarah when she taught him how to block out unwanted knowledge from constantly flooding his mind. There were so many instances throughout history of a single Ancient Death Stalker or an Emperor Taijitu completely wiping out an entire settlement off the map. Regardless of their defenses and how many soldiers they had to protect their homes; if they didn't have a skilled Huntsman or Huntress helping them they would almost always be destroyed.
Out of nowhere, hundreds of people, their names and the manner in which they were killed came rushing to him. It was so fast and so intense that it dropped him to his knees. He quickly blocked the flow of knowledge before it grew to be to strong to contain. Being able to regulate how fast he learns these things probably saved him from going insane just then. So many people taken, homes destroyed and lives ruined, it made him feel like he was helpless to do anything to change the current state of the world. He quickly stood back up and snapped himself out of his sudden depressive state. He might not be able, or allowed, to change the world right away but he would at least try a little.
Ryler realized that he was starting to get pretty far away from the city. That was alright because it meant that Grimm would be more abundant here. The problem was that he didn't even know where he was and didn't know if he was too far. He checked his surroundings for any signs of a notable landmark. He saw something that resembled stone peeking out over the tree line. He decided that that was a good place to hunt so he made his way there. Along the way he picked up the pungent scent of blood in the air. The initiation was tomorrow but someone else might be in the forest and they might have been hurt. He faced off to his left noticing that the smell was stronger in that direction. He ran as fast as he could without using any speed boosts. The last thing he needed was to wear himself out in the middle of a Grimm infested forest. He broke through a small clearing in the trees and found himself near a river.
To the right, upstream was even more of the forest. To the left, downstream, the river led to a waterfall and a large ravine and across the ravine was a section of some ancient ruins. The very same ruins that team Rwby would fight the Giant Nevermore. His main concern at the moment was across the river. There was a young woman lying in the mud of the river bank. She was injured and looked to be unconscious. There were three very large gashes running diagonally across her back and other smaller cuts and scrapes across the rest of her body. Her blonde hair was clumped with dirt and blood from a cut on the back of her head. Overall she was in a pretty bad shape. She was bleeding profusely and it formed a second driver flowing down into the first. He didn't know how long she had been there but she would not last much longer if he didn't stop the bleeding.
With a sudden burst, he leapt across the incredibly wide river. He probably traveled the same distance as a 4 lane street in that single jump. The instant he landed he was at her side. He carefully turned her over on her side to check if she was still breathing. He was relieved when he felt her breath on the back of his fingers. He dragged her out of the river completely and further onto the river bank. He used his powers to try and heal her.
First he took some of the surround leaves and transformed them into some plant based gauze pads. He would use them to stop the bleeding. Next, after he had a way to stop the blood, he pulled some water out of the river and purified it by pulling out all the contaminants within. He used the water to clean out the wound to make sure it didn't get infected. If she was this badly hurt them that meant that her aura was depleted which then meant that she didn't have a way to quickly fight off infections. Her immune system would fight it as best as it could but having an Aura still helped a tremendous amount. Once he was satisfied that her injuries wouldn't become worse, he used the gauze to start patching the wound. He was not at all a medical professional but he knew enough from Sarah that he could do a decent job. He was about to place the bandages on when he remembered a crucial detail. He'd have to apply them directly on her skin. Which meant he'd have to removed her clothing if only just a bit.
The problem with being a being of immense power was that he didn't have time to live a normal teenage life. Which meant that he as never able to get close to girls. Which meant that this would be the first time he'd be seeing a real woman partially naked. He began shaking uncontrollably. Never had he been prepared to do this sort of thing, he was still a teenager after all. He swallowed his nerves and reached for the straps of her chest plate. The cobalt blue straps came loose and the steel breast plate was now detached. Ryler removed the damaged back plate, setting it aside for the time being. With that gone she was now left in half armor and a blood stained white t-shirt. He reached toward the lower hem of her shirt, now he was shaking even more than before. He gently grabbed the cloth with his finger tips as if he didn't want to wake her and be caught doing something he actually wasn't doing. He breathed deeply as he raised her shirt up higher and higher until her back was fully exposed. It's a good thing that all his blood was rushing to his face making it easier to get it to his brain or else he'd have trouble seeing straight.
She groaned as he placed the bandages on her making him even more uncomfortable. He turned tree sap into a mild adhesive to keep the bandages in place. Once he was done treating her, he quickly but still gently pulled her shirt down and went to the river to wash his hands of the blood. He used his powers to slightly chill the water and splashed himself with that to calm himself down. All he had to do now was wait for her to regain consciousness or for someone to find them.
Easier said than done. He heard growling coming from his right. A large pack of Beowolves was closing in on him and the girl. There must have been at least a dozen of them. No wonder why she was as beat up as she was. And this was probably not the full pack if she fought back, which she most likely did. They were being led by an Alpha with a fresh but healing cut running down his chest. He no doubt wanted revenge on the woman for doing that to him. Ryler wanted a test and it was here now, only it would be much harder than he originally hoped. There was no other choice, he had to protect her until someone came. Someone had to come, there was no way that someone who only looked to be two years older than him would be out in this area all alone. She must have had a team looking for her or maybe even Glynda herself was out there somewhere.
He had to let them know where they were and hold off the horde until help arrived. He raised his hand into the air and launched a large red ball of light as a flare. It flew into the air and stayed there costing the ground below in a red glow. That would have to do for now. He activated his two wrist mounted, hard light shields. They were the slender, about twice the width of his firearms and going below his fists and just passed his elbows. The outer edge of both shields tapered off into blades spanning the entire length of the shields. The inner edge of the right shield had a half circle half way up its length protruding from the rest of the weapon. The left half had the inverse of its companion, a space large enough for the circle to fit into.
Ryler got into a classic boxing stance with his shields guarding him. He walked over to the girls unconscious body and stood between the pack and what would have been their next meal. The Alpha growled out its orders and the rest moved to surround them both. Ryler knew that they would do this so he made extra sure that he kept tabs on all the Beowolves around them. The tension created an eerie silence that fell on the entire area. Even the river seemed to lose its ability to create sounds. This was a classic standoff, the first to make a move would be the loser. Ryler was ready for any attack to come.
An impatient Beo behind the single human standing between their prey thought it would be the perfect opportunity to strike. It rushed at Ryler and swiped its claws at him. There was nothing but air left in the place that he had been standing. With lightning fast movements, Ryler was now the one behind the attacking Beowolf, his bladed fists striking directly into its spine. He spun in place quickly and used the longer section of his shield near his elbow to slice the Beowolf in two. The Beowolf continued on its trajectory, landing at the feet of the Alpha. It howled and suddenly the rest of the Grimm began their assault.
The first two that reached him were from behind him again. He trusted his longer blades backward impaling them both through the heads. The next one got closer, as the two were stabbed, it jumped upward in an attempt to catch him off guard. Ryler side stepped and used its back as a spring board. He back flipped off the Grimm while simultaneously throwing his left shield into its back. It stabbed into its flesh but didn't kill it, what did was Ryler falling back down and stomping on the shield again cutting another Grimm in two.
The rest saw how easily their brothers were killed and began to fight more cautiously. Whoever this human was, he was clearly one of the other one's friends. Three Beowolves closed in on Ryler but made sure to keep our of his weapons' reach. They attacked all at once. The first to attack made for his head but jumped right at the last second before he too was cleaved in half. The second took this opportunity to strike at his legs, which were clearly exposed. He nearly got him but his weapon blocked his strike and made for a stab at his chest. It quickly jumped back and let the third one to attack by kicking the human in the chest. This actually connected and threw the human away from his position. It didn't work nearly as well as it wanted because he just rolled back into his feet and charged back at the Beowolf. The Beowolf couldn't get away fast enough and it's head was separated from its body.
Ryler kicked the head at the first Beowolf who just slapped it away effortlessly. Ryler could feel a slight tingle in the back of his mind. It was all too familiar and very much unwanted. He closed his eyes and when they reopened in just a second they shown the same red and black webbed eyes of his inner evil. His shields changed from blue hard light to a deep red. They almost seemed to vanish under the still shining flare in the sky. Ryler prepared to launch an all our assault on the Grimm but saw the unconscious woman on the ground beside him. He closed his eyes again and they were back to normal. He needed to stay in control or else she might die as well. The Beowolves lost patience and the other two started attacking together. The strain of having to focus on staying calm while now dodging claws nonstop made it harder to maintain his shields. They started flickering and they were struck when he blocked a swipe. It kept happening until eventually, after he blocked another kick aimed at his chest, they shattered into nothing. That flare also faded out and disappeared completely. He fell to his knees beside the girl, who was no starting to stir. He tried to protect her but he still wasn't strong enough with his powers. The Alpha, seeing that his opponent had been defeated, made his way over to his knelt form. Ryler hung his head and waited to be consumed, the foul stench of death looking closer to him. He waited but nothing came.
Ryler heard the distinctive sound of a gun shot. He looked back up and saw the Alpha's head was eviscerated. There was nothing left that even remotely resembled a head. There was another shot of a different kind, there were two people. He looked to the tree line and saw the flash of something metallic quickly rush across it just out of his line of sight. Before he knew what was happening next the Alpha's body was launched backward in to a group of Beowolves knocking them over. That entire group was pulled into the ground, it was as if that whole area was actually quicksand all along. By now, all the rest of the Grimm were running trying to escape their new attackers. One by one many of those Grimm were shot through the head and killed in the spot.
Once the last Beowolf was dead, the entire forest returned to its peaceful state. The nearby waterfall was the loudest sound throughout the area. He was stunned by what just happened, he was moments away from being munched on by an overly vengeful Beowolf. The next moment, he was on his own again. What happened?
His question was answered immediately when he heard rustling coming from the tree line. Again he turned his attention to the trees. A figure dressed in tan clothes emerged. He looked to be searching the area for anymore danger. When he was satisfied that here was nothing he saved his hand and three more people emerged behind him. He recognized one of them being Glynda Goodwitch, when she saw him she had a look of surprise on her face. She obviously hadn't expected him to be here. The other two in her group rushed to the fallen Huntress on the ground. She was waking up by now and greeted the two attending to her now. They didn't try to move her, they had training in treating wounded people.
Glynda walked over to Ryler and he stood up to greet her. She was about to ask what happened when she was interrupted by the first guy who came out of the forest. He grabbed Ryler by his collar and pulled him up so he was looking him directly in the eye.
"Tell me what happened here or I'll rip your throat out through your chest!" He growled in his face. Ryler knew he was serious about that, something told him so. He was pulled off of Ryler by Glynda herself and she made sure that he wouldn't try that again. She looked to Ryler expecting him to begin his explanation.
...
It was about an hour later. The injured girl, who he was told was named Arterra Pendra, was sitting on a fallen log. She had her shirt lifted up again because one of the other two girls, Sakura Kojima, was checking her bandages. The second of the two, Charlotte Treuse, was holding her breast plate up so she wouldn't be exposed to everyone. Both were glaring at Ryler angrily because they realized that he had to be the one to place the bandages on her. Meaning he had to have undressed her to do so. Ryler knew nothing happened but still he made sure to keep eye contact to a minimum.
He was sitting on the ground while Glynda stood just off to the side of the entire group and the guy in tan clothes stood beside him. Apparently he was the twin brother of the girl he had saved. "You have saved my sister from death, henceforth, I shall forever be indebted to you, Master" He had said as he dropped to one knee and held a fist to his heart. That was another notably awkward moment. He told the guy, Lance Pendra, that it wasn't necessary but he just continued on about life debts and honor and something about a blood contract. It started to get out of hand so he asked him to stay quiet for a while and he obeyed without question.
"And that's when you all came, honestly we'd both be dead if you all hadn't got here when you did." Ryler rubbed the back of his neck out of nervous habit.
"Nonsense Master, you were able to beat back multiple Beowolves under the leadership of an Alpha all without any Combat training! That's incredible!" Lance's praise only made him feel even more awkward. Ryler had told them that he was going to be attending Beacon but had never been to a combat school before. Glynda was able to back him up on this by saying he had high combat rating on the entrance exams because he grew up in a nomadic together had to fight off Grimm attacks on a regular basis. No one questioned him about that because it wasn't uncommon for people to develop natural fighting talent just from trying to survive in the wilderness.
"I still don't believe that you just happened to be passing through the forest on your way to Beacon. Why not just take the airship like everyone else?" Sakura said still eyeing him suspiciously.
"Well I wasn't able to make it on time so I decided that I would walk there to get a feel for this region." Ryler lied. He knew it was bad to start a relationship on a lie but he couldn't just tell them the truth.
"Hey, I'm actually an extra dimentional alien here to learn your ways and live a normal human life. Don't be frightened, I won't use any lasers to melt your brain, honest." Ryler thought.
Now that everything had settled down Ryler was able to looks at everyone clearly. Sakura was rather small, probably barely breaking the 5 foot mark. She wore a green, sleeveless coat that came down to her upper thigh. There was a lime green ribbon tying her hair back into a short ponytail. Her arms remained bare except for a pair of fingerless gloves. She wore dark brown leggings that covered the rest of her legs and brown wooden sandals. On her lower back was a katana and wakizashi. On her hip was a small black box filled with what he assumed to be dust. Overall she looked like a ninja and he's pretty sure that she could turn invisible if she just took a few steps into the forest behind them.
Charlotte on the other hand looked very prim and proper. She may have been sitting in the dirt but she still looked as if she was in the company of a king. She wore what was basically a ball gown just not as poofy. Despite her namesake, there was not a single chartreuse article on her. Instead there was purple, so much purple. Purple dress, purple frills, purple sash around her waist, purple boots and even purple opera gloves. The only thing that wasn't entirely purple was her hair and even then there was a purple streak in her bangs. He didn't see any weapons out in the open so he assumed that she was the dust used and support class of the group, kinda like Weiss was for Rwby.
Arterra was the knight and leader of the current team. She was quite tall and regal, her hair had been rinsed of the blood as best as they possibly could in their current situation. Now she looked as if she were an actual knight, battle with but still with a beautiful strength to her. Ryler already knew what she was wearing but wanted to get a better
Her breast plate was more intricate than what he first thought. There was an engraving of an eagle with its wings acting as a frame for the rest of the designs. The center depicted a sword being held upward by a disembodied arm from what looked to be water if the ripples were any indication. Just below that was a carving of a gem with light rays coming off of it surrounded by a number of other swords. He couldn't see exactly how many because Charlotte's arm was blocking his view while she held her armor in place. She also wore a single steel gauntlet on her right arm, the left most likely lost during her battle with the Beowolf pack. She had on a set of grieves over blue jeans and black steel toe boots. Her ensemble could be described as a nearly complete suit of armor with some parts probably lost of purposefully left out of the final iteration. He also didn't see a weapon on her but wondered if that was because it was also lost during combat or if it was hidden somewhere.
Finally, he looked back to his left to where he stood. Lance wore military style desert fatigues in a slightly darker color making him stand out in the vibrant green of their surroundings. Unlike everyone else there, his weapon was impossible to miss, a 50. cal barrett complete with an extended length barrel and a long blade attached to the underside. Ryler could only imagine what kind of a second form that monster shifted into.
Ryler thought they were as eccentric as team Rwby, maybe even more. But there was something off about them. They appeared older than him, possibly third years. But if that was true then how could a third year Huntress in training be so badly hurt from a small pack of Beowolves. Ruby took out an even larger pack in her trailer and she was still at Signal at that point in time. Granted there wasn't an Alpha leading them but it was still a huge pack. Something was definitely off about this team. They worked together well from what little he had seen but there was still a noticeable distance among them. It was as if they together out of pure necessity and nothing else. Who were these people.
The entire time Ryler had been thinking, the others were conversing but again it was as if they were making small talk to pass the time and not out of friendship. It was all very strange to him.
Glynda made her presence known again and informed them that there was a Bullhead arriving in a few minutes to take them all to Beacon. They made preparations to leave, mainly by making sure Arterra was properly situated to be moved into the ship. When it arrived everyone climbed on board and made sure to secure themselves as the ship gently rose back into the sky.
Ryler looked out over the entirety of the Emerald Forest. He hadn't realized just how far he had walked from Vale or how close he actually was to reaching Beacon. All he had to do was scale the cliffs near the waterfall and he'd have a straight shot to the academy or at least the cliffs the new students would be launched off of the next day. He took a deep breath and relaxed his shoulder. He almost fell asleep because of how tired he was. The stress of having to fight off Grimm for the very first time while keeping an injured person safe was a lot to deal with.
"I hope you're watching this Sarah, cause I'm about to make your dream come true." Ryler thought to himself as the Bullhead continued its journey to the place he would call home for the next four years.