"I'll be honest, Professor, I wasn't bothered much after that. Cardin was impressed and like a good warrior, asked me to spar with him more often. I accepted, as my team needed someone to practice working together against. Pyrrha didn't like it, as it meant she had to be a bit more discrete with her semblance, but the positives outweighed the negatives, at least in terms of the whole team."

Oobleck nodded. "Right. Have you spoken with Pyrrha, then?"

I shrugged as I took a sip of what he calls coffee. It was apparently supposed to be similar to alcohol, and I could feel the tell-tale burn as it went down my throat, but the feeling was different. It was as if I was waking up while I was getting drunk, not something I would be quick to use in celebration. "I haven't. Why should I? As the leader my job is to ensure what's best for the team, not for Pyrrha. If she wants to be petulant and sabotage that with doubts, that is her problem, not mine, so long as she follows orders when it counts."

He grinned. "Can you be so certain that she will, Torga? You need to remember these are just children, not soldiers or warriors. They need to know you're there for them as a leader, but they also need to know that you're there for them as a friend, as a team-mate."

I shook my head. "Wouldn't that be nice? The commander that drinks with the infantry is a fool. His orders must be seen as though they are not coming from a man, but from a god."

"Then what we are doing right now?"

"Is simple." I retorted. "The relationship between teacher and student is based on mutual respect. I respect that you know more about this world and it's history than I, and you in turn respect that I'm not a child and wanted a drink. I don't suppose you have any mead, by the way? A taste of.. Home.. would be most welcome."

He slurped from his thermos then gave me a look from across the table. "From the sound of it, you don't believe yourself. Yes, mead is in fact still popular in Atlas, though I don't believe we have any locally. I will speak to Ozpin, see what we can't do."

"My thanks. You were asking about the species of my realm, correct?"

He leaned forward, the glint returning to his glasses. "Yes. You say that you have men and another called elves, like our faunus."

I tilted my head to the side. "Sort of. Men and Mer are two distinct species, while each have sub species. The Mer, or elves, were divided into High Elves, Wood Elves, and Dark Elves. There was a species of snow elves native to my province of Skyrim, but they were driven to extinction in a trick deal between themselves and the technologically superior Dwemer, who have also since died out."

"Fascinating. And there are no remnants of their civilization?"

"For the Dwemer, yes. Their underground cities remain, though in rubble and ruin. They are dangerous places, still guarded by the Dwemer automatons that prowl their halls even after hundreds of years."

His eyes fell. "I assume these other elves have a more sad story."

My eyes also fell to the table and I took a sip of my drink. "Much more so. The Falmer were once a surface race, with a civilization beyond that of any men or mer. They were the first race of mer to settle my province, and they flourished alongside the Dwemer for many years. Eventually, as happens with most of elvenkind, they determined men to be an inferior race and attacked. The snow elves fell upon the city of Saarthal in the dead of night, butchering our warriors while they slept and taking our women and children to be kept as… pleasure slaves."

"By the moon…"

"Three men survived the attack, fighting and slaying over 30 of the monstrosities, or so the legends say. One of these men, named Ysgramor, vowed vengeance, and called upon his fellow warriors, the Five-Hundred Companions. With them at his side, he began the extermination of the Falmer. For many years they fought, and the ranks of the Falmer fell and fell. See, in a generational war, the side that can reproduce faster wins. The Falmer had a distinct monogamous culture, and their females had longer pregnancies than men. Seeing his species fall to the men like wheat before a scythe, the leader of the Falmer turned to the subterranean Dwemer for aid and shelter. They were admitted into the ancient cities, on the conditions of slavery and a blindness inducing poison. Over the generations, the Falmer were warped into the savage and feral beasts we encountered in my time, still prowling the ruins of the Dwemer cities."

"...That has to be one of the most tragic fates I've ever heard." Oobleck stated, slower than I've ever heard him speak.

"Depends on your view. To me and mine, it was a story of determination and will to survive against a faster, smarter, and more technologically superior race. To the elves, it's a tale of hubris, one that the High Elves are eager to forget in their cultural invasion of Skyrim. Yet to all it remains a tale of the dangers that lie below the surface, and the cruelty that accompanies intelligence." I explained.

"And what of your men, are they divided like so?"

I scoffed. "Aye. There are nords, a strong and hardy people native to the tundras and mountains of Skyrim. Then there are the rest of them dark-skins, weaklings and milk-drinkers the lot of them."

Oobleck coughed in the middle of a sip of coffee. I waited patiently for it to stop. "Racism will get you absolutely nowhere around here, Torga, I suggest you quell that opinion immediately. Here, we are all the same people, the colour of our skin having little to do with our mindset."

"So the woman with rabbit ears was a fluke?" I said sarcastically.

"No, she was a faunus. Like your kind have elves, we have the faunus. They are identical to us except they often display an animalistic body part, as well as mannerisms reflective of said animal. Most faunus are also more able to see in low light situations."

"So they are a superior race. Talos damn it." I muttered. "You just wait until another Night of Tears hits, and there will be war."

"There already has been a war, the Faunus Rights Revolution, though that will be thoroughly discussed in class." He stood from behind his desk, and by nature I followed. Social niceties are not beyond me, and this Professor earned my respect the minute he treated me as I was and poured me a drink. "Speaking of which, I must get going." Before I could process, I found myself standing outside his office quite confused as the sound of impossibly fast footsteps rounded a corner down the hall.

I looked both ways to see that I was alone. With a shrug, I began following his trail leisurely. With a glance at my scroll, I noted that our Bullhead wouldn't leave for another hour or so. In the meantime, I looked over my status menu while I walked to our dorm to get my armour.

The majority of my time since the fight with Cardin was mostly focused on getting me caught up to the level of education I would require to not raise suspicions. That training put my INT up a few points, and I spent the rest of my status points to bring my INT up to 23, which in turn boosted the rest of my skills through Aura. In fact, my physical skills shot through the roof when it was active.

Name: Torga

Age: 17

Level: 16

Race: Human

Title: Dragonborn

Status: Healthy

XP: 21.2%

HP: 435

AP: 457

STR: 10

VIT: 7

AGI: 14

INT: 23

WIS: 51

LUK: 10

But when I flared my Aura…

HP: 435

AP: 457

STR: 21

VIT: 15

AGI: 26

INT: 23

WIS: 51

LUK: 10

With the increase in INT, I also saw that my aura recovered in just under 15 minutes, even less when I was meditating.

I also came across a problem I had thought of before but was too stupid to test. My WIS hadn't gone up once since I'd used the status points on it. That lead me to believe that my stats got harder to increase by training as they went up, which makes a certain sense. I made a vow to only use my status points when I absolutely had to from now on, and to figure out a better training schedule. The value of my st

I closed my status and opened up my inventory, looking at the items I'd gained.

Mesynnefa

Clothing Item (Torso), Rare

A shirt made of the feathers of a Giant Nevermore. Grants status effect "The Early Bird". Grants status effect "Bird of Prey". Grants status effect "Feathers Grimm".

+10 Elemental Affinity (Air)

+50% Movement Speed

+50% Attack Speed

+200% Visual Prowess

Kathamati

Clothing Item (Eyes), Ultra-Rare

A set of goggles that allow the user to see through illusions and walls up to 1m thick. Grants status effect "You Can Run…".

+10 Elemental Affinity (Air)

+100% Vision Range

+100% Visual Skill Effectiveness

With both of those equipped, I would gain 4 different status effects. With a quick check, I found I could poke the name of the status effect on my status screen to figure out what the status was. Right now I was Healthy, which provided a small 1% bonus to experience gained. I couldn't, however, figure out what the status effects did until I was already under them, which was somewhat worrying. I knew about alchemy, and I knew a little bit about enchanting though I've never done it myself. Regardless, among both there are artifacts and potions that have both positive and negative effects. I resolved not to try either of them on without my team around to make sure I didn't go on a psychotic rampage or something.

I did really want those goggles. They would be incredibly useful, meaning I could refrain from unlocking my Detect Life shout.

I entered our room to see Pyrrha brushing her hair in the small mirror on the bathroom door. Neither Nora or Ren were present, and the TV crew was seemingly with them. She glanced over when I walked into the room, flicked her eyes down and went right back to brushing her hair.

"Pyrrha." I said, walking over to my bed.

She said nothing, just started brushing her hair a little bit faster. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I had never been much for the drama of Imperial girls. Skyrim lasses knew what was what, that there were more important things than petty squabbles when a marriage can be snuffed out in the cold just as a candle by a breath.

I instead walked over to her, waited until she finished her stroke, then took the brush from her hands. She let it go easily. "Pyrrha, we need to talk."

She took a deep breath in, then let it out slowly. "Yes we do, Torga." I went over to my bed and started pulling pieces of armour from a box under my bed.

"First, though, I need your help with something. As soon as I'm done, we can talk as long as you need to." Her resolved look turned to a glare. I sighed and said what I thought I wouldn't have to say. "I just didn't know who else to come to." Her glare melted instantly.

"What do you need?" She strode over to me.

"Do you remember when I was seeing boxes and that kind of thing?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, I do. You told me you knew nothing about guns and proceeded to identify my ammunition."

I nodded "Right. So I got a couple of items but they say that it will give me what the boxes call 'status effects'. It says that my status right now is healthy, so I'm assuming whatever happens will change that. I'm just not sure if they will be good or bad changes." That was a lie, the changes would be incredibly useful, I just didn't know the side effects.

"So you want me here to restrain you and remove the item if it's hurting you or if you tell me to, correct?" She said flatly, to which I nodded vigorously.

"Perfect, thanks! Now for the first one." I quickly opened my inventory and equipped the goggles before she could protest

My eyes burned in pain for a brief second and a terrible pain erupted in my head as I tried to comprehend what I was seeing, then it all clarified seemingly instantly. I saw everything around me in an entirely new way. I could see lines of pulsing energy travelling through what looked like wires in the walls. Water flowed through pipes, and a boy the next room over was dancing. Pyrrha was completely detailed for me to see, from her veins and organs to her skeleton and muscles. I felt my vision shifting through layers as I thought about them. With a struggle I looked towards my status screen and was blinded by the glow.

It took me a few seconds but I was able to squint enough to see a pop-up.

Status Effect You Can Run… has been disabled by Gamer's Mind!

With a grunt I tore the goggles off and shoved them into my inventory. I had to blink a few times and my headache came back with force, but I slowly adjusted to normal vision again. I glanced over at Phyrra to see her eyes wide.

"What was that?" She breathed.

I raised an eyebrow. "Why, did it look scary or something?"

"No, I've just never seen anything like that."

"Some gear that I got from the Nevermore. It lets me see further and gives me something called an Elemental Affinity for Air." I explained. "That wasn't the one I was worried about. This one is." Before she could reach me I equipped the shirt.

It popped into existence over my torso, replacing the shirt I had been wearing. It fit like a long-sleeve tunic, though felt surprisingly smooth.

Status Effect The Feathers Grimm has been disabled by Gamer's Mind!

The Early Bird (Status)

The early bird causes most harm! If opponent's HP is at 100%, inflict 500% damage.

Bird of Prey (Status)

While attacking from above, sacrifice 99% F.O.V. to achieve perfect accuracy. F.O.V. restored 5 seconds after landing, or upon removal of Mysennyfa.

Wow. Just… wow. This piece of gear is built around surprise attacks, and the goggles around finding targets. How ironic that the Dark Brotherhood's one failed contract just recieved the perfect tools to play assassin.

Elemental Affinity (Air) +10!

Due to your elemental affinity, you've unlocked the skill Featherweight!

Featherweight (Active: 10AP)

You fly like a feather. A perfectly aerodynamic feather.

Mass -95%

Duration: 3 Seconds.

"Hey Pyrrha?"

"That would look terrifying to civilians, Torga, you can't wear it in public." She tried, but I shook my head.

"Not what I was gonna ask. What does the word 'mass' mean, and what would it mean to have 95% less?" Her eyes shot open.

"95%, are you certain?"

"Absolutely. Why, is that bad?" I replied.

"Depends. Try it out." I shrugged and did so. The three seconds came and went and all that happened was me feeling light on my feet. Pyrrha just stared at me expectantly.

"Um.. Have you used it?" She asked. "I guess you weren't exactly moving. Try jumping, maybe?

I nodded. "Yea, hold on." I jumped into the air and activated it as I was doing so. That resulted in me crashing head-first into the ceiling. I flailed helplessly as I slowly fell back to the ground. The skill cut out and I fell the rest of the way with a clank.

I looked over to see Pyrrha holding back laughter. "Okay, I'll admit that would have been funny." With that, the dam burst and she started chuckling before breaking into full blown giggles. I flatly stared at her. After a few moments, she held her laughter long enough to point behind me.

Deanna was red-faced as she held her own laughter in from the doorway. Alan, the stoic professional, had a slight grin as he pointed the camera. I shrugged and got to my feet. "You guys think that was funny? Pyrrha, I've got an idea..." After quickly checking to make sure that my new skill still worked while I wasn't wearing the Nevermore cloak, I explained it to her to the extreme amusement of all three.

That was how I ended up defenestrated for the first time that week.

.-.-.-.

The Bullhead was quite loud from the outside, but on the inside they used some sort of technology to dampen the sound. It was a good thing too, because I didn't want to repeat myself. In the shuttle with me was my team and the Math professor, Mr. Barnes. He reluctantly agreed to be our supervisor for our first trip to town. That was perfect, because I needed some help with my power, and he seemed like the man that would be good with numbers.

My plan had been to only keep Pyrrha in on the secret, but I figured I would need some more help to take things in context. I still wasn't entirely sure what mass meant but it seemed to be the same as weight so that's what I went with. F.O.V. meant Field of View, which made me wonder what it would be like if it was reduced. Regardless, I'd rather not bring too many in on this, and if I had to bring in any teacher it would be Barnes. Oobleck was originally my first choice, but he wouldn't have had much to offer in terms of the "game".

I spoke loudly. "Alright team, time for the surprise."

Nora's eyes lit up. "We're going to the waffle house?"

"Not quite. I've got a couple more things about my past, and recent history to tell you. First, if you have any questions about what I said during the clusterfuck that was our second initiation, now's the time to ask."

Pyrrha looked thoughtful and Nora's hand shot into the air.

Ren just shrugged. "You've got an apparent 60 years of experience. I'm sure you'll tell us what's relevant when you want to bring it up." Nora's hand shot back so fast I wasn't sure I'd seen it up in the first place. The grin never left her face, though.

Mr. Barnes cleared his throat. "Just a few questions, Torga. What was the state of your homeland when you left? Will they be needing their alleged greatest hero any time soon? Did you shirk responsibilities to go adventuring?"

I rounded on him, prepared to deliver a tirade of epic proportions, until I realized he wasn't asking for my own sake, he was asking for the sake of my team. These WIS points really come in handy sometimes. "I left plenty behind if that's what you're asking. I'll sum it up: After I defeated Alduin, things got a little bit more peaceful but not by much. I'd ended up raising my own band of mercenaries that were famous across the province and in many parts of the Empire. I'm nearly certain that, short of another vampire prophecy or end of the world scenario, they can handle it. I left my home in good hands.

"As for responsibilities, I'm a mill worker by trade, hero by fate. I never once had a responsibility to the people of Skyrim. I could have easily walked the path of Miraak and started a cult to worship me. Certainly wouldn't be that hard, and it would make life easier, but sometimes you've got to choose between what's easy and what will keep your wife and kid safe. Fat lot of good that did me." I muttered that last bit darkly.

"Sorry to dredge up old memories, then. I see now that you aren't the type to leave unfinished business." Barnes looked slightly uneasy.

I nodded. "You're right, and thank you. The second thing is, when I woke up after the first initiation, Pyrrha and I discovered I had a different kind of power, one I didn't have back home, though they compliment each other nicely. Do any of you know what a video game is?"

Ren dropped his head into his hands, and Barnes was the one to chuckle.

I shook my head and continued. "Well, apparently, I've become a player of video games. All of my traits are represented by numbers in blue boxes, and as I defeat monsters and finish quests, I level up and can get faster. I only discovered my semblance because after we beat that Nevermore, I gained enough experience to pass level 10, the requirement for my semblance."

Now the bald teacher burst out into a hearty laugh. I waited patiently for him to stop, apparently the concept of video games was taken with mixed reactions. "Astounding. There was a team a few years back that had a man with a similar ability, but his was centered around a book and set of dice that he could summon. You say you can open screens and see the numbers behind what you do? Can you also learn skills from books? What happens when you take damage? What level are you right now? Better yet, what level am I right now?"

"Wait, you know something about this?" I asked, as my team and I stared at the man.

"You think I wouldn't figure out everything I could about this? This is combat centered around numbers, it couldn't be more perfect of a fit! Now, my questions?" He deflected my questions with unrelated statements and more questions.

I pulled up my status screen. "I'm level 17 right now. I think I can learn from books, when I take damage it hurts as the injury would but immediately vanishes, and…" With a quick observe I discovered his level was 12 and told him.

"So it worked…" He muttered to himself, standing and moving up to the pilot's cabin. "Pilot, bring us in to Pad Diego, it's in the industrial district."

"Why the change of plans?" I asked, suddenly a little wary.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, I'm taking you to someone who can help with your powers." He pulled out his scroll and made a call.

"Listen, man, I didn't wait until we were in a secret area to tell you just so you could tell your buddies about the 'freak', alright?"

He pulled the scroll away from his ear. "Quiet down and screw off, I'm calling the other Gamer, he's going to meet us at a skill book shop. You've gotta decide on your build as soon as possible, before it's too late and you're a jack of all trades."

"What's so bad about that?" I wondered. "With my skill I can literally be a master of all trades."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay Torga, how much more difficult is it for you to gain levels as it gets higher?"

"Well the amount of XP needed gets higher but I get more from stronger monsters." I told him.

"So let's just assume we're in the future, you're level 200 with all your stats evened out and a bunch of skills to fight with. Let's also assume that there's such thing as the strongest monster ever, and say it's level 1000. This monster has literally all of its points in Vitality, meaning that as you're trying to kill it, it's healing faster than you can damage. Automatically, your opponent has won. Now, if you specialize in… What are your categories again?"

I saw where he was going but felt stupid for not realizing it before. Clearly I needed more INT. Or WIS. Or both. "Strength, Vitality, Agility, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck. I also get Shout Points, but I can handle that on my own."

He waved it off. "Okay so let's say you also choose Vitality. Now, you're the one that can heal faster than he can attack, but that would put you into a stalemate of two beings endlessly battling without getting anywhere. Romantic, but utterly useless. Say you specialize in strength. Maybe you could do enough damage to destroy it, but if you're too slow than it won't matter because unless you can one-hit it, you lose again. Agility seems like a good build for your fighting style, being able to hit without being hit pretty much gives you the win in most fights, but you'll be easily taken out by explosives and area-of-effect attacks. The guy we're meeting went for the intelligence and wisdom side of things, and I'll let you see what he can do. I just need to say now, do not go for luck."

"I wasn't planning on it." I mused. "I'll be going for strength, and splitting the rest between Vitality and Agility."

He shook his head. "Typical berserker. Think about your team, and what they're good at. Then figure out how to best build yourself to become a power in your own right, and be a force multiplier for your team. If you can learn skills through books, it will be easy to find some relevant skills to the 'class' you choose."

I nodded, slightly distracted as a screen popped up.

[Quest Alert:] Tutorial End!

You've almost got the hang of your powers, Only a few things left to go before you unlock your full potential!

[Main Objective:] Complete Tutorial

-Speak with other Gamer and choose a class

-Craft your own weapon

-Pass all Mid-Term Tests

-Clear Forever Fall Temple

[Side Objectives:]

Reach Level 10 before the end of the Tutorial

Earn 10,000L before the end of the Tutorial

[Reward:] Unlock General Menu, Skill: Dungeon Access, Skill: Dungeon Escape

[Failure:] ERROR(CODE:769-CODE:770)

Accept? [Yes] [No]

"Did something pop up just now?" Pyrrha asked, and I nodded again.

"New Quest, it would seem that my tutorial is almost over and I can unlock a general menu, as well as a couple of skills." I didn't mention the oddity that I found in the failure section, because I had absolutely no plans on failing. "All I've got to do is talk to this other Gamer, craft a weapon, pass all of my tests, and clear the Forever Fall temple, whatever that means."

Barnes looked down to his scroll, then at me with narrowed eyes. "Professor Goodwitch isn't announcing the trip to Forever Fall until this Wednesday, and the students will be nowhere near the temple, and for good reason. I suggest you say no to that quest."

"Are you kidding?" Nora spoke up. "Leave the poor man trapped in the tutorial? That's like going to the movies and the previews never end! Pure cruelty... I say we help him out!"

The math teacher sighed. "Please, save your conspiracy for when a staff member is not present."

"Party pooper…" she muttered, which got drowned out by the whine of the Bullhead's engines increasing.

A crackling sound occurred before the speakers awoke. "We'll be touching down in 2 minutes. You want me to park or pick up a holding pattern?"

Barnes scoffed. "What is this, a warzone? If there's no fees here, put it down. If there is, just fly back to Beacon and talk to finances about fuel reimbursement."

"Sir, all due respect, I'm a military pilot getting put on civvie escort just because they're on T.V., and if something happened to them there would be Grimm attacks everywhere with access to electricity. That being said, I'm therefore authorized to fly in the emergency zones. On top of that, VNN is footing all transportation costs including docking fees and fuel, so I'll be doing whatever's safest for my bird and for the kids. My personal suggestion would be to do as Huntsman do and just jump out over top of their target, and I'll circle above wherever that is, but you aren't a Huntsman and the fall would break your legs."

Barnes rolled his eyes. "Just dock at Diego, fuel up, and keep the engines hot. We shouldn't be too long." At that, I rolled my eyes.

"He's no chauffeur, Professor." I said, internally very proud of remembering that word from one of the white-themed girl's tirades. I could remember the other three, but white-hair's name always eludes me when I try to think of it. I like to think it's because I can just read her name above her head whenever I need it so I don't bother remembering. I walked up to the entrance to the… ugh.. cockpit. "Pilot, what's your name?"

"Flight Lieutenant Richard Mavis." He called back.

"Well, Richard, are you to be our permanent pilot?"

"Yes sir, at least until the first year is up!" I had to hold onto the wall to keep from falling over as we decelerated.

"Well, welcome to the team!"

He paused for a few seconds before answering. "I'm part of a team already, but thanks for the gesture."

I observed him, unable to find out much through the flight suit and chair.

Richard Mavis

LVL 25

Upon Salvation's Wings

My eyes shot open as I realized he was stronger than me. Hell, he was stronger than Ren. "Have you seen combat, Flight Lieutenant?"

He burst out laughing. "Do Grimm exist? Of course I've seen combat, what the hell do you think the military does while you Huntsman hit up boarding school? We hold the line, you get the credit, we get replaced by shitty robots that couldn't hold a door properly nevermind an extended battle needing advanced tactics."

I nodded. "Seems we simply should have gotten someone more suited for the role. So what do you do all week while we can't use the Bullhead?"

I could tell he wasn't happy as his shoulders tensed up. "Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful. Every day I'm flying you guys around is a day I can go back to my family in one piece. A part of me just wants to get back into the action, back to defending humanity so my family can have a future, you know? I mostly just do routine maintenance then go home for the night during the week, but they have me on standby all weekend." With a jolt, the Bullhead touched down, and the pilot began flipping switches and turning keys. The sound of the engines whirred down. With that he stood, pulled his helmet off, and brown eyes met my blue.

"You're a dark-skin." I said before I could help myself.

"What the fuck did you just call me?" He stepped towards me with his arm raised threateningly.

I held my hands up. "Hey you could be fucking purple for all I care. It's just where I'm from, men with dark skin were much more different from us nords."

"Why, because they look different?" He accused.

I looked at him like an idiot. "Everyone looks different. I'm talking more along the lines of a different culture, one that employed slavery and…" I shuddered. "Curved swords. As a whole, they were rather militant, and quick on their feet, easily countered with heavy armour and a hammer."

At that, Nora giggled and Richard snorted. "We going to have any problems?"

I held out a hand. "Not if you can fly half as well as I think you can."

"You're god-damn right I can." He said, the aggression fading as he clasped my hand.

-.-.-.-

We actually ended up meeting the guy at an abandoned warehouse. He was pretty basic looking, if a tad old-fashioned. He wore a pointed hat and brown cloak, both worn from travel. Underneath he had brown pants, black boots, and his chest was crossed with bandoliers of…

"Oh look, potions!" I said, pointing before I could help myself. I was worried I wouldn't be able to find any alchemists here but my patience paid off.

The man in question chuckled. "So I take it this is our new gamer?"

Barnes nodded. "From what I can tell, he seems to be modelled after an action-oriented RPG. What's different is that he's a video game character."

His eyes widened, before taking me in again. "Have you learned any skill books yet?"

I nodded, slightly uncomfortable with the way he was looking at me. I'd seen it before, as thieves were brought into the opulence of the Jarl's palace. Greed.

He turned back to Barnes. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you can party-level him, he could graduate this year and fill out your team?"

"That's definitely not what I was…. Okay, yes it was, shut up. Wanna party, kid?"

"Hold. The fuck. On. I was told shit was going to be explained to me, and I feel absolutely no more informed than I did. I don't even know your name. I haven't even played a video game before!" I burst out, comfortable in lying again.

Jakkins Turner

LVL ?

The Dungeonmaster

He shrugged. "I'm Jak. What do you need explained?"

I opened my mouth then caught myself. What did I need explained?

"What's a party, and what's a dungeon?"

He raised an eyebrow. "A dungeon is an area of a game, or in this instance, the world, that has been overrun by enemies. Dungeons are full of loot items and are opportunities for levelling and getting more money. Your party is traditionally the people you bring into a dungeon with you, though it can also apply to hub areas. Anything else?"

I thought again. "I need help choosing a class, though Barnes here said I shouldn't go as a berserker. Any ideas?"

Jak pulled out a heavy-looking leather bound tome, size reminiscent of the Black Books on Solsthiem. He flipped through the pages, glancing up at me and my group of team-mates standing near the door. He nodded.

"Go for the druid, or monk." I stared at him flatly until he got it. "Right, you're a newb. Druid's are like nature guardians. High defense, high healing, limited nature magics. Monks are high healing, high wisdom, and you can pick a tag stat though splitting between strength and speed isn't unheard of. What did you do before you came to Remnant?"

"I never said anything about being from somewhere else." I said, drawing my sword out of my inventory. He rolled his eyes again and snapped. In a flash, I was upside down in the air holding a rubber chicken while Jak inspected my blade. "Put me down!" He snapped again and I fell onto my head, doing a small bit of HP damage. I picked myself up off the ground.

"I ask again." He said with no change in expression.

"I was a hero, and adventurer. I was a warrior." I spat as I brushed myself off.

"Equipment?"

"Plate armour and two-handed sword."

"Any powers?"

"I'm the Dragonborn." I stated proudly, to which he gave me a blank stare. "I can breathe fire and shit." I sighed out.

"You could go flame-knight… hm... or maybe a beast-tamer? Nah, Grimm are better for XP… Only one way to figure it out. Dungeon Create: Training Ground!" He shot his hand up and a flash of light came from his palm, blinding us all.

When I opened my eyes we were in the same warehouse. "What did you do?" I looked around to see my teacher and team missing.

"Dungeon Create, it's a skill of mine. We're exactly where we were, just slightly off with the dimensional when and where. Don't worry about it. The reason we're here is because it will allow us to spar, and when we're done I'll be able to go back over it all and see where you messed up."

"What makes you so certain I'll mess up?" I asked, flinching as I suddenly had my sword in my hand again.

"You will." Jak said simply, waiting for me to make a move.

I shrugged, then sprinted at him with my sword off to the side. Typical shit, really, but he was dressed as a mage and I didn't want anything to do with that. I shot my harpoon at him to get him to move, but the bolt shot right through him and sank into the wall behind him. He moved out of the way of the rope, grabbed it, and pulled me off balance. I heard the clanking of bones off of wood, before an unseen force slammed me face-first into the ground.

"Sorry about that, didn't think I'd roll a crit!" He called out. I rolled back to my feet. Holding my sword to the side again, parallel to the ground, I called back.

"WULD!"

I shot past him, sword slicing into his torso as he came apart at the waist, blood flying along the arc of my blade. Then I was face-first in the ground again, and Jak was laughing.

"If at first you don't succeed, keep trying the same thing, I guess."

I narrowed my eyes and sunk into a defensive stance, holding my ground. He snapped and the ground beneath my feet turned to quicksand. I waited patiently for my Thu'um to return, then shouted once more.

"YOL!"

The sand at my feet dried instantly, sending a cloud of steam up to burn me. I accepted the damage, yanking myself free and leaping into the air with a use of Featherweight. As I hit the roof, I twisted to put my feet against the surface, then pushed off with all my might as the spell faded, launching me down at Jak like a bullet. I waited until I was just above him, then released another shout, causing me HP and AP but still casting the desired effect.

"FUS RO DAH!"

He didn't budge, but simply stepped to the side as I crashed into the ground in front of him. I didn't stay down long, rolling to my feet.

"How the hell are you still standing?" I asked, literally shocked.

The Status Effect "Shocked" has been applied. Duration: 5 Seconds.

"Pro Secret." He said with a wink, before raising his hand into the sky. "Dungeon Escape!"

With the sound of shattering glass, we were instantly back in the original warehouse.

He turned to the professor. "He's got a ridiculous way to go, but I know how fast that will fly by. For now, let him grow as the game says." He turned back to me. "For now, don't worry about your class. Learn what skills you can, and train to make use of your physical stats. We can speak when you're done the tutorial."

He raised his hand in the air and snapped, disappearing into thin air. I was immediately on guard, though my Gamer's mind helped me realize that if he had wanted to hurt me, he would have done so. It also helped me swallow my fear.

I am not a man accustomed to fear, but if he could show up at literally any time from any place. I breathed a quick prayer to whoever was listening, then sighed.

Partha broke the silence, thankfully. "Is he always so… "

The math teacher shrugged. "Hunters." He said by way of explanation, which made a certain kind of sense. From what I heard, we were talking about becoming heroes, and there's not a whole lot personality-wise that one can do. After all, if you need to choose between dealing with oddities and saving lives from the Grimm, patience is all of a sudden much easier to come by.

We soon left the warehouse, myself in deep thought about what to do as the others bantered.

"So now we go find pancakes?" Nora asked hopefully.

"I'm sure we can find something to eat while we're in the city." Pyrrha assured her.

"Torga said there would be pancakes, Pyrrha." Ren said solemnly. "At this point, we would be safest giving them to her. Trust me."

Pyrrha glanced over to see a slightly manic look in the orange-haired girls eyes. It filled her with not fear, of course, but instead trepidation.

I tuned them out, following the steps of those in front of me idly.

Given what I had learned, it would seem I had the possibility of becoming whatever I wanted. I couldn't help but wonder if there were other books I could learn skills from. Divines, if I had access to the library at the College of Winterhold with this power, Urag would have been unable to stop me from devouring every book I could.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a building. Turning my attention to it fully, my eyes widened, and I was quick to dash across the street to look into the window.

I saw a two men inside, both of them Faunus.

Adam Taurus

LVL 65

The Devil's Advocate

Tukson Winnigo

LVL 27

Who Rides Uncertainty

What was really important was all of the pop-ups that occurred when I looked through the window and used Observe.

The Skill Book 'On Aura and Weaponry' has been located!

The Skill Book 'Dust for Dummies' has been located!

The Skill Book 'Dust and You!' has been located!

The Skill Book 'Nature's Wrath' has been located!

The Skill Book 'Horseman of the North' has been located!

The Skill Book 'Horseman of the West' has been located!

The Skill Book 'Flying for Dummies' has been located!

The Skill Book 'Art of War' has been located!

The Skill Book 'Practice Makes Perfect!' has been located!

The Skill Book 'History of the White Fang' has been located!

The Skill Book 'Flight of the Valkyries' has been located!

With a grin I barely held back, I walked under the sign labelled Tukson's Book Trade.


Meet Jakkins, people. He's going to be a Gamer, though not a majorly prevalent one. Mostly as a counter-point to our good friend Torga. See, in most gamer fics, the main character goes for intelligence and wisdom to out-think and manouver his enemies. Meanwhile...

"TORGA SMAASSSHHH!"

This will be great fun.