As I slammed into the ground I dug my sword in halfway up the length of the blade, impaling the loamy, grassy soil. The tether kept me down as I floated upwards thanks to the effects of Feather Fall, until eventually the skill cut out and I dropped to my feet. Pulling Boar's Tooth from the dirt and tossing it into my inventory, I looked up at the wall behind me. Large and ridden with spotlights, I could see the forms of men pacing the battlements with rifles, a proposition I had yet to truly envision in my initial assessment of firearms. Anyone attempting to climb that wall would be shot down in less than a second.
Unfortunately for them, they weren't on the lookout for people trying to leave so all I had to do was use Feather Fall and a creative jump and I was over the wall in an awkward version of flight.
See, when the team tuckered in for the night, I found myself unable to sleep. I had power now, so much power, and I wanted to use it, I wanted to beat back the Grimm until they were forced into the ocean!
So I had gone out hunting. Or Hunting, I guess. Most nights over the past couple of weeks since Velvet woke up were spent out here, beyond the wall. It was tough work, and I began to understand why the walls were there instead of leaving the civilians to the Grimm. The problem wasn't that they were strong; I still reserved my opinion that lesser Grimm like Beowolves and Boarbatusk could be dispatched by a mildly trained pair of civilians. No, the problem was that there were so damn many.
My original plan on the first day had been to find a nice hill and hold it against all comers until the sun came up. That plan had gone to shit in about 15 minutes. I had been swarmed by an entire flock of Nevermore while I attempted to hold off the literal army of Ursae, both Major and Minor. The best way I found was to keep moving around a circuit, killing any Grimm I saw. I was training my physical attributes more this way, though stopping for a break was just as difficult, mainly because it involved losing the Grimm and hopping back over the walls. Experience was slow coming.
I made it about 25 meters from the wall tonight before I heard the first howl. My items from the fight against the Nevermore went on, and I found that I could see through the forest as if it were daytime, as if tree trunks were made out of stained glass. I could hear the Beowolf howl again as I moved closer. I didn't necessarily want that one in particular but the Grimm don't howl for no reason. Either it had sniffed me out which was only slightly likely, or it had found some other prey.
I didn't hurry, I was so far undetected and wanted to stay that way. I would be able to see any Grimm coming, true, but that didn't mean I would see them as they heard or smelled me and moved to ambush. Another howl joined the first. I made a brief realization that the commotion was going on near the south gate. An ear-piercing shriek filled the night just as the first rifle shots were fired.
I broke all pretense of stealth and weaved through the gnarled trees to the deforested zone by the wall, then sprinted along its length until I could see the gate. It didn't take long.
Spotlights were shining on a little girl and boy that were pounding on the huge gate. A small pack of Beowolves encircled them, being held back by sporadic fire from the guards on top of the wall. From that distance, they were unable to do much more than shoot the ground around the wolves. There were only 6 or so of them, but from the noises in the forest and the wailing of the children I wagered there were many more on the way.
The entire pack got blown away by a single Fus, clearing the road and relieving the children. I heard muffled shouts from the guards atop the wall but tuned them out for now.
I moved towards the children. "You two need to get your shit together right now or we're all going to die, ya hear?"
The boy looked at me through dirty blonde hair, lip quivering. His eyes widened. "You're a Hunter!"
"Sure thing." I replied, latching onto whatever worked. The girl had just started to cry harder. "I need you to calm her down though. Negative emotions draw Grimm, and I can't fight the whole world by myself."
He looked at me with wide eyes, like a deer caught in a magelight. I gave him a smack in the side of the head to snap him out of it. "Boy, you can lose your mind all you want later. Get her under control, please."
Because I sure as hell can't do it without violence. I left unsaid. Little kid didn't need to hear that.
The sounds of the Grimm closing were getting louder, so I prepared for the fight. In my left arm I equipped the shield I had made with Ruby. It was a towering shield, one that spanned almost my whole height, and with a little bit of mechashift it expanded to provide a half-cocoon. If I could bring this shield alone back, the Dragon War could have been won easily. It was resistant to most impacts and elements, a trait only enhanced by my Aura Enhancement skill. I left it unactivated for now.
In my right hand, a long, long battleaxe. On one side of the head was a dark edge that slightly resembled a talon, the other a gruesome spike in the semblance of a feather. It was an axe I had made from a Nevermore Feather somehow. I gave it a few swipes, satisfied in how light the cumbersome weapon felt. My Dust Battery was full of Fire dust, my HP and AP were full with barely anything to spend them on, and as I activated my Aura Enhancement on my weapon it gained a faint sheen of flames.
So when the first Beowulf popped out of the tree line, I hit it with the flat of the axe, causing it to detonate and fly in pieces back to the forest. An Ursa came barreling out next, this one I smashed in the snout with my shield.
It staggered back, and I switched my skills around, enhancing my shield with Aura and bashing it again with Double Strike. This time the opposite side of my shield detonated in an odd ti-tik-BOOM and caused a spray of Grimm to paint the nearest trees. Or maybe they were just scorched. The trees, not the Grimm; The Ursa had definitely been destroyed.
The little boy seemed to be doing better, or at least the brief stint of action seemed to let him regain confidence. He was hugging the girl, muttering something in her ear.
I knew the look of a child too far gone though. This girl wouldn't let up until she was out of the situation or she fell asleep.
Another roar brought me back to the treeline where I saw a Beowolf charge me from the left side. Two more came from the right. I briefly wondered what to do before the Beowolf to my left suffered a sudden case of bullet to the head and fell dead.
In a blur of red, Ruby Rose tore the other two to ribbons. "Player Two has entered the match, Hya!" She ended with a karate pose.
I blinked, wondering how she got here before realizing I was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Three wolves I can handle no problem. When the hordes come though, I would need all the help I could get.
"Good to see you here." I said, mildly awkwardly. My training had meant to be discreet, at least discreet enough to fool a teenager.
"Well see Yang said you were getting stronger and so I looked and you were so I thought 'Hm, I wonder why that is' so I followed you and now here I am." She took a breath, looked around, and nodded. "Yep. So you've been out Hunting, huh?"
"Feel like getting the kids out of here?" I said, scanning the trees and avoiding her question. "I can't seem to calm them down."
She leaned over. "Maybe it's because you look like a weird Grimm thing right now."
I looked over at her strangely before tearing off the goggles. I shook my head. Something brightened in my head, something I couldn't notice until it happened, then the feeling faded and I forgot all about it. "They're night vision, forgot how scary it looked."
She scooped up the girl in her arms, having already put away her scythe. "I'll be back in just a second."
"Don't worry about me." I replied with a grin I really didn't feel like putting on. "I've got the tough guy to help me."
"M-me?" The kid asked.
"Yea, you. I've got a plan for us. Ruby, the girl who took your friend-"
"She's a Huntress, right? She said so!"
"That she is. She's gonna come back but until then more of the Grimm are coming. What's your name buddy?" From the sound of things it wouldn't be long at all.
"My sister calls me Blue."
I held my hand behind my back and used a different aspect of Dust Battery. I didn't want him to see but I also didn't like to watch. Basically what happened was that my hand started sweating whatever Dust I happened to be charged with and formed it into a crystal that grew based on how much of my Dust bar I used. I could essentially absorb and secrete Dust. It was not comfortable.
I handed him a small Red Dust crystal. "Alright Blue, here's what you're going to-"
I was cut off as the Grimm arrived en masse, streaming down the road and the woods to each side. I wasn't able to count, just turn my head and shout.
'Fus Ro Dah!'
Needless to say that a full shout amplified by both class and title did a lot more than triple the width of the road. Any Grimm in the path were picked up and thrown. Trees cracked and fell, the smaller ones just splintered. Rocks and stumps that had probably sat where they were for generations were tossed away from my gate.
Complete silence filled the night save for the buzz of the spotlights. "Throw that as far down the road as you can when I tell you to, okay?"
He simply nodded as he looked at me with wide eyes. I was used to that already, though it took a lot of willpower to not break out into a grin at the sight of destruction. That willpower ceased to be required when I heard a familiar stomp. Then a not so familiar ring.
Incoming Call from: Ruby Rose
Answer?
[YES] [NO]
I tapped the obvious choice.
"Torga? Torga they won't let me back down!"
I whipped my head up to see what was going on but the spotlights blocked my attempt and almost blinded me.
"What's going on?" I growled as I blinked the spots out of my eyes..
"They said- Hold on." I heard muttered voices. "There's a Hunter on the way, hold out until-" She pulled the phone away from her mouth for a moment.
"Ruby?" I said, glancing between the boy and the forest. I wasn't worried about myself, I had already tested my power against a Beowolf. With no skills, items, or Aura I could take one on and win. By win, I mean lazily fight while letting myself take hits to up my Physical Endurance some more. I didn't take much damage as it was but more never hurt. If I could ignore all damage, or even half…
No, I was worried about the boy. He clutched that crystal so tight that if I didn't know better I would have been afraid of him detonating it. I absently swatted away a boarbatusk that had been rolling down the road in plain sight using an Air Slash, which detonated on impact in a ball of fire.
The window that displayed my call with Ruby faded, and the girl herself dropped to my side in a flood of rose petals.
"Cowards, all of them." She said through gritted teeth.
"Told ya." I said.
"Yea, thanks for that." I raised an eyebrow. Ruby usually wasn't the type to fire back.
"What happened up there?"
She stomped her foot in a very Weiss-like manner before her tirade, and several times throughout. "I went up to drop off the girl, and they said that they couldn't open the gates."
"Makes sense." I replied.
"Yea, I don't like it but I know." She drew her weapon. "Then I told them I could get Blue over here and you know what they said? They said that a Huntress-In-Training has no business being out of the school. Can you believe them?"
I hummed in response, barely precluding the arrival of more Grimm.
Without Ruby there, I'm not sure how long I could have held out. I have power, I have a tough body that can take punishment, and I'm also incredibly fast. Ruby had skill.
With a bang she took off towards the group, flutters of rose petals intermixed with sprays of red and pieces of Grimm as she demolished the right side. I stood against the left, launching Air Slash after Air Slash as fast as I could. Each detonation pushed back the Grimm, but I eventually ran out of my Dust Batery and the Slashes merely did damage. I kept Aura Enhancement on both of my weapons, and leapt into the fray myself, punching a Beowolf's head into the dirt with the weight of my shield. I brought it back up to block a claw swipe from an Ursa, when my leg was taken out from underneath me. An Ursa Major had gotten the limb in it's jaws.
I was thrown back and forth for a brief second before getting thrown. Tumbling head over heels, I hit the ground in an awkward sprawl. I was attempting to roll to my feet when the Ursa struck again, knocking me back into the arms of a Beowolf. The wolf snarled and opened its jaw to bite at me, but it's skull vanished in a red mist, courtesy of Ruby.
"Stay back, Torga! You've got to keep the boy safe!" She shouted as she hung in the air above the battlefield, before a report from her weapon sent her streaking back to the earth.
I gritted my teeth as the Ursa barreled towards me, fighting my urge to meet it head on and rolling aside. I tucked the shield back into my inventory. After seeing how little my AP had dropped from being hit and thrown around like that, I deactivated my Aura as well. All the more power to focus on myself.
I leaped back to the gate where the boy sat, knees drawn to his chest and head buried in his hands. He had been doing so well, too. Part of me briefly entertained the idea of killing him then and there. There was precedence, I had once been down in a Dwemer mine when a patrol of Falmer strolled through. They could hear my hound panting, he had been injured in a spear trap earlier on. I had to put him down, there were too many of them and I was still comparatively weak. An brief pang of regret was all I needed to abandon that idea though.
Well, when something is sick, you either quarantine it to save everyone else, or you heal the sickness before it's too late. I gave my pathetic attempt at the latter.
"Hey, Blue."
He didn't answer, and I resisted the urge to snap at him. He was only a scared little kid, from a soft little world.
"Blue, I need that crystal."
His head shot up and in a flash he whipped his arm out, throwing the Dust down the road towards the rapidly dissolving pile of Grimm corpses. It clattered to a halt as more Grimm stalked their way out of the forest. I noticed that they avoided they crystal from it's resting place, before I was too distracted to reprimand Blue for throwing away my fire.
I led with a minor Unrelenting Force to knock them back and stagger their approach. It worked, for a brief second, though none were truly injured. All it took was for one stupid, stupid Beowolf to charge and the rest of the horde followed. I could still hear the sound of shots from deeper in the forest and noticed that the majority of the Grimm were coming from the left; Ruby was still slaughtering Grimm, and I suddenly thought it was very fitting she wielded a scythe.
Fortunately, I was much better with two hands to grip my axe, and the heads began to roll. I never disabled Aura Enhancement, and used Double strike with each hit. Occasionally I would charge up and use a Power Strike with a kick but I fought best with my feet planted. I thinned out the herd, dismissing annoying pop-up after pop-up as I held my ground.
Battleaxe Mastery levelled up! Unarmed Mastery levelled up! Aura Enhancement levelled up!
A pounce from the front - I meet the beast with an uppercut, slamming it into the ground behind me. A claw from the left - I crouch down onto my right leg, leaning back and under. Wide, stinking jaws above me - I backhand the offending Ursa with an armored gauntlet, and use the break to drop a shoulder and charge my way out of the circle. I set myself between the gate and the Grimm, having less than a second before I'm set upon again.
I could see Ruby in the air in the distance, somewhere I knew I wouldn't accidently hit her, and grinned before I finally let loose the good stuff.
"Yol Toor!"
The Grimm burned. It was as simple as that. No matter how strong I was as a person, my shouts were on an entirely different scale of existence. I could describe the effects of dragon fire on poor roads and sickly trees, but it was ultimately the same. Utter destruction and consumption.
It didn't take long for Ruby to reappear, her clothes slightly tattered and herself looking a tad out of breath. "What was that?"
I raised an eyebrow. "I told you I could do a bunch of stuff, didn't I?"
She pointed towards the melted remains of the road, the scorched earth to either side, and the trees that were slowly crumbling to ash beyond that. Even further, the forest was crackling, ready to spring into a full blaze any second. I recognized the sight from Skyrim, though usually the cold and wet helped stave off forest fires. "That is more than 'a bunch of stuff', that's awesome! I mean, you're probably going to get in trouble for the road but still!" Then again, I was also stronger now.. Wait, what?
"Why would I get in trouble?" Yes, I destroyed their road. I also protected their citizens and held the gate. "Nevermind, just take this kid over the wall."
"But I won't be able to come back. I'm getting in trouble too, you know."
I snorted. "Just say it was my fault, and I mind-controlled you or something. Ozpin already knows I can do stuff like that."
"Wait, WHAT?!" She turned towards me with a very disconcerting look on her face, one I was not prepared to see from her, right now. "You can?"
I was careful not to backtrack too quickly. I spoke slowly and clearly. "Yes, Ruby, I can. I can explain all of my power to you sometime later, but just because I can, doesn't mean I do. My gift is one of great power, and potentially evil power. But even the most evil of tools can be used for good. Do you understand?"
"So, what," She glared. "You don't read people's minds unless you feel like it's for a good reason?"
I was about to retort with something incredibly mean-spirited and had opened my mouth to do just so when I felt the ground shaking again. Harder, and faster.
"Get him gone, Ruby."
"Fine, meanie!" She grabbed Blue and vanished into a burst of rose petals. I sighed and began walking down the scorched remains of the road.
Heat Resistance levelled up!
A glinting caught my eye, and I saw that somehow, the crystal that Blue had thrown hadn't detonated in the initial explosion. In fact, if I was correct…
Super Red Dust Crystal
It seems I was. I picked it up and attempted to use it to fill my Dust Battery but I was instead met with a pop-up.
Warning!
Using the Dust Battery skill with a Super Dust Crystal can produce unknown side-effects. Would you like to proceed?
I didn't hesitate for a second before saying yes, even though an image of myself detonating flashed briefly through my skull.
Fire Affinity increased by +1!
You have learned the skill 'Flamethrower'!
Flamethrower LVL1 (Active) Cost: 15AP
Through your time spent among the fires of destruction, you have learned to channel the heat within and expel a gout of fire from your hand.
Range: 10m
Oh. Well that's not bad at all, especially if I can replicate it. If I use Yol on red dust, and that makes it Super Red Dust, which is both more powerful and can be used to increase my Fire Affinity… My entire order that I planned to unlock my shouts in had just been scattered to the wind. Checking on the page for Fire Affinity I confirmed that it essentially lessened my damage from fire and increased my effectiveness while wielding it.
The stomping was growing closer, prompting me to make my way back to the gate, I hadn't seen it yet, but I had an odd feeling that the Baby Goliath was on it's way.
Unfortunately, the world had other plans for me.
I felt an odd tugging on the back of my neck. Then I felt a tugging, and then I was unconscious.
I woke up to the sounds of conflict. "-y fault! We had a plan, and then you spring a sudden change on me. How would I remember what happens on the first time, mine was when I was three!"
"That's enough, he's up." I recognized that voice, and flung my eyes open, instantly regretting it. I groaned.
"What the hell were you thinking, going Hunting alone?!" A female screeched at me. I still had not adjusted my eyes to the bright light, though I could feel that I wasn't in a bed, but on some chair or couch.
"Leave him be for now, nobody likes being teleported."
"It's not teleporting, it's-"
"Shh." I managed, slowly opening my eyes again. The room I was in wasn't even that brightly lit, just a lantern on a small wooden table, the couch I was on, and a window with blinds drawn. I could see the pale light of dawn peeking through the crack in the shades. Compared to most other places, this was oddly low-tech.
"You heard him." Another female voice said as the door opened. I glanced around and my eyes immediately shot into focus. "Keep it quiet for another couple minutes, I'm no miracle worker."
The speaker was an absolutely gorgeous woman, a brunette with braided back hair and a scar upon her face. She stood tall and confident, with a gaze that said 'I already know what I'm going to see, and I dare you to deny me'. She wore a black tank top, and cargo shorts, with a pair of black sunglasses hanging from the neckline of her shirt. On her back was what appeared to be a standard military rifle, one of the types that I'd seen racks of in Gale's.
"Says the woman who literally works miracles?" Arthur shot back. I whipped my head around to be certain, but surely enough Arthur was sitting against the wall across the room. He was wearing an oddly tight grey suit with an odd linear pattern on it. The last girl was a darker skinned female who was sitting beside Arthur, but not close enough to suggest anything. I was sitting alone in the only seat in the room.
"Says her." The brunette said, coming around to the front of my chair and looking me in the eyes. "You don't look much like he did."
I glanced around, connecting dots as quickly as I could. "I'm also not as much of a dick."
The tension sharpened in the brunettes face, and I feared that I had dared to go too far with his team. The brown-skinned girl spoke for me.
"He doesn't mean it, he-" She stared intently at me, which had me staring quizzically back. "Nevermind." She shot out, then looked down and went back to her own.
"So are you just full of shit or do we have some next-level questing to do?" The brunette pressed.
"I-" My mouth caught, and my eyes widened. That hadn't been what I was going to lead with.
"I am-" What the actual fuck? I'm not being spoken for, but when I tried to speak my mouth formed different words.
The brunette grinned. "You won't out-do my semblance. Ozpin can't out-do my semblance. Just answer truthfully and you'll go back to normal."
I clamped my mouth shut, determined not to tell her what she wanted to know. I had no idea what she wanted to know but I knew magic when I felt it. Except I never felt it. I wasn't being manipulated or anything.
"Listen, there's two ways we can do this. I have probability control over my immediate area. Do you understand what that means?"
I winced, then my eyes widened.
"You should be afraid. You are here because I decided that the probability of you being here was 100%. Therefore, you were here. Do you get it now?"
I stayed silent.
Arthur sighed. "Look, man. It's not worth it. Do you wanna know how quick shes going to decide on the odds of your balls getting tied together? Don't do it." I looked at him with wide eyes, trying to convey fear. He didn't buy it. To be fair, I wasn't all that convincing.
"Fine. We'll do this another way. But know this," I turned back to the brunette as she stared at me threateningly. "If you lie to me, you'll begin to dissolve over the course of a week starting at your toes. Don't lie. Now, are you or are you not originally from a different 'world'?"
"Mind, Yes. Body and soul, Unsure."
"He doesn't want to dissolve." The brown-skinned woman said.
"Who would?" I replied, careful to keep my tone even. I'd seen too many men killed by supposedly infallible truth-seeing tests. I'd seen one, and that alone was too many.
"When did you get here?"
I was still unfamiliar with the calendar. "I don't know."
"Who brought you here?"
That one was easy. "I did."
She waited a brief moment, then continued. "How?"
"Elder Scroll."
Arthur shot up off the ground. "The what?"
"An Elder Scroll." I repeated. "It brought me here."
"Why?"
I had done a lot of thinking. "Most likely, because I asked it to."
"Explain."
"Can you take the thing where I melt off? I would really like that." I replied.
"No." She replied.
I shrugged. "Fine. You're an ugly cow and there is absolutely no way in hell I would ever find you attractive."
You have obtained the status 'Unravelling'!
I resolved to check that out when I could as it seemed rather worrisome. As the brunette looked at me expectantly, I noted that my HP began to sink, even past my impressive regeneration. I activated Conversion. My HP shot back up to full, but my AP started sinking slowly. I had levelled up Conversion a few times, enough to the point where I could use it without losing too much AP. I could keep the skill up for just over 15 minutes. When I ran out of AP I would switch it off long enough to regain my AP then heal myself again. With luck I could find a place to meditate, or better yet, sleep until the status wore off.
In her moment of shock, I observed the two women.
Mirian McMuffin
LVL?
The Book-Keeper
Rassa Julani
LVL73
The Empath
"As fun as this is, I would appreciate knowing why you brought me here. I was in the middle of something." I still felt kind of groggy but my senses had returned to normal. "Also, in case you didn't notice that last part was a lie. I was just testing your power."
She raised an eyebrow, having regained composure. "And?" Her tone was dangerous.
"I will gladly answer questions, but I don't do well with interrogation. It's the principle of the matter." I explained. "I do find it quite worrisome though. What could it mean to 'unravel'?"
Her eyes narrowed, and the status disappeared. Part of me wished it had stayed, that would have meant free experience for my healing skills without having to get someone to beat me up.
Then I realized I could now hold my hands together and use Flamethrower to burn. HP down, two skills levelling up…
"We had to pull you out of there. There was a team inbound for you. It's a good thing you got your friend out before, she'll be fine. You on the other hand, Ozpin has been looking for a reason to get rid of." Arthur explained as he stretched. "Going out Hunting as a first-year is reason enough to expel you, and that means you'd be kicked outside the city walls. That's a death sentence."
I glanced around, seeing all of these faces, these presumably powerful people looking to see what I would say next. They wouldn't admit so until much later, but I had shaken them when I had shrugged off Mirian's power. "I disagree. Well, if he had done it right then and there, maybe. I grow quick though."
"So did Jak." Rassa spoke from her position. She remained on the ground with her head down and her hands in her lap.
"So, what? We ship me off somewhere else? Why are you guys even bothering anyways?"
"It's the right thing to do." Mirian shot out immediately, which meant I immediately dismissed her. I looked to Arthur instead.
"We know what can happen. We know you have incredible potential, and we know that you can change the shape of the world. It's just in the cards. You were brought here by an artifact of ancient origin, and are therefore tied to this land. I could try to prove it scientifically but I don't want to dissect you."
I shuddered. "No thank you. I know how the Elder Scrolls work, generally. Well, in my experience. The first one did what I wanted it to do, in a way. The second and third did what I needed them to do, even though I did not know I what I needed until all was said and done with. The fourth came to me, compared to the others. Maybe there's something here that I need to do, and I just don't know it. In any case, what happens next? I just live in this chair?"
"Obviously not. There's an apartment set up in Vale, you can train discreetly until you've got the power to set off on your own for a different Kingdom."
"Why the hell would I do that?" I replied, bothered. I did not enjoy the feeling that I was running away from something, even though I had no idea what that something was. "I'll do the apartment thing for now, sure, but I still need to pass my midterms or I'll be stuck in this tutorial forever."
Arthur had the decency to look ashamed. "I said I would take care of that, didn't I?"
"You did."
He sullenly walked off, enough so I knew he was over-dramatizing it.
Mirian waited until he left, then gave Rassa a look. I didn't see what happened but she vanished.
Before she could speak, I took the initiative. "What's going on? Why all the secrecy?"
She stared me down for a moment, then crouched, balancing on the balls of her feet. "How do you feel about Professor Ozpin?"
I shrugged. "Decent fellow. Has too many secrets to trust, and a man that can't be trusted doesn't trust anyone else. He likes to appear all-knowing, but I've noticed an odd twitch or two. He's got his own way of being dramatic."
She laughed, a sound I had not yet heard but decided I wanted to hear more. "Pretty much summed him up. I won't be saying anything here or now, there's too many ears. I'm just going to say that Ozpin has a lot more on the line than his reputation if his image were to be shattered. Now, I'm going to send us to your new apartment. Don't worry, the first time is always the worst."
I blinked, and we were somewhere new. We stood in a small, room with dark red walls and hardwood floors. A round wooden table sat before a small kitchen further in, with a basic chair on either side. To my right, a door which led to a bathroom. To my left, a blank wall. "You can hang things up if you'd like. The place is yours to do with as you will."
Glancing out the window, I could see that I was in one of the larger apartment buildings, somewhere in the middle. "I looked into apartments when I first got here." I walked towards the table, my armored boots clanging harshly against the tile in the kitchen. A single apple sat on the table. I picked it up, finding it odd. It was quite… perfect. All of the colours were so natural, the way the light hit the surface of the skin was impeccable. I held up the apple with a questioning look.
"Why is there a fake apple on my table?"
Mirian rolled her eyes and grabbed the apple from my hand, placing it back on the table. "It's for decoration."
I continued my exploration, as there was an doorless entryway to another room. This one, I unequipped my boots and socks for.
I let out a moan as I stepped inside. "Dearest Meridia, I have seen the light.." I muttered to myself, wiggling my toes amongst the thick, curling strands of blue carpet. This room had walls that were plain white, a bed adorned in black sheets and pillows, and a sliding door out to… "Hey, I have a balcony?"
"Figured you would want a way in and out."
"You figured correctly. So uh… why?"
She huffed. "Took you long enough."
"What, you're actually going to tell me?" I said sarcastically.
"No. I was just wondering how long it would be until you asked. You're quite stubborn, aren't you?"
"I'm a lot of things, Mirian." Her eyes narrowed, and she vanished. I briefly wondered whether or not something terrible would happen to me but half a minute passed and nothing changed. I opened the sliding door and was assaulted by the sounds of the city, and crisp, cool, autumn air.
Stepping outside, I was assaulted once more, though if it were an actual assault I would have bared my neck and made it as easy as possible to be defeated.
No, this was a message:
Congratulations, Player! You have completed the tutorial!
Rewards:
-General Menu Unlocked!
-Relationship Menu and Notifications Locked!
-Mini-Map Locked!
-Gained 975,000 Lien!
-Gained Skill: Dungeon Access!
-Gained Skill: Dungeon Escape!
"Oh, fuck yes. Now, the slaughter begins."
Hey guys,
Here we go. This is where we spin off the rails from canon a bit more. Torga is a bit too powerful to be gallivanting along with JNPR and RWBY during the school days. He's going to be off on his own related but still different adventures. No, I'm not cutting out RWBY or JNPR, l'm just... diverging their paths. There will be a slight hiatus as I go watch the second and third season so I can make sure to get all the lore right, but as usual no promises on the date and no apologies being given.
Also, there was a guy giving anonymous reviews under the name 'TheCritic'. Please PM me, I love your insight and would really like it if you could look at new chapters before I release.
Also as always, feel free to throw offensive skills at me. I've got defensive ideas for days and the Phanderix Magic World mod for Skyrim is giving me oodles of ideas, but maybe some buff and debuff concepts? Thanks for the help.
