The meeting over, Neo followed Ozpin on a bullhead to Beacon. It was the early morning, so she had the entire day to meet the teachers and explore the campus.
Ozpin explained during the trip that she wouldn't be allowed much freedom on campus during the school year however, as there would be plenty of older students in the halls. Today was the middle of the summer holiday however, so it was fine.
Neo only met a single teacher that morning, one blonde and stern woman named Glynda Goodwitch. She was apparently an expert at using Dust, combined with her telekinesis semblance. She was the one that was going to teach her everything. Neo decided to observe her just for good mesure.
Name : Glynda Goodwitch
Level : 20
Title : White Rook
HP : 11/11
AP : 107/107
STR : 12
CON : 11
DEX : 14
INT : 23
WIS : 15
CHA : 17
This seemed odd to Neo. Ozpin was the White King, and now she met the White Rook ? She knew about chess, so she easily made the connection, but why would they be chess pieces ?
That was food for thought, but she would think about it later. Glynda was apparently busy with paperwork, and while Ozpin had tried to use Neo as an excuse to not do his part, a slap on the wrist by Glynda's riding crop forced him back at his desk, grumbling.
So Neo would explore the school today. Glynda had warned her not to leave the school grounds, and not to go near the cliffs, so she didn't.
Don't get her wrong, Neo wasn't the type to follow warnings, but the way Glynda had slapped Ozpin when he tried to get out of his work told Neo that she shouldn't try disobeing the strict woman, at least not until she found a way to dodge her riding crop.
Neo skipped through the halls, familiarising herself with the grounds. She found each classroom had posters above the black board, showing what was being taught there. She found one with historical events, one with grimm, one on Dust and so on. She also found the dorms, and was amazed at the sheer amount of rooms there was.
The place was huge, far bigger than her first home, but somehow it didn't really feel empty. She was going to be here all day from now on, and the amount of space she had to play within made her happy. After a few hours she finally grew bored as she had seen it all, and went back to Ozpin's office.
There, she found the Headmaster filling in form after form. The piles of paperwork hiding him from view. Neo went around his desk and jumped on his lap, signaling her boredom.
" Now," said Ozpin with a smile, " I would love to entertain you miss Politan, but I'm afraid I have work to do."
Neo looked at him with her cutest puppy eyes.
" Those do not work on me anymore." countered Ozpin with a short laugh, " But I should probably make a pause."
" No you shouldn't." shot Glynda as she walked into the office, " I am supposed to be miss Politan's teacher, so I will take care of her. You can get back to work."
Neo immediatly shot up and skipped towards Glynda, curious as to see what she had planned. They both left the room, barely hearing Ozpin.
" traitors." he muttered to no one in particular.
Glynda led Neo to her own office, where a stack of blank paper and a pen was laid down, and she sat her down in front of it, while Glynda sat on the other side.
" Ozpin told me you had some knowledge on Dust, but I need to understand exactly how much you know. So we'll be doing a test." explained Glynda.
Neo didn't know why, but that word didn't sit well with her. Still, as Glynda started asking her questions, she noted the answers down on the sheet of paper.
She didn't know how long she sat there, writing answers to a dozen questions before Glynda read them and asked her a dozen more. During that time, Neo learned her new writing skill completly. However, she was finally saved by her rumbling stomach signaling how hungry she was.
" I guess it's time we take a break and eat lunch." said Glynda while readjusting her glasses.
Neo perked up, and started running out of the room before realizing she didn't know where they were going to eat. Surely the mess hall was too big for that if only a few teachers were there.
Glynda chuckled before leading Neo to another room in the tall tower, where people talked around a dressed table.
" So this is the reason we have another set of silverware at the table today." said one of them.
They were all teachers, and once they introduced themselves, Neo decided to observe them.
Name : Peter Port
Level : 14
Title : Huntsman Extra Ordinaire
HP : 16/16
AP : 93/93
STR : 22
CON : 16
DEX : 14
INT : 14
WIS : 12
CHA : 12
(--)
Name : Bartholomew Oobleck
Level : 16
Title : History and Coffee
HP : 11/11
AP : 70/70
STR : 12
CON : 11
DEX : 14
INT : 17
WIS : 22
CHA : 14
(--)
Name : Thumbelina Peach
Level : 19
Title : Plant lover
HP : 14/14
AP : 102/102
STR : 16
CON : 14
DEX : 23
INT : 14
WIS : 14
CHA : 11
(--)
Name : Ann Greene
Level : 17
Title : Eagle eye
HP : 13/13
AP : 92/92
STR : 15
CON : 13
DEX : 22
INT : 11
WIS : 13
CHA : 16
(--)
Name : Harold Mulberry
Level : 13
Title : Arms and craft
HP : 16/16
AP : 87/87
STR : 21
CON : 16
DEX : 13
INT : 11
WIS : 12
CHA : 15
Lunch done and over with, Neo followed Glynda back to her office. She then watched as Glynda started gathering some Dust vials, filled with powder of greyish color. Neo had never seen that kind of Dust before, so she decided to observe it.
Dust [1/1 AP] (Dummy, Powdered) : This Dust lacks any sort of power and is mostly useless, however it is great for practice.
" From what I've seen so far, you seem to know most of the theory around Dust and how to weave it, so we'll mostly practice. Can you use Aura ? " she asked.
Neo shook her head.
" Then I don't want to unlock it right now. It's best to wait until you are a bit older so you can have a better hold of your emotions." explained Glynda.
Neo looked at her curiously. She had her Aura unlocked already, but it was unusable. Glynda saw her look, but thought Neo was asking about something else.
" Negative emotions attract the grimm. When your Aura is unlocked you start wearing it constantly, and it makes your emotions much easier to be felt by the grimm. That's why we wait until people are older before we unlock Aura. It's to ensure they won't attract too many grimms when their emotions go out of control." she explained.
Neo's look didn't change, although she did nod in understanding. Neo took a sheet of paper and wrote down an explanation for Glynda.
My aura is unlocked. I just can't use it.
Now Glynda's look turned serious.
" What do you mean you can't use it ? " she asked.
Neo tapped under the words 'can't use it' with her pen.
Without a word, Glynda took Neo by the hand and led her to Ozpin's office.
" Fascinating." said Ozpin.
" What do you mean fascinating ? How can someone not be able to use Aura ? " asked Glynda.
" It isn't that they can't use Aura, more than they can't control it. Normally, miss Politan should have an ability that is tied to the uses of Aura. That ability would be far more potent that what can be achieved through Aura consciously, but should come with important limitations."
Neo nodded. She didn't know what Aura was capable of, but that seemed like what her ability told her. She held a notepad that Glynda gave her while she was explaining the situation to Ozpin.
I can make an item I wield reflect any attack.
" So here we have it." said Ozpin.
" How is she supposed to use Dust properly without Aura ? " asked Glynda, " She won't even be able to activate any of the processed Dust."
" Then you'll have to stick to more unstable forms of Dust. She has shown that she was capable of wielding it" said Ozpin calmly.
Glynda finally relented. There wasn't much sense in arguing something that couldn't be changed. She led Neo to her classroom for training.
Over the next few weeks, Neo's life had begun a new routine. Roman would escort her to the airport early in the morning, where one of the teachers, usually Glynda, would be waiting to pick her up. Then, she would spend all day learning and playing with Dust before being sent home.
One evening, however, Roman wasn't there to pick her up at the airport. Not wanting to wait, Neo decided to go home by herself. She didn't realize a few men were following her.
Neo skipped happily as the streets grew emptier, and ended up bumping into someone around a corner.
" Are you okay young miss." the man asked respectfully.
When Neo saw the man, she was scared. This was one of the men that would often be with her parents on what they called 'business meetings'. But most importantly, this was not one of the men that would be nice to her even back when her parents were alive.
So seeing him here being kind to her raised plenty of red flags in the little girl's mind. She observed him carefully as she backed away.
Name : Onyx Film
Age : 32
Level : 1
Class : Brute
Title : The Brawns
HP : 16/16
AP : 15/15
STR : 16
CON : 16
DEX : 13
INT : 10
WIS : 11
CHA : 12
Neo was bumped into another man as she was backing away. She was blocked.
"I don't want to hurt you." said Onyx, " I believe we can come to an understanding."
Not letting her a chance go respond, he continued.
" There are a significant number of former members that would want to raise you to succeed your parents, and I want them to join me. Follow me, and I'll get you back to your old life. I'll even swear to find who killed your parents and take revenge." he offered.
Neo was scared. Ozpin was still calibrating the scroll he wanted to offer her, something about Hunter level scrolls not being used on five years old before, so she couldn't call for backup. If she accepted Onyx's offer, she would certainly end up in a situation where she wouldn't be able to escape.
So she ran away. Or at least tried to, because she was soon grabbed by the man that had been behind her.
" Well, I tried being nice. You could have had everything you could ever want to, but no, you had to try and run." said Onyx, " Seems we need to teach you a lesson."
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 5
Level : 0 (-%)
Class : N/A
Title : The Gamer
HP : 2/2
AP : UNUSABLE
STR : 2
CON : 2
DEX : 2
INT : 4
WIS : 4
CHA : 2
Semblance : The Gamer
Status effects :
Gamer's body [Your body follows game-like mechanics. You can restore 1/4th of your total HP (rounded down) by resting 15 minutes. You can only die if your HP reach 0 and you fail your last breath]
Child of Remnant [You are from Remnant and follow different rules than other worlds. Your HP is always equal to your constitution and any bonuses that would normally improve it are transfered to your aura]
Classless [You do not have a Class. You cannot gain levels or experience until you chose/gain one]
Fighting for your life [Your aura behaved in the only way that would let you survive, and will continue to do so until you overcome your trauma. You cannot use aura, but you can will any item you wield for it to reflect 100% of any attack that hits it]
Words that shouldn't be said [Your last words almost caused you to lose your life. You cannot talk until you overcome your trauma]
Defenses :
AC : 7
For : 7
Ref : 8
Will : 8