I'm going to explain how my gaming system works, so if you'd rather try to figure it out by yourself through the hints I'm placing in every chapter, I'd advise skipping the wall of bold text.
merendinoemiliano : I was wondering when someone was going to point it out.
This gaming system is heavily influenced by the Dungeons and Dragons system, the 4th edition as it's the one I have the books of.
There are some significant differences.
Levels shows the average capabilities of a fighter. It is however possible to severly harm someone of a higher level if you crit (*cough* Roman *cough*). Levels are also a lot less important, but that's mostly because armor is rarely used and everyone has what amounts to magical weapons.
People are stuck at level 0/10/20 until they respectively find their class (how they fight), their path (why they fight) and their destiny (A much more significant answer to the why they fight question). And anything above level 30 is basically a god.
Aside from Neo (for Gamer reasons), experience is only gained through actual experience and training. As a matter of fact, here is how it usually goes :
Level 0 : Classless and people who's aura are still locked. Both are needed to access level 1, but so long as you're level 0 any training will grant stat points instead of experience. Aura unlocks naturally if you have enough stat points (when you finished building your character basically). Combat schools train you so you can gain your class. The best students might even leave at level 2 or 3.
Level 1-10 : Huntsmen and Huntresses in training. Hunter academies are four years of intense training to get all their students up to 11. They help their students understand why they fight, usually early on so they don't waste 4 years for naught.
Level 11-20 : Actual Huntsmen and Huntresses. Gaining levels here is about 10 times harder than in the earlier levels, and the average Huntsman will end his career at around level 13.
Level 21-30 : Legends. Outside of Ozpin and Salem, for obvious reasons, this realm is almost untouched. Only Summer and Calavera would have attained this rank in recent history.
Now back to the story.
Roman was starting to get worried.
It was getting dark outside and Neo still hadn't came back.
Now, they didn't have a set schedule, Neo's passion for learning made it impossible to know when exactly she would be back, but she would always make sure to be home before the sun set. Especially since it was currently the middle of summer and the sun wouldn't set before 10 p.m.
So Roman was understandably concerned when he realized Neo still wasn't home when he came back late.
He took his scroll and messaged Junior. He was going to be pissed that he would ask him to look for a missing child, but the promise of a bunch of lien should help him understand.
" I swear. If Neo is alright I'll make Goodwitch seem like a saint." he muttered.
Neo had been dragged into an abandonned warehouse. Or rather, what looked like an abandonned warehouse, because once inside you could see that it was very much being used.
The place was burstling with goons moving crates around. Neo didn't have time to observe them as she was thrown in an empty room. Onyx and whoever was with him locked the door behind them before towering over her.
" I'm going to give you one last chance, brat. Will you follow me ? " asked Onyx.
Neo looked at him defiantly. She was plenty happy with what she had, and she didn't want to do anything with that jerk. She saw the man next to Onyx give him a metallic baton that was filled with lightning Dust.
" Well that's just too bad. For you. I'm going to enjoy this." said Onyx, before stricking her with the baton. He then pushed a button and a wave of electricity shook her, making her scream in pain.
Roman was cursing as he took Melodic Cudgel and walked out.
Junior has just called him saying Neo had been seen dragged away by two guys in black suits. Seriously, who dressed like that ?
They didn't know who the guys were, but they had a pretty good idea. It could have been a random kidnapping, but it was much more likely to be one of her parents' old lieutenants that found her.
Dammit. If only he hadn't been busy avoiding the cops he would have been there to pick her up, and nothing bad would have happened. And he couldn't even call Beacon for help as he realized he didn't have any of the staff's scroll numbers.
Roman's scroll buzzed, Junior was sending him the adress of where Neo was likely behing held.
Things were going to get bloody tonight.
Neo's screams and cries resonated for the upteenth time in the sealed room as the electrified baton kept being struck down on her.
Why wasn't she dead already ? Why wasn't she even losing HP ? She was answered by a new popup.
[You are currently being tortured. Your torturor is currently aiming to bring you as much pain as possible without permanently harming you. You cannot lose HP while under torture.]
Neo spouted every curse she knew in her mind. What an horrible timing for her ability to manifest itself.
The pain was unbearable. She would do anything to make it stop. She couldn't die, so Neo started moving her mouth to say she was going to obey Onyx.
Onyx saw her mouth moving and smiled. He couldn't hear anything however, so he moved his head closer.
" Speak clearly, I can't hear you." he said with a smirk.
Neo moved her mouth, but not a single sound would come out. When Onyx realized that she wasn't talking, he thought she was making fun of him and grew angry. He shot back up and started kicked her in the ribs.
" I. CAN'T. HEAR. YOU ! " he roared with every kick.
He then grabbed her by the hair and held her face up to him.
" If I didn't need you to gather half of the underworld together, you would be dead right now." he sneered, before throwing her in a corner of the room.
[By going through immesurable pain, you have gained 1 Constitution]
He grabbed the electric baton again and walked towards her menacingly before someone entered the room, interrupting him.
" What ? " asked Onyx angrily.
" We're being attacked boss. The guy has Aura, everyone's getting thrown around." said the new man.
" Shit. I'll take care of it." said Onyx as he walked out, " You two stay here and watch over the brat."
The two men, the one that had came in and the one that was there since the beginning, nodded, and took position on both sides of the door.
Neo slowly stopped crying as she was left alone, and observed her surroundings, starting with the two guards.
Name : Guard #1/#2
Age : 36/37
Level : 0 (-%)
Class : N/A
Title : Nameless goon [These guys aren't even important in their own sad lives]
HP : 12/12
AP : LOCKED
STR : 14
CON : 12
DEX : 10
INT : 8
WIS : 8
CHA : 8
Semblance : N/A
Status effects :
N/A
Defenses :
AC : 10
For : 13
Ref : 11
Will : 10
She almost felt bad when reading their title. She then looked around the room. There was a few crates lying around, and there was an umbrella near the door, probably belonging to one of the two goons. She observed the crates, hoping to find some more information.
Dust crates [These crates are filled with raw and very unstable Dust crystals. To handle carefully.]
Neo forced her aching body to move. Onyx wasn't going to be away for long, and if she wanted a chance at getting out, she needed a plan to harm him.
She stood up with great difficulty, and was happy to see her guards were mostly ignoring her. She started by moving her arms and legs around to make the soreness go away, before moving towards one of the crates.
" Stop moving." shouted one of the guards.
Neo suddenly shot herself forward and grabbed the lid on one of the crates. It wouldn't budge, and the two guards were now rushing towards her. Neo didn't think any further. One of the first things Glynda had taught her was how to activate Dust through objects, and so Neo willed all the Dust inside the crate to explode away from her, and towards her opponents.
The front of the crate exploded, and the two goons were blown away. The blast had been well contained, and while the crate was mostly exploded, the one side that Neo was holding on to was perfectly fine, thanks to her ability to have objects reflect strikes.
When she looked over the crate, she saw the state the room was now in. The ground was covered in burns and ice, and the two goons were nowhere to be found. In fact, all that remained of them were their mafia styled hats, which were now charred on the ground.
Neo breathed in relief. Her body may still be hurting like hell, but she was safe, inside a room with about 3 whole crates worth of Dust, and a black umbrella as a makeshift weapon. She took the umbrella and used it as a lever to open the remaining crates, and started working on her escape plan.
Roman was blasting his way through the warehouse. He almost chuckled when he realized the group he was attacking was gathering Dust, as that meant he would be able to recharge his cane in ammunition as he went through the facility.
Things were looking well. None of the goons had Aura, and that meant that he could knock them out with a single blast from his cane.
He had numerous ennemies, but most started to run away when they realized that the few that owned guns weren't able to harm him.
Aura was neat like that. It was barely damaged by anything that wasn't itself coated in Aura, and while a melee weapon had enough of a connection to its holder's soul to be able to harm Aura even if its holder didn't have it unlocked, ranged weapons needed to be infused with Aura before it could really do any significant damage.
Roman was interrupted in his carnage by a man. He recognized him immediatly. When Roman learned Neo was the daughter of the leaders of Vale's biggest crime organisation, he did his homework and learned about who he had to hide her from.
Onyx Film was one of the most active gang leaders after Neo's parents death, and was currently being hard pressed because a few of his competitors had decided to get rid of him first.
That explained the amount of Dust in the warehouse. He was probably arming himself up to strike his opponents down.
Roman didn't even bother to introduce himself and shot another Dust round. Onyx dodged it and lunged towards him, electric baton in hand. The two were about to have their strikes meet when the warehouse was shaken by an explosion.
Neo walked out of the room. She had taken the umbrella and used her skills to quickly weave the raw crystals in it.
It would be more accurate to say the crystals were somehow stuck on the umbrella's surface, but her ability showed them as being weaved in, and that meant she would have better control over them.
There was 1 ice Dust crystal, 3 fire Dust crystals and 2 lightning Dust crystals embeded in the umbrella, and Neo hoped it would be enough because she couldn't weave more without all of it blowing up.
She held the umbrella firmly with both hands as she walked through the strangely empty warehouse. She was starting to wonder what happened when she heard the sounds of fighting.
Neo hesitated. She should just walk away and leave, but she was curious as to who was fighting. In the end, curiousity won out. The battle didn't sound too far from the exit anyways.
Neo creeped around until she arrived at the scene. She saw Onyx and Roman fighting it out. She saw Roman smack Onyx's face with his cane, and a wave of black light flickered. Neo looked at their health bars.
Name : Onyx Film
HP : 16/16
AP : 0/15
(--)
Name : Roman Torchwick
HP : 12/12
AP : 13/22
Neo was happy Roman was winning. She saw, however, a new figure move behind Roman. Neo tried to scream to warn him, but no sound would come out and Roman was blown away into the crates next to her.
Name : Roman Torchwick
HP : 12/12
AP : 4/22
Roman was a bit stunned by the hit, so Neo walked forward and opened the umbrella she held to protect them both as she observed the new arrival.
Name : Yale Film
Age : 30
Level : 1
Class : Sneak
Title : The Brains
HP : 11/11
AP : 12/12
STR : 10
CON : 11
DEX : 14
INT : 13
WIS : 18
CHA : 12
" Well what do we have here." said Onyx with a sneer, " Seems my men can't even handle a brat."
" Remember we need her alive." warned Yale.
" I know, brother, no need to remind me." said Onyx.
Onyx grabbed his baton menacingly, and Yale started to move around Neo. She now could see that he was wielding a baton of his own, but this one filled with wind Dust, probably what threw Roman so far away.
Neo flinched as Onyx lunged forward, and she activated one of the fire Dust crystals in her umbrella. The explosion didn't do much, aside from making Onyx and Yale more wary of her.
Yale activated the wind Dust in his baton to blow Neo's umbrella away, but Neo closed it and held firm. Onyx took the opportunity to attack but was blown away by an explosion.
- 8 HP
Neo looked back happily. Roman had been the one to take the shot and was slowly standing back up.
Onyx's left shoulder had been hit and was now starting to bleed profusely. Neo took the opportunity to lunge forward with the umbrella pointed at him, but Onyx wacked it away with his baton.
Yale shot himself towards Roman to hit him while he was still being groggy, but Neo activated one of the lightning Dust crystals and an arc of electricity shot towards Yale. The arc missed entirely, but was enough to startle the younger brother.
Roman swung his cane and hit Yale's side.
-11 AP
Yale clutched his side and Neo activated the second lightning Dust crystal. This time, the arc hit and removed Yale's last Aura point. As Yale screamed in pain, Onyx did so in rage as he flung his baton towards Neo.
Neo closed her eyes and activate the ice Dust crystal. When the strike never came, she opened her eyes back up and saw Onyx's body had been frozen, leaving only his head out.
Name : Onyx Film
HP : 5/16
AP : 0/15
Seems she just dealt three damage to him, if she was counting properly. Neo then smashed him with her umbrella, twice.
- 2 HP
- 3 HP
And the man slumped. She didn't know if he was dead or simply unconscious, but she didn't have time to check as Yale attacked again.
Roman blocked the strike and fired at point blank at his face.
- 12 HP
Yale's head was blown away. His body fell down as blood flowed out of his neck.
Strangely, Neo wasn't really disgusted by the sight. It wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't making her sick. She looked at her umbrella and saw it was bent, making it now unusable, so she shoved it under Onyx's armpit and activated the two remaining fire Dust crystals, making it blow up as she smiled creepily.
" Well, that was a thing." said Roman.
Neo tackled him and clung to his arm. She was really glad everything was over.
" I'm so glad you're alright kiddo. How about I treat you to something nice." he continued.
Neo smiled happily and dragged Roman away. It might be way too late for anything to be open outside of clubs and bars, but nothing was going to stop her from getting some ice-cream.
Damn, I should have totally called this chapter 'Beaten Black and Blue'. Well, too bad.
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 5
Level : 0 (-%)
Class : N/A
Title : The Gamer
HP : 3/3
AP : UNUSABLE
STR : 2
CON : 3
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