Artekha : No spoilers. Honestly, it's not planned as of yet but I've still left the option open for a reason.
wiskeymoose10 : I thought about it for a while before deciding not to give her an inventory (back in chapter 2 I believe), and since ID Create in The Gamer manwha was learned from seeing others use it, then it's not going to happen here.
Neo had mixed feelings after her last kills.
All over the local network and TV, people were talking about an unknown vigilante that had killed two known criminals that the police couldn't find proof against. That was the two brutes she had killed.
While people argued that they shouldn't have been killed, or that vigilante justice shouldn't be tolerated, most agreed that Vale was better off without the two criminals.
Things, however, were different for the two women she had killed in the room.
Many students had been shaken to learn one of them had died, and they had a very colorful imagination of what should happen to the one that did it
Ann Greene had been absent for a week, and once she came back she constantly had large bags under her eyes.
Even Glynda was affected, as she now rarely spent any time with Neo outside of training and teaching her, always saying she was busy.
So Neo now spent her time with her second favorite professor at Beacon, Ozpin. She had even managed to finally get him to call her by her first name rather than her last.
Neo told Ozpin what was troubling her. Why were people sad for the death of the two girls, but not about the death of the two criminals ?
Ozpin was a bit surprised at first, but soon remembered that the little girl in front of him had been raised by criminals. While she had been raised by the staff at Beacon too, there was no denying that she would've been more influenced by Roman, or her former parents.
So Ozpin took the time to explain why criminals shouldn't be doing what they do, why other people disliked them, and why nobody deserved to die, not even them.
Neo listened intently, even though some concepts were a bit hard to understand. She started thinking, was she doing something bad ? Was she acting like the evil Huntsman that had killed her parents ?
But then, if it was so bad, why was it so fun ? Why was she gaining experience out of it ? Surely if it was as bad as Ozpin was saying, her semblance wouldn't reward her, right ?
She couldn't ask that to Ozpin, so she waited to ask Roman why he stole.
" Why I steal ? Didn't think you'd ever ask that question." he said, " Well, I first did it to survive, then it became kind of like a job. I don't really know when it started to be something I wanted to do, but I don't think I'd rather do anything else."
Neo wrote on a piece of paper her next question.
Even if it hurts people ?
" You becoming a Huntress ? " joked Roman, " I don't care what other people feel. I'm doing whatever I want and if they want me to stop they'll have to catch me first."
Neo thought about it. On one side Ozpin had argued about morality, on how people needed to follow the law so they would not hurt others. On the other side, Roman said to do what she wanted and not to care about people's feelings.
" You okay ? " asked Roman.
Neo nodded and went to sleep for the night. She'll take some time to think about it.
A few days later, Neo had taken her decision.
She would do what she wanted, but would try to limit the amount of pain she caused. She decided to only kill if they attacked her, or if they attacked someone else. A life for a life, that's the least she could do.
So she stopped aiming for whoever would fight back, and instead chased down whoever the different gangs would send to dispose of people.
Neo gained a little reputation thanks to this. People started rooting for the mysterious vigilante that would kill whoever dared to attack others.
They called the vigilante Karma Rouge, both because Neo would kill her targets and because she only used fire Dust and Silence to do it, keeping other types of Dust for the kills she did on her heists so nobody could link the two activities.
That became Neo's new normal, and she soon passed level 7 and gained two more stat points, 1 in Intelligence and 1 in Constitution.
Most of her targets being level 0, Neo was gaining less and less experience, and she really struggled to gain her level 6 and 7, as she needed to kill over twenty people just to gain a level at that point.
She looked at her stats. She was really proud of her growth.
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 11
Level : 7 (43%)
Class : Illusionist [You add both your Intelligence and Dexterity modifiers to your AC and to Dexterity or Intelligence based attacks as long as you can still cast illusions]
Title : The Gamer
HP : 9/9
AP : UNUSABLE
STR : 10
CON : 9
DEX : 16
INT : 19
WIS : 11
CHA : 15
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]
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]
Redirected growth [Getting your class so early caused your growth to halt. Instead, you'll have improved experience gain until level 11 or until your body would have naturally stopped growing]
Defenses :
AC : 20(23)
For : 14
Ref : 20
Will : 18
Glynda walked into Ann's empty classroom. Noticing her approach, Ann quickly scrambled to hide whatever she was doing, before welcoming Glynda with a forced smile.
If Glynda noticed her odd behaviour, she didn't show it.
" I'm sorry to ask you this, but can you tell me anything about your sister ? " asked Glynda.
" You're trying to find out who killed her ? " asked back Ann.
" Yes. Whoever killed her was capable of killing one of our students, and that means they were most likely an Aura-user, which is our job to deal with." answered Glynda.
Ann hesitated for a bit, slowly placing her scroll back in her pocket.
" I always knew Asphalt was hanging out with a bad crowd, but I never knew it was this bad." she finally said, " She didn't really like me, and I don't blame her. Our parents always compared us together, and she was mad that she was never even close to catching up to me."
" In the end, one of our students was closer to her that I'd ever been." she said somberly, " And my sister went to her for help instead of me."
Ann punched the table, and sat down crying.
" If only I had been there for her. She'd still be here." she said between her sobs.
" Ann... You shouldn't blame yourself." said Glynda, " I promise I'll find whoever did this and stop them."
" Thanks Glynda." said Ann, " I'm sorry I can't help you more. My sister really didn't confide in me often, or at all."
Later, in Ozpin's office, Glynda and Ozpin talked about the case.
" Anything new ? " asked Ozpin.
" Not much. Although..." answered Glynda, " From the wounds found on each of the bodies, I think that our murderer and the vigilante currently running around may be the same person."
" That Karma Rouge ? " wondered Ozpin, " While they aren't a priority, we need to take care of them at some point. Someone able to use Dust like they do are a threat only a Huntsman can handle."
" And if I'm guessing this right, they may be behind many of the recent high profile thiefs in the last year or so." added Glynda, " While both use different types of Dust, the blunt wounds looks like they were made by the same weapon."
" They both act over the same period of time though." said Ozpin, " You may have a hard time getting any one of them if you chase both at once, especially if they're not the same person.
" I'll do my best." said Glynda, " I just hope Ann won't try something stupid."
" Trust her." said Ozpin, " She didn't become a teacher straight after graduation because she was foolish. Far from it."
In Ann's classroom, once Glynda had left, Ann opened back everything she had hidden when Glynda had barged in.
On her blackboard was projected the images of more than a hundred murders, all done by Neo, both as Karma Rouge and while stealing with Roman.
" How can someone kill so many people in such a short time without causing mass panic or being caught ?" muttered Ann.
She looked over the wounds in silence, and asked herself.
" That fighting style... Why does it feel so familiar ? "
Neo skipped happily through the halls of Beacon. Today was her birthday !
And like every year, that meant a party with the staff and Roman, who was allowed to come to the Academy on that day.
The teachers had found out her love for ice-cream, not that she tried to hide it, and would make a special ice-cream cake for the occasion.
This year, she was especially happy as Ann Greene, who she rarely got to hang out with, had offered a friendly spar. Neo was extatic, as she had never fought Ann before. She had barely seen her fight at all, but knew Ann had watched her train several times.
Ann and Neo stood on either side of the arena, with Glynda acting as a referee, and the rest of staff and Roman watching them from the stands.
Neo got in her favorite stance, Silence leaning on her shoulder and a cocky grin on her face, waiting for Ann to make the first move.
Ann took out her weapon, a dagger with a slight orange twinkle, and twirled it in her hand, before getting into a fighting stance of her own. Neo then took the time to observe Ann, as she didn't remember her stats anymore.
Name : Ann Greene.
Age : 29
Level : 17
Class : Spy
HP : 13/13
AP : 92/92
STR : 15
CON : 13
DEX : 22
INT : 11
WIS : 13
CHA : 16
Neo knew she wouldn't win, but she didn't mind. She at least wanted to get a few good hits in, that would be enough. She then observed Ann's weapon.
Keraunoi : Cuts like thunder.
Proficiency : 3
Enhancement : 4 to attack rolls and damage
Melee damage : 1d4
Skills :
Thunderstrike[This weapon has lightning Dust forged inside it. Attacks with this weapon deal an additional 1d6 lightning damage when struck]
Gravitas[This weapon has gravity Dust inside its handle, and can return to the weilder's gravity-laced ring should they will it]
Glynda called for the spar to begin.
Ann looked at Neo, unsure if she should attack first or not, when she saw Neo's body shatter.
-6 AP
She felt Neo's weapon smash against her ribs, and immediatly swung to the side to grab her, shattering Neo's image.
Ann felt a shiver run down her spine and rolled forward. Where she once was stood Neo, Silence stabbing where Ann had been. Neo was surprised by Ann's move, but quickly went back on the offensive.
Neo ran towards Ann and stabbed her with Slience. Ann blocked it by stabbing Silence's tip with her dagger, then Neo roundkicked her, taking advantage of Silence being stuck in Ann's dagger to lean on it.
Ann let go of her dagger, letting Neo faceplant on the ground, then she held Neo down.
" Ann wins ! " called Glynda.
Ann let go of Neo, and took back her dagger.
" Are you alright ? " she asked.
Neo rubbed her nose, then nodded with a big smile.
She might have lost, but she managed to surprise and hit Ann. She was proud.
Ann followed Neo home. She didn't believe that Neo had been the one being the current string of murders, but she couldn't get the possibility out of her head, even after having fought her.
So she thought. If she watched over Neo and a murder were to be commited that night, then it would be proof that Neo had nothing to do with those murders.
That night, Ann saw Neo leave Roman's home.
She saw Neo casually break into an ice-cream shop and leave with a cone holding a comically large number of ice-cream scoops.
Well, that wasn't that bad, and seeing Neo skip happily through the streets while eating her ice-cream was cute.
Ann almost sighed in relief, but stopped when she saw where Neo had led them to. It was a small, rundown building. An abandonned warehouse.
Ann gulped when she saw Neo finish her ice-cream and change into the look of a regular goon.
She saw Neo, in her disguise, confidently walk into the building and through other goons looking just like her disguise.
She saw Neo enter a room, where the boss of this gang recognized her disguise, and ordered her to kill someone.
And she saw Neo pull off her disguise, and smash the boss on the head with Silence, killing him instantly, all while wearing a sick grin on her face.
So Ann dropped down from her hiding spot, right in front of a surprised Neo, with her dagger drawn.
" I didn't want to believe it. But it's true." said Ann, tears threatening to fall, " You killed so many people. You killed my sister ! All while acting like a cute little girl."
Neo looked a bit guilty, but placed Silence on her shoulder nonetheless.
" I'll stop you. You can surrender and make this easy, or you can choose the hard way and let me beat you up." threatened Ann.
Neo was afraid. She knew she had little chances of winning a fight, but she also knew that if she let Ann go, her life would be over, her freedom a long gone memory.
So she activated her illusions, leaving a perfect copy of her back where she had been earlier, and dashing towards Ann.
" So it's going to be the hard way then." said Ann.
Neo immediatly stopped herself midswing and twirled to the side, took out some ice Dust and threw it at Ann.
Ann had moved to block her initial strike and counterattack, but was taken by surprise by the Dust, and her right arm froze.
-10 AP
Ann threw her dagger at Neo, barely missing her face, before yanking her arm, breaking the ice.
Neo broke into a cold sweat when the dagger went past her, but kept her smile up. It had became an habit by now to throw off people through her permanent smile.
Neo attacked Ann again, swinging Silence to hit her ribs. Ann drew another dagger from her sleeve to block Neo's strike. Then Neo barely had time to see Ann's purple ring glow before she was bashed on her head by Ann's returning dagger.
-3 HP
Neo shook her head, then made her illusions to disappear.
Ann didn't even bother with the illusion Neo had left behind, and threw a dagger towards the door, just as it flew open and Neo ran into the warehouse, the dagger missing by a hair's breath.
The goons inside the warehouse were surprised when Neo tumbled out of their boss' room, and even more when Ann soon followed.
They quickly grabbed their guns, knives, or whatever oddity they could use as a weapon, and attacked.
Neo used Silence as a shield against the bullets, while Ann simply shrugged them off thanks to her Aura. The goons then separated in two. The smart ones who knew they wouldn't be worth a damn against a Aura user ran away, while the hotheads charged in with their melee weapons.
Neo jumped on a crate, then on another, then jumped over her attackers and bashed their head with Silence.
-6 HP
-8 HP
-7 HP
The goons stumbled forward, and on landing Neo shot towards them. She kneed the first in the back, used his body to jump over the second and roundkicked his face, then gave a smirk to the third before smashing Silence in his ribs.
-7 HP
-8 HP
-10 HP
She then walked over back to the first goon, who hadn't gone unconscious yet, and stomped on his head.
-4 HP
She looked over to where Ann was, and saw she was surrounded by unconscious goons. Ann turned towards her, and threw a dagger, before taking out a third one.
Neo shattered into pieces when the pommel of the dagger hit her. Ann started running through the warehouse, throwing and calling back her daggers on the crates, juggling with them.
Eventually, one of her daggers stabbed into Neo's jacket, pinning her to the crate she was next to.
Neo panicked and quickly tried to pull the dagger out, but it was stuck. Seeing Ann come closer, Neo opted on removing her jacket as fast as she could.
Just in time, as Ann's fist smashed Neo's illusion into pieces as she tumbled out.
Neo made herself invisible again, much to Ann's annoyance. Ann took a deep breath, then concentrated on finding where Neo went.
She suddenly threw one of her daggers in front of her, which stabbed into the ground, then one on her right and one into a crate next to her. Neo smirked, as all three of Ann's daggers were now planted somewhere. She was still wary of Ann calling them back, but this was the best opportunity she'd get.
So Neo attacked, reappearing right behind Ann and wacking her back.
-5 AP
Ann, however, clenched her fist, and lighting erupted from her three daggers, envelopping the two of them.
-17 AP
-17 HP
Neo shook and foam started bubbling out of her mouth
[Rolling for last breath...]
[Opponent was aiming not to kill, automatic success]
[Falling unconscious]
Neo could feel her strength fade quickly. She saw, on the crate next to them, that a bit of Dust powder was falling out of the opening the dagger had made into it.
Mustering her last bit of strength, Neo touched the crate, and made everything inside explode.
Neo woke up. Her ears were ringing and her eyes were foggy.
She felt that something was crushing her. Or rather, someone. With great difficulty, she managed to push the body over her away, and slowly stood up.
She coughed and rubbed her eyes, attempting to slowly get her vision back. She tried to get her stats to show up, but she could barely make out the shape of the popup.
She took deep breaths and waited to get better. After a while, she finally could make out the white words on the black background.
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 12
Level : 9 (78%)
HP : 2/9
Neo was a bit surprised, and tried to find out what she had missed.
[ You rested for 15 minutes. You gained 2 HP]
[Congratulations, you are now level 9]
[Congratulations, you are now level 8]
Right. She was reading backwards.
Neo's ears had stopped ringing, but were still hurting, and she could finally see better.
Looking around, she saw the devastation she had caused. Everywhere, there was signs of fire or lightning having burnt the ground and bodies, along with explosions of ice and deep cuts from wind Dust. In fact, the building she was in had been entirely razed by the explosion, along with several buildings around it.
Her eyes then landed on the body she had pushed away earlier. She recognized Ann, and observed her.
Name : Ann Greene
HP : 0/13 (Unconscious)
AP : 0/92
She was still alive, just barely, but alive. Neo slowly walk towards Ann and noticed one of her daggers next to her body. Neo took it, and stopped next to her.
As she towered over Ann's unconscious body, Neo was torn. She fully realized that Ann had no intention of killing her, and understood that she had instead just risked her life to protect her from the explosion.
The idea of killing Ann felt bad for Neo, and not just because she wasn't trying to kill her. Even though Ann wasn't as close to her as Glynda, she was still one of the few people she had grown to genuinely care for.
However, Neo had no doubt that should she leave Ann alive, then she'd be thrown in jail the moment Ann woke up. Or sent to an asylum, which would be even harder to get out of. In the end, she would lose her freedom, no matter the option.
The more Neo thought of Ann waking up and causing her arrest, or simply telling everyone what she had been up to, the quicker Neo's breath grew. She soon started to hyperventilate.
With the growing panic inside her, Neo felt more and more compelled to permanently end the threat to her freedom and well being. But was it really worth it ? Neo couldn't stop doubting even when she pointed the blade in her hand at Ann's throat with a creepy smile.
" Neo no ! "
'Neo yes !' thought Neo as she stabbed down.
A levitating rock stopped the dagger's thrust and knocked it away. Surprised, Neo looked in the direction where the rock had came from.
There stood Glynda, looking crushed, betrayed.
" Neo..."
Neo started backing away akwardly, and Glynda composed herself.
" Neo Politan." said Glynda authoritatively, " surrender this instant young lady."
Neo took off in a run. She had realized that she had dropped Silence when she passed out and hadn't grabbed it back. Moreover, since she had removed her jacket, she had no Dust left.
Thinking that Neo's illusions were indeed her semblance, Glynda didn't give chase, and instead stayed to tend to Ann.
" During the night between Frostair 10th and 11th, an enormous explosion in Vale's industrial district near the docks destroyed over a tenth of the entire city. More than a hundred people died from the incident and more than three thousand were injuried.
According to the authorities, the explosion was initially caused by infamous vigilante Karma Rouge who was fighting a local criminal gang. There was however a large stockpile of unstable fire Dust that was there for over 6 years with no precautionary mesures being taken. Karma Rouge allegedly died in the explosion.
Several departments in charge of the area have been throwing the ball. Dock officials claims to have warned the justice department multiple times throughout the 6 years but no action was taken.
Many of Vale's citizens are now taking to the streets denouncing the corruption and incompetence of the current governement.
According to city officials, over 300 000 people were rendered homeless from the explosion, mostly faunus who were the majority demographic in the area.
When asked on mesures to help these now homeless citizens, Vale's Council announced they would offer free transport to any faunus who wishes to move to Menagerie while they focus rebuilding efforts on the docks and industries destroyed by the blast.
In response, faunuses have organized themselves and taken hold of the many unoccupied appartements around Vale. White Fang members have armed themselves and are meeting any effort to dislodge the trespassing families by the police with brutal force."
In Junior's club, Neo was crying over her glass. This was the end. Glynda knew what she had done and was surely searching all of Vale to find her. But worse was what she had learned from the event.
She now understood that the two level ups she had gotten while she had been unconscious were from the hundred of people that died by the explosion she caused. And once she finally left the scene, there had been other popups.
[Congratulations, your are now level 10]
[Congratulations, you have found your path : Me, myself and I]
[Congratulations, you are now level 11. You gain 1 point in all your stats and all your skills are enhanced]
[You lost a status effect, Redirected growth]
That experience was from Ann. And according to the news, she was still alive and would recover shortly. This meant that she gained experience from defeating people, and didn't actually have to kill them for it.
If she had known, she would've found some underground fighting ring to train. But instead she killed so many people, even after she decided to only kill to protect herself and others.
She was a mess, sobbing while holding firmly on what must have been her tenth cocktail glass.
" Who gave the kid alcohol ? " growled Junior as he walked into the club.
" They were all non-alcoholic boss." said the goon that had been serving her.
Junior sighed, then sat next to Neo.
" Look kiddo. I have bad news. Roman was arrested earlier today." he said, " The good news, is that there are no official search warrant for you, so if they're looking for you it must be in secret."
Neo slowly lifted her head. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks and she wore an ugly scowl.
" Roman will be fine, don't worry, I've got his back if it ever comes to worst. You, however, need to leave Vale as soon as possible." said Junior.
Neo shook her head and slowly tried to stand up, but Junior placed his hand on her shoulder and forced her to sit down.
" You are in no state to break Roman out of a prison made for rogue Huntsmen." insisted Junior, " You'll only make it worse for him if you get caught."
Neo was hesitant. She didn't want to leave Roman's side at all.
" It's what he would want kiddo." added Junior, " For you to be safe and far away from here."
That was the final nail. Neo finally nodded, accepting his offer.
" Great." said Junior, " I have an old friend in Mistral, miss Malachite. She'll take care of you while you're there. Maybe she'll be able to teach you a few tricks too."
In his cell, Roman was attempting to groom his figure as much as he could when Ozpin entered.
" Hey ! Ozzy ! How are you doing ? " said Roman playfully, " Do you think they'll let me redo my mugshot ? I really want them to get my good side this time."
Ozpin had a stern and serious look on his face as he stabbed his cane in the ground in front of Roman.
" Not in the mood for a joke I see." said Roman, " That's too bad, you should always be in the mood for a joke."
" Where is Neo." asked, no, ordered Ozpin.
" Who knows ? " shrugged Roman, " If I was her I'd already be on my way to another Kingdom by now."
" How many of the kills on your heists were done by her ? " interrogated Ozpin, " That Huntsman that killed her parents. She's the one that killed him isn't it ? "
" Why are you asking me those questions Ozzy ? " teased Roman, " When you've already decided the answers."
Ozpin stared at Roman's big smug smile, then snapped around and walked away.
" I guess this means we're cancelling my visit next year isn't it ? " shouted Roman to Ozpin's leaving figure.
Ozpin walked to the guard, and gave him a scheming smirk.
" Hey, give Roman a new mugshot." said Ozpin, " And make sure to get his worse side."
A/N : If you've spotted the very obvious parallel with Beyrouth's recent explosion, then congratulations, you're not living under a rock. Now obviously, the part about faunuses doesn't have any real world parallels, but you get the idea. If you can, please help or donate an association that will.
This is the end of the first arc of this story. I haven't really planned for the next arc, as it's mostly a filler so we don't timeskip to Neo getting 16 and the show starting, so expect no updates for a while until I figure it out. Although I did plan on the twin's to be an extensive part of it.
You can check my progress on my stories on my profile page and read my other stories in the meantime.
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 12
Level : 11 (1%)
Class : Illusionist [You add both your Intelligence and Dexterity modifiers to your AC and to Dexterity or Intelligence based attacks as long as you can still cast illusions]
Path : Me, myself and I [You live for yourself first and foremost, no matter what pain you might cause others]
Title : The Gamer
HP : 10/10
AP : UNUSABLE
STR : 11
CON : 10
DEX : 17
INT : 20
WIS : 12
CHA : 16
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]
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 : 22(26)
For : 17
Ref : 22
Will : 20