Cooldude101011 : Patience. You should be able to see the plot starting to pick up now.
Doot Doot : I'll admit that I've never been a real fan of the grinding part of 'The Gamer' fics or manwha. The thing I like the most about it is observe and how much information and hints I can give that way, along with how it shapes the user.
That's not to say I never use the rest. However, to me, the story will always come first, and I'll only be using the abilities if they impact the story. That's not to say Neo never uses the other abilities I showed earlier in the story, but I just don't feel like it's worth showing her grinding any particular ability.
As for why I didn't just give Neo a 'observe' semblance rather than the full 'The Gamer' one ? Well, both because observe has always been tied to being a Gamer, and because the other abilities of a Gamer have impacted Neo's behavior in this fic, although mostly early on.
Theodore hadn't lied. Rumpole wasn't down in the city often, so Neo spent most of her time doing whatever she wanted. However, the few moments when Rumpole was here were still her favorites.
Neo thought she knew a lot about crime and how not to be caught, but next to Rumpole, she was a complete amateur. The short woman was unknown to everyone, but all of her disguises were close to one or the other of the major groups in the underground. Rumpole had over a dozen different personas, all unique in their own way. Nobody would ever think of linking any two disguises together.
Creating multiple disguises and constantly switching back and forth between them was half of the fun for Neo. The other half being fighting the occasional Hunter that felt like they would earn more in a life of crime than by hunting grimm.
Not that Neo cared much about what they were doing. But her job was to learn Rumpole's one, and it consisted in gathering as much information on what was going on in Vacuo's underground, and in killing anyone that the police couldn't handle.
Of course, the police could hardly arrest all the criminal elements within Vacuo, but as long as the individual wasn't too strong, or rather, wasn't using aura, then it was the police's job to deal with it. Neo and Rumpole had stronger fish to fry.
"Remember" would say Rumpole whenever they killed someone, "We are already struggling against the grimm. We cannot allow people to spend time and energy fighting each other. We are making sure to stop them before they can threaten society. Before they can kill Hunters that actually protect people."
Neo listened, of course, but she didn't care about Rumpole's words.
She was enjoying herself far too much for that.
Roman loved his new job. Dust was easy to steal, compared to other items, for the same reason food and other daily commodities were. Nobody would try to illegally buy it. The stuff was already cheap and easy to find, so why bother risk prison to get some ? Unless you needed it to survive, there was no point.
However, Roman was actually hired to steal Dust, and was being payed handsomely for it. Why his employer wanted it ? Roman didn't care. All he cared about was the easy money he was making by stealing one of the most common product on Remnant.
Plus, his employer was hot. Fiery even. Maybe he'd be able to get some with her before the job was over.
Speaking of which, here she was coming down to the warehouse.
"Roman ! Why is there so little Dust gathered around ?" she asked, "What are you doing ?"
Roman looked around. Sure, there were only a couple crates lying around the warehouse, but he had only been starting to steal Dust for under a month. This was a decent haul.
"What ? Do you think stealing is as easy as going in, grabbing the Dust, and going out ?" he asked back, "That's not how it works. There's planning to do, eventually cops to bribe, and mostly people to hire. I can only move so much on my own."
"What do you need for things to go quicker ?" growled the woman.
"Men. That'd be best." answered Roman, "There's not many I can hire. Junior's goons are the easiest since he'll lend them against a bit of cash, but if you want things to go swiftly, you'd need about as many people as the White Fang has."
"I see." muttered the woman, having calmed down, before she returned to her usual sultry voice, "Then keep up the work Roman. I'll make sure to solve this manpower issue."
She left, and Roman grabbed a cigar. His employer was hot and an amateur. He didn't even have to work too hard to satisfy her, simply give good enough reasons as to why things weren't going as quickly as she wanted.
An easy job, an easy life. This was exactly what Roman had always wanted.
This Cinder Fall would never be able to fix his manpower 'issue' anyway. Where would someone like her find anyone to hire ? The White Fang ? As if the mutts would ever work with a human, let alone for one.
Yes, this was the best. Nothing could possibly ruin his cozy life now.
Cinder had a feeling Roman wasn't doing his utmost to fulfill his assignment, however she had to admit that she knew very little of what was needed to run such an operation. Moreover, Roman's lack of manpower was a convincing argument in and of itself.
But before she could hire the White Fang, she needed someone to threaten them. Someone that could get rid of some annoying leaders that wouldn't agree to working with her.
She needed pawns of her own. And she knew exactly where to find her first one.
In the mountains lived Marcus Black, a renowned assassin whose skill and professionalism was known all over Remnant. The only reason he didn't have droves of Huntsmen chasing him down was because nobody knew where he lived. Nobody except Salem, who had an eye on him for a while.
Now, Salem had never managed to convince Marcus to work for her. Not for a lack of trying, but Tyrian and Marcus were polar opposites, despite both spending their time murdering others. Sending the scorpion faunus to get Black on their side had obviously backfired.
Cinder was better though. She knew it. She would get Marcus Black to work for her, and nobody else.
In a insignificant city on the way to the mountains, Cinder had found her first pawn. A young thief with an interesting semblance. Cinder's imagination was running wild with what she could do thanks to her exceptional finding.
When she arrived at the place Marcus Black lived, however, Cinder wouldn't get the assassin to work for her. By the time she got there, he was already dead, killed by his own son.
This Mercury Black would be pawn number two. He wasn't as renowned as his father, but Cinder had a feeling he would prove just as useful.
"How's Neo doing ?" asked Theodore to his right-hand, "She's settling well ?"
"She settled just fine." answered Rumpole, "She enjoys the killing part of the job a bit too well for my tastes, but I'm guessing that was part of your plan."
"She's too young to truly go against her whims. And from what I've heard Glynda really spoiled her too." said Theodore, "By directing her this way, we allow her to contribute something to society rather than harm it."
"I'm not doubting you." said Rumpole, "You might be brash and unreliable, but overly trusting is not one of your flaws. I know you'll stop her the moment she goes too far."
"Glad to hear to think so highly of me !" said Theodore with a loud laugh, "Do you think she's ready for a mission on her own ?"
Rumpole thought about it for a moment before answering.
"I'll think about it."
Neo skipped happily through the streets of Vacuo.
Today, Rumpole had contacted her to give some good news. She was going to do her first solo assignment, and once it was done she would get a significant bonus on her paycheck.
The job was relatively simple. Some former Huntsman-in-training that had been kicked out of Shade may have started to help drug traffickers smuggle their merchandise through the grimm infested desert. That made it less likely to be found by the Vacuan police. Not that they searched much.
Rumpole had already arranged for Neo to be hired alongside the one she was set to surveil, named Lemon Corll, on a trip to and from the desert. The caravan they were escorting couldn't afford a fully fledged Huntsman, so they settled with second-hand escorts. At least that was the official argument.
Rumpole had no need to describe to Neo what she was to do. Over the few months she had spent following the teacher around, Neo had perfectly understood what her job entailed.
She was to find out if the caravan was transporting drugs, and if Lemon knew about it. If it turned out that her target was indeed willingly helping smuggle drugs inside the city, then he would die. If not, then Neo would die. Of boredom that is.
When she arrived in front of the caravan, while everyone was busy preparing to leave the city, Neo took the time to observe her prey.
Name : Lemon Corll
Age : 22
Level : 9 (17%)
Class : Barbarian [Fighting is in your blood, and it boils easily]
Path : None
Title : None
HP : 16/16
AP : 63/63
STR : 20
CON : 16
DEX : 12
INT : 10
WIS : 11
CHA : 13
Semblance : Sense tremors [You can feel the vibrations of the ground when people, grimm or animals move near you]
Status effects :
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 transferred to your aura]
Defenses :
AC : 15
For : 22
Ref : 16
Will : 16
Neo suppressed a smirk. That semblance was a bit annoying for her since it would bypass her illusions, but she shouldn't actually need them to deal with him. And even if she did need her illusions, she had others ways to make his semblance useless.
The broadsword on his back was poking Neo's curiosity though. It was segmented, like a spine, and it seemed like each segments could move a bit away from the others. If that was the case, then this would be the most mechashift she ever saw in any Vacuan weapon. It seemed like that technology wasn't used much over here. And when she observed it, it confirmed what she had already guessed.
Faqariat : A broadsword made of multiple segments that are loosely linked to each other.
Proficiency bonus : 3
Enhancement : 2 to attacks and damage
Melee damage : 1d12
Skills :
Mechashift[The segments can separate at will, extending the weapon's reach. The sword can bend and move to the user's wish, so long as they have aura to do so]
Oh, Neo just couldn't wait to see that sword in action.
And she couldn't wait to fight Lemon Corll either.
When the caravan left Vacuo, it was still very early in the morning. Neo had arrived before the sun was up, and they hadn't made her wait for long.
It was best to leave early on, because the time they could travel in the desert was limited. At night, it would be too cold to move. The caravan had to stay huddled together to avoid freezing. And at midday, the Sun would be too high up and they would have to stop and rest under some shade to avoid getting a sunstroke.
The camels were straddled mostly with two kinds of goods. Largest was the water they would drink along the way, 3 to 6 liters per person and per day, and there would be no resupply until they arrived at the first settlement outside of Vacuo. Second was the actual merchandise, which Neo hadn't bothered checking yet. She was looking for drugs being smuggled into Vacuo. Not out.
Finally, before leaving, each member of the caravan were handed a whistle. The purpose was simple. If they were separated, or if they ended being caught by surprise by one of the desert's storms, then it would allow them to find each other.
It was only to be used in case of emergencies though. And for one simple reason.
Humans wouldn't be the only ones listening out there.
Glynda was counting the days as the school year went past.
Soon, it'll be summer break. Then, she'll be able to chase Torchwick down. It didn't matter if Ozpin didn't want her to do so. She had already given him over three years to find the young girl, to no avail.
It was time she took the matter in her own hands.
It was time she chased Neo down.
It was time she brought her young girl back.
To be continued on May 15th
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 15
Level : 14 (55%)
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 : 18
INT : 21
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 transferred 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 : 25(29)
For : 18
Ref : 24
Will : 22