Misaka Phenex : I finished rewatching that chinese anime just before you commented that XD. Neo's current weapon is probably already inspired from it (although I didn't mean to), and I don't actually think she need that many weapons. Her weapon has one job, and it already does it pretty well.
"What should we do?" asked Ruby.
The two of them had made camp not too far from the grimm assembly and the great tree, although still a safe distance away. Their initial plan to climb up that tree was kind of bust because of them too.
"Do you think we could still give it a try?" asked Ruby again.
Neo rolled her eyes which made Ruby pout. No matter how much she wanted to leave this place, she wasn't going to go on a suicide mission for it.
"Fine, but we still need a way to figure out where we are," said Ruby, "And the way they're all gathered around the tree is weird."
Neo shrugged. That wasn't a question she felt like risking her life to get an answer for.
"I'll take first watch then," said Ruby with a sigh, "I need to think."
Neo gladly agreed. She could do with some sleep right now, and because they had sent so much time without seeing grimm she wasn't used to keep watch at all anymore.
She went to sleep peacefully, but after a few hours she was shaken awake. At first, she wondered if it was already her turn to keep watch, but then she saw Ruby was signaling her, of all people, to be silent before pointing to something in the distance.
Neo and Ruby got closer to see, and they noticed a grimm lapping at a tree. It was far smaller than the ancient grimm surrounding the big tree, but it was still quite old and large itself. The others were just that massive.
Ruby took a step forward to try and see what it was eating, and the grimm suddenly stopped, before lifting its head and staring at them.
Years of training to fight those very creatures made Ruby unfold her scythe on the spot, while Neo herself got ready for a fight and observed their foe.
Beringel
Level : 20 (98%)
HP : 213/213
STR : 23
CON : 25
DEX : 18
INT : 10
WIS : 14
CHA : 13
Semblance : Grimm [a grimm's entire purpose is to destroy the very existence of living beings, their soul. Gains 2d12 damage against aura]
Defenses :
AC : 26
For : 30
Ref : 25
Will : 22
The grimm looked back at the tree, as if torn between the idea of continuing its treat or doing what it was made for. After a few seconds, it looked back at them and charged.
Neo ran to meet it and the Beringel crashed into her parasol. However, even though he had taken heavy damage he mostly ignored it and still struck her, sending her flying with it's fist.
- 24 HP
Beringel : 189/213 HP
- 32 AP
Neo : 68/100 AP
Ruby stepped in as well, slashing at the grimm which evaded the strike with surprising agility by jumping and climbing up a tree. Ruby was about to go after it when the Beringel dropped down on her.
With a roll, Ruby avoided the massive creature, then swung her scythe back as she stood up. The slash tore through the grimm's arm, making a significant cut but still not enough to remove its arm.
- 26 HP
Neo quickly got up and followed, smashing the grimm on its head as it was focused on the scythe-wielder.
- 18 HP
Beringel : 145/213
The Beringel threw its wounded arm at Neo who ducked under it before stabbing in the wound while Ruby came around and finished cutting the arm off.
- 23 HP
- 37 HP
Beringel : 95/213
The grimm roared in pain and stomped the ground with so much strength that it shook, destabilizing Ruby and Neo just enough for it to smash them both with the back of it's remaining arm, sending them sprawling a few meters away.
- 36 AP
Neo : 32/100 AP
- 53 AP
Ruby : 19/72 AP
The enraged Beringel charged them both, but Ruby managed to aim and shoot her sniper-scythe right in between its eyes, making it stumble and allowing Neo to roll back up and stab it, although that last hit ended up being a little shallow.
- 35 HP
- 15 HP
Beringel : 45/213 HP
The grimm threw another punch with its good arm that Neo quickly blocked and used to throw it above her shoulder, right in the perfect spot for Ruby to slash it down.
- 14 HP
- 32 HP
That grimm was cut in half by the impact and slowly started to dissolve, while the two girls could finally calm down. They both realized how exhausted they were and how close they had gotten to losing their respective auras, and this was a grimm that couldn't even come close to the ones sitting in a circle around that gigantic tree. Getting there was beyond hopeless.
Then, Ruby remembered the tree the grimm was lapping from while they interrupted it. She ran to see what it was eating and saw a large cut within the tree where sap was slowly dripping from.
"Sap?" asked Ruby, confused.
Neo failed to understand just as much as Ruby. The only trees the grimm drank the sap from were…
"Forever Fall Forest!" shouted Ruby as they both realized at the same time, "We're in Forever Fall!"
Neo frowned and pointed at the large tree. If they were truly in Forever Fall, then wouldn't that huge tree be visible from Vale?
"Maybe we're very far away," said Ruby, "There's still large parts of Remnant that are unexplored, and we can't get too far into Forever Fall because there is just too many grimm around at some point. What if the forest stretched for far more than we though?"
She was making a good point. They knew that Forever Fall followed the coast, but most of the coastline is inhabited by grimm too powerful for ships to sail through. Most ships going North-East from Vale made a large detour, almost following the coast of the neighboring continent instead.
Still, having a rough idea of where they were wasn't going to help. Worse even, as they now knew they were in a spot mankind had never been able to reach, given that there was no settlement were they had landed.
There didn't seem to be a way out of this place, unless…
"Do you have an idea Neo?" asked Ruby, who noticed Neo was thinking of something.
Where did you send Amity?
Ruby looked at the question Neo had wrote on her scroll with confusion. Why would Neo want to know that?
"I think Pietro's plan was to go towards Vale, it apparently made for a better connection," explained Ruby, then realizing something, "Wait, we should be right between Atlas and Vale right now, right?" she noted.
Neo nodded. She knew this was a stretch, but at this point they might as well start grasping at straws.
"We should go back to the beach to see if we can get them as they pass through!" said Ruby, "Oh, wait… Penny said they were attacked and were slowly falling."
Maybe they are falling slowly enough to reach us?
Ruby nodded at what Neo wrote. She was probably thinking it was just as much of a vain hope as Neo thought it was, but hope was all they had right now.
"We've been here for several months though," noted Ruby, "They should have reached us by now."
Neo admitted that they had spent more than enough time for Amity to make the trip, and that the arena was hardly something you could miss if it had traveled over their heads. Nevertheless, it was still a possibility that they had missed it, no matter how low the chance was.
We should explore as much of the forest as we can. That way, even if we don't find Amity, we can maybe find someplace where there's less grimm for us to pass through.
"You're right," said Ruby with a yawn, "But I think we should do that tomorrow. I'm really sleepy."
The following day, Ruby and Neo cleared their small camp and started walking westwards. Vale was west of Forever Fall, so this was the fastest way home as far as they were concerned. They doubted they'd find an easy way through, but if there was one they'd still rather find it going towards Vale rather that away from it.
As they were walking, Ruby noticed Neo fiddling with her scroll while in deep thought, so she looked above her shoulder to find out what she was doing. She saw that Neo was looking at a map of Remnant, having drawn a straight line between Atlas and Vale and moving a rather large circle near Vale.
"What are you doing?" asked Ruby.
Neo was startled, seemingly not having noticed Ruby peeking above her shoulder, and glared back before relaxing and pointing at the large tree.
Ruby narrowed her eyes in thought for a moment before she realized.
"Oh, you're trying to figure out where we are on the map?" she said.
Neo nodded in answer, and Ruby smiled, proud to have guessed that.
"Are you sure the circle needs to be so big though?" she asked, "Wouldn't the tree fall behind the horizon before that?"
Neo shook her head and raised her hand up.
"It is tall," admitted Ruby, "But is it really that tall?"
Neo shrugged, better to assume they were far from Vale rather than close to it.
"For how long will we be walking?" asked Ruby, "In the worst case, of course."
Neo thought about it for a moment, noting the cities around Forever Fall and the unexplored regions they were in, then lifted three fingers.
"Only three days?" asked Ruby with a smile.
Neo shook her head.
"Weeks?" offered Ruby, hoping they wouldn't have to walk for so long.
Neo shook her head again.
"Please tell me it's not years," pleaded Ruby.
Neo chuckled and shook her head again, signing that it was lower.
"Three months in the worst case huh?" noted Ruby, "I never expected Forever Fall to stretch so far."
Neo hadn't either, and there was still the possibility that there somehow existed another forest whose sap was attracting grimm, but she'd rather not think about it.
"Well then!" cheered Ruby, "We better move quicker!"
Dammit this chapter really didn't want to post itself, it pissed me off so much, refusing to save on ffnet muliple times.
To be continued on December 4th
Name : Neo Politan
Age : 18
Level : 20 (07%)
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 : 105/105
STR : 11
CON : 10
DEX : 19
INT : 22
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]
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 : 27(31)
For : 20
Ref : 26
Will : 24