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Marked
I came back downstairs wearing my Workout outfit, minus the headphones, to find Indigo brushing Blake's hair. The doorbell rang, and I plucked the hairbrush out of Indigo's hands so she could get the food, humming slightly so Blake would know I was behind her. She didn't flinch when I took over, which I took as a good sign.
"Do you braid it to sleep?" I asked as I finished up. "We've got six empty bedrooms upstairs, or a guest room down here; you're welcome to stay."
Blake nodded, then hesitated. One of her uncovered ears flicked. "I wouldn't want to impose."
I shrugged, even though she couldn't see me, as I wove her hair into a loose plait. "More of the house is empty than it isn't, so it's not much of a stretch for us. But it's up to you. If you'd prefer, I can heal you after dinner and you can take off."
"This late?" Indigo asked, returning with two bags of food. "It's past full dark, the trains won't be running until dawn."
She unpacked the bags, setting 'Chinese' takeout containers — still haven't figured out what they're actually called here — and fairly covering the table with different entrees and side dishes. I'd have considered it overkill if I hadn't seen how much my sisters tended to eat, and how much I myself could put away without thinking about it. Hunters tended to have high caloric requirements, apparently. Guess it makes sense, I'm starving.
I set a couple of forks and serving spoons in the middle of the table, then grabbed three plates from the cupboard, handing one each to Indigo and Blake. The forks went ignored, however, as Blake and Indigo also favored chopsticks. To my amusement, Blake gravitated straight to the halibut in ginger-soy sauce and kung pao shrimp, although it wasn't all she served herself.
We all ate in silence for a few moments, before Blake said softly. "I'll accept your hospitality, then. Thank you."
"You're welcome," I replied.
Dinner remained comfortably quiet after that. When we were done eating, Indigo volunteered to handle the leftovers, so I showed Blake to the sitting room off the foyer. The walls were lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, making it as much a family library as a place to relax, though the large TV with seating for a dozen around it made sure it didn't feel old-fashioned or stuffy.
"Remote's on the table, or you can grab something to read; I'm going to need probably…" I hit her with [Observe].
[Name: Blake Belladonna]
[LV 23]
[Title: On Whom The Pale Moon Gleams]
[Race: Cat Faunus]
[Age: 17]
[Job: Amateur Huntress]
[Class: Rogue]
[Semblance: Shadow]
[HP: 332/1320]
[Stats: 16 STR, 12 CON, 35 DEX, 17 INT, 13 WIS, 22 CHA]
[Background: The only child of Ghira Belladonna, the former High Leader of the White Fang and current Chieftain of Menagerie. Blake is a former White Fang operative herself, but defected recently in the face of increasingly violent activity, she feels, is counter to the goals of equality. Too nervous to return home, she intends to test into Beacon Academy, and plans to do so with her faunus ears disguised so as to be judged for her character, not her species. She recently assisted The Gamer with the slaying of the Name-Ranked Grimm, Krios.]
[Emotions: Curious, wary, trusting.]
[Relationship: Ally.]
"…twenty, twenty-five minutes to get you healed up," I finished, after doing some quick math.
[Observe has increased by 1!]
I could activate my animal buffs to boost my effective HP regen, since my WIS was now high enough to keep one of them active permanently while meditating, but using more than one would mean draining my MP over time in exchange for saving only a few minutes of healing. However, I had an idea that might let me get away with using two, as long as one of them was [Owl's Wisdom].
I excused myself to the bathroom while Blake picked out a book. I could sense Indigo upstairs in her room, unmoving, though her Aura seemed to be spreading around the room in odd patterns. Curiouser and curiouser.
Dismissing that, I called up my [Stats] screen. I had 55 points available after killing Krios; enough to raise two or even three of my scores to the 50 line and get more passive skills.
It probably isn't worth raising CON or DEX with points, since I can still train physically for those points, I reasoned with myself. I wouldn't have used points on STR either if it hadn't been an emergency. I have to assume I can still gain INT by studying, and I still have a lot to learn about Remnant, so that's not critical yet. And CHA isn't that valuable to me, honestly, plus my score there is already pretty respectable just from how many ranks I have in [Acting]. WIS though…
I still couldn't come up with a reasonable way to 'grind' WIS. It also needed the fewest points to reach the threshold, so with only a little trepidation, I dropped in six more points.
[By raising WIS to 50, you can select a new skill!]
Clever (Passive)
A skill that represents your ability to learn and understand.
Passively increases WIS by 1%.
All MP costs reduced by 10.
Enlightened (Passive)
A skill that represents your ability to make good decisions.
Passively increases WIS by 1%.
1% increase to EXP gains.
Innnteresting… That merited some consideration. MP cost reduction was nothing to scoff at, but the skills I'd already raised in rank frequently saw MP cost reductions as they got higher. They wouldn't become free, at the rate the costs were going down compared to the rank ups, but as my MP pool expanded that didn't matter much. [Clever] would be stronger right now, but if I got new spells with higher base costs, the flat minus-10 would mean a lot less than it did now. Going from 50 to 40 was a reduction of 20%; going from 500 to 490 was only 2%.
Overall, it looked like [Enlightened] would be the better choice in the long term. Hopefully it would apply to skill EXP as well as level EXP, but even just the latter would be useful, since I would gain free points faster. With a double-click, I selected it.
[You selected the skill [Enlightened]!]
[Enlightened (Passive) LV 1 EXP: 0.00%]
[A skill that represents your ability to discern patterns, and make good judgments and quick decisions.]
Passively increases WIS by 1%.]
[1% increase to experience gains for both levels and skills.]
Hell yes. Hell. Fucking. Yes.
Pretending to flush the toilet, I washed my hands and headed back to the sitting room. Blake had lain down on her stomach on the sofa, her borrowed tee-shirt hiked up to uncover her back while she read a book that was propped against the couch's arm. Her feline ears twitched when I came back in, but she didn't look around, and instead just yawned. I inspected the partly-healed cuts for a moment; they still looked fairly fresh, but more like they'd happened yesterday rather than in the last few hours thanks to her own Aura continuing the healing I had started.
Laying one hand flat against her back, I triggered [Bear's Endurance] and [Owl's Wisdom] as I sat down on the ottoman. Their combined MP cost of 91/min would be offset by my meditation-boosted regen of 81/min, leaving the effective cost at only 10/min; something I could maintain for more than an hour and a half. Much longer than it would take to heal Blake, which I estimated to be about eighteen minutes with my new WIS score.
[Lay On Hands] redirected my regen, and I shut my eyes to slip into [Gaia's Pulse]. Bereft of my usual sensory inputs, I found myself pondering the changes to Blake's Status since just this morning. The most obvious thing was, of course, that her Background was much more fleshed out, and written in complete sentences instead of fragments. It didn't really give me any information I didn't already know, but then, [Observe] still wasn't that highly-ranked. Mental note, grind Observe more.
[Mental note added!]
The next obvious addition was the Relationship line. Didn't I get a notification for that after killing Krios?
Her Emotions were also different; she seemed to always be curious around me — I studiously avoided making a cat pun even in my own head — but her previous nervousness was only wariness now, not surprising considering her history. And then there was the last one, trusting. Guess Harry Potter was right, the best way to make friends is to fight a big monster together.
Her level hadn't gone up when Krios died, which seemed wrong even if it made a kind of sense. She wasn't connected to the Gamer Semblance, after all; so just killing a monster didn't dump EXP on her. Wouldn't be surprised if she does gain another level or two shortly, though; she isn't the type to rest on her laurels after that.
As my own passing curiosity, I also hadn't determined what her Title was supposed to mean. Examining it with [Observe] didn't reveal anything, so it wasn't giving benefits like my Titles did, but [On Whom The Pale Moon Gleams] was poetic enough that it had to mean something.
"That's surprisingly relaxing," Blake murmured, and surprisingly I was able to open my eyes without breaking meditation. Maybe because [Gaia's Pulse] hit rank 15?
Fortunately, she seemed to remember I couldn't talk while meditating, because she looked over her shoulder at me and clarified, "The feeling of your Aura boosting mine. It's… comforting."
I blinked, since I couldn't respond any other way, and Blake's hooded eyes gave a slow blink back before she returned to her book.
It was another ten minutes before Blake's HP topped up, and netted me another rank in both [Gaia's Pulse] and [Observe], and a whopping four in [Lay On Hands], presumably because I was genuinely healing someone who was pretty severely injured. I must have been close to leveling it up earlier, too.
Dropping all my active skills, I lifted my palm and prodded at Blake's back. She squirmed, apparently ticklish, but… "You'll be pleased to learn there's no scars."
"Really?" Blake twisted around, with perhaps a little more flexibility than a human would have, and peered at her back. "That's amazing. I've never heard of a Semblance that could heal this well."
I shrugged. "It's not like it's perfect," I pointed out, rubbing the scar that wrapped around my head. "But I'm glad it works as well as it does." I tapped a finger against my lip. "I wonder if they'd pay me for healing at the hospital?"
Blake tugged the shirt hem down and flipped onto her back, closing the book she'd been reading with a finger to mark her place. "Maybe? It depends on the limits of your Semblance, I would think. What can it do besides heal cuts and holes?"
"Restores Aura and alleviates fatigue, from what I can tell," I replied. "It doesn't seem to have strict limits except that it can only heal so fast, and that's based on me."
"It should get better with practice," Blake observed. "Most Semblances do."
"Definitely. It felt like I was healing you about twice as fast as I did Jazz," I estimated. "Every time I use it to heal someone else, it gets easier, so I guess I'm in the right profession. Not that I relish finding out, but I'm wondering if I could regrow limbs with more practice?" Or maybe fix a damaged Aura? I added silently.
I didn't know when exactly the Fall Maiden got injured, but if I could come up with a reasonable explanation for finding out about her, maybe I could offer help without giving away my real Semblance. Jee-Han was right, Healers really are the best.
Shaking that off, I sat up straight and cracked my back. "I can show you to your room when you're ready."
"I might stay up a bit longer," she replied. "I'm actually not very tired, suddenly." She sat up, scooting toward one end of the couch and conspicuously leaving a space open where her legs had just been.
The hint was pretty obvious. I smiled, and got up to pluck an encyclopedia on the history of the Four Kingdoms from a nearby shelf, flipping it open to the bookmark I'd left in it. Not the most engaging textbook I'd ever read, but I'd always liked history despite it sometimes being dry. And this was, of course, the history of a completely different world that I had very little context for, so everything was new. Settling into the proffered space on the couch, I toed off my slippers and kicked my feet up on the ottoman instead.
[By studying to gain new information, you have increased your knowledge base! Your INT has increased by 1!]
Well, and I had a slight ulterior motive.
There was no more conversation for a long while, as Blake and I read in comfortable silence. I managed to snag one more INT point around midnight in the middle of reading about the raising of the floating city of Atlas above the then-capital, Mantle; before Blake started yawning at about one. Detouring into the kitchen, I grabbed Krios' mask by one curved horn so I wouldn't forget it on the table for the night, before I pointed Blake into the guest room.
"Breakfast around eight," I said as I started upstairs. "But I'll put some aside if you want to sleep in. I usually do anyway in case Olivia comes home. Sleep well and wake, Blake."
She didn't reply verbally, but I caught another slow blink and a nod before she closed her door.
Stepping into my own room, I was unexpectedly met with a new prompt from my Semblance.
[You have obtained a trophy! Do you wish to mount it in your room?]
"Hell yes," I said, out loud since I was alone. The mask vanished from my hand and appeared in a clear space between the window and one of Jaune's old band posters that I hadn't bothered to take down.
[Mask of Krios — Rank: Mythic]
[A trophy held by the slayer of the Name-ranked Grimm, Krios, the Bringer of Battle.]
[Grants [Aspect of the Amalthean].]
[Do you wish to obtain this Aspect?]
I blinked. The hell does Aspect mean in this context? Also, this item is Mythic-ranked instead of Legendary like the Family Sword. Does that mean it's rarer? And the Family Sword is debuffed; is it supposed to be Mythic?
I tried using [Observe], and tapping on the description, but unlike with Curse and Geas I didn't get an explanation from the system.
"Fuck it, what's the worst that could happen? [Yes]."
There was a flash, and the mask's eyeholes seemed to glow momentarily red before fading.
[You have subsumed an Aspect of a Name-ranked Grimm, and now bear its mark. Aspects grow more powerful as more are collected.]
Wait, what!?
[Aspect of the Amalthean (Passive) LV MAX]
[10% increase to CON.]
[Return 20% of damage taken to the attacker.]
Absorbing the aspect of a Grimm didn't sound like a good thing, and I spent a good ten minutes frozen in place, meditating to ascertain if I could sense any changes in myself, but other than the CON boost I couldn't find any. In the end, there was nothing to be gained from stressing over it. I unequipped my clothes and switched on a pair of silk boxers, dropped into bed, and confirmed that I wished to sleep.
I was up early the next morning as usual, since I only needed six hours of sleep to avoid any penalties for exhaustion if I spent half an hour meditating. I still didn't feel any different as a result of the [Aspect of the Amalthean], so I shrugged and threw my Workout armor set on again to get breakfast started.
Taking stock of what we had, I started another protein-heavy breakfast. Bacon and sausage wouldn't take too long, so I started off chopping onions so I'd have them for later. Blake padded in while I was digging around in the cupboards for cookware. My back was to her, and the old me probably wouldn't have noticed her at all, but she stood out to my passive Aura sense, distinct in… color and texture from Indigo's Aura, which was still upstairs.
"Breakfast won't be for a little while still," I said, finally laying hands on what I was looking for.
Blake's Aura jumped as if startled, but her voice was steady when she replied, "I wasn't expecting you up this early. You were hurt almost as badly as I was yesterday."
I straightened up, twirling the heavy wok in my hands, and gave her a raised eyebrow. She was wearing the same clothes as last night. "You're up this early, too," I reminded her.
"Point," she sighed. "Do you need any help?"
"Not really, but you could peel the ginger if you want," I said, gesturing to the peeler.
"Sure, but what's it for?" Blake asked,
"I thought I'd fry up last night's leftover rice," I answered, rummaging through the fridge for soy sauce and a bottle of something that smelled close to oyster sauce. I couldn't find any mirin, but the pantry turned up a bottle of sherry when I went looking for sugar and coffee beans. "Do you drink coffee?"
"Sure," Blake answered, tongue poking out as she carefully peeled the ginger root. I thought about telling her that it didn't have to be perfect, since it was just going to get grated, but decided not to interrupt her.
This morning's silence was just as comfortable as last night's, and I soon had eggs, bacon, sausage, and rice all frying. I put Blake in charge of grinding the beans for a pourover as I mixed the onion, garlic, and eggs that were already in the wok with the rice, making sure it didn't burn, before adding scallions, the ginger, and the sauces.
[Cooking has increased by 1!]
Transferring everything to the table took some doing, and I waved for Blake to serve herself while I went to wake Indigo.
She was actually in her bed this time instead of under it, for whatever reason, though her shadow was still wrapped around her and writhing more than the light from the hallway should allow. I reached for her shoulder, and her shadow twined around my wrist and held it still for a moment before letting me wake her.
"Coffee's up," I said when Indigo finally cracked an eye to scowl at the person who dared rouse her. "And we still have a guest in the house."
"Ugh, fine," Indigo grumbled, kicking back the covers and hiding a yawn behind her hand. I decided to have her coffee ready and headed back to the kitchen.
Indigo didn't bother getting dressed, just dropped into the chair at the kitchen table in an oversized tee-shirt that came down to her thighs. Blake had already served herself but hadn't started eating. Grabbing a mug and splashing in some cream, I topped it up with coffee and sat down at the remaining place. There wasn't much conversation, since Blake was the reticent type and Indigo was still waking up.
After we'd eaten, Blake spoke up. "Thank you again for putting me up for the night. And for the clothes; I'll return them when I get a chance."
"No rush," I said. "Not like Azure's here."
I walked her to the door, pausing as she put her shoes on and picked up her weapon.
"Thanks again for having my back, yesterday," I said seriously, meeting Blake's eyes.
She glanced away, but then looked back. "I would say 'anytime', but…"
"But let's not do that again, if we can help it?" I finished, and she nodded. "For the record, does that mean you'd rather not train with me in general?"
"That's not what I meant," Blake said immediately.
"I'd understand if that was the case, for the record," I said, but she shook her head firmly.
"No, I… That was another crazy situation."
"I'm pretty sure I'm cursed," I agreed.
"Interesting times, maybe," she gave a tiny smirk, before finishing what she was saying before. "But you stood your ground where a lot of people would have run. I trust you. Take care of yourself, Jaune."
"Long days and pleasant nights, Blake." I replied.
Closing the door behind Blake, I returned to the kitchen and poured Indigo another cup of coffee before starting to clean up.
"Via's coming over," Indigo said as I started to pack the leftovers to go in the fridge, so I slipped the still-hot food into my [Inventory] instead before starting on the dishes.
I was drying off the last few dishes when I heard a key scrape and the front door flung open.
"Indigo, did you hear? Someone's claimed the bounty for Krios," Olivia called out from the foyer.
"Is that so," Indigo said. I could feel her eyes boring into the back of my head, but I manfully ignored it, putting another plate away.
"Yeah, it was verified but claimed anonymously so nobody knows who— Jaune when did you get a tattoo?" Olivia froze as she entered the kitchen.
I looked up, confused. "What, now?"
"You've got a tattoo on your shoulder," she repeated, crossing the room and jabbing a spot above my shoulder blade, just to the right of my spine.
"News to me," I said, trying to look at it myself as she pulled down the neck of my A-shirt to see it better. "What's it look like?"
"An upside-down dick," Indigo put in snidely.
"A bit like a number three on its side, but the middle extends past the curves," Olivia tried, tracing a shape with her fingertip. Based on how her finger moved, it seemed to be about the size of my palm. "Or a letter V that curves at the top."
"Weird. And I didn't have it before?" Jaune didn't have it before? was the question, though it didn't seem like his style.
"No way in hell we wouldn't have noticed it," Indigo said. "Tell me this is what you were actually doing with that girl yesterday."
"Yes," I replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I went and got an abstract tattoo and then Blake and I beat the shit out of each other, so badly I gained seven entire levels from it, and we came home covered in blood, just to fool you into believing I'm trying to become a Huntsman. Pranked."
Indigo put down her coffee mug and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You never used to be this mouthy," she complained. "You used to be so quiet and respectful."
"You sure that wasn't sheer dumbfounded terror?" I shot back.
Indigo flinched, and Olivia's gaze dropped to the floor.
"Oookay, I don't know what landmine I just stepped on, but I can tell I'm missing some context here," I sighed. Putting away the last dish, I tossed the towel onto the counter and sat down across from Indigo at the table. "I'm not going to demand to be filled in, but please keep in mind that whatever it is, can't hurt me because I don't remember it. You've both been nothing but understanding when it comes to accepting the new me, so I'd say I more than owe you some understanding in return."
Both of them were silent for a moment, so I unloaded the leftovers from breakfast out of my [Inventory], still as hot as when I'd stored them, and set them in front of Olivia, along with a knife and fork I'd been carrying around since the [Inventory] didn't seem to have a carry limit.
This just seemed to depress them even more. Indigo put her head down, and her shadow reached up from the tabletop to card its fingers through her hair. Olivia now looked on the verge of tears, though her voice was still steady when she spoke up. "We weren't exactly close with you, before. Either of us."
I considered that. "I don't mean to sound flippant, but… so?"
Olivia shook her head. "I can't speak for Indigo, but I can admit to a little guilt over previously treating you like…"
"An annoying baby brother?" I offered.
"Worse," Olivia confessed. "We were the sixth and seventh daughters to go to Beacon. Our parents were happy for us, but it wasn't special anymore. It was the same thing all of us did, from Bianca on down to Azure. It was expected. And then when you were born male…"
"I probably got all the attention," I guessed. "And things like new clothes, since I couldn't wear hand-me-downs the way you probably had to? Not to mention the three of us are relatively close enough in age that I can imagine the sibling rivalry being vicious."
"But now it's suddenly gone," Indigo cut in, voice muffled since she didn't raise her head. "When you could barely talk to me before! Couldn't stay in the same room for longer than a mealtime, because I would scare you into leaving me alone so I could sleep! You probably hated me before, and I can't help feeling horrible when we get along so easily now."
I waited to see if she would continue, but with another sharp inhale, Indigo fell silent. Olivia didn't speak either, her eyes still looking watery.
"If you're waiting for a rebuke, it's not coming," I said after a long moment. "I don't want to insult you both by dismissing what you're saying, but like I said… it's outside my experience. In the memories that I have, neither of you has treated me anything like that. I'm not about to hold a grudge for something that effectively did not happen to me.
"Indigo, you were the first person I saw at the hospital. You were there, you brought my backpack in case I wanted it, and even when the memory problems were so obvious that I couldn't hide them if I wanted to, you still got me out of there before cabin fever set in."
Indigo let out a shaky laugh.
"Olivia," I plowed on, "You stayed here instead of at your own place and made soup and stayed ready to look after us. Those were things you both did before I woke up with no memory; you did those things for the Jaune I used to be. And when I turned out not to be him, you both helped me get my feet under me. Indigo took me for food, Olivia helped clean up that awful haircut, and you both treated me like a recovering Huntsman instead of someone made of glass."
Indigo lifted her head, and I looked between her and Olivia.
"Since the moment I woke up, I've never doubted either of you would be there for me," I finished seriously. "I don't believe for a moment that you were motivated by guilt to do everything you have, so as far as I'm concerned, you have nothing to apologize for."
Both of them sniffed, and Indigo put her head back down, but Olivia managed a shaky smile. "I want to ask when you got so wise, but I guess I know, don't I?"
I smirked and shot her a finger-gun. "Yep. Last night, when I pumped it to 50. Got a special WIS skill and everything."
Indigo snorted out a giggle that was halfway sob. Meeting Olivia's eye, I jerked my head toward our sister, and she nodded. We circled the table and met in a group hug around Indigo, who stiffened but didn't make any effort to pull away.
Olivia and I glanced at each other over her head. "Awkward sibling hug," we chorused, both patting Indigo's back. "Pat, pat."
Olivia returned to her breakfast, while I poured Indigo and myself each another half-cup of coffee.
"Anyway, and not to blatantly change the subject, but I'm going to blatantly change the subject," I warned, and they both laughed this time, sounding more natural. "What was Krios' bounty, exactly? Because I didn't report it, and Blake and I didn't go anywhere except back here. I just got a hundred grand directly from my Semblance."
"Excuse me, did you just say you killed Krios the Amalthean?" Olivia demanded.
"It ambushed us," I repeated my defense. "Running away wasn't an option, so I kept it busy while Blake took out its reinforcements; I managed to gouge out both its eyes, then she stabbed it in the throat, and I capped it in the back of the head."
"Hold on," Indigo said, having drained her mug again. She set it down with a clunk and fixed me with a piercing gaze. "That mask you brought home yesterday."
I shrugged. "I needed Krios' attention away from Blake, so I told it I was going to mount its mask on my wall. It actually seemed to understand me, weirdly."
Olivia smacked herself in the forehead. "Of course, that's something you knew before, so we never thought to bring it up," she realized. "Grimm can think, and understand speech, as soon as they've grown masks. The older they get, the less they react like animals, and the more they plan like sentients."
"Oh," I blinked. "Wait, if that's true, then how are there any villages standing outside the walls? How did the walls even get built? If Grimm can plan, how have we not already lost?"
My sisters exchanged serious looks. "Most people, even most Hunters, don't think to ask that question until well after graduation, Jaune," Olivia said quietly. "The truth is… we don't know. There's never an entirely consistent pattern of behavior from the Grimm as a whole, either fully instinctual or totally rational. They seem to do both to varying degrees, and it's never safe to assume one way or the other."
"That's… bizarre," I decided. "If anything, that makes it seem like they're being directed by a person who can make mistakes or can't focus everywhere at once."
"That theory has been floated before, but there's no evidence to support it," Olivia said, dropping into lecture mode as she raised a finger to gesture. "A guiding intelligence of that sort would most likely make more concerted efforts to completely wipe out the Kingdoms. There are enough Grimm out there, and few enough Hunters, that a fully-massed attack could definitely overwhelm one before the other three could react."
So, the idea of someone like Salem pulling the strings isn't popularly accepted. No surprise, Ozpin wouldn't want something like that taking root in the public consciousness. But that means that nobody's ready for something like a Fall to actually happen…
"Speaking of the other three, they would know about what happened from the CCT, right? What happens if the Grimm do mass, and one of the towers gets destroyed?" I added, wanting to plant that idea as well. "If one went down, each Kingdom would be effectively isolated, and might not know what was happening in the others for weeks. Right?"
"It's a known flaw," Olivia agreed. "That's why maintenances are planned so far in advance, and take place at such weird hours."
"And their firewalls must be top-notch," I said. "Although… this feels like a stupid question but I've heard of major sites failing to sanitize inputs and accidentally letting end users run code on the system. I'm sure someone has thought of this before, but you couldn't like, break in and upload a worm or something, right?"
Indigo frowned. "You're right, someone has to have thought of that, but I might run up to the school today and test it. It should be an easy check."
"Go white hat. Anyway, going back to the point about Krios," I said, not wanting to dwell on the CCT too long, "After we killed it, the mask stayed behind when the rest dissolved, so I decided to make good on my promise. Just by owning it I get a ten percent CON bonus, plus another effect, so that's cool. Downside, I'm not trying to draw shitloads of attention to myself, so let's please keep it quiet that I'm the one who killed it. Apparently my Semblance somehow claimed the bounty anonymously, though, so at least I still get the spending money!"
"Yeah, how the heck does that work?" Olivia scratched her head.
"Haven't a clue," I shrugged. "Honestly, I'm kinda glad it comes from a legitimate source. I was wondering how the hell I was going to launder it." I got to my feet once more, using my Semblance's interface to equip my Casual outfit, smoothing out a wrinkle in the overshirt I was now wearing. "On the plus side, I can probably afford a bike now, so I might check out some today. I need a break before I try to Hunt anything again. Text me if you need anything."
I paused by the door to reload my pistol, giving my sisters a chance to call me back, but they just wished me a good day.
Zapdos - 'Seven Deadly Sisters (And One Baby Brother)' | Wednesday, 08:58
‹Zapdos› so.
‹Zapdos› what's the what?
‹Zapdos› jaune kill any grimm yet? unlock his aura? find a girlfriend? ?
‹Aegislash› yes, no, no
‹Ampharos› I've been catching up on the last week now that I'm back in range of the CCT, and I'd definitely like to register some concerns. Can someone debrief me on Jaune's exact status?
‹Gengar› wtf r u doing up its like ass oclock in the morning over there
‹Zapdos› indigo you always think it's ass o'clock.
‹Zapdos› that said, bitch has a point, why the hell are you up? its not even 0600 there.
‹Ampharos› Reveille is in thirty.
‹Zapdos› which we know you're excused from on account of your online status says you got back less than four hours ago.
‹Ampharos› I'm awake; I have to set an example.
‹Gengar› ffs b u gotta sleep sometime
‹Ampharos› You all know I'm perfectly fine.
‹Gardevoir› No matter how many times we have this conversation, you never seem to grasp that we will never not be concerned about you.
‹Ampharos› Don't worry about me.
‹Aegislash› you should never give an order that can't be obeyed
‹Ampharos› I'm still waiting for that debrief. Jaune, if you're here, give it yourself.
‹Aegislash› debrief on what? I don't know what you don't know
‹Aegislash› apparently I tried to go hunting by myself on like 20 July
‹Aegislash› I say apparently because I don't remember anything before waking up in the hospital on the 23rd
I started typing again, then paused.
‹Aegislash› …how secure is this app?
‹Reuniclus› 100% END-TO-END ENCRYPTED !
‹Aegislash› good enough
‹Aegislash› when I woke up I had no memories but I did have my Semblance
‹Aegislash› my Aura is still locked, however, which I'm told shouldn't be possible
‹Reuniclus› EXCUSE ME WHAT ?
‹Aegislash› best answer I've got is, it's exactly like the Grimm that sent me to the hospital in the first place
‹Zapdos› how's that?
‹Aegislash› it beats the shit out of me
‹Gengar› j omg
‹Gardevoir› Indigo and I can confirm this… oddity. An attempt to unlock his Aura was… rebuffed.
‹Gengar› fuckin painful is what it was
‹Reuniclus› BECAUSE OF THE GEAS ?
‹Gardevoir› That seems most likely.
‹Aegislash› keep it to yourselves, please
‹Aegislash› I've got a good shot at Beacon regardless, and I'd rather not wind up in a lab instead for being a freak
‹Aegislash› Gardevoir Gengar if the encryption here is that good, you can tell them about yesterday, just don't go sharing it outside the family
‹Aegislash› train's stopping, talk later
No wonder they didn't fuss about me leaving the house, I thought as I tucked my Scroll away. I can't really escape the conversation.
I had a destination in mind, a body shop and wrecking yard near the coast that advertised used vehicles. I'd passed and idly noted it the first time I came into the city; they'd had a few bikes on display, and I decided to peruse their selection before I started looking through classifieds. At the very least, it should let me get an idea of what bike designs looked like on Remnant, so I could refer to brands that actually existed.
I'd barely arrived when one of them caught my eye, though. Gleaming chrome with a cobalt finish on the tank, where the maker's name was emblazoned: Victoria.
It's brighter than I'd have liked on Earth, but that kinda makes it a nice fit for Jaune's complexion and color scheme, I mused as I drew up and inspected it more closely.
The straight lines and handlebars were somewhere between a racing bike and cruiser, and it looked surprisingly rugged. The seat was long enough for two, with passenger footrests and a grabrail in the back above a pair of decent-size saddlebags that matched the chocolate-brown leather.
Why's the throttle on the left, though?
"See something you like?" came a young woman's voice from the direction of the shop.
"I think I'm in love," I replied, swinging a leg over the bike to get a feel for its size. It wasn't overly bulky, despite the fairly-large engine I could see slung underneath it.
"Heh, usually guys look at me before they say that," she teased. I looked over my shoulder and paused as I took in a brown leather jacket, yellow tube top, abs I could grind cheese on, and a mass of golden-blonde hair. Fuck me, really? More main characters already?
‹Wanderer By Lone Sea-Breakers›
LV 26
Yang Xiao Long
"I can see why," I shot back, "But I came here for a bike, so I hope you're not offended. Or planning to buy this beauty out from under me."
"Heh, I've got my own ride, Ladykiller, but I can get you the keys if you want to try that one out." She swept her hair behind her with one arm, and I caught a tattoo winding all the way up her arm and just peeking out from under her collar. Huh, that wasn't in the show.
"Hell yes," I said. "And, 'Ladykiller'?"
She shrugged. "You didn't hesitate to flirt back; I like that kind of confidence in a man. I'm Yang."
"Jaune; nice to meet you, although I don't know if I'm quite your type," I grinned.
She smirked back. "And you think you know my type?"
I gave her another look up and down. "I'm sure I don't, but I know when I'm out of my league."
Yang chuckled. "Flatterer. Let me grab you the keys to that Sabkha." She turned away, hips swaying a little, but instead of being titillating, it left me a bit confused.
It's not really out of character as far as I know, although obviously I need to remember not to judge people by my memories of the show. Still, something seemed… off. Maybe it was that I could tell she wasn't flirting seriously, but I was finding myself surprisingly not into her, even if I could appreciate the view.
Before I could ponder further, Yang stepped back out of the garage, underhanding a key on a ring, which I caught. Turning back to the bike, I slotted it in and twisted, hearing and feeling the powerful engine thrum to life. I twisted the left-handed throttle slightly to hear it roar, noting that it wasn't anywhere near as loud as I'd expected, but still rumbled satisfyingly. I'd driven a full-electric car on Earth and appreciated the quiet, but if a bike didn't growl, what was the point?
"Well?" Yang asked, grinning with a fist on her hip. "What do you think?"
I cut the engine. "How much, and who do I talk to about getting some armor put on her?"
"Seventy-eight-nine as she stands," Yang rattled off. "And what do you mean armor?"
"Chain guard, sump plate, that kind of thing," I waved a hand, since I was mostly just assuming there must be more available than that on Remnant, even if I didn't know what it was called. "I'm starting at Beacon next year, and I'd like to not have to dig Grimm spines out of the engine if possible."
"Hey, me too," Yang said, before her brow furrowed a little. "I don't think I've seen you around before. Do you go to school inland?"
"Nah, homeschooled," I replied. I knelt down to examine the engine. "I could hear it's a twin; how big is this?"
"Twelve hundred cee-cee," Yang answered immediately. "Tops out around eighty horsepower."
I raised my head so she could see me hitch an eyebrow, and she shrugged.
"I came by so often to get work done on my baby that Huffy decided to hire me on part-time. I've worked on most of these," she indicated the row of motorcycles.
"And ridden them, I bet," I smirked.
"Gotta test 'em out," she agreed.
"So you can make the sale?" I asked.
Yang hesitated. "I know the prices, but you'd need Huffy to do the actual paperwork. I can get started on the armor, though."
"How much and how long?" I asked.
Yang cast the bike a considering look. "We should have everything in the garage as long as you don't mind chrome, so I could knock it out in a couple hours," she decided, heading for the garage. "Bring her in and park her next to mine, it's the yellow one."
"I never would have guessed," I snarked, climbing back onto the bike and rolling it backwards. The throttle was snappier than I expected, but the brakes were just as strong, so I easily pulled the Victoria in next to the bigger bike I knew was Bumblebee, kicking the stand down.
Yang was already rummaging through a box of parts in the corner, so I took the opportunity to look around. It didn't look all that different from any other auto shop I'd ever been in, even down to the jack and most of the tools still being recognizably pneumatic. Guess that makes sense, not everything has to be Dust tech.
"I can probably finish up around lunchtime," Yang offered, coming back with a silver engine guard that looked like it should fit.
"I don't have anything else to do today," I shrugged. "Got my ass kicked on a Hunt yesterday, so I'm taking a break. How much are these upgrades going to run me?"
"You'll have to haggle with Huffy, but call it…" she glanced down at the guard in her hands, then considered the bike. "Eight, nine thousand in parts? Plus a few hours' labor." She winked. "My rate's a bit less since I'm part-time, so you probably won't lose your shirt. What were you Hunting?"
"Ursai in the Emerald Forest," I answered, since that was what we had intended to find. "Bit off a little more than I could chew, but that's why we don't Hunt alone."
"Learned that the hard way?" Yang joked, indicating the scars on the left side of my head.
"Yes," I said flatly, raising my sunglasses so she could see how the claw-marks bisected my eyebrow and barely missed my eye. "Don't Hunt alone with no Aura."
She paused in the act of drawing on the engine guard with a grease pencil to show where she would have to weld it. "No Aura?" she repeated.
"Not unlocked yet," I shrugged, leaving the shades on top of my head since I was out of the sun. "Family tradition."
[Acting has increased by 1!]
Ah, come on, that was just understatement…
Yang and I chatted while she worked, and ended up exchanging contact info. After an hour or so, the owner came out into the garage to work on a car, nodding to me after making sure I wasn't harassing Yang. His name was Hephaestus, but she introduced him as Huffy. He was shorter than Blake, with an odd hunch in his shoulder and a prosthetic leg, but was even brawnier than Tukson. After some haggling and an estimate at how long Yang would be working, we settled the sale at a bit under 90,000 Lien, taking a major chunk out of my savings and giving me three more points in [Bargain].
It was a wrench, but on the other hand, since Olivia would be buying my weapon (I was pretty sure now that I would pass the entrance exam) this should be my last big expenditure for a while. Actually, I shouldn't keep all of this; I didn't kill Krios myself. While Yang was working, I moved 50,000 out of my [Wallet] and into my [Inventory]. I'll have to meet up with Blake sometime. Maybe we can actually have a normal Hunt.
Regular Grimm dropped pocket change by comparison, but there were a lot of regular Grimm. And even without that, I still had the equivalent of about seventy USD, so it wasn't like I couldn't buy a meal if I wanted.
Way sooner than I expected, I was cruising home on my new bike. Not until I was halfway home did it occur to me that I had absolutely no idea if Jaune had a license, or if such a thing even existed on Remnant. I considered pulling over, but if I didn't there wasn't much I could do about it, so I just tried to keep under the speed limit and… I dunno, drive casual.
"Hello, the house!" I called as I opened the door.
"Welcome home," Olivia called back from the sitting room. "Found something?" she asked, eyeing my windswept hair. She sounded surprised.
"Yep; unfortunately it cost me about ninety grand," I grimaced. "Important question, though: Am I, like, allowed to drive? Legally?"
"No," she replied immediately.
"…Why didn't you say anything this morning?" I asked, thankful I'd gotten home without incident.
"I assumed you were browsing today, not bringing one home. What dealer sold you a bike without checking for a license?"
"I found an auto shop that was selling used," I explained. "It's a Victoria Sabkha, pretty much exactly what I was picturing actually."
"I didn't hear the garage open?" Olivia half-asked.
"I actually have enough STR to pick the whole bike up, so I stuck it in my [Inventory]. I won't be able to explain pulling it out in front of people, though, so hopefully Beacon has a place I could reasonably store it."
"There's a student garage," Olivia assured me. "I'll see about what you need to get licensed when I go back to my apartment tomorrow. What else are you planning today?"
"Didn't have much else in mind. I thought it would take longer to find a bike I liked, so I'll probably just stay in and work on grinding CON. I want to get my physical stats up to the 50 level manually if I can, grab the percentage boosting skills without spending points on them."
Olivia waved me off, turning back to her book, so I left her to it. Changing into some swimming trunks I found in one of Jaune's drawers, I spent the rest of the day swimming laps in the pool, figuring that would be best for my endurance, and was rewarded with a few points in CON by the time the moon came up. Wrapping a towel around myself so I wouldn't drip on the floor, I hurried upstairs to take a shower. Unequipping all my wet clothes and storing them in my [Inventory] until I could toss them in the dryer, I remembered something we had talked about this morning.
I turned around, then twisted to look in the mirror over my own shoulder. There, stark against my pale skin, and man do I need to get more sun, were the bold tattooed curves my sisters had described.
︎ ︎
Name: Jaune Arc
Level: 17 (Next: 26.74%)
Title: Grimm Slayer
Race: Human
Age: 17
Job: Tyro Huntsman
Class: Paladin
Semblance: The Gamer
HP: 1341/1341
MP: 1056/1056
STR: 51 (50)
CON: 38 (33)
DEX: 36 (31)
INT: 34
WIS: 50.5 (50)
CHA: 30.1 (23)
Points: 49
Money: 698L
Status: Cursed – Yellow Death [High]
A/N: FFN continues to strip about 40% of my formatting, so if you ever feel like something's missing, or looks odd, check the version on AO3 (same handle).
Jaune's bike is roughly a Triumph Bonneville, with a few Remnan tweaks over the actual 2022 model.
