In the world of Remnant, an endless battle is being waged between light and shadow.
Huntsman protects the world against the Grimm.
And it is in that very world where we find our protagonist.
I groaned as I stared up at the night sky of Remnant, and with yet another sigh I shifted my gaze to the shattered moon high above me.
"Yet another fruitless day of searching for Amber. This is getting annoying quickly."
I pulled up the Quest to save Amber and groaned again when I saw I only had 2 days left.
In Hindsight it probably wasn't the best Idea to spam potions for combat.
You think?
Ah right, the Gamers Mind could talk in my head, like the Great Sage from Tensura.
The reason why I was currently laying in the middle of a grass plain instead of a warm cozy bed?
I was broke, with only 1000 Lien to my name.
I hadn't bothered to sell a single one of my potions yet, and I sure as hell wasn't going to anytime soon, I was a hoarder at heart.
As for enchanting, well I didn't have the materials to enchant a stone, much less my Iron Spear.
Is that so?
Here take this.
Enchanting Table added to inventory.
Enchantment Book (5) Added to inventory
I couldn't stop the twitch that came to my right eye as I heard the voice speak in my mind. Slowly I opened my inventory and lo and behold, right there was an enchanting table and 5 enchantment books.
"Seriously? That's all it took to get them?" I rolled my eyes and quickly looked around for a place to enchant. 'Will I be able to move the enchanting table?'
Yes
I shrugged and held out a hand as the enchanting table formed in front of me. Nodding with satisfaction I walked over to the table. It seemed to be a mix between the Skyrim enchanting tables and the Minecraft ones. Standing on 4 legs, rather than wood it was mainly made from obsidian, its corners were covered with diamond plates, and glowing blue runes covered most of its top with the exception of a triangle shape in its centre.
Would you like to learn the enchantment books?
I nodded, and almost instantly new information filled my head.
- Enchantments learned! -
Enchantment: Lightning Rod I
When the enchanted item is used as a conduct:
+20% Lightning damage
+10% Shock damage
Enchantment: Loyalty
Enchanted item will return to source once thrown
Enchantment: Frost Walking
When wearing the enchanted item, the surface of the water will freeze beneath you on contact
Enchantment: Soul Eater
Absorbs the soul of the victim
Enchantment: Luck of the sea
Get better catches with fishing rods
I grinned as I watched the enchantments fade in front of me.
The first three were definitely good, Lightning Rod was like a godsend, as was Loyalty. While Frost Walking would definitely help to confuse enemies and while it wasn't as useful since I could fly, It would come in handy. The 5th one was less than great, but as I looked at number 4, Soul Eater, I couldn't help but frown.
Soul Eater is a beneficial enchantment
Well, yeah, It kinda was, In Skyrim, you needed to use soul gems to enchant your items and soul eater enchantments were the best way to farm them. Problem was, I didn't see souls in the same view as the Dovahkiin.
How so?
To me, a Soul is precious, something that should never be tampered with, much less devoured. Your Soul was all that remained when you ascended to heaven or the afterlife. Harming a soul, was a great Sin to me.
So what do you plan to do with Soul Eater?
I don't think I'll use it, in Remnant Aura is a manifestation of the soul, so who knows what soul devour will do to someone. But I have little doubt, that Soul Eater is one dangerous enchantment, especially in Remnant.
A heartful choice, not many would do the same.
My eyes widened.
'What do you mean not many? Are there other Gamers?'
There was
'What happened to them?'
My knowledge of their fate is… limited
'How limited?'
There was, Limited
'Oh, How many Gamers were there before me?'
33
'33?!' my eyes widened in surprise at the number, 33 gamers before me.
'If there were 33 gamers before me, then why is Remnant so…'
Similar to its original?
'Yeah'
A Gamer's first world is… untainted. The world you see before you has never been visited by any other Gamer, even if other Gamers have lived in Remnant before.
'So, we basically all get our own universe as our starting world. And the other gamers lived in parallel versions of Remnant'
Yes
I let that idea and information run around in my head for a while.
Perhaps you should start enchanting?
I nodded, and turned back to the enchantment table, summoning my Iron Spear I placed it on the table, and a short index of enchantments, similar to Skyrim elder scrolls, appeared before me.
"Everything's locked? What the hell? Game?"
To perform enchantments, you need both magic, and a soul or something similar to one.
"Then how the hell am I meant to enchant? To get Souls I need Soul Eater, Soul Eater's an enchantment, and I can't get it without a soul"
Usually, you would need to search for a weapon already enchanted with soul eater, or you would need to find soul gems. However, you are luckily in what is perhaps the only realm where this is easily bypassed.
"How So?"
Once you unlock your Aura, you will be able to use it as a substitute.
My eyebrows raised, 'Damn, that's kinda broken, shame I don't have my Aura yet. Could you unlock it for me?'
No
Huh? So you can't?
Won't
But you gave me a weapon, stuff for alchemy, and an enchantment table.
Those were physical items. Aura is a unique stat, thus I won't and can't unlock it.
Well, that's not fun, and what do you mean by Unique stat?
A unique stat is a stat, or aspect, that can only be found or unlocked, by either attaining items directly linked or connected to it from the world it comes from, or by learning or gaining it in the world it comes from. Some examples of this include Chakra from Naruto, Dragon Shouts from Skyrim, and Aura from Remnant.
Did you just read that out of a book?
…
No
You totally did.
I shook my head, as I deconstructed the Enchantment table and returned it to my inventory.
With every second the time of Ambers… less than fortunate fate crept closer, and If I didn't stop it I doubt that I could look at myself in the mirror again.
Not that I had the time to anyway, I still hadn't looked at myself in a mirror, or a reflection yet, not closely yet.
Summoning my wings I lept into the sky and continued my search for the Fall Maiden.
Eventually, I arrived at my first village in vale. 'Heres to hoping this isn't a bust'
Landing in front of the Inn, my wings of darkness vanished almost instantly and I entered the building.
The Innkeeper looked up at me as I entered the bell that rang grabbing his attention, and he patiently waited for me to reach the table. The best way to describe him was, average. He was of average height, and of average weight. He had short brown hair with no apparent style other than no style, much like my own, or as I liked to call it, the natural look. He wore clothes similar to Meliodas from the seven deadly sins, but one thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was the large claymore he carried on his back.
"How can I help you?"
His voice was polite and even, lucky me.
"I'm looking for a brown-haired girl"
The Innkeeper raised an eyebrow, "Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?"
Hearing the innkeeper's words I had to stop myself from laughing, 'he just said a meme!' In response, I chose to simply smile, "Yeah, sorry. What I meant to say was short brown hair. I also believe she would be wearing a green cloak, brown eyes and a light brown skin tone?"
"A lot of people can go by that description, and it's not too hard to dye your hair colour"
I raised an eyebrow, and brought out 100 lien, giving it to the Innkeeper. "Are you sure about that?"
-100 Lien
The innkeeper raised an eyebrow, "well, I didn't think you would bribe me. I was just hoping for a, please. But I'm not going to argue" I groaned in frustration when I realized I had just given away a tenth of my already limited money, for free.
"A girl like that did pass by a while back, she didn't tell me where she was going but she seems to be heading to Vanilla vile."
I mentally sighed at the name. Vanilla vile? Next thing you know there's going to be a place called tulip town.
"Did you catch her name?"
The Innkeeper hummed for a while, thinking. "I might be wrong, but I believe her name was Amber" a chill crept down my back. 'So it really was Amber, I've got to hurry' "Which way was Vanilla vile?" I asked, and the Innkeeper pointed to the North Road, "Follow the North Road, and you'll find yourself at Vanilla vile eventually." I nodded in thanks before I practically ran out of the Bar, and without a moment's hesitation, summoned my wings and leapt into the sky.
I had flown from one village to the next, 7 towns down already. Each time I went to the Inn, and asked if they had seen Amber. Luckily a majority of the towns hadn't required bribing, but since I was in a hurry, those that did got paid 200 Lien right off the bat.
So I was now sitting happily at 100 lien.
I glanced worriedly at the Quest.
Stop that Maiden!
Objective: Save Amber from Cinder and her Allies
Rewards: 1 Gacha Token, 1000 credits, 5 random stat crystals, Greatly increased reputation with Amber, Increased reputation with Ozpins Alliance.
Time Limit: 7 Hours 10 Minutes
I gulped, my throat dry. 'I need to hurry.'
Stopping at the 8th town, I landed in front of the door and didn't even bother to dismiss my wings of darkness as I hurried in.
Almost Instantly I realized something this bar, was completely full of Faunus.
The Innkeeper, a Lion Faunus, looked up at me in slight surprise as I stopped at his table. "Have you seen a short brown-haired girl, wearing a green cloak, brown eyes and light brown skin?" The Innkeeper raised an eyebrow and I didn't hesitate to throw him the last of my Lien. "Have you?" I repeated.
The Innkeeper hummed, "Maybe, Maybe not, my memories not what it- hagcht!"
My Patience worn out, I leapt forward and grabbed the Innkeeper by the throat, bringing him forward to stare him dead in the eye. "You will tell me what you know now!" I shouted the last word as I tightened my grip around his throat.
Hearing the screeching of moving chairs, and the clicking of a gun being loaded, I growled, before letting the Innkeeper go and turning around slowly to face the 17 standing Faunus' each of which had some kind of weapon. "I don't have time for this. A girl's life is on the line, so tell me what I want to know… NOW!" Again I shouted the last word, but this time I summoned my Demon Mark and released an ominous dark aura, a small wave of power was released from me pushing tables and chairs alike back.
The Largest Faunus who seemed to be a rhino, the one with a Gun, stepped forward with a hostile smirk on his face. My right eye twitched and I felt my patience finally break.
In a flash, I was in front of the Rhino Faunus and grabbed his horn, before throwing him into a wall and 3 other faunus', without a single glance I reached my hand towards the other Faunus' and shot lightning at them, electrocuting them.
200 EXP
Turning around I looked at the Innkeeper as I summoned my spear and coated it with Hellflames, the unearthly light filling the silent room.
The Innkeeper turned pale as I walked up to him slowly, "Tell me what the fuck you know or BURN" I growled, emitting a wave of murderous intent.
"a-a girl that matches your description was here a couple of hours ago, you should catch up to her if you continue on the west road."
I nodded, before turning around. But before I left an Idea popped into my head, in a single movement I spun around and grabbed the cash register from the Innkeeper. With a dark smirk I said, "For my troubles" and without another word, I walked out.
+10,000 Lien
I prepared to leave when I saw a stall in the corner of my eye, glancing at it I saw it sold masks. Storming over to it I pointed to a wooden mask that bore striking resemblance to the wooden dragon priests mask from Skyrim, "How much?", "200 Lien", bringing out the required amount I flipped her the coins and grabbed the mask, before taking off to the sky and flying west.
-200 Lien
Flying as quickly as I could down the West Road, I mentally sorted through my skills.
Rather than learn anything new, I practised what I already knew.
Martial Arts Mastery Evolved
LVL: 70/100
Your Skill in Hand to Hand and Martial Arts Combat is that of a Master
Increases Bare Handed damage by 17.5%
Passively gain an extra 10% EXP from using this skill
Spear Mastery
LVL: 30/100
Your Skill in Spears, Staffs and Halberds is Proficient
Increased Damage with Spears, Staffs and Halberds by 30%
Lightning Mastery
LVL: 40/100
Your Skill in Lightning Magic is that of an Elite
Increased Lightning damage by 20%
-Skills-
Lightning Bolt
LVL: 27/100
Your Skill In Lightning Magic is that of an Adept
Shoots a Lightning Bolt that deals 127 lightning damage
Cost 40 MP
Hellblaze
LVL: 10/100
Summon and control black flames made of darkness that burn for as long as you choose, dealing much more damage and being much hotter than normal flames. Effective against Immortals.
Thunder Spear
LVL: 1/10
Throw a Lightning Spear that deals 200 damage
Costs 50 MP
Thunder Wall
LVL: 1/10
Create a wall of lightning that deals 150 lightning damage per second to anyone inside it.
Costs 40 MP
Thunder Whip
LVL: 1/10
Create a whip of lightning that deals 140 Lightning damage and a further 60 lightning damage with continuous contact.
Costs 20 MP Per Second
Chain Lightning
LVL: 1/10
Shoot a bolt of lightning that chains to and between nearby enemies, dealing 100 lightning damage.
Costs 80 MP
I hadn't bothered to create or learn any spear skills yet, since I doubted I had the time, and a Plan for my future had already begun to form.
Flying through the air I searched the ground below, before spotting 4 figures on the said ground. I narrowed my eyes, as I inspected the group below. Before I could wonder if they were who I was looking for, I sensed a large influx of Magic and Aura, and a Grin grew on my face.
Soon, the world would meet the Gamer.
And Cinder's world would come crashing down in a single strike.
AMBER
As Amber faced off against the 3 warriors before her, she could only wonder.
Why did the world hate her?
Her day had gone from good, to absolutely horrid in seconds.
It was her own fault really, she had been walking down the road, carefree and happy, when she had noticed a crying child in the middle of said road lost and alone.
Rather than think rationally and realize the fact that 1st, any child no matter the age should've had the common sense to go down the road and travel to the nearest civilization for help. 2nd, anyone who was bawling out their eyes as much as the child had been should've long since attracted a horde of Grimm and been mauled to death. And 3rd, the Child had been standing and crying in the middle of the street, not the sides, not sitting down or even crouching, when she had been that young she wouldn't have stood and sobbed for more than 10 seconds before sitting her lazy ass down.
But lead by her heart, she had tried to comfort the child, dismissing any rational thinking with torches and pitchforks.
Ozpin, Glynda, heck even Qrow had warned her that her heart would get her killed one day. She was never going to hear the end of this, if she survived that is.
Her attackers were armed, trained and clearly knew who they were dealing with. Plus on the fact, that she was outnumbered 3 to 1, even as a maiden those were less than favourable odds.
Stumbling back, Amber winced at the flaring pain in her ribs, she was outmatched and outnumbered by the three, and her stamina was quickly depleting.
"It's futile, The Fall Maiden's power belongs to me"
The strongest of the three, a woman in red with black hair, stepped forward as she spoke. A snarl emerged from Amber's lips, as she stood tall, to exhausted to answer. With a yell she released an explosion of wind and Ice from her left and right hands, pushing the three back. Raising her right hand, she summoned leaves from around her and froze them, before sending them towards her opponents fast as bullets.
The male's eyes widened as he jumped back to avoid the deadly projectiles, while the green-haired girl did cartwheels to dodge them, but the third woman, did nothing, and Amber realized why shortly after.
As the leaves cut through her, she shimmered and vanished, 'an illusion' Amber barely had time to think before a fierce pain pierced her shoulder. Gasping she fell to the ground, her Aura gone.
Looking back over her shoulder she saw an arrow lodged in her shoulder plate, with a growl she grabbed it and then tore it out with a scream, and as she threw the arrow away she was rewarded with a gush of blood erupting from her skin.
She tried to stand and escape, but she was quickly forced down to her knees by the 2 younger of the three, the male and green-haired girl.
They roughly forced Amber to turn around and face the oldest of the three.
"See, I'm destined for this" the woman chuckled walking towards her and stretching out her right arm.
Fear turned Amber's blood cold as a Grimm Parasite appeared out from the woman's sleeve, and her heart stopped as it screeched. "No… Please…"
But nothing tried to heed her pleas for help, nothing came, nothing stopped.
With another screech, the Parasite lunged at Amber, and as she closed her eyes, she accepted her fate.
'Ozpin… Glynda… Qrow… I'm sorry…'
But as those final thoughts crossed her mind, the world shook.
The sound of thunder filled Amber's ears, and the air in front of her burned in an instant as light so bright it penetrated her closed eyes flashed.
The grip of the two holding her vanished and almost instantly after the screeches of a dying Grimm, and a pained scream from the oldest woman accompanied each other.
"That was close…"
(Start Playing Perfect Time from the Seven Deadly Sins)
Amber opened her eyes in shock and disbelief as she stared at the stranger before her. He was tall around 6'2 in height. A lean athletic build defined him, and he wore a simple black shirt with a blue logo on its back with an anchor and the words 'the captain' below it, and normal jeans, as well as black running shoes. His hair was shorter than her own, brown and unstyled, but the most surprising thing about him was the wooden mask that covered his face. Yet as he turned to face her she was met with a pair of electric blue eyes that seemed to glow.
"You good?" the stranger asked an odd accent clear in his voice.
Amber nodded standing up, "Yes, who… are you?" she asked as the stranger helped her to her feet.
"Uhh, you're welcome" the stranger offered, and Amber blushed in embarrassment, "Thank you"
"You-" Amber's eyes widened as the black-haired woman stood, smoke rising from her right arm and anger clear in her tone. "You'll pay for that"
Before Amber could even move she heard the whistling of an arrow behind her, when suddenly she was on the side of the road, the Strangers hands on her shoulders. "Stay here," He said before turning to face the three.
Walking towards them he cracked his hands and neck. "I've been waiting for this." The trio grouped together ready to fight, "The power of the Maiden belongs to me. I will have it" The woman growled.
In an instant the trio rushed towards the stranger, swords forming in the woman's hands, The Green haired girl drew her guns while the man simply charged at him.
Summoning an Iron Spear, the stranger charged at the trio in return, blocking the kicks from the male, he pushed him back before spinning his spear to deflect the bullets of the Green haired girl, then with a yell, he swept his spear to the side causing a large gust of wind which pushed the green-haired girl to the ground. Immediately after he blocked the twin blades of the black-haired woman, but as they struggled for land and footing, the male rocketed towards the stranger. Kicking him in the side and launching him away into the forest crashing through several trees and out of sight.
The Black haired woman chuckled, "Some saviour he turned out to be" turning back to Amber she walked forward slowly.
But before she could even get close to her, a dark malicious presence filled the air.
(Play Satans Arrival)
Amber's eyes, as well as the eyes of the others, widened with shock as from the forest the stranger emerged, dark energy surrounding him. Then he raised his right hand, "Kachiga my nigga" he said, his voice harsher and darker as lightning erupted from his hand, electrocuting the male, but almost instantly the lightning chained to the other two and they all screamed in pain.
Amber's eyes widened, the power that radiated from the lightning, wasn't Aura, it wasn't Dust.
It was magic.
Pure Magic.
Rushing forward the Stranger raised his right hand again, and his spear appeared in his grasp, and with a yell, lightning covered the spear and he threw it at the woman a shockwave erupting from the pure strength that sent the spear flying.
Reaching the green-haired girl, the Stranger jump-kicked her in the face, sending her spinning away, before turning to the male, and grabbing him by the neck. "Tell the Queen I send her salutations" than with another shout, he threw the male into the Green haired girl, sending them both tumbling in the direction of the woman.
"Who are you?"
Amber asked as she stared at the stranger, his dark aura still present. Looking at her Amber's breath caught in her throat, his eyes, were now plain, emotionless not a hint of a pupil in them, pure electric blue was all that filled them.
"That's… a secret for now." was all the man said before holding out his right hand his dark aura vanishing and the pupils returning to his eyes.
Deciding to trust her savior Amber took the man's hand and stood up.
"You kids okay?"
Both Amber and the Stranger turned to face Qrow running up to them, a concerned look on his face. "I'm fine, thanks to him, Qrow," Amber said gesturing towards the masked man who was looking at Qrow with what seemed to be a consideration. "I'm sure you both want answers. But I don't think this is the place. We do need to protect the Maiden after all."
HUNTER
- Quest Complete -
Stop that Maiden!
Objective: Save Amber from Cinder and her Allies
Rewards: 1 Gacha Token, 1000 Credits, 5 random Stat Crystals, Greatly Increased Reputation with Amber, Increase reputation with Ozpins Alliance
My blood continued to pump with adrenaline.
Fighting Cinder and her goons definitely had been an eye-opening experience, in more ways than one.
They were all-powerful, high leveled, and outnumbered me, really I only won because of three factors.
1: Amber had weakened them
2: I had the element of surprise
3: Darkness
When I had been thrown into the forest, I had broken my spine, and several of my ribs, the only reason I was still walking and breathing was because of the insane regeneration abilities that Darkness gave me.
But I knew that I couldn't rely on Darkness forever.
I would need Aura, one way or another, and lucky me, I was now in the presence of two people who could do just that.
"Alright, we're here, start talking, who are you," Qrow asked sitting across from me on the table breaking me from my thoughts.
"An ally" I answered, this made Qrow frown, "Who do you work for then?", I shrugged, "No one", Qrow leaned back his eyes narrowing, "How did you know where Amber was?", This time I leaned forward, "I followed her." My words gained a gasp from Amber, "I long since suspected that Salem knew where and who she was, so I decided to follow her, trail her, protect her." Qrows eyes widened, "So you know about the Queen? How much do you know?", I grinned, "More than you, probably"
Despite what you may think, I wasn't keeping information from Qrow because I didn't trust him, and by extension Ozpin.
I was hiding information because I didn't want to mess with one crucial part of Remnant.
The Forming of Team RWBY.
I knew that due to my interference in saving Amber, Roman probably wasn't going to rob the Dust shop, and Ruby wouldn't get into Beacon. But I had a plan for that.
While I could always ask Ozpin to get Ruby in, that could cause ripples and make it even worse. That and Ruby wouldn't earn her way into Beacon.
No, my plan was something a lot more complicated and personal.
"One more question, but you have to answer it truthfully, or else…" Qrow said his hands brushing on his weapon. I nodded, "Sure, but I want a favor in return", Qrow narrowed his eyes, but agreed and leaned forward, "how can you use magic?"
Silence fell over us, and I glanced at Amber, she was curious as well. 'Probably should check Qrows stats while I have the chance.'
Name: Qrow Branwen
Title: Bad Luck Charm
Age: 42
Race: Human
Level: 94
HP: 1230
MP: 100
AP: 23,500
STR: 179
VIT: 123
DEX: 177
INT: 94
WIS: 73
CHA: 56
LUK: 50
hmm, not as powerful as I thought he would be. Sure he had his Aura, superior VIT, and STR, but I honestly expected Qrow to be a lot stronger, Maybe Aura was just way more powerful than I thought. But I wasn't planning to fight him anyway, and that and this was the perfect time to start the plan I had thought of earlier "No idea" I tapped my head, "My memories of when I got my powers, they're kinda fuzzy. All I remember is darkness, and someone telling me that I was the Thunder Bachelor, whatever that is." Qrow frowned, "What's a Bachelor?", I shrugged, "I told you, I don't know. But a Bachelor is the male version of a Maiden, isn't it? So maybe I'm like the male version of a Maiden?" Hopefully, this ruse worked, but really, it could be the truth I didn't know much about how the Maidens were born, but I figured that if Rooster Teeth wanted to be gender friendly they would make a male version of the Maidens. Hopefully.
"I don't know if you're telling the truth, but I guess a deals a deal. Now, what was the favor you wanted?" Qrow asked, I smiled in return, "Know how to unlock someone's Aura?"