Chapter-1
Sigurd
A Few days after Ozpin felt the explosion of magical energy
Sigurd felt his being materialize into the foreign world. The memories of his meeting with the nornir still fresh in his mind. He looked around in his surroundings which was an open green field with blue skies. To his right in the distance was a road fenced with wooden fences and to his left was a forest whose trees had red leaves.
"Hm, this world does resemble Midgard in many ways." He commented before grimacing. While the meeting had certainly given him a better understanding of the circumstances of his summoning, the nornir had given very little information regarding how he should go about his objective.
"Finding the infinite man…" Sigurd muttered. He did not even know who the infinite man was or whether they were still alive. Besides, he did not know what this world's humanity looked like and they could be scared away by his armor. There were multiple problems he could face on this foreign world. But he had no choice but to make do and hope that the Nornir take pity on him and provide some help in getting started on his mission.
First he should go to the road. That would be a good…
Sigurd's ears picked up sounds of battle. He looked back to the road to see a brown-haired girl fighting a grey-haired boy and a green-haired girl. The brown-haired girl was using a staff that shot fire, the green-haired girl was using a pair of sickle-like weapons and the grey-haired boy kicked at the girl with metal legs. They definitely looked like warriors so perhaps this world's humanity was more martial than his world. Through his crystallized wisdom, Sigurd deduced that the brown-haired girl was the one being attacked and needed help.
He sprinted towards them, although he realized that his speed is much less than he believed. Must be the effects of materializing in a foreign world. While Sigurd could cover up his fall in speed by drawing upon the mana reserves of his dragon heart, he felt he should save it. Besides, it looked like the brown-haired girl was doing well, although rising up and creating storms was something even magi of his time couldn't accomplish. In fact, such a feat was venturing into the realm of demigods.
But the girl's impressive storm was interrupted when a third attacker came in, a black hair girl. She formed glass shards out of the air and shot it at the brown-haired girl before rushing at her with two curved blades. Sigurd's eyes narrowed even further. If humans on this world were capable of performing mystics of that level, then his mission would be more difficult than he imagined.
"AGH!" Sigurd's thoughts were interrupted by the brown-haired girls shriek as she was caught in an explosion. Sigurd's eyebrows raised before the girl came out slightly singed
"She survived?" Sigurd muttered. No human should be able to survive such a blast, but perhaps humans of this foreign world were more resilient than the humans of his world. He then saw the boy and the green-haired girl grab the brown-haired one while the black-haired girl raised her right hand. A black creature came out and latched onto the brown-haired girl's eye before sucking something out of her while the black-haired girl's eyes ignited. Sigurd's eyes immediately widened before he drew upon his dragon heart to pump Mana into his veins before jumping. Sigurd shot forward like a rocket, crossing the remaining distance in a second and sliced the black insect apart with a shortsword.
The three attackers stepped back in surprise at Sigurd's appearance as he stood protectively over the girl, who had lost consciousness. Again, Sigurd noticed his magecraft was also weaker on this world, since he required more mana to achieve that jump than he usually did.
The black-haired girl narrowed her eyes in annoyance before bringing out her blades again. Sigurd raised his shortswords before dodging a kick from the boy. The green-haired haired girl shot at him which Sigurd deflected before sidestepping a slash from the girl. He continued dodging and parrying from his three opponents from his disadvantageous spot. Sigurd knew he would face difficulty in defending the brown-haired girl and defending the three attackers who had him surrounded. Thus, he formed a plan.
The black-haired girl shot arrows at him to which Sigurd inscribed a rune.
"Algiz." He spoke before a shield materialized and deflected the arrows. The boy came from his side with a kick but Sigurd inscribed another rune.
"Isa." He spoke as ice froze the boy's leg and he fell down losing his balance. Sigurd punched a few shortswords to keep the green-haired girl away.
He then threw the unconscious girl away and jumping into the field himself.
Now he was in a much better position to fight. The three attackers came in and Sigurd sent a massive chunk of rock towards them. It scattered them as Sigurd went for the black-haired girl first. She raised her swords to block the first swing, but Sigurd stabbed at her stomach with another shortsword. The blade stabbed against something and the girl grunted before kicking at him. The kick wasn't strong enough and Sigurd went back a step.
He renewed his offensive, going for the holes in the girl's defense that she was unable to cover up in time. Whatever blocked him the first time, it had a limit. He had to keep hitting till it broke.
He continued until he turned around to block the boy, who was coming at him from behind with a kick and pushed him back. The boy swiftly recovered and shot bolts from his metallic legs at Sigurd who stepped to the side. He swung a shortsword at the boy who stepped back before following up with a lunging thrust that the boy blocked before responding by kicking at Sigurd's face. He lowered his head to dodge the high kick before letting go of the shortsword in his right hand to grab the boy's leg and kick him back. A sickle on a chain wrapped around his leg which he pulled to pull down the green-haired girl who had thrown it. He then noticed the boy flying towards him at much higher speeds then before, with his kick being too close to dodge.
Sigurd stood as the kick hit his chest plate, it's force making him take a step back.
"Uruz." He spoke before the boy's next kick bounced off his chest and he backhanded the boy with strength matching his servant level strengths.
He punched more shortswords that struck the green-haired girl in the chest, knocking the breath out of her. Sigurd launched himself at her and quickly stabbed her few times bringing his shortsword back to block another kick. Sigurd pushed the leg away before ducking under a following kick and shoulder checking the boy to the ground. The boy rolled away as Sigurd's boot crashed on the ground where his head was and went for a sweep. Sigurd leapt away from the attack and hit the boy with another chunk of rock, removing the invisible barrier protecting him. Sigurd then punched shortswords into the boy's legs to pin them before arrows exploded against his back and Sigurd was sent flying. He rolled a bit before regaining his footing.
His armor and the remnants of his Uruz rune's magical energy had blocked most of the explosion, but Sigurd chastised himself for not paying attention to the third girl and brought out Gram. He drew upon a little more of his draconic core and bounded towards the girl. The girl was again taken off guard by his speed and raised her blades. Sigurd brought Gram down full force as it shattered the girl's blades and tore through the right arm.
The girl screamed as the right arm came off, falling to the ground writhed with black smoke coming out of its severed point. The same smoke also came out of the girl's stump while Sigurd noticed another person come in. He was a middle-aged man with spiked black hair that had some grey hairs carrying a single-edged greatsword. The girl grit her teeth before running off. Sigurd would have pursued them but he figured it was better to deal with the man first. The fight had taken a lot more energy out of him than it should have, but he could still defeat the man should he be a hostile.
The man's red eyes looked at the fleeing attackers before back at Sigurd and the unconscious girl. Sigurd's crystallized wisdom told him this man was not a threat, but he still had to be cautious.
"I saw the whole thing. Thanks for saving her from those three. I don't know what would have happened if you didn't appear in time." He spoke. "I was supposed to watch her."
Sigurd relaxed. "Then you did a very poor job." He spoke as the man winced.
"Jeez, not one for mincing words, are ya? What's your name?"
Sigurd stayed silent.
"Saber." He spoke.
The man tilted his head. "You're one of those stoic types, aren't you? Well, that's annoying. Name's Qrow."
Sigurd nodded.
An awkward silence passed before the man coughed. "Anyways, where are you from? From your looks and attitude, I guess Atlas."
Sigurd decided to play along. He did not know what this human would say to him being a heroic spirit from another world so it would be better to learn from his questioning.
"Atlas."
The man laughed. "That explains this feeling I've been getting. It's almost like being pale and having a serious attitude like that is a trademark for Atlesians. But, you don't really give off that harsh feeling the atlesians I know do. You seem like a pretty honest guy, even if you don't hold back in your words."
"I see."
"But anyways, I'll go pick her up and be off." Qrow spoke as he went towards the unconscious girl.
"Then I shall go with you." Sigurd spoke as Qrow stopped.
"You want to come with us?"
"Those three could very well come back. We do not know if they have reinforcements. You would need my help in case you are attacked again."
"Look, it's…"
"She is injured. It would be shameful of me to leave her behind like this."
Qrow opened his mouth but closed it and sighed. "Fine, fine. You can come. I'll carry her and you keep guard. Is that fine by you?"
Sigurd nodded.
"Great. Then let's go."
Sigurd began following Qrow. The man was foul-mouthed and quite lazy, but Sigurd did not miss the constant attention he kept on him. Despite his casual attitude, the man was an experienced fighter and his current source of information. He would serve as a starting point for his quest.
Cinder continued running through forever fall, the shame of failure burning within her. Emerald carried Mercury whose legs were too damaged to function.
"Should we stop?" Emerald asked from behind her.
"…"
"Cinder?"
"…Yes." She grit out as Emerald propped Mercury to a tree. Looking at his pierced legs reminded Cinder of the humiliation she suffered at the hands of the armored man. Her plan to ambush amber had hit some bumps with Amber being able to overcome Mercury and Emerald without taking much damage but she was able to take advantage of Amber's distraction to land a finishing blow.
She looked at the fireball in her palm. When the maiden's power coursed through her veins, Cinder felt she could overcome any obstacle in her mistress' path. Ozpin or his cronies, none would have been able to stop her. But, that was ruined by the armored man.
She'd underestimated his skill, speed and strength. Not to mention the fact those glowing symbols he created that seemed to perform all sorts of powers. Now that she was out of the fight, Cinder could remember the maiden's power tingling whenever he those symbols appeared. Their versatility was on par with the Schnee semblance and the tingling…Cinder did not know how, but she felt that armored man would be her greatest threat now that he had met one of Ozpin's.
"You keep watch, I will be right back." She told emerald as she walked into the bushes.
After a minute of walking, Cinder noticed the seer her mistress had assigned her and gulped as its red mist dispelled to reveal her mistress' face.
"Cinder." Salem spoke looking at her pupil. "Is the deed done?"
Cinder closed her eyes. "…No, mistress."
Salem tilted her head. "Oh? And why not? You declared yourself the current fall maiden wouldn't be a challenge for you. So why do you come to me bringing news of failure?" She continued in an amused voice that held an undertone of anger.
"W-We did manage to defeat her. I even got the Parasite latched onto her soul. But…Someone stopped us."
"One of Ozpin's?"
"N-No, Ozpin did have someone keeping guard over her, but he wasn't the one. It was a man in armor wearing glasses. He wielded short swords and managed to defeat us."
"Even when you were able to defeat a Maiden?"
"I-I don't know! I managed to hit him with the same power that I used to knock out the fall maiden but he came out unscathed! He wasn't even showing any reaction to whenever we got a hit!"
"Oh? That is interesting. Anything else?"
"Nothing, except he was making some odd symbols that had many effects. I didn't look like…"
"Glowing…symbols?" Salem interrupted her, her smile gone, now replaced by a scowl.
"Yes?"
"Are you sure you saw glowing symbols?"
Cinder nodded.
A contemplative look formed on her mistress' face.
"Cinder…I want you to monitor him closely, but not fight him." Salem spoke. "I believe he is one of these 'servants' our new ally mentioned earlier."
Cinder's eyes widened. A few days back, a strange creature had arrive in the Evernight castle and proposed an alliance with Salem to gather the relics. They had mentioned the spirits called servants who possessed immense power that could rival a maiden's.
"I will send one of the servants our ally provided us with and send him to Vale. He will deal with the servant who has gone with Ozpin. You'll have to adjust your plans now that Ozpin has a servant with him. The goal remains the same. Do not fail me, Cinder."
"Y-Yes, mistress." Cinder spoke as the connection was cut.
She turned to go back to Emerald and Mercury. Now that she knew a bit about the man who stopped her, she need to think about her plans.
She couldn't infiltrate Beacon now that Ozpin has someone who recognizes her. That means she'll have to change her plans. She hoped the servant she received would provide some help.
Demon pillar Amdusias stood on the banks of a pool of gold in the dark cave in its human form. Outside the cave, hordes of phantasmal beasts created in a similar fashion to those of Gaia roamed about.
"The last heroic spirit has materialized on the planet." It spoke. "A Saber near the west coast of Vale."
"I am aware. Salem informed me of her acolytes' encounter with the Saber." A figure on the other side of the bank spoke, shrouded in darkness. "Even if weakened, the servant would be more than a match for them. They are lucky to have escaped with their lives."
"But what about Chaldea? They can jeopardize your plans if they want to."
"That will not be a problem. The Human order revision provided me with a lot of resources to bring against Chaldea and the twin dragons should the pieces be assembled. Let Salem follow with her plans for the time being while the sides are set up. Once it is done, the four gods shall ignite the spark that will bring about a new age on Remnant and our plan's next phase will begin. Now go, Amdusias. I must continue my project in my workshop." The voice spoke as Amdusias bowed before leaving.
"Salem must not fail. Otherwise my plans will."
A/N: Alright, here's the first chapter of the story. I'll be posting a few more chapters at random times until I get a schedule fixed for posting. Will appreciate constructive criticism and hope you enjoyed this chapter.