RWBY: The D'arc Game of Life

by ThePlayer1Company

Jaune Arc has lived a quite normal life, sans his parents splitting up when he was 10. Regardless, he wants to be a Huntsman, a hero like his father! One day, he messes up in the best way possible, and a tiny splinter grows into a grand adventure, in which the blonde must play a dark game of life. Only time will tell the truth. RWBY/Gamer crossover

8. Birds, Bees, and Bugs

5/14/2016: Jumping right back into writing a new chapter!

5/29/2016: No more testing, no more college work for now... yet I still took over 2 weeks to do much anything. I need to get better at this shit.

6/4/2016: Retroactively changed Juniper's specs to fit more for explanations given in this chapter.

6/14/2016: day 30, still haven't finished, feel bad for not writing faster or more often but this shit is hard. I can tell why I rarely see these types of fanfics with a lot of progress when they have a strong focus on The Game... damn.
A second note for today is that I'm in summer classes for college, so that's a thing. Luckily it's only 1 class, in the morning, so I'm good on that aspect, and ironically it's a writing class, so I'm sure my skills will be put to good use.

6/25/2016: Goddammit I feel terrible, I've been busy with college but I should be managing my time a lot better and making time to type more of this ungodly long, much-awaited chapter.

8/8/2016: It seems like every single time I go to fucking type more of this chapter, my computer decides that it's time for updates, and it shuts down while I'm asleep and I happened to forget to save. I've been going through some tough times but everything is a lot better now.

As always, let's start the reviewer responses

Drow79: Close, but actually Qrow wants to make Jaune give up on dating Yang.

Nunuboy135: Yep, and let's all thank god that it was Qrow. Taiyang would just come up and rip him to pieces, Qrow will at least let him talk his way out of it, even if only to see Jaune squirm.

Shinju Ryuuga: And that's why it's an omake, not a full story

MysticSpider: not really punctured, more that it... stirred things around a lot. And no necromancy, she literally meant she wanted to kill him.

Smithrooks: Well, thank you and all the people who commented on their theories of why Qrow wanted to meet with Jaune. I will spoil it slightly for you: It's all of them! Mwahahahahhaaa! I stole the ideas, :P, *runs off with a huge sack labeled "Ideas" on my back*

ChaosRonin: Yeah I have my own personal huge blocks of headcanon for each of the RWBYJNPR group. Compared to mine, a lot of depictions of Yang in many fanfics I've seen are like "Hive of murder-blood-death-murder hornets hooked up to a stick of dynamite with a fuse size measured in planck lengths". Yes her semblance seems to run off of pain and makes her angrier, but pain comes in many forms, peoples. Many people take the "You wouldn't like me when I'm Yangry" thing and run with it. I have different views. Yes she can be brash and agitating, but she's a kind soul. Her heart isn't a hellfire blaze full of anger to take out on the world, it's a warming campfire providing light and warmth to those she loves (which now includes Jaune, though not yet in a romantic sense)

DeathstrokeNorris: In volume 3 there was canon talk about and display of legitimate magic, such as the Four Maidens thing. In this, however, as simple of an explanation as I can give is "Wizard is a common Huntsman term for people whose semblances and auras themselves are their most effective weapon." In this sense, Weiss could qualify for being called "wizard", as could Ren (though Auric Martial Artist is the term that would be most often applied)

MicroDime: it depends on what skills he's trying to teach, really. Something genetic or innate for the soul (things that he'd only be able to get because The Game could assimilate them from the great beyond of Game Power, AKA taking things from the annals of history like a kid in a candy shop), he could not teach, but something like Gaster Blaster, he could teach it to the others, or Summon Elemental, or Ki Body as you mentioned. The answer to your question is yes, but I'm also answering the proximal question of "okay so what else?"

Victor L: The explanation is that doing that playthrough was a big dare from a friend (Marbel), and he was going to reset everything immediately after beating Sans in order to avoid tainting his save files.

kyugan: this is QROW we're talking about, dude! Drunkle Qrow! He was actually intending to kill Jaune in one shot, but changed his mind last second in favor of having a 'talk'. People can change their minds on a whim, and Qrow figured it'd be more fun to watch him squirm under the questioning.

megatronus89: kind of? Due to how Jaune is going to be interacting with the girls, it'll start to blossom into a harem fic as more girls see his goodness and start to fall for him, but I write these as I go, with little pre-formed planning. There's little telling who will start to fall for him, but he will at least interact with all of the core RWBYJNPR group before Beacon starts, for various reasons. There is some info provided in this chapter that explains some things pretty well, as well as emotional strife that I will explain in a bit.

kewllewk: I've gotten a lot of criticism for giving Jaune shitty skills, but there is a reason he chose to up his Luck, despite the shitty skills it gives at 100... HE DID NOT KNOW THE 100 BENCHMARK SKILLS WERE SHITTY, I can assure you that he had no clue that upping Luck to 101 would lead to him gaining terrible skills with very mixed and unfair (on him) numbers. Is he really that stupid for following down a path he didn't know would lead to shitty skills, when all other examples have lead to good skills? He wasn't stupid for choosing to up his Luck, he was just following a pattern that happened to have an exception for the stat he chose to boost.

Wednesday's Jest: For your review on chapter 3: Yes transitions are a bit... iffy for me, they're necessary but when writing a first-person fic (which I've never done before this one) it's a little hard to put them there without basically just telling what happened instead of showing it, but maybe telling what happened would be more concise and easy to follow in this case. As for Jaune's reaction, it must be understood that while Jaune has his emotions on a leash due to Gamer's Mind, this also means he can go back to neutral or jump from one emotion to another without getting caught up in his sadness or anger. He can choose to do so, but it usually won't happen outside of his control. As for his reaction of punching his mom in the face, I do need to divulge this information. Jaune is much less of a 'normal' person now. He can calmly and logically reason why he should punch his mother, who he was in wholehearted belief to be the source of his grief due to being the instigator that led to his parents' unofficial divorce, in the face. Plus he's still a hormonal teenager, even WITH inhuman power such as what he has, he's still prone to making snap judgements based on his emotions and experiences. He sees someone he hates, he gets an urge, and in this case he decided to act on it. Also I really should get a beta to help me out.

For your review on chapter 4: Yeah I've gotten so much hate on chapter 4 that it's honestly started to lose a lot of its bite. I will add this: Jaune has a lot of respect for his dad and doesn't want to disappoint him more than he already has. He doesn't want to lose his dad's trust, so he put a bunch of points into Luck for not only the reason that he wanted to avoid trouble, but also because at that point, he was still seeing things in the perspective of getting into the game and reasoned, "Yes, it was 75 points I just spent, but I'm still only level 20-something, I can get lots more points easily. Plus boosting Luck can affect more than just this one thing, since it'll stay boosted." Also as I said in response to kewllewk, he didn't know it would lead to shitty skills. I personally both wanted to defy and lampshade the common trope in Gamer fics where the protagonist doesn't ever even touch Luck. I wanted to defy it by having a reason and an amount of respect for the stat, and lampshade it in that the skills gained were pretty unfair to Jaune anyways. He made a rash decision, and the Game pulled things in that it thought were helpful to him to some degree. Imagine the Stat Skill Gathering System is fairly good at its job, but it sometimes derps out too. He got skills for luckiness, truth, and dreams (mostly nightmares) that will help sort out his Fate.

Luck is like Fate, the more you have of it, the more important you are, but also the more you'll have to do in life, and the more shine AND shit you'll deal with. However, what Jaune knows currently is "Luck is a dick.", because he was hasty and didn't think things through when distributing his points.

Alright, since a lot of people seem to have not gotten over Luck, I will address it in this chapter and have Jaune give the decision some afterthoughts. Also, I'm going to retroactively, just as I changed Juniper's stats, go back and alter that scene in chapter 4 to be a bit more... thoughtful.

... (btw an ellipsis as a transition, for me, is a small transition, usually only a few minutes or just spanning the length of some traveling, while a line-break is a larger transition, usually spanning hours or some important amount of time)

...

---

Now then, let's get onto the long, and long-awaited chapter 8.

Disclaimer: Sadly, I still don't own anything that isn't my own words and ideas

Alright, now onto the chapter, but first... I hope you've all seen the first three episodes of RWBY Chibi, I love it to death, ^WWW^ but poor Chibi!Jaune. Don't worry, Gamer!Jaune is going to make up for things.

Edit 1: I've gone through and changed a few things to alleviate new readers of getting turned off by this chapter. Mainly what people have been complaining about, which is Jaune's sudden transition to wanting a harem and Qrow's OOC reaction of just accepting it. There are reasons for their specific reactions, and I can sum it up here: Jaune is too angry to think straight and Qrow is being sarcastic.

Now onto badass Gamer things.

Chapter 8: Birds, Bees, and Bugs

---

Physical Resistance's level increased by 5!

Stone Skin broken!

Metal Skin broken!

WARNING! You are in CRITICAL DANGER!

HP: 1/4100

I groaned as I felt splinters dig into my back, thrust from the tree behind me as it broke from my impact. I felt numb, yet at the same time every sensation on my body, every flaming speck of pain covering every nerve under my skin, was blindingly intense.

"You know usually when I impale someone through the chest and blast them away with a shotgun, they get impaled and blasted. I don't know what kind of healing semblance you have, kid, but it must be a good one." the drunken man smirked and held his massive sword in a casual grasp, "Now then, talk." he said casually, as if he didn't just attempt to murder me in a dangerously unstoppable and effective way.

"I don't feel much like talking when my internal organs have been tenderized by incandescent shrapnel." I groaned as I stood up, "But for someone as important as you, I'll make an exception. Qrow, I assume? The crazy, fun, drunk uncle?" I still had HP, and the pain had already faded into a horrible memory. I would live for at least a few more seconds.

"The one and only." he replied with a smirk, holding his stance despite the sheer bulk of his weapon, "So... Jaune Arc? I went to Beacon with your dad, he was confident and more than a little arrogant, and that's not what I want for my niece. Not what her father wants either. You're lucky it's not him here or he'd have killed you already, ripped you to pieces." he took another swig of his honey whiskey, then let out a loud belch, "So tell me... how was that burp?" changing the subject on me, eh? It's not going to work, old man.

"A solid~... six outta ten." I replied in a slightly lighter tone, which was washed away by a heavy sigh, "Now trust me when I say that dismemberment is only a slight inconvenience to me." I stood up again, my HP ticking up by the second, "And about my dad? He mellowed out after having a few kids. Now after eight, he's just a big goofball, really." I reactivated Stone Skin and Metal Skin to give myself a bit of a chance, "If you think I'm just a horn-dog wanting action with a hot babe, then you are tragically mistaken. I would never treat Yang like that... hell, I don't even like her romantically! We're just friends and that's it... but don't tell my dad that, okay? Like I said, he's a bit of a joker..." I lowered my voice and mumbled under my breath, "Plus he's not the best to learn from, given the not-divorce-but-it-damn-well-looks-like-one." I was backhanded in the face after that last remark. Qrow had instantly gotten inside my guard and struck quick as lightning, it felt. I immediately reacted with a swift punch to the center of his chest, but where as he probably felt like he was slapping a sheet of cardboard, I felt like I was trying to punch a tractor-trailer, "What's your fucking problem?" I demanded as my cracked bones fixed themselves instantly and the pain faded in less than a couple of seconds.

"Right now it's you." he replied darkly, "Boys like you who don't know when to keep their mouth shut and their eyes and ears open." he pushed me back against the tree by pressing his blade against my throat, "Boys who are arrogant fuckwits with more money than sense. Boys who think they can lie to people who find out truths for a living. Boys who flirt and tempt innocent girls like Yang to be with them. Well guess what, asshole, it's not going to work!" he smacked me against the back of a tree, but once again, my last HP somehow didn't drop.

I was too angry to care about that, too angry to care about the simple fact that I should have dropped dead by now. I wasn't dead so what was the matter in worrying about it? I wasn't going to die because I would do anything, lie, cheat, and steal, to get out of this alive, "What the fuck are you talking about? I wasn't lying at all! Yang and I are just friends!" I could understand him being pissed at me for pulling something if I'd actually done something, but I'd done NOTHING! I was just as innocent as she was!

"Does a friend, quote." he pulled out his scroll and brought up a picture, clearing his throat before speaking "He makes me feel all warm and squishy inside, like jiggly jello. I want to tell him but I'm scared. What if he doesn't like me like that?" he read the page and I couldn't help but chuckle slightly at the hilarity of those words coming out of his mouth, but he silenced me with his sword against my neck, "Does that sound like a friend?"

"No it doesn't. Look I know where you're going with this and trust me, I have issues but they are not with loyalty." I struggled to push his sword away from my neck, but his arm and grip were too strong, even resisting Crocea's influence on the blade. I took a moment to breathe, then a realization struck me.

The bastard had found, read, and took a picture of Yang's diary.

"Like father like son, Jaune, like father like son. How do I know that you won't leave her when things get tough, huh?"

"Beca-"

"How do I know that you won't divorce her and leave her with 7 kids to care for?"

"I'm not g-"

"How do I know that you won't play her heart and just satisfy yourself, then leave her out to dry?"

"Will you let me sp-"

He pushed his blade harder against my neck, leaning his face in closer to mine, "How do I know that you'll treat her right, that you'll protect her, and fight for her? You're surprisingly strong for someone who wasn't let into Signal for not meeting physical qualifications, but you're a weak man, boy. A weak man is not what Yang needs, she needs a man with heart and soul." he spat in my face, "Or is it that you're trying to get closer to our sweet, innocent little Ruby?" he accused, "Trying to sniff the forbidden flower? If that's it then just make this easy on yourself, and save her the heartache, and confess now so I can liberate your shoulders of your fat head."

I stared at Qrow, and felt things break down.

You feel convictions filling your human heart!

You feel shuddering inside your very soul!

The thought of leaving-!# %(ERROR!

ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR!

Ga (* m #)!er'#*( #s M#% ^in!^*#%d ove# %rt#%axe^ #d!

#!#(!#!_%* !#$$^&#

I saw an ERROR message shiver like a leaf in the wind, filling with chaotic and glitched text as the normally blue window shifted and faded to a nearly white color, the symbols splattered across it now shining a bright red.

You have received the status effect "Wrath of the Moon"

The thought of leaving Yang and Ruby alone...

I placed my hand on Qrow's blade, watching the lines slowly appear as a burning sensation filled my eyes.

... to suffer from oppressive authority figures...

My eyes glowed bright as my aura activated, additional STR, DEX, and VIT filling me as my APR lowered a bit

... trapped without the light of friendship to keep them away from the dark...

Qrow raised an eyebrow, "What? Are you gonna spit and scream at me like the bratty, shitty kid you are?" he asked cockily.

... these travesties... these tragedies... the desire to make them end...

I stayed silent as I gathered my aura together. And then...

... it fills you with...

... I struck

... DETERMINATION

I thrust my body forward, letting it fall as my neck was sliced clean through. It was barely a second before my head reformed atop my neck and my body was under my own control again. I rapidly thrust my whole form forwards, my right fist leading the charge.

Qrow went flying as several tons of force smashed into his ribcage. My fist hovered in the air, covered in aura and shaking with my rage.

I let out a roar of anger, "If you think I won't fight for them, then you're DEAD WRONG!" I practically screamed as my face went red with the heat of my rage.

The old drunk anchored himself in the ground with his sword, the wind billowing his tattered cape as he slowed to a halt. I didn't give him time to rest, I was immediately on him and swinging my sword.

Every slash was countered, every blow negated, though I eventually managed to make a small hit on the side of his head, blocked by his aura.

I needed more!

I NEEDED MORE!

I growled inhumanly as our two blades met and felt my arm bones snap from the force. The strength of this mockery of a god crashed down on me, pushing me back as I just barely managed to resist enough to not get cut in half. My arms began to buckle as Qrow gained more ground, but I had a trick up my sleeve.

I held out the best I could manage with one hand, scooping crystals out of my inventory and holding six of them to my chest, combining Mana Barrage with Soulforge to boost myself up. Surges of power flooded my body as I activated Soulforge and blasted myself with all the buffs

Using Soulforge Restoration with Dust Crystals has converted the elements into an acute, powerful form to enhance the body!

You have been granted the status effect "Firepower"

You have been granted the status effect "Regeneration"

You have been granted the status effect "Boulder's Strength"

You have been granted the status effect "Feather Fall"

You have been granted the status effect "Haste"

You have been granted the status effect "Unbroken Iron"

Receiving all six basic elemental status effects has granted the status effect "Glimpse of Harmony"

Glimpse of Harmony: Extends duration of all elemental status effects by 100%

Current Effects: +200% Damage, regenerating 50 HP and 50 SP per second, +200% Strength, -75% inertia and damage from environment, +200% Movement and Attack speed, +200 Defense

HP: 1036/4100

Now having a ghost of a chance, I managed to push Qrow back a bit, "I won't let them get hurt!By me, by you, by ANYONE!" I shouted in defiance.

"You're WEAK!" he spat, his tone more malicious as he literally spit on my face, as if trying to break me.

Good luck, you old bastard, you can't break what's already broken!

My muscles briefly burned and screamed in protest as I forced myself not to give in to the force he was pressing against me. I wiped the thick glob of saliva off my face with a hand, "I'll get stronger. I'll become stronger than a mountain and I'll protect her, I'll protect her and I'll protect Ruby too, old man!" I slapped him with his own spit as my aura shone around me in bright azure.

"What makes you think you can protect them, huh?" he kicked me in the chest to break the stalemate between us and I felt my shattered ribs impale my lungs and internal organs before everything fixed itself. I took in a gasp for breath and growled, "You can't even protect yourself!"

I stared at him deeply, then opened my profile, "I can protect myself, and I will." my left eye burned with righteous fury and a special agony I couldn't place on a single source, except for perhaps my very soul. My own soul was burning at my eyes. I raised a hand, "Even if I have to fight dirty to win against a stronger opponent, I'll do it for them. They're my friends, and I am a knight, goddammit!" I slammed my fist against the plus button to apply my points, "I protect those who can't protect themselves! Those who need to be protected! You think I shouldn't be their friend so you attempt to kill me? That's low, lower than I thought a Huntsman like YOU could go." I growled and hit Apply to cement my points into place.

INT: 97 (+3) (+50%) = 150

AP: 10,500/10,500

By raising your INT and WIS to great levels, you have unlocked the class "Wizard v2"

Wizard v2 (higher INT+WIS than DEX+LUK): +100% APR, +50% magic damage, -60% physical damage, +8 to all elemental affinities

"So, if it'll get you to trust me to not hurt them... then... well..." I raised a hand as the skill activated.

Qrow's eyes widened as it appeared.

-/\-

Gaster Blaster (Active) Level: 1, EXP: 0.00%, Cost: 10000 MP

Base Damage: 5000%
Range: 20 meters
Radius of Beam: Up to 1 ft
Number of Gaster Blasters: 1

-/\-

I grinned in satisfaction. It had been worth the wait.

It was expensive, but the look on the old drunk's face was priceless!

The skull appeared out of thin air in a puff of pale azure smoke. Its eyes lit up just as suddenly, glowing with a haunting, ghastly effect. I chuckled and forced my will upon my construct, which resembled in some ways a wolf, others a goat, and even a dragon with what looked like sockets for horns on the back. It gathered energy with a phantasmal breath inwards, air turning to plasma within its internal space as it closed its bony mouth. It coalesced and focused the energy into the shape needed, it then opened its gaping maw like a two-hundred-watt lightbulb suddenly turning on.

I grinned wider as, dramatically, it held it for a few seconds, "Get dunked on."

Qrow threw up a guard as the Gaster Blaster's mouth let loose a two-foot-wide azure beam of energy. I watched as the magical energy licked at his shirt, his Aura causing it to distort around his guard. The energy pulsated as it was split in half by his massive glowing blade, the color of his defensive light being a vicious bright red. I watched as time seemed to slow down, noticing his massive bar of AP go down only slightly, despite the 5000% damage being thrown at him. I internally cursed as the realization struck; if this, my most powerful attack, only tore down a tiny chunk of his defenses, then I must have been fucked from the beginning.

All too soon, the energy blast faded away, leaving a trail of a few scorched leaves that had fallen into the blast, and some bits of windswept ashes fluttering around. I grit my teeth, "So maybe you'll know how serious I am then, if I'm willing to make a killshot." I had to at least play it like I had the upper hand.

I glared at him with a fiery anger, fueled by my determination and conviction. He just smiled back, "I do know how serious you are. That's why I didn't immediately kill you." he flipped his sword in the air and it compressed down to a compact size and he stored it on his back.

Qrow's Respect for you increased dramatically!

I panted, recognizing, to a massive blow to my pride, that he had been holding back and not even taking the fight seriously. I groaned as I noticed a some updates for STR and VIT, raising the two of them to 57 and 60 respectively, "How much... did you see... then?" that blast, even though it was so small, really took a toll on me.

"Enough to know you have access to... magical powers." he said stoically, but something gleamed in his eye, "I think you can help me, if it's true. What do you know about magic?"

"It's... magic? I don't know, I just use my Aura, I just focus on fueling shit using it and it just... works. I'm able to use Ki, and the Elements, and gain new powers with extreme ease... though it doesn't give me much in the ways of the control needed to perform the skills I gain, nor much in the terms of the power needed either." I just threw the information out there, not really caring just so long as it pleased him and I got to leave with my head, even though I knew it would regrow. I guess my plan to lie, cheat, and steal didn't go very well.

"I see... information without power?" he summarized quite succinctly, "It's your semblance?"

"Information without power? Exactly. Is it my semblance? Yeah, pretty much. The last spell I just used was one I've known since I unlocked my aura, but couldn't use it because it costs me too much aura to conjure up." I sighed and put away my sword and shield, "Now then, can I leave with my head still attached? I have school in a few hours."

Qrow chuckled, reaching into his pocket and removing a silver flask, taking a long drink from it and giving a sigh of satisfaction, "You're a good kid, kid." he complimented with a point of his finger, "Don't move too fast, and make sure to use protection." he laughed out loud when I swear I did not blush in the slightest and put my shirt and hoodie back on, "Other than that, continue to be a paragon of virtue and conviction and you'll be fine."

Virtue AND conviction? As far as I was aware, those two things were practically opposites. Virtues are the ability to resist the urges of the world, convictions are the ability to accept and strive for them.

I think...

Why doesn't my INT and WIS reassess the knowledge I had before?

"I'm not a paragon of virtue and conviction, Qrow. I feel the two are a bit exclusive of one another... I'm not virtuous, at least. I'm willing to do whatever it takes, no matter what, to protect my friends and family, even if it means attempting to kill a modern legend of a Huntsman such as yourself." I stood up fully, feeling almost nauseating waves of restoring energy cascade through my form, healing damage and sending a fluttering rhythm of sensations along my nerves, ending with a calm comfort.

The light wind picked up slightly, billowing Qrow's tattered cape, "Well then, I guess you're smarter than I thought." he chuckled, "I'll see you later, kid. You're the best choice Yang could make, given all other choices available. Keep your head low, though, don't want the big, scary dragon to rip it off." his low chuckles devolved into full, uproarious laughter.

I felt myself laughing too, a laugh of cracking sanity, the kind done I sometimes saw in movies when that particular character had just plain lost the last shreds of their sanity and/or restraint. It was usually followed by them delivering a smack-down of some sort, usually a bit of the verbal kind, followed immediately by a lot of physical kind. Of course, I was too tired and too low-leveled to do either against Qrow, so I just laughed with him at my misfortune, "See you later, you old bastard, and stop reading Yang's diary, you should respect her want for privacy." I pointed out, aiming a finger at him.

He waved back, "Yeah yeah, don't YOU read it either." he warned, then light erupted around his form and he vanished in a wave of orange energy.

I blinked. The fucker could teleport? Shit, he probably had a HUGE level because of that ability, on top of whatever his stats were, and a load of other shit too!

I sighed heavily, feeling a small amount of exhaustion set in. I laid down in the cool grass, letting Xiburichu's influence channel the heat in my body upwards, making a miniature show of gentle flames above me as I cooled off simply by transposing the heat, sighing heavily.

I summoned Crocea Mors from the barrel and watched as he took a form almost mirrored to my own, identical in all ways except for our colors, his being various slightly-hued shades of silvery steel, my own being natural for a human being.

I laid there for a long while, meditating, then I opened my eyes, "Crocea, what do I do about Qrow and Taiyang wanting to keep me from being with Yang? I can't fight them, I'd die."

The simple mind of my elemental produced a simple response, "We endure, master." came his voice, sharp like the rasping of steel on steel, but deep like a hammer's blow to a large piece of metalwork, "We endure until we cannot."

"And what if we cannot endure, Crocea?" I asked the obvious.

"Then... Xiburichu will hopefully know..."

A popping hiss of flames formed in the air as I summoned Xiburichu, a bare and naked man of indistinct features, hair of orange fire, skin of yellow fire, eyes of red fire, all impossibly smooth, as if the fire had been suspended and made to never blaze nor flicker, "We exact our will until we find a way to the top." he spoke, a voice like a gentle crackle of a fireplace flame.

"Exact our will until we find a way, eh? Well... you said your might and willpower were eternal." I smiled, "I hope that remains true." I dismissed them both, Xiburichu simple extinguishing midair while Crocea melted and reformed into a solid cylinder again, which I stored in my inventory. I pushed myself up to my feet and slipped a yellow shirt and a black hoodie into the equipment slots, the whole thing yet again acting like one big 'box' for me to put things in where I desired.

For breaking the rules and excessively exceeding your power level, you have broken The Game and it requires rebooting.

During this time, Gamer's Body will not be active.

Time until rebooted: 6 hours, 30 minutes.

---

Sighing one last time, just to take in a deep breath of the fresh forest air, I started up a Run, reading some new information. I found that my increase to sixty VIT increased Iron Body to level 10, granting me another 10% boost to HP and SP. The boosted SP wouldn't find too much use as of yet, since now Run, which drained SP with every second it was active, could be used indefinitely now; My minutely SPR was now above Run's minutely cost. It was a big step up that I was glad to have use of, and I would be using it a LOT.

With that in mind, I spent the next four hours running along a path I knew would take me to Cherrywood right when it was time to go to class. I listened to the wind whistling past as I clocked myself going over 90 miles an hour with ease, my increased reflexes guiding me as I took in everything around, reaching out with my aura.

By expanding your mind with the power of Aura, you have created the skill "Photolocation"

By sharpening your reflexes with the power of Aura, you have expanded the powers of "Ki Body" and all Ki-related skills, as well as the depth of your Dexterity! Your Dexterity increased by 4 as a result!

Photolocation, it seemed, expanded my memory and perception to increase my mapping skills and ability to recall locations by name, address, coordinates, and even their purposes, such as restaurants, clothing shops, and more. This... this was a very, VERY good skill to have.

The increase in DEX... I could FEEL it, having exerted my Aura into my muscles and nerves to make myself react faster, so I didn't crash into a wall because I wasn't able to focus fast enough. It had been my exact intention.

I continued running, mapping out Vale City in my head while keeping every sense stimulated. I kept my eyes on a constant dance between my path, my scroll's clock, my Aura bar, and my music playlist, which earned me a skill called Snapping Glance. I was keeping my ears focusing on the song in my scroll, the singing I was doing along to the music, the songs of the birds, and the sounds of my own footsteps as I focused on Stealth (the fact that I'd managed to squeeze out another level running through populated streets was a testament both to its effectiveness and the cost of leveling it up more). My entire brain was being stimulated, thankfully not overloading due to the strength of Gamer's Mind, which had only been boosted by the recent increase to INT. That single advantage not only allowed me to do all of that, but also keep enough of my attention devoted to the rush of my extremely fast Run to not crash into anything, ignore a sign, or get run over. Any of those would be awful for me, especially considering Gamer's Body wouldn't be active until lunchtime at school today.

It was a hard endeavor, but multitasking would have to become a strong point for me, because I had only... five months? Five months to get to Beacon.

I felt something tickling at the back of my head, something to do with Beacon, and Signal.

No... no it wasn't Signal... it was before.

Before everything happened...

---

Juniper Arc, my mother, so beautiful with her hair cascading down her back in a beautiful rainbow, the same rainbow that had dispersed through the prism of her womb to form her seven children, each a different color. She was beautiful, the first woman he knew to think of as beautiful.

Then there was another woman, blonde hair and green eyes, she was beautiful too, but in colder, more structured way than my mother's soft, warm charms. Still, she had a soft spot for children, apparently, as she babysat all of us kids whenever our parents were out.

My parents... it was after my eighth birthday... I had said I wanted to be a Huntsman when I grew up, shortly after came the yelling.

The screaming.

The crashing of things being knocked off the walls when the arguments ascended past words.

It was frightening, for sure, especially to me, a young boy with no idea why his parents were so upset with each other.

She... that woman... she was an island of sanity and tranquility in a tempestuous sea of slowly boiling chaos.

I vaguely remembered something mentioned by my more innocent mind, that I'd marry her when I got older and make her happy so she could smile all the time.

That always made her laugh, but she said that if I grew up big and strong, she'd consider it.

Damn... that was the smoothest I'd been with a woman up until this past week, and I was eight (and a half!) at the time.

Then there were the others around, an older girl who was always so cool, so laid back and casual with me. Her eyes were so intriguing, a deep crimson that turned an enchantingly vivid shade of maroon when her aura was active.

She... she had kissed me, once, as a birthday present, since she was close in that Kira's biological brother was a close friend of hers, and had few enough fucks to give that she did it. It had left me a blushing mess, but it was... nice, in a way, the kiss was simple and plain, she said that I didn't have to worry and if I didn't feel like it, it didn't count as a 'real' first kiss, just a birthday present. I... honestly was okay with saying that. There wasn't any emotion behind it, she just wanted to give me an experience.

Also something about singing, a LOT of singing, for a lot of people... I'd been taught by a good few sources...

The memories flooded back at that point. Singing to TV shows, singing with my sisters when they were old enough, singing with my parents when they had the time, singing and dancing to entertain guests, a school talent show, a few festival performances, even afterwards, after the not-official-divorce happened, I still sang, in bars I was let into while my dad worked with some other Hunters inside, I even sang for a couple of friends I used to have, especially for Marbel.

I loved to sing.

I loved to sing, and sing I would.

---

RECOVERED MEMORY CHUNK! (4/7)

+70 Closeness to Glynda Goodwitch! (Total: +70)

+55 Closeness to Lytare Charon! (Total: +55)

+600 Closeness to Faction: City of Coldwater (Total: +600/1000)

Singing's level increased by 60!

Dancing's level increased by 22!

QUEST RECEIVED!

Quest: A Boy of His Word
Description: Long ago, you promised Glynda Goodwitch you would marry her to make her happy. In turn, she made you promise that before you could marry her, you had to grow up to be big and strong. Now with the powers of The Gamer, you have the ability to do that!

Objective: Grow to a height of 6'2 or taller and have more than 100 effective STR before you next see Glynda Goodwitch.

Reward for completion: The satisfaction of a job well done, +5 INT, Gamer's Mind reinforced against the siren calls of Sloth, +20 Closeness to Glynda Goodwitch, possible betrothal to Glynda Goodwitch.

Penalty for failure: The humiliation of a long-winded endeavor ending in failure, -3 INT, -10 Closeness to Glynda Goodwitch, Glynda's pity, embarrassment from peers.

Time Limit: About 5 months.

Accept? Y/N

I... remembered that... she's the deputy Headmistress at Beacon. I couldn't ACTUALLY ask her about that.

However... that was a very nice STR and height to have, and while she probably wouldn't want to marry me because I was just a hopeful kid, I could still do the quest and reap the benefits of completing its objectives and getting its rewards. I hit accept with a soft press of my finger

I put more emotion into my sung words, a couple of tears leaking from my eyes as they suddenly started burning before the pain subsided thanks to Gamer's Body. I wiped them clear with the backs of my hands before powering forward, pushing myself to run faster. I Power Jumped to the rooftops, leaping across the city as I found myself entering the triple digits with my MPH speed, an azure streak passing overhead.

Of course, some people who didn't understand the mentality of Vale and the world at large would be confused on how I managed to do all of this without getting into trouble with the law, or at the very least attracting a lot of attention. Simply put, Hunters had a massive surplus of freedom to do what they wanted with movement. I could see, overhead, one or two such Hunters flying through the air by their own means, one with a pair of mechanical wings, the other by flying on a small personalized air-travel machine.

It wasn't uncommon at all for Hunters to be barreling through the streets like human-sized comets, in fact a large amount of Vale City's roads had whole sections that rarely saw pedestrians due to the defenders of the world running down the sidewalks. Simply put, people were so used to this that they didn't care, didn't even mind it at all, actually. Realistically, who could stop the graduates of Beacon? Even those who had passed on a poor level had to be at least as strong as my mother, who never did missions or assignments.

That was another thing, too, the lives of Hunters were not constant battles for fame and glory, rather it was simply performing the jobs that needed doing and returning home. Most missions were of minimal risk, with more dangerous things like 'fight a goddamn dragon' or 'save a city from a Grimm incursion' were reserved for the higher-skilled Hunters. My dad did missions to pay the bills and get spending money so we could live comfortably. Already, though, I'd gathered almost a hundred-thousand lien just by killing Grimm in the forest, and with the way my semblance seemed to function, I could earn more off of the process of performing any Hunter assignments than I could by actually being paid for them, just due to looting the lien left by the Grimm.

Yet another thing to address. I needed to get my own place to stay. If I was going to do what Qrow suggested and be Yang's boyfriend, then surely I needed to not be 'lame' and just live with my dad, even though I knew he'd be fine with me staying until the godforsaken day he died.

Maybe I could convince my dad to leave me alone in case anything like... THAT came up.

Wait...

Wait wait wait NO!

No no no no NO!

Stop it! Dammit, why does she have to be so gorgeous? So beautiful and radiant and just... PERFECT?

Why does she have to make me love her, goddammit?!

...

...

...

...

...

... what?

... that... that didn't just...

... no...

...

... no it can't be...

Gamer's Mind, why have you betrayed me? Why have you allowed this?

Why?

Dammit, I'm not good enough for her, not yet, not until I'm strong enough to defend her!

You have gained-ERROR!

ERROR ERROR!

You have gained the status effect "Noble Urges (High)"

Status: Noble Urges (High)

Effect: induces ethical desires in the afflicted to act more nobly.

Ethics?

Really, game? You're going into ETHICS now?

You can take your ethical status effect and shove it up your ass!

---

Yang C: Hey Jauney~, good morning~ :C

I smiled softly at the pleasant message, then saw Yang's face and most of her upper body greet me as I stopped running, blushing a bit as I saw the shoulder band of her orange nightshirt had slipped off her shoulder, showing a bit more of her cleavage than it would normally.

I turned my camera on and waved back, Jaune C: Hey~, good morning to you too, good to see the little sun has finally risen. :C

Yang C: Shush, I'm lazy~ :C

Jaune C: Laz-iao Long? :C

Yang C: not THAT lazy :C she pouted a tiny bit, and I saw -1 Closeness to Yang pop up.

I instantly swore to fix that, Jaune C: No of course you're not, a lazy girl wouldn't be as awesome as you are. :C

Yang C: Sh-shut up~! :C I could see the heavy blush forming on her cheeks and I smiled, feeling successful.

Jaune C: But why~? I'm only telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, I swear! :C

She giggled a little, Yang C: Yeah yeah yeah, save it for the courthouse. :C

I chuckled softly, Jaune C: What? Are you going to take me to court then? On what charges? :C

She smirked a bit while rubbing one eye, Yang C: For being a gigantic goofball, it's illegal to be as goofy as you :C

Jaune C: Oh nooooo~, then I have to take YOU to court, too! You're containing illegal amounts of adorableness for your age, so I'm going to have to ask you to put on these maturity cuffs. :C I pulled a pair of handcuffs from my inventory, smirking playfully.

Temptation's level increased by 20!

+1 Closeness to Yang!

Oh goddammit, really? Yang C: Uuuuuhhhhh... can I just smile instead? :C the epic blush covering every inch of skin from her hairline down to her elbows would be obvious even to someone who was blind.

Jaune C: Er, yeah... sorry, I got a little too into the whole "legal issues" thing. I have a lot of random shit in my inventory, too, like I have a pocket knife even though I've got a sword. :C

Yang visibly calmed down after the apology, and seemed thankful for my changing the subject. I saw her get up as I resumed my run, not wanting to lose too much time, even if the voice chat was actually about as quick as telepathy, Yang C: Right, well maybe it'll come in handy? Knives are pretty cool sometimes, Ruby has a knife, and she's a really cool little sister. I need to get ready for Signal :C

Jaune C: Yeah, that'd be good, especially considering classes start in half an hour. :C of course I had more than enough time to get to Cherrywood, but Yang had just woken up with half an hour to go! Shit... I should have woken her up sooner so she'd have time to get more ready!

Yang C: Shit! Yeah, whoops, shouldn't have spent last night movie streaming :C

Jaune C: Hehe, you should'a spent it dreaming :C

Yang giggled as she removed her shirt, which made me totally not blush at all, shut your fucking mouth I'm not blushing my face is bleeding! I was too stunned to point it out as I was given a lovely view of her sexy back. Yang C: Hehe, good one :C

I snapped out of it and looked away from the camera view, Jaune C: Okay please turn off your camera, I can still see you! :C

Yang C: Oh, fuck! Sorry, still not used to all this. I'll get the hang of it eventually :C

Jaune C: Right, yeah, don't worry about it. It's not like I saw anything I shouldn't have :C

Yang C: Good, Boltman, because then I'd have to beat your face in :C she turned her head and stuck her tongue out at me, then turned off the camera with a thought, as I did the same.

We continued with some easy, relaxed chatting until she arrived at Signal after getting a quick shower and dressing herself, while I just ran, sadly not getting another level out of it.

It was close to level seventy, though I could tell that even though I'd taken about a full day's time in total, from Running at every opportunity I had, having it active even for tiny distances, the next twenty-nine levels were probably going to take at least twice that, maybe even more. If I was technically conditioning my body to run at great speeds for long periods of time, I'd logically want to run for at least an hour every day, for at least three months straight. That, I felt, would be more than enough time to adapt and condition my body to the act. Since Gamer's Body still wasn't working, I wasn't sure how ideally it was doing that, but I'd spend the next three days doing nothing but Running if I had to, with only breaks for food and water when I needed them. I didn't care, I'd played idle games in the past, ones that went far enough that I'd spend hours waiting for another upgrade. There was a surprising amount of things I could do while Running, since it only took the focus necessary to perform the action to actually... well... perform the action.

While running with my legs, I could use my arms to cast Mana Barrages of Energy Bolts, Energy Arrows, Energy Shots, and more. I could level up my skills by using them on the forest, then heal the forest with tons of usages of Soulforge.

Huh... I should see if I can teach Yang how to do Soulforge, it would take a load off my mind, knowing she could cure most of the little things that might affect her, like a flu or sore muscles. Then again, I think she'd be adorable with a sniffly little flu voice... on second thought, it wouldn't be worth it, so teaching her Soulforge was the only option, then!

Alright, now let's deal with this shitty civilian school.

---

(Later, at lunch time)

I closed my locker with a sigh, already knowing one of the two idiots was going to be there.

The words above his head identified him as Terrence, the faunus who hated humans because his dad was in the White Fang working in a warehouse or something. Some insignificant asshole in an insignificant location doing an insignificant job for the White Fang, and feeding his insignificant worm of an asshole of a son the same propaganda the White Fang are feeding to him.

"So, you going to hand it over or-" he was shut up when I thrust a stack of bills into his mouth.

"Take this and get a fucking life, kid." I spat with dismissive contempt up at him, "Or I'll do to your spine what I'm going to do to this bar of steel." I removed said bar from my inventory and, despite it being hardened and tempered, I bent it from a straight bar into a tight v-shape with my bare hands, then stored it away in my inventory, "Aura, power, strength, you're no fucking threat to me, Terrence." I pushed him back forcefully and walked off, leaving the confused and flustered bully on his back on the floor, then looked back at him briefly, "And no, it's not because you're a faunus, it's because you're a weak-minded person."

I let my aura glow around me as I focused it into a more solid form, scraping together and gathering the dust covering the parts of the hallways nobody ever thought about, watching my levels in Sweeping and Dusting quickly rise.

Utilizing an ability normally locked until a higher skill level has increased your mastery of "Dusting" by 20!

Smiling, I jogged to the lunchroom, feeling power flowing through me as I took the huge clumps of dust into my inventory, storing them there until later, when I could probably use them as targets or something.

I... didn't really know, to be honest, I've just been feeling kinda high on life for the past few hours, despite the environment trying to drain my moods and spirits.

I wouldn't allow it, however, I'd endure just like Crocea Mors said to.

And if that didn't work? I'd exact my will until I found a way to the top.

...

Letting go of my power trip, I sat down across from Marbel with nothing in front of me, as I'd skipped the line, "Hey Princess." I chuckled softly and playfully, a friendly smile on my face.

Marbel looked up at me, blushing a bit, "H-hey I'm no-OH, uh, h-hey Jaune." she greeted with a shy, but happy smile.

I looked at her pitiful lunch, a salad that looked about as fresh as a mulch pile, something they dared to call lasagna, and half-refrigerated milk.

I frowned, "Hey, so, since I'm going to be dropping out of school and all, I want to do some things... right today, I already did what I could to put Terrence in his place, and his friend Johnny pretty much feeds off his hate so if he chickens out of his bullying game, Johnny'll stop too." I smiled and took her hand, "Now then, if I go fast, we can get us a REAL lunch before lunchtime is over... let's see... going that much faster..." I mumbled numbers to myself while leading Marbel away by the hand, looking thoughtful as I ran the calculations.

If I added the Ninja class to my Movement Speed bonuses from Run, Stampede, Ki Body, and Dancing, that was a 610% boost, and with the way Movement Speed calculated off my DEX... that was...

Wow...

I grinned as I picked Marbel up once we were outside, "Okay, Marbel, this is gonna be a little scary, but trust me on this, okay?" I reassured her with kind words and a bit of Charming to pick up the slack.

She blushed and nodded, "A-alright, Jaune, I trust you."

"Good, because you and me, Marbs, we're going to do awesome stuff together, just like we tried to do with our kingdom." I smiled happily, "What was it called again?"

She hummed, "Oh god I hardly remember that... um... I think... AHA!" she snapped her fingers, "It was called Celeste! We named it that because it sounded super cool and stuffs." she smiled cheerfully.

I chuckled, "Well, that's perfect, especially considering something I want to show you after school." I brought up my power, and practically BOLTED, literal bolts going through me as I used Haste through Soulforge to boost my speed even more.

My aura flared bright as Ninja helped me jump and leap across buildings with no interruptions, steps moving impossibly fast as I kept up the speed, the air heating up around me and Marbel as I activated it and stretched it over her to keep her safe as my speed was pushed higher and higher.

I found myself gaining two more points in DEX, and a new title called A Quarter-mile at a Time, which was earned by exceeding a land speed of 240MPH, which I laughed at and heard Yang laughing too.

Yang C: Teeheehee! Dude I just watched half of those movies last night! :C

Jaune C: Hehehehe, nice, but Fast and Furious isn't as important as Need for Read, if you fall behind in school then your dad will get mad and if your dad gets mad then he might ground you, and if THAT happens, then I won't get to see my favorite Sunflower. :C

Yang C: Aaawwwww, alright, alright, it's actually easier to pay attention in class, surprisingly. :C

Jaune C: Ah, see? Increased INT and WIS, it made you smarter and more focused. Who knows, maybe now you'll be able to not be distracted with staring at me. :C

Yang C: Sh-sh-shut up! :C

I chuckled as I could sense her blush, while also slowing down to a stop outside the restaurant of choice, The Angel Garden.

I set Marbel on her feet, glad to see she wasn't sore or hurt from moving a speed in which we basically went four miles in one minute, reaching this place in less than three minutes.

We had nearly an hour for lunch, and with this little trip and the time wasted before it to get that slop not even pigs would eat, we still had about fifty minutes to get seated and eat.

"Um... Art? Do you WANT me to get in trouble?" she said flatly as she stared at the building.

I blinked, "No, I want you to eat well. Why? How is going here going to get you in trouble?"

She sighed, "I guess you really ARE a big dummy after all. Remember anything about this place?"

I hummed in thought, trying to connect the dots, "I work part-time as a waiter, so I can..." I paused as my accelerated mental processes clicked with my understanding.

---

A young Jaune groaned as he picked himself up, tired from playing all day during the camping trip. He stood up, using one of the great walls of the 'Prince-a-pity of Celeste' he called it, unable to pronounce the word 'principality' very well as an eleven-year-old, or even understand it, really.

The brown-haired girl that stood in front of him chided him as he stood up, "Why don't you make your sthord thmaller? It'sth way too big for you to hold in one hand!" she remarked, pointing at the carved and varnished (his dad's insistence) item that would be a normal wooden longsword for a grown man, but for the young boy it had the function and size of a zweihander, which combined with his too-bulky wooden shield to make him turn from a dexterous dancer of a boy into a tangle of gangly growing limbs stuck to an unbalanced central spine. Still, though he had carved both of them out of a log with a pocket knife his dad let him use (even though he cut his fingers five times trying to do it) so out of artisan's pride, he'd never not say it was worth the work!

"I'll get stronger, Great Princess Marbel the Beautiful. The Great King Knight Arthurius the Strong has to get stronger!" he announced with all the seriousness a child could muster, "It'll get easier for me." he added with a smile.

"It better, I don' want Goof King Arthuriusth to be hurt!" the girl said with a slight lisp caused by her missing front teeth, "Now come on! My mommy got ush thome food from her and daddy'th resthtaurant! Y'know? Angel Garden?"

"Not hard to get food from there when they own the damn place." he said as he spat out some dirt that had gotten in his mouth, irritated that his spinning blade attack didn't work like it did for Link in the video games.

"Sthwear! You sthaid a sthwear!" the young Marbel gasped loudly while pointing at him accusingly.

"N-n-not so loud, Marbs! I don't want my dad knowing I said that! It just slipped out I swear." with childish innocence he covered his mouth, as if to scoop the slipped swear back into him, "Please don't tell."

"Hmmmm... alright, Arthuristh, but if my mommy asthks, then I'm not gonna lie to her." her slightly whistling tone promised.

Jaune smiled, trusting his friend to keep his secret.

---

MEMORY CHUNKS SYNCHRONIZED!

Added objective to quest "I am I, Jaune Arc"

Objective: synchronize your memory chunks to figure out the flow of your life and the connections you formed.

+50 Closeness to Scarlet Mayston!

+50 Closeness to Coalson Mayston!

You remembered the skill "Zweihander Skill" and recall a mastery of 4%!

I sighed, then chuckled softly, dismissing the window with a thought, "I know the owners have a snitchy, shitheaded daughter." I said without an ounce of hate or even strong emotion in my voice, as if I was commenting on the weather.

Marbel pouted, "If you're talking about the time my mom accidentally got me to rat you out, then keep in mind that we were eleven and nine at the time, okay?" she said with an apologetic tone, to which I smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Well anyways, come on, really I'm doing them a favor by making sure their daughter doesn't eat pig slop." I took her inside, grinning brightly at the Maître d', "Table for two, sir." I smiled at the man I recognized, getting a level and title for his name.

Garth Milken, as the info above his head reminded me, sighed, "Hello again, Arc, not doing your job I see." he smirked jokingly as he led us to a table.

I laughed, "Just taking the princess of the palace out to lunch." I joked, seeing Marbel blush embarrassedly, "You'd have a heart attack at the filth they serve in Cherrywood's cafeteria. I'll take a deduction on my next paycheck to make sure Scarlet and Coalson don't find out about this."

"Well I was going to do it for free, since you practically run half the place yourself, but okay, I'll deduct it." he chuckled jokingly and sat us down at a table with a window view.

Falling into doting brother mode, before I knew it, I was following the motions my arms knew and had picked a flower from the planter box sitting between us and the glass and put it into Marbel's short, cute locks of brown hair. Funny, really, how Marbel, named after a type of white stone, was themed in brown, pink, and green. I smiled at her, "There you go." I pat her on the head and looked through the menu, trying to recall the name of the dish I favored most.

Marbel cleared her throat, "What was that about? You know, you just kinda ignored me for the first couple years of highschool, then suddenly you remember me? You got a mental problem, Art?"

I sighed, finding the thing I wanted, the Fresh Grown Steak, and set down the menu, "It's something like that, to be honest." I answered with every ounce of honesty.

"Does it have to do with your aura maybe? I noticed you unlocked it recently, even though you've been training for so long."

I felt a pinch in my brain, "Yes, actually it turns out my semblance makes me like a video game character." I said plainly, then covered my mouth.

Stay True's level increased by 1!

Goddammit.

"Er... what?" she stared at me, confused.

"Keep it down and never, EVER tell anyone about this, okay?" I leaned in close and whispered to her, "Seriously, not even if you're asked, nobody besides us two and anyone else who knows is allowed to hear about it, understand?" my eyes burned with seriousness as azure gazed deeply into forest green.

The younger girl nodded and put a hand over her heart, "I swear. Now then, video game character?"

"It's... complicated, Marbs. It's like an RPG, I have stats, levels, EXP, skills, inventory, loot I get from killing Grimm, and there are even titles, classes, and quests. It's all better said if I just give you this." I raised a hand, Jaune C: Yang, don't freak out, but I'm going to invite someone else into The Game. She's a childhood friend, so please be polite. :C

Yang C: A-alright... just as long as she isn't some... I don't... a bitch, or something, I don't want anyone bad getting ahold of these SUPER FUCKING AWESOME things! Or taking advantage of you, Jaune. You're my friend and I care about you :C

Jaune C: I care about you too, and trust me, she's honest and very nice :C

Yang C: Okay... I hope you aren't wrong about this. :C

Jaune C: Trust me, okay? I have 97 INT and 81 WIS, I think I'm good at judging peoples characters and feelings. :C

Yang's next message was only a small sound of distress, followed instantly by a sound of agreement, Yang C: Alright, alright, fine. I'm just concerned, is all. :C

---

(Third Person POV)

Marbel watched Jaune raise a hand into the air, as if he was going to press some invisible button on the wall.

Suddenly, she watched felt a pulsation, the air distorting, and flinched when a blue window outlined in gold appeared in front of her eyes.

PARTY INVITE!

You have been invited to Jaune Arc's party "Team Celeste"!

You will be brought into The Game with this action.

[Accept] [Decline]

"You know... I accepted the ignoring thing because I knew you were always really weird, but this? This blows every other weird thing else you've ever done out of the water." she pressed Accept nonchalantly.

Far too suddenly for her, or possibly ANYONE in her position, to react, she felt a shuddering in her core, feeling like a hole was being drilled into her soul and filled with liquid fire. Just as quickly as the feeling came, it vanished, leaving a gentle, soothing warmth in the center of her chest near her heart. Not a moment later, while her mind was still reeling to process all of these sensations, she saw a flurry of windows pop up in front of her, each in blue.

Marbel Mayston has joined The Game in the party "Team Celeste"!

The blonde knight wrote down the order for the two, knowing how everything was to be written as he recalled Marbel's favorite dish on the menu from his memories of the camping trips, multiple that had occurred, all on Eagle Mountain to the west of the city. He already was formulating plans based on the place, recalling a cave near the campsite, and the host of many wild fruit-bearing plants that grew there in the fertile soil, even an orange tree of all things!

Orange trees needed warm climates to survive!

Casting away the offending thoughts, the knight smiled at his childhood friend as she read the tutorial, seeing her mental stats raise by several points due to The Game... increasing her knowledge and understanding of the world, I suppose. It had been very informative, if quite dickish to me.

Casually, Jaune looked over Marbel's profile.

-/\-

Name: Marbel Mayston
Title: The Flowering Rook
Level: 7

HP: 200/200
AP: 150/150
SP: 130/130

Strength: 7
Dexterity: 16
Vitality: 10
Intelligence: 21
Wisdom: 20
Luck: 33
Charisma: 19

Age: 15
Birthday: May 16th
Race: Human
Height: 5'4
Weight: 100
Build: Growing Young Girl
Bra Size: 18AA

-/\-

It was impressive for a girl of her standing, but pitiful compared to either of the older members the party. Still, with time and training, she'd grow stronger, "It's okay for what it is, at least you got some free points out of it. Trust me, if I keep working like I am now, and focusing my skills, I can help you train up so hard you could beat someone from Beacon's second year." he chuckled softly, a warm smile on his face.

"Damn... so... when do we start?" excited, cheerful green eyes met calm, confident azures.

Calm, confident azures gained an edge of hype and mischief.

---

(Jaune's POV)

I stepped out of my last class, humming in thought as I prepared my final act of the day.

Jaune C: Marbs, you ready to go? :C

Marbel C: I'm more than ready! :C

I met the little brunette near the front doors of the school. I gave her an honest smile, Jaune C: Alright, this is gonna be scary, but it's gonna be cool :C

Marbel C: I trust you, Jaune, don't worry :C she held out her arms.

I turned around and squatted so she could climb up onto my back. Grinning, I walked outside with a corona of magical flames blazing brightly me, azure at the very center and orange and red everywhere else. Calmly walking, I looked blankly at dozens of people who were gasping in shock of my appearance. A stiff wind blew past, but the fire around me never once danced towards any of these civilians, so weak I could easily kill any of them, even the jocks, with just one punch. I smirked and jumped atop the statue in front of the school, "Hello~!" I called out to everyone, raising the volume of my voice with Singing's passive boosts.

Everyone turned and looked at me.

I grinned, "I would just like to say that as a future Huntsman of the kingdom of Vale, that I wish you all well. Never forget that it will be the efforts of me, and many other brave warriors, that you will be safe and secure." I looked at them all, "I bid you adieu, from this day forward, I will not be seeing you as your classmate, but rather as your guardian." I stepping off the outstretched hand of the statue, Featherfall active to allow me to slowly fall down to the ground, my flames dying down.

Whispers were already spreading through the crowds of teens as I carried my old friend towards the front gates of the school, then performed a Power Jump towards a nearby building's roof, performing a front flip for style, and landing gracefully, thankful for the extended duration of the status effects granted by Soulforge.

Taking off with silvered streaks of aura, I Ran us about a mile away before stopping in an alleyway, landing and gently letting Marbel off of my back.

"That was overly dramatic, Art." she said with a grin, "But it was awesome."

Yang C: I agree completely! Melodramatic, but in a super cool way! :C

"Glad to know the microphone on the camera option also works." I smiled at the camera I had activated, waving to Yang, "Now then, I'm free from high school, so I'm going to do some cool shit. Marbel, remember to keep training, here." turning off the camera, I pulled some metal from my inventory and focused both Crocea Mors and Xiburichu, practically combining their powers and, in just a few minutes of pieces of tools floating, I formed a sizable dagger for her, a shiny pink hue coloring the metal. The blade was, as Dagger Skill told me Daggers were, about half an inch shorter than her forearm minus her hand. I had sanded a piece of wood to shape for the handle, wrapped it with leather that was bonded to a strip of metal, and finished it all off with a small engraving, "I present to you, Sakura, your first weapon." I held it by the tip of the blade and offered it to her.

Marbel watched in awe at my manipulation of metal. She took the dagger and looked at her clothes, a pair of faded shorts that barely went down to mid-thigh, black undershorts that reached her knees, a black long-sleeved undershirt, and a pink t-shirt that looked a little big for her, a cartoonish kitten on the front, the 'Soft kitty warm kitty' quote all around it, "Uh... I don't have a sheathe for it."

I hummed, looking at the sky for a few brief moments, then I noticed her shiver a bit, as it was a particularly cold day today. I unzipped my hoodie and put it around her, "Here. You're cold, wear my hoodie to keep warm, and just keep the dagger in the pocket. I dulled the blade so you don't hurt yourself training with it, and it won't slice through the fabric." I smiled softly at her, patting her head.

+2 Closeness to Marbel! (Total: +92)

Your relationship with Marbel has upgraded from "Good Old Best Friend" to "More than Best Friends"!

I stared at the message, then cleared my throat, "Right, now then, I'll take you home, then I'm going to go literally run around for a few days." Jaune W: Hey Yang? Maybe we can do dinner some other time? I'll make something super awesome for us, but I need to literally run around for a few days, train up my skills and such. I wanna get the grinding stuff outta the way before I deal with the important things like my friendships and things. Is that okay? :W

It took Yang a good while to respond, but when she did... Yang W: O-oh... alright then. I understand your priorities, Jaune. Do what you gotta do to get stronger... but don't forget that I love oranges and hamburgers :W

Jaune W: I won't forget at all, Sunflower :W

And I wouldn't. Not for a second.

I hated having to do this, but if I focused all my time on building relationships and none on training, sure I'd be a charming motherfucker, but I'd be weak.

I didn't want to be weak, not now or ever.

For my honor, for my family, for my friends.

For Yang.

---

(About two and a half days later)

(Jaune's POV)

Extreme exercise has increased your VIT by 2!

Pushing yourself to move with increased speed, agility, reflex, and finesse has increased your DEX by 5!

By raising DEX above 50, you have achieved new heights!

Raising DEX above 50 has earned you the skill "Amazing Grace"

By raising "Run" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Sprint"

-/\-

Run (Active) Level: 99, Exp: MAX Cost: Free

298% increase to movement speed.
Costs 5 SP per second to maintain.

-/\-

Sprint (Active) Level: 2, Exp: 12.44% (evolved from Run)
Pushing oneself past merely running, sprinting pushes you to the limits of your movement speed. Using more stamina, you are able to speed yourself up even more! Stacks with other speed boosting skills (besides Run)

302% increase to Movement Speed
Costs 50 Stamina per second

-/\-

Amazing Grace (Passive) Level: 3, Exp: 35.41% (achieved for raising Dexterity above 50)
An ability given to those with tremendous mastery of their own bodies. The user possesses refined control and coordination, displaying elegance in everything they do.

52% Increase to Movement Speed. (50)
50% Increase to Motor Control. (50)
50% Increase to Speed Control. (50)
34% Increase to Attack Speed. (30)
10% Increase to Evasion. (10)
32% Increase to DEX related skill effects. (30)

-/\-

Learning to wield scythes in battle has earned you the skill "Scythe Skill"!

By shaping your Aura into a special form, you have learned the skill "Mana Rope"!

By battering your way through obstacles, you have gained the skill "Bullrush"!

Summon Elemental's level increased by 6!

Manipulating the elements and implanting nature's patterns unto your Aura has created the skills "Firepower", "Regeneration", "Boulder's Strength", "Featherfall", "Unbroken Iron", and "Haste".

By forming a bond with plants, you have earned the skill "Green Thumb"

By forming a bond with animals, you have earned the skill "Beast Tamer"

By forming a bond with plants, animals, and the elements of nature, you have earned the skill "Nature's Bond"

Bugs fixed!

By raising all of your stats to new heights, you have proven yourself to be well on the way to becoming a legendary hero! You have unlocked the title "Intermediate Hero"!

You have advanced your story! System Updated!

Of all the messages I'd gotten in the past few days, the last one was both the most reassuring and the most horrifying. Was my semblance plotting out my life's path, or did it know what was going to happen to me? I dreaded the latter. Knowing my life's work would be forced to take a certain path was something I just couldn't agree with. I had pride, dammit! I wouldn't let myself get pushed around like that!

Still though, I'd said I was going to do it, and I did it! I'd stopped briefly whenever my hunger meter was getting low and filled my stomach with wild berries and small game, healing the former with Soulforge, which not only started regrowing the berries, but also led to the creation of Green Thumb. I'd healed a wounded wolf a few times and gained Beast Tamer when it apparently had grown to trust me after both a healing and a feeding, which earned me Beast Tamer. I'd used some Dust crystals with Soulforge, wishing to multitask where I could, and while on the move I'd briefly turned into a veritable comet of brightly burning energy.

The six elemental effect buff, when converted to skills, were incredibly nerfed, but had a much longer duration, thirty minutes as opposed to a base twenty seconds. In addition, I was able to cast eight of them per minute, and had done so with one for each, plus another casting of Regeneration, which gave me a flat boost to HPR and SPR, and Unbroken Iron, which increased by defense by a considerable amount, enough that my occasional creating obstacles and bashing through them with my bare body did very little damage.

Of course, I chose to take the last message, the one involving my advancing of 'the story', with a grain of salt. I was glad to see that Intermediate Hero came with a lovely 25% boost to EXP gains, opposed to Novice Hero's 10% boost. It came in the last several hours, and equipping it allowed me to shave off enough time from gaining the last levels of Run that, with the current time, it wouldn't be unreasonable to have dinner soon. I could whip up some stuff in less than an hour, and take Yang somewhere nice to make up for delaying our outing.

Smiling, I leaped over the wall surrounding the city and took off towards The Angel Garden. The place may have netted me a decent nest egg from all the tips I got and didn't ever spend much of, but they owed me far more, since I'd practically had to perform the responsibilities of half the positions.

So, in short I had it on good authority to make some requests without any trouble.

...

"Thank you again, Scarlet, I've had nothing but joy working for this fine establishment." I waved back to the woman as I exited, "I'll see you both again sometime, okay? Thank you for understanding my change in priorities." I smiled and turned, running off with the bag of food containers in my hand.

Quickly, I stuffed it into my inventory to prevent the steam from messing with, then took off at full speed, pushing myself up to the level of Sprint, feeling that last little notch of speed cause a drastic increase in the rate at which my SP was drained. I ran the calculations in my head and found I was able to Sprint for nearly three consecutive minutes before running out of SP. With that in mind, I sped onward through the darkening streets.

With reckless abandon, I Power Jumped into the backyard of my home and didn't bother mitigating any of the damage I took, slamming into the ground like a missile, knocking up a huge cloud of dust. I walked into the house with a grin, "Hey dad I'm hooome~!" I called out with a grin, dusting myself off with Dusting.

My dad looked up from his beer, a couple of droplets clinging to his mustache, "Ah, son, you haven't been home for two whole days! Where've you been?"

I shrugged, "Here and there, out in the woods running for miles and miles on end, working on my endurance and speed." I smiled a bit, "Glad you aren't freaking out over it."

The older man shrugged, "Just so long as you're alright, son, you can do whatever you want. You're a hunter now, and hunters have to have a lot of personal responsibility. So... is that all you've done since you were withdrawn from school?" he gave me a contemplating look, obviously expecting more good news in terms of my new training schedule.

"I... feel like we should talk." I admitted. Ever since I had taken the first step and told Yang, I felt like things would be easier. Sharing the burden of knowing this... this entire other looking glass to see the world through... well... "I'm going to make some food, but I'm heading out for dinner, eating with a friend. She's... well she's a special friend." I chose my words carefully as I donned an apron and began working.

My father clapped his hands slowly, "Finally, my boy's found a girlfriend." he chuckled mirthfully, "What's she like?"

I blushed heavily, "She's not my girlfriend! If only I was so lucky, but I'm not." but I DID have a very high Luck stat... so maybe I COULD be lucky! Hope is still strong, "She's really awesome. She's super strong, a real hothead, more flirty than I think even SHE can handle, but also really sweet when you get to know her. Super friendly and nice, she's got a heart of gold, and she loves to draw too. She likes Marvel movies, especially Iron Man, probably because of the awesome suit and the lasers." I could see my father nodding to every piece of information I gave, "And she's the most beautiful girl I've ever had the blessing of seeing in person."

"Ha! You sound just like me, m'boy." my father took another sip of his beer, "When I met your mother I was sure I'd found where heaven and earth had met."

"Hehe... yeah." my mind conjured an image of Yang in an angel's robe, a pair of shiny yellow wings spreading from her back. I nearly dropped the spoon I held, "Er... a~nyways~..." I coughed into my hand, "And she has a good heart for her family."

I heard laughter and glared at my father, "Sorry, sorry, it's just... the more you describe this girl, the more I'm reminded of an old friend of mine from Beacon." he looked at the wall, a reminiscing gleam in his eyes, "Kinda short fella, compared to me and some of the other guys, but damn he was packing more strength than a bull. During initiation I heard he stopped a Longhorn Matadae from hitting his partner."

I paused in my cooking, looking at the blonde man through the open doorway, "What was his name?"

"Heh, Taiyang Xiao Long. We used to drink together, talk about our problems with the ladies... namely his problem with too many ladies and my problem with a stark lack of them... god I was such a mess back then. Remember, son, women look for confidence, alright? So always do your best, and believe in yourself. Be strong of heart like a true Arc." he clenched his fist over his chest with a determined smile aimed at me.

I smiled back, "Well dad, you've made this a lot easier then." I thought back to Qrow's words. Apparently what my father's problem used to be was that he had too much confidence, to the point of arrogance, however I knew, even without knowing what transpired over the intervening time, that he'd fixed himself of that problem... well, at least enough to attract my mother. Qrow's whole approach to that situation, thinking back on it, seemed to be a psychological attack, trying to psyche me out of being with Yang by instilling more fear in me than I could handle. Unfortunately for him, my dad was right, I was strong of heart like a true Arc, I wouldn't back down from a drunken bird, nor would I back down from a big dragon.

My dad grinned, "Hoorah! My son is actually taking my advice!" he gave a cheer.

I shook my head, "Not your advice, though it's appreciated. I've heard it a lot, it's not about what you know, but rather who you know, and you, dear father, know a lot of people." I smiled excitedly, "Including one of the most important people cherished by my special friend, Yang Xiao Long."

Royal blue eyes blinked several times, "Wow... that bastard tells me not to be narcissistic, then he practically names his kid 'junior'... heh, asshole." he stood up, "So... you've gone and gotten close to the daughter of-"

"One of the daughters of, there's her sister, Ruby Rose."

My father shook his head, "Dammit... so that WAS true..."

"You... didn't know?" I was curious now, "I thought you and him were best buds?"

"Not BEST buds, but we were very close. He invited me to the baby shower for his first daughter, and then the second one, with... well..." he sighed, "It's... complicated." he held out his fingers as if very gently tapping the keys of a piano, "Xiao Long story short." I could see the puns probably ran in the family, "You... probably blame yourself for what happened with your mother and me. Though you played a part, it was a small part in the grand scheme of things. Our mutual distrust didn't just come overnight, there were a lot of bricks placed down before your decision to be a Huntsman poured down the mortar that cemented everything in place. She didn't like the Huntsman style... being older and from a different culture and family set that into her psyche. She's from Atlas, and was kind of... well okay there's far more story to this than we have time to talk about, but I'm just going to go straight as an arrow and say that she didn't like the Huntsman lifestyle, too much danger, and so she tried to keep me separate from my old Beacon friends. Taiyang probably hasn't heard from me in over ten years. At this point, I'm almost afraid of what he'd say if I called him up. I don't know the full story but things have happened to him since Beacon, more than just having two daughters." he sighed and rubbed his hand over his face, then went to the fridge and took out a bottle of whiskey, "You should go be with Yang, have more courage than I, son. I know if she's anything like her father, she enjoys a good drink."

I pulled a bottle of Strawberry Sunrise from my inventory, "I got a bottle of stuff right here, had it made at The Angel Garden."

My father raised an eyebrow, "How did I not notice that there before?" he hummed curiously, "Eh, still, good on ya, son."

I blinked, then remembered the extra information provided from the tutorial. Things I did with The Game would be generally glossed over in the eyes of people who hadn't been awakened to the masquerade. It was protection in some ways. I took in a deep breath.

I let out a low sigh.

And I opened my mouth, "Dad, we kind of derailed my intended course for this conversation entirely. Luckily we've looped back around, so let me say this." I brought Energy Shot up to bear and fired it at him, "I unlocked my aura, I don't recall if I've told you this."

"I could sense it, son, and I must say it's been growing pretty rapidly, good ol' Arc Souls." he grinned, taking a chug of the whiskey and letting out a ragged sigh as it probably burned its way down his throat, "So have you found your semblance out?"

"I have... in fact it's pretty weird, because it activated before my Aura was awakened, like... magic." I rolled the word around in my mouth, contemplating correcting myself, before deciding it was the best example, "It's called 'The Gamer', and it lets me live my life like a video game... an Adventure RPG, to be specific."

"Huh... I... get it? It's like Final Fantasy V... hey did they every make any more of those? I never kept up with the series after Beacon."

I burst out into laughter, "They've been working on the fifteenth one for nearly the past ten years. Development hell has been cruel to them... aaanyways~... so... yeah." I proceeded to give him a rundown of the system, almost everything short of inviting him to the game.

...

Surprisingly, unlike most parents who seem to be maddeningly slow on the uptake, the professional Huntsman (namely my dad) was far smarter than most normal people, as I assumed, and seemed to understand everything quite easily, "So... my level is probably really high due to how strong, fast, tough, smart, wise, lucky, and charming I am... in addition to my skills, my HP, AP, SP, and my mindset... however YOU level independently of your skills and stats, so you were able to exercise non-stop for two days, because of Gamer's Body glossing over details like exhaustion, healthy eating, and muscle damage, and not level up your, uh, character level?" he raised a questioning eyebrow and I nodded in confirmation "Right. Leveling up your skills gives you a bit of EXP but not much, and you can gain EXP, money, and items by killing Grimm? My explanation is kind of all over the place but all that is correct, right?"

I nodded, "You indeed lost track of your train of thought for a bit, but you were correct in everything you said." thankfully, we were almost done here.

"Well... I'm pretty sure it'd be pretty easy to see from the inside, so... maybe let your old man er, 'play around' some time?" his request was oddly polite... well, not oddly in that it was strange that he was polite, given the magnitude of his request: to be allowed past a veil that, once you were behind it, completely altered your perception of the world. The oddity of his politeness was purely superficial, because personally for me, it was slightly unnerving both how my father was being so polite (he greets police officers with "What's up, motherfuckers?" for example) and how he was directing it at me, his son, who he honestly had the right to treat however he wanted.

"Maybe tomorrow, but not tonight, dad, tonight I'm going to dinner with Yang." I packed up the freshly made food, still hot and smelling very, VERY good, and I put it into my inventory, "I'll see you later, alright?"

"Hehe, see you later. Go get'r, tiger." he gave me a pat on the back, grinning as I left the house.

I blushed, "I'm not gonna 'go get'r', dad. I'm meeting her... elsewhere." where, I didn't exactly know, but I knew I had about half an hour to get there, "Sh-shut up!" I nearly shouted in response to his silence.

Without waiting for a response, I Sprinted out the door, heading towards the naval docks where Yang would soon be arriving via boat.

With time to spare, given my extreme pace, I let my thoughts trickle freely through my mind, in hopes of finding another memory chunk...

No, no I shouldn't do that, not right now, right now I should focus on getting to my destination without crashing into something at ludicrous speeds.

---

(A bit later, after Jaune and met up)

Compared to the stinging wind speed I endured on foot to maintain my running pace, this was a gentle breeze I felt on Yang's motorcycle. All it had taken were some clever words to convince Yang that it was best if she experienced my 'plans' as a surprise. As such, I'd convinced her to let me drive, and to be blindfolded for the trip so my 'big plan' would be as surprising as possible.

Of course, these 'plans' I spoke of were just a picnic at a secluded location that I'd recalled, which surprisingly was not linked to a memory chunk.

Stopping Bumblebee right outside the clearing, I took a deep breath and let it out, a comfortable silence spreading around.

"So are we here?" Yang asked, blindfolded as she sat behind me. During the entire trip, she'd been holding onto me tightly (which was embarrassing since it squished her lovely, delightfully soft chest into my back) and hadn't relaxed in the slightest, even though I'd been ceaselessly cautious and careful so I didn't end up getting her hurt or in trouble.

"Hehe, just listen, Sunny girl." I turned to face her, removing the blindfold with a gentle hand.

I watched her curious, almost innocently gleaming purple eyes look around, then she heard it, the gentle crash of the waves against the cliff, the soft sound of the wind blowing through the clearing, eliciting a dry, yet gentle, all-encompassing, hiss from the foliage.

She hugged me as a new notification appeared.

System Update: World Map added to Menu!

World Map Updated! Point of Interest "Cliffside Nook (Vale City)" was added!

I blinked, then realized how odd that was, that I hadn't had a world map until now. I opened it and found that it showed the world of Remnant, and focusing on the different kingdoms with a thought zoomed them in, though not past one-hundred percent zoom, which was annoying, but I was able to see the Point of Interest, this cliffside nook, added to the map. Presumably, I could eventually get a minimap that showed the area immediately around me.

... nothing?

No minimap?

Okay... dammit, "You like?" I asked with a smile, starting to set up

"Sunny likes~." she purred, though I saw her blushing a bright pink even as she grinned at me.

"I can tell, you're pink all over." I teased, sitting down on the blanket, a traditional red and white checker pattern like you'd see in movies. One by one, I brought out everything, "Food from The Angel Garden, the place Marbel's parents own. I kinda have a strong reputation there." I brushed my knuckles on my chest, putting on a confident smile, though it felt weak.

Yang smiled and sat down next to me, crossing her legs and watching as I pulled out the food I'd made at home, bottles of orange soda, a bottle of Strawberry Sunrise, and a bottle of rum, "Wow, you really went all-out with this."

"Of course I did, I mean just look at the candles." I chuckled, pointing above us. Looking up, I watched with no small amount of pride as Yang's eyes widened at the simple copper construct of a cube cage with a chandelier hanging from above, each of the many lights magically burning with Xiburichu's flames, though it was all my own power keeping them up and together. The light they provided was soft, but bright enough to illuminate is both almost fully, a hint of shadows adding a romantic touch.

"That's... that's a chandelier! How did you make that?" she asked in wonder as she reached up, touching it as if to test how real it was.

"Metal elemental." I answered simply, "Shaping it was easy with how advanced my mind is, keeping the flames going with my Fire Elemental is all I need to do now." I smiled and took out a pair of stainless steel plates, "Here, for easier handling." I loaded up my plate with food and she did the same.

...

Together we made small talk, just talking about our days and the things that have gone on while I was gone. I was proud to hear she'd been studying and had gained a couple more points in INT, which helped her pass a test. Meanwhile, I'd literally just ran through the forests and experiment with a few skills here and there while constantly buffing myself. Even now my buffs were all active.

When we were done with the food, I put the leftovers in my Inventory and moved the chandelier out of the way, exposing us to the stars. I smiled and put an arm around her as she watched the sky, hearing her gasp and mutter something about an idea before pulling out her notebook and beginning to scratch something out. I hadn't seen her artistic ability for myself, but I had little doubt she could do it well.

She was just... amazing like that.

After a good while, she grinned and set her pencil down, then blushed redder than Ruby's cloak as she gently removed it from the notebook and handed it to me, "I... I made dis for you." she said a bit dumbly, staring at my moonlit face with her eyes twinkling, her cheeks burning a bright pink, and her hand shyly covering her mouth.

I took the paper and looked at it with both my eyes and my Sight.

Gained item "Heartfelt Drawing"

Heartfelt Drawing (1/16)
Description: A picture of the night sky drawn by Yang. The stars are small, unshaded dots, the darkness of the sky is a very nice cross-hatched shading. The first page has the very circular, probably traced, moon on it, which also has a few almost flame-shaped craters on it, and the stars are arranged in a strange pattern, looking very similar to the points of two stick figures.
Effect: Complete this item to receive its effects.
Type: Quest Item, Resonance Buff Item

(To Jaune) QUEST RECEIVED!

Quest: The Stars we Share

Description: You feel a resonance from Yang's drawing of the night sky. With your understanding and sensitivity to Aura and the Soul, you have figured a way to empower the odd enchantment inside this piecework to a fully functional form.

Objective: Acquire 15 more Heartfelt Drawing pieces and arrange them in the correct pattern to match the pieces of soul resonance to each other and fully form the pattern of the buff it gives.

Reward for success: Heartfelt Drawing (Full), +4 CHA

Penalty for failure: (The only way to fail this quest is to run out of time)

Time Limit: Until Yang: can't draw anymore, grows to hate drawing, grows to hate you, or dies.

I accepted the quest, quickly moving it out of the way of Yang's sight since she could see those now.

"Hm? What are you doing?" she asked as she watched my arm's motion.

I felt my face heat up, "Can... can you see that?" I pointed at the window. I felt relief as she shook her head No, "Okay, so that's a thing then. You can't see quest notifications that I get."

"You got a quest? What for?" innocent lilac eyes met my slightly guilty bright azure.

"Oh just... finding locations like this." I lied, though there was a reason for it... I just couldn't think of it right now. I completely was not embarrassed about having a quest to get gifts from the girl who was DEFINITELY not my girlfriend.

Definitely NOT!

SHUT UP!

"Oh, that's cool." she smiled and snuggled into my side a bit more. At some point during dinner, we'd removed our outermost layers, which basically meant I'd taken off my hoodie and she'd removed her jacket, both of which were laying a few feet away from us. My thick, muscle-bound arm held her much more svelte, yet still quite strong form close to me, it felt comfortable, almost natural.

It felt... RIGHT.

"I love the drawing, Yang, you're an excellent artist." I smiled at her and gave her a little kiss on the top of the head like I remembered doing to my little sisters. There was something extremely different this time, no brotherly affection in the gesture, just... a more plain affection.

Oh god please no. I want this but I don't want to be controlled by it! If I let this control me, I'll turn into one of those lovestruck fools you see on TV, and while I trusted Yang to be honest and right, power tends to corrupt those who don't know how to handle it.

Yet... my anger at myself didn't feel right. I didn't feel like I was angry at myself for letting this endeavor start to control me, I felt... different.

I felt like I was angry for not taking a chance with this moment.

Suddenly I felt memories fly back at me, forgone chances. I remembered a good few things in life I wanted, but lost because I had played too cautiously and hadn't taken a risk.

You have received a message!

I hummed, checking it.

Unknown Number: Hey kid, this is Qrow. Don't ask how I got your number or why my number is so wonky, just listen to what I'm saying. You're in danger, Taiyang found out about Yang having gone out on a date with you, and he's looking for her with furious speed. If you know what's good for you, HIDE NOW! Keep Yang safe while I try to deal with him. I'm faster than him, but he has a MASSIVE head start. Good luck!

I withheld any external reaction, but internally I was screaming in fury. I took in a breath and let out a sharp sigh, "Don't worry, just a shitty message from a random number." I wasn't lying at least, "Now then... where were we?" I gave her my best charming smile, which I felt was accented by the moonlight shining on my Charisma-enhanced face,

Yang coughed into her hand, blushing more as her eyes danced all around my manly features, "W-w-we... we were... um... we were taking about how I'm an excellent artist?" she answered with shyness, hesitation, and redness creeping up to the roots of her hair.

I smiled a bit, trusting my Luck and the fact that I'd put the odds in my favor by not being in Vale City itself to give me peace and quiet. I looked into Yang's eyes, "Yes you are, and you know what?" I cupped her chin gently, "Your most valuable piece? Hehehe... that's the one you see in the mirror." I gave a handsome, flirty grin, "And I have to say... I love art, and Yang... I..." I paused for dramatic effect, brushing a lot of her hair behind her ear before cupping her cheek.

And then, a notification took the mood I'd so carefully built up, and punched it in the face, then proceeded to beat it into a bloody pulp while screaming bloody murder, flipping it around and slamming it into the walls, the floor, the ceiling. Then, it threw it out of the window and followed it down, using its body to break its own fall and then finish this delicate mood off with a large caliber bullet to the head.

You detect an extremely powerful life form approaching!

You detect a highly dangerous, bloodthirsty presence on the edges of your senses! Origin: Human

I growled, looking up from Yang's face to scan the treeline with scrutinizing eyes, "Someone's comin-" I was cut off by words I didn't know I didn't want to hear until they had already been said.

"Oh god no. Jaune, hide me!" Yang clenched up in my hold, seeming to sense it too, and recognize it. I grimaced, immediately knowing that this was the only thing I'd specifically prayed against when I was preparing earlier.

I wrapped my arms around her, her lightly shaking form pushed close to my chest in a protective embrace, "Sssshhhhhh~... don't worry, I'll keep you safe. Here, this should help you feel a bit better." one by one, I began to cast my buffs on her to reassure her, "I'm buffing you so you'll be more protected, okay?" I looked at the notifications and paled a bit.

Yang's soul quivers from the effects of Fire taking hold.

Yang's soul shudders from the effects of Air taking hold.

Yang's soul shakes from the effects of Earth taking hold.

Yang's soul quakes from the effects of Metal taking hold.

You feel Yang's soul roil and surge with chaotic imbalance as Lightning magic touches her soul. You're not sure what might happen next, but it doesn't seem good.

Yang's chest heaved under me, the messages appearing so quickly that I stopped myself just in time from potentially making Yang's soul explode from the magic I was imbuing her with.

I let out a tear, feeling regret, "I'm sorry, this one should make it all feel better."

You imbue Yang's soul with the element Water.

You feel Yang's soul thrash in agony from chaos rending it apart.

My eyes screwed shut as I felt it all crash together.

---

I watched with wise eyes as I saw a golden silhouette figure of Yang standing in the middle of a stylized ritual circle, shivering like a leaf in the wind. A star formed within a circle under her feet, six points glowing around her with every color of the rainbow.

Six rays of pure colored light erupted like prismatic volcanoes around her body, pulsating and wriggling as they converged above her head, melding into one another and forming a pure white light that began to outshine the golden silhouette.

With a roar like thunder exploding inside a glass box, I watched the silhouette shiver, its fluctuating skin settling and sharpening into a stronger, more unique form, draconic wings accented by orange bones splintered off of her back, filling in as the white light filled her up. A bright red heart appeared in the center of her chest, arteries of liquid fire throbbing around it as they branched around to feed her more strength from its center.

I felt her heart inside start to beat slowly, rapidly building its tempo to a fever pitch before stopping entirely, resting as a paralyzed, but shining beacon of strength.

Its arms folded across its chest, covering but not hiding the heart within in the slightest.

With more suddenness than the beginning of this image's beginning, its end appeared.

---

Balancing all six basic elements of magic within Yang's soul has cured the permanent status effect "Soul wracked by chaos"!

Yang's full power has been released!

-/\-

Yang Xiao Long
Title: Hotter and Brighter than the Summer Sun
Level: 36
Class: Fiery Martial Artist
Nickname: Sunflower

Hit Points: 6500/6500
Aura Points: 5250/5250
Stamina Points: 7300/7300

Strength: 67 (+196%) = 198.32
Dexterity: 39 (+45%) = 56.55
Vitality: 53 (+95%) = 103.35
Intelligence: 32 (+45%) = 46.4
Wisdom: 30 (+45%) = 43.5
Luck: 18
Charisma: 72

Hair/Eyes/Skin: Golden Blonde / Bright Lilac Purple / Light Tan

-/\-

Yang has received the status effect "Glimpse of Harmony"

Yang's skill "Aura"s level has increased by 28!

Damn! Even though her AP pool was still fairly small, literally half of my own, she had nearly double my level in Aura, and it seemed that her previous stats had been boosted upwards even further than before, fueled by the boosted level that my powers had provided.

The white glow surrounding her body like the corona of the sun slowly sank back into her skin, replaced by the normal golden glow of her aura as it flared up like an illusory inferno, softly burning around her in a warm glow as she grew more relaxed and peaceful within my hold.

I smiled and held her close, kissing her forehead before lifting her chin, "Listen... whatever happens in the next minute... don't forget... I love-" my words were cut off by an explosion of wood and leaves from a tree on the treeline.

Azure met blue as angry eyes locked to one another, two separate fires blazing in equal measures as I saw the blond man before me grit his teeth, a thin gray smoke escaping his mouth in great heaving plums as he panted in anger, his face redder than his daughter's cloak and his features twisted from what I was sure was a very handsome visage into a mask of pure hatred.

Taiyang Xiao Long
Title: ?
Level: ?

He stood taller than me, his height listed as six-foot-two, but he certainly seemed taller with his broad frame, his muscle mass, tone, and definition being the stuff of legends... no I wasn't kidding, his build was listed as Heavy Legendary Muscular by Gamer's Sight, and if I could see his STR, I'm sure it'd easily be in the two-hundreds. His blond hair blazed like hot sunlight, seeming to lengthen a few inches as sunlight-orange Aura glowed around him like a star's corona. With an agonizingly slow pace, he took a couple of steps towards us, "Yang... sweetie... sunshine... step away from the dead man." he spoke in as controlled of a tone as he seemed to be able to manage, as I could figure he was controlling himself very tightly right now.

Yang tensed in my arms, and I sighed, "We were having a delightful picnic until you showed up. We ate some good food, we were going to watch the stars and listen to the waves and I would take her home. However, it seems that home has grown legs and come running to find her." I spat at him in as snarky of a tone as I could manage, my increasingly tense arms sliding away from Yang's form as I stood up, growling in anger.

"You have a lot of nerve, boy, talking to me like that. You have a death wish or something?" he demanded, his thick, sinewy hands squeezed into fists that I was sure would be able to crush my bones with barely any effort, if he had the same stat build as Yang, just... decades of training better.

"The only death I wish is on the creatures of darkness." I took Crocea Mors in hand from my inventory, "Conflict between Hunters is what gives those vile things strength. We can't let ourselves fall victim to things like the petty urges of anger." I used my father's words for extra effect, hoping against hope that any combination of Taiyang's past experience with him, my Luck, and my Charisma would defuse the rapidly ticking time bomb that was his patience.

I felt a small sense of relief when he seemed to calm down to half of his previous anger, "Well... Arc never told me he had a son." he looked me up and down, "You look just like he did, but more of a fucking runt." I could tell it was the protective rage talking, or at least that's what I told myself after his words stung me more than they should have.

"Funny, he only had good things to say about you, Taiyang, he hoped we could be friends." I said with a sigh, "So tell me... are you going to chill out and leave us alone, or do I have to fight for the lady's honor?" my sword was pointed at the ground as my shield rested firmly in front of me, even as the older blonde's flames started to make the metal barrier uncomfortably hot, even from the distance he was holding. For added protection, I activated Stone and Metal Skin while I still could.

"This isn't about HONOR, kid, this is about you trying to get in my daughter's pants and me seeing straight through your ruse." his fists caught flame and became covered by as he got into a stance I recognized as similar to Yang's, but with the grace of a master of the art, which according to Yang's own words and the words of my semblance, was called Flaming Dragon Locomotive Style, named after one of their ancestors, Huǒchē Xiao Long, whose name literally meant 'train' in the same sense as the naming of his style.

I sighed and looked down, "Sir, getting into your daughter's pants is... close to the bottom of the list of things I plan to do to her, at the very bottom is to break her heart, right above that is hurting her in any way, and then above that is letting her be sad or miserable. Taiyang, you need to calm the hell down man." I really, REALLY didn't want to fight. I barely survived even a single hit from my bout with Qrow, and he wasn't even trying to kill me! Taiyang would no doubt hit harder, tank more, and go for the killshot from the very beginning.

That... was something I just couldn't handle.

Sure I once held my own in that fight, but Qrow hadn't even started to take it seriously, not labeling me as even a slight threat until I gained that strange status effect that ended up shutting off Gamer's Body for a while. Even WITH the effect, though, I'd hardly managed to fight back...

Shit, I'd gone and revealed a lot during that fight, hadn't I? Luckily, I'm pretty sure Qrow hadn't revealed the information to anyone, if only out of the need to think it over. Hopefully his minor amount of respect for me would see that the critical info that I could regrow my goddamn head from being cut off wouldn't see its way into the wrong hands.

Of course, Taiyang must have had a special skill called 'Piss People Off', because his response was to pull a 180 on me, "So what, you aren't even attracted to her then? You think you're too good for her? That she doesn't have what you want?" his accusations were all challenges, "You think my baby girl isn't beautiful?"

I sighed, sticking Crocea Mors into the ground to free up my hand, and immediately used that hand to facepalm, "Tai, you can't seriously see the world in black and white like that, can you? A modern legend like you shouldn't be making these accusations just because you don't like that Yang likes someone. I thought you'd want her to be happy, not lonely?" I ignored the notification that I'd gaining the skill Filibuster, and continued, "Just..." I gazed into parts of his backstory, noting the two names that were positioned next to that awful little pairing of words, (Ex-wife), and couldn't help but feel a little bad for the man, "I know you cherish your daughters more than the warriors of old cherished the sun. I can see why, they're both amazing young women and deserve the best out of life. You can't keep them locked away from these emotions or experiences, though, even if it pains you. Eventually they'll slip out, and because they have so little experience from being deprived of having a normal social life, they'll be preyed upon by people who would want to take advantage of them. Have you ever known an Arc to take advantage of someone?"

"Yes I have. Right now in fact. God, you claim to be so wise but has your father taught you anything about the world? Anything at all?" I paused at his words, compressing my shield and crossing my arms over my chest, just as he was right now, and gestured for him to continue, "Alright, let me ask you a math question... you know what a 3:1 ratio is?" I nodded yes, "Three women to every one man, that's the state of the world's population right now, from the countless deaths in the Great War that nearly drove us all to extinction. Recovering a whole population takes time, and let me tell you one things: people are better people than either of us wish to admit, I'll confess to that. My desire to protect my daughters isn't purely because I'm some TV-poster example of an asshole overprotective father, I can reason with people, you know, I just prefer to not bother with it." he raised a hand, pointing at me, "And I don't like to reason with people who try to psychologically attack me, so please excuse that I'm going to act exactly like you expected.

"Wait wha-" if I thought Qrow's strength was ungodly, then the force of the fist that rocketed towards my face, shining like a comet streaking through the sky, was the actual devil.

Air exploded around me as I broke the sound barrier.

...

You know, I never realized how much space were between these trees before I began whistling through the forest like a human bullet, crashing past trees, branches, and the dirt itself as I ended up being thrown around by what I crashed into, bouncing off the ground like a morbid rubber ball. I barely managed to keep track of the fact that my HP being sheared off in massive chunks. Thankfully, I stopped the encroaching death with a combination of Mana Shield and Adamant Foil, both of which managed to defend me enough that I was left with a couple hundred HP remaining when I stopped moving.

Shit... Taiyang must have been even stronger than I thought, if even through my 64 VIT, level 18 Physical Resistance, and the buff Featherfall reducing environmental collision damage by 23% still managed to take nearly 4000 HP out of my pool. I could see how far away Yang was from me, and that was now about two kilometers.

Growling in anger, I Sprinted back, giving myself a Regeneration from Soulforge, followed by renewing the skill Regeneration's buff, I felt anger and wrath threatening to spill over.

Channeling your emotions of anger, you have created the skill "Aura of Intimidation"!

Channeling your emotions of wrath, you have created the skill "Aura of Killing Intent"!

By the time I got back to the clearing, I heard another voice arguing with Taiyang, "Dammit Tai! You can't just punch your problems away!" it was Qrow, I recognized immediately, "I already psychologically assaulted the kid, and y'know what happened? He didn't break down, he just fought harder! Look, even if you don't agree, you should still know that he has the Qrow Branwen Seal of Approval." I internally smiled at that, my anger relieved a bit. Even if he was a crusty old drunken bird, he was reasonable at least. I entered the clearing, glowing azure with activated Aura.

Yang looked like she'd been on the verge of crying before her gaze turned to me as I snapped a branch underfoot, "JAUNE!" she rushed over and nearly glomped me, a couple of tears seeping into my chest, "I was so worried! Oh my god please tell me you're okay." she looked up at me with shimmer lilac eyes filled with unshed tears.

I smiled softly at her, my wrath temporarily quelled, "I'm fine, only about one-third alive, but fine nonetheless." I let go of her and looked at Taiyang, "Wanna try to kill me again?"

Flames blew from the buffer Huntsman's nose as he looked between Qrow and me, and I saw a vein in his forehead bulge a bit, "That's it! I'm done with debating about my parenting style! Both of you, just FUCK! OFF! NOW!"

I watched with wide eyes as Qrow went flying, his sword, which had been held in his hand, falling to the ground with a very heavy thud, and then before I knew it, I was flying straight up into the air, flames chasing me upwards from a loud, draconic roar that erupted from Taiyang's mouth. Calling up Xiburichu's influence, I managed to move the flames to split around me, saving me from all the damage they would cause.

Falling slowly as I popped off a Featherfall from Soulforge, I watched as Yang flailed around before giving up and looking very, VERY upset at being carried over her father's shoulder.

I sighed, gently touching down on the ground over half a minute later, giving up for tonight.

Honestly... the risks were just too high. Taiyang was a chaotic and stubborn man, he wouldn't hesitate to actually kill me if I opposed too much. Hell, I was sure he'd been trying to both kill me and dispose of the body with that first launching punch, I was just more durable than most people.

I sighed again, 'Goddammit! GOD FUCKING DAMMIT! This was supposed to be a good night! A night to make up for literally running around for a few days and delaying our dinner together!'

The mood had been just right! I was seconds away from sealing the deal! God... just...

Is this what love gets me? Is this was upgrading Luck gets me? Did it increase bad luck too? I didn't know, the description of it mentioned it increased one's luck and fate. What exactly was that supposed to mean? I know destiny is what you're supposed to do in life, but fate? Is there a difference there?

I looked at the trail left by Qrow's sudden forced exit, his sword laying on the ground. He... he had had more luck with Taiyang than I did, and warned me about his rampaging search, so I needed to get on his good side. Even if I didn't get any more benefits like those, it was still very good to have someone extremely powerful be my friend.

With a grunt, I lifted the sword and, with just a bit of Aura, unfolded it to sword form.

The thing was crazy, weighing at least two tons. I had to wonder, had it been made without a metal elemental? It must have taken decades to make it this dense and powerful if that was the case.

I sharpened the edge with Crocea and looked at the weapon with Gamer's Sight.

Lilith's Claw
Description: A gigasword made many years ago by Qrow Branwen, forged and tempered and damaged and repaired countless times. It has been squeezed into an incredible density by means of a technique called Tighten Steel, compounded by ?, and it now weighs about 4100ibs. It has complex mechanisms housed in its guard, allowing the blade to fold down and the double barrels of the shotgun to extend to firing length, or to fold up and the handle to extend into a scythe form, which is the form Qrow uses best. The resonance from the metal cries out in nightmare-induced rage.

Type: Mechashift Gigasword/Scythe and Double-barrel Shotgun
Damage: 5000 (gigasword), 5500 (scythe, +7% from Scythe Skill, 5885 total), 1500 (shotgun)
Stamina Cost: 750 (gigasword), 1000 (scythe, -2% from Scythe Skill, 980 total), 250 (shotgun)
Toughness: 18

Functions;
-?

I hummed, feeling the sheer strain to my SP just from swinging the damn thing, but luckily I gained Gigasword Skill, which already started to reduce the cost of just swinging the thing by a decent amount.

A quick bit of math in my head told me I'd manage about seven swings before I'd have to play it by the minutes with my SPR, as that was just the numbers. I couldn't fight the numbers without breaking the game, and right now I needed to be in top form.

I had a birdie to find.

---

(Some time and one walk later)

The trail of destruction led me, luckily (or maybe Luckily) right to the downed body of Qrow. I could see his massive HP, AP, and SP bars filling back up at a decently fast pace, which I could only guess was due to his no-doubt astronomical stats. With a dim, solemn expression, I stood and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And wait-"You just gonna stand there all night or are you gonna help me?" Qrow groaned, lifting his head up and looking at me, "By the way, I have authority to say that your form is terrible."

"My form?" was that REALLY what he was focusing on? "Is that REALLY what you're focusing on? My form? When you were just launched through a goddamn forest? What is WRONG with you? Are you DRUNK?"

"Yes, actually." he said simply as he got to his feet, pulling a flask out of his breast pocket and taking a few swigs, this one filled with peppermint vodka, Gamer's Sight told me, "Now then, my sword?"

I looked at him, then sighed. If I was going to get him on my side, I'd have to play a bit of hardball, appeal to his style.

And so I didn't break eye-contact, even as he gasped when Lilith's Claw disappeared into my inventory, "I'll give it back when we get back to the city walls. For now, we talk."

Qrow stared at me with hard eyes, wine-red seeming to shift to a bloodier hue, "Kid, I don't know what kind of shit you're trying to pull, but it's not going to work. Drop the illusion and hand the sword back."

I'd come this far, there wasn't any point in backing down now. I sighed heavily, then looked at him, "You can fight with your hands, I'm sure. Come on, we're heading back to the kingdom and we're going to talk." I equipped Crocea Mors, adding weight to the blade with a shell of steel, though I'd prefer a stronger material, really.

I began walking, offering no quarter as the old drunk's more negotiable side kicked in, "Alright, alright, fine. So what do you want to talk about, runt?"

"First off, think of a better nickname, I'm only half an inch shorter than you." I said while cutting down a Beowolf that suddenly charged us, the beast dying to my strong strike, "Secondly, you asked me about magic the other day?"

"So you've finally decided to give me a straight answer, then?" he remarked while punching a Boarbatusk so hard its body burst like a bubble, "All I got was Ki and the Elements, which starts to explain things, but not quite."

"Well I won't give you a gay answer." I chuckled, smirking at him, "So listen... trust is a two-way street. You tell me what you define as magic, and in exchange for not killing me, I'll tell you what I know."

I watched his expression shift several times, then he sighed, "Alright, fine. So... have you ever heard of the Story of the Seasons?"

I didn't really know where this was going, but I felt like it was worth something, "Story of the Seasons... right... I think I know that one... old wizard lived for centuries in his cottage in the woods, suddenly outside he sees a girl, whose name is Winter, and he asks what she's doing, and she says she's waiting for her sisters. She asks what he's doing, and he says he's just living. She tells him to meditate, and so he does. They wait for a while, and slowly the frost covering the window fades away. Eventually, along comes a bubbly girl whose name is Spring, and she says that she and Winter are waiting for their sisters. He watches as she turns his war-torn garden into a small field filled with growing food, flowers bloom where her light glows, and her wonderment and joy softens his heart. Then comes the third sister, Summer." I saw him wince a little bit at that, but shrugged it off and continued.

"She told him that living life inside all the time would never lead to anything good, and so he should stop watching life through a little window, and come out the door and live life like he should. He leaves the house and as the land grows its plants, they play together, and the old man feels happy. Then comes the final sister, Autumn, or Fall, who is calm and wise. They gather together around a banquet table, and the old man asks why they've been so kind to him, he who has nothing. Autumn turns his attention to the fertile land brimming with life, the home protected by nature, and the animals that all love him, and then tells him that he has so much.

The old man's spirits are lifted and he's filled with hope, and he asks why they've done all this for him. They answer in confusion, saying that they did for him what they do for all people. They help people who need it, that's just how they are. Seeing the purity of their hearts, the old man grants them all a part of his magical power, telling them that now they have the power to do so, so much more, and they would have this power for as long as they live a path of goodness." I sighed heavily, looking into the sky, "And that's the story of the seasons, it's a nice fairytale about altruism, unless you're saying that the old man was real and the powers he had were real..." I looked up when I heard flapping far above.

Name: Giant Nevermore
Title: Nothing left for the moonlit.
Level: 55

Qrow looked at it as well, "Well that's what I'm saying, Arclet." he looked at me and I looked at him, "So can I have my sword back now?"

I deadpanned even as I fired several Energy Arrows at the giant bird, "Are we at the kingdom?"

He sighed, "No."

I grinned, "Well there's your answer, now then... trust me on this, ignore the tutorial and get ready to jump."

"Ignore the tutorial for wha-"

---

(Third Person POV)

Qrow watched as a bright blue window appeared in front of him, outlined in dark red.

PARTY INVITE!

You have been invited to Jaune Arc's party "Think of a better nickname"!

You will be brought into The Game with this action.

[Accept] [Decline]

Qrow's eyes widened a bit, but he pressed the accept button quickly. With extreme suddenness, a painful rushing sensation to fill his core, as if his soul was being wrenched open, then filled with white-hot lava. Soon, however, the pain faded.

Qrow Branwen has joined The Game in the Party "Think of a better nickname"!

Jaune's eyes widened immensely as they took in the small block of information that immediately appeared.

Qrow Branwen
Title: He who distorts Oblivion
Level: 183

Jaune just as quickly calmed down, "Okay now just ignore the tutorial for now and how about you use some of that level 183 power and get us up there?" he pointed to the Nevermore that was preparing to launch a flurry of feathers at them.

Qrow grinned, then with a flash, they both felt a sensation like being pushed inwards on all sides, then being swung like human swords.

Suddenly, to Jaune's surprise, he was falling through the air, looking down at the Nevermore, who seemed confused, taking in its stats, he sighed and took out several more pounds of steel, adding it to Crocea Mors' length as the two descended, landing on its back, "You think I got this?"

"Just swing hard enough, kid, and quick!" Qrow barked over the loud wind that rushed off the Nevermore's wings, buffeting them and threatening to send them both flying.

Gathering his Strength, Ki, and Aura, Jaune swung the elongated Crocea Mors, cleaving through the Nevermore's neck and causing its movements to stutter, then stop completely as it fell.

Qrow grabbed the boy and jumped, his semblance activating again as the two reappeared on the ground.

---

(Jaune's POV)

That... was a rush. I coughed a bit, then jumped backwards to dodge the massive head of the Nevermore falling on me, "Well... that was a thing." I mused, removing the steel from Crocea Mors' blade, "So... now I suppose you can read the tutorial." I looked at him a bit, then walked over to the collect the loot.

Your level has increased by five!

You gained the item "Shramidnis"

You gained the item "Preyend (x2)"

You gained the item "Adimium Bar (x3)"

You gained the item "Skill Book: Mana Barrage, Energy Arrow"

You gained 25,000 lien!

I analyzed the items. Shramidnis was a sort of cape made of the Nevermore's feathers interwoven on a layer of black leather, probably the thing's skin. The two Preyends were wickedly curved white daggers with red guards and black handles, resembling the talons on the beast's feet. The metal, adimium, seemed to be some sort of 'evil counterpart' (I don't know how) to aluminum, though it was lighter than it. I rolled my eyes when, a couple of seconds later, I realized the joke, replacing the "lum" referring to light, with "dim" referring to dark. Still, it was worth something, given how it was pretty sturdy, and apparently represented the thing's feathers.

The skill book, as I suspected, was a very old book on Aura techniques, and had the details of weaving together the patterns of Mana Barrage and Energy Arrow, the latter being far easier.

I looked at Qrow, "Well then... I suppose this was good." I waited for him to finish reading everything, noting that he gained a couple of points in his INT and WIS, then I hit him with Gamer's Sight.

-/\-

Name: Qrow Branwen
Title: He who distorts Oblivion
Level: 183
Class: Alcoholic Buster Berserker
Nickname: Drunken Birdie

Hit Points: 175,000/175,000
Aura Points: 285,000/285,000
Stamina Points: 115,000/115,000

Strength: 203 (+200%) = 609
Dexterity: 288 (+600%) = 2016
Vitality: 245 (+300%) = 980
Intelligence: 145 (+700%) = 1160
Wisdom: 105 (+700%) = 840
Luck: 128
Charisma: 52

Age: 46
Birthday: October 4th
Race: Human
Height: 6'0
Weight: 300 ibs
Build: Medium Legendary Muscular
Hair/Eyes/Skin: Dark Gray / Wine Red / Light Tan

-/\-

I whistled at that, "Damn, I wasn't kidding, modern legend."

Qrow looked up as he closed the final window, "I suppose so. Well... now what?"

"Now, we keep going towards the kingdom." I answered flatly, looking at the walls that were appearing over the horizon while contemplating if I should apply my points or not. I decided against it for right now, "So... magic has to do with the seasons?"

"Sort of, not really, that's not the point. Magic has to do with the elements. Controlling the elements without the use of Dust, bending nature to your will." he scratched his left hand, looking at the kingdom walls, tall and powerful and slowly growing larger with every passing second.

"I see, then that explains things a bit." I noticed my own WIS had increased by a point, "So magic, the elements, and mana have to do with nature. I have a skill called Nature Affinity, which affects the elements. Magic takes control of the physical world... I have another skill, Summon Elemental. I can explain it quite clearly."

"Then explain it." Qrow said as we leaped over the wall, his sword appearing in his hand as I moved the icon to his equipment block.

"Suppose you're trying to change the color of the wood of a tree." I dropped down, the two of us taking a casual pace as we crossed the city via the rogue's highway, AKA the rooftops, "Well you see, a tree has a lot of wood in it, and the wood has a color of its own. Trying to manipulate the elements without Dust is like trying to color the tree's wood away from just... pure white colorlessness." I mulled over that bit of description, then decided it was good enough, "Yang's 'tree' would be colored with the element Fire, no doubt, but she could still, with the right resources, color it with, say... earth? It's tough to describe that part, but I have a skill that can bypass the attempts and gives you something good almost for free. Summon Elemental takes the tree that is your soul and peels off a splinter of it, coloring THAT with the element of the Elemental you summoned, such as Metal or Fire." I formed a metal claw and a small flame above two of my fingers, "The elemental has a basic form of consciousness, not understanding things like you do, but rather understanding them from the viewpoint of an Element." I took in a steeling breath, "I don't have any coloration but for what I've summoned, Metal and Fire, and I plan on summoning more, Air, Earth, Water, and Lightning. Those six seem to be the basic elements of Mana. By performing the Summon Elemental ritual, I basically splinter my soul and color it with the elements, and the color stays there permanently... then I grow the splinters from there. I'm fairly certain they'll grow to become full branches of my 'tree', and full-fledged powers even in their individual rights."

"I see... and the metal one... that's how you managed to sharpen my sword." he mused, smirking at me, "Don't think I didn't notice, I have eyes keener than an actual crow. I know when my weapon's been tampered with."

"Well be glad I didn't compromise its structural integrity, which I CAN do, and reinforce the structural integrity too. That's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my powers over metal." I stopped our journey, noticing a growing buzzing in my ears, "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That buzzing, like static... I'll figure it out in a second, but first let me promise that I will eventually help you get an Elemental of your own, assuming it works for normal people." I scratched the back of my head, feeling an itch rising.

Then the static broke out all around me.

ERROR! ERROEO!#!# (* !_!#*(%%&!

Reach of power exceeding maximum grasp! System stability is becoming compromised!

Error ERROR ERROR ERRRRRROOORRR!

Activate Automatic System Protection?

I hit the button quickly, trying to block out the technological squealing and screeching all around me.

Party Member "Qrow Branwen" has been kicked from The Game!

Party "Think of a better nickname" has automatically dissolved due to having no members!

System Stability has been secured!

Running quick scan.

Waiting...

Scanning...

Loading...

All glitches and bugs have been rectified!

"It's a beautiful day outside, perfect for a nice walk."

The noises stopped, I felt my windpipe open back up again as the shock of everything wore off, "Okay... I need to level up before we party up again." I noted with a sigh, "Well I suppose that makes sense, the sheer difference in our power levels started to destabilize my power. Now then... I've told you all I can think of about magic, and gave you a glimpse into my way of viewing the world. Now then, I want something in return, something I know you can do if you actually give a damn about doing it."

"Alright, fine, assuming you're not bullshitting me, tell me what it is."

I looked at the ground, taking in a deep breath through my nose and letting it out slowly through my mouth, calming every nerve I had even as Gamer's Mind worked to do that for me. This was stupid, I heard a voice say in the back of my head, but my hate "Taiyang mentioned the... population problem. I, as a game character, see that as a quest, I'll probably get a quest for it at some point when I end up accidentally charming another woman. I want you to make sure he doesn't step out of line again like he did tonight. Whether I want to be with Yang, or Ruby, or any other girl, or both, or have, like... a... whatever those things are called... look I think it's pretty fair, in fact you got out of this with a fucking bargain. I gave you info on bending the laws of the world around us, you give me coverage to bend the laws of the kingdom so I can make sure as many women as I have the fortune of meeting can be happy by my efforts." I gave a loose, casual grin, "Just think of it as being a hero in a romantic way."

Qrow stared at me, then he slowly began laughing. His laughter deepened and intensified with each passing second, until I was sure he'd pass out from the lack of air getting to his brain, "Oh my GOD, kid, you are more like your father than I thought, and that's a compliment by the way. He might have been pretty stupid, but he always had a good heart." he poked me on the chest, "Alright, don't worry, okay? I'll make sure the big bad dragon doesn't get in the way of you assembling a harem for yourself." his words were dripping with sarcasm, "Just make sure that everyone involved is able to get along without too much trouble, and everyone is consenting to this, especially Yang and Ruby, they can get... possessive, after what they've been through." he sighed, his sarcasm dropping off near the end when he mentioned his nieces. I knew he probably wasn't going to do a damn thing I said, but there was a chance he would.

"Don't worry, whether I'm level thirty-two or level three hundred and two, I'll always do my best to make sure everyone's happy and well." I smiled honestly at him, though in truth I was thinking more about the smiles on Yang and Ruby's faces, assuming they could handle the idea of both of them being in a relationship with me at the same time. I had a feeling it would take a fairly long time of convincing them both, since their sisterly bond was probably going to get in the way of that.

Still I'd do what I had to to make them both happy, even if it meant sacrificing some sanity to manage not one, but TWO eccentric and adorable sisters.

Luckily, even though a large amount of it has already been sacrificed to fuel my anger aimed at Taiyang, I still had plenty of sanity to spare.

---

(Later, still Jaune's POV)

Walking down the street, I sighed heavily.

Now that I'd had some time to cool off, I'd also had time to think clearly. Tonight had gone from perfect to hellish in less than a few minutes. I'd had Taiyang seconds from accepting me, but the bastard was so stubborn that he snapped back to hatred. Luckily now I had Qrow at least running some damage control, but...

Well... the notification floating beside my head still had my mood down.

-1 Closeness to Yang! (x6) (Total: +93)

They had started appearing not long after I found Qrow, and just a minute or so after that, I got the notification that she'd gained the status effect Teary Sleep, so... in essence, she'd gotten distraught by what Taiyang had said, her mental faculties were in tatters, and she'd cried herself to sleep.

In other words, tonight was just fucking FAAAANtastic!

Fortunately, it seemed that Marbel had gone to bed early, and I'd taken the liberty of turning off inter-member notifications, so she wouldn't see Yang's status effects without looking for them herself.

Right now... right now I just needed to distract myself. Qrow's aloofness towards my requests pissed me off, but not nearly as badly as Taiyang's behavior. Gamer's Mind might have cleared my head half an hour ago, but I didn't WANT it to be clear. I knew I could come back from this, I knew I could right the wrongs Taiyang committed, especially now that Qrow would-, MIGHT be keeping a leash on him, but...

But I just wanted to drink something or get a new skill. I needed something to distract myself.

I looked down two roads, one leading to where I knew I could find some booze, the other leading to where I knew I could find some late-night book stores.

I fiddled with my inventory after deciding to go for the books. I wasn't sure if I could get a hangover, and I didn't want to test that out when I needed to be working on repairing things between Yang and I from the moment she woke up. I could go without sleep, I'd done it before for these school projects, and now that I had supernatural energy flowing through me, it would be pitifully easy to stay awake.

So now, I just had to think of something, and find some books. Some skill books would keep me distracted for a little while, that's just what I had to do.

Even if what I WANTED to do was run across the sea to Patch, find the Rose/Xiao Long household, take Yang, and flee into the night. That was what my heart was telling me to do, but my more logical mind was keeping that desire in check. I just needed to focus on playing the Game for right now.

Yes... exactly... focus on playing the game.

Keeping your mind clear and free from desire has staved off the siren calls of Gluttony, increasing your INT by 1!

Gamer's Mind has been reinforced against the calls of Gluttony.

O...kay then? I suppose that made a bit of sense, in a weird way. I wasn't willing to think about it at the moment... now then... my physical stats. If I wanted to do more at this point, I needed more than just my own body. I need to load myself down with weight, pull trucks like that one guy from that movie. There was a bit of a problem though.

After a while of scaling my training up, I'd start damaging the landscape, since it wouldn't be able to handle the intensity of the things I'd be doing. I needed to find a way around that.

In my musings, I found a place that sold books and coffee. With over a hundred-thousand lien, I had more than enough to get whatever I wanted. I picked out several books, seemingly random ones to most people, but to my Sight, they detailed things like Spear Skill, Hammer/Mace Skill, Katana Skill, along with a few more Aura-made weapons and some new fields of crafting.

Each of the skills, Vorpal Sword, Gleaming Dagger, Flash Axe, Day Breaker/Dawn Mace (the two weapon skills were in the same 'skill'), Soul Scythe, and Magic Missile (which was a spear), had their own special power associated to each of them. Vorpal Sword had very high damage, a whopping 300%, and would penetrate defenses on a flat number, as opposed to a percentage. Gleaming Dagger could take any number of forms and be adjusted on the fly, as well as giving me an attack speed boost. Flash Axe could send out a short-range wave of energy, as well as leave afterimage lights that did some damage (not as much as the actual axe, of course). Dawn Mace and Day Breaker could shock my enemies, like a stunning strike from an RPG. Soul Scythe had the longest melee reach and the highest damage, higher than Vorpal Sword at 500%. Magic Missile had a low summon/charge time compared to the other weapons, given that it was just a long rod of Aura, had the highest Defense Penetration at 40%, and as its name implied, could be launched for a ranged attack, similar to a giant form of Energy Arrow.

I finished 'reading' the books that I could, saving some of the others for actual reading later (and not just because they weren't skill books). As the golden particles faded, I took notice of a figure standing several feet away near the mouth of the alleyway. I examined her expression, which was one of shock and horror, "Wh-what... what did you just to those poor, defenseless books?" her golden eyes were wide and full of disbelief.

I smirked at her, feeling tension starting to melt. Maybe this was what I needed, someone to just kinda... mess with for a bit, "Oh, you mean... THIS book?" grinning, I reached into my sleeve to help hide the fact that I sneakily extracted one of the other books from my inventory, "Just a bit of a trick of the lights from this humble magician." I bowed with the book in my hand, then looked at her, finally focusing on the small block of info floating above her head.

Blake Belladonna
Title: The Beauty
Level: 32

Her beautiful eyes homed in on the book in my hand, "How did you just..." her face curled into one of great confusion.

"As I've just told the lovely lady, I'm a magician." I smirked, Charming focused heavily on her. I felt myself relaxing, things coming more naturally to me as I could focus easier. Damn I needed this more than I thought.

Her cheeks seemed to bloom with a pink hue, "A magician? So... can... can you do a card trick?" the second the words came out of her hesitant mouth, I noticed her face curl a bit more in what must have been awkward, embarrassed feelings, as if she was regretting asking that.

I thanked my pack mule tendencies and high number of inventory slots. I made a sweeping flourish of my arm, the fabric of my hoodie seeming to flow until I stepped back, revealing a small table with a black cloth on top of it. I chuckled at her surprised eyes, then ruffled my hair over the table, a deck of cards spilling from my shaggy blond locks. I gave an enthusiastic and charismatic chuckle, "Tada~!" I gathered the cards, manipulating them with Gamer's Sight and Amazing Grace, swapping them out and around with precise motions. I continued the shuffling for almost a minute, Blake's eyes watching me, then I dealt out a Royal Flush, "T'is a fine array ma'am, truly you fit the blackjack, or as some like to call it, the clover." I pulled out a four-leaf clover with a snap of my wrist, "Or maybe a flower?" I pulled out a daffodil with the same motion, "It goes with your eyes." as I stuck the flower in her hair, I noticed the new skill, Magic Tricks, appear and start leveling up several times, "Hmmm... no, the lady's eyes are much richer than this mere flower, so rich in fact..." I pulled the daffodil out and with my fingers quickly switched it away with a gold coin, "I'd say they're made of gold."

Blake's cheeks were red, but her golden eyes were wide, "That... that's very impressive." she smiled at me.

I chuckled, "Almost as impressive as your smile." it was with a dinging sound that my attention was brought to the series of notifications to my side.

A multitude of actions has increased your Closeness to Blake by a total of +20! (+6, +14) (Total: +20)

Blake's Respect for you rose drastically!

Your relationship with Blake upgraded from "Stranger" to "Acquaintance"

Performing dazzling acts that incite awe and wonder into your audience has increased your CHA by 1!

Invading the thoughts and feelings of someone in a benign way has increased your CHA by 1!

She looked away, blushing more, "My smile isn't anything to fuss over." she said humbly, denying my statement.

I hummed a bit, then held my hands over my head, ready to put some recent updates to use, such as Auto Loot, which grabbed things near my feet and put them into my Inventory, "Ah well since I'm taller than you, you should clearly just look down so I can't see it." I chuckled and 'magicked' the table away, revealing an arrangement of cards on the ground that spelled out Hello

Blake once more was impressed, if the increased Respect notification was anything to go by, "You are just full of surprises, aren't you Mr. Magician? You're good though, I'm forced to admit." she shifted her weight a bit, a hand on her hip as she looked at me.

"Ah, Mr. Magician, good one... though that reminds me. I'm out of cards now." I pointed down, where the ninja's eyes were drawn to the lack of cards all over the ground. I pulled out my trick deck behind my back and added a couple of notes. I planned on using these as a little joke for Yang to be amused by, but it was probably good to do this too. I'd get practice for later. I smirked, "If only I had some more." with a bit of manipulation, I dropped the trick deck neatly on top of Blake's head.

Blake blinked, pulling the deck down, "Okay... THAT was really impressive... you didn't even move." she hummed as the looked at the deck.

I bowed at the waist, chuckling, "A magician never reveals his secrets... but if you want to learn more about me... then start by flipping that top card." I gestured to it. Golden eyes looked down at the innocuous deck, I watched Blake flip over the top card, which read 'So what is your name miss?'

I watched her blush return with twice the force, "B-b... Blake. My name is Blake Belladonna... and yours?" her tone was shy. No doubt she was probably pretty socially awkward, if her backstory info of solidarity, White Fang involvement, and unending criticism and hatred from human society were to be taken with any credence, and while my semblance might have been a nuisance and very dickish at times, it had never actually led me astray before.

I smirked and took the top card off the deck, it disappearing as I threw it into the air, the next one reading 'My name is Jaune Arc, nice to meet you.'

Blake smiled softly, "W-well... th-that name is... nice. It sounds... elegant... noble... strong." I couldn't help but find that small smile quite cute.

I gave a charming smirk, both the skill and a bit of Teasing being brought to focus as well, "Well thank you, Blake. I must say that your name is very nice as well. It sounds graceful and beautiful, like a princess, or a ninja perhaps, with the Deadly Nightshade translation." I hummed, "You wouldn't happen to be a ninja princess, would you?" I chuckled, having noticed the rather plain Class she had, Shadow Ninja. I had noticed that classes were a bit like titles for others, but more literal and adhering closely to their fighting style. Yang's had been Fiery Martial Artist, Ruby's, if I recalled correctly from the last time I saw her, was Speeding Reaper, and now Blake had Shadow Ninja... yeah, things were pretty complicated.

But then again, so were these people. I was technically still a blank slate, I'd had about a week of Huntsman training, and all I knew was that I was tough and could run forever with the exception of needing food on occasion. I would never get tired. Gamer's Body not only negated physical damage, even the lethal kind from when I once got shot through the head, it also negated a lot of status effects dealing with fatigue and exhaustion, things that I could figure would drain someone's SP passively, reduce their SPR, and even increase the SP costs of skills. In addition, I was fairly certain that most skills for normal people had an SP cost hidden inside, whereas mine didn't. I was so far from a normal human that it wasn't even funny, even at this low level. If I could train and scale myself properly, make calculated risks and improvise, I could reach level 100 before Beacon started.

It was just a matter of time, effort, and placement.

Lucky for me, I happened to have enough of the first two to get as much of the third as I wanted.

"I'm not, sorry." Blake denied, bringing my brain back up to the front of me, as well as making me realize I hadn't extrapolated on how these girls were painted with dozens of shades of life's colorations, altering them through their experiences and their innate personalities. Yang might have had a brash and boisterous outer shell, but inside there was a precious and moe golden heart beating with soft, cozy fireplace flames. Ruby might have seemed shy, easily flustered, naive, and dangerously kawaii on the outside, but I'd glimpsed into who she really was. She was a good example of 'It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog'. Those silver eyes could sharpen into keen daggers when she was determined, like she had been when she wanted to watch Robin Hood. She had a good head on her shoulders, and could probably figure out my emotions if I wasn't careful to hide them behind a wall of Gamer's Mind, "But it's... nice to hear, even if it's hilariously far from the truth."

Dammit, this was NOT the time to be getting lost in thoughts! "Well of course it's nice to hear. Anyways, alas I am just a magician, not a psychic, so we can't continue our carded conversation."

"Wait... so you just HAD these cards on you?" she asked curiously, "That must have been difficult to pull off, considering you'd need to have the marked ones not be drawn..."

I smirked and pulled off the top card again, making it disappear to reveal a card that simply read 'Yeah.' "It was tough, but I pulled it off flawlessly."

She blinked, "Don't tell me you actually did this psychically..."

I removed another card, 'No, I'd have to guess your name, Blake.'

Blake stared at me, obviously still impressed, as well as slowly looking around, probably for hidden cameras or something, "I'll say it again, it must have taken a LOT of luck to pull this off."

"Oh trust me, it did. It took over 100% luck to do it." a lot of Luck, that is. Really, for as much as I bashed on the stat for not changing what I wanted, so far the things I could attribute to Luck were pretty good. I'd gotten tons of lien, plenty of loot, and managed to pull this whole trick off with a total stranger based on just Luck and quick thinking.

Thinking back, I felt a spike of anger flare up, but then get squashed down by cold hard reasoning. In the moments that I had dumped those points into Luck, I had been much more foolish than I was now, acting on a panicked decision and getting swift karma for not thinking things through. I had acted in a way that had, in that moment, seemed like a good decision. Sure I had spent 75 points earned by relatively easy leveling up, but I had reasoned that if it was that easy to get 75 points through leveling up, I could get another 75 with only a moderate increase in difficulty. In addition, boosting my Luck had seemed like a very, VERY good idea, since I was figuring that I could get good luck in more situations in the future, AND get useful skills for it, like I had done for all my other stats up until that point, but when I breached the 100 mark...

Well let's just say that if had been privy to the tidbit of information that I would get three skills that essentially equated to 'Fifty-fifty chance to do Double or Nothing for damage of one attack', 'Have very loose lips but also make other people have slightly looser lips', and 'Have a 4/5ths chance of having a nightmare EVERY SINGLE NIGHT', and also know that I'd get lectured anyways, then I would have adjusted my point usage in a slightly different manner. I was reasonably pissed when the pattern had stopped just short of not fucking me over, but I was mostly over it.

That of course didn't mean I would be putting my hard-earned skill points into Luck anytime soon.

With my INT, WIS and DEX, I felt that I was pretty good at thinking things up on the fly and making precise, dexterous movements. Of course, I had vast and unfair advantages to just about anything I could put my mind to, given the nature of my semblance. I grinned at her, then pulled off the next card, 'So what is a beautiful woman doing here in an alleyway?'

I hummed internally when I saw a strange emotion flicker in Blake's eyes, before she shyly looked around for several seconds. After looking, and her blush intensifying a bit, she spoke up, "I don't see any beautiful women in this alleyway... unless you happen to secretly be a woman?"

I narrowed my eyes at her a bit, then scrolled through her profile, noting that her CHA was 75, three higher than Yang's. My gaze relaxed a bit, knowing that I hadn't been hallucinating. I smirked at her, letting out a small sound of amusement, "I'm not a woman, but I do suppose you speak the truth. You wouldn't be able to see her without a mirror, because I am indeed talking about you, mademoiselle." I chuckled flirtatiously, putting on a bit of a french accent, "So what has brought you to my humble alleyway?"

She blushed more, "I-i'm not THAT beautiful... but um... I was just passing by on my way to exchange a book, but I saw the strange glow and the seemingly disintegrating books and got worried for that poor literature." she twirled a lock of her hair looking down shyly, "I... I really like books, and I wanted to make sure you hadn't damaged them..."

"Ah yes, right. Don't worry about the books, I can promise you that the books are completely fine." the ones I hadn't eaten, that was, "I must also say that I forgot, amidst my focus becoming lost in those beautiful eyes of yours, the reason you even came in here." Was I flirting? Yes, if the levels I've gotten for it say anything. Did I believe in it? Well... no. It was complicated, the true feelings behind what I was saying. In reality, it was more of a response to the desire to bring happiness to those around me. I could see that Blake's mood had been pretty low, and I was flirting with her to make her feel better. If there was one thing I'd learned from Yang, it's that girls like to feel desired. It was pretty easy to grasp, if you weren't dense, as really, a little bit of flirting wasn't harmful. It would, in a small, easily-handled way, let the target girl know that the flirting guy found her attractive. I smiled more softly at her, "So... would you like to see another trick, or would you like to go do that book exchange?"

Blake cleared her throat, seeming to take a moment to gather her resolve, "I should go. Though I have no qualms with watching these impressive tricks for over an hour, I'm sure you have better things to do than flirting with girls through cards."

I hummed, stroking my chin thoughtfully, then smirked wider, "Why yes, I have ONE better thing I could be done... I could be accompanying the beautiful young woman I was flirting with."

"O-oh?" I noticed that the ravenette offered no resistance. It was a bit disappointing, at least Yang would flirt back, "A-and what w-would you like to a-accompany for?" I laughed internally at her flustered reaction, feeling satisfied that I'd dissolved her focus enough to make her stop automatically connecting pieces of information.

"Hah, well you said you were going to exchange a book, for starters." I smirked a bit more, then relaxed my emotional bombardment a bit, "After that... we'll see how things play out." I smiled more softly and honestly, earning a sweet gaze back, "So, since you know where you're going, you can lead the way."

We exchanged looks and smiles, and I followed her as she led the way.

...

Walking in, I looked around the store. Its front had labeled it with a simple name, Tukson's Book Trade, Home to every book under the sun. I smiled at the charming little name. It was a hyperbole, yes, but it was pleasant and charming. I looked at the man behind the counter, who seemed to be reading the late-night news, a soft bluish glow illuminating his features as he took a sip from the steaming mug of coffee beside him.

Tukson
Title: Whose Fangs have tarnished
Level: 35

I whistled lowly at that, taking in his stats. High STR, VIT, and INT for a civilian, though he had a lousy 5 LUK and little combat skills aside from a decent level in Unarmed Skill. He didn't even have a fighting style, which ironically had a permanent status effect called "Savage's Folly", which gave him a huge boost to damage, but lowered most of his other attack parameters, including the side effects of attacks.

Then I glanced over his backstory while pretending to look through a field of useless books. Incredibly tough, left the White Fang for moral reasons. Never learned to fight well, going off of instinct, but he was okay with that. His level was probably twenty lower than it could have been, but the lack of fighting expertise he had was only half of what must have been a large limiter.

Status Effect: Fragile Shine

Description: A terrible innate affliction of the Aura that makes its physical formation very fragile.

Effects: Reduces effectiveness of Aura Construction skills and Aura Shielding skills by 90%

Duration: Permanent

Even though he had his Aura and could strengthen himself, he was in a stark lack of shielding abilities. A glass cannon in a purely magical way. I could estimate maybe... one good blow to the head, maybe a strong blunt-force strike or a large caliber rifle bullet, could take him out, despite his high HP.

Sometimes it just didn't matter if you had high HP, if you could be broken as easily as a normal, unenhanced person then you would die just as easily. Dark Souls was a good, if infuriating example of that. I had rage quit countless times.

Ideas flickered through my head as I looked over some skill books, things I already had, but right now I just needed something to pretend to look at while mulling over my thoughts on how to prepare for the eventual reparations with Yang. I wanted to be sincere with her, tell her how I felt. I only flirted with Blake to make her feel better, but for Yang? There was a definite emotional connection we shared. She was the first I'd told the full truth about my semblance to, the first I'd made this kind of connection with in the first place... she was incredible, and I wanted to make her feel that, instead of just saying it.

So I plotted. I plotted long and hard, thinking of something very carefully, putting care into the details of it and making some contingencies. My massive mental stats helped the process immensely, of course, so much so that by the time I found Blake and myself walking down the street once more, I was already done with the bulk of it. Humming, I looked at Blake, "So... since this kind magician has nothing to do, would the fair lady wish for me to walk her home?"

Blake let out a choking sound, then cleared her throat and seemed to get ahold of herself, "I... it would be best if we didn't go to the place I could consider home on a good day."

I hummed suspiciously, "That sounds like something having to do with criminal work." I mentally facepalmed, no doubt that Stay True had made me say that, "Or something equally suspicious. You're not doing a very good job of deflecting curiosity."

Blake sighed, "How obvious is it?" she seemed... almost depressed at how quickly I'd caught on. I wasn't sure how to feel about that.

I looked at her and told the truth anyways, Stay True be damned, "To any other person, you'd appear as a normal human girl who is training to be a Huntress. To me? I have some special powers that let me see the truth of things, and I know you're a faunus and you're in the White Fang... I also know that you're getting very disenchanted with their methods. You want out and you plan on using an upcoming mission to hijack a train shipment of Dust as a facilitator to leave that life behind." I watched her face run through a marathon of various emotions, before settling on murderous caution, "Call it a pun, but I can be your 'Arc-angel' savior in this case. If there's three things I believe in, it's second chances, redemption, and peaceful endings." I gave her my friendliest smile, "I can help you on your redemption quest and give you a way to make a good name for yourself and other faunus." it was a frustratingly simple goal, become a Huntress in an effort to expand the trust that humans have of faunus. It sounded ridiculous when you thought about it, but getting that revered of a position in society could very well help the image. I wasn't one to knock a plan for being far-fetched, after all I managed to convince Qrow to keep Taiyang off my back even if I decided to date multiple women, such as Yang and Blake, or even Yang and Ruby, or hell I could be with all three of them if I wanted.

The only limit was my wits, charms, and creativity.

Blake stared at me, then slowly reached for her weapon, I could see the intent to kill rising in her eyes and a notification about a drop in Closeness to her, "You're a dangerous man, Jaune."

I shook my head, "Not dangerous, just well-informed. Come with me, you can stay at my house for the time being. I want to help you, truly I do, I want everyone to get the happy ending they deserve."

Blake looked at me, then sighed, slowly sheathing her weapon again, "I'll give you one chance, Jaune. Prove to me that you are who you say you are."

I smiled back at her, holding my arms out in a peaceful gesture, "I'll give you a second chance, Blake. Prove to me that you are who you claim you are."

She crossed her arms under her breasts and pouted at me, "Ass." but I saw my Closeness to her shoot back up, as well as getting a massive increase to Respect.

I chuckled, then picked her up, "Ass-isting your goal of making a better life and a better name for the faunus." I started walking, "Come on, I used to think my dad would kill me for being out late, but now I know at least he's cool with it as long as I actually come home. I just hope we don't catch him awake."

Or... god forbid... doing something.

---

(Half an hour or so later, Jaune's POV)

Avid study of game mechanics has unlocked the Game Mode: Survival

I sighed, turning off my computer and standing up, doing some stretching exercises I'd looked up and thinking over things while shaping a few soda cans into a summoning circle. I needed more power, and I knew for a fact that I could do so with a new elemental. Some elements would be difficult to conjure or collect, such as metal, or air, thus I decided to summon the latter.

I quietly moved to the other room, where Blake was reading a book, looking so widely awake I was surprised that she hadn't drank any coffee, "Hey." I said softly, setting the summoning circle down as it finished forming, "I'm going to do something, and it'll leave me unconscious for a few hours. Can you watch over me? Make sure nothing goes wrong?" I wasn't worried too much, but it'd be good to have someone run damage control if I didn't wake up until four hours from now.

Blake looked at me, having redressed into a black yukata, "Are you sure?"

I rolled my eyes, "Blake... I have faith in you. I let you into my home, explained things to my dad vaguely, and I'm basically giving you free board and food for an indefinite period of time. I have faith that you're a better person than to kill me in my sleep after I've been so kind." I looked at her with a 'really?' look in my eyes, my arms crossed, "Now then, I just need you to make sure nothing bad happens to me. I don't know what exactly happens to my body when I do this other than the fact that I fall unconscious and can't be woken up until it's done. I need you to just make sure I don't die."

Blake closed her book around one finger, "You're very serious about this, aren't you? Why... why is that?" she was skeptical, so I sat down and looked at her, our faces nearly level.

I spoke with a low, calm voice, "Because I believe that everyone can be a good person, if they just try, and they really, truly want to be. You're hurting, and damaged inside, but I want to help you heal. I see a lot of potential in you, Blake, you can become a hero of the faunus, like you want to, you just have to try... and believe in yourself... and cheat life." I chuckled at the 180 her expression did at that last thing, "I have. It's how I managed to do those tricks earlier, along with some quick thinking and careful maneuvers. Here... I'll prove how much I trust you." I opened up the window, and sent the invite.

---

(Blake's POV)

"I'll prove how much I trust you." Jaune said with that odd determination in his voice.

PARTY INVITE!

You have been invited to Jaune Arc's party "The Bumblebee of Justice"!

You will be brought into The Game with this action.

[Accept] [Decline]

I stared at the square in front of me. I didn't quite understand this... but it felt slightly familiar... like a... video game? I'd seen some people playing various video games at some of the hideouts, it wasn't too much of a stretch to reason that it was a notification. Everything else seemed darker, I noticed my aura had activated, a soft purple glow that was darker on the outside, and grew lighter as you got closer to the center. I looked at Jaune's face.

That look of trust and determination, I'd seen it in Adam's face before he turned into the monster he is today, but it lacked the dangerous edge Adam's had been lined with, instead having a nobler tone. I would dare to say that Jaune was quite handsome when he gave that look, directed towards me like it is, it seemed to resonate with a power that sent a small shiver up my spine. I briefly looked over the rest of his body, strong, muscled arms and beefy hands, not like Adam's surprisingly lean build for his faunus type. He was shorter, by a good few inches, but we were both in the height of our developmental stages. I weighed the pros and cons, finally deciding that if Jaune had benefited from this game thing, to the point where he said he had 'cheated life', then maybe it was worth looking into.

Still... I had... ONE question...

"Why Bumblebee?"

"Huh?" he asked, confused and surprised that, of all things, I picked THAT to comment on.

"Why is it The Bumblebee of Justice? Why not just 'The Hunters of Justice'?"

"Oh... er, well... I like my names to be clever, like my friend Yang is like the sun and my symbol is like the crescent moon, so our party is called Celeste, which is like Celestial. I've got blonde hair and some yellow clothing, and my symbol is in gold, and you've got black hair and a lot of black clothing and your symbol is in black, so I took those two colors, since I couldn't think of much else, and I thought, 'What is black and yellow?' and then I remembered that bumblebees are, so I picked that."

The train of thought WAS clever... but also quite goofy. Maybe... maybe I could use something to laugh at in my life, if nothing else.

I pressed Accept.

I immediately regretted it, "ARGH!" GOD... DAMMIT! I felt like my soul was being torn open and filled with a white-hot liquid. If I wasn't in such pain I'd probably think it some sexual euphemism that was marking me as Jaune's charge. I saw a window slowly coalesce, my faunus nightvision lending itself to helping me figure things out outside of the shine that seemed only visible to my eyes, judging from how Jaune hadn't reacted to it, but rather in concern to my pained state.

After what felt like entirely too long, the burning faded into a relaxing warmth, which soothed me until I relaxed completely, "That... was intense."

Jaune sighed in relief, and I realized that he'd held his hand over my mouth, "I'll say. You started screaming so I had to cover your mouth so it didn't wake up my dad. Are you alright?"

I shook my head to clear it, "Kind of... everything's a little bit fuzzy." I looked up at the window above my head.

Blake Belladonna has joined The Game in the Party "The Bumblebees of Justice"!

I saw two other names, a fifteen-year-old girl and a seventeen-year-old girl, brunette and blonde respectively. I saw my name there too, in the Party Members list. I slowly navigated the windows.

"Just read the tutorial, okay? I need to do this summoning." Jaune said, before placing his hands on the odd ritual-like circle underneath him and breathing deeply.

---

(Jaune's POV)

Breathing with my Ki, I looked deep inside myself, humming lowly as I used Azure Dragon's Chilly Breath and focused as hard as I could on summoning an Air Elemental.

Suddenly, I felt a violent wrenching sensation inside myself, followed by feeling like I'd been stabbed, and I saw a splinter of aura float down into the summoning circle. However, the second it touched down, my vision faded as my consciousness exploded.

---

Chaos...

My consciousness explodes across the entire world, my sight encompassing the sky.

I'm consumed endlessly and fed again with my own flesh.

People and animals, breathing.

Fire and lightning, burning.

Plants processing me for their own needs.

The oceans and rivers evaporating and boiling to feed me.

I give and yet I also receive in equal measures...

A deal of desperate mutual exchange, taking what I need and giving what I don't to the world below.

It's just that...

It's air.

It's chaos.

I feel an anchor crash through my skull, massive amounts of myself drawn in.

I'm tossed around like a child's toy.

I feel a master taking hold.

Devils and archdemons and demons alike, raging across the battlefield.

Gods and archangels and angels alike, fighting valiantly against them.

I feel myself torn open, filled with false light, tainting purity.

A sword colder than the highest mountaintops, cleaving through flesh in a song of death.

Victorious but yet beaten, a king and a warrior at my side.

Gold and Ivory, complementing my Azure.

I flee from the lands of fire and death.

I sail across the world on a vessel made by my light.

I feel Ki waning, my body withering endlessly.

Wait... if I am air, then why am I also made of the flesh of a man?

I see blonde and gold, ivory and white.

The skies are black and filled with ash.

I silence the cries of the earth with a gentle touch.

Grimm fall in countless numbers, torn asunder...

My style changes for my body cannot support my previous methods.

I turn cold and hard as I age, recording what I can.

Cold as ice.

I feel hatred flowing, but I do not let it overwhelm me.

I overcome what I can, and yet...

And yet it still is not enough...

Wind blows...

Rain falls...

Fire burns...

And I... return to the earth.

I...

I breathe.

Breath...

I am the breath of the earth.

I am Air.

I am... Mystral.

I feel myself breaking away from a whole.

But... I am merely a piece...

A piece of an even MORE glorious whole.

I am a splinter of a tree.

It only has some power, but it is still growing.

It is still growing, and it shall grow strong.

As it grows strong, I too shall grow strong.

I am Mystral.

I am air.

My breath is infinite.

I am Jaune Arc.

I am human.

My soul is eternal.

I am... one.

---

ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!

DANGEROUS BUGS DETECTED!

ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR!

WARNING, DANGER, JAUNE ARC, DANGER!

ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR!

GLITCH BUG GLITCH BUG GLITCH BUG GLITCH BUG GLITCH!

ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR!

O*(#WN%*Y#$ &I*nh34va9889oz34nz238905z32o6349z8y302452039-z45230bhtrzunbrtzlhro89&*(^*# &% &% )%W(*%# % B)# % #*5y7095y893w5yn (*&# )Y *#(%Y #$(^_$# Y) #% #_% ! b*() #% BN )&^O**(&% #HY(*%& #543( %($ *Y^$#(*%Y(*NM #$)%(* #$%Y$*#

...

---

(Unknown Location, Unknown POV)

Long tresses fell perfectly as she stood up, black and white her clothing of choice. An incandescent shine reflected off the metal clasped in her hands.

She stood not too tall, petite for her status, but she reveled in power, a grin revealing perfect teeth.

She walked forward, grinning from ear to ear as volcanic glass crunched under her boots, red aura glowing softly around her as she walked towards the dais. She took in the figure standing there, overlooking a realm of fire, blood, and death. She giggled softly, a light, breathy sound.

The figure turned to her, skin of purest vile white shimmering in the moonlight, crimson veins creeped up the sides of her face towards her baleful eyes, colored so darkly you could mistake them for blake. A glowing, hellish red bore into her as this regal figure of power stared blankly, emotions barren from her face save for a hatred towards everything in the world.

The woman giggled, her dark locks covering half of her face in a way that would have looked demure and shy if not for the powerful aura she gave off, as well as the psychotic grin on her face.

"Who are you to disturb me? What mortal would dare enter this place?" she demanded, voice so cold it could freeze an army in its tracks.

Salem
Title: ?
Level: ?

Her exposed eye gleamed with silver light as she spoke, "Hello there, Salem. I've come to make a proposition."

---

First let me say... CLIFFHANGER AGAIN! HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!

Second let me say... I'm sorry this took so long, everyone. I was dealing with a lot of shit in my life and some problems with school, family, and home. There were times when I nearly forgot about this story altogether, but I didn't. I kept on slowly but surely, and I persisted until the very end.

It's long overdue, but there's a good almost 33.8k words to make up for it.

I hope you've all enjoyed the chapter, and I'm looking forward to all the reviews.

I apologize if there was a drop in quality, as this thing was written slowly over the course of 3 months with writing sessions few and far between. If there's any glaring mistakes then please let me know.

I'm also going to say that I'm looking for a beta now too, to help me out.

Now then... I think that's everything for the behind-the-scenes...

Let's just say... that last line is foreshadowing of an epic variety... and the epicness is... present.

Hehehehheehehhehehehehehe, I'll never tell~

*cheeky face*

Well, hopefully that's all good for now. The only thing left to do is...

Omake time~!

---

Omake: Here comes the king (story arc 1 theme song)

---

*The song starts with a few chords from Megalovania*

Jaune glares at his computer screen, red in the face with a vein bulging on his forehead as he plays the infuriating boss battle.

*Very quickly, that part of the song dies out*

Jaune jumps back, the side of his hand bleeding from a large splinter piercing the skin. It cuts to zoom in on a droplet of blood landing on his keyboard with a muted note playing in the background.

*Suddenly, a rock'n'roll-type chord breaks out of the dulled quietness*

These frail hands hold courage but are weak as twigs!

He can't dish it out, but he's used to taking it~!

It cuts to a flashback of a younger Jaune being beaten up in an alleyway, trying to use a trashcan lid to defend himself, but it's ripped from his hands and he's punched square in the chest.

But it only takes a spark to ignite the fire and roll the ball.

He's going to play the game and change it all!

It flashes forward to show Jaune looking at the blue window that pops up, Welcome to The Game! You have been granted the power to ascend to and past the level of the heroes of yore! Would you like to read the tutorial? He makes a myriad of expressions before settling on determination, where it jumps to him looking at himself in the bathroom mirror and at the small block of information above his head.

Jaune Arc
Title: The Gamer
Level: 1

From Zero to Hero, one to a hundred,

He's gotta play it smart even if he's hard to knock dead.

It shows the back of Jaune's head, and suddenly a bullet flies through his skull, but the wound closes up a second later and he slips into a fighting stance. He disarms the terrified man.

One to a hundred, from bottom to top,

Always improving, he can't ever stop!

It shows Jaune punching a punching bag, his arm bulging as a notification for increased STR appears. It then shows another right after of him running, then running faster as a DEX increase appears. Finally it shows him getting collapsing in exhaustion, but getting back up as a VIT increase appears.

Bottom to top, Zero to Hero!

Here comes the king, AND HE KNOOOOOWS~!

It cuts to Jaune meeting Yang, the two talking at a bench at the gym.

He's gotta fan the flames of the light.

He's gotta fill himself with the fight.

It cuts to Jaune and Yang sparring, using their respective weapons and causing some collateral damage as some of Yang's shotgun blasts and some of Jaune's missed swings tear chunks of the floor out.

Neeeewww friends.

New ways to begin.

Raise your stats,

And get back to the grind again!

At first it shows Jaune sitting in the spare bedroom of the Rose/Xiao Long house, meeting Ruby with a bit of a sheepish smile on his face.

It then shows a few partial cuts of some different angles of Jaune increasing his stats. One for STR that causes his muscles to bulge a little more with new growth, one for INT that makes little bolts of lightning fill his brain, and one for CHA that makes him sparkle with charms.

Can't stop.

Will he succeed or will he flop?

It's hard to tell at all.

Through the terrors of the nightfall~!

It shows a cheerful day with an older Jaune raising his sword skywards in victory, cheers of the people echoing out in the background, but then it cuts to a dark day with a crimson sky and Jaune falls, his last HP disappearing out of his bar.

With the soul of The Gamer, his eyes will gleam.

His mind is stoic as hell, but he can still dreeeeeaaaaaam!

It cuts to Jaune waking up, breathing heavily. His death was just a dream. However, he gets a notification stating he had a nightmare.

From Zero to Hero, one to a hundred,

He's gotta play it smart even if he's hard to knock dead.

It shows Jaune getting impaled in a dozen different places by the spikes of an Ursa Major. However, he pulls himself off of them and his wounds close within a second.

One to a hundred, from bottom to top,

Always improving, he can't ever stop!

It shows Jaune getting skill notifications, one for his Sword Skill, one for his Shield Skill, and one for Energy Bolt.

Bottom to top, Zero to Hero!

Here comes the king, AND HE KNOOOOOWS~!

It shows Jaune increasing his INT to new heights, then firing a Gaster Blaster at Qrow.

It cuts to afterwards, with Jaune battered and beaten and holding Lilith's Claw. He trudges along through the forest.

He isn't bound by any man's rules.

He isn't trapped inside a world made by fools!

It shows a headshot of Qrow, with the notification "Ally Gained!", followed by a picture of his dad John with the same notification, then Marbel with the same notification, then Jenkins with the notification, then Ozpin and Glynda both at the same time with the notification.

Expand his power, expand his light.

Practice makes perfect, become perfect at the fight!

It shows Jaune in battle gear, with Yang, Ruby, and Blake behind him on one side, and his dad in full platemail, Marbel in some light scalemail, and Qrow on the other side, the seven of them arranged in a V-pattern.

With the Sight of an angel.

And a heart full of light.

He can help all his friends.

Understand, the power~ that's inside~!

It shows Yang taking in a deep breath, then opening her eyes to reveal that they're blue. It then shows Ruby seeming to phase into rose petals and moving so fast the grass under her catch on fire. Then it shows Marbel pointing her new dagger at an Ursa Major, then her form wavers a bit before she suddenly slamming into it, burying her dagger up to the hilt in the beast's neck. Finally, it shows five Blakes taking on a Deathstalker, which impales one of them, only to have it drop off, purple light leaking from the gaping wound as it turns back into energy and flows into the real Blake's body.

*it plays an instrumental for a while*

It shows Jaune equipping new armor, piece by piece. Boots with high shinguards, broad, intricately articulated shoulderguards, heavily covering metal gauntlets, more protective chest and back armor, greaves, boot-like plating, and an open-faced helmet with a golden crest on top of it. He then turns to the others, and it pans over them to show they're all equipped with different armors.

Yang is wearing a highly upgraded form of Ember Celica that looks almost like a gold and orange version of the arms of Iron Man's suit. Her hair is tied back into a long, thick braid. Her jacket has been modified to be more modest and cover. Her boots now have a foot version of Ember Celica laid over them.

Ruby is wearing bracers that hold some bullets, two lines of them each, and a new armored corset. Her cloak is lined with fur around the mouth of the hood and the tail of the cape. Crescent Rose's blade now gleams with silver light from Dust. She looks stronger, more developed, and ready for the oncoming battle.

Marbel is wearing a leather jacket with light plating on the forearms and the shoulders, a bandana covers her mouth, and metal boots covers her shins and feet, with cloth leggings reaching up to her thighs, her shorts reaching down to nearly her knees, which are covered with metal armor. Her weapon is a white and pink dagger with a brown glow around it.

Blake is wearing black arm coverings and taller shoes, her white shirt and shorts having been replaced with a medium gray. She's wearing gloves with dust woven into the fabric, glowing, rune-like symbols in a dark purple-gray just somewhat discernible from the black leather. She loads Gambol Shroud with Dust bullets, then looks at Jaune and nods.

Last in the line is his father, John, grinning at him, his dark blue sword held a bit like a cane. He's practically glowing with pride with pride for his sun, and gives a subtle thumbs up, a light blue aura surrounding him as he wears his ocean-blue platemail armor, his shield on his back and his helmet under his arm.

*the music fades to a hush as the lyrics start up again*

Jaune nods to them all, then turns to see a veritable tidal wave of Grimm approaching them all.

From Zero to Hero, one to a hundred,

He's gotta play it smart even if he's hard to knock dead.

An ephemeral flashback to him being decapitated flashes through Jaune's mind, but he then claps his hands so hard there's a sound of thunder.

One to a hundred, from bottom to top,

Always improving, he can't ever stop!

A veritable battery of magic bolts of all elements form a line to either side of the party, appearing out of thin air as a fuzzy Skill Description window appears, the only discernible text being (Prestiged from Mana Barrage)

Bottom to top, Zero to Hero!

Here comes the king, AND HE KNOOOOOWS~!

He launches the line of magical bolts, cutting deep swathes in the otherwise solid line of Grimm. The party charges forward to meet the line.

*the music starts to build tempo*

It cuts away to Jaune brooding while sitting on the edge of a an air conditioning unit on a rooftop.

He has to overcome his sadness and shame.

He has to be confident, he can't think he's lame.

Jaune gets up, equips his armor, and starts walking to the edge of the building.

The night is the darkest right before it turns day.

He has to stand strong, he can't ever run away.

It pans up past the precipice to show a small army of people, among which are the teams RWBY, JNPR, CRDL, CFVY, SSSN, NDGO, BRNZ, ABRN, then Marbel, John, Taiyang, and Qrow, with a few indiscernible few.

It begins to pan past their faces as they all look up at Jaune with bated breath and various amounts of eagerness, anxiety, and other 'looking-forward-to-this' emotions.

Be the hero he dreamed of, he can lead them into the fray.

With each man an angel, and each angel a god.

He can make things right, everything will be okay.

He'll clear all the skies, the sun won't be blot.

He smiles and sends a quest to everyone present, then looks up at the sky, where a hole of blueness has been carved into a dreary gray.

He can do it all, accomplish his dreams.

Now that he has the ultimate means.

It fades to show that all of that was just Jaune's imagination, and he's still in the bathroom, and his hand is hovering over the Yes button on that same window, Welcome to The Game! You have been granted the power to ascend to and past the level of the heroes of yore! Would you like to read the tutorial?

Heroes aren't~ just made in day~.

He can't give up~, he has to train~.

But he knew of all of that anyways~.

Because now his life is just~. A~. GAAAAAME~!

He hits 'Yes' on the tutorial and the screen flashes white.

*the music ends with a small echo of the last notes*

The white quickly fades into a dark blue background.

An image of Jaune in a combat stance appears, holding his shield out front and Crocea Mors to the side.

In front of him, the words "The D'arc", with the D'arc over his shield next to the Arcs and Crocea Mors' blade over them, appears on one line, and the words "Game of Life" appears on a second line at the same time.

Following that, a set of options appears "Continue", "New Game", "Options", "Credits", and "Exit".

A cursor, shaped like Crocea Mors, slides into view, then hovers over "Continue", which highlights from blue to azure, with the outline going from white to gold, and it clicks, with a small confirmation sound.

The screen then cuts to black.

---

Not really a mini-scene or mini-story or anything, but I am proud of the effort I put into it, even if it DID push me past my desired post-time of 8/14

That's everything for now, people. Hopefully shit like this won't happen again, and I can write more consistently.

Just a heads up, though, I will be starting college again this fall, so things will be stilted a bit, but I promise not to do THIS kind of thing again.

The long-ass wait time, of course, not the 33k word chapters... but I DO find those to be a bit difficult to read sometimes. I'll try to keep things under 30k, though, make them more concise and space the chapters out a bit better.

That's all for now, folks. Thank you all for your patience and know that I love you all dearly. I can't wait for the new reviews, to hear how this chapter did. I won't be too confident because I think it's a bit messy, but I'll leave the judging up to you, the fans.

Now then, all that's left is the obligatory profile plug.

-/\/\/\/\-

Jaune Arc
Title: Novice Scholar
Level: 32
Class: Tank
Nickname: Jantastic

HP: 5000/5000
AP: 12,500/12,500
SP: 6300/6300

Strength: 57 (+50%) = 85.5
Dexterity: 51 (+50%) = 76.5
Vitality: 64 (+50%) = 96
Intelligence: 98 (+3) (+50%) = 151.5
Wisdom: 81 (+3) (+50%) = 126
Luck: 110
Charisma: 64

Stat Points: 25

Age: 17
Birthday: November 20th
Race: Human
Height: 5'11.5
Weight: 187
Build: Medium Athletic
Hair/Eyes/Skin: Bright Blonde / Bright Azure / Fair

-/\/\/\/\-

Alright, see you all next time~!

^w^