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

13. Illuminating the dark of Dusk

9/10/16: At least throwing down some starting stuff right now.

9/11/16 at 3AM: Tired and going to bed, but I've gotten about 5.9k words done with just a few hours of work. If I keep this up I could get this chapter published TOMORROW.

9/16/16: Well I didn't get it published on the 12th, but I'll get it done TODAY... As I start this, I'm at about 15.6k words

9/19/16: The past couple of days have been kinda... weird. I haven't gotten too much progress towards actually ENDING the chapter. At the moment, wordcount is about 24.5k words

9/20/16: Well, my moods have been shot down by my mother needing to go to the hospital. I'll try to finish this before Friday (even though it's already like 95% done)

9/27/16: I failed to finish it before Friday, or Saturday, or Sunday, or even Monday. I might finish this and then just go to sleep. My mother is home so that's good, and I'm slowly recovering from that whole ordeal.

9/28/16 at 10:50-ish AM: I'm done with the chapter and the AN, now to do the Omake and the second AN before posting the chapter. First thing's first, though, I need to go to college. Wordcount before Omake and AN2: about 29.4k

9/29/16 at 1:24-ish PM: Alright, I'm going to finish it within the next two hours, hopefully. This is getting ridiculously long for a wait, after I'd promised not to take so long again. I'm sorry for those of you who've waited so long, I truly am. Wordcount continuing Omake: about 31.7k

9/30/16 at 2:50 AM: Well... I'm done with the chapter. Fuck it, it's been too long, so I'm going to just send it out. I'm sorry if the quality dropped, but I was having a hard time getting the focus and energy to type this thing at all, to be completely honest. I'll take any criticisms into consideration and probably fix this chapter in the next couple of days. Luckily I managed to get all of what I wanted to do, done. Final Wordcount: about 34.4k

Reviewer Responses~!

Remzal Von Enilli: He was drinking along with that food, mind you. He took breaks whenever his food was getting low, and topped up on hydration too.

Nexus Bladeguard: I don't know if it's your name, your picture, or your adoration, but I really like you, y'know? Hell, that just gave me an idea.

ZenithTempest: Yeah, maybe. Who knows, maybe these omakes are just slowly setting up for a future harem ending where no hearts are broken and everyone gets along.

Greyson Sanders: Well, sir, that is how you would have written your Gamer fic. This is how I write mine. Jaune's growth is based purely on his effort, and his effort currently is not a lot on his physical stats except for the boosts from the Ki skills.

Catacus: :D

Rose Knight of Neptune: 1644 is the number of Grimm he has killed, 1976 is the number of Grimm has has encountered or at least sensed.

Vexy Minion: You can't tell me what to do! *throws an egg at you* But in all seriousness, if anything I imagine Ruby's going to grow taller and quite busty. It's just a fair representation of all her genetics. Her Rose genes have given her every bit of her looks and made her into basically the spitting image of Summer, so her Xiao-Long genes will affect her height and figure. It's simple logic.

1eragon33: No, because Amber was kinda already fucked before he got there. At the moment, the best he'd be able to do is help her recover and get a quest to reunite the Fall Maiden power into Amber's soul.

Dark Durian: Right now, she's just playing cutie-pie role, as well as plot token. Don't ask about that point, just read the chapter. Marbel was left out because I kinda forgot to put her in there. I know what I plan on doing for the final Memory Chunk, so that's a thing. As for the 'awakened grimm', she has a name now. She prefers either Skyler, or Razor. She will be becoming more humanoid and Jaune will learn an important fact about Aura from this, one that will make some people laugh heartily. Ha ha ha~!

MicroDime: She's german and germans like to drink. That is literally my only reasoning.

Atheist god: Yes, but not for a good while.

doubledamn: It takes a few of them to cure a headache. Right now, Jaune can cast one that is 1750x more powerful than normal if he dumps all of his AP into it. It takes about 350-500 to cure a full-blown Skotomorphosis using Dark Spirit Invasion (there might be more ways it can grimmify him in the future). Ruby's Grimm corruption is from a much, MUCH stronger source. Also, simply put, while he can oomph it up with hundreds of castings at once, it just doesn't have the individual OOMPH it needs to do something like that. Right now his strongest plan is to help Ruby's Aura grow to the point that she gets Aurora and have her use it to purify the corruption.

Commando2341: sir/madam, your idea was SO appealing that I retconned it into the story. Congrats! *gives you a congratulatory cookie* For those of you who don't know the change, Skyler Razefire is now Skyler Arcfire.

Nactick: He wasn't exactly healing Yang's or Ruby's soul (assuming that's what you're referring to), rather he was creating the conditions for balance to be brought to them. Their lives kinda threw their souls out of balance, what with the two mothers one lost and one dead. If that's not what you were referring to, then okay. I don't know what exactly you ARE referring to, but he can't heal someone's soul directly.

correnhimself316: Taiyang was able to keep up with his wives, if only for his skills and such (in the bedroom) as the two could get very, VERY... *ahem* 'hungry'. Emotionally, the three had bonded very deeply well before the marriage began. They'd fought the legions of darkness side-by-side and saved each other's lives countless times. What happened with Taiyang's marriage was outside of his control. Raven abandoned them and Summer sacrificed herself to save all of Vale from a Dark Rift (which is VERY bad news)

Saint of vice koncor: Except it was stated that he died.

Temsen: His mother occasionally visits, but Jaune usually avoids her as much as possible during the visits, and the house too, or at least barring that, he goes out into the yard or up into his room (as he got older, his ability to just leave the house, wait, and come back when she's gone had vastly increased). He hasn't seen his sisters though, and that's because John and Juniper know that they're better off worried than getting their hearts broken by listening to their parents fighting. It STARTED over just Jaune, but then it expanded out of control and now they literally live at opposite ends of the kingdom (Vale City is the northernmost city in the kingdom, Coldwater is the southernmost)

-names: Sir, you have given pretty good suggestions, and honestly it would give me more excuses, so here *a Chibi Ruby capable of levitation via adorableness brings you a package of money and cookie crumbs. There WERE actual cookies, but she ate them all*

Alright then, let's get onto the chapter, shall we?

WARNING: this one kinda gets a little wonky later on in it, so please forgive. I was in a very weird state that day. I'm late on this as it is, however, and it's probably at least passable, so just try to get through that and you'll reach the good parts again soon enough.

Story Arc 2: Playing Prometheus

Chapter 13: Illuminating the dark of Dusk.

---

(Beacon Academy, a few minutes later, Jaune POV)

I sighed, still feeding the kitten from the bottle. The flight towards the illustrious school was a short one, after all. Even for slow daytime flights, it takes maybe ten minutes to go from the landing pads to the airship docks in the city, and vice versa. I hummed lowly, stepping out of the jet as Qrow 'parked' it about fifty meters above the ground outside of the headmaster's tower. My cyan-blue eyes met his wine-reds, and I raised an eyebrow, "You going to explain this, or~?"

Qrow shook his head, "I'm not good at the whole 'describing' thing. I'll let Oz handle that." I sighed at his answer, following hesitantly.

We walked into the tower, immediately heading towards the elevator. With a sigh, I just continued to feed the kitten in my hands, looking down to make sure she was getting a proper latch and was drinking it at a good pace. I smiled softly at the tiny creature in my hands. So small and fragile, so innocent and pure, so wonderful. I would make sure it lived a good life.

Suddenly, the elevator doors opened and soft light filled the dim elevator car. I let Magic Eyes grant me additional visual acuity and nightvision. A subtle glow illuminated them, and I found Qrow staring at me. With a sigh, he turned and got out of the elevator.

Before I could move, the doors started closing. Frowning, I used Crocea and Jurist to force them to stay open, walking out before letting the doors close behind me, "Sir, that elevator is rude." I said with a small chuckle.

I received a deadpan look from the gray-haired man standing behind the desk at the end of the room, as well as the others gathered together.

David Ozpin
Title: ?
Level: ?

Glynda Goodwitch
Title: The Amethyst Witch of Beacon
Level: ?

Sayon Miyagito
Title: Like the Soul, not every Man is as he seems
Level: ?

Almaz Chien
Title: The Hound in the Bright Prism
Level: ?

James Ironwood
Title: The Ignition of the Light Machine
Level: ?

I hummed curiously, looking at each of them. Ozpin was familiar. I'd seen pictures of him many times. His green suit, small round-lens glasses, silvery hair, and brown eyes all stood out. Next to him was Glynda Goodwitch, or as I knew her, Miss Glynn. The only signs of age on her were the stress marks near her eyes and mouth. Other than that, she hadn't aged a day.

Sayon, who I could only guess was named after the color Cyan, was an older man, in his seventies according to what I could gain from him. He resonated a powerful auric presence, more than the others in the room, even Glynda. He wore a traditional Vacuan robe with a myriad of Dusts woven into it in complex patterns. Under the robe was a more normal-styled white shirt and black pants, as well as old-style sandals made of steel, but colored to look like shiny wood. His clothing at all been modified to provide him with extreme flexibility and freedom of movement, and the Dust in his robe was apparently 'Inert Dust'. What Gamer's Sight told me was that the substance was a modified form of Dust that was not exhausted when charged with Aura. Rather, what happened was that instead of the Dust being used to power the elemental effect, the user's Aura itself would power it. A good analogy would be that it normal Dust would act as a battery, using itself up to power the element, while inert Dust would act as a filter, altering the Aura to be like the element. If I had to guess, judging from his lean figure, he was a DEX focuser, and probably had a score near 300 in the stat.

Almaz was a gruff-looking woman with brown hair tied back into a foot-long ponytail She had scars marking the right side of her face, and an eyepatch over the eye. Her clothing was more tactical than the others, black and dark-gray militaristic combat clothing and boots. The only thing she seemed to have that hinted towards her huntress status was the bright blue scarf tied around her neck, with bright streaks of red, gold, orange, green, lavender, and white woven through it. At her waist was a red bandanna with a stylized diamond with markings on it that made it look like a dog's head. She seemed to be the youngest of all of them, at only age forty, but she was a master with using CQC unarmed style, knife combat, pistols, assault and sniper rifles, and even rocket launchers. All her weapons were combined into one mass held on her back by carbon-fiber support straps. Her most prominent feature, though, out of everything about her, had to be her left arm, which was a robotic prosthetic, no doubt made by Atlesian scientists. The armored 'skin' was colored black with a few white and red markings, while the dense rubber 'muscles' were colored a solid black.

James Ironwood, he looked all the General that his title labeled him as. Whereas Almaz looked like a captain or spec-ops soldier who had just come off the field and flown straight here, he looked clean and neatly pressed. His current outfit provided some limited armor, but it was whitesteel, just like my own plates. I could sense the metal parts his right arm, leg, and eye were made of, and briefly considered how difficult it would be for a fully charged Crocea to rip the parts off of his body.

Now that a couple of seconds had passed due to my thoughts, I spoke up, "Miss Glynn, you haven't aged a day." I smiled at the older woman, "It's a little early for me to be attending Beacon, I know, and I'm not done growing yet, but Qrow isn't know for his patience." I chuckled and pocketed the empty formula bottle, "So why have I been dragged all the way over here at two in the morning to talk to the four headmasters of Remnant's illustrious Secondary Hunter Schools?

Glynda cleared her throat, "Mister Arc, I haven't seen you in person since you were very small. Regardless, we will have to catch up at a later time. What we have to tell you may change your perspective of the world."

"Qrow, ah, he was very, very insistent we talk to you. Say you can help us." Sayon said, "I suppose we introduce ourselves, of course." he walked over and gave a slight bow to me. I bowed in return, lower than he had, but he lifted my chin, "No, look in eye. Always look in eye of one you share bow with." he instructed, firm but gentle, and I nodded, looking into his eyes.

They were deep and seemed to be several shades of brown blended into one, yet all perfectly separate. His eyes, the windows to his soul, shone with hidden power, "Yes sir, Sayon Miyagito-san sir." I nodded.

He hummed a bit, then raised back up, returning to his spot in the blink of an eye.

Almaz walked forward next, "So I guess he was a bit right, you DO know some things most people don't... or you've done five bloody minutes of research into Hunter schools." her accent seemed to be a mix of a few, probably gained from her time with several regional allies, talking to them on a daily basis and the usage of her semblance. All I knew about it, though, was that it had to do with mixing knowledge. I didn't get any specifics, just those few words, "Well, regardless, I'm Almaz Chien, the Diamond Dog they called me, since I strike like a bloodhound and I'm tough as diamonds." she snickered a bit, giving me a firm handshake that I returned with no external signs of struggle.

Ironwood stepped up next, "James Ironwood. I must admit, and this is none of your own fault, but my cautious side tells me you shouldn't be here." he said, looking me up and down as if expecting me to suddenly pull out a million energy arrows and throw them at his face.

Of course I wouldn't, but I COULD. My incredibly high level in the skill granted 'Unlimited Arrows', which meant that I could cast the skill an unlimited number of times practically simultaneously. I could either do that, or cast Gaster Blaster eleven times at once and get ninety-nine of them appearing. However, I knew that that wouldn't give off a good message, and I'd probably get wrecked before the blasts could go off.

Regardless, I didn't feel the need to prove myself until I knew what I was proving myself for, "Well, just as Sayon says, not everything is as it seems." I chuckled lowly, squeezing his metal hand painfully hard... for him, at least, with Crocea forcing the power through.

He grunted, but backed off, "Very well." he pulled his hand back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"So seriously, why am I here?" I said after a few more seconds of silence, "Dragged out here at two in the morning, that's not a normal thing. If you do this to every prospective student, it must take a lot of mornings to get through them all. I understand why you potentially have started in April."

"This is not a joke, Mister Arc. This is something that we have tentatively decided to be worth possibly sharing. Tell me, do you know who runs the world?" Ozpin finally spoke up, knocking me out of my reverie.

I shrugged, "The councils. They make the rules and what-not."

A sip of coffee was taken, "Well, officially, and on paper, you are correct, however... there is a secret, underlying level of worldwide power that nobody knows about."

"I'd assume nobody knows about it, since it's a secret." I deadpanned, then gestured for him to get to the point. I would show more respect, but I'd rather cut to the chase than talk until sunrise like a ridiculously long cutscene, "Please skip to the important part."

He sighed, pushing up his glasses, "Very well. Sayon." he addressed the black-haired man.

Sayon nodded, then spoke in a low, stoic voice, "We work in the Shadows, to serve the Light."

Ironwood spoke next, "To uphold the Mantle of protection, with the weight of the world on our shoulders." he looked as though the words left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Next was Almaz, "To create a safe Haven for all to reside in."

Glynda spoke next, which surprised me a bit, "To be the Beacons of hope and light needed to provide mankind with the future."

Finally, Ozpin spoke, "We are the lights in the darkness, the strength in the weakness, the safety in the chaos, the hope in the despair. We are secret, we are many, we are... the Illuminati." he finished in a low voice, emotion barren from his words.

I blinked, staring at them all. They all stared back, waiting for my answer.

I knew before speaking that it wasn't the one they expected, "You have GOT to be FUCKING kidding me!" I covered the kitten's ears to make sure she didn't hear me. I looked at Qrow, "Please tell me that was a joke?" I looked at him for an answer.

He took a swig of whiskey and shook his head, "No, kid, it's very real. The few rumors on the internet are just rumors, and the prospect is so ridiculous that nobody would believe it's actually real."

"Alright, fine." I groaned and looked at the headmasters again, "So, Illuminati, what do you want from me?"

Ozpin sighed, "Before we continue, Mister Arc, I want you to understand one thing. Do not speak a word of us to anyone but us, or you will die to protect this secret." his cold, emotionless words sent a sobering chill down my spine.

I sighed, "Fine, fine, fine... I understand... it's not exactly something that would help the state of humanity. Now then, if you would be so kind as to explain why I'm here, that would be great."

Sayon spoke up, "Qrow informed us that you were capable in the ways of... magic." he said the word hesitantly, as if it were a viper ready to bite him.

"Magic, if you're assuming my control over the elements is magic, then I suppose yes. I have a large grasp over the six elements that make up this world. Why do you ask?"

"Six? Why are there six elements when there's only four representatives?" Almaz muttered loud enough for everyone to hear, now a bit confused.

"Gas and brake." I chuckled, and the woman looked confused, "Oh, sorry, I recognized a reference, even if you didn't intend it. Er, now then, yes, six elements. Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Metal, and Lightning. Now then, what do you mean four representatives?"

Qrow grunted, "Remember when I asked you about the story of the seasons?"

I blinked, then facepalmed, "Right, you told me that story is real, I see... well, shit son." I sighed, "So I guess I'm here because you want to track them down?"

Ironwood shook his head, "No. We already know where three of them are. The fourth has eluded us to no end. You're here for a slightly different task."

I looked at Qrow, "Qrow... what did you tell them?"

"Just a few basics. You can see more than anyone else on the planet, you have the power to grow quickly and in any way you desire, you can grant magical powers to other people." He shrugged at me, "Just the basi-"

"QROW! You did not tell us that last bit of information." Glynda snapped, sounding angry.

The drunk groaned, "Oh my GOD will you quit NAGGING. I still told you, I just-" he was suddenly lifted several feet into the air and slammed into the floor with a several tons of force. I winced and forced the floor to repair itself, which also pushed Qrow's face out of being embedded into the metal, "-ow... thanks kid."

"No problem." I looked at Glynda, "Now Miss Glynn, I'm sure he didn't mean to forget. He's drunk, after all." I gestured to Qrow as he stumbled to his feet, then took another sip of his whiskey.

Glynda sighed, "Mister Arc, I understand that he is drunk. I appreciate that you are willing to see him as a friend, and the fact that you have his trust speaks volumes about your merit. Qrow is not one to trust anyone but his closest allies. You're here because we need your special eyes to assess some problems." she looked at the others, "Please follow us."

To my surprise, the others followed Glynda's word, while Ozpin merely sipped his coffee and stared stoically at me. I stared back, eyeing him up. Whatever his power level was, it was clearly more than I could even begin to measure, since I couldn't even see his title. I sighed lowly, following them back into the elevator.

...

I gently rocked the kitten in my arms, making sure she slept soundly. She emitted soft purring sounds, nuzzling my warm stomach. I smiled lightly as the smooth elevator ride took us down. I counted the seconds, finding it to be longer than I'd taken to go up the tower. The car dimmed, and I felt an oppressive atmosphere begin to form around me. I don't know what it was. I didn't sense danger, but... the air was so thick that I was surprised it didn't snap the cables on the car.

After what felt like forever, the doors opened to a dim hall, emerald lights attached to dark pillars. I took in a breath that felt like inhaling steel. I stumbled out of the car, pushing past everyone as I made my way to the end of the hallway.

ERROR! Power # #$O(*#ZZZZZZZZRRRRT

Un Un uN unNKKnOWN EROororRRRRr

QUesTIoin?/?quesitoin

ERRRRRRRRRrrrrrorrorororororo

CannotCOM pUTe ERORR

RORRE ?QUesiotn

SYNTAX?!

SYnNTaASIXX

The six followed me closely as I stumbled worse than a drunk man, seeing a machine in the distance. I reached out to it, feeling odd. I heard their voices, but they were muffled and nearly impossible to understand.

My vision flashed like I was dreaming as a hand of pale, withered skin reached towards a tree and I stumbled towards the machine, falling to my bony knees as my energy left me, a sword stuck in my chest, if only I could reach that machine and see inside, then I could recharge and fight my enemy.

I set Garnet on the ground as my body felt ten times heavier than it was. I gazed at the white-dressed woman in the tube, her scarred face looking lifeless but for her soft breathing and pained expression.

Amber Cornucus
Title: The Fallen Maiden of the Fall
Level: 84

I reached out, my hand touching the glass as I tried to overcome the oppressive weight surging through my body.

Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posie.

Ashes, ashes.

We all fall down.

...

...

...

... but you refused.

Your determination to power through and find out the truth has filled you with renewed strength.

I stood up, my eyes level with hers. For a brief moment, she awoke, our eyes meeting.

I felt my lightning snap my brain like a rubber band.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed in agony as Aurora was forced out of my body. Garnet froze in fear, I heard Sayon, Almaz, Ironwood, and Glynda all gasp, and two thumps of bodies hitting the floor.

I convulsed, falling back as my arms stuck straight up and out. I blinked my eyes a few times, seeing wisps of light get grasped by my hands, then darkness took over my vision.

---

A sword was run through my body as I tried to reach the tree. It was carved with several formula that would help me to live.

Nature... nature was the key. It always had been. When I tried to do things differently, it didn't end well.

Then again, this hadn't either.

I felt burning eyes pierce the back of my head as one last swing took me down, freeing my head from my shoulders and sending it flying into the air.

---

(A few hours later, Jaune's POV)

I cracked my eyes open and felt my retinas explode from the light entering them. I waited and a few moments later, the pain in my eyes, neck, and chest all dulled until they were nothing. I sighed and opened my eyes wider. I felt something moist on my cheek. Turning my head, I saw Garnet licking my face, meowing happily. I smiled and picked her up. I sat up with her in hand and looked around. We were still in the vault-like area we were before, however Ironwood and Almaz were now absent. I groaned and looked over, seeing Sayon and Glynda looking over Ozpin and Qrow, who seemed to be unconscious. I groaned again, then lifted Garnet up to nuzzle me. She seemed a bit less energetic than before. While she nuzzled my cheek, I rubbed my eyes clear and looked around again, seeing a message.

Gained the item "Strange Red Soul Shard (x1)"

Gained the item "Strange White Soul Shard (x2)"

Completion of many quest objectives and advancing yourself through the story of your life has increased your LUK by 1!

I blinked, staring at the message. I could only guess that two of these shards had come from Qrow and Ozpin... then where did the third come from? "What happened?"

Glynda's eyes snapped up to look at me, "My god, you're awake." she moved over to help me stand, "We were worried. Sayon said that the aura readings were normal for all three of you, but my worry didn't stop. Ironwood and Almaz will return soon, they left to refresh themselves. Sayon said he won't leave Ozpin and Qrow's side. Are you alright, Jaune?"

I smiled at her concern for me, "I'm fine, but there were shards of a soul that appeared, I could sense them."

Sayon stood up, "From their chest both came white soul shards. Ozpin's aura is a deep emerald, Qrow's pinkish-red. The soul shards had attached to them at some point. They went toward you and... simply disappear. Do you feel different? Do you feel like your Aura has increased in size?"

I checked my profile, finding the same 70k AP limit from before, "No, it's the same. There was another too, though, a red one... I think." I added the last bit to reduce his suspicion, hiding my pause with a groan.

"Ah, yes. Kitten had one. After it came out, she awoke and began to sniff you, snuggle you, attempt and fail to climb your body. I check you several times but your Aura measure same every time. Tell me, your Aura recovers, does it not?"

I blinked, looking at him, "I can recover my Aura from empty to full in a bit under two minutes, sir." I didn't bother with the weight of that reveal, instead looking over Qrow and Ozpin. I reached out and touched them with Soulforge Restoration, each one taking a third of my Aura with overcharge value. They both were shocked awake by the sudden surge, and I smiled, "Hey you two. You alright?"

Ozpin blinked, then rubbed his eyes, "That was odd."

Qrow groaned, "Ow~... hangover..." he rubbed his temples, "Hair of the dog." he reached for his flask.

"No." I stopped his hand and gave him a supercharged Soulforge, healing his headache instantly while bringing myself down to only about a twelfth of my maximum Aura. I didn't mind. In a quiet, subtle, not-to-be-disturbed way, I was friends with Qrow. We had respect for each other, if nothing else. I would gladly spend a quarter of my Aura to heal him if it meant he'd be alright.

Qrow sighed, "Kid, I need you around Signal. Damn shame it's nearly too late you for to even start." he chuckled lowly as he sat up.

I looked over and saw Ozpin had already stood up and acquired his coffee mug, taking a sip, "Mr. Arc, care to explain?"

"Honestly I don't know. I started getting visions of myself reaching out towards a tree, and when I got close to Amber, I felt weird and heavy and that's when my Aurora activated and shit happened. You aren't hurt, are you sir?"

He gave a small smile, "You truly are your father's son. I'm alright. To accurately describe the feeling, it seems to feel like there was an additional piece of soul attached to my own that I have only noticed because it has removed itself. It did nothing but take up inconsequential space. Do you know what it relates to?"

"Honestly, no. My... 'sight' describes that it's power resonance is indescribable. I have a task to collect the shards of this red soul as well, and-"

QUEST RECEIVED!

Quest: Another Hero's fallen light.
Description: You have found a piece of a white-colored soul that also holds a strange, indescribable power inside it. It's unknown what this power is, but you feel it is important.

Objective: Collect all the shards of the shattered white soul and put them back together.
-Collect the soul shards (2/6)

Rewards: "Reconstructed Strange White Soul", +100,000 EXP, +10% mastery of Mana Affinity, increase your knowledge of souls.

Penalties: The "Strange White Soul" is forever broken, Varying EXP for each shard collected, Varying boost to mastery of Mana Affinity, slightly increase your knowledge of souls.

I hummed. It seemed I might find shattered souls throughout the world, then. I hoped this wasn't too much of a common problem for the dead. At least these two were only broken into six pieces, which I supposed I could tell because the two shards I had of either color had combined into one piece and formed a third of the orb-like shape of a soul.

Still, it was interesting to think about who these souls might have belonged to, for them to break like this. It was impossible to know exactly who, but some speculation could waste a bit of time.

I could guess that the white one might have been pure and innocent of heart. They might have been a hearty young man or woman, who desired to help people, maybe liked to have picnics or to garden, maybe to take walks on the beach if ever possible.

The red one was a bit tougher. Ruby's Aura was red, and she was an adorable, affectionate, and sweet girl who embarrassed easily. However, there were many ways for certain traits to be expressed. Beauty, love, passion, shame, that was what her four most prominent traits could be boiled down to. The person may have been hot-blooded, driven by instinct. They may have had secrets, or regrets. They may have had a high libido, or loved like a brightly burning bonfire rather than a fireplace.

Thinking on it, my description fit Yang a bit more than I intended. Even if I pretended to ignore it, there were slight hints that she wanted, or at least expected more. Would she make the first move? Did she fear the commitment? No, that was a silly thought. It was something to do with her issues, it had to be. She wanted to know that I wanted 'it'. While I would enjoy 'it' and I would be lying if I said 'it' was not something I'd like to do, 'it' was not my priority right now. My priority right now was gaining levels and stat points, leveling up skills, and preparing for whatever Cinder and her forces of evil planned to do.

That reminded me, "When are Ironwood and Almaz getting ba-" I heard the elevator open and two sets of footsteps approach. I smiled slightly at the sight of the two other headmasters, "Well that's convenient. I'd rather say this to all of you. My power extends past just 'sight'. I have an array of abilities that include limited shapeshifting. With this ability, I have done something you might be surprised to hear." I equipped Adam's clothing and turned into a Bull Faunus, smirking at the six shocked hunters, "I've assassinated Adam Taurus, leader of the White Fang, and placed myself in the rule he left behind as a phantom of him. I've already begun plans to stop the White Fang's terrorist actions, and while none have come to fruition yet, please understand that these efforts will take a significant amount of time. However, as you probably all know, there are more forces at work out there than the Illuminati and the White Fang." I lifted a slab of stone from the floor and carved in the picture of Cinder's face, coloring it with chemical reactions from Alchemical Aura, "This woman approached the White Fang twice to request their aid in her and her faction's evil schemes. Her name is Cinder Fall. When I first saw her, she was within my ability to scan the levels of power people had. However, just a few days later, she was above that range, and seemed to have the ability to control fire. She wore a red dress of some sort and wielded a pair of curved swords that I believe could turn into a bow and arrow."

Qrow's eyes widened in realization, "She's the one who attacked Amber." he looked directly at me, "Kid, you've just cleared up a mystery I was worried would go unsolved. This woman, Cinder Fall, she... she attacked Amber, the one in the tube. She used some sort of Grimm parasite to drain her soul of the Fall Maiden's power. I couldn't make out any of the attackers' faces due to some sort of illusory semblance being used. They ran, but not after butchering the poor girl's soul and taking part of the Maiden power for themselves. Cinder Fall... that bitch... whatever she wants with the Fall Maiden powers, it can't be good." he snarled.

Ironwood placed a hand on the slimmer man's shoulder, "Qrow, calm yourself. You can't act brash in such a delicate situation. For the time being, Amber is safe. Atlesian technology and Ozpin's Aura-containing barriers have ensured that."

"But for how long?" Almaz said ruefully, "How long before Cinder and her cohorts grow balls too big for their britches and find and blow their way into this vault, slay the girl, and take the rest of the power for themselves? Even with our strengths, she'll slaughter us like squealing pigs with the abilities such a power would grant her." the brunette woman snorted, lighting a cigar and taking a puff.

"Patience is key." Sayon warned, "But action must be taken. This young man can claim souls and, I assume, keep them safe?" he looked at me questioningly, and I nodded. The soul shards, the Unshining Soul, Adam's soul, and the Damned Soul were all still in my inventory, safe and sound, "Then we could, perhaps, give her soul to him to keep safe."

"And then the little bastard turns on us and hands it over to Cinder during one of their White Fang meetings." Ironwood said spitefully, glaring at me.

I removed my mask and glared at him, "I'd sooner gouge my own heart out of my chest. In fact, why don't I do that now?" I don't know what came over me, but one second I was nearly snarling at Ironwood, the next Wilt was shearing off my left pectoral muscles. I reached in, much to their shock and disgust, and ripped out my beating heart. I was briefly terrified at the massive chunk of HP I lost, but it was only five eighths of my HP gone, not all of it. Either way, it didn't matter as I severed the arteries connecting the beating organ to my chest. Just as all wounds had before, my heart and the massive opening in my chest both disappeared into white mist. Within three seconds I looked perfectly normal again.

I took in a deep breath, nearly falling to my knees. I hoped Garnet didn't see that, I really, REALLY did. I blinked and looked around for the notification, and sure enough it was there, right where I couldn't see it before.

Unknown severe errors in coding has caused need for rebooting. For the duration of this time, Gamer's Mind will be inactive.

Time remaining until reboot is complete: 5 hours, 13 minutes.

I groaned, "That... is part of my ability. No wound to me is fatal until my 'health' runs out. Even that move there still left me with nearly half of such a measure remaining. That ability has let me face much tougher opponents that most would normally be able to, since I'm impossible to cripple, reduce, neutralize, and in some instances kill.

Ironwood cleared his throat, "I believe you've proven the point that you are psychotic."

I shook my head, standing up as I dismissed Beast's Blood and changed to my normal clothes, "No. Impulsive? Sometimes. Bullheaded? Lord knows I try not to be and it doesn't work. Psychotic? No. Never have been, never will. In fact, I'm immune to psychological effects, making me the sanest person in this room. I know I can take a blow like that, so I decided to demonstrate. You've seen people eviscerated before, haven't you?" their slightly awkward expressions said it all and more. They were uncomfortable bringing up those topics to someone who they considered to be very young and naive compared to the people who pass through their graduating classes.

I pushed on, "Listen, while keeping her soul safe would be something I wouldn't mind, what I DON'T mind is removing a woman's soul and killing her over this issue. You WILL make sure she stays alive and well. If I'm going to be a part of these operations, then I expect to receive the respect that you all hold for each other. I'm a lot smarter than I look. I took all of a few seconds to observe all of you and take in your strengths and weakness. Almaz served as a huntress in the military in one of Mistral's more recent intrakingdom conflicts, her arm is made of metal and a special rubber that contracts and extends like real muscle when exposed to electrical impulses. Sayon has a massive amount of Aura, the most out of everyone here, and his robe allows him to use the elements as if like magic, but it's all done with inert Dust. Ironwood's name being half-metal is quite representative, what with his robotic arm, leg, chest, and eye. Ozpin, you sir are the hardest to look into, since your power isn't literally shown in your sleeves." I chuckled a bit, "I have a theory and if it's true, then I could use your semblances." they looked a bit confused, so I extrapolated, "From your perspective, your semblances are special to you, but from my perspective, they're just skills to be learned. I want you to write down the most detailed descriptions of your semblances you can, while I compile as much information as I can about what I can do for Amber. I also give you the heartfelt promise that I'll eliminate the threat the White Fang poses on kingdom safety and security. If I don't, then I guess you can always just kill me." I shrugged. It was true, they could. Did that mean I liked the fact? Hell no, I have things to live for. I have life, love, and light to fight for.

Almaz smirked, "Well, I guess that's assurance enough." she snickered at me, "Anyone willing to put their life on the chopping block for trust is obviously either confident or desperate enough to do anything to prove themselves." she flicked a few cigar ashes towards me, "Fine, I can do that. Anything else, kid? If it keeps the information flow coming, I'm willing to help out. Information is the deadliest weapon we have."

"Right, and because of that, please don't kill her on sight. If she dies, there's no telling what sort of chaos on her side will ensue and what they'll do because of it. I'm not advocating that she deserves a free pass to do what she pleases, I'm advocating that we gain information from her while she's useful. She's strong, but it seems she's quite arrogant. A trait I can see is not exclusive to those with power and evil hearts." I glared at Ironwood, "We know our enemy, her name, and what she looks like. We don't know their intentions which is why Cinder must live for now." I sighed softly.

Ironwood, of course, as much as he pissed me off, decided to jab back, "If you expect me to trust you, rather than lock you in a lab for experimenting, then I'm going to have to demand that you trust me in return."

Ah, playing the hard game, that was his strategy, "I trust you, Ironwood, I trust you to do what's right, but I also trust in you to do what it takes to boost your PR ratings. I can relate, in a way. I sometimes do my best to come off as trustworthy. However, in these big leagues, trustworthiness of the newbies is only taken by those too gullible to stay long. I know you have little reason to trust me, but... I hope for the sake of society that you do, on at least one, if not all accounts. I plan on attending Beacon this coming autumn, so expect me to be here, and be more grown, developed, and powerful." I smiled at Glynda, "Now then, I think we should all take a break to compile information, then we meet back here and discuss."

They all looked at each other, then Ozpin nodded, "Of course. Surely you must be hungry, Mister Arc. Feel free to enjoy a fresh breakfast from the cafeteria while we discuss what we've learned here."

With a firm nod and a soft sigh, I reached out with my senses and found Garnet now at my feet, nuzzling my shoe. It seemed she had only been frightened by the transformation I went through, and not my self-induced evisceration, which I thanked Luck for. I gently scooped her up into my caring hands, rocking her to sleep again. With a soft smile, I looked at the innocent little kitten, then at the Hunters, "I'll be on my way then. I guess I'll see you in, say, an hour?" they gave their agreements and I walked past them to the elevator, pressing the button to go back up to the ground floor.

The elevator doors gave a soft *shunk* as they closed, and with a smooth pull of the cables, I returned to the surface.

---

(Twenty minutes later, Beacon cafeteria, Jaune POV)

I sighed. Weiss would probably wake up early, and Yang, Ruby, and Marbel had school. I had to stay here for the time being, but I should be back in town before they wake up. In the meantime, I looked up some things on my scroll, such as video games and various skills I might be able to copy and use for myself, as well as contemplating how I would get out of here in a reasonable amount of time.

By observing the usage of magical spells, you have learned the skill "Energy Orb"

It was nearly half-past 5 now. Without Gamer's Mind keeping my brain steady, I didn't trust myself keep the focus on the Invisible Jet together for long enough to get into the city without possibly either frying all my Aura reserves, or giving myself a stroke.

By observing the usage of magical spells, you have learned the skill "Lightning Bolt"

I considered AD Winged Flight, but while keeping it together proved to be easy, I didn't want to scare Garnet with the loud buzzing lightning wings. Going through the forest would put the poor kitten in danger, and the airships wouldn't be open until this afternoon, after classes were let out for the day.

By observing the usage of magical spells, you have learned the skill "Fire Blast"

So as it seemed, my only option was to have Qrow take me back to Vale after this. I could do that, so long as my kitten was comfortable. So far, it seemed, she adored me, and was now sleeping soundly, curled up on a small pile of napkins.

By observing the usage of magical spells, you have learned the skill "Stalagmite Strike"

I perked up a bit when I heard a tray clatter lightly onto the table. I turned to see a hesitant girl sitting down, looking at the kitten to my side.

Velvet Scarlatina
Title: Scarlet Heart sewn together by Light
Level: 76

I hummed a bit, examining her profile for a few seconds. Rabbit faunus, as evidenced by the long, floppy ears on top of her head. She had a high DEX and INT, her Aura boosting them more than any other stat. Her semblance allowed her to mimic certain things. Charging it into her weapon of choice, she could take pictures of people's weapons and make hardlight copies of them using mechanisms that use Energy and Ice Dust. I hummed lightly, guessing that her level should be at least ten higher, but her timid nature and situational determination reduced her overall power. She could hold her own when unarmed, but she was shy and gentle-natured.

I smirked slightly, and I was sure my eyes twinkling in amusement, "Well, good morning Miss." I smiled charmingly. If I could put even a drop of confidence into her, then she'd benefit greatly from it, "I see you're looking quite intently at my kitten here."

She blushed, coughing into her hand, "Er, roight." she smiled a little bit, "I noticed it and couldn't help but think he or she was quite cute." she blushed a bit more, staring at the napping kitten, "M-may I?" she extended a hand towards Garnet.

I smiled and nodded, "Her name is Garnet. I've only had her for a day now, but I've found she's really really sweet." I chuckled softly, checking some things as I washed my food down with a glass of milk.

I hummed as I saw Wizard's Pool and Wizard's Stream had leveled up significantly more than they had been before. I was a bit glad, to be honest, since if I added up all the minutes that had passed and assumed as close to optimum AP usage, combined with how much I actually regenerated per minute, I had spent a total of over 800 million AP in two weeks. It should have been far, FAR more than enough to level them both up a significant way towards 99. At the very least, it had leveled up Green Thumb by a massive amount.

Green Thumb (Active & Passive) Level: 88, Exp: 21.54%
The ability to promote life and bolster the light within plants through the usage of Aura (AP). By converting Aura into a usable form, plants can be made to grow and thrive. Only possible for those closely attuned to nature.

Spend 1 AP to gift 4 Experience Points to target plant.
Enhanced plants regain an additional 230 HP regeneration per hour after use, lasting for a number of hours equal to the skill's level. (Originally 10 HP)
Increased closeness with plants.
Cannot enhance plants beyond user's level.

So basically, there was a massive patch of level 58 blades of grass in Celeste. The conversion rate had increased by one point at level 25, 50, and 75. I could assume that it would increase again at level 99, which was a fair assumption. Of all the things the game was, squared was a useful trait. Things were often made into nice even fractions, or at least the percentages ended at multiples of 5 or 10.

I felt a bit of hype building up as I also realized Nature's Bond was very high leveled as well. I would have to take the group on a training trip to make sure we all got some good levels, good bonding, and good stat improvement.

Velvet smiled as she petted Garnet, who began purring softly. I chuckled quietly, "So what is a dear of a young woman like yourself doing eating breakfast at half-past five in the morning?" I asked with a smile.

Velvet sighed, "Avoiding some types of people." she looked a little miffed at that statement, "That, and my teammates' snoring." she rubbed her ear a bit, and I chuckled. We shared a moment of laughter before stopping when Garnet seemed to to stir.

I waited, then brought a focus together, "I can do something." I gently moved her hand away from petting the tiny furball, then a dome of azure-tinted air surrounded Garnet, "There we go. Still-air barrier. If I'm right, then she should get air just fine, but any external sound is reduced by 99%." I smiled in success, "Now then... so, who are you planning to avoid?"

She sighed, "Bullies. Personally, it's not like I can't defend myself, but it's that I can't fight back." I raised an eyebrow at her in confusion, "If I stop them from targeting me, then they'll simply target someone else. Someone who will be less capable of handling it." she blinked in surprise, though I looked at her with respect.

Stay True's level increased by 1!

"Heh, I respect your resolve on that, Miss~?" I trailed off, my tone implying all it needed to.

"V-velvet. I apologize, I was so caught up in adoring your kitten that I forgot to tell you my name." she said apologetically.

I smiled reassuringly, "It's fine. I'm Jaune. I'm not a student, but I'm going to be attending Beacon in the upcoming year. Heh, assuming you don't end up graduating next month, can I expect to see you around next year?" I knew the answer, but I had to ask so as to not come off as weirdly knowledgeable.

"O-of course. I'll be going into my third year." she said with a moderate amount of pride, which countered her shyness and brought her to a happy medium, "Assuming all goes well, as I plan to attempt to come back as a Professor, I might just teach you in a class." she giggled a bit, warming up a great deal.

I smiled, "Well, any Huntress smart enough to teach is one worth learning from. All knowledge is valuable, after all. Say, over the summer, if you're available, maybe you'd be keen to join me and some friends of mine in a project. It's pretty awesome."

She hummed curiously, resting one cheek in her hand as she took a bite of her eggs, "What kind of project is significant enough to ask someone you just met to join you with it?"

I chuckled, "We're building a castle on Eagle Mountain and, since it's outside of the kingdom's jurisdiction, were we planning on making it our own kingdom of sorts. Our group is quite small for a council, but we have Hunterly respect going for us, and if I can manage it, we'll be far ahead of the curve and more than ready to get into the school by the time August rolls around." I chuckled confidently, smiling like an amused mastermind, "They're all very decent people, my friends, you'd like them."

Velvet hummed, looking down at her plate as she thought it over. I let her think it over while gently petting Garnet and ensuring her sleep was peaceful. I hummed a bit, eating a strip of bacon while resuming the video I'd been watching, though now it was muted.

By observing the usage of magical spells, you have learned the skill "Crashing Wave"

By observing the usage of magical spells, you have learned the skill "Tornado"

By observing the usage of magical spells, you have learned the skill "Wrecking Ball"

By observing the usage of magical spells, you have learned the skill "Zapping Arcs"

By observing the usage of magical spells, you have learned the skill "Razor Winds"

BZZRRRT

Glitches fixed!

Learning a large number of ranged magical spells has granted you the class "Bombardment Mage"

Learning a large number of ranged magical spells has granted you the class "Bombardment Mage v2"

Learning a large number of magical melee spells has granted you the class "Spellsword"

Recalibrating your soul has corrected some errors: Mana Affinity's level now set to 70. Nature Affinity's level now set to 76. Wizard's Pool's level set now set to 30. Wizard's Stream's level now set to 44

I felt a huge surge of power flow through my chest checked the new classes and was surprised to find I should have gotten them a while back, but then again, my semblance, like some games, was prone to glitches like that... I severely hoped it wasn't denying me anything more important than a couple of classes.

I closed the windows and read through the classes, finding Bombardment Mage v2 to have an interesting effect.

-Bombardment Mage v2 (know 25 ranged spells): +25% damage to Ranged Magic Attacks, +100% Ease of Casting of RMAs, +200% casting speed of RMAs. For 150% the normal cost, ranged attacks can be cast to have double the number of projectiles

I HAD to test that out soon. The problem I had was that it didn't boost my APR to match the spell spamming it was encouraging me to do, which was pretty bad. I could regenerate enough as I was, but still... it wasn't ideal.

My new spells, which were now classed in a magic attack folder called Blasts, seemed to be the 'large' set of my ranged magic attacks. It made sense, in a way. Bolts was the 'medium' set, and Shots was the 'small' set. A 'large' set had to exist, of course, it was logically certain, since The Game seemed to favor squaring and rounding things off.

Velvet lifted her head, and her expression already told me what I needed to know.

...

I walked into the Headmaster's office while adding a couple of details to my contact profile for Velvet. We'd exchanged scroll information and gone over basic details of the plans I was making for Celeste. It wasn't much yet, but I had a castle with several rooms and a queen of choice. She'd made a funny face when I mentioned my 'queen', and after explaining it, I was glad she understood.

I wasn't bringing her in for her looks, though she was a beautiful young woman. I was bringing her in for her strength and potential. I'd actually shared with her names and traits of the others, and assured her that everything was legitimate. I would make a breakthrough soon enough and between making said breakthrough happen, some other priorities, and making Celeste, I would have my hands full for a while. However, instead of trying to do everything at once, I would upgrade my 'tools' to see what would happen.

I was of course referring to prestiging Summon Elemental. It had been surprisingly easy to level up, all things considered, since the skill seemed to mostly measure my ability to have, use, empower, and balance the charges of those elementals.

Would I gain new elementals to summon, and if so, what kinds? The Vacuan belief would imply I could get a Wood Elemental, which would be quite useful. Alternatively, following another 'star' point of view, I could gain a Spirit Elemental. In addition, just going off of RPG knowledge of magical elements, I could potentially gain one of Light, or Dark, or Death, or Life, or even the mystical power of Aether, which would... let me go into space, I guess.

It hurt my head just a little to think about that. If I could gain the power of Aether, then I could potentially go to space. Apparently, nobody on Remnant had done it before, given that Dust loses its power the further away from the surface you get, and it was our only reliable source of fuel for such machines. All aircraft ran on Dust fuels, while cars had the cheaper luxury of running on fossil fuels that were relatively cheaper to refine and use for that scale and type of machinery.

In comparison, it could just be a different type of energy, like Force. If I could gain a Force elemental, or an elemental for Gravity, then I could quite literally crush my enemies. However, I could take Force in a more fictional sense, since these elements were really very fictional (we know what atoms and periodic elements are). If I took Force as the meaning given by Star Wars, then I would gain an Elemental that, fundamentally, could control raw Aura and even the mentalities of people through means of Light Side/Dark Side duality, if possible...

Back to my original point, Wood, and then Spirit, Light, Dark, Death, Life, Aether, and Force. That was seven elementals of a more immaterial and spiritual type, compared to my six, I guess then seven 'physical' ones (lightning shouldn't have counted, but for this purpose I guess it did). That was all well and good, and made a lot of sense given how many skills would probably prestige.

But this was not many skills. This was Summon Elemental, which for more simplicity's sake would more than likely just further develop my elementals. I had to be realistic about this, as well as hopeful that whatever entity that controlled my semblance didn't like being that complex with these sorts of things. My skill, more than likely would prestige to increase the number of charges I had. It might also increase my Elementals' ability to think and comprehend. They were all slowly, very very slowly learning from each other by all being a part of my soul. If those splinters would grow into stubs, which would grow into branches and yet larger branches, then it would make sense that they, like people who were made of all elements, would grow in their knowledge and understanding. Not only that, but really rather the thing I was hoping for, was the possibility that the conversion rate on charges would increase.

Right now, a single charge on each of my elementals gave them 1 level. They were, right now, by default with only one charge given to each, the basest and weakest form an elemental could have while still having enough power to even exist. I had a limited number of Charges, yes, but assuming that it prestiged to the degree that Aura had, then I'd gain several increases of this sort. My elementals would grow in body, mind, and power. Body, because they'd change and develop into the next 'Elemental Rank', since they were currently 'Basic'. Their minds would grow because they'd grow to encompass more power over their respective elements, and possibly they'd start to develop their own personalities other than a basic form of attitude in regards to their tasks. Their power would grow because the unseen conversion rate for the charges would possibly, hopefully increase. I didn't know by how much, but even just increasing it from 1 to 2 would be a major step. I had 22 charges right now, and given how the skill had grown, I'd end up with about 26. Even assuming I didn't get more charges from the first level of the T2 version of the skill, I'd still have 26 charges that gave them each 2 levels, which really meant they were all level 2 and could increase by multiples of two, up to a single one being maxed out to level 42. I didn't know how much power that would get me, but given that I'd been using a particular skill I'd been mostly ignoring for a long while now, I had significantly less to worry about with my glowing hair, which honestly was the worst part of using all of my Ki skills at once.

Shaded Glow (Active) Level: 41, Cost: 100 AP
A technique developed by the ancient monks to hide their souls from prying eyes. By focusing on both the light and the darkness inside your spiritual mass, you can dim your glow and illuminate your shadow, reaching a form of equilibrium.

50% harder to detect from the Light Aura Sight used by Mankind (10)
50% harder to detect from the Dark Spirit Sight used by Grimm (10)
Reduces visual effects of Aura-related skills by 55% (0)
Costs an additional 90 AP per minute (100)
User must remain in focus on this technique or it will break, causing their spiritual energy readings to flare up.

The second I'd been able to maintain it, I simply set it up until it was on by default, which technically was abusing human psychology to turn an active skill passive. Of course I'd broken focus a few times, but I just set it back up. I was stubborn like that, and I'd be the first to admit that flaw.

Ironically, using Aurora to increase its effects actually worked, further balancing the light and dark into a happy medium and reducing the visibility of my effects until now, with less than twice the power needed, I was able to suppress the glow of Radiant Mane nearly completely. In addition, my Aura was nearly undetectable as far as I could tell. I hadn't actually had it tested.

Smiling, I saw the six gathered together, "I'm back, right on time. I have more reports." I pulled out Adam's scroll, opening it with the password I'd cracked and changed with Jurist. I looked through a few messages that had been sent to me, and the most recent one, which was sent last night, had the tone that they believed if 'I' didn't come back by noon today, they'd consider 'me' dead, "The White Fang have been ordered by Cinder to steal Dust throughout the kingdom. She can't be planning anything good, more than likely an assault on either the kingdom itself or on Beacon. If anything is to be taken as certain, it's that she'll stop at nothing to find Amber and finish her off. My plan is that with what I hope to be increased security, we can slow and delay their efforts. If I can't turn the White Fang back into a force for good before then, however... know that I'll take responsibility and make sure every one of those bastards die." I said with as serious of an expression as my face could muster. Almaz looked impressed, so I had to imagine it looked quite good.

"Very well. I trust that you'll do us right. After all, what is it your father says about the Arcs?"

I smiled and recited the phrase I'd known since I could understand it, "An Arc never breaks a promise or goes back on his word."

Ironwood sighed, "Procedure dictates that I cannot trust you with only the merit of your family name to go off of."

I equipped the Scholar title and took his 'skillbook', which surprisingly counted as one. I guess they all did manage to put down enough details that I'd be able to copy their semblances after all. Once I'd stuffed the six 'books' into my inventory, I looked over them while smirking at the man, "Well don't worry, James, at least know that I trust you based on YOUR family name... *cough* fake robot penis *cough*. Sorry, I think something made me sick." I gave a shit-eating grin.

Qrow burst out laughing, nearly falling out of his chair, while Glynda blushed slightly and Ironwood gained a poleaxed look. Almaz and Ozpin smirked slightly, while Sayon was the only one with a straight face. I chuckled lightly while checking the 'books'.

(Almaz) Skillbook: Prismatic Spray - A spell letting loose all the elements of nature in a splitting beam of destruction.

(Sayon) Skillbook: Lifeforce Regeneration - A systemic frequency of Auric power that enhances the soul with the body, and the body with the soul.

Those two were simple enough, though I found the interpretation of Sayon's semblance to be odd. I read the report and could tell that it was very, VERY heavily influenced by a skill I saw that he had... and had maxed out. Trained Body.

Yang, Ruby, and Blake all had it at a decent level, averaging to nearly 45, though surprisingly it was Blake who had the highest level in it. Weiss also had the skill, but it was a measly level 7 compared to Ruby's second-lowest level of 38. A physically fit fighter she was not much of.

When I'd tried to gain the same skill, seeing its benefits as both increasing HPR and SPR, as well as boosting both numbers a good bit, well... the system had denied it and claimed that the mechanics of Gamer's Body prevented its use.

I learned Prismatic Spray, getting two unexpected windows.

You cannot use Prismatic Spray! Requirements: 200 WIS. However, due to your current mastery over the elements and your total Ease of Casting, the requirements have been bypassed. You have learned "Prismatic Spray"! Your title Experienced Scholar has increased the knowledge you have gained from this book! Prismatic Spray's level was set to 15!

Usage of many skill books has granted you the title "Intermediate Scholar"!

The title was essentially the same as the previous two, but now had a maximum starting level boost of 20. I equipped it and gained Lifeforce Regeneration at level 9, to which I smiled. I pulled out two more books and examined them.

(Qrow) Skillbook: Teleportation - A spell that displaces yourself in space in order to move to another location almost instantly.

(James) Skillbook: Engineer's Aura - A skill that converts Aura into a form of energy safe to use in powering machinery.

They weren't perfect. From the description Qrow wrote, his semblance let him displace ANYTHING, including the sharp force of his attacks. However, given what had happened to Adam, I had reasonable certainty that the only way to gather his true semblance was to kill him and harvest it as loot from his body.

Useful as such a reality-bending skill would be, Qrow alive and well was far more valuable. I absorbed the skill at a measly level 3, but Ironwood's semblance got a whopping 20 from the title.

I read the skills and they basically gave me the same description, except Ironwood's semblance could also be changed to a very expensive 'attack mode', which I could only guess damaged foes in-range at a rapid rate, given it took a whopping 20k AP per minute.

With that done for now, I let out a curious hum as I looked at the final two 'books'.

(Glynda) Skillbook: Telekinesis - A spell that allows the user to remotely lift and manipulate objects.

(Ozpin) Skillbook: Temporal Manipulation - An umbrella spell denoting the ability to alter the fabric of time.

My eyes widened as I looked at Ozpin's book, then at the man himself. He looked at me with a contemplative look, then gave a small gesture for me to go ahead.

He trusted me... I absorbed Glynda's book first, getting the skill at level 15, then held the final book in both hands, and hit the 'read' button slowly.

PING!

You have learned-

ERROR!

ERROR ERROR ERROR!

Y҉̸̙̲̥̪̙ò̢͙͕̀u̬̩͚͙͈̪͉̲r̶̠͕̠̀ ̴̡̜̥̻d̢̘̗̪͜ͅǫ̶̶̖̟͕̦͍̣m̶̴̟͓͔̥a̩̹̗̼̪i̖͓͡n̬̝͞ ͚̹̰̮̲͈̭̟̀d͕̥͓̫̳̻̜̮͞ͅo̢̙̦̙͈̖̼e̗̗ͅs҉̮̰̲̬̻ͅ ̺͝͝n҉͙͉̭̝͓͚́o̞̺̲͉͈̺̩ţ̶̰̱̼͉ ̴̻̩̗͔̫̞̖l̙̤i̳̩̭ḛ̡̱͍͍͈͈͚̳ ̮̝i̛̞̥̹̙̖͉̝n̙̥͔̠͔͇͕͝͠ ̢̘̣͇t̢̛̫͡h̦̦̣̥̺e̷̜̼̩̝̜̕ ̟̞̫̼̱̦t͎̜͔͢e͍͖̮̯̬͖̻̺m̩͙͎̖͇̀ṕ̭͓͖̯́͝o̤̯̟̱̙̖̩̰r̵̮̠̮̖̕͜a̡̠̼̦̦̖̣̹͖͢l̵͙̮̝̖ ͍̣͟f̶̵̩̝̰͎ͅa̹̲͔̩̻̫͈b̸̷̟̻̼͈̲͔̮ŗ̘̗̭̥͈̤̳̲͢į͉̩̦̘̘͞c̯̼͍̰ͅs̷̵̘̻̮̠̱̺.͔̹̪̫͎̪̬

I felt a headache set in as the information seemed to be slowly chewed and ground up by my soul, if that was any comparison worth giving.

I slowly sank to my knees, as if my own reaction was going in slow motion, and coughed. Pure azure light erupted from my mouth as I attempted to breathe.

I felt something at my side, two somethings, three, and collapsed, blacking out for the second time in as many hours.

---

Light and dark.

I see an infinite grayness with white and black mixed into it, strands of the stuff.

It was weird... it felt... odd, warm, yet worrying.

Some strands cut off suddenly, others began just as quickly. They surely were limited, but they seemed infinite enough that counting them would leave me an old man with a wasted life.

I groaned as ancient power slowly began to churn within me, feeling as if giant chains were pulling in resistance to me.

I pushed against them, as if they were holding me back from claiming the power I sought to grasp. I pushed with all my strength.

I finally broke through in a great burst of unnatural darkness. Following that, all I could see was unnatural light brighter than the sun.

I felt a chill run down my spine as my perception returned to my body.

---

Light and Darkness have been brought into balance.

You have learned a new skill. Would you like to name it?

I hummed, curious. This... was new. I was able to see the nameless skill's description and effects, which I suppose were to help as reference so I could give it an appropriate name. It had also come out as level 16, which was pretty cool.

Putting off thinking on what just happened in that vision, I took only a few moments to read the description of the far less expansive skill and immediately knew what I needed to name it. Entering the name with a thought, I grinned at the skill window, hype filling me.

Blade Mode (Active) Level: 16, Exp: 62.35%, Cost: 9250 AP
An extremely powerful ancient ability of either magical or spiritual origins. It is unknown what allowed this to happen, but a combination of factors allowed a mortal man with powerful mortal soul to grasp the flow of time and contort it to his will, allowing himself to move at incredible speeds while his enemies were slowed to a crawl.

Range: 6m
Increases Attack Speed by 575%
Increases Movement Speed by 372%
Reduces enemy attack speed by 58%
Reduces enemy movement speed by 38%
Costs an additional 985 AP per second.

Closing it, I saw Qrow and Glynda let me go, and immediately I used telekinesis to prevent myself from falling. With a smirk, my mind buzzed with calculations, figuring the synergistic advantages of being able to apply raw force in addition to being able to manipulate general fields of specific 'elements' with ease.

"Well, that's all of them, then. With this, I'll definitely have the power to take on the Grimm and, if need be, break some White Fang skulls." I chuckled.

"If you let word of our power slip, you'll be executed for treason against all of mankind." Ironwood said with a voice like a nighttime glacier. Cold, terrible, and imposing, it promised nothing but bad times ahead.

I didn't let that stir me, "I'm not too keen on betraying mankind, I kind of LIKE them." I chuckled, "Well, if that's everything, see y'all later." I grabbed Qrow with telekinesis and pulled him to the elevator, "Come on, Qrow, I need a ride back into the city. Garnet here's getting a little antsy." I gestured to the restless kitten held now in a warm bundled shirt, who didn't seem to be actively trying to get out, but was wiggling around like a fuzzy jellybean and seemed to be slowly loosening herself from the confines of the shirt.

The gray-haired Huntsman waited until we were in the elevator, then slapped me upside the head so hard I swore I felt my skull shatter, "That was fucking stupid, kid. Hilarious, but stupid. First impressions are basically all you have, because next to nothing will make ol' Jimmy Metaldick have any respect for you."

"I don't need his respect, just his trust and secrecy. If he'll keep quiet, I'll keep quiet." I sighed lowly, "Now then, seriously, I need a ride back into town and the airships won't be open until this afternoon, I need to check on friends and the White Fang, and Garnet wants to do things. Things, mind you, that I'm not willing to let her do when we're flying through open air and not inside a safe airship."

Qrow chuckled, "Well, ya have my respect at least. Anyone who doesn't like Jimmy is pretty okay in my books." he scratched under Garnet's chin, "Now then, let's get the pussy and the kitten back home."

I blinked, then deadpanned, "Hey now, you just said you respect-"

"My respect doesn't mean I won't poke fun at you." Qrow interrupted, taking a swig of whiskey, "Now then, come on. You have some terrorists to negotiate with."

The elevator stopped and I followed him out, "I'm not negotiating, I'm leading."

"Depending on how follow-y your followers are, it could go either way." Qrow chuckled.

I did too. I knew how stubborn some people could be.

I was one of them.

---

(An hour later, Jaune POV)

After delivering Garnet home and leaving a quick note, I set out for the first location on my list. While strolling the rooftops at a casual pace of about fifty miles per hour, I contemplated the implications of the windows floating in front of me.

SYSTEM UPDATE: Breaking the laws of the game has now granted you the ability to use temporal magic.

Increasing your understanding of the workings of the universe has increased your WIS by 5!

I had pushed myself and gained a time manipulation spell, and apparently the game wasn't punishing me for breaking its 'laws'.

Except that was the thing... not the lack of punishment, but the fact it had called them 'laws'. There was a distinguishing factor that divided its 'rules' from its 'laws'. My cheats could break its 'rules' temporarily, but gaining a time-manipulation spell had broken its 'laws'.

I would almost brush it off as just some sort of reverse-broken passive cheat or something silly of the sort, almost. It was such a small detail, changing the word 'rules' to 'laws'. They technically had about the same meaning, but laws had a weight to them, a strength and persistence. Still, I would have brushed it off...

... if it weren't for the ominous black window with blood red text that looked like a message from the devil himself.

You feel that wasn't a very good idea...

I closed the window, watching it disappear into a burst of black smoke. I shook my head and dispelled my worries for now. Nothing had happened, and as long as it only hurt ME, and not anyone I cared about, then I was fine with it. I could take something like that, I couldn't stand it happening to my friends, my family, my love.

I sighed softly, smiling once more. Speaking of friends...

Robert Jenkins
Title: Forgotten but not Lost.
Level: 24

He was looking at the old memorial again, so I called out with a smile, "Hey old man." I chuckled.

He turned to me, his eyes lighting up and a smile crossing his lips, "Hey little squirt." he greeted back with a raspy chuckle.

I put my hand around his shoulder, "Let's get you sat down. You don't sound to good. Sick?" I helped him over to the bench.

He waved a hand, "Nothin' I haven't dealt with before. I haven't seen you in a while. Busy training to be a Huntsman I guess."

"But not too busy to make time for a friend. Trust me when I say I think I can make you feel like you're forty years younger." I smiled, then activated Mana Barrage, placed a hand on his shoulder, and began filling him with Soulforges that I'd augmented to be five times more powerful than normal. I regenerated about 1265 AP every second with all my APR boosts stacked together, so using 1400 AP per second would drain me at a very, VERY slow rate. I'd get about eleven minutes of it, "So... while that's working, I think you were last telling me about the Battle of Hardsand in the region of... what was it called?"

"The official name is 'The Eastern Regional State of Mistral', but a lot of people just call the places by the regional capital, Warsaw." he chuckled, "The place is weird. Just a bit further south and to the east are hot, dry deserts, but Warsaw is cold and wet. I don't remember where I left off, friend, but I think you don't either." I did, but I shook my head, "Well then let me just start over. Besides, I don't think I got very far anyways. Now then, like I said, this will be a story you'll be interested in hearing."

As we talked, and Pistol and Assault Rifle Skill leveled up, I served him a light, but hearty breakfast. Just a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich on wheat toast, with a side of hashbrowns. It wasn't too much, but it made him happy nonetheless. I learned that opposite from the front lines, Grimm of many shapes and sizes, including a few humanoid ones, either adapted for wet terrain, cold terrain, or both, had begun charging. If they had gotten to the lines, the men would be torn apart. Due to the lack of free time or resources, fewer than twenty percent of the thousands of men with them had their Auras unlocked.

If they had gotten to the lines, it would have been a slaughter ranking in the thousands before the enemy troops might get within the range to actually hit the beasts and not just wildly spray bullets into the crowd. That was one of the few battles he'd seen where the Darkside Brickwall Act would come into play. It was international law, and ordered that no matter what the conflict, if you or your enemies were within a certain range of a charging Grimm threat, then you focused your offense on the Grimm and your defense on each other, regardless of allegiance.

Failure to comply would result in disbarment, and actively breaking the law as a soldier would result in TAM status and imminent execution. TAM status was the exact thing Ironwood had threatened me with, 'Treason Against Humanity'.

The highest dishonor possible, and difficult to attain. You had to actively support the Grimm's attack on humanity and throw away your morals. In essence, you had to become an absolute monster filled with hatred and cowardice. A ballsy few have done it, though the jolly old man had never seen it happen in person, only heard about it.

So, as it turned out, grandpa had simply turned around and, with the light of the full moon on his back, seemed to become some sort of ultimate warrior. According to Jenkins, his armor turned from a glossy indigo into pure white. It wasn't a fading effect, it was more like the indigo was slowly washed away to reveal the color. His sword, Crocea Mors, doubled in length, and Candidus Murus turned into a large gauntlet. I knew about the latter, but the former interested me greatly.

Jenkins had the respect to describe it poetically. He stood there like a dark guardian, looming over the entrenched soldiers like a gleaming metal titan. Suddenly, the indigo of his armor seemed to wash away, like the tides wash away the beaches, revealing pure white. His shield clanked and shifted, lit up indigo that seemed to lighten in color and brighten like a shining star. It was almost like the moon itself was giving him strength. He spun his sword and the wind created by it carved a furrow through the mud. He charged forward, seemingly gliding over the ground as every swing of his arms seemed to slay a dozen of the creatures of darkness. By the time he was finished, every single Grimm was hewn and strewn across the field. Even after that, he went down the line and awoke hundreds of auras, all in about an hour. Before Jenkins' very eyes, the man he respected and now slightly feared took one mighty breath, and unceremoniously collapsed, the power he had fading away and his armor changing back to indigo, the seemingly godlike power he held just moments before falling away. As it turned out, the enemy troops had neared the line, but everyone had stopped and stared in amazement at the spectacle.

I chuckled, thinking about that and how scared they must have been. They were charging a seemingly normal enemy line, when WHOOSH, a man on the other side starts glowing like the sun and fucking flies across the battlefield, slaughtering Grimm seemingly literally by the dozens. It should have, and apparently WAS very terrifying.

However, when he was fleeing, one enemy troop fired and hit him in the hip. He was still able to walk after some recovery, but they couldn't remove the bullet without severing some things that would not grow back properly. In essence, he could have some pain and a somewhat reduced ability to walk, or no pain but be unable to use his leg.

I growled lightly in anger, "I hope you shot that bastard." I said with a quiet fury in my eyes.

He sighed, chuckling a bit, "Right between the eyes. Dumbass had lifted his helmet to get better vision through all the muzzle flash." he laughed and I noticed him lightly rubbing his hip.

With a hum, I focused and, sure enough, I could sense the piece of shrapnel still lodged in his tissues. My mouth quirked to the side and I looked at him seriously, "Jenkins, I have a way to get that bullet out of your hip without making you unable to walk." I said with a serious look.

He turned to look at me, seeming shocked, "Really? Oh friend, that would be unbelievable! God have I hated to have to use this cane all the time. Can you do it right now?"

I hummed, "No, not right this moment. I'm perfectly capable of doing it, but we shouldn't be in public when I do. You'll need to remove your pants for this, AND it will break your skin. We can do it at your home, and maybe getting you out of this scorching heat will do some good." I covered my eyes with a hand. It was getting particularly hot today, even so early. I smiled at him, "So, lead the way friend."

"Alright. God I'm so excited. Follow me, I'll show you my home I suppose. Soon, soon I can throw this stupid cane out into the street!" he laughed heartily, and I noticed his minor lung problems had cleared up as a result of the constant healing, which made his laugh clear and maybe ten times happier than before. I'd dialed back the heal-span once I got under five thousand AP, then dialed up again when my AP was fully recharged a few minutes later.

I felt the pull of Aurora constantly, and it was STRONG. If my math was correct, then Aura's most significant numbers, AKA its costs, scaled by ten. Aura itself, as I'd found out, could typically be opened when people had an INT of 25, which would grant 250 AP upon awakening. However, to get to Aurora required 25,000 Max AP. Not only that, but the general 'activating' ability of either of them, which gave the boosts to physical stats and regeneration. Aura could be activated semi-okay from the start, scaling with the amount you had by draining 1% of your Max AP every minute. On the next tier, Aurora drained 10% of your Max AP every minute. From how the numbers were looking, I could only assume that the third tier version, assuming that there WAS one like how Sword Skill would turn into Sword Proficiency and finally Sword Mastery, would drain 100% of my Max AP every minute, meaning I would have to increase my APR to above 100% if I wanted to maintain whatever ungodly (or possibly quite godly) power it had. However, in order to reach it, you not only had to strengthen your Aura by an incredible amount, but my math also showed it would take 250,000 Max AP just to get the prestige itself, not to mention any sort of fourth tier skill, which I could guess would take 2.5 million Max AP to get, and activating it would drain 1000% of your Max AP every minute.

Just the thought of something being THAT powerful made shivers go down my spine... but imagining that something being ME made those into sexy shivers.

The thing was, end-game things like that would normally not be able to be used for very long unless you delayed the final pieces of the plot, since, of course, it was pretty much the end of the game. However, as opposed to a normal video game, my game had no end, except for my inevitable death. I could keep playing for as long as I wanted.

That was something I could definitely enjoy for a loooong time.

I smiled, then looked up at the quaint little home Jenkin's had led me to. It seemed this was an elderly community, with gently sloped ramps leading up to the doors, light and lively colors for the home exteriors, nice square windows, and I swore in the distance I could see a building with the typical medical cross on it. Looking back to Jenkins, I saw him fumble with the key for a minute before getting it into the knob, unlocking the door while slightly shaking in excitement.

I walked into the somewhat dusty little home, smelling a faint stench of cleaning chemicals. I sighed gently, "Alright, let's get this thing done." I smiled, feeling like my heart was filling up with kindling, "After this... I guess it could be called a 'surgery', I'll make us some tea, I suppose, and we can continue our conversation." I smiled, even as I quelled the sick feeling in my stomach.

After all, I'd be removing a bullet from this old man's hip, this wasn't going to be ideal or particularly clean.

But I was going to do it... because a hero overcomes all fear...

And wrinkly legs...

...

...

...

... I sighed in relief, closing the now open wound with Soulforges to Jenkin's head, which had been slowly growing a bit smoother and thicker-skinned.

Bullet in the hip? Removed and fixed.

Arthritis? Cured a good while ago.

Male Pattern Baldness? Done and done, surprisingly enough.

Old, wrinkly, leathery skin? As rejuvenated, smoothed, and softened as possible.

Loss of muscle tone and bone density? All regained, to an extent.

I smiled at my success.

-/\-

Robert Jenkins
Title: Forgotten but not Lost - Reminiscing about the Trenches
Level: 24 - 28

HP: 350 - 700
AP: 300 - 600
SP: 250 - 600

Strength: 36 (+50%) = 52
Dexterity: 25 (+30%) = 32.5
Vitality: 40 (+40%) = 56
Intelligence: 50 (+20%) = 60
Wisdom: 40 (+25%+15%) = 56
Luck: 60
Charisma: 50 - 56

Age: 76
Birthday: September 13th
Race: Human
Height: 5'10.5
Weight: 155 - 160
Build: Lively Old Man - Lively Grown Man
Hair/Eyes/Skin: Smooth White / Warm Brown - Strong Brown / Weary Caucasian - Healthy Caucasian

-/\-

Status effect "Withering of Age" was cured!

Robert Jenkins has gained the status effect "Weathering of Age"!

Weathering of Age: The wearing down of the body as age catches up to those empowered few. Still victim to the cruel hands of time, the elderly will slowly begin to dry up, weaken, and eventually perish.
Effects: Eventually creates the status effect "Withering of Age". Negatively affects one's skin and looks. Reduces Max SP.

I chuckled heartily, looking at the old man sat across from me, who honestly looked like I'd removed twenty years from him. He clenched his hand, moved his leg freely, and then stood up on his own accord and hugged me heartily, "Thank you, thank you so much, friend. You'd make Matthias proud."

I hugged him back, patting him on his back, "I'm sure I would have, friend. Heh... I certainly feel heroic."

QUEST COMPLETE!

Quest "Young Soul, Old Body, let's compromise." was succeeded!

You gained 100,000 EXP!

Your level has increased by one!

+25 Closeness to Robert Jenkins! (Total: +85)

Your relationship with Robert Jenkins has upgraded from "Dear Friend" to "Dear Comrade"

You have unlocked and earned the class "Cleric v2"

Soulforge Restoration's level increased by 3!

I smiled, feeling the new power fill me up, "So... I think I'll leave you to enjoy yourself with this rejuvenation now, friend. I'm sorry but-" I checked my scroll, "My scheduled time with you is reaching an end. I have other people to help too. I hope you understand."

He nodded, splitting from me, "Of course, of course. Heh, indeed just like Matthias. Duty never ceases. Go on, friend, you've done more than I could have hoped to ask for." he gave me a pat on the back and handed me his cane, "Take it. Maybe someone else needs it? Who knows? I certainly don't. Neither know nor need, I... hah... I just want to go take a shower by myself for once, rather than requiring assistance just to wipe my ass." he laughed heartily, and I laughed too.

"Eugh, god. That sounds awful. If I'm lucky, I won't ever have that happen to me." I laughed as he walked me to the door. I noticed Weiss had woken up and checked the tutorial, apparently getting every bit of INT and WIS from it she could.

I stepped out onto the street and waved goodbye, holding the cane in my other hand as our laughter died down while the distance increased.

I heard the door close and smiled, feeling elated. I looked down at the cane in my hand, made of purpleheart wood with a golden head like a hawk's. Surprisingly, it actually gave a small buff when equipped, increasing Movement Speed by 10% and DEX by 2. I attributed that to Aura imprints from Jenkins, then made my way quickly under the cover of Ninja's Invisibility.

I wasn't lying when I said I had other people to help.

---

(Ten minutes later, White Fang Alpha Camp, Jaune POV)

Skidding to a halt and bleeding off momentum with massively increased air resistance, I walked into the camp with my head slightly bowed and Wilt and Blush at my side. I snorted and people looked at me in shock. I walked into 'my' tent and saw Banesaw sitting there in front of the table, muttering to himself.

I cleared my throat, "I'm back. The Hunters know about the fire bitch and I have gained their trust to a small degree. Though not demilitarizing, we'll be using less violent methods for the time being. Attracting Grimm to the city will not only draw ire, rather than fear." I said firmly.

Banesaw looked up, shocked, "S-sir. That... that plan is a bit out of our reach right now. Cinder... she returned. Nearly burnt my neck off in frustration. She told me to tell you that we need to increase our numbers and start making more attacks, ones that will also steal Dust. She needs a lot of Dust for her plans, she said."

I growled deeply, actually genuinely angered. Until now, the two of us had been playing off of fear to compel the White Fang's troops to act how we wanted. Now, though, she'd made the first wound, threatening violence if we didn't comply with our end of the bargain.

I lifted Banesaw up, inspecting his scorched and scarred neck. I touched the skin gently and he winced, then sighed in relief as I gave him Soulforge. I couldn't heal it all, but I at least got rid of the burns, irritation, and soreness. With a sigh, I looked at him, "Bane, I have a question. What do you want to do in life?"

"I want equality for my people. I want a chance to live how I desire, not how others would desire for me to live. I want freedom so that I may live in peace. Isn't that what we've been working for, sir? Violence to break through towards peace?"

I sighed, "And those who have the will and the power to prevent that goal from being reached, must be removed from power." I lowered my head, taking in a deep breath, "I have been gone for many days, friend, but I've found new knowledge, new understanding, and I know what has to be done." I let him go, turning away, "We're going to go out and become stronger, and no matter what I say, you'll follow me, correct?"

He nodded, "Yes sir. I swore my life to you when you saved it." he affirmed, and I sighed.

"Your dedication and loyalty have brought you far, friend. However, I will be saving your life again, now." I looked straight at him while mentally setting things up.

I'm sorry Blake, but I have to gather at least as many willing souls as possible. We're fighting someone who could destabilize society, or something else bad for all of mankind like that. I'm a hero and heroes fight evil, they give the innocent a security, and the corrupted a chance of redemption.

I'm bullheaded stubborn, impulsive, driven by loose morals and far more thought than capability, but I know a few things at least. Maybe not a third... but I know that everyone at least deserves a second chance if they're willing to accept it.

Invite sent!

---

(Hours later, the Everfar Woods, Jaune POV)

Screaming, shouting, and echoes of sorrow and betrayal, followed by quiet submission and surrender. Confusion, anger, frustration, and mewled, tentative acceptance. Bright cheers, a broad smile lacing words of light and faint affection, the rhythm of girlish skipping. A nod, a squawk of confusion, and an oath of duty. All of those things echoed in my mind as I cut down my foe.

Kitsuninja Chuunin
Title: Darkened Dojo Dweller
Level: 62

Crimson redsteel flashed out with the speed of a bullet, enhanced by my Iaijutsu, my Haste and Lightning Aura, and a few other boosts I had going. It had been tough to bring it to the others, and we'd argued heavily, even fully fought in Banesaw's case, but after a little bit, it was easy to convince the brute to follow me in Adam's place. I had proven myself mightier and nobler, and promised him a second chance, one to save his life and show him a new path, one that would lead to the equality he desired.

Bleeding and broken, he accepted my hand with sworn allegiance.

I sliced the bipedal fox in half, followed by another slash to sever its head.

Quickdraw Strike's level increased by 1!

Tachi-Ai's level increased by 1!

Tenshi Katana's level increased by 1!

Your level has increased by one!

I chuckled, "That's the last of them... for now. Regroup for healing." I called out, my voice carrying on the wind. It wasn't long before four varying sets of footsteps met my ears, and I turned, Crocea Mors on my back, attached with a magnetic clip, and the renamed Murasama and Sandrust at my hip, on a similar clip. I had spent some time making it, managing to bypass the need for Dust with Juristimunja.

I smiled at the four allies gathered before me, then checked all our statuses.

-/\-

Jaune Arc
Title: Wizard of the Elements
Level: 59 - 65
Class: Wizard v3
Nickname: Mr. Player Man

HP: 19,000 - 25,000
AP: 92,200 - 103,000
SP: 28,000 - 35,000

Strength: 68 - 70 (+270%) = 259
Dexterity: 60 - 65 (+270%) = 236.8
Vitality: 78 - 80 (+270%) = 296
Intelligence: 123 - 125 (+5) (+205%) = 396.5
Wisdom: 125 (+5) (+205%) = 396.5
Luck: 111
Charisma: 80

Stat Points: 133 - 160

Boost from Aura+Aurora: 190% - 205%

Physical Stat boost from Lifeforce Regeneration: 55% - 65%

-/\-

Name: Banesaw - Thomas Darkly
Title: The Teeth that grind Flesh and Bone - Teeth Bared against Injustice
Level: 61 - 64
Class: Tank
Nickname: Chains

Hit Points: 16,000 - 21,000
Aura Points: 9700 - 13,000
Stamina Points: 20,000 - 27,000

Strength: 86 - 87 (+90%) = 57.24
Dexterity: 65 - 66 (+40%) = 32.5
Vitality: 80 - 81 (+150%) = 57.6
Intelligence: 67 - 82 (+40%) = 62.5
Wisdom: 42 - 60 (+20%) = 57.6
Luck: 19 - 35
Charisma: 26

Stat Points: 0 - 0

-/\-

Name: Blake Belladonna
Title: The Nighttime Beauty
Level: 41 - 52
Class: Shadow Ninja
Nickname: Nekoja

Hit Points: 7000 - 10,000
Aura Points: 11,000 - 17,000
Stamina Points: 10,500 - 16,000

Strength: 34 - 35 (+7%) = 37.45
Dexterity: 80 - 82 (+110%) = 172.2
Vitality: 40 - 42 (+7%) = 44.94
Intelligence: 65 (+145%) = 159.25
Wisdom: 55 (+105%) = 112.75
Luck: 28
Charisma: 79

Stat Points: 30 - 85

-/\-

Name: Ruby Rose
Title: The Swift Red Rider
Level: 50 - 58
Class: Reaper
Nickname: Rosie

HP: 3000 - 5400
AP: 6500 - 13,000
SP: 5000 - 8000

Strength: 37 - 40 (+10%) = 44
Dexterity: 90 (+175%) = 252.9
Vitality: 40 - 42 (+10%) = 46.2
Intelligence: 50 - 75 (+76%) = 132
Wisdom: 30 - 33 (+55) = 51.15
Luck: 25
Charisma: 82

Stat Points: 27 - 40

-/\-

Name: Skyler Arcfire
Title: Enlightened Lancer of the Mountain - The Celestian Ember
Level: 48 - 56
Class: Lancer
Nickname: Razor

Hit Points: 10,000 - 20,000
Stamina Points: 15,000 - 35,000

Strength: 74 - 88
Dexterity: 72 - 94
Vitality: 55 - 79
Intelligence: 46 - 50
Wisdom: 48 - 50
Luck: 18 - 20
Charisma: 12 - 15

Stat Points: 0 - 35

-/\-

I smiled, shifting my posture a bit under the extreme weight of the hyper-density steel armor I was wearing. I had saved it as 'Weight Training Suit' and, I supposed that in an emergency, I'd be able to use it as a tank-y sort of armor, given that it was literally about four tons of steel worn on my body. Even then, my massive, and massive enhanced STR, VIT, and DEX allowed me to move around relatively easily despite it. It wasn't an ideal design, though, and even after I learned how to make whitesteel, it wouldn't ever be.

Too heavy, too slow, too lacking in proper coverage. It was made to fit awkwardly so I would have to get used to moving awkwardly, thus increasing my DEX more in addition to the standard weight-based training. If I could run at 400 miles per hour while weighed down by four whole tons of metal, then how fast could I run when unencumbered?

The short answer was FAST. The long answer probably required me to run around naked. Deeeeefinitely not a test for the current moment.

I chuckled lightly as I saw Blake giving the same look to Thomas as Ruby was to Skyler. Sure, interpersonal distrust was bound to happen, even now, but I knew these things took time. While they wouldn't outright point to either Sky or Tom and shout 'Evil-doer' and try to kill them, they weren't exactly going to trust that they'd watch their back in a fight, or something of the sort.

Which is exactly why I'd paired them up with each other. Blake with Thomas and Ruby with Skyler.

"Skyler, still feeling those chest pains?" I asked in concern when I saw the feathery humanoid rub her chest.

"Y-yes." she croaked out, trying to speak the words of man. I smiled at that. She had been making progress, definitely. It was slow, but it was steady. If we kept this up, then I should have her up to speed before Beacon. Hell, I might even be able to bring her into the school, assuming the final step of the quest would somehow turn her human, "It feels like fire, master."

I didn't complain about the usage of the term master. She knew we were a bit more than that, but she preferred calling me it. I wasn't going to tear the poor girl's dreams apart. That would be unnecessarily cruel and she didn't deserve such treatment.

I raised a hand and clenched it into a fist, "We'll end off for the day here. Thomas, return to the White Fang. Blake, you're dismissed. Ruby, I'm going to help you to train a bit more, then we're going to meditate, and Skyler, read your books while Ruby and I are gone, then while she's doing stuff, you'll be doing lessons with me."

Tom nodded, changing back into his Fang outfit and making to leave. I made sure he hadn't taken anything out of the inventory and noticed nothing out of place. Blake, in contrast, sped off with a nod and a smile. I had started using my millionaire title to collect up a library. No, seriously, I had a millionaire title.

A Million in the Bank: Granted for gaining a held total of over 1,000,000 Lien. Grow your nest egg and continue to collect the stuff that makes the economy go 'round. Effect: Doubles money gained from Grimm.

Most of the Grimm out here, in these forests behind the small mountain range of Eagle Mountain, Friar Mountain, and Mountain Glenn, were in the fifties and low sixties range of power. Thus, it was really useful training for all involved, and helped get the heart pumping. Grimm of this caliber, and really of any caliber, had to have their levels be determined off of raw base stats, since they had no Aura, or sometimes even a small amount of elemental empowerment, to boost themselves further and be protected.

Skyler sat down and pulled out a few basic books I'd picked out. Children's books, really, but they had simple words and helped her learn. She had the specific instructions of reading the books, then laying them flipped over on the ground when she was done.

I brushed my chin with my hand and began manipulating the wind, "Alright, so I've not got much to work off of when it comes to people affected by this, but I can only hope you'll benefit from it like I do now. I want to boost your level and probably your INT some more too. I think you'll seriously benefit from getting more INT, Rosie." I smiled honestly, even though internally I was slapping myself for lying about the reasoning.

Skyler raised her head, looking at me, "Master, you said lying was wrong." she said softly, "Why are you lying? Are you doing wrong things? Did you lie about lying being wrong?"

I facepalmed, "No, Skyler, I did not. Lying is wrong and I'm not lying, I'm just worried about what might happen and if this won't work. I'm worried about my promise that I can give them all some of my cool powers being broken because I can't do it. An Arc never breaks a promise." I said in an almost gloomy tone. I was truly worried about my promise, but not THAT promise.

I worried about the promise that I could cure Ruby's infection. My best bet was to get her Aura to prestige to Aurora, but it felt like her Aura itself was fighting me every step of the way. I didn't want her to waste her stat points just to help me figure this shit out, or just to do something she didn't understand and probably would get another scary burst of combating power sources from whatever was fighting inside her soul.

With a sigh, I patted Ruby on the head, "Now come on. I guess all those skill points are going to just sit there useless until they're used. It's getting a little late now. I'll see if Weiss can sneak out after her show tonight for some training. For you, Rosie, I think increasing your VIT and WIS will be alright to upgrade. You can get more points later, but right now I'm just... trying to see what someone will be like with Aurora. I think you'll be the best one to give that power. Let's see... six o'clock... Yang is probably back at y'all's house practicing, or in the forest practicing. I don't know which... shiiit, I'll have to talk to her. Let's see... um..." I rubbed the back of my head, for once not able to think of anything definite, "I guess balance your stat values for VIT and WIS out to 50 and 40 respectively, then since that's fifteen of forty points down, put the other twenty-five into INT." I said with a shrug, "It can't hurt, I guess. Don't worry, I'll be here in case anything happens. I'll heal ya and keep ya safe." I smiled at her and gave her a quick, reassuring hug, "Now then, come on. I guess let's both put some down."

With a reassured nod, she opened her profile as I did the same. She counted down, "Alright, you gotta do it too! Three, two, one." at the same time, we both applied some of our points.

-/\-

Jaune:

INT: 125 - 130
WIS: 125 - 130

PING! Mana Affinity's level increased by 6 (Level: 80)
PING! Nature Affinity's level increased by 6 (Level: 90)

Max AP: 103,000 - 115,000

-/\-

Ruby:

VIT: 42 - 50
INT: 75 - 100
WIS: 33 - 40

Max HP: 5400 - 6500
Max AP: 13,000 - 17,000
Max SP: 8000 - 9000

-/\-

I glared at the number, then sighed, "Well, 'seems like it's back to the grind fer us, Rubes. Hopefully you'll get more levels, an' if this meditation method works, then in less than three an'a half days cumulative meditation time, that should be another thousand Aura for ya." I grinned at her.

She looked at me oddly, then grinned, "If it'll keep you talking like that, then sure! You sounds really cool, like a cowboy!"

I blinked, "What're ya talkin' abou-oh dammit." I bit back a groan. I'd let my drawl slip through.

I had grown up in a town with a lot of genuine southern-types. They had a way of speaking that I'd picked up on, the famous 'southern drawl', though I usually and without effort made myself sound 'normal' relatively through endless practice, but I think increasing my INT and WIS had actually brought back that old pattern again.

Just my luck, or Luck, that getting smarter made me speak with the same accent people associated with good-natured but rather dumb people. I sighed as my palm cupped my entire face, "Forget about it... actually, y'know what? Just for you, Rosie, I'll let it out, but only if you get Aurora." I smirked at her, "Or else, luv, I'll talk in rather the opposite way." I chuckled, putting on a London accent.

Her reaction was unexpected, a vigorous blush, "Er, uh, I uh... that sounds cool too." I internally sighed. I didn't want to attract my girlfriend's sister of all fucking people possible.

I shook my head, "You need time for the power to settle, I see. INT should sharpen your mind and help you resist my wits. I'm sorry, y'know."

"E-eh?" she stuttered, expression halfway between flustered, confused, a bit scared, shocked, and what I could only assume was a hint of attraction.

"Just... forget about it." I sighed, "How about instead of just being embarrassed, we go kill monsters instead?"

Ruby grinned, "Woohoo monster killing!" she gave me a quick hug, lasting maybe only a second, then spun Crescent Rose out into its full form, smiling at me.

I smiled back, taking Crocea Mors in hand and unsheathing the sword from the shield, "This time we should stick together." I warned, feeling through my senses for more Grimm of similar level. I could sense some maybe a kilometer away, and looked at Ruby, "It's running time." I said with a grin, re-upping Haste on us both as I piled on the speed, leading the way.

...

Slowly, it seemed the trees were thinning out, until we found a clearing with a hole in the ground, "Oh great." I looked down into the hole and created a flame, getting a good look at the beasts inside.

Sadly, I saw some human skeletons down there among the Grimm.

Crypt Keeper Frostus
Title: Prey frozen to the bones
Level: 49

Crypt Keeper Firus
Title: Scorched corpses on the webs
Level: 52

Crypt Keeper Toxus
Title: Melting flesh for the pot
Level: 50

Crypt Keeper Sanguis
Title: Blood soaked trapper
Level: 48

Crypt Keeper Voltus
Title: Paralyzed in fear and pain
Level: 51

Crypt Keeper Venus
Title: Coursing with poisonous suffering
Level: 49

The six spider-like Grimm had gathered around a bubbling pool of black ooze. I gave Ruby a silent command to stay back, then watched silently, waiting for something to happen while also checking the six. They had the usual burning red markings on their bodies, but the different types had secondary marks on the broad, thick plates covering their entire upper sides. Blue for Frostus, which had icy webs, of course. Orange for Firus, with fiery webs, green for Toxus, which had acid for spittle, crimson for Sanguis, which had very sticky crimson webs and spittle, yellow for Voltus, which had weak electric shocks and neurotoxins, and finally Venus, with purple markings and highly potent venom.

The pool of ooze, however, had me more concerned, as did the black-marked Crypt Keeper that just rose from it.

Blight Toxin: A special chemical rare among the Crypt Keeper type of Grimm. Once infused with this black ooze, the result Crypt Keeper is labeled a Crypt Keeper Blightus, a priority target among mixed Grimm-specie incursions, due to its poison being able to corrupt human bodies and turn them into abominations of Grimm-like morphed beings.

Crypt Keeper Blightus
Title: Trap away the light
Level: 70

I grunted, Jaune W: Damn. They're all spider-like Grimm, and one just came out of a pool of toxin. If the black-marked one bites you, it'll turn you into a Grimm. :W

Ruby W: WHAT? Oh my god. Oh my god that's terrible! We have to kill it before it can hurt anyone. :W

Jaune W: I'm already on it. Stay back and if any try to get out, blast them without hesitation :W

I gathered a massive amount of Aura together and cast Wrecking Ball, then simply dropped it on the new Grimm. I saw a bit of text pop from the crushed Grimm, 'Demolished!' and laughed a little, then gathered the Aura together for Prismatic Spray

Six beams of colored light launched from my fist as I released them. However, it seemed the glass cannon Grimm weren't so affected by the magical energy. Realizing I'd either have to crush them or let them get out , and I jumped down into the ooze, which came up to my knees. With a snort, I flashed out with silvery shining steel, slicing open the Firus' vile body and letting vaguely organ-like clumps of meat slip from its broken exoskeleton as I slid past it, feeling pain surge up my legs as the Blight Toxin. I activated Aurora as I watched the Sanguis jump out of the nest, only to hear a blast of gunfire and watch its smoking corpse fall back down into the hole, spinning rapidly I might add.

With a grin, I launched several castings of Energy Arrow, turning the Frostus, Venus, and Toxus into swiss cheese, seeing the Voltus attempt to escape. I sighed and waited, and sure enough moments later another bark of gunfire sounded out. I chuckled and gathered the lien and loot they'd dropped. However, before I could pick up the black scarf dripping with Blight Toxin, I spun around and thrust my shield in front of myself, feeling an electric shock run up my arm and nearly make it go limp.

Several more of the spiders had come out, these slightly lower leveled. I sighed and began spamming Energy Arrow, mowing the Grimm down. Even if the damage normally wasn't very high, the sheer number of them and the penetration they delivered was more than enough for these fragile, status-dependent junk monsters. I chuckled and fired a Tornado into the hole, watching the EXP roll in as the vicious spinning winds tore legs from thoraxes and simply setting the air on fire would fry most of them. I burned out the poison to avoid Ruby getting hurt by it as I gave her the call to come down.

This place screamed 'dungeon'. I summoned Crocea Mors, who looked like myself but a few years older. He certainly had been changing, but only in subtle ways. They all had, and it took a keen eye to spot them. I made him wait by Ruby as I took point, having her provide covering fire. Improving her normal aiming skills might help her get more DEX.

Routing them through their own tunnels, my control over the elements allowed me to easily cast these 'blast' spells anywhere I wanted. With a grin, I impaled two more hissing Crypt Keepers with Stalagmite Strike, their mandibles clacking together rapidly. I then struck a third with Crocea Mors, cleaving its head off. With a quick check backwards, I led Ruby through the dungeon, slaying the low-fifties leveled beasts, which didn't provide much EXP towards our new levels. It... honestly it worried me a bit, because they actually weren't providing as much as experience as they did. Not percentage-wise, but it was literally less than before.

Was it just because I was so much higher leveled than they were, or what? It might be a way to push me to find larger, more powerful, more dangerous Grimm to fight in order to keep improving, I suppose. Pushing the thoughts aside with that conclusion, I slid under a charging Crypt's body and opened its guts with my blade, followed by its death being hastened by a bullet blasting its head into smithereens. With a grin, I moved forward and sliced down the legs on the next Venus' left side, then sliced off the ones on the right side, then smashed my gauntlet-covered fist down on its back, causing the brittle chitin to shatter. I laughed heartily, making sure Crocea and Ruby were keeping up.

I impaled the face of another Keeper on my sword and grunted, heaving only slightly as I kicked it off. I had all of my Ki skills running, and with Aurora and my own control over Aura, I was running them all at ten times their normal power, which felt extremely invigorating.

We made our way down a couple more tunnels, then found a massive chamber that stank of piss, shit, and what I could only guess was some kind of vile birth fluids, as I saw a fat spider sitting in the middle of the massive chamber. Ruby stuck her tongue out at the smell, shaking her head, "Eeewwwww~."

I grit my teeth, "There's a massive mother spider in there. Well... I figure it won't be fair to let all her babies get at us." I gathered up the Aura to send a Fire Blast into the room, Magic Doodle drawing Xibustral into existence, who controlled the flames inside the room, fanning them higher as hisses, pops, and crackles sounded from the chamber, Roimontagne closing the room off except for a small slit. Ruby looked into the fires, then looked at me, "I'm scared, Jaune."

I smiled reassuringly, "It's alright, Ruby. I swear on my life that I'll keep you safe." I looked into the room, seeing the mother in brighter light.

Crypt Founder
Title: Mourning Dew on the Festering Web
Level: 83

I sighed, then snapped my fingers, hearing the sound of Gaster Blasters appearing, "It's still alive, but not for long."

"Jaaaauuuune~."

"Don't worry, Ruby. I'll keep you safe." my vision cleared as pain filled me from being so close to the raging flames. I had Xibustral pull the fire away from us, realizing my petite friend must have been sweltering from the heat. I sighed lowly, then sent the blasts at the fat Grimm bitch. I reinforced the fire by filtering out the carbon of the smoke, recycling the oxygen to continue feeding the flames, "Fire a shot at it."

I waited a few seconds, but there was no crack of Crescent Rose firing. I looked at Ruby.

Or rather, I looked at the spot Ruby had been standing in a minute ago. I sensed her and sighed, focusing harder.

I slipped through the ground, moving up to intercept her path. I slipped from the wall, "Ruby why are you running away?!" I called out to her.

She froze in place, skidding a halt, "Jaune you're turning into a spider!" she screamed.

I looked at myself, sighing at how Aurora had not done much to cure me of the toxin. I shook my head, "I'll fix it, Rosie. Please, just calm down. I'm still in complete control of myself, just like when I turn into a Vulcyrie."

Azure eyes met silver as we shared a moment of silence.

I sighed slowly, "It's okay, Rosie. It's okay." I smiled reassuringly, "Even if I did lose control, I wouldn't hurt you. I know you could probably kick my ass when it comes to weapon skills." I chuckled, "Now just relax, okay?"

I held her shoulders as Aurora glowed around me, watching my Corruption drain away to nothing. It was a long while before she let out a small whimper, "H-hug?" she nearly pleaded.

I chuckled, "So silly, so adorable." I hugged her softly, "It's gonna be okay, Ruby. It's gonna be okay." I smiled and patted her on the back, feeling her trying to bury her face into my chestplate. I chuckled, petting her hair lightly like I remember doing to my sisters once upon a time.

Her aura glowed around her body as we shared the tender hug. I checked the new notifications that popped up a bit ago, and compared what we had previously to what we have now.

Your level increased by two!

Ruby's level increased by three!

-/\-

Jaune Arc
Title: A Million in the Bank
Level: 65 - 66 - 68

Max HP: 25,000 - 29,000
Max AP: 115,000 - 125,000
Max SP: 37,000 - 42,000

-/\-

Ruby Rose
Title: The Swift Red Rider - Little Red Fighting Hood
Level: 58 - 59 - 62

Max HP: 6500 - 8000
Max AP: 17,000 - 20,000
Max SP: 9000 - 11,000

-/\-

I chuckled lightly, "Hey, check it out. Your title changed." I informed her, then smiled and let go of her, only to immediately catch her as she slumped over, "What the hell?" I bit back a stronger curse as I held her up, then picked her up and lifted her over my shoulder, seeing the window that did it.

Ruby has fainted!

I went wide-eyed, then immediately sped back up to the surface. Dismissing Crocea and splitting Xiburichu and Mystral, I summoned Roimontagne's influence and shot up through the dirt all the way to the surface.

...

I sighed lowly, seeing that the fainting was from the strains of growth. I gently laid Ruby out on the forest floor, her cloak spread out underneath her like a bed of roses, "Don't worry Ruby. It's not just the fact that Yang would be really, REALLY upset if you got hurt on my watch, but also the fact that I genuinely see you as a friend. Just take it easy, okay? You'll be fine after some rest and recovery." I smiled softly at her, then gave her a gentle, brotherly kiss on the forehead. I stood up and sighed lowly.

Well... these small problems were the least of my concerns. If I could just get her to the point where she'd get Aurora, then I could cure her. With a low sigh, I pulled out an Earth dust crystal and threw it into the hole, adding dirt and basically working from the bottom up, filling in the 'dungeon' where it was. I also gathered all the loot that hadn't been picked up by Auto-Loot and moved it up towards the surface.

As the loose soil rose after I used another five Dust crystals to fill in for more missing dirt, I began gathering together the loot. Millions and millions lien, a lot of copies of fang-like daggers called Spantrum that could change between a shocking attack, a burning attack, or a poison attack just by willing them to with some Aura. There were several dozen silk scarves of various colors, all named Magischal with varying second words, all in slight disrepair. I manipulated Alchemical Aura to mend all of them, at the expense of just one of each color. Examining them afterwards, I hummed softly at the varying effects.

Blau was blue, and gave 10% resistance to Water and Ice element damage. Gelb was yellow and gave the same 10% resistance, but to Lightning element damage and any chance to Stun. Apfelsine was orange and gave 10% to resist Fire and also gave +10% melee attack damage. Lila was purple gave 10% resistance to Poison and Acid. Grun was green and gave +10% effective VIT, as well as +10% SPR. Rote was red and gave +10% effective STR, as well as +10% HPR. Finally, there were two special scarves, and there was ONLY one of each of them.

Schwarz, a black scarf that gave +50% defense against Grimm. No doubt it came from that Crypt Keeper Blightus. I equipped it to my neck, feeling the cool silk-like fabric caress my skin. I smiled, feeling protected already.

The final one was Regenbogen, a rainbow scarf that provided 10% resistance to Water, Ice, Lightning, Stunning, Fire, Poison, and Acid. It also gave a +10% boost to Melee Attack Damage, Effective VIT, Effective STR, SPR, and HPR. It obviously must have come from the mother-unit one.

Using some FMA-style influence, I focused on the pattern of magical energy inside Regenbogen and used Alchemical Aura to weave some of the copies of the other scarves into more Regenbogens. I chuckled, then weighed my options. I could talk to Yang, or to Weiss. I was going to talk to both of them, but the

Jaune W: Hey babe. Me and Rubes cleared a dungeon of Crypt Keepers. Spider Grimm with something like color-coded elemental variants, though not the same elements we know. Killed a mother spider bitch too, got cool scarves for everyone. If you don't want to wear a rainbow one, there's red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, in various shades. It was pretty tough, but we're both unhurt. Ruby was pretty tired though, and couldn't handle too much of her stat increases, so she kinda passed out :W

Yang W: What? She's alright, right? It's not serious. :W

Jaune W: Nope. She's fine right now. She's resting by the now-filled dungeon entrance. I got a couple million lien and the scarves, as well as fang-made daggers, and that's kinda it. I got a mask too, one I could tease you with, hehehe. :W

Yang W: How is a Grimm mask going to tease me? :W

Jaune W: one of its effects is quite simple. "Brooding Birth", increases fertility by 1000%. :W

Yang W: W-W-W-WHAT? Just what are you planning on doing with that, h-h-h-huh? :W

Jaune W: Well it never hurts to think of the future. :W

I could feel the blush she had from here, which attested to its power.

Yang W: God you're unbelievable. :W

Jaune W: You are too. Unbelievably adorable and beautiful. :W

Yang W: If it's a kiss you want you can come to Patch Forest. :W

Jaune W: Well, I'll have to bring Ruby somewhere safe first. :W

Yang W: Oh? Well, do that quickly, I don't want my lips to dry out. :W

Jaune W: Don't worry, your lips will be VERY wet when I'm done with you. :W

I hummed lowly as I thought about that last line. I had learned that Yang enjoyed some good-hearted flirtation, though only from me, since I was her boyfriend. It was like appreciation in a highly refined form, she felt. If that was what she felt, then I'd do my best to make her feel special, and make her feel loved.

Yang W: Y-y-y-y-y-you ARE going to kiss me, r-r-right? On my face? :W

Jaune W: Pfffft hahaha, of course baby girl. Your lips, your sweet cheeks, your beautiful hair, all of it is so kissable. :W

Yang W: J-jaune... are y-you trying to seduce me? :W

Jaune W: Depends... is it working? :W

By raising "Temptation" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Seduction"!

Well... I guess that answered THAT question.

I'd take Skyler and Ruby home, then go kiss my girlfriend for a bit, maybe watch the sunset... yeah, that sounded nice.

---

(Later that night, Emerald Forest, Jaune POV)

I smiled, putting away the two Heartfelt Drawings after taking some more time to admire Yang's artistry.

Taiyang had been home, but he had only barely questioned me about Ruby's state, as honestly the man looked like he'd been inches from being a murder victim. I answered honestly enough and had the tact to not mention is poorly state. I simply told him that we were training and killing Grimm, and then afterwards she had been so tired she fell asleep before I could get her home. Of course I only mentioned that we were doing such training because my semblance can help empower others and we could both get stronger by killing Grimm. It seemed to be enough for him as he let me go after I insisted he make sure Ruby was comfortable and could get some food and drink when she woke up.

Then I'd gone to Yang, who had been practically playing with Ursa Majors in the forest for all the threat they truly posed to her. I brought her out, we killed some Grimm in the Everfar forest, got her leveled up a good few times.

-/\-

Name: Yang Xiao Long
Title: Hotter and Brighter than the Summer Sun - Hotter than the Sun in the middle of July
Level: 48 - 56
Class: Fiery Martial Artist
Nickname: Sunflower

Hit Points: 16,000 - 25,000
Aura Points: 11,000 - 15,000
Stamina Points: 21,000 - 35,000

Strength: 76 - 80 (+285%) = 308
Dexterity: 46 - 50 (+45%) = 72.5
Vitality: 70 - 80 (+95%) = 156
Intelligence: 45 - 50 (+45%) = 72.5
Wisdom: 50 (+45%) = 72.5
Luck: 30
Charisma: 83

Stat Points: 10 - 40

-/\-

Not only that, but I'd also gotten a present for Ruby to make up for making her have to do all those things to herself with her stat points. Honestly, though it hurt that I'd possibly hurt her mind with all the INT boosting, it was to stop a potentially larger threat from coming up. It hadn't done anything yet, but ignoring it would NOT make it go away.

Still, a present would make her happy, she was the type to melt and forgive and forget if you forgave her with a present, and I was going to take advantage of that.

Plus, it was a badass present.

Huryi Stredir
Description: A long facemask/scarf woven from bands of a Kitsuninja Jounin mysterious magical ninja essence. Red as any Grimm's baleful eyes, it is infused with a great amount of its power and abilities. "And his blade struck true, destroying all in its path. Though he was kind, fear was struck, as the whole world was his path, and the shadows were his oyster."

Effects: +50% boost to the abilities of Wall-jump, Spider Climb, Triangle Jump, Evasion, Stealth, and Nightvision. +100% Attack Speed, Movement Control, Motor Control, and Flexibility. +150% Movement Speed and Attack Precision

It was labeled as 'Epic Tier' in terms of loot, so I was confident that it, and all of its effects, compounded by the bright red color, would be more than enough to make it up to her for making her really smart and moderately tougher and wiser, at the cost of having far fewer 'free self-upgrading points' as she had nicknamed them.

Really, if she knew the real reason why I was doing this, she'd probably swear her life to me. While nice, I didn't need her doing that for me.

Back to my point, I'd given Yang a nice time, and we'd watched another sunset together, and while she didn't draw another picture tonight, she HAD drawn two others at some point prior to tonight, and just now had had the chance to give them to me. I admired the artistic value and, even more so, the sentimental value they held too. I loved them dearly.

Right now, though, I had another matter to attend to.

...

Weiss Schnee
Title: The Frostbitten Princess of the Broken Kingdom
Level: 31

"Alright, you've managed to convince your, for lack of a better word, 'caretakers' to let you go. You've read the tutorial to its fullest and have explored the game's functions. You've made nice with the others, including Blake and Skyler, and they with you. Thomas will need time before he's ready to meet you, of course. Right now, though it's quite incomplete, I'm still glad everyone's managed to make nice and be friends. Above all else at the moment, I'm just glad that all of my friends can be friends with each other too." I smiled softly, looking her up and down, or rather looking at her new disguise.

Azure hair, magenta eyes, a black jacket and blue t-shirt under it, black skinny jeans that Ruby had stuck in her little space of the inventory, and blue sneakers. Thankfully, the equipment system resized things to fit people perfectly, for the most part. It couldn't turn my medium-sized hoodie into a small one to fit Weiss, but a small-sized hoodie fitting Ruby would shift to fit Weiss, Marbel, or at a stretch even Blake. Still, nobody would mistake her for Weiss except perhaps by her weapon Myrtenaster.

Still, without it in her hands, you'd be hard-pressed to think that 'Aqua' was actually the famous White Songbird, formally known as Weiss Schnee.

I had brought her out to face the thirties-tier Grimm of the forest to help her get some practice. Eighty pounds of steel plating protecting her arms, legs, torso, and neck. I'd taken some liberties with the 'half-plate' armor. I hadn't made the effort to sabotage her mobility like I had with myself, as she didn't need such training, and she was rather weak as it was, she didn't need to try contorting herself into weird angles to make a hit. Her style, Fencer I was assuming, would go for simpler, more straightforward styles, and most importantly the style was based on movement and attack speed. Without too much trouble, we headed out to start training.

...

After getting her a few levels higher, and learning some more about her with simple enough questions, as well as answering her own questions about me, I called the training for the time being. She'd made a bit of progress stabbing and casting at Longhorns, Cavalisceras, and other such mobs that were little more than trash to me at my level. Applying more Regeneration and other buffs on her for extending periods of time, I was happy at her progress, even if it was meager compared to what I'd seen Ruby go through several hours ago.

-/\-

Weiss Schnee:
Title: The Frostbitten Princess of the Broken Kingdom - The Blanketed Princess of the Broken Kingdom
Level: 31 - 35
Class: Regal Fencer
Nickname: Ice Queen

Hit Points: 2000 - 2500
Aura Points: 16,000 - 19,200
Stamina Points: 3500 - 4300

Strength: 16 - 18 (+27%) = 20.32
Dexterity: 66 - 67 (+62%) = 106.92
Vitality: 22 - 24(+32%) = 29.04
Intelligence: 83 (+100%) = 166
Wisdom: 50 (+92%) = 96
Luck: 12 - 33
Charisma: 46 - 47

Stat Points: 0 - 0

-/\-

I had encouraged her to put her points into Luck, due to the fact that it more than likely wouldn't increase on its own. It HAD gone up by a point when she had slain a Cavaliscera Pegascorn and gotten an apparently rare drop, which was an actual fucking pair of wearable, functioning wings!

I laughed at that, "Wow. You could literally be the White Songbird now. You HAVE to add that to your costume, AND add a new song about flying." a grin spread across my lips, "It's your last tour, so you might as well add some new material to the mix. I'll even help you write it, if you want." I offered, a caring hand smoothing out her ruffled hair, "I bet it'll make the White Songbird at least a minor legend in the music world." I chuckled softly.

Weiss blushed, "I... er... I think... perhaps... that might be possible... b-but..." she shook slightly

I paused in my hand's motions, "But? But what? Is something wrong, Weiss?"

She curled in on herself a bit. It was subtle, but significant, little more than rolling her shoulders into a more slumped, slouched position. I quickly searched all of Gamer's Sight's findings for anything that might hint towards what the matter might be. I found something that explained the problem quite succinctly.

Family:

Raureif Schnee - The Slave-driver of Nature's Might (Father) (Alive)

Juliette Schnee - The Smiling Amethyst Hawk (Mother) (Deceased)

Winter Schnee - The Frosted Hawkling (Older Sister) (Alive)

Rengir Schnee - The Black Sheep of the Tundra (Twin Brother) (Deceased)

I winced. It wasn't too hard to figure out when you could think at eight hundred miles per hour. Her mother had a definite bird-like theme and Weiss probably unconsciously associated birds with her mother's death if it ever came up.

I sighed softly, then drew her into a hug, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to make you think about your mother." I assured her, "I didn't know... but now I do. I'll keep away from the subject if it bothers you so much-"

Her eyes seemed to light up with anger, and she struggled against my hold, "It's not that, you dunce." she said with a bit of frustration, "Though I'll never be the same from before, I've stopped letting it affect me, and the pain is subliminal at best. The problem is your insufferable affection. I swear I have never felt more violated in all my life." she broke free, if only because I let her go on purpose, "Do NOT touch me like that again." I noticed her touching her upper arms, where my own had wrapped around her, and I realized she must have been cold.

Sighing softly, "I won't, but you're cold. Here." I took off my Frostburn hoodie and equipped it to her, "It should keep you nice and warm." I snapped my fingers and Xiburichu's influence used his own power, in addition to the Fire Dust infused into the fabric, to heat the garment up to about the temperature it would be if it had come fresh out of the dryer.

Weiss practically mewled in delight, hugging herself and grasping handfuls of the warm fabric, warmth seeping throughout her entire body.

I chuckled softly, "Better?"

She coughed, trying to recompose herself, but giving up and sighing softly, "Much." she gave me a small smile, "You're quite impressive, Jaune. However, I think it's best if you took me back to my hotel now. I don't wish to worry my caretakers."

I smiled a bit, "Right. So... do you want to take the Jaune Express or the Jaune First Class?"

She raised an eyebrow at me, "I fear to ask what the difference is."

"Alright then, the funner one." I chuckled and charged Mystral with basically all but one extra charge, giving that one to Xiburichu to keep Weiss warm as we took the 'Invisible Jet'.

Her protests quickly devolved into awe-filled cheers from the rush of flying. I couldn't help but smile. Making my friends happy and causing them to smile?

I was unbelievably happy.

...

I was unbelievably angry.

Weiss had explained our arrangement already. I was a Huntsman-in-training who would be helping keep her safe as part of training, paid for by my father. It had been met with questioning, mostly as to my ability and reliability. Quickly incapacitating her toughest bodyguards without taking a single hit had proven I was quite skilled, and I'd gone on at length about how harming Weiss would have me killed or at the very least, banned from all schools for hurting a young woman who was classed as a civilian (despite her own skills, which were sharp but rather fragile) despite her innocence, the risks involved, and other such buzzwords. Though they didn't like getting lectured, they'd conceded.

And as such I'd been allowed to stay for a little while, since I was very thirsty.

And what I'd seen in that short time told me that her manager was as well.

The old, short, fat, creepy bastard had been staring at her legs and skirt, or looking her up and down with a leery grin. I wanted to snap the man in half, but his massive gut would provide too much padding or flame fodder for my usual methods.

So I'd begun to craft a new plan. I smiled and began to talk to some of the other people. Turns out the guy had already set up the entire rest of the tour with the others, but they didn't really like him. He smoked too much, stank of unmentionable things, and was seen quite often staring at the starlet.

So, the idea was simple. I had about twenty million lien, in cash, ready to be used for anything I wanted. I knew what I wanted right now.

But... there was a catch. If I did this wrong, then millions of people would be saddened or enraged. Weiss had a LOT of fans, and hearing her last tour would be canceled? More than a few thousand hearts would be broken.

Really, all I wanted to do was get this creep out of the picture.

So I plotted, and schemed, and gathered information. My plan was to buy out ownership rights of the contract and, if necessary, force the bastard to I'd do this quickly, efficiently, and without hiccups. For once, I trusted Luck to help see this through. It would take time, but... I had faith.

Sometimes faith was all you needed.

---

I held the hands of the woman of my life.

Yang Xiao Long
Title: An Angel in the Sunlight
Level: 96

Long, golden blond hair that swayed with every motion. Lilac eyes that sparkled and shined with love. Hands gentle enough to hold delicate daisy, yet strong enough to crush even the mightiest of foes. A smile worth every lien in the planet, shining with pearlescent happiness that I had sworn to protect with my life.

Warm crimson trickled down my face as my eyes trailed lower.

Grievous Chest Wound
Punctured lungs, perforated arteries, lacerated windpipe and esophagus
Estimated time till death: 7 seconds.

I had sworn to protect her with my life, so why, why oh why was she dying and I was still alive?

Shattered glass, each spike at least half an inch thick and several inches long. It had turned her back into a pincushion.

I removed the shards and tried to heal her, but I could only buy her a few seconds, which she used to break my heart with one last breath, "I love you."

Then why, Yang? Why did you die? Why did you die for me?

I should have died for you... that was my oath.

Dammit Yang I loved you! I STILL love you!

I love you and you made me a liar!

I set her body down onto the dusty, dirty street. My eyes roamed around and I found endless creatures of darkness surrounding us. Drawn in the dread of the dying angel at my feet, as well as my own grief of loss.

I felt like the world was darker now, that the sun shined just a little less.

Ahead of me, bow still up and aimed, was Cinder Fall. I hated her.

I had hated her before, but just out of general 'hero vs. villain' emotions.

Now, though, she had made it personal.

I rushed forward, my Aurora blazing around me with cyan flames that resembled the same that my love had once glowed with. I let out a war cry and swiped with my blade.

She blocked it with her bare hand and tossed it, and my shield aside. I swung out but she grabbed my arms, stopping me and staring into my eyes.

Her lips moved in some unintelligible words that fell on my deaf ears, shortly before I headbutted her in the nose.

I heard a masculine grunt of pain and my vision swam.

*BOOM*

*CRASH*

The sound of a vase shattering on the floor.

They were fighting again.

I was tough, I could handle it...

I handled it all the way to my bed, curled up under the blanket.

That's when I heard a screech from the harpy that had replaced my loving and caring mother, "IF YOU ONLY WANT TO THROW HIS LIFE AWAY THEN HE MIGHT AS WELL HAVE NEVER BEEN BORN!"

I felt pain and chills run all up and down my back, and I curled up, crying myself to sleep...

---

You slept! All status effects have been removed!

You had a Nightmare of Terror! Flailing and screaming, you were lucky to have someone to help!

You had a Nightmare of Trauma! Recessed deep into your mind were events that scarred you. We're sorry about bringing them back up.

You had two nightmares in one sleeping session! Stamina Regeneration has been reduced by a total 95% and Stamina has been set to 1%.

LUCKY! Experience gained for the usage of Night Omen was increased by 360%!

Night Omen's level increased by 3!

-/\-

Night Omen (Passive) Level: 6, Exp: 30.00%, (achieved for raising Luck over 100)
A power given to the fortunate and the unfortunate. A sign of bad luck in the eyes of most, this ability allows one to receive messages through their dreams.

Unlocks "Ominous Nightmares" (16% chance)
Unlocks "Animated Fear Nightmares" (16% chance)
Unlocks "Terrifying Nightmares" (16% chance)
Unlocks "Traumatic Nightmares" (16% chance)
Unlocks "Hopeful Dreams" (18% chance)
Unlocks "Joyous Dreams (18% chance)
Chance of multiple dreams: 25%

-/\-

When the hell had I fallen asleep? What the actual fuck?

I had sworn to never fall asleep again, and... why was I on the ground? I recognized this place... this is my backyard!

I looked up, feeling broad arms around me. I felt disgusted with myself for being so pitiful, but... at the very least.

Name: Johnathan Arc
Title: The Ninth Moon to Illuminate the Night
Level: 109

At the very least my father was there to support me. I slowly got into a stand, "Th-thanks dad. What... happened?"

He sounded tired as he spoke, "You woke me up with your nightmare-induced screaming. It took me a full ten seconds to realize it was you and not some nightmare of my own. I came to wake you up and try to stop you from flailing around, but... I guess it was a night terror." he had led us inside and put a pot of coffee on as he explained what happened outside of my dream world, "Then you got up and started trying to attack me. I managed to keep you from doing that, for the most part, but then you headbutted me and I kind of accidentally threw you out the window with how much you were squirming around. You've gotten pretty strong, son, I'm proud of you." he rubbed his nose, a slight hint of blood on his upper lip, "I just wish ya didn't use it to smash your forehead into my nose." he chuckled lightly, taking his mug of coffee and taking a deep drink.

He took his coffee black, which wasn't a problem, with his VIT in the two-hundreds. Still... I was surprised at his stats. I had promised him that I'd let him into The Game, but I'd let that rest for a bit later. Right now, the look on his face spoke volumes of his concern. I decided to speak up, "Sorry, I thought you were a villainess I'm working against." I chuckled jokingly.

He smirked, "I don't know how you could mistake ALL THIS." he gestured to his broad frame, "With a woman's curves, but then again you WERE having a wild dream."

"Hehe, yeah. It WAS kinda wild... and really sad... dad I have to ask you a question." the look he gave me told me to continue, "If... if my mother was in danger, would you save her? Like not only just a damsel in distress scenario, but real, mortal danger. I'm saying that, in this scenario, if you didn't save her, then she would die."

He stared at me, then slowly his expression twisted into what seemed like both a fond smile and a hate-filled scowl. He looked out the window at the sun, still low in the sky, and the hazy rays of light made the tear escaping his eye glisten, "Without hesitation..." he said softly. It wasn't just an answer, it was like a promise, whispered and true.

I cringed internally, "Why? Not just why you hate her, but why you would save her, if you hate her. I know it's more complicated than that, so I guess... I guess I'm just asking for you to clarify... why did you two split up?"

"It was... your ninth birthday. You said you wanted to be a big strong Huntsman just like your dad. That moment was one of my proudest, but... what followed was one of my most shameful. Juniper disagreed, she didn't like the Huntsman lifestyle of mortal danger at every turn outside the walls. Going and fighting monsters, it scared her... she's older than I am, by almost a whole decade. She was in school in Atlas when I was in diapers. I had saved her life and she had become more smitten with me. I was her knight in shining armor and because of that first move, we started becoming closer. Surprisingly, it wasn't until she was pregnant with you that she learned the darker, more bitter truth about Hunters..."

I leaned in, curious as to where this was going, "What is that?"

"Heh, it's a concept you know from most of your games, son. Hunters go out and fight the good fight. They protect the kingdoms from the Grimm. They help the people. However, most of all, they die. Out of Aura and injured, overwhelmed and outnumbered, or even just getting poisoned by one of those fucking annoying bastards who have the stuff, Hunters die. Juni didn't like that. One thing led to another, but after you had said that you wanted to be a Huntsman, and I couldn't bear to disapprove, we started arguing. Words were said, things thrown, hands raised, but we usually made up a bit afterwards, at least enough to tide us over until the next argument... the first time you got a deep bruise from my training, we had a massive argument, I think we even broke a window. You and your sisters were at that church thing, whatever it was, I can hardly remember... but... without that fear of scaring you all restraining us, we went all out, and then I said the dumbest thing I ever have... that if your sisters wished to become Huntresses as well, then I would train them. The next day we didn't speak to each other at all. A week later, you and I moved up to Vale City."

I stared at him, my expression blank, "So... mom didn't want you to 'corrupt' your daughters into risking their lives, regardless of the glory and nobility it held." he nodded, "She'd rather you two be separated as far apart as possible to save them from your influence." he nodded again, "She'd rather you... that... YOU! You took my sisters away from me to give me this life."

He finally spoke again, "I didn't do that intentionally. Son, your sisters were too young to understand what they wanted. Juni was just doing what she thought was best for them. I guess she did that for you too. I didn't always agree with it, but... well, what Juni wanted, I usually gave her. She was-"

"Stop calling her that." I interrupted him forcefully, "Stop calling her that little pet name. It makes it sound like you love her aga-"

He stood up forcefully, knocking his coffee mug onto the floor, "LOVING HER AGAIN WOULD IMPLY I EVER STOPPED IN THE FIRST PLACE!" he slumped back down into his chair, picking up his fallen mug and refilling it, throwing down some paper towels onto the puddle of coffee on the floor, "I never stopped loving her. Just because I was angry, or spiteful, or hateFUL, I never actually truly HATED her. I'd like to thing it was the same with her. We didn't hate each other. We loved each other, but had a personal despisal for each other. At the end of each and every day, we still shared a bed at night. Our emotions drove us apart, not our feelings. Our feelings never died, even if they'd seemed that way. I think... the main thing preventing us from approaching each other on the subject is our fear... I don't know what seven years away has done to her or her psyche... and she must feel the same way with me. It's like our greatest fears are the fears themselves..." he sighed and rested his head in his hands, "It's just so easy to NOT confront her now that everything is probably said and done, that actually confronting her now is just... so far away and it puts a bad taste in my mouth..."

I looked at my father, a man in his mid-forties, yet looking older than Jenkins had. I sighed softly, "I have a quest to bring you to together, dad. Just like every Arc before me, I've accepted the quests I've been presented with, and I've not broken my promise to complete them." I smiled lightly, "It might take some time, but I was planning a trip down to Coldwater, probably after I finish guarding and assisting the aspiring Huntress-in-Training I'm now planning to buy the contract of."

My father looked at me in surprise, "Buying out a contract? Huntress in training? Just what is this semblance of yours getting you involved with?"

I chuckled, "Weiss Schnee herself. She's got the will and I've got a way, so I figured I could help her out. Plus, she's willing to become a Huntress in the name of restoring honor to her tainted family name. In a way, having the bravery to choose taking up this dangerous path in life, in the name of honor, is a lot like what I myself am doing, trying to maintain the honor of the Arc name and being a warrior worthy of my lineage."

Cobalt eyes bored into my cyans, as if my father was shocked at my stupidity and was lecturing me through his eyes, "Son... you do not have to 'try' to maintain the honor of the Arc name. Our lineage is more than warriors, we are heroes. You don't need to swing a sword at some bad guys to be a hero worthy of your name, son. You just need to have the heart and determination to fight for goodness and justice. From what you've told me and messaged me about... protecting and assisting several aspiring Huntresses, following a path to purify a Grimm into a being capable of goodness and love, working to craft a new kingdom to serve as another bastion of hope and light... you've done me and our ancestors proud, more than a hundred, even a thousand times over. You don't need to worry about knighthood, or any sort of oaths or any of that dumb shit. All you need to worry about, son, is staying alive long enough to fulfill your promises. After all, if you're dead, you can't carry out your word, and what have I always told you?"

We both recited the olden words at the same time, "An Arc never goes back on his word." I smiled, "Hey, dad, I'm able to see your level normally now. I have some problems with trying to recruit incredibly powerful people with my semblance, but... I think something might be inhibiting your level, just enough that I could get you into a party." I smiled, feeling like a warm fire had burst inside my heart. I certainly felt a lot better about myself than I did five minutes ago. I had plans in place to help my parents get over themselves and get back together. I would help Weiss grow stronger. I would get Ruby to Aurora. I would keep Yang safe. I would turn the White Fang back onto a path of good. I would kill Cinder Fall.

I would win this Game if it was the last thing I did! Hell, technically speaking it could very well BE the last thing I did!

Well... with some of my goals now a lot less nebulous, I could start turning my dreams into realities.

"Well, that'll certainly be interesting to do. Now then... care to explain to T-1000 and Human Torch duo that are making our breakfast?" he asked with a bit of concern, jabbing his thumb back at my elementals, Crocea and Xiburichu, who had gone to work preparing food while my dad and I talked.

I sighed softly, ramping up the flames that were cooking our bacon, "Elementals. Beings constructed from splinters of my soul and Apparently, Lightning and Metal, the two elements that are lacking in 'nature' things, are highly present in the souls of the Arc family. Other elements seem to be very balanced, from what I can see of you." 35 Metal Affinity and 25 Lightning Affinity, with 10 in everything else? That was the most affinity I'd seen in anyone, including myself! "It's pretty OP... even more than what I have, and I have actual Elementals... *ahem*. There are six magical elements that, according to my semblance, reality is comprised of: Metal, Lightning, Earth, Fire, Water, and Air."

I proceeded to explain the entirety of what I could to him, occasionally stopping to explain something further, or to clarify something. In that time, I found myself gaining another level in Summon Elemental, putting me at 92 and netting me another charge for it. With 24 of them, I distributed them evenly among all six of my summoned elementals.

Crocea Mors
Title: Metal Soul, Yellow Death
Level: 4

Xiburichu
Title: Fire Soul, Western Sunrise
Level: 4

Mystral
Title: Air Soul, Cold Wind
Level: 4

Roimontagne
Title: Earth Soul, Mountain Tosser
Level: 4

Pluviteus
Title: Water Soul, Orange Rain
Level: 4

Juristimunja
Title: Lightning Soul, True Storm
Level: 4

Smiling, I looked at my father, "My summons, my friends, my allies. They each represent some of my experiences. Crocea Mors, the sword and shield that is the legend of our family... when I was first finding out who and what I would become with this power. Xiburichu, the sunrise of the west. When I met Yang, I showed her my power and the 'sun' had 'risen' in my life, I suppose. Mystral, after I'd faced the cold truth of reality not being very much like the fantasy my power would imply it to be. After meeting Blake, the brief 'fight' with Taiyang, I guess I really felt cold after that. Roimontagne, when I set about starting to dominate Eagle Mountain, and I needed to move the mountain itself, I summoned him. Pluviteus, I had breathed light into the orange tree on the mountain, and took its fruit as sacrifice. It rained that day, just like I feel it will today too." I looked outside at the skyline, which had grown slightly hazy, "Finally, Juristimunja. The last piece of the puzzle to find the truth of the Elements. It was then that I knew about our souls and their composition, if only partially. I understood some... some full-formed sense of self. Sense of power, of truth. Dad... when we think of god, what do we think of? It's been so long since I thought about it..."

It was about a full minute before my father spoke, obviously still looking at the Elementals, "Well, son, the lord Monty Oum is usually imagined a man with skin as bright and healthy as the sun, because he's the source of life and the sun provides the light we need to live. They say his hair isn't so much strands of hair like mortals have, but rather a tapestry woven out of all of reality, leaking from his infinite mind. He has an indomitable will and unending resolve. Even creating endlessly, his word is to keep moving forward, to look ahead and find the bright future we all crave." he let out a soft laugh as a droplet splashed against the screen door, "A lot of people say we cling to that image because of some pointless hope... but I say that regardless of if he's real or not, that hope is what keeps the light shining."

I smiled lightly, "Well... I've been thinking over some things, and I've decided that faith, or hope, or whatever the hell... it's probably the strongest thing in the world. It helps us survive with our humanity intact... in fact I'd go so far as to say it's one of the very things that make us human..." neither of us spoke after that, and one by one, my elementals disappeared.

Banishing the darkness of despair from your mind and reinforcing your hopes and dreams has increased the sharpness and power of Gamer's Mind! In addition, your INT has increased by 2!

Yet even beyond my hopes, the rain still fell.

However, it was alright. It really was.

The sun would show itself again soon.

---

(One day later, Saturday morning, about 10 AM. Vale Airship Docks. Jaune POV)

I gently used telekinesis to push away the adoring fans, stating some security measures. The others helped cement that fact.

I'd decided to bring some people along, since I had had enough money left over from buying out the contract that I could rent a private dustjet scheduled to take us wherever the tour went. It had taken a bit more planning time than I'd have liked, but it got done regardless.

Buying out the contract had taken more than a little coercion, compelling the man with a large chunk of about 25 million lien, which I convinced him would be far more than necessary for me to pay, since while it would be less than he'd get for the complete contract, he could get more money working during the time he'd free up by getting it off his hands. I had to throw jabs at Weiss to lubricate the transaction with some vocalist tears, but when even that hadn't been enough to convince him, a Gaster Blaster skull staring at him and my less-than-friendly words that followed had convinced him to sign the papers over.

Still, even though things went relatively smoothly and no blood was shed, the time I'd wasted by filing for these arrangements could have been put to better use. I could have trained my skills up more, but at the very least I'd managed to awaken the Auras of nearly ten thousand more square feet of Celeste Field's grass. I didn't know what exactly what I'd accomplish by doing all of that, but it couldn't hurt and it helped level up the skill a lot. My plan was to eventually awaken the Auras of every plant in the forest on the mountain, all the way to the edge of the large plain-like area it had. Who knows? Maybe I'd gain the trust of some nature spirits or something.

Still, that would be a lot of work that would take a lot of time that I couldn't spare at the moment, given that we were leaving for the trip in mere minutes.

I took one last look at my compatriots before we were to board the private jet.

Marbel Mayston
Title: The White Rook of the Flowering Kingdom
Level: 45 - 48

I had convinced her parents and Cherrywood to let her go for a week while recording it as a 'business trip'. Technically it WAS business. Gamer business, Hunter business, and in a way, even Kingdom business, since we were in the process of founding a new kingdom in the mountains. She was safe in my care, and we were operating in a completely legal way.

Blake Belladonna
Title: The Nighttime Beauty
Level: 52

She had nothing else to do except for clean the castle every day and grind more levels, perhaps read in the library. The castle would still be standing when we got back, and now she had something even better to do: Accompany me to Vacuo to watch over Weiss during her tour, as well as level up against some dangerous desert-type Grimm. She could still read all the books she wanted, given that I could fit a ton of books into just a few inventory spaces, so long as their number of pages was within a certain range, they could stack together.

Johnathan Arc
Title: The Ninth Moon to Illuminate the Night
Level: 109

I'd created a new party, affectionately named 'Arc Pride'. He technically had no obligations to anyone except those which he made for himself. He looked incredibly happy, and I was happy in return. His sword and shield, different from the family weapon and yet much the same, were at his waist. Midnight Tide the sword, and Titan's Levee the shield. He was dressed well, which I'd told all of them to do, since we'd be arriving alongside Weiss' jet.

I held Crocea Mors' handle at my left side, having changed into a more formal outfit, including a smart-looking black suit jacket, dark gray trousers, a deep blue undershirt, and my chestplate between the shirt and jacket. For 'extra protection', I wore my bracers and greaves, even though I had Stone Skin and Metal Skin both active and running at exactly one-thousand times their normal power, which still didn't drain out my APR boosted by Wizard v3.

I grinned, feeling power flowing through me as I balanced the flow of Aura into my AP bar with the draining of my various defenses and buffs. I breathed slowly, taking in air and letting out a light frost as I combined my Ki Breathing and repeated usage of Chilly Breath.

Even as water vapor froze in my mouth with each breath, I felt a light tickling on the back of my neck. I didn't need to turn to know what it was.

Garnet Arc
Title: Swaddled in Hope and Fate
Level: 1

I had gently nudged the kitten into accepting the party invite, adding her to the Arc Pride party. She had only received the apparently painful soul-embedding sensation for a few moments before collapsing, apparently barely able to stand. Of course, after I'd helped her recover, she hadn't been able to read the tutorial, and so I closed it for her. I was going to make Garnet a super kitten, or at least make her able to withstand any danger she might face. As a practically infantile and depressingly feeble and frail animal, she would need help to survive. As long as nothing hurt her, I could easily help her get levels and become far stronger than any three-month-old kitten had any right to be.

With a small smile, I turned towards Weiss, who looked more than ready to fly to Vacuo by flapping her arms, for all the enthusiasm that remained in her kiss-blowing and hyping gestures. I chuckled, and Mystral gave her the message that the area was safe for takeoff. She passed the message onto the security team, and they escorted her onto the ship. I made a gesture for the others to board our own ship, and both vessels began to ascend, first Weiss', then our own.

I scanned the area with all of my sensory skills, as well as looking through the disturbances in the air and ground, like a sort of Echo Sense and Tremor Sense. All of that combined, I found nothing, so we set off. I knew such checks wouldn't be entirely necessary, but I just wanted to make sure. It was sort of a habit. I'd clear places of all the enemies present before moving onto the next area. It was that surprisingly sad truth that had helped me nearly complete the genocide run in Undervale: my compulsion for game completion.

Putting those thoughts aside, I looked out towards the horizon, chuckling lightly, "Bring me that horizon, boys." I commanded the pilots, grinning even though they didn't seem to get it. I exited the pilot's cabin and walked out into the common area.

Marbel had convinced Blake to play some sort of pen and paper game involving a rabbit, though Blake seemed to be very slow on the uptake either due to the game's inanity or because she was only playing for Marbel's sake. Air-travel tended to accelerate and emphasize cabin fever for a good amount of people, and we'd be flying for good seven or eight hours. Comparing that to about a two-hour flight from Coldwater to Vale City (that is to say, the southern edge of Vale Kingdom to the northern edge) and one could only deal with so much, and only sleep through so much of it.

'So much' being one of my dad's specialties, since he was fast asleep with light snoring sounds escaping his mouth. I found him in one of the four personal rooms on-board, a thing I'd requested since we had four people.

With my checks on everyone, even the tiny Garnet, now complete, I claimed a room for myself and began to meditate, for all it was worth now.

It was time to play the waiting game.

---

Well, that's FINALLY done. Jesus H Fucking CHRIST on a cracker with a side of trapeze artists.

My week has been all kinds of fig-filled fuckery and my anxiety over getting this chapter done was only matched by my despair at the chapter not being done. Despair is poisonous, it's weakness, it's dangerous.

Despair is what kills people and what I might dare to suspect kills stories too, what with the author losing hope that they can recover or post in time or for whatever other reason. I don't actually know but I'm trying to justify or at least play up my achievement to make myself feel better.

I'm so torn on some things, even though I have a decent progression of story events in my head. I don't know whether to keep him in a pairing or make it a harem, and you all, the fans, seem to be quite divided over that as well.

As such, I'm going to put up a poll on whether or not I should do that.

Ideally, romance and love would be a force to drive Jaune (and his partner or partners)to grow stronger, so he can protect the people he (romantically) loves even better, as well as those he (friendship and family) loves.

Just imagine someone getting a major power boost at a critical moment because of the power of determination (not the Undertale kind, the normal kind) and love. It's like a transcripted anime moment, but probably less awesome since you can't see it, only read the descriptions of it...

Prooooooobably just forget that last line.

Anyways, as I said like four lines ago, I'm going to put up a poll on my profile, and then a secondary poll based on the results of the first poll. I encourage everyone to cast their votes, and the majority wins.

I also plead the remaining minority to not abandon the story just because of this. Please, stay for the entertainment, don't leave because Jaune decides to level up his Threesome skill or something (though that would make for a funny omake).

For those of you worried about the pacing of the story, fret not. The next chapter will encompass an entire week's worth of travel through Vacuo, following Weiss' tour, but not staying strictly focused on that.

Jaune has plans for his friends involving some of his skills that are decidedly quite broken in retrospect. Having your own reserve of special bullshit powers is awesome, but having a squad of people who have the same bullshit powers and fuck up anyone's shit? That's just playing the deck in his favor.

Introduction of Amber, of Velvet, and of the leaders of the other schools. If you're wondering, Almaz Chien is some french and russian combination name meaning "Diamond Dog", and she's an expy of Big Boss from MGSV. Sayon Miyagito is a combination of Mister Miyagi and Shigeru Miyamoto (at least in name).

I suppose I could have done more to flesh out Sayon (his name refers to cyan) as the cooler, calmer-headed, more logical and pragmatic leader, in opposition to Ozpin's hidden agenda workings, Ironwoods "Missiles, more missiles, ALL THE MISSILES", and Almaz' more self-assured confidence and tactile prioritizing.

Sorry if the first part of this chapter seems wonky, too, I had just come off of posting the other chapter and I honestly am wanting to just move past that and onto the next chapter, where more things will happen.

The overall quality of this chapter probably is kinda low, or maybe it's pretty high, I'm not good at judging my own stuff TBCH. I'll leave that to you all.

I'm gonna make the Omake, then do a stat-dump, then get this chapter posted.

---

Omake: Not Glass, Not Canon

---

I slipped into meditation easily, losing myself in the hum of the engine as my perception exploded outwards, filled in by my elementals.

I looked at my stats, smiling to myself as I saw them even without opening my eyes.

-/\-

Jade Hex
Title: Grand Wizard of the Elements
Level: 136
Class: Wizard v4
Nickname: Mr. Player Man

HP: 140,000/140,000
AP: 526,000/526,000
SP: 211,000/211,000

Strength: 150 (+500%) (+150%) = 1125
Dexterity: 140 (+500%) (+150%) = 1050
Vitality: 170 (+500%) (+150%) = 1275
Intelligence: 290 (+10) (+500%) = 1800
Wisdom: 290 (+10) (+500%) = 1800
Luck: 117
Charisma: 175

Stat Points: 0

Age: 17
Birthday: November 20th
Race: Human
Height: 6'7
Weight: 320
Build: Med-Heavy Athletic
Hair/Eyes/Skin: Golden Blonde / Starry Azure / Medium Tan

-/\-

I mixed and matched my Elementals together, combining the ones that created nature, then lava and ice, then I mixed together a storm, all while the will of my soul drove my ship towards Beacon.

I hummed as I felt something rip when I created an Time Elemental... well, that wasn't the best way to describe it. To describe either of those things.

Earth, Metal, and Lightning had come together to form something entirely new. At first I thought it was simply Gravity, since the mass of Earth and Metal was charged with the energy of Lightning to create something like a very, very tiny planet... in the shape of a person. However, it seemed that this extended to time as well, since gravity and the speed of light alter the flow of time. The best way to describe the combination wasn't just with gravity, or with space, or with time... I called it a Dimension Elemental, because it operated in the four dimensions of longitude, latitude, altitude, and time.

I blinked as the thing I first described as 'ripped' was rather more a swelling that was so sudden, massive, and invasive, yet so empty that it seemed that the space around it had simply been torn apart and thrown aside.

Physically, what I saw was a giant ball of electricity, like the time traveling sphere from Terminator, appear in front of the ship. I attempted to will it away, but the force inside the sphere was indomitable, and it effortlessly pulled my poor little bullhead in and swallowed it whole.

...

I felt my senses distort as all forms of time and space lost meaning, the time period in which I was in limbo was both infinitesimally small and infinitely long. I don't know if my mind's speed had been reduced to the inverse of the speed of light, or if my denial of any form of perception, even that of my bullhead, had distorted my timeframe. I waited eons, and yet in the blink of an eye I saw the sun's rays above me.

I was laying on the light gray stones of Beacon's cobbled paths. The uniform pattern of stone slabs beneath me responded to Roi's influence just as easily as I expected. Still, something felt... off. I couldn't sense my party's connections, and that's when I realized something wasn't right at all.

All of my parties had been disbanded. Yang, Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Skyler, Thomas, dad, Garnet, Nora, Ren, Pyrrha, all my friends I'd made and included in my power's influence...

All... disconnected. They must be panicking, trying to figure out what happened. I checked my scroll to find that I had only been unconscious for a few minutes, which was reassuring.

I stood up, nearly bumping into someone as I did, "Oh, sorry." I said quickly, looking at the person.

I blinked, realizing something was wrong as my heart sank to my feet and my eyes read the words above the ravenette's head.

Blake Belladonna
Title: Black Teeth, Gray Heart.
Level: 37

Last I'd checked, Blake's level was around the nineties, "Hey pretty kitty." I greeted as I usually did.

Her eyes widened and she took a step back, "What did you just call me?" she asked cautiously, looking ready to strike at me.

This... wasn't the Blake I knew. It was like someone had reset her save file to a previous point and steered her away from meeting me, "You're pretty, so I called you pretty kitty. I like rhyming words, and I believe a compliment never hurts." I said with extremely quick thinking, "I'm not well-known locally, but I enjoy dabbling in poetry." I added as a bit of showing off, thankful that I'd been leveling my disguise skill with my Jade Hex disguise, the dark green locks briefly dancing into my vision before being righted by Mystral.

She let out a small laugh, "Right... you... do that." obviously amused by my silly attempt at being entertaining. It was worth the laugh and the small smile I got, at least.

"Right, I'm sorry for bumping into you. Perhaps we can talk at another time." I said before walking backwards, then turning and walking away, towards the main road leading from the airship docks to the main building.

I'd figure this shit out soon enough, but I just hoped that the others hadn't been affected like this.

I walked out to see an explosion light up, a glass vial of Dust flying out of the burst of fire, ice, and lightning. I grabbed it with telekinesis and pulled it close. I briefly wondered what sort of careless newbie would carry such a volatile substance in such a brittle container, before my eyes widened.

The SDC Snowflake logo, stylized and shrunk to fit, was etched onto the bottle. That meant...

Ruby Rose
Title: The Sleepwalking Reaper
Level: 49

Weiss Schnee
Title: The Dusty and Frostbitten Heiress
Level: 34

Heh, at least it was still clear that Ruby had a much higher level of skill than Weiss did. Go Ruby, you're still a badass sister-in-l-...

... don't cry, don't cry, man. I won't be crying now. I just... I just hope Yang is okay.

Goddammit, what was going on?

Weiss was talking down to Ruby, and so I stepped forward. Regardless of whether or not she knew it, I still regarded her as a sister-in-law, and I protected my sisters no matter what.

"Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?" the frosty heiress snapped, and I would have snapped my hand across her cheek if she'd dared talked like that to Ruby before, especially knowing what the young girl was capable of.

"Well I, I..." Ruby attempted to gather together a response, but impatient Weiss interrupted her.

"This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice, you know. We're here to fight monsters, so watch where you're going!" Weiss crossed her arms over her meager chest, devoid of the inflating my power had brought to my Weiss.

Luckily, it seemed Ruby developed some backbone after the fencer had struck a nerve, "Hey, I said I was sorry, Princess!" she snapped back, though the jab was light.

I decided to intervene, "It's heiress, actually." I smirked like a know-it-all, because technically, with these two, I kinda did, to an extent, "Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

Weiss smiled, oblivious to my venom-laced words, "THANK you. Finally some recognition."

"The same company whose questionable business practices may or may not be perpetuating their own problems with the violent protests for Faunus Civil Rights." I pointed out, staring down the diminutive heiress.

She didn't scare me when she was my version of her, she sure as hell didn't scare me when she was over a hundred levels lower than me.

"How dare-... the nerve of-..." she stuttered to find a response, then snatched the vial out of my hand and stormed off, muttering some choice words about me and my parentage. Heh, looks like she had as much of a mouth on her as my Weiss did.

I looked at Ruby, but worry filled my mind as I thought back to Yang, "Sorry about anything she might have said. I gotta go, though, I'm looking for someone specific." I turned and walked away.

I heard her collapse to the ground in teenage angst and ignored it. I almost turned at the sound of an odd voice reaching my ears, but figured it was just some good samaritan helping her out. I smiled a bit at that, slipping into invisibility and running off, leaving Ruby to her new friend.

...

I internally thanked my Stealth skill letting me easily blend into a crowd even if I mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. I sighed and slipped into the main hall, looking for that striking head of golden hair I'd recognize anywhere.

Recognize it I did, but the words above that head drove a whole box of nails through my heart.

Yang Xiao Long
Title: The Little Dragon of Sunshine
Level: 42

She wasn't my Yang, the Yang I'd grown so close to, the Yang I'd killed for, the Yang I'd protected, the Yang I'd taken the virginity of. This... this wasn't my Yang.

Apparently, I was in some sort of alternate reality where I didn't exist, leading my closest friends, even Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren (who I'd spotted among the throngs of students) to not only be far weaker than they had been with my help, but also probably have no clue about each other's existence (except maybe Pyrrha and Weiss, since they were kinda famous). It saddened me greatly. What was this cruel world, where my existence was only cemented a mere twelve minutes and twenty-seven seconds ago? I hated it, as it sickened me to my stomach to think that all of my efforts had been reversed. Erased and disappeared without a trace. I wanted to kill a thousand Grimm to calm my rising anger, and only from the sharpness of my mind did I clamp down on my feelings and prevented Aurora's star-like glow from escaping my body.

...

I saw Ruby join her sister, the two talking for a bit. I turned my ears towards the conversation, sensing their voices and what they were saying. I barely listened until I had to cringe at Ruby's awkwardness.

However, Weiss' sarcasm caught me by surprise, "Yeah! And we can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys like tall, blonde, and... scraggly over there." she pointed her thumb towards someone generally behind herself.

That description, something struck me about that description. I'd heard it before and I didn't want to believe I was hearing it right, but Mystral had never led me astray, and sure enough my heart stopped as I laid eyes on a familiar-looking young man. It was so jarring that I had to look at him fully.

-/\-

Jaune Arc
Title: The Arc Scion
Level: 8
Class: False Knight
Nickname: Vomit Boy

HP: 550/550
AP: 0/0 (Locked)
SP: 900/900

Strength: 20
Dexterity: 12
Vitality: 23
Intelligence: 26
Wisdom: 11
Luck: 5
Charisma: 7

Age: 17
Birthday: November 20th
Race: Human
Height: 6'1
Weight: 140
Build: Light Muscular
Hair/Eyes/Skin: Blonde / Royal Blue / Light Tan

-/\-

Okay, that threw my theory of me not existing until now out of the window. I guess... I was in an alternate reality where the Jaune of this world never unlocked his Gamer power, and so these past few months I've-I mean, HE'S been a total scrub. God this was going to be a little confusing, even for my immense mind. I sighed and decided to do as any self-respecting person would do.

I vowed to improve myself until I could accomplish all of my dreams... even if in this case, I was actually improving a copy of myself from a third person perspective.

This was going to be annoying, but if I knew myself as well as I thought I did, then I'd be ecstatic for a way to improve myself easily and become the hero I'd dreamed of becoming.

Oh, well there's Ozpin now. I guess I'll have to listen through one of his lengthy speeches that don't explain anything at all.

---

(A few hours later)

The night air was bitter, no doubt due to my efforts to warm it. I sighed slowly, watching my copy stare at the window, clad in a t-shirt and shorts that I'd had spares of, to save him the embarrassment of wearing a blue bunny-slipper onesie to bed. No doubt everyone would joke about it, if what I knew about teenagers was true.

As he read through the tutorial, I helped myself to his backstory. All was the same as I'd known it. We had the same seven sisters in the same order, however, something gave me pause.

Though hesitant at first, his mother came around to supporting his dream to be a Huntsman. Despite constant failure, neither of his parents stopped believing in him, though their hopes faded greatly. After years of nearly fruitless training, and painful days without his Aura being unlocked by either natural need or being unlocked by another person, he was sent to Beacon with a simple, but sad message, "We won't be disappointed if you have to come home early."

The small amount that remained was being written and rewritten as my surprisingly fortunate, yet I supposed also unfortunate copy read the tutorial to its fullest, racking up points in INT and WIS.

Was it that, then? The hands of fortune pulled him away from my situation, with parents divided and sisters long-unseen, but in exchange for growing up happy, he'd ended up lacking the massive preparation I had?

I suppose in the end, it was a fair trade... maybe.

"Why... are you doing this? Why are you helping me?" he asked finally, having finished reading the tutorial.

I sighed, knowing I couldn't tell the full truth, so I wrapped a nugget of it in a blanket of lies, "I see great potential in you, Jaune. Even with your Aura only just unlocked, I can feel its strength. I can sense the potential you have, the potential to become a hero of legend. Your backstory mentions heroes a lot, so I looked into you more. The heart of a hero pumps the blood of a warrior through your veins. All you need is discipline, and strength, and you will go far." I smiled at him, "Plus, you also know a lot about RPGs, whereas a lot of people here have very limited knowledge on them, even the more avid gamers. I figured it'd be easier to explain the system and help you improve if I didn't have to explain a hundred things." I smiled and looked around, "I have spells that can negate the effects of sleep deprivation, if you're game to go grinding EXP. The stuff here is pitifully weak, but- and sorry to say this -so are you." I smirked, "Don't worry, I have a feeling you've got a magikarp type of power."

I, he, Jaune... My copy chuckled, "Hehe, well I guess let's go make me a gyrados then." he looked around, "Um... I need my armor and weapons."

I pulled a minor risk, "I duped them earlier. Here." I equipped the items to his body, including the heavy armor. I then hit him with a few bursts of healing magic, watching the tiredness fade from his body.

With a smirk, I led him towards victory.

Or, if things went unbelievably terrible and for some reason Cinder or Salem showed up, death.

No... no he wouldn't die. I would make sure of it. This was an interesting and unique opportunity to learn about myself, "Come on." I gave him the prestiged versions of the six elemental buffs, then took off at a casual pace of thirty miles per hour, watching him follow at an unsteady, unsure pace, "It's just buffs! Buffs so strong you could survive getting run over by a tank." I called back to him, grinning brightly. Okay, I might have been overshooting it, granted that this copy of me didn't have Gamer's Body, but I don't think we were going to be testing that anytime soon.

He seemed happy with that, especially the massive boosts to his strength, speed, and endurance. I know I would be, at least.

---

(The next morning)

I smirked at Ozpin, looking for all intents and purposes like I didn't have a care in the world. To be honest, even after all of the connecting I did with my copy yesterday, I still felt the faint calls of anxiety and depression lick at my mind's eardrums, "I have a question."

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, "What is it, young man?"

I smirked, "Can I have a sip'a that." I asked irreverently, chuckling to myself.

Glynda's eyes narrowed, and almost in retribution, I was flung from the cliff by the panel beneath my feet.

...

Sighing lowly as the wind rushed past me, I spoke one plain, deadpanned word, "Rude." and began turning myself in midair.

The ground, one of my closest friends, stood unassuming as I raced down towards it, ready to embrace it fully.

Then, suddenly, due to Roimontagne's very persuasive voice, the ground moved aside as I continued racing downwards, curving my path back upwards and ascending back into the air through a tiny lake, sending a massive burst of glittering water droplets scattering through the air as I soared.

I sensed my copy and altered course, wishing to team up. With effortless ease, I caught him and willed the wind to bleed our momentum dry, landing softly on my feet, "And THAT is how it's done." I chuckled and set him down, "Come on, we need to find Grimm to kill." I called up Signal, attracting all of the Grimm within a full five kilometers towards me, "Get ready to impress the headmaster."

"W-w-why? W-what's going on?" he asked with a nervous stutter, looking around cautiously, rather than focusing on me and leaving himself open to attacks from behind.

I placed a hand on his head and rolled his head around a bit, "Grimm are coming towards me and you're going to try to kill them."

"A-are you kidding me? I only have 24 STR, 15 DEX, and 28 VIT! I can't fight them all off!"

"Well then use your 48 INT and 35 WIS to figure something out. I'll keep you from dying, and your buffs will help a lot, but it'll be up to you, Jaune. I trust you." I smiled at him, and that seemed to be enough.

I was lucky he'd taken my advice and not spent his Stat Points yet. He'd leveled up impressively last night, thanks to my guidance and ability to control the situation.

Jaune Arc
Title: The Arc Heir
Level: 27

I smirked, "Part of being a hero is taking on challenges so that others won't have to. If you kill these Grimm, then the others will be able to safely go through their initiation... plus it's free EXP." I hummed internally, pondering the meaning of the small change in his title. In essence, a scion and an heir were both descendants of a notable family.

Looking it up with my dictionary (I'd 'Read' a few in my time), I found the difference, and what a subtle, but significant one it was. A scion was merely a descendant of a family... but an heir had the rightful ownership of their name and their family's assets.

Royal blue eyes looked up at me, then my copy sighed, Jaune C: Alright, fine. I should spend my points after this, though. :C he sighed, readying his new stance. I'd made sure he had all the biological material he needed to get stronger, Jaune C: What should I put them into? :C

A beowolf burst from the brush, only to meet a swift end with a silver flash of an attack. I smirked, Jade C: You should become physically stronger. I've got mental capabilities covered, you become an absolute tank, man. :C I chuckled as, with my buffs on him, he effortlessly bisected an Ursa Jade C: Y'know, you're really lucky. With how my system works, and the powers I have, it's actually better to get a person when they're lower-leveled, so they'll improve fully from effects of training inside The Game. Others have to adapt from their normal training, to the training they get from The Game. I think it's easier to paint a new picture rather than try to change an existing one. You understand? :C

Jaune C: Yeah, I guess. Alright, let's do this. :C

Jade C: LEEROOOOOOOYYYYY JEEEEEEENNNNKIIIIIINNNNSSSS! :C

The clearing erupted into chaos as primal compulsions overcame any sort of sense the Grimm may have had. Aura shined bright as it seemed almost like my companion converted each of the beasts into power flowing into his body, each strike recovering more strength than it drained to perform.

A horn was cleaved in half and a grunt of pain erupted from Jaune's lips as he was thrown off his feet by an Unge-wither. I stopped the beast dead in its tracks with stone beartraps, helping my copy keep his wits about himself as we fought off the unholy beasts.

A blistering radiance erupted from my body as my soul was unleashed in a massive blast of light, the sheer power of my light beginning to wither their dark essence into nothingness. I gave the fullest form of EXP sharing to my copy, watching his level climb as he too was bathed in my light.

After a good hundred-thousand square meters of forest soaked up my Aura, I picked up my passed-out companion and carried him onwards. I hit him with the buffs again, to help keep him stable. He could use the sleep.

---

(A couple hours later)

The slow progress of the others was logical, as the Emerald Forest was massive, and their only directions amounted to 'go north'. It was alright with me, though, as it gave plenty of time for Jaune to recover.

He was coming back up from sleep deprivation, muscle soreness, and a few other forms of physical stress. I healed him completely, of course, and with the prestige of the prestige of my buff Regeneration, lifeblood and energy returned like tidal waves, compared to a kitchen faucet like the first tier of it.

I had reasoned that he hadn't seen my eyes, since I'd been wearing one of my masks, and so the first person he locked eyes with was Pyrrha (I'll admit, dumping him onto her was a little selfish, as I wanted to be discovered by this world's Yang). All it took was a little convincing and fabricated words, saying that he found her pretty and wanted to know who she was. It certainly helped when my copy had woken up, seen her concerned expression, and asked if he'd died and was being watched over by an angel.

I selected the white queen piece, and while technically partnerless, I still had this world's Jaune in my party.

Still, I guess about sixteen hours of training would be put to the test now.

Giant Nevermore
Title: Darkness there and Nothing More
Level: 67

Elder Deathstalker
Title: Imitant Art within Endless Dreams
Level: 64

The poison the Deathstalker had would cause intense hallucinations and usually would kill you if not treated very, VERY soon. Luckily I had all the treatment needed.

I held back, providing buffs and healing, but no direct support just yet. I wanted them all to experience this. I saw my copy end up on top of the Nevermore, holding on by his sword. The Deathstalker's tail was attacked by Ren first, then Ruby who cut the stinger off with one powerful swing. Nora smashed the thing while Pyrrha and Yang fended off its stingers momentarily. It seemed that Blake and Weiss were the only ones helping my copy out, the latter enhancing the former's shots with her glyphs to get them a massively increased range and power.

Just then, I saw the beast shudder, and got a notification.

Jaune's level increased by one!

I cheered... then realized that my copy was too far away, and falling too fast into the misty unknowns of the chasm's floor to save him. Jade C: JAUNE! YOU HAVE TO SPEND YOUR POINTS! DUMP THEM INTO A STAT AND QUICK! IF YOU DON'T, YOU WILL FUCKING DIE! :C

I raced through the air, then... I saw his HP massively drop while he was still in midair, only a tiny chunk remaining.

I saw regenerative power flood into his HP bar, even as I followed him down into the depths, unable to see through the mist. I heard a great, stony crashing sound, fearing for my companion's life as I raced towards the bottom.

There, I saw him, broken and laying atop a shattered spire of hard rock... wait a second.

Jaune Arc
Title: The Indestructible Arc Knight
Level: 63
Class: Juggernaut
Nickname: Vomit Boy

HP: 16,600 - 209,623/210,000
AP: 27,000/27,000
SP: 23,700 - 281,463/350,000

Strength: 26 (+150%) = 65
Dexterity: 20 (+75%) = 35
Vitality: 31 - 300 (+150%) = 750
Intelligence: 48 (+75%) = 84
Wisdom: 38 (+150) = 95
Luck: 9 - 15
Charisma: 16

Stat Points: 275 - 0

Age: 17
Birthday: November 20th
Race: Human
Height: 6'1
Weight: 145 - 250
Build: Light Muscular Juggernaut
Hair/Eyes/Skin: Blonde / Royal Blue / Light Tan

... son of a bitch! He'd dumped all his points into VIT.

"Ugh... my head." he groaned lightly as he came to his senses, slowly standing up.

"You are now literally one of the toughest people in the fucking world, you know that?" I laughed a little, "Seriously I bet you could survive anything that any of your peers could throw at you." he wasn't healing at the moment, oddly, but that made his current status all the more appreciable, "Your title says you're indestructible, your class is Juggernaut, and you almost took only 400 points of HP damage... out of your 210 THOUSAND maximum." I helped him up, "Come on, champ. You deserve some rest."

He chuckled weakly, "You think it'll make me a better fighter?"

I chuckled with him, "Honestly, bro, with all of your VIT, you'll have time to improve even if a Beringel is trying to smash your face in." I chuckled, "Come on, let's get going. Dinner's on me." I picked him up and flew upwards, towards our friends.

Things would, hopefully, work out for the best.

If they didn't... well, two Jaunes are better than one.

---

Well, there we go! An omake with its own miniature story inside, rather than a single scene. It was hard writing that, to be completely honest. I knew where I wanted to go, but... getting there was an issue.

Overall, this chapter ended up being at a bad time, when a lot of things were going on at once. I swear, I'll do my best to get the next one out ASAP. As for now, I'll leave this off here.

Vote in the poll on whether or not I should do the harem route or keep him single. I'll probably add another option too, just to keep my paths more open.

Alright, here's the profile dump.

-/\/\/\/\-

Jaune Arc
Title: Wizard of the Elements
Level: 68
Class: Wizard v3
Nickname: Mr. Player Man

HP: 32,000/32,000
AP: 128,000/128,000
SP: 46,000/46,000

Strength: 70 (+235%) (+70%) = 283.5
Dexterity: 65 (+235%) (+70%) = 263.25
Vitality: 80 (+235%) (+70%) = 324
Intelligence: 132 (+5) (+235%) = 452.25
Wisdom: 130 (+5) (+235%) = 452.25
Luck: 111
Charisma: 80

Stat Points: 165

Age: 17
Birthday: November 20th
Race: Human
Height: 6'1
Weight: 215
Build: Med-Heavy Athletic
Hair/Eyes/Skin: Golden Blonde / Brilliant Azure / Medium Tan

-/\/\/\/\-

Alright, I'll see you all next time! Hopefully that won't be near the beginning of November!

I love you all, and I'm sorry for being so emotional, sorry for not understanding you'd be okay as long as I got it out. Sorry for being so sorry. Thank you all for reading. Make sure to review to share your love and/or criticisms, make sure to vote on the poll, and especially make sure to have a nice day.

Well, this is Player 1 signing off for now.

See you all later ^w^