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

15. Shine like the Star you are

2/7/2017 at 7:52 AM: Literally just uploaded the last chapter less than a minute ago. Going to just slap some words down here and get the ball rolling so I don't lose my buzz. Let's do this!

2/8/2017 at 11:59 AM: Dammit man, the internet stopped working basically up until now. I've been unable to work since then, but at least my phone got all those lovely emails about the reviews. Thank you all so much for the support, I love it and I love you (in a strictly platonic, but at the same time extremely un-platonic way. No homo, yet all of the homo.)

2/12/2017 at 3:55 PM: Well, I've been writing and doing stuff for about 5 hours now. I had to send my computer to an expert guy because it was fucking up SO badly. Even the ability to connect to WiFi wasn't working (and was very stressful and stuff). Luckily, it's all good now, and I can continue doing what I love and what I've been wanting to do for the past five days. Thank you all for your reviews, now let's get to responding to some of them.

2/15/2017 at 5:44 PM: Spent most of today trying to be awake and watching YT vids, but I've checked my progress from the past couple of days and I now have a bit over 13.1k words, so yaaay~ ^WWW^ I can probably finish this thing tomorrow if I work well enough.

2/19/2017 at 4:07 AM: Well, the past few days I've had my dad at home, haven't gotten much progress done, but I made a push and got to 15.6k words. I'll probably end the chapter itself at around 20k, maybe. Will make a final decision when I wake up in the morning.

2/21/2017 at 6:31 PM: I dunno what happened, but yesterday was really busy, and today was... well, I didn't sleep very well, or much at all, really, I guess. I'm going to push and try to get done today. If I can get a chapter out in two weeks or less, then I'll be doing very well for myself.

2/23/2017 at 8:20 AM: Literally been awake only long enough to save so far. Oops, I accidentally 21.3k words

2/23/2017 at 1:47 PM: Okay, I'm properly awake now. I had passed out earlier and woke up in my chair, with only enough mental resources to type a quick message and get this stuff saved. I hadn't saved since getting to 15.6k, so that was an important save! Thank god I got it. I've gotten a good idea on the omake for this chapter too, so that's good. It's a small, but significant hurdle, getting an omake thought up, plotted out, typed up, and finished. I'm hoping I can do it well, it's an interesting one, and I hope y'all like it ^w^

2/25/2017 at 2:45 PM: Well, I'm on the fast track towards the end of this chapter. Still have to do some more stuff after what I know I need to put, I THINK, but not entirely sure, TBCH. Need to organize my thoughts as I type more stuff. Currently at 24k just about exactly.

2/26/2017 at 5:02 AM: Well, I'm about to head off to bed. Currently at a bit over 28.3k and at the start of the last scene of the chapter proper. Following that will be an omake that I thought of at some point during the writing process and has thankfully not left my head yet. Let's just say, it's a little... additive, hehehehe.

2/26/2017 at 7:07 PM: Well, I'm done with all but the omake. I have to soon leave for the store, but I'll hopefully be able to finish this chapter tonight or in the wee hours of the morning. Here's to hoping!

2/27/2017 at 2:35 AM: Well, I'm done with everything I can think of. Final wordcount is a bit over 34.1k words, and this time in only 2.9 weeks instead of like 4 months! Massive improvements, yay~! ^W^

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Reviewer Responses:

noah141232, Sky XXVII, River king, and Catacus: thank you all for the love and support ^WWW^

Noble the Unknown Primordial: Thank you for reminding me that there are people who do like the route that leads to a harem, and for liking the omake. I worked really hard on it, and some days it was the only thing motivating me to write more of this story.

Flametusk: holy words, Batman! (I saw the Lego Batman Movie, because I can :P) Let's see. Ruby's birthday is 11/11 because when I was doing a RWBY game on Roll20, I rolled for people's birthdays, and Ruby got 11/11. Yang also got 12/11, but I changed it to 12/12 because I was the Game Master. Salem is already confirmed to be a thing (look back at what I felt was controversial, but canon ending to Chapter 8). Also, for reference, that was a dream Jaune had. Back to your review: Nuckelavee might exist. Beringel might exist. Tyrian might exist. I have not played FFXV. The new Grimm have a whole host of inspirations. Third person? That was the others' POVs, not Jaune's, if you were referring to the POV changes. That grimm is a Kitsuninja, it has Ninja in the name!

zen-aku the spirit of the wolf (on chapter 13): Did you not read in the top A/N that this is now an AU? In this AU, Qrow's semblance is Displacement, and Raven's is portals. Both are similar in a regard that Jaune will explore in this chapter. Also, for your questions on the charge system: Elementals do not level like people and Grimm do, they are separate entities that function differently. A level 1 Elemental is far different from a level 1 human. A level 1 human is a child, a level 1 Fire Elemental can burn that child and its family to death with ease.

Remzal Von Enilli: no, it was a reference to Jaune's LUK50 skill "Lucky Spark", but modified to fit Celestia.

Nexus Bladeguard: Actually, your assumptions are incorrect, friend. Miragangers are like highway gangs, and they are the source of mirages, creating illusions. The Miraganger Star has a power that, to me, represents a highly ranked-up version of an illusion that a magical grimm would have. THIS PARTICULAR Miraganger Star happens to be themed after the Dancer of the Boreal Valley, however.

Xerzo LOTCN: Whoa there! -holds my hands up- Slow down and use some comma and periods, friendo. Let me read this more slowly. Harem will happen in the future. Renjiis sword? What? He modified Adam's sword to be more like the inspiration for it, which is Sam's Muramasa from Metal Gear Rising Revengeance and he's upgraded Crocea Mors a bit (he'll upgrade it more in this chapter). Ren and Nora, yes. They appear differently than they act at Beacon, but that's because they're at home and with their father figure (as said before, this is an AU now. Moving on... yes he could get the skills from the four beasts, that is all doable, but he's not going to for a while. He needs to boost his physical STATS, not TRACKS. Please, I'm not trying to be mean here, but slow down, calm down, and type as clean&neat as you can in your reviews in the future. His health and stamina are both low for a reason that I can't reveal because spoilers. Wizard Knight, Warrior Mage, or Magic Swordsman... he technically has one of those (Magic Swordsman, AKA Spellsword, but it deals with Melee Magic Attacks rather than boosting VIT&INT and, as a result, his HP and SP along with his AP). He'll up his VIT at least, because he does want to tank for his party (since most of them are fairly squishy compared to even a normal Warrior, much less a Knight. Ruby is a fragile speedster, Weiss is a caster/summoner, Blake is a ninja, Yang is a brawler and would have second-highest HP, or be a DPS more than a Tank. Nora is a barbarian and might have third-highest HP depending on how I develop her (because I have another thought for her), but also might be more effective as DPS rather than Tank, Pyrrha is a warrior too, but definitely more DEX-based than STR&VIT-based, and Ren is a monk/martial artist, so he might be fourth-highest HP depending on how he's developed later in this story, however he too falls prey to DPS vs Tank). He lost Aura control mostly because of the effect of breaking Ki Breathing (Great external shock will break Ki Breathing and induce Aura Confusion). The last chapter could have gone on longer, but I wanted to stop it at a more awesome and suspenseful moment than just "the ending of the concert", and also that would have taken a lot longer to get out, and the chapter had waited long enough. Again, harem will happen in the future, and all parties will be consenting (because Jaune wouldn't let someone in or take them in if they didn't want to be a part of the love of the group). New generation of Gamers? Nah.

zen-aku the spirit of the wolf (on chapter 14): Volume 4? Yes. I started typing the chapter before Volume 4 premiered and finished it after Volume 4 ended. Sue me (don't actually sue me, bruh). Please write more than just a couple of words in your review, especially if it lacks any context like this did. As for your other review: All the evidence Jaune has been presented with has pointed to her being dead. If he found her soul just... floating around out somewhere in the wilderness, that would basically confirm it.

DragOnRyo, perseus99, AmaziaTheAmazing, and Umbrardor: Thank all of you also for your love and support, and to Drag: I also happened to run some parts of a Gamer-based game on Roll20, one set in RWBY (but with an OC), and my friend who was playing as this guy was very connected to the group he'd made with the others, and shared some skills he'd gotten (the Strike attacks, meditation, and Summon Elemental). I also got a bit of inspiration from The Name of the Game by literalsin. A bit anvilicious with some of the opinions expressed (though personally, I do agree with some of what he says), but it's really good IMHO. Be warned, it has some sexual content.

Whovian8203: Coolsauce! I -totally- intended for that to be the case! Hahaha~! *gets beaten over the head for the terrible, unfunny joke* Ow.

MysticSpider: YES! *throws mug on the floor* ANOTHER! *puts on a Thor wig*

Dark Durian: Yep! It won't cover the traumatized toddler until the third part (coming... eventually). Marbel and Weiss yes, and Blake yes. That is all I have to say, is "yes". Ren and Nora will mostly have the same abilities and things, plus whatever Jaune decides to hook them up with.

Cco16: Sorry, but Jaune is going to be stronger than he is fast. Also, it's up to my mental pathing as to when Jaune spends his points, but just because I feel like being nice, he might spend some either this chapter or next.

LaStAnOnYmOuSpRiNcE3XD: Multiple people he could be. It would be like having multiple profile slots in a game, except they're all the same person inside (you, the player). Conversely, it's more costumes and masks he could put on and pretend to be something he normally isn't. Jaune in this story, however, isn't really all that into having multiple personas as I've seen in a couple of Gamer stories (actually, I think most of them don't have that, and I've only seen a minority, but my point still stands), so no multiple personas (besides masquerading as Adam)

Plasma Dragon 312: No, it's just one of many possible futures. One that I decided to focus on because of the adorable daughter.

A Guest curious about voices: actually, I imagined it more like a very smooth brass instrument that fluctuates like a voice. Brass, of course, and not woodwind, because he's a metal elemental. Still, that is a nice one!

SeradaHawke: Yeah, well... *shrugs* I dunno, man. He's kinda had bad experience with Luck, and pretty much assumes that things in this deathworld they call Remnant will only get worse unless someone with the power and the will does something about it. Honestly, I had forgotten entirely about this line. Either way, I hope you're still reading the story!

willyerfull: H? H what? Hentai? I like hentai (shut up, most of you people probably do). H-unfinished review? Might want to see if you can edit that, buddy, I'd like to know what you actually have to say besides a single letter.

NugiSpringield and shugokage: I'm glad that you both enjoyed the story.

dazindogeek: Yes, yes she is. She's basically a R63 Big Boss, but I think I made her robotic arm blue instead of red.

sorry-dot-no-names: Yes, his dismembered (and promptly regenerated) limbs all disappear in a manner comparable to the Grimm. They dissolve into a white mist that dissipates into nothingness. This story is now AU, but it is not very AU, just enough of an AU that the kingdoms have different structures (Vacuo, rather than Mistral, represents Asia, and Mistral represents Europe) and the characters have a bit different backstories (namely Nora and Ren, who were raised in a temple in the Vacuan Mountains, and of course Jaune's set backstory involves his parents separating).

As for the elemental affinities... HERE'S A LITTLE LESSON (but not in trickery, though): Each soul has a bit of each of the six elements that Jaune's semblance recognizes as base elements, which are Metal, Fire, Earth, Water, Air, and Lightning. Metal represents endurance, Fire represents willpower, Earth represents strength, Water represents recovery and fluidity, Air represents mobility, Lightning represents energy and change. Everyone has at least 1 point in each of these affinities, except the starting Jaune, since his semblance basically presented his soul as a completely blank canvas.

Most of the time, people have small amounts of all elements with the exception of one or two that have much larger amounts (the maximum is 100). These higher amounts are based on their Semblances mostly, or perhaps their semblances are based on these higher amounts. Marbel's Semblance (as it currently stands) allows her to perform a powerful charge similar to a Rook piece in chess. Her three affinities are Earth (for the strength created in the attack), Air (for the mobility it allows her), and some Fire (increasing the damage she deals with mostly just Aura). Weiss has, naturally, a significant amount of Air and Water (since they make Ice when combined), in fact they are the same number (well they WERE, now Water is a bit higher due to her now having a Water Elemental), and a bit of Lightning, not much, but higher than normal.

Moving back to replying to your review... well, for Garnet, it would logically do that.

I actually hadn't thought about that, with the second fic for info. I might just do that.

Yep, fuck your shit Emerald. Hell, he could overlay an illusion on top of her illusion that shows everything as it should be. Gaster Blaster was always a 'fuck your shit' murderlaser attack, pretty much.

Weiss giving lessons on fun? I don't recall that happening. She said she was the queen of pranks, but that was the words of her siblings (another AU thing is that instead of Wheatley the bastard, I mean Whitley, there is Rengir the black sheep, who was actually a pretty cool guy until he sadly died. He and Weiss used to prank one another, but Weiss' pranks were always more clever). I also don't recall anything with Beacon's initiation test either.

Yes, Blake is slowly growing feelings for Jaune. With how she is, and how he is, it's little wonder. He's meeting her standards and slowly worming his way into her heart. This chapter expands on that and on Marbel and Weiss' feelings too.

Trust me, sentient Grimm are a more common threat than Jaune thinks, but the levels of sentience vary.

Thunderstruck92: thank you for the support, good sir/madam, you win the 'nice person of the day' award. *hands you a magical cube that contains a chibi RWBY character of your choice*

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Okay, to clear something up, let me refer you all to the picture I used when designing the Miragangers. Go to Google Images and search "Tusken Raider Unmasked v2". The one you'll be looking for should be the first one, made by DarthMater on deviantart. That is mostly what a Miraganger looks like, but of course more Grimm-like and with a longer mouth (though the base image is pretty good as is). The Miraganger Star looks like that, but with an even longer mouth and a crimson five-point star on its forehead.

Also, announcement: HAREM CONFIRMED. That is all.

Another announcement: I have a rough plot set for most of the story, bound to change but definitely following certain events. I'm looking to have at least upwards of 70 chapters in this story, so that all you lovely, amazing people are going to have plenty of candy for your eyes to nom up. This current story arc is set to last perhaps another three to five chapters, then we're moving onto a story arc containing the summer before Beacon starts. That means THREE STORY ARCS BEFORE CANON EVENTS EVEN BEGIN! Wowza! That's a lot of events! I also plan on going through at least a rough/vague working of most of the canon episodes' events up to the end of Volume 3 possibly, which adds a maximum of 40 chapters to the story, and then at least a dozen chapters after that, maybe involving Volume 4, maybe not, I don't know just yet. As I said, the plot line I've set out is very rough, since I tend to write the story almost 100% organically. Right now, folks, we're looking at nearly 80 chapters of amazing Gamer content for your reading pleasure. I hope you're all ready, because you're gonna get swole in the eye muscles!

Alright, now that that's all out of the way, let's get started!

Story Arc 2: Playing Prometheus

Chapter 15: Shine like the Star you are.

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By raising WIS above 150, you have earned the skill "Mana Sketch"

By raising WIS above 150, you have earned the skill "The Fundamental Factor W"

By raising WIS above 150, you have earned the skill "Aura Suffusion"

By raising WIS above 150, you have earned the skill "Animakinetic Flow"

By raising WIS above 150, you have earned the skill "Druidic Proficiency"

Raising your WIS to incredible levels has unlocked the class "Monk v4"

Having WIS be the first stat to be raised above 150 has granted you a bonus! You gained +9 WIS!

I hummed in curiosity over the skills, trying to glean anything I could from the names alone, but I only had a couple of seconds before the boss crashed into m-

*CRASH*

Okay, to be fair, I was a little distracted. I thrust my arms downwards, catching myself and rapidly transitioning into a quick series of backflips while keeping track of the metal and flames of the Star's massive blade, dodging by a hair's width each time. Skidding along the loose sand as I landed on my feet, I dove out of the way of an almost graceful followup as the beast led a cartwheel with a massive vertical slash. I took a few seconds to observe it, and found a few details that were... concerning.

Its STR was in the high five-hundreds, DEX in the low eight-hundreds, and VIT in the mid six-hundreds. It had several fairly high level skills, and a status effect that I could only read the name of, Blessing of Shadows, the rest of the text was either question marks or glitched randomness. It had quite high mental stats, a testament to its age no doubt. With a sigh, I threw a Tornado at it while backing away, hoping to gain some distance between us.

Instead of being swept up in the rapid winds, it stood strong, buffeted by tiny sand particles as the spell passed by its legs. It jumped up and delivered an axe kick to the spot I was at a few seconds ago. With Ki Body flared brightly and every Ki skill active, I narrowly dodged a series of slashes and aimed a Wrecking Ball at it, sending it flying backwards a few dozen feet. With room to actually breathe, I did just that.

Air condensed and froze in my mouth as I unleashed the AD Chilly Breath, seeing frost form and cling to the beast's skin and ragged clothing, as well as the status AD Chilled getting applied. With a grunt, I formed Sunbeam Zweihander, the pale azure blade shining brightly with Aurora as I pushed the offensive.

The trick to fighting a foe that was faster, but weaker, than you was simple: Don't let them control the flow of the battle, or they'll tear you to pieces. I didn't let up, slashing at the freakishly humanoid Grimm with every ounce of speed I could muster, unleashing Double Strike and Power Strike, lightning sparking off my body as the powers of Elemental Aura boosted me. I became a storm of muscle and light as I tore into the Miraganger's flesh.

It lunged backwards, and I threw myself towards it, swinging my zweihander in a wide arc while launching dozens of Energy Arrows at it. Instead of taking it, this time it simply kicked me away before I could deliver a devastating blow, smoothly transitioning into a guard with its other arm. It was only by my spell's unlisted ability to penetrate armor that I was able to damage it.

With the few seconds of reprieve it gained off me while I charged a few spells, I saw its wounds close rapidly, its ichor reabsorbing into its skin as it healed rapidly.

It had enough HP as it was, rapid healing was just a slap to the face. I changed tactics and fired hundreds of Energy Arrows, Energy Bolts, Energy Shots, and Energy Orbs at it in rapid succession, finding that Aura Suffusion allowed me to spread the range of my raw Aura throughout the air, essentially granting me a much larger area to spam spells from.

I let up for a second, focusing on switching tactics when I noticed that the little damage that was piercing its massive VIT-based defense was simply preventing it from healing. That was all fine and dandy, but I needed to kill it, not just prickle it with solidified light.

I hummed, focusing hard as I drew my power together. Mana Sketch was the easiest skill to figure out, if only because I had been using the previous iteration Magic Doodle so much already.

Once again, Roimontagne grew up from the ground, sending a small wave of stone shards at the Star before Mystral flew into him, sweeping the stone as it disintegrated into sand particles and formed the sandstone dragon, its eyes hardening in a glare at the beast.

Then came the fun part, as the air caught fire in front of the dragon, forming into the shape of a short human male.

Roimonstral looked down at the freshly summoned Xiburichu, then it took in a deep breath, sucking up the man of flames as his body funneled into the dragon's maw. Its chest bulged out and glowed with red light, then it unleashed a massive, ear-piercing roar that had the Star covering its earholes. Flames hissed out between its scales as its body began to glow red hot. The flames were then pulled back in and its body cooled, revealing glass scales that had slight blue or orange tints to them, blue for the main body, and orange for its underbelly and wing membranes. Its gut was full of fire, like a gas lamp waiting to flare up, and its eyes were a piercing azure color.

At this point, I couldn't just keep combining their names, so I opted for a random name that came to mind, Lampio. It wasn't the best, but I didn't claim to be good with names, The Game gave most names for me.

Lampio stomped the ground, causing flames to spread through the loose sand like a liquid, before sending razor-sharp glass spikes jutting upwards to impale the Star. Unfortunately, before it could do too much damage, the humanoid grimm broke the glass and charged at the dragon, which was a bit larger than the sand one. It swung its sword rapidly, each swing breaking away a few of the brittle, but incredibly hard glass scales at a time. At the rate it was going, it would take a minute to break down my Elemental's body.

Red-hot liquid glass covered the beast's face, causing it to recoil in pain. It severed a glass wing and dropped its sword to claw the rapidly cooling material off of its face. With naught but a few scrapes, it cleared its eyes and rolled under Lampio's body, grabbing its sword and simply thrusting its body through the thick glass with incredible force. I groaned at the drain on my AP. Summoning one Elemental took only a slight bit of difficulty, summoning two and combining them was a great bit tougher, but now three all together? It was beating my APR by nearly twice over.

Liquid glass flooded the area around the Star as its annoyingly high VIT defense kept its HP levels at nearly 60%.

I blinked, however, as it was slowed and I had time to look at it a bit more properly, giving it another scan with Gamer's Sight.

A black bar was nestled between the red HP bar and the dark green SP bar. It was simply labeled MP, and was slowly draining as the seconds ticked by, already at perhaps 70%

What. The hell. Is THAT?

The immediate thought was Mana Points, but that didn't make the most sense. Grimm didn't have souls, right? No soul, no Aura, no AP, no magic. Then how did...

Unless... this was some sort of manifestation of the power Skyler had described to me.

Mana, the energy of the elements and of the world. The Miragangers were able to store this energy in them to power their illusions and... whatever THIS thing was. I had to be in some sort of dungeon or illusion, if I was separated from my allies and the other enemies so easily.

Mirages, visions, illusions, I didn't have the time to think over all of this!

Metal and Earth fused together into a clunky golem with metal spikes coming out at strategic locations on its body. It was still imbalanced and poorly formed, but Crocea Montagne was more physically capable than he was when he started out, just like all my elementals have made slight changes for the better.

Once again, Xiburichu formed, but this time, instead of being swallowed up like with the dragon, he expanded and wrapped around the golem, melting it down with heat and forming it with willpower as Forgero formed. Its body had metal bones and large claws, teeth, and spikes, but instead of meat for muscles, it had molten rock that expanded and contracted as it was heated or cooled rapidly. It was just as, if not more expensive AP-wise as Lampio. The results, however, were far greater.

Metal and lava reformed on its arms into a sword and shield, both glowing cherry red with heat. He charged at the nearly escaping Grimm with slow, but heavy and momentum-filled steps, smashing through the remaining glass and hacking the beast's arm off with a single slash. It screeched loud enough to throw me off for a second, preventing a followup, but it didn't seem very affected by the flames as it caught the sword with its remaining hand, the other arm reforming as red liquid flowed down and solidified, flesh slowly growing as it didn't bother with its safety, instead smashing at the glass to get its lost sword back.

Forgero's shield bashed its face once, twice, three times, and cracked its skull with a fourth strike, right through the crimson star-like symbol on its forehead. The cracks were thick and filled with black energy, even as a red fluid bled through. I saw it ooze out and turn white as the bone plate repaired itself.

The air rippled as another bash struck its healing face, and my elemental's form wavered in an instant, despite my control over it. My confusion over the random occurence then caused me to lose concentration on maintaining him, and he collapsed again. I grasping my head as pain flared through my skull, flooding through my bones, my insides feeling like they were being both wrenched inwards and exploded outwards at the same time, space itself distorting.

The sensations passed as the Miraganger, not healing like it once was, continued to break free of the tons of glass and now the cooling lava on top of that. I caught myself and ran through the information in my head. It seemed that the star on its head was a focal point for this power it was using. If I broke its face and, presumably, the focus of its power, this illusion would drop and I'd be back with my friends. I growled with pain, healing myself with Soulforge, reinforced by Dust Crystals to boost my AP back up, as chunks of stone and glass struck me from the incredible strength of beast's movements.

Hardly ten more seconds had passed, but it managed to break its body and sword free, and charged at me again.

I rapidly called to Crocea Mors to form in front of me, taking the blow with his body. Sadly, the sword was so massive it pushed him back and hacked my arm off with the remaining force behind the blow. I lunged back as my arm rapidly regrew, only a second passing between my two states of amputation and normalcy. Crocea Mors left his physical form as I gathered my power together again, this time ready for one more push to take this thing down before it ended up killing me.

My muscles burned as I made a few motions with extreme strength and speed, gathering energy together.

If I was going to combine any three elementals together, it might as well have been the ones I could literally kick ass with.

Mystral swept Pluviteus into her body, expanding to several times her previous size with the newly added mass. Then, I summoned the only other elemental that hadn't acted yet.

Juristimunja struck herself upwards from the ground, arcing in the air along a steep parabola and coming down onto Pluvistral. Lightning surged as the pressure in the air changed, heat and cold mingling as the dragon shattered.

The shards reformed in the air, creating the draconic shape once more, but this time far rougher, and with lightning bolts in place of joints. There was only one name I could think to call this new elemental.

Qing, after the azure dragon it resembled.

Ice and lightning surged through not only my elemental's physical form, but my own as well, as my skills activated one after the other. Slowly, a sword formed in my hands. Made entirely of ice, it was a simple straight longsword with its pieces held in place by more lightning. My body grew cold and conductive as ice expanded from my form.

I let out a roar that ripped through the air like thunder, eyes glowing as Qing stood behind me like a shadow.

Fire flared up around the Star as it opposed my ice, letting out its own screech with a wave of what felt like electromagnetic force, nearly causing Qing to collapse.

I, however, was more sturdy than that, mostly because I wasn't being held together almost entirely by electrical forces.

I stood taller and prouder than before. Literally, in the former case, as the property that caused ice to expand instead of contract when it froze had also caused me to gain a few extra inches in height.

The power of your unleashed soul has bypassed the normally standing limits required for the power you wield!

By unleashing the power of ice and lightning, and harnessing the wisdom of dragons as a great master once did long ago, you have unlocked the skill "Azure Dragon of the East"!

Both of our screams tore through the air as we charged at one another. I was easily the slower of us both, even with my many buffs, but I was the stronger after all my buffs were applied. With a grunt, I forced the Star back, and at my command, Qing moved to my side and flanked the beast. It was frozen to the ground within a second, air practically depositing into a solid at the speed it was losing its temperature. I roared at its face as my lightning-infused ice sword clashed with its fire-coated steel sword, my Chilly Breath costing nothing as I covered its face with a thick layer of frost, followed by using Scathing Eyes to carve a dozen different scars in its flesh. The frost was doing a great job of keeping it from moving or healing for the time being.

Unfortunately, its time of immobility ran out, as it pushed me to the ground. I rolled out of the way of a needlessly flashy spin-swing that would have only provided a slight bit more damage towards my enhanced defenses than the less complex cartwheel slash it had previously used. I leaped to my feet, flapping my wings and rising into the sky in the hopes of gaining an aerial advantage.

Simply put, that didn't work. It coiled its legs and jumped with a booming force, slamming into me with its whole body, running its sword through my stomach, leaving me skewered like a piece of meat on a kebab. I grunted and coughed, a bit of bright, diluted red blood dripping from my lips before I recovered my senses, grabbing it by its face and stabbing it through with the razor-sharp ice I held.

I could feel the battle start to come to an end, electrical energy pulsating through its body at a deadly voltage. I released my sword from my grasp and gripped the beast's head tightly, "JUST. FUCKING. DIE!" I screamed at its face, sensing Qing as he grabbed it up to the waist in his mouth, icy fangs and electrical currents piercing and bleeding out its HP.

Could I have fought this battle more efficiently? Yes, definitely. Did I? No. I actually sort of liked the challenge.

After pulling its sword out of my stomach, Qing and I combined our strengths and proceeded to brutally rip the Star in half. Its head disconnected from its neck, pulling a length of a crimson spinal column with it, while its body from the waist-down was torn off by Qing's sharp teeth. He chewed it up and spit it out, lingering electricity arcing over its surface. The torso fell to the ground, bleeding and twitching.

I landed on my feet, holding its somehow still animate skull, which glared at me with hatred, and I paused for a second as I took that in.

This creature seemed to almost... recognize me. It groaned weakly and made an attempt to hiss at me. Its intelligent yellow eyes gleamed not with the general hatred all Grimm had for humanity, but a focused, directed hatred towards me and me specifically. I glared back, "What? What are you thinking?"

It hissed again, its star glowing weakly. Its HP was nearly gone entirely, its MP running out fast.

I didn't bother with any further conversation, and simply focused all of my strength into my arms and crushed its skull in my hands. Smoke billowed up from its body as its life finally ended, after who knows how long. Such a powerful ability, and the incredible numbers it held, both in bars and stats, it was insane to think about. Had this thing lived for centuries, and mistaken me for a past enemy? That had to be it, someone who it hadn't been able to kill before.

Your level has increased by two!

I smirked, dropping the dissolving skull after its broken yellow eyes grew dim, the pieces fully fading into smoke and leaving only loot behind. I patted Qing on the snout before he split into my three different elementals again. Having them out like this was fine, if they were just in their normal forms. Combining them, however, seemed to multiply their AP cost, which added up quickly. It was especially evident when I had so many other skills running at the same time. Already, I'd chewed through most of my Dust Crystal supplies just to maintain this power for the remainder of the fight. Dropping the spell and watching steam rise as my icy armor sublimated, I let out a chuckle. The world around me, I could vaguely sense, was starting to break down. I grabbed the loot and checked my notifications.

You gained 1,250,000 Lien!

You gained the armor "Helch Ledra"

You gained the weapon "Nothtar"

You gained the item "Hihirokane Ingot (x2)"

You gained the item "Gold Ingot (x1)"

You gained the item "Ashite Ingot (x1)"

You gained the item "Skillbook: Illusion Dimension"

You gained the Grimm Mask "Lingtuzei"

Utilizing A#(*&#!%#)!#!%)!&$(*#&%^&#!)($%(&*!+!#^&?#%#?!*#!$)!$*%&# earned +1 Luck!

Please sleep to #& #)! #& )*!#$& %^#$ (glitched text).

I smiled, a pleased hum filling my throat as I read the name of the one material. Exactly what I'd desired for my upgrades to Crocea Mors, a rare material such as that. Hihirokane was a bit more vague than, say, Mithril or Adamantium, but it was no less effective. I took one of the bars and began influencing it with Crocea Mors the elemental, holding out Crocea Mors the sword as it received its upgrade.

Veins of the new metal began to push through the inside of the sword's structure, coming together and intertwining at the core of the handle. The runic formulae that previously covered the blade were soon swallowed up in pools of the material, filling them all with scarlet, before I applied a thin layer of gold over the runes, purely to hide the color. This was Crocea Mors, not Lutea Mors. Yellow, not orange, and so I'd gone with gold.

With a grin and an update to the sword's description, I prepared to find a way out of this... place.

... (Seconds later) ...

I'd only turned my back for a few seconds when I suddenly heard a massive sound and felt a massive release of energy behind me. I spun around and watched as the sky shattered, a massive pillar of black energy rising from the remains of the Miraganger, which had been dissolving extremely slowly. I was pushed back a few inches, my feet sliding along the broken sandstone as my hair was whipped back and I was forced to protect my face with an arm. I focused and shone with Aurora to protect myself, watching the energy fly into the normal midday sky, which rippled as it seemed like the atmosphere itself was pushed away from the energy, sand getting thrown away from its epicenter.

I heard gasps and a cry of pain and within seconds, Roimystral was protecting the others from the veritable tidal wave of sand.

It soon ended, thank the heavens for that, and left only a charred crater in its place, "Shit... not my fault." I denied quickly, looking at the others, "Where were you all? I was fighting that thing alone!"

My father looked at me like I was crazy, "Where were WE? Son, where the hell were YOU for the past half an hour? We've been looking through all of the rubble that's left of this place trying to find you. I was worried you'd been buried in the sand and left to suffocate." his words wavered slightly as paternal fear entered his voice at the thought of such a horrific death befalling me, but I held my hand up for him to stop.

"It couldn't have been that long, maybe only five minutes at the most, I think. I was in some kind of... dungeon, or something, that the 'leader' of this Shadowtown took me into. It was a Miraganger Star. I told you about the normal kind, right?"

Marbel nodded, "Yeah, sneaky illusion-creating bastards who lure people in and kill them. Sounds like this Star, though, had something a lot more powerful than making fake images."

I shook my head, thinking about the situation, "That's for damn sure, thing was like a dungeon, like I said, but it was just a copy of the town, like... I dunno, like copy and paste."

Blake's eyebrows rose, "I... believe I may have some kind of answer." she admitted, clearing her throat as I telekinetically levitated some spare cloth and began providing repairs to everyone's clothing with my Alchemical Aura, more easily spread thanks to Aura Suffusion, "It was just a story, but I believe that thing may have used a power to create something called a pocket dimension."

I hummed, "Like a bag of holding?"

Blake shrugged, "If that helps, perhaps. We couldn't get into the pocket dimension, and you couldn't get out of the pocket dimension without killing the Miraganger. It separated you from all of us while we were fighting, I assume. Not only did it split you from your allies, but it split us from our most capable team member." she sighed, "Clever, very clever." she looked irritated, as did the others.

I smirked, "Well, you all look no worse for wear besides being halfway to showing some skin you wouldn't want to have showing. Marbel, ladybriefs are all fine and dandy, but get a better color will you? Aqua doesn't suit you, too close to chartreuse." I laughed at our little inside joke, seeing Weiss' face redden, and I'm sure that the time dilation hadn't been enough for her to get sunburnt just yet, "It's an inside joke, you wouldn't get it, Weiss."

Weiss didn't reply, simply huffed and turned her head. Marbel rolled her eyes and accepted the repairs to her entire left pants leg, "Yeah, well it's better than wearing both blue AND orange."

I chuckled, "I wear them alternatingly, Marbs, not simultaneously. I'm not a cotton monster." I looked at the Skill Book I'd received, holding it in one hand and scanning the cover.

It was white, adorned with a red symbol that looked almost like someone had curved a very roundly formed trident around the inner crescent of the Arc family's Double Crescent symbol. The symbol was perfectly vertical, the short 'shaft' of the trident-like symbol reaching down to a gently curved plain. Diagonal sheets of nearly iridescent gemstones adorned most of the rest of the cover, like crystallized sunshine. The back showed a crown over another gently curved plain, this time placed on top of a star that adorned the top of a tree.

Some kind of... king of the winter solstice? Santa Claus? This book's appearance didn't make any sense. I opened it to a random page and found the symbols for its writing were all in some mysterious language that I couldn't translate. Well, there goes actually reading the book instead of just Reading it, "I got a skillbook for making an Illusion Dimension, which I guess counts for the whole 'pocket dimension' power. Surprised I'd get it after just one kill, seems like something that'd be a bit on the rare side."

Weiss shrugged, reloading Myrtenaster, "Perhaps your Luck once again is at play, or it is not as rare as you think." her suggestions came almost nonchalantly. It was clear she had already developed a tolerance for the bullshit coolness that was my powers.

I chuckled, "Maybe, maybe not, who knows? I'm not keen on going and finding more of those bastards and possibly having one of y'all get pulled into their little pocket illusion dimension." I was soon bristling with despisal of the creatures. As far as Grimm went, these seemed like some of the worst.

With a thought of confirmation, I consumed the book.

You have gained the skill "I.D. Create"!

Hm? Shit, I forgot to switch to my Scholar title. Regardless, I suppose that was the result of being distracted by other thoughts. I'd just have to get the levels for it the normal way.

With a sigh, I closed my eyes, "Well, regardless of what happened this time, you're all okay, and I'm very glad for that." I gave them all a smile, "Now then, you say it was half an hour? If that's right, then we should probably stop for the moment and reapply sunscreen." I didn't need it, since Gamer's Body prevented sunburns, as I'd tested with my two weeks on the mountaintop, meditating in broad daylight, the sun's rays beating down on me endlessly.

I telekinetically assisted my father while helping Marbel get the sunscreen rubbed into and around her neck. Humming, I checked the new skill while idly noting the friendly faces Weiss and Blake had on while assisting each other.

-/\-

I.D. Create (Active) Level: 1, Exp: 0.00%, Cost: 5000 AP

An ancient power used by beasts of darkness and deceit. It is said to have originated as natural energy present in the deserts of the world, but with this skill, it is possible to mimic those energies with one's Aura. By manipulating Aura in specific celestial patterns, the user can create an Illusion Dimension, which mimics the real world, but does not affect anything on the outside.

Creates an Illusion Dimension originating from the caster.
The caster can bring anyone they wish into the dimension with them, so long as they are within a certain range.

Caster can spawn Grimm inside the dimension, provided they have defeated those Grimm before.

Costs an additional 5000 AP per minute.

-/\-

Filing the information away, I grinned. I'd found a very handy and simple solution to the problem I'd been thinking about. By using this skill, we could enter the illusion dimension, train to our hearts content, and no matter what the damage we caused to our surroundings, we'd be able to just leave and come back to pristine, unsullied nature.

I hummed a tune, finishing myself, Marbel, and my father. Blake and Weiss seemed to have relaxed a great deal from the worry over my disappearance. I smiled a little at their care for me. It was good to know my friends returned my feelings.

Using Gamer's Sight, I scanned the group, looking at their improvements, while Roimystral created a large overhang for us to take shelter under and get away from the burning heat, splitting and allowing the formation of Pluvistral to use its powers and cool the air down greatly. I heard the girls all sigh in relief from the pleasant breeze I made flow by.

-/\-

Name: Marbel Mayston
Title: The White Rook of the Flowering Kingdom
Level: 50 -} 52

HP: 12,000 -} 14,000
AP: 17,000 -} 18,500
SP: 17,500 -} 20,000

-/\-

Name: Blake Belladonna
Title: The Nighttime Beauty
Level: 53 -} 54

Hit Points: 10,500 -} 14,000
Aura Points: 17,600 -} 21,000
Stamina Points: 16,700 -} 20,000

Strength: 35 -} 40
Dexterity: 80 -} 80
Vitality: 42 -} 50
Intelligence: 65 -} 70
Wisdom: 55 -} 60
Luck: 28 -} 40
Charisma: 79

Stat Points: 90 -} 95 -} 60

-/\-

Name: Weiss Schnee
Title: The Frostbitten Princess of the Broken Kingdom -} The Frosty Princess looking in the Mirror
Level: 38 -} 43

Hit Points: 3000 -} 4200
Aura Points: 20,000 -} 24,000
Stamina Points: 5000 -} 6600

-/\-

My father hadn't yet leveled up, but he was getting close. That was the problem with being so high of a level to start with, he'd be shit out of luck when it came to free power, because of the ridiculously long periods of time between his level-ups.

I raised an eyebrow at Blake, my questioning look saying all it needed to for her, "I increased my physical stats in the middle of the fight, to get a better fighting chance. Jaune, your father helped, but we were getting hurt badly without you. If it wasn't for our Auras, we'd all be dead."

A sigh escaped my lips before I could contain it, "Right, then it seems we should pack up for the day. I don't want any of you getting hurt, especially you girls."

"Hey!" I heard my dad say in complaint, though it was clear he wasn't offended.

I chuckled, "Oh, what could these things possibly do to YOU, mister 224 Vitality?" I shot a smirk at him, but we both knew there were no hard feelings. My father and I didn't really do much of 'hard feelings'. He was a Hunter and an understanding man regardless, I liked to make little jokes here and there, we got along exceptionally well.

He chuckled and shot me a grin, "Make me feel bad for their impotence. Anyways, if we're cutting the day short, then might I suggest sushi when we get back?"

My hand raised as high as I could move it, and Lien rained down from my open palm, "We can get SO much sushi." a laughing smile spread across my face as I picked up Crocea Mors from where it fell, brushing off the sand and admiring my handiwork, "I told you all about wanting to find special materials to upgrade Crocea Mors with, right?" my elemental peeled the gold back, showing the scarlet material underneath, "Hihirokane, excellent conductor of heat and spiritual energy."

My father beamed with pride, "Excellent work, son! You've certainly done that blade justice." he gave me a pat on the back, "Now then, let's get back and set up some more... normal training materials for your friends."

I nodded, "Alright, come on, girls, we're going to get you all settled with something less dangerous." Mystral split from Pluviteus and created the invisible jet, ready to fly us back to the hotel.

One by one, they climbed aboard, and I once again tuned out the buzz of the chat going off, leaving all the girls to their conversations.

---

(Hours later, Blake's POV)

My back burned, almost literally as the strange metal brace Jaune placed on my back remained at a painfully high temperature, making my spine feel like a radiator as the odd device clutched my stomach and dug into my back.

The past few hours have been grueling to say the very least, our 'leader' giving us little time for breaks as training broke our backs and magic glued the pieces back together. Pain and exhaustion were held at bay by the spells Jaune had cast on us, including a new one he'd said would help us greatly.

Status Effect: Reparative Claying
Description: The once-thought mythological powers of Clay have been invoked and are now cast upon you, helping you to heal and mend.

Effects: +100 HP regenerated per minute for 30 minutes, +100 SP regenerated per minute for 30 minutes, Increases Effective STR by 10% for 30 minutes, Increases Effective STR by a percentage equal to Base VIT (50) for 30 minutes.

To my left, Weiss didn't look to be in any better shape. In fact, I'd say her state was far worse than mine, probably since she was a pampered princess instead of a REAL Huntre-

Stop that, brain. We're being polite, we're being civil, and we're being nice. Weiss isn't an enemy or some despised neutral third party, she's a friend now. She's more friendly than I'd have ever imagined, to be honest, but I guess that mostly had to do with how little was known about her to the public, besides her status as the heiress to the SDC of course. When so little information was given, people tended to draw their own conclusions.

Torture Master, I mean Jaune, called out that we'd be stopping for the time being, since Weiss' concert was 'close enough' that we'd need to stop. Weiss herself looked like she could summon her water elemental out of all the sweat on the floor around her, and the hue on her face nearly made tomatoes look pale as ghosts by comparison. I managed to let out a small bit of laughter between my heavy panting. Dammit, if I just didn't need to breathe, I'd be perfectly fine right now.

I spared a look towards Marbel to my other side. She was doing fairly better than Weiss or I, probably due to her higher STR and VIT. For perhaps the hundredth time, I wiped the sweat off my brow to keep my eyes clear. The younger girl locked eyes with me, her forest green meeting my gold, and we both nodded in silent agreement that we had to get Jaune back for this cruel and unusual torture disguised as physical training.

Suddenly, rain began soaking all three of us, pouring from cyan clouds above us. Even without the visual hint, I knew it was Jaune doing it, mostly because it was raining indoors.

The metal contraptions disconnected from all of us, turning back into metal bars and disappearing. I sighed with relief, rubbing my lower back, "Need we be so wet?"

Jaune chuckled, grinning at us, "Well, I figured it would be a good way to cool you all down. Come on, you can recover with some ice and food, and change out of those clothes too, they probably smell like death now. The death of your weakness, that is!" he smiled in that... that stupid, dumb, annoying way that always made it so hard to be mad at him.

He'd done all this stuff, but it was to make sure we wouldn't end up in a situation like the one we had earlier with the Kitsuninjas. Sadly, the problem was a bit deeper than that, it lied in our Auras as well, not just our base stats.

Name: Blake Belladonna
Title: The Nighttime Beauty
Level: 54
Class: Shadow Ninja
Nickname: Nekoja

Hit Points: 14,000 -} 14,500/14,500
Aura Points: 21,000/21,000
Stamina Points: 20,000 -} 20,800/20,800

Strength: 40 -} 44 (+8%) = 47.52
Dexterity: 80 (+120%) = 176
Vitality: 50 -} 53 (+8%) = 57.24
Intelligence: 70 (+155%) = 178.5
Wisdom: 60 (+110%) = 126
Luck: 40
Charisma: 79

It was pretty exceptional for just several hours. At the very least I hadn't gotten a sunburn while we were out. Curse my pale skin, I wish I were more tan.

I let out a sigh as feeling began returning to my shaking arms, and they began to grow still, and their screams of agony grew quieter. We'd all probably be sore in the morning, but we'd done very well for ourselves. My chest hurt, though, and it was probably either from the muscles I used to breath getting tired, or my sports bra starting to chafe.

Honestly, either answer would be accepted at this point.

I went to my room in this odd suite we had in the basement, quickly changing into my normal clothes now that my sweating had stopped. Jaune's impromptu rain shower had helped more than I had initially thought. Credit where it's due, he was more clever than he looked. Sighing at the comfort of my normal clothes, as well as getting out of those awkward-feeling workout clothes.

I may have liked my occasional adult romance novel, but I still found it fairly weird that Jaune's dad had gone out and gotten us some exercising clothes, and it was just downright disturbing how they were the correct size. I hadn't bothered much with the profile past my stats and bars, so I didn't know if it conveniently gave our sizes or not. Honestly, given how nice and honest both Jaune and his dad were, I'd give the old man the benefit of the doubt and assume the profile had my bra size posted somewhere on it.

Though, if it was part of the Game, and the Game was Jaune's power, did it come standard, or had Jaune, at some point, thought about breasts enough that such information was added to the Game?

... If that was the case, no wonder he got together with Yang.

Personal thoughts and feelings aside, our after-workout meal was similar to our pre-workout one, with the addition of some grilled fish, wonderfully seasoned and at the perfect temperature to be flaky, juicy, and delicious.

I couldn't help but let out little sounds of enjoyment as I ate the fish. Jaune kept giving me weird looks, though, ones filled with concern, like he was afraid about what I thought of the food.

"This is wonderful, Jaune. Thank you for making this." I said softly, smiling at him. It seemed to calm him a bit, but not much. I wonder what was eating at him?

Whatever it was, it seemed to be centered on me.

---

(A few seconds later, Weiss' POV)

Sighing in relief, I rested my eyes for a moment, getting another spoonful of the soup Jaune had made for me. It was a little odd, how he'd managed to make all of this so quickly, but I chalked it up to his elementals. He had more than just Water, apparently all six base elements.

I mentally scoffed at that notion. Six base elements? There were only four! According to The Game, however, Metal and Lightning were elements. Of course, these were magical elements, and it might have been going off of some strange video game system. I wouldn't be surprised, since it was a video game turned into life, after all.

I couldn't help but sigh. Jaune and I had known each other for perhaps a week, and in that time he'd shaken my world views like a gigantic iron fist.

I rested my cheek in my hand, feeling a phantom sensation from the heavy sting of his slap. That, honestly, had surprised me. I'd trained a bit before, gotten my scar in an accident that would have crushed my skull had it not been for my Aura, but never had I received physical pain in such a way. It felt... almost liberating, like the metaphorical crown weighing down on my head was now gone, cast away by his hard, but just hand.

What was I even thinking? Was this the effect of having friends, that my thoughts would get muddied with emotions? To be fair, it felt a lot nicer to be able to think about people as such. It was better than before, at least. My father had instructed me that there were four types of people in this world.

Your family, who you could trust.

Lions, who would try to kill you and eat you, taking glory from your downfall.

Wasps, who would try to poison you and make you and your power perish.

And Snakes, who would do both, poison and kill you and ruin your entire life and everything it stood for.

'Luckily' I thought, 'Jaune came along and taught me so much more than that.'

Like myself, he was weighed down by his obligations and blood-born duty to bring honor to his family's name. The difference between us lies in the fact that my father was cold and distant, firm and uncompromising, while his father seemed to radiate with warmth and love, always trying to help Jaune build himself up, always beaming with pride over Jaune just... just following his dreams.

'FINE! You've chosen to pave this path for yourself, go ahead. I once tried such a path, but it all led back here. Come back once your insistence has taught you my lesson the hard way.' icy eyes stared into her own, the voice that could have frozen an army in its tracks was already threatening to leech her internal light of every bit of warmth it might have had.

I clenched my spoon at the memory, feeling it bend slightly. My father didn't want me to be a Huntress, but I suppose I got my mother's fighting spirit, because I couldn't bear to stand by in a castle while people fought against, quite literally, a world that had it out to kill us all.

Compounded by my father's other venomous actions, my sister's strictness and near disdain for how I'd taken her title away without even trying, and a few other things, and I had begun to think that the biggest lions, wasps, and snakes in this world were those in my own family.

I didn't want to think about him with those ideas running through my head, either. Rengir had been a saving grace, someone to look up to, even if we were the same age. Perhaps he was a black sheep in the family, or maybe, compared to my father's darkness and Winter's later corruption, my mother and brother were the only bits of white I had in my early life besides the walls of our home.

Sadly, both had suffered the same fate, a terminal illness called Kronelassen by the family doctor. It was new, their deaths being the first cases, and it was dangerous. It started with mental fatigue, and slowly their minds had withered away until all of their functions, even the most basic, were lost. They died because either their bodies forgot to breathe or their heartbeats had stopped.

Personally, I was glad I hadn't been allowed in the room, it was a horrific thing to think about.

Shaking the thoughts of loss away, my brother at age 7 and my mother at age 11, I focused back on the present.

Opening my eyes from their rest, I saw Jaune staring at me with concern and the unspoken offer of comfort, seeing the same from his father as well.

Wiping away a tear that had nearly fallen, I smiled, "I'm fine, just a flash of pain from earlier." technically not a lie, but if my wording led them to believe that I was referring to our workout, I would not take the liberty to correct their assumptions.

Johnathan offered me a smile, "It happens, Weiss. I'm proud that you stuck with it all the way through, though."

Jaune smiled as well, patting me on the shoulder, "It'll be gone before the concert starts, I promise." I felt two surges of warmth, one in my body from our leader's magical healing, and another in my heart from his sentiments.

'Maybe... the family I can trust... is the group friendship I've built with all of you.' I thought with a smile.

For once, I refrained from crushing it down with Schnee emotionless.

---

(A minute later, Marbel's POV)

I cracked my neck again, probably for the fifth time. It wasn't as sore as it should have been, but then again Jaune had been pumping us full of healing magic the entire time. I sighed as I ate the sushi he'd made for us, which included a small plate of wontons that I was enjoying greatly.

Pumping iron was great and all, and certainly safer than fending off massive fox ninja Grimm that were deceptively strong for how thin they were, but both activities tended to leave you tired, sweaty, and in a lot of pain.

I hummed as I looked over my stats. Two points in STR and two in VIT, and a thousand more Max HP and Max SP. All of it was pretty good, I had to admit.

For a few hours of work in real life? It was amazing. Sure, in an actual video game that let you train your stats, you could do twice of what all of us did, in maybe half the time, but that video game training would compress days, weeks, months, even years of training into a time frame that you'd be willing to actually play the game for.

In that, I felt a bit bad for Jaune. He was my friend, and I cared about him, and that meant both his physical and mental well-being. Eventually, with enough time living with this power, he'd get bored. Days would drag on where his mind would run at extreme speeds, but time would still tick by at the same speed it always did.

Was I thinking about this too much? My brain was running so much faster, it's like the tiny house in my brain had expanded to the size of a mansion. The tiny, child-like footsteps I'd taken around in it had also hastened to the pace of a sprinting madman. I hadn't been dumb, I'd at least made it to highschool, for all that was worth. However, I wasn't some star student; I had a mid-range report card and did my best where I'd had the energy to. Truth be told, that life seemed so bland compared to my new path.

I'd always known Jaune would go on to do great things. I believed in him almost as much as his dad did, but before all of this Gamer stuff happened, our relationship's fate always seemed to lead to a soul-withering end when I thought about the future. He'd go on to become a great and powerful Huntsman, and I'd be working in Vale City, might find a husband and get married, but always separate from my best friend.

Then, The Game came along, and changed his life forever. He was like a freight train; he could be stopped, but it would take far more power than anyone involved had in order to do so. He was so... so kind, he wore his heart on his sleeve. Hardly a word he said was wasted, his emotions all honest. Few people knew him like I did, in fact I was probably the only one. Yang might have some idea, and that might have been why she let him into her heart.

I admired Jaune for his charisma, and not just the stat. The stat might have made some sort of magical pretty-boy power emanate from his face, but he'd probably increased the stat so much just by being himself, by being who he is despite being The Gamer. A power like this could corrupt someone, make them think they were above laws and morals, that life around them was just a world to be played with.

Not Jaune, though. Never Jaune.

He was more than a knight, perhaps he could be considered a real-life paladin? That was a good way to put it. He was always wishing to help, always wanting to do the best for his friends and family. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a quest to get his parents back together, it seemed like the kind of thing he'd want, despite himself.

I understood so much more now than before, even after knowing him for years. How he'd cut our training short today was proof of his care and concern. If there were Grimm out there that could pull people into pocket dimensions, I certainly didn't want to end up in a one-on-one with them. It would certainly spell almost any of our deaths.

Death... that was something I was still struggling to accept.

The psychology between a person raised to be a Hunter, and a person raised to be a civilian, was massive. Hunters had so much more... gah, I didn't even know a word. Sympathy? Empathy? Understanding? Connection? All of them? They made bonds and they kept those bonds stable. A family forged in the fires of battle, that was what my aunt described Hunter teams as.

A vast majority of the time, so much so that any exceptions were only exceptions, those four Hunters stayed together. After spending four years learning, growing, developing, and bonding with three people whom I'd have trusted to have my back and protect my life on numerous, numerous occasions. There was, as with even the best of friendships, the possibility of arguing and fighting among themselves, but that would usually be followed by making up and probably becoming even closer because of it.

If it were me in that position, I probably wouldn't be too keen on us going our separate ways either, not when it would be so much easier to just stay together.

The point was that Hunters did things that civilians would think was crazy. Case in point, hunting Grimm, the faceless abominations that threatened all of humanity. Who would be so crazy as to willingly go out and pick a fight with those vile beasts?

Jaune, Mr. Arc, Blake, Weiss, Yang, Ruby, everyone at Signal, everyone at Beacon, Shade, Haven, and everyone at whatever Atlas' system was supposed to be.

Star Academy, I think Weiss had said it was called, accepted the bright and skilled youths that wished to train to become Hunters. After four years of preliminary study and training there, they moved onto the official Atlas Academy for Hunters. The council, military, and Hunter force were all combined up there, since they were practically all built together. It sounded a bit cluttered, if I was being honest.

Whatever, not my circus, not my monkeys.

My point still stood that Hunters would be willing to do incredible, and incredibly dangerous things just to save one single day. A civilian would just run away. Needless to say, with how ingrained it was in me, I still had the urge to run away when we fought Grimm, but I guess that just made me more courageous. It was a hard battle, the one between my desires and my instincts, but it was one that I had a winning streak in so far.

Even if I might have felt out of my league, I was a Huntress-in-training now, so I kinda had to act like it.

All in all, I had to thank Jaune, just for him being his usual kind, generous self, and sharing this power with me.

Now, at least, when I thought about the future, I saw the two of us sticking together for a long, long time.

And I couldn't help but smile each and every time.

---

(Some time later, Jaune's POV)

I gave a soft sigh as I sank into the luxurious seat of the limousine. All through lunch, I was worried about the girls' safeties. Not physically, of course, since I'd done everything I could, even managing to create a new skill by combining my Water and Earth buffs into one. It was under-leveled, sure, and its scale seemed to pitch that it wouldn't even grow to heal as much as Regeneration did, but the aspect I desired most was present in the Clay buff and nowhere else, it seemed.

It enhanced Aura's capabilities in repairing the body. Not just cuts or bruises, but perhaps broad, nasty wounds that would threaten to spill guts or make limbs unusable. The kind that severed muscle tissues and nicked internal organs.

Things that might take Aurora to fix.

Weiss was especially close to gaining the skill, her Max AP at 24k now. Blake was at 21k and Marbel at 18.5k.

I was finally able to relax after the girls pretty much insisted that they were fine, all eight times I'd asked. I was fine cutting the training short, but my biggest concern on the matter was if they had been scared or not.

Maybe it was the civilian boy in me fearing for his friends, or maybe it was my soft heart asking me to make sure they'd be fine going out and training again. We wouldn't be leaving tonight, of course, as Weiss had some things to do after her concert, but we'd probably have fun with this stuff. If anything happened, I could probably pull us into an I.D. and escape like that.

Throughout lunch, the girls had been mostly focused on either me, their food, or the chat they were having with Yang and Ruby, who were getting into bed by now due to the timezone difference. I made sure to tell Yang goodnight and give her a little through-the-cameras kiss. It wasn't much, really, but I could tell it meant something to her, at least, and that was reason enough to do it, for her to smile that little extra bit more.

"*bzt* Head of Security, do you copy, over?" came the voice of one of the handlers over the earpiece I now wore.

I hummed softly, then pressed my finger to the bud on the side of my ear, which was wired to the receiver on the collar of my shirt, "This is Head of Security, I copy. Roadways are clear and dragons in place. Miss Schnee is clear for transport, over." I had twenty of my disguised Gaster Blasters surrounding the convoy. My father and I were in the back car, Weiss was in the middle car with Blake and Marbel protecting her, and the front was the navigator.

"Heh, y'know, I'm proud of you for managing all of this and keeping your word, son. It's very impressive." my dad said across from me, sipping a Vacuan wine, which I could see was made with citrus fruits grown in the Oasis Farm. Fitting, since that was the brand.

"You're always proud of me, dad." I brushed it off with a slight smile, showing I still appreciated him saying it, even if the words were as good as empty.

He gave me a brief look, "Doesn't make it any less true, son." he assured cryptically, and I wished I knew what he was feeling, since that statement was kind of vague.

I didn't broach the subject, mostly because I felt that my father didn't want to talk about it.

I began to meditate, closing the window dividing the driver and the back. With a hum, I brought out a few tiny pieces of gravel, dropping it as my extremely limited mobility didn't allow me to do what I wished physically, instead relying on my elementals to do the work.

My eyes remained open, "Don't panic, but we're about to have a third party." I watched as my hands poured more gravel, until about a gallon of it was floating in a ball shape in the air.

A bar of iron began floating alongside it, and Crocea's influence turned the metal into a fluid, both me and my father watching as it poured sideways, filling in the cracks between the gravels, "Now, here's where the REAL magic takes place." I grinned, and ignored the raised eyebrow I got.

The gravel became fluid as well, flowing to make the ball a solid sphere. It looked like a tiny planet floating in the air between us.

Next came Juristimunja, manifesting as a ring of electricity around the ball. It tightened and tightened until it sunk through the surface. If my understanding was correct, then...

Suddenly, the tiny planet began to glow, forming a fat torus outlined by countless curving streams of light connecting the two poles. The air around it began to ripple as it moved to the side, and the torus began pulsating. A rainbow suddenly shone out from the torus, moving upwards as the air became visibly distorted. Thin streaks of lightning formed a stick figure as the rainbow curved and split, forming a ring of seven eyes, cyan at the center and the ROYGBV around it. Finally, the lightning suddenly became black, and a small breeze formed inside the car.

"Schwarza." I greeted softly, the name coming to mind easily.

"Jaune." it greeted back, its voice like a buzzing rumble in the air.

"Jaune." my dad said, looking at the combined elemental warily, "What is this thing? Did you get a new skill?"

"Mana Sketch. Yes, it functions pretty much as you might expect, given its previous iteration. Schwarz is the combination of Earth, Metal, and Lightning. It took some thought, but I've had a lot of time to think over the past few hours. I have six elementals, and now the ability to combine three of them together at a time. Repetitions don't count, and neither does order it seems. You know how a compass works?"

He nodded, "Magnetic poles at the peak and base of the planet. Nobody knows particularly why it focuses on north and south, but it does." he shrugged, "So this thing is a compass elemental?"

"No, that would be stupid." I chuckled, "When meditating on this before, I was able to tell north and south because of Juristimunja alone. The thing is, adding my elementals together makes a new elemental, but for the Intermediate Elements, it seems like sometimes, the third entity only enhances the previous function. This is a middle ground. The mass of earth and metal combined, with lightning added, has created a Gravity elemental. The method of its creation, however, also gives it some control over electromagnetism, though not as great as a pure Electromagnetism Elemental."

Schwarz simply gave a pulsating hum, "It seems changing an electric field creates a magnetic field, and changing a magnetic field induces an electric field. The two are intrinsically linked."

I paused at that, looking at him curiously, "Well, perhaps we might be able to do more, then. I'll have to level Mana Sketch first, though."

Mana Sketch, the first of the skills I'd gained for getting WIS above 150. As I'd previously done, it allowed me to combine three elementals together to form an 'Intermediate' elemental. Presumably, if this trend continued, then I would get a skill to combine four elementals at 200 WIS, a skill to combine five of them at 250, and finally at 300, I'd be able to combine all six elements of nature into... something.

At least, that was what I hoped. Realistically, from what I'd seen of the elements, combining five might be more difficult to control than combining all six, due to... well, there wasn't really a good way to describe it. I guess 'cohesion' was a close enough word to use.

The second skill, well... it was easier to just read it.

-/\-

The Fundamental Factor W (Passive) Level: 1, Exp: 14.63% (achieved for raising Wisdom above 150)
An ability held by those who have achieved a great clarity of mind. This skill unlocks the true power of your incredible understanding of knowledge. You know this to be true.

Increases skill EXP gained by a percentage equivalent to WIS.
Skill EXP gained also increases based on your capacity to understand the skill.

-/\-

I felt something wriggling inside my mind, trying to break free. I could only assume that its label as 'W' meant that there was also a Fundamental Factor for getting INT to 150. I suppose it made sense, really.

I was smart enough now that I could realistically learn something far faster, perhaps a whole order of magnitude faster, than most people would be able to. I could learn any language just by reading all of the translations and sentence rules, or learn a fighting style by reading all about it. My mental plasticity was great enough that I could rewire my reflexes easily enough.

With a sigh, my thoughts moved to the third skill, Aura Suffusion. It was a bit hard to figure out at first, but I managed to get it after some thought. Already I could suffuse some forms of my Aura into the air and other mediums around me, but that was elementally aligned aura.

Air Aura into the air, as well as fire and lightning if necessary, even water possibly. Metal Aura into metal, and through the ground to ore deposits. Earth Aura into the ground, I hardly needed to explain that.

What Aura Suffusion did, however, was allow me to suffuse raw, unaligned Aura into my surroundings. It was almost like extending myself into the air, or the ground, or the walls, or whatever. I had tried combining it with Ki Breathing, and found that when working together, the latter would allow the former to work much more rapidly by drawing air into my body and suffusing it with my Aura when I inhaled, then spreading it to the space around me when I exhaled. Sure, the speed increase was only marginal most of the time, but every bit helped.

Animakinetic Flow was probably the first real hint I had that something was more than 'very special' about The Game. It was a property of some souls to regenerate AP faster when their reserves were low.

Of course, there was a bit of an anomaly with that. The wording implied that souls are born with that ability, not that it's gained by some means. In addition, such a skill would act more like a perk, really, a static thing that didn't get more powerful with more use, it just worked and that was that. The fact that I had such a thing as a skill, one that could level up and had already shown signs of improvement, meant that my soul was even more powerful than I thought.

It wasn't much of a secret to me anymore that my Gamer's Sight was able to draw information from the annals of history and present it to me in a translated and ready-to-read format. It was the only explanation for some of the information it provided. Sadly, it could also be deceitful through its rigid structure, since the spirit of wording and the spirit of actions weren't properly translated.

For all I knew, Raven Branwen had spiritually died and the person who previously held that name had decided to take on a new one, and a new life away from Raven Branwen's friends and family. It was unpleasant to think of, so I often didn't, just took things with the trust that they were as honest as I tried to be.

Where was I with this? I felt a hand on my shoulder and opened my eyes, seeing my dad sitting across from me with his arm stretched towards me. It took a second to realize he was saying something, and I focused my hearing back on my surroundings as I fully exited my meditative state.

"Head of Security, do you copy, over?" came the voice of the handler.

"I copy, over. What's the situation?" I silently cursed myself for getting so distracted. This situation was an organic one, it could develop at any time. I'd already messaged the White Fang to stay away from the concert, since there were still Hunters there. They listened, as they should have to their leader.

"Let me repeat myself, then." he said tersely, and I deadpanned. I wasn't an idiot, I just lost focus for a second, "There's a blockage in the road, busted fire hydrant spraying water everywhere. Shall we proceed to backup route 2?"

I checked the map, and found that in order to make that change, we'd have to go backwards for an inconvenient distance, "No, I'll fix it." I stood up, opening the sunroof and standing up into the warm afternoon air. People kept a respectable distance due to the dragons surrounding the convoy, and I spotted the busted hydrant easily. A white spray of water was indeed going everywhere, mostly where it would hit the cars and had a chance of mess with the internals. At that speed and pressure, it was hard to say.

I held out my hands for show, pretending to telekinetically control what was happening as Crocea Mors' and Pluviteus' spiritual energies raced towards the hydrant, pulling the water back into it and keeping it at bay while the metal flowed and fixed itself, "Blockage dealt with."

"Right, I forgot you're a telekinetic. Alright, we're continuing then."

I ducked back down into the car, seeing the tiny forms of Roimontagne and Juristimunja on the seat, the latter floating in the air while the former attempted to touch her 'feet'. I found it odd, but amusing. Leaving them be for now, I focused on the map, and thought about the fifth skill I'd gotten.

Druidic Proficiency, as well as Animakinetic Flow, had proven that the higher benchmarks of stats would give me more skills. One for 50, three for 100, and five for 150. At this rate, 200 would give seven, 250 would give nine, and 300 would give eleven. It was a nice scale, I supposed.

The skill also give me a 100% increase to my Ease of Casting for all elemental spells. With it, I found myself even able to stack more layers onto Stone Skin and Metal Skin, two skills I'd nearly forgotten due to how they always ran in the background.

Not only that, but it eased the process of bringing my elementals together, as well as using them to perform their elemental powers. It didn't make the process cost any less, but it made the flow of AP more stable and controlled, making it take up less focus. As a result, I was left with more mental power to do other things with.

We approached our destination, passing checkpoint three and not getting any further calls or details. Honestly, I felt like Luck had thrown that obstacle at me just to make sure I was paying attention to my current situation.

So, naturally, I did just that. Extending my senses outwards, I felt for any disturbances, any unnatural shifts in the air or people standing where they shouldn't be, and any overlapping of the two would be dealt with immediately.

Humming lightly, I watched and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And wai-

In a flurry I focused on the figure of a woman, only to find it to be Greyna Vakanz, the teleporter of the Vacuan White Fang. I grimaced, and gestured for my father to act natural after I teleported away.

Appearing in midair with little to no sound, and all of it constrained by Mystral, I changed into Adam's clothing and landed on my feet. I grunted as I hit the ground, alerting Greyna to my presence.

She turned to face me, and I noted the small horns on her forehead and nose. Her burning glare withered and died in a second when she realized who she was seeing, "Great Leader." she bowed to me, and I gestured for her to stand up.

"What are you doing? I specifically ordered you not to attack the Schnee. Not yet." my voice, modified to sound like Adam's with some influence of the combined Crocea, Mystral, and Juristimunja, which had made, to my surprise, what amounted to a 'Music Elemental'. In actuality, that was a highly simplified label, but it was accurate. Shimfan, as I named him, could control the air with the fine detail needed to manipulate complex sound patterns, such as voices or music. Calling him a Music Elemental was just a compartmentalization of his ability set, so that he was more readily recognizable.

She bowed, and saluted, "I apologize, sir, but General Naranja ordered us to keep watch over the Schnee bitch and plan for a precise, coordinated strike against her."

I raised an eyebrow, "I don't recall authorizing that. I am running my own investigation, one over her security team. Don't worry over the details, private." I said with minor condescension, "I will handle it myself."

She nodded, "Of course, Great Leader, sir." she looked at the binoculars in her off hand, "Am I to cease my observation?"

I sighed, "No. Observe, but keep your distance, I don't want my investigation interrupted. Am I understood?"

She bowed again, replying in a disciplined tone, "Yes sir."

I grunted and gave a very slight smile, "Good." I turned around and walked away. When I reached the edge of the roof, I simply stepped off, falling towards the alleyway below.

Shedding my disguise as I sensed Greyna remaining where she was, disciplined and trained to know that she shouldn't worry about my landing, I focused the wind to catch me, spreading wings from my back like a Vulcyrie and practically stopping myself midair. With a grunt, I formed a ball of wind around myself to keep stable, used Aurora to dismiss my wings, and teleported back into the limo.

Appearing in the seat like nothing had happened, I smiled at my dad, "We're clear." I placed my headset back on and listened to the broken bits of conversation that came up on occasion, just minor details about the trip.

... (about five minutes of travel later) ...

Black sunglasses covered my eyes, but the lenses were not what they seemed to be. Instead of darkening my surroundings, they brightened them to the point where I was almost convinced it was noon, if not for the time in the corner.

SYSTEM UPDATE: HUD devices now supported.

Temperature, time, camera, recognition of other devices, these things were pretty good. I had to remember to forget to return them when this was all over, hehe.

Blake and Marbel were in more security-esque outfits, which was essentially just black pantsuits, and did their best to look tough. The powerful Auras they had, while not nearly as great as mine or my father's, helped with that, especially with the usage of the skill Aura of Intimidation. The cheering crowds that greeted Weiss as she arrived were held back by ropes, security, and survival instinct. Though not deadly, they knew that if they tried to get too close to Weiss.

Sadly, this proved insufficient for one random male fan, who ducked under the ropes to try to get Weiss to autograph something.

Honestly, this was just a concert, were people so mindless as to treat this like some sort of big event? She'd be doing another show tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, and so on for a full month!

I sighed, watching as Blake calmly grabbed the man by the shoulder and pushed him backwards, sending him stumbling back into the crowd, "Please stay behind the ropes."

I could see and sense Weiss sighing in hidden annoyance, signing a few autographs. Honestly, I could see her frustration. We could all be doing much better things with our time than going out here, getting screamed at by rabid fans, and Weiss singing to a bunch of people who'll act so fakely. It was just... kind of disappointing, really.

I didn't falter a single step as I sent icy looks at people while following shortly behind the group, setting up an invisible telekinetic fence to keep people from repeating that man's mistake.

Proceeding quickly and firmly, we made it inside and proceeded to move towards the appropriate rooms backstage. I let out a sigh of relief as the masses were quelled for now. They were taking this WAY too seriously.

I found myself standing beside Weiss, and the two of us shared a look. She gave me a slight nudge with her shoulder, "Thank you." she said with a smile, and I briefly wondered what it was for, before dismissing it as a simple pleasantry.

"You're welcome." I smiled back at her, "Now go on, you have makeup and dress to go do. I'm not gonna be watching that." I chuckled and gestured towards the experts who were patiently waiting for her.

She blushed and gave me a light smack on the shoulder, "I wasn't expecting you to, get your assumptions of my mindset out of the gutter." she huffed a bit, but I saw that she couldn't help but let out a slight laugh as she walked over to the patient makeup artist.

Marbel giggled as she came up to my side, smiling, "Heh, she's already getting used to all this. I guess it's the connections, really." she smiled up at me, "Blake and I got it from here, you go make sure there's no hidden danger."

I smiled, "You think I couldn't stop a bullet?"

Her eyes widened slightly, "No need to be so blunt about it." she admonished, and I felt a slight pang of regret.

"Sorry, I get a bit carried away sometimes." I pat her on the back, "Now go, make sure she gets nice and dolled up for all those raving fans." I chuckled and gave her a tiny push.

She walked backwards away from me, "Alright, alright, see ya in a bit."

With a sigh, I stood alone now. I relayed some instructions over the radio, informing the security team of the positions they would take around the concert hall. I turned my head when I felt a tap on my shoulder, and saw a man dressed in a slightly different uniform, "Can I help you?"

The man gave a slight nod, "You're the head of security, right?"

I quirked my mouth a bit, "Yes, is there a problem?"

"No, come with me to the monitoring room, sir, you should have a much better view of things there." he explained, smoothing back his black hair.

I hummed, then nodded, "Alright, take me there." he quickly turned and led me a bit deeper into the building, stopping at a room simply labeled 'monitoring room'. I smiled, thankful that they had the technology here despite this being a bit of a smaller city. We stepped inside to see a sizable grid array of large screens, displaying live feeds from about three dozen cameras spread throughout the building.

I looked between each of them easily, picking out tiny details in each and judging some people who came through. There were various normal civilians, the highest of which were probably in the low teens in terms of levels. There were some elderly people, some with significantly higher levels than average civilians since they had seen combat earlier in their lives. There were even a few retired hunters in the mix, with levels still in the forties, fifties, and even sixties.

I suddenly gave a hard stop when I saw a smiling face on one of the cameras. It wasn't so much the man's face, as it was the information floating above his head.

Naranja Tamas
Title: The Sun-bleached Grin that Hunts through the Night.
Level: 92

General Naranja himself was here, in disguise of course, but what a clever disguise it was.

He looked absolutely normal, like any other citizen, not even a trace of malice in his eyes, only excitement.

I groaned, "Excuse me, I need to take care of something." I turned and walked away from the display, "It's personal." I added, and walked out of the door.

Making my way to the bathroom, I entered and cast the spell I'd gathered together.

In an instant, the lights in the room dimmed slightly. The general noise outside faded into silence. I was alone.

I was in an Illusion Dimension.

I had tested it a bit beforehand, subtle things that confirmed that the description was truthful, that nothing that happened inside the barrier would affect things outside the barrier.

With that in mind, I leaped through the roof and tore past the internal structure of the building, getting out into the main hall where rows and rows of seats were lined up. Technically speaking, Weiss WAS a classical music singer, so the setting made sense. I cast an illusion over myself and snapped my fingers, invisible in the air and watching over everyone that was entering as I changed into Adam once more, disguising myself as a normal civilian, even putting on a hat to hide my horns. My hair dyed itself red and brown, my eyes turned red, and I put on a very generic outfit. Vacuo was pretty casual with clothing most of the time, which explained why people were coming to this concert in barely semi-formal clothing.

Thinking about it, it also explained the raving fans outside.

I picked out the dangerous man in the crowd, his buzz-cut brown hair, fair skin, orange eyes, and bright smile all giving off the image and feeling of a normal guy wanting to see the big concert that came to town.

Waiting for him to sit down, I lowered to the ground nearby and muffled my noise. His semblance gave him superhuman senses, and I didn't want to take any chanced. Appearing from thin air and blending in with the crowd, I moved over and sat next to him.

We didn't exchange any words as we waiting a full twenty seconds. I was wearing a pair of thick glasses and a thick beanie, a brown jacket, blue shirt underneath, blue jeans, and sneakers. All in all, if someone didn't know that I was supposed to be Adam Taurus, they would have suspected me just another normal concert-goer.

Finally, he spoke, "So what brings ya here, bossman?" he asked, eating a bit of popcorn.

Showing no regard for his feelings over his snack, I grabbed a handful of popcorn for myself, "My investigation, I assume Greyna told you?"

"Yep. So what'cha investigating?" he asked nonchalantly.

I smirked, "I'm pretty sure it's nothing, but I'm looking at the Schnee's new security team."

He raised an eyebrow, "A rich bitch hires some high-dollar Hunting team sent out by one of the academies. Not really a crazy conspiracy if I'm gonna be honest. Kinda common, actually."

I sighed, "Well, fuck me sideways then."

He chuckled, "No thanks, bossman. I don't roll that way."

I looked at him, "You're being awful casual while on the job."

He gave me a curious look, "Who said I was on the job? I'm here to listen to the music. Yeah, I hate the snow bitch and her family, but that doesn't mean her singing isn't good. Am I not allowed a night off?"

I continued looking at him, my gaze slowly softening from the steely daggers of questioning, to a much more friendly gaze, "I suppose you're allowed it. My investigation seems to have hit an end, I suppose. I'll prod it some more, but you and your group need to be careful. Like I said, they're powerful Hunters, at least 1.5 casualties for us for every 1 of them we kill. Four hunters, including a full Huntsman, you'll lose at least seventy percent of your group will die."

He hummed softly, running a hand through his short hair, scratching his head, "Yeah, I did the math. Dead Schnee makes up for it though. Don't worry, bossman, we won't be doing anything serious tonight. We're planning things out, like we should. Right now, I'm just relaxing and waiting for the show to start."

I nodded, "Right then. I think I'll join you, try to have a nice time despite my utter disappointment."

Adam C: I'm in disguise and the general of the Vacuan White Fang is here. He's just watching the show, but I'm going to try to bleed him of information on his plans. His soldiers have been 'observing' Weiss since we got to the city, from what I'm getting. :C

Weiss C: Since we got to the city? Oh god, now I'm nervous. :C

Adam C: Don't worry, Weiss. They're not going to do anything tonight, I'll make extra sure of it. You just focus on being awesome and singing for all these fans of yours, okay? :C

Blake C: We'll at least slow the Fang down if they try anything, or Jaune could pull them into his Illusion Dimension. :C

Marbel C: Yeah! Don't worry about a thing, Weiss. We've got it covered. :C

Weiss C: Alright, alright, fine. I just need a minute to breathe and I'll be good. :C

I watched as more people filled the various seats, and briefly worried about the inevitability when the person who bought the seat I was currently in would come to claim it. Dammit, I had to think over this a bit more. What backup would work?

I hummed, then had Shimfan make the sound of Adam's scroll going off from a message, "Ah." I pretended to check the message, "I have other places to be now, sadly. I'll be around, Troop." I said while standing up and patting him on the shoulder as I walked past him, making sure to walk all the way out of the room so as to not alert his sense of hearing that something was up.

With a relieved sigh, I slipped into an illusion dimension where nobody would notice. The silence that settled over the area was nearly deafening, and I had Shimfan play a tune while I made my way back to the bathroom, considerations running through my head.

Against an opponent with no Aura or true boosts like the Miraganger, I could pull through with my buffs, but against someone with finely trained skills and the protective force of Aura, I needed something a bit more.

With a sigh, I pulled up my profile, "Well, if I'm not going to use them, I might as well not even have them." with the slightest of frowns, I applied the points I deemed necessary.

-/\-

Strength: 72 -} 80 (+265%) (+110%) (+75%) = 440
Dexterity: 65 (+265%) (+110%) (+75%) = 357.5
Vitality: 80 (+265%) (+110%) (+75%) = 440
Intelligence: 132 -} 135 (+5) (+265%) = 511
Wisdom: 160 -} 165 (+5) (+265%) = 620.5
Luck: 112 -} 115
Charisma: 80

Stat Points: 159 -} 151 -} 148 -} 143 -} 140

-/\-

It wasn't the most, to be honest, but I could still reasonably train my physical stats. Normal Hunters did it all the time, why couldn't I? Still, the boost in strength, and the slight extra weight I felt as my body grew some more muscle was comforting. I stretched, as I usually did, and executed over a dozen consecutive backflips as my muscles stretched and bunched together, electrical signals causing them to extend and flex as the acrobatic feat was performed with ease.

With a final groan as my blood rushed through my veins and my heart pounded for a brief moment, I redressed into my normal clothing. With a simple dismissal of power, I reappeared in the real world and flushed the toilet, stepping out of the stall and washing my hands before putting my gloves back on. I had a more proper hunter-esque outfit on, though I'd replaced my casual hoodie, t-shirt, and blue jeans with a black suit that had a yellow shirt. Once my gloves were back on, I adjusted my armor on my shoulders and chest and made my way out of the bathroom.

I smiled as I saw Weiss exit her dressing room. Her face had a modest layer of subtle, almost artistic makeup, and her outfit consisted of a long dress and a stylish coat over it. No doubt she had several outfits themed after her various locations, in order to appeal that extra bit more to the fans visiting the show. I waved to her, and she looked at me and pointed at her neck.

I raised an eyebrow and looked down, only to realize that I hadn't re-equipped my necktie. I gave a 'so-so' gesture and a light frown.

She seemed to understand, then walked past me, "You should head to where you can act most readily, Mr. Arc." her tone was professional, since we were among others, and I nodded.

"I was already on my way, Ms. Schnee. Do your best out there." I smiled at her.

She was a little shocked, but her smile returned, more natural than before, "I will, I assure you." she let out a soft, faint bit of a giggle as she walked past me.

I smirked as I walked back to the monitoring room, feeling much better than before. I'd made sure that Weiss was safe, confronted the leader of the Vacuan White Fang, and had shut down the biggest conceivable threats to the concert.

With a sigh, I entered and took my place beside my supposed second-in-command. He had his Aura unlocked, at the very least, and his stat build seemed to focus mostly on Intelligence and Dexterity, allowing him to respond with great swiftness to threats that arose, fight in a nimble way, and run to his destination in a short period of time. In second place was his Charisma, and in third was his Strength. Vitality, Wisdom, and Luck all seemed fairly standard for a man of his position, so I simply filed him away for later recollection.

My thoughts drifted to Weiss' singing. It was quite beautiful, I had to admit, and I hummed along to the song she was singing, one I'd analyzed beforehand. Most people didn't really listen to the lyrics of songs like hers, just her beautiful voice and the symphonic instrumental. However, I listened closely, hearing the sad words and feeling them tug at my heartstrings. They might not have been updated to reflect her much higher mood, but they still represented her feelings at a point in time.

A small voice in my head told me to squash those feelings down, to not let them influence my decisions, but I couldn't bear to listen to them. I'd find a way to make Weiss smile all the time, and never feel such negativity again.

With a sigh, I telekinetically brought over a chair and sat down, my eyes glued to the screens and my ears glued to the song. Well...

I had time to kill.

---

(around 1AM, Patch Forest, Yang's POV)

Sleep, sleep, come out come out wherever you are~.

*sigh*

Ever since... I guess now yesterday evening, I've been worried out of my mind, over something so small, but significant.

Jaune disappeared.

He didn't die, he didn't disband the party, he didn't... whatever, he simply...

Disappeared.

I was looking at his profile, watching points occasionally tick in while bored out of my mind. I'd already done my homework, and Ruby wasn't home, when suddenly Jaune's entire profile became covered in black mist. I tried to wave it away, but nothing happened. About half an hour later, it dissipated and left nothing behind. Jaune seemed fine, and I was too caught up in my relief to comment on it. If he was going to tell me what it was that happened, he would have told me directly.

He didn't. He didn't acknowledge what happened in the slightest. I trusted that if something was wrong with him, he'd tell us, especially me. Since he didn't, then either it was very minor and he'd probably already fixed it, or nothing had really happened at all. With that in mind, I had simply gone back to training.

He hadn't even mentioned it when I'd first tried to get to sleep and we exchanged our pleasantries and camera-kiss. So, rather than continue to fret over what was possibly just a little glitch and clearly hadn't affected him, I had let it go again.

Humming, I looked over my profile and skills, focusing mostly on my stats and the one skill that had appeared shortly after the glitch went away.

-/\-

Name: Yang Xiao Long
Title: Hotter than the Sun in the middle of July
Level: 56 -} 60

Hit Points: 25,000 -} 30,000
Aura Points: 15,000 -} 18,000
Stamina Points: 35,000 -} 43,000

Strength: 80 -} 84 (+303%) = 338.52
Dexterity: 50 -} 60 (+50%) = 90
Vitality: 80 -} 82 (+115%) = 176.3
Intelligence: 50 -} 52 (+50%) = 78
Wisdom: 50 (+50%) = 75
Luck: 30
Charisma: 83 -} 84

Stat Points: 40 -} 60

-/\-

Caritas (Active & Passive) Level: 5, Exp: 64.23%
The generosity and sacrifice that cannot be seized by the hands of Greed. Similar to the process in which a soul draws in more energy to replenish itself, this skill allows the owner the ability to sacrifice their own soul's power to bolster the light of another's—for there is no greater love, than to lay down one's life for one's friends.

The caster may sacrifice their own AP to restore the AP of another.
Range: 7 meters.
Increases Ease of Casting for touch-range and willpower-targeted skills by 108%

-/\-

It was... odd, to say the least. I felt a surge of power fill my core and blossom outwards like a fire. When it passed, I got the notification that I had been 'blessed' with this spell. I'm not exactly sure how, but I could guess why.

In a way, it represented me on a very personal level. I'd like to think that I was a kind, caring, and generous person, willing to sacrifice most of my childhood to making sure Ruby was taken care of, willing to sacrifice my personal desires to make sure Ruby made friends, willing to give and receive love even when I was unsure of how to handle it.

In a way, if the Game blessed me with this skill, then Jaune deserved it too, because he was incredibly generous and sacrificial. He had the same spark I could see in my dad, a man with the dedication to do absolutely everything he could to protect his loved ones. Jaune was dedicated to his friends simply because that was the right thing to do.

Maybe it was Gamer's Mind that gave him the mental resources to be so unrelentingly good, maybe it was his honorable soul, maybe it was some third thing, or both, or all three, or whatever. Whatever it was, I loved it, and I loved him for it, among other things.

Funny, the skill's appearance reminded me of my first great sacrifice. Before deciding to become a huntress, I'd wanted to be a doctor of some sort, helping the sick and wounded to heal. When Ruby told our dad that she wanted to be a Huntress, I set aside my personal goals in order to join her. I was just in time, too, and found myself improving quickly, at least enough to the point that I could keep on level, and later keep ahead of my peers. It was certainly difficult, especially those first few months, but I pushed through, for Ruby, to keep her safe.

So, I was the owner of Caritas. I was the generous soul. At least, that's what the notification had said. I didn't know what exactly it was all about, or if it had some sort of hidden meaning, but it was my power and a damn useful one at that, if a bit... lacking, I guess. I'd trained with it, helping Ruby out after she'd nearly exhausted her aura while training. I didn't get why she seemed so focused now. She'd been focused before, obviously, or she wouldn't have gotten anywhere with her training. Now, however, she was honed in on an unknown large, solid plan that probably covered all her bases, completely abandoning her previous method of 'trial, error, fix the error, trial again' that consisted mostly of Uncle Qrow telling her what sucked, her training to improve that one thing, and then Qrow reevaluating her and pointing out another sucky point.

I brushed the thought away after a few more seconds, figuring that The Game had allowed her to see everything that was wrong without needing to ask our uncle. That made the most sense, since we could see our stats and all. She was a smart cookie (and not just because she ate so many of the damn things) and was able to figure it out herself now that she could see the full picture, it seemed. With a hum and a sigh, I focused back on my mysterious 'blessing'.

Caritas seemed to increase in range at an odd rate, increasing by two meters at levels two, three, and five, but not at four. It had started with a distance of a measly one meter before, about three feet and one-third feet, which meant I had to practically be right next to a person to use it on them. I'd need to practice more with it, at least more than the four levels it had taken all night to get. I'd also need to figure out what sort of scale its range increased at, but... so far, it was pretty good, I guess.

I curled my legs up closer to my chest, resting my elbows on my knees as I looked up at the night sky. I took in a deep breath, and closed my eyes. Counting to ten, I let out the breath and some nerves, and maintained a slow, even breathing rate, calming myself even more as I felt the heat in my body cool slightly, then focus in my hands.

Pushing the heat outward, I opened my hand. Colored by my soul more than its own heat, a blue flame formed in my palm, small and smoothly burning. I pushed a little harder and it grew slightly. I waved my hand in the air, leaving behind a trail of blue flames that softly rippled in the air, flickering slowly and letting out low sounds of crackling air.

After a few more minutes of almost... playing with the blue fire, I saw the notification I was looking for and smiled.

"Semblance" level increased by 1!

-/\-

Semblance (Active) Level: 15, Exp: 0.03%
The Growing Spark: Your unique ability to take in the damage that the world and all those in it shall inflict upon you, and let it increase your strength. Fueled by the pain that comes with life, your light shall burn as bright as the sun.

-Red: The red flames of anger increase your strength and damage, but decrease your control over yourself and your intensely burning flames. Mastery: 63%

-Green: The green flames of kindness allow you to gift mercy and relief to your allies, healing their damage as the warmth of fire cleanses one's heart. Mastery: 18%

-Blue: The blue flames of calm are easily bent and swept, controlled with grace and ease as you let thought and rationality dictate your actions, rather than instinct and emotion. Mastery: 9%

-/\-

I had a whole folder for it, with some various abilities in subfolders for the three colors. If my math was right, and it probably wasn't, my semblance's level was determined by the total mastery of the colors I had, divided by six. I had three colors right now, and I could only guess that I had to get another three colors and master them as well.

*sigh* "This is all so confusing, to be honest." I told the sky, frowning slightly. To know not only how much I've grown, but how to grow further, was a godsend, but with that solution came more problems. What was the best way to grow? My blue flames had increased Ease of Casting, but only for themselves. Red had reduced Aura Control, as while I could push the fire outwards, it was hard to, well, control. Green was pretty neutral, harder to control than blue flames, but easier than red flames. If I had to compare them to something, then Red was a warrior form, Green was a healer, and Blue was a wizard.

What would Orange be? Yellow? What about Purple? I'd already confirmed it in the mirror, my eyes changed to the color of the flames I was using, red for Red, green for Green, blue for Blue. That was what made me so curious about the Purple flames.

My normal eye color was purple.

I sighed. I wished I was like Jaune, able to push my line of thinking without hitting a mental block. Clearer headed, or something. Purple flames had to somehow increase my power in my base state, if they were colored like my base eye color, right?

It only made sense.

Increasing your understanding of yourself and your life's path has increased your WIS and LUK by 2 each!

Well, I guess that confirmed it. I wish I knew how The Game knew everything, but I'm pretty sure that's some kind of 'beyond mortal comprehension' stuff that would turn my brain into, like, scrambled eggs, or something.

I kinda liked my brain being... well... whatever texture a brain is supposed to be, so I was fine with not knowing everything.

I groaned as I rubbed my eyes, yawning as sleepiness finally began to seep into my body. Standing up and carefully moving to the edge of the roof, I jumped down and bent with my landing, then lept back up to my room's open window, climbing inside.

Sighing as the warmth of the room washed over me, a stark contrast to the coolness of the night air, I shut the window and slid into bed, curling up under the covers and relaxing fully once more.

After figuring out my Blue flames earlier, mostly out of my relief from Jaune being okay, I found out that it helped me relax and fall asleep faster, which was shortly followed by a rude wakeup call in the form of my face smacking into my desk. Now, however, would be the perfect time to utilize it.

Any second now, I'd fall asleep.

Any second now...

Aaaaaaany second noooowwww~...

Aaaaaaaaaaany... okay, fuck it, I need to know.

Grabbing my scroll and turning it on, I opened up a flashlight app and used one of the settings to illuminate my face in a soft white glow. I turned on my visual broadcast to Jaune and smiled at him, Yang W: Hey babe. How's that security stuff going? :W

A few seconds later, his broadcast fired up, showing me some of his sharply dressed upper body and smiling face, a pair of sunglasses resting on his forehead. Jaune W: Hey babygirl. It's going pretty good, even despite a White Fang agent being at the concert. :W

Yang W: Oh shit, be careful. I want you coming back in one piece. :W

Jaune W: If I lose a piece, it'll grow back in like a second. Don't worry, okay? He's actually here to just listen to the concert, surprisingly. I guess even the White Fang has humanity left. :W

Yang W: Don't let Blakey hear you say that, she's still pretty adamant about them being 'good but misguided'. It might hurt her feelings. :W

Jaune W: While I'm not looking to hurt feelings, you know I got my opinions just like anyone else does, babygirl. So, I'm guessing you couldn't sleep? :W

Yang W: What was the clue? :W I smirked at him, feeling better already.

Jaune W: You're laying in bed, with the blanket up, lit up by what I'm guessing is your scroll's screen. By the way, how are your eyes blue? :W He raised an eyebrow at me in questioning.

Yang W: New ability from my semblance. I told you about my Green fire, but just earlier I got the ability to use Blue fire. I was really worried, and then I was relieved, enough so that my calmness created an ability. :W

Jaune W: Heh, calmness IS an ability for me. So, what got you all worked up? :W

I couldn't help but pout at him, Yang W: What happened earlier? About... six hours ago, I think? You... disappeared. Your profile got covered with black mist, I couldn't see or sense you in any way. :W

He looked a little nervous, Jaune W: Hey now, don't pout like that, Sun Angel. I was fighting a boss that had the ability to trap me in an illusory boss room. My profile getting blacked out was probably because it technically counted as me being in another dimension, one made by a Grimm. I'm guessing it hasn't done that since? :W

Yang W: No, not at all. Goddamn, a Grimm that's able to make a boss room? :W My eyes went wide at the thought, and my minor sleepiness was starting to recede.

He nodded, Jaune W: Yeah, kinda. That's the best way to put it. It was an advanced form of a Grimm that has the ability to create illusions, so I guess it makes sense. The skillbook I got from it was called 'Illusion Dimension'. It lets me create an Illusion Dimension, or I.D., and move around, and when I exit, I end up in the corresponding location to where I was in the illusion dimension. Anything I destroy or damage in the I.D. isn't carried over into the real world either, so I could use it for some super intense training, or sneaky, untraceable travel. Get from Point A to Point B without having to cross the intervening space like a normal person. :W

Yang W: Too much thinking. Dumb it down for me. :W

Jaune W: I enter an illusionary realm that isn't directly connected to normal space. I blow up a mountain in it and exit and the mountain is still there in the real world. :W

Yang W: Dumb it down a bit more, please. :W I smirked a little. I was able to somewhat grasp the concept, I just wanted to see what he'd say.

Jaune W: I teleport really slowly and can do things on the way to my destination. :W he smirked back at me, picking up on what I was doing.

Yang W: Can you make it any dumber? :W

Jaune W: It's magic. :W

Yang W: Ah, I understand perfectly now. :W

We shared a hearty laugh, and when it was over, I let out a sigh as I relaxed more, Yang W: I love you, Jaune. :W

Jaune W: I love you too, Yang. :W

We both leaned in and shared a kiss through the camera. It might not have seemed like much, but I cherished those kisses. It was a small gesture, but it meant a lot to me. It meant that Jaune was willing to put forth whatever amount of affection he could. Even if it was small, even if it seemed insignificant, he still did it, because he loved me. We had an unspoken understanding of each other. It was in our eyes, I had figured out.

It was part of my artistic experience. The eyes are the most important part of drawing a person. They're the windows to the soul, they express the most emotion, they're vibrant and precious and full of life. When looking for life, you always looked at the eyes.

Life was always in the eyes.

I guess that meant I had a lot of life, then, since my eyes had so many colors and emotions to show.

I struggled to contain a yawn, but failed miserably, feeling it empty my lungs for another breath. I smiled sleepily at Jaune, feeling warm, relaxed, and comfortable, Yang W: Goodnight, sweetheart. :W

He looked a little surprised at my wording, but returned my smile with one full of love and energy, Jaune W: Goodnight, sweetheart. :W

I sighed in bliss and closed my eyes, feeling my heart spread an extra comfortable warmth through my chest as I snuggled into bed and began to drift off.

I definitely should have talked to him earlier.

---

(back in Vacuo, Jaune POV)

I couldn't stop smiling, dropping the illusions of myself having a half-attentive text conversation with Yang as I looked fully at the screens again, "Anything happen?"

"No." my second-in-command said with a brief, terse tone. He didn't even have the courtesy of looking my way when he spoke to me.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Is there a problem, Jeeves?" I asked a bit pointedly, using the wrong name on purpose.

"Yes, there is." he said with a huff, turning to face me, "The problem is that you, Mister Head of Security, need to be paying your full attention to the task at hand. Fiddling around messaging people on your scroll is a terrible waste of time. Honestly, irresponsible teens like you shouldn't be handling-" *SLAM*

I glared as I held the man's shoulder in my hand, a tiny cracks from his back slamming into the ground fixing themselves in an instant, "Shut your mouth, Jeeves. While you all were wasting time staring at monitors showing things at a distance, I got up close and personal and dealt with the possible threats we'd face. Miss Schnee can handle herself, and I can handle the rest. If you aren't going to respect my position, then I'm going to have to let you go." I effortlessly picked the man up and shoved his shoulder back into place, "The extra security units are able to handle any small things that arise. Trust me, we've set up a tighter ship than you think, and if you're trying to push yourself into a bigger position, then you clearly don't fit." I let my expression punctuate my words, my eyes glowing as I let my aura flare a bit, the right one burning with a cyan flame as a Gaster Blaster head formed in the air behind me.

The man clicked his tongue, his expression showing disdain and dissatisfaction, "Tch, fine." I didn't particularly care how much this guy liked me or not, as long as he did his job. There was a short list of people who I didn't care about impressing, and this man the most recent addition.

I released his shoulder, "Alright, now do your job, Jeeves. I'm going to make a round about the place." I gestured a circle with my finger and turned to leave, "If something comes up, I DO have a headset."

I let his response fall to my mental back burner as I opened the door and walked out into the dim hallways.

... (a minute or so later) ...

I hummed a soft tune as I pushed open the door at the far side of the stage, entering the main concert hall. I smiled slightly as I listened to the new, more cheerful song.

The fire in my eyes had died down during my short walk to the main hall, and I gazed around the room, zooming in on some people and looking like I was just keeping an eye on everything.

"Listening to the wind's whispers as it blows past my heeeead~.
Feeling it crisp on my faaaace and haaaands~.
Seeing colors dance in the air, blue and green and reeeed~.
It's a beautiful night, all across the laaaands~."

"Summer fast approaches, and with it comes friendship and loooove~.
Long days and lively nights are sure to cooome~.
Celebrate our peace, release the dooooves~
Come together and call these lands our hooome~."

It was a little cheesy, but I liked it. It made me smile, even if I preferred music to vent to, something that was uplifting was also welcome.

I walked along the side aisle, one half of my focus on Weiss, one half on the audience, and one half on Yang's adorable/beautiful/adorabeautiful sleeping expression, her camera still on. I smiled with just a touch of sadness in my gaze, 'Mon amour, je veux vous embrasser encore.' I thought with a soft sigh, quashing the desire to reach out as if stroking her hair.

We were so far apart that time zones dictated that my late morning would be her early evening, and right now she was asleep while I was attending to the concert. The saving grace was that I got to see her peaceful sleeping face and witness her external reactions to the sweet dreams she was having. Honestly, I could go for a sleep tonight. I hadn't slept in weeks from what I could last recall.

Sighing again, I turned the corner of the room and watched everything from the back, occasionally giving a sneaky thumbs up to Weiss. I doubted she'd see it, but it didn't hurt, and if she saw it then it might boost her confidence a little more. Turning another corner, I began walking back towards the stage, this time on the opposite side of the room from where I started, and looked out for anyone who looked to be either causing or getting ready to cause some trouble. Everyone seemed to be behaving, so I looked at the door as I opened up, coming back out into the hallway.

I sighed again, and walked back towards the monitoring room. I hope the second-in-command didn't do anything stupid while I was gone.

I passed by a janitor sweeping the floor, and nearly stopped, nearly, but my concentration and restraint allowed me to show no signs of suspicion.

Lucen Mirros, the illusionist of the Vacuan White Fang. He was posing as the janitor, but I could see through his illusion, and could see the mechashift cleavesword DMR on his back, attached to a magnet sheathe similar to the one Blake had for Gambol Shroud. An interesting idea to say the least. A cleavesword was normally a heavier weapon, but its design on his weapon- named Torn Dream, which I felt was clever -seemed to show that it was more for durability than weight. As I passed by, I had Crocea the elemental weaken its molecular structure by about 50%, leaving it intact, but doomed to soon fail.

A good look at his stats also told me that these people's levels were about 40% just their highly advanced skills from the constant vigorous training they did. Still, it made them very dangerous, as while they might not have had as high of stats as they should at their level, they had several modifiers from their advanced skill levels.

I'd probably made a very precise estimation towards Naranja without even knowing it at the time. We would be able to inflict about 1.5 casualties for every 1 casualty we had, except my father and I could both easily take on two people, which came out to mean that Naranja would be left with his second in command and whoever that half-dead person was who managed to escape before we could finish them off. It would probably be Greyna, since she could teleport.

Grunting, I also refrained from stopping to read the quest window that just popped up and instead settled on putting up an illusion while turning my head slightly to get a full look at it, letting my sense of air distortions guide me around any people walking about.

QUEST RECEIVED!

Quest: The Dead Skull in the Desert

It was pretty much what I would expect; I had to dismantle and destroy the Vacuan White Fang.

First I had to learn about the other eight members and their semblances, abilities, and other info. That would be the hard part, the easy part was then thinking of a way to kill them. I could plan around their abilities, counter their skills, and deal with them precisely and systematically.

With a sigh, I made my way back to the monitoring room, looking at my stats again. With a hum, and still running on the feeling I'd had about an hour ago, I took another ten points and split them between my DEX and INT, to balance them both out. I needed to raise my INT past 150 now, but I still had the confidence that I could squeeze out a few more of those 'mental sharpening' boosts for resisting sins.

I wasn't sure how much they would help at this point, but even a little bit would be acceptable. Intelligence didn't just make my thinking sharper and more focused, it seemed to also boost a measure of mental integrity. Resisting temptation, therefore, seemed like an eternal test of that.

I increased by DEX simply because it was the lowest of my physical stats, and the one that allowed me to move and react more quickly. I needed those two things to be boosted so that I could do this security job better.

I felt my muscles get a slight bit leaner, my nerves surging with a burst of energy that passed through me, then I took in a sharp breath and my mind raced for a few seconds before calming. My AP bar increased by a bit as well, giving me a bit over a thousand more Aura to work with, and letting me breathe a bit easier as my mental resources expanded as well. With the new addition, maintaining my many active skills suddenly became a bit easier, since I had more free space in my head to work with.

Walking back inside, I found my second-in-command on a quiet scroll call over on one side of the room, and I smirked at him, "Do you even know how irresponsible and unprofessional it is to be on your scroll while you're on the job?" I remarked with a snarky tone, "Wow, just wow."

I heard him swear under his breath and felt his glare on my back, but ignored it. He was good at his job, yes, but I was in a whole different league.

At the very least, looking at the different monitors, combined with making more pointed, obvious glances out in the concert hall, had been rapidly leveling my old skill Snapping Glance. With the power of my massively enhanced mind, just a few minutes of work had increased it to level 46. With every level, my vision was becoming finer and finer, and I was able to discern details like never before. The world was growing clearer at a perceptible rate, becoming ever clearer to my magical eyes.

It hardly slowed down as the level surged upwards, but eventually petered out at about level 81. Sighing, I continued to watch intently for the duration of the current song and the next.

Honestly, it was pretty boring, just watching. Thankfully, careful manipulation of his physical form allowed Shimfan to hide extremely well, since his only visible physical parts were brass chimes attached strung together with steel wires for hands, a contraption that was a mix between a bronze bell and a metronome for a 'heart', and two tilted music note shapes made of lightning for eyes.

Keeping those parts out of view was ridiculously easy, so all that left was just getting there. He was currently clinging to the underside of the overhead catwalks that the lights were attached to, listening directly and feeding the music directly into my brain.

A solemn smile spread over my lips as I watched over the concert like a silent protector.

---

(hours later, Jaune POV)

Sighing as I looked over the paperwork, I ignored most of the details, just focusing on the expenses.

I was running through the math on the fees we had, which were all pretty normal things, and subtracting them from our total profits in order to get our net gain. We had to pay for materials used, decoration, advertisement, and of course the commission fee for their letting us use the building in the first place. Despite all of that, however, we still made a fifth of a million lien in one night out of a fairly small venue.

We still had five weeks of nearly daily concerts, most of which would be at monumentally larger locations and thus generate more profit. Right now, we were looking at an absolute lowest profit margin of fifteen and a half million lien, and that was excluding the ten-mil deal that had been secured with the Mistralian Council for Weiss to perform at the Mistral Regional Tournament, which would have at least a few million people watching from around the entire kingdom. All of that economical movement would be a great boon for the government, and people with more money than sense tended to spend it on things they didn't really entirely need, which meant a profit for us.

With a hum, I contemplated having someone arrange an advertisement deal with the Mistralian council. We could secure a few extra million lien easily that way with very little effort, mostly just emphasizing that people HAD to see her at the MRT and that it would be a show they absolutely couldn't miss and blah blah blah marketing jargon.

I rested my head in one hand and let out another sigh, "Well, we made 200k tonight, just about. Right now myself personally is looking at a total profit of at least 500k for what I spent buying out this contract. I... wish I'd known more about the logistics of this before I dove headfirst into it. Still, maximum profit, assuming no days missed, average venues of around four thousand capacity, and nearly maximum chargeable prices, I'd be looking at about four million in profit, plus the extra ten million from the MRT, and whatever other bonuses we'd get. We dip into profits on advertisement and we're looking at at least a few more millions, for both myself and the SDC."

Weiss looked at me with a poleaxed expression, and I waved my hand in front of her face, "She's in shock, and frankly so am I." Blake's voice spoke up from behind me.

I looked at her, "Why, exactly, is that?"

The ninja rolled her eyes, "Jaune, did you only buy this contract to draw the profits from it? I mean, you DID dump nearly every Lien we had to get it. Why is that?"

Running my hand through my hair, I blew air as I drew my mental resources back together, "Simple, really. Weiss' old contract manager was a pervert and I wanted to protect her from him. The bastard would probably try to molest her or something." I growled quietly as I thought about the man, my altered vocal chords making the action especially easy, since I was training Beast's Blood and had gotten the blood of a dog faunus, hence my current form and the floppy golden ears on my head, along with the tail that was now curled up at the waist of my jeans. Dismissing the spell, I added, "Right now I'm just trying to find something to tire me out. I don't NEED to sleep in order to function properly, but the temptation is growing to be too much. I also need to repair my funds after spending all of that money. I was expecting just a little more profit, maybe five million, not really sure."

I saw Weiss flush at my words, "That... that wasn't necessary."

I smiled at her, "No, it wasn't, but I'd do anything to protect a friend, even at the cost of millions." I offered her a charming smile and a friendly gaze, and it seemed to work, making her smile brightly.

She nodded back to me, "I see. Well, regardless of necessity or difficulty, thank you very much, Jaune. That... that means a lot to me, knowing I have such friends that will help me in these trying times, even at the cost of what for them must be a very limited resource. It's allowed us to spend a lot of time together without questioning or controversy, and given me friends I know I can depend on."

My smile tripled in size, and I brought her into a hug, her small frame fitting neatly into my embrace, "Well, I'm glad to have helped, Weiss. Heh, with friendships like we give, the more the merrier." I patted her on the back, then reached out and pulled Blake into the hug, followed by Marbel, who had been writing things down, "Come on you two, the more the merrier!" I repeated with a laugh that rose all the way up from my stomach, a certain frequency of joy filling my chest as I held my friends close.

Physical affection wasn't something to be feared, or ostracized, it was something that showed you cared. Those were my father's words, and I stuck by them.

I noticed that all three girls had begun to softly glow with their activated auras, as they mumbled a few small words of affection at me. Looking at it gave me an idea, and I focused on my aura.

Slowly, the cyan glow reached out and covered my friends in my own warm light.

Channeling your Aura to wrap around others and cover them with your soul's light has created the skill "Auric Embrace"

Noting that it filed itself under healing, I watched their auras as our lights mixed together. Marbel's pink quickly turned a flowery shade of light purple, Weiss' azure-white turned more brilliant and had a slight greenish tinge, Blake's dark purple turned a good bit brighter and shifted to an indigo hue.

I had tried this method before, though with a narrower understanding of what I wished to do, and without any success. Aura Suffusion actually made it possible, covering what had previously been left empty after the full extent of Aura Channeling's power was used. The first analogy that came to mind was that I finally had enough caramel to make a fully coated caramel apple.

Damn, thinking about food just reminded me about my hunger bar, which is in need of filling.

Letting go of the girls after one last level up to Auric Embrace, I smiled and dropped the technique, "Alright, how about some dinner? I'm starving."

Blake stepped past me, "I'll handle it tonight. We have some time before the flight to the next city on our venue list." she smiled a bit, patting me on the shoulder, "You don't worry, okay? You said yourself that you're planning on sleeping tonight, so you should relax." she assured, walking out of the room.

I paused, looking at the still-open door. Suddenly, a poke to the side made me flinch a bit, turning to look at the perpetrator, Marbel, "Yeah, like, seriously. Jaune, relax. You've been pretty tense ever since this morning. Shouldn't Gamer's Mind be making you calmer?"

I sighed, "It lets me calmly think about things, but I still worry about you three. The things I realized because of that Miraganger Star... it made me realize how fragile you all are. I mean, at least my dad is a full Huntsman with enough AP, skills, and modifiers to make up for the difference, but we're talking over 500 strength that that thing had. If it wasn't for all of my skills, I'd have been crushed." I felt weak, then, and almost got a spending fever, but quashed the desire. I couldn't let this fear control me, or any fear, really. If it was affecting the girls like this, then I'd have to be especially vigilant about it. I ignored the notification that popped up shortly after I finalized that decision in my head.

Weiss raised her hand and let out a dainty cough into it, "I can arrange for a masseuse to attend to you, if that would help."

I cracked my neck back and forth, "Honestly... that would probably help, but I don't know for sure. I don't wanna waste someone's time and effort on a lost cause, especially if Gamer's Body negates the effects of massages."

Weiss sighed, "At least try it. You won't know if you don't try." she insisted, giving me a firm look.

Lowering my head, I let out another sigh. I'd been sighing a lot today, I realized, but that was besides the point, "Alright, I'll give it a try, after dinner."

The heiress smiled and began trekking off to where she could make the phonecall more privately, "I'll see what they can do." she said while pulling out her scroll.

That left only Marbel by my side. I looked down at her, absentmindedly brushing her hair behind her ear, "So... you gonna insist on something too, or what?"

Her green eyes drifted shut, and she let out a long sigh and just hugged me, "Look... I know you're afraid for us, and for good reason, but despite that, and I know I'm asking a lot here." she gulped lightly, "Despite that, and despite everything inside you that's telling you to take it safely, to keep us out of the field, I'm asking you... I'm asking as a friend, as your best friend, to put your worries down and let us find a way." she sighed into my shirt, "How are we going to get stronger if we don't flex our muscles some? How are we supposed to get faster if we don't run once in a while? How are we supposed to get tougher if we don't take a few hits? How are we supposed to get smarter if we don't get any chances to learn? How are we supposed to get wiser if we don't get any chances to experiment, learn, adapt, and grow? How are we supposed to get luckier if we never have to rely on it?" she looked up at me with big, adorable, misty eyes.

I groaned, unable to resist. She'd made good points, and with a large amount of begrudging, I mentally set myself to change my ways, "Alright, alright, fine, just stop looking at me like that." I surrendered, one hand rubbing her back a little bit, "I'll do my best to stay my hand. It'll be hard, but I'll do it, okay?"

Accepting and agreeing to a great and difficult decision that, while conflicting with your desires, is ultimately the best choice, has cleared your mind and increased your WIS by 1!

Having previously made another difficult, but ultimately good decision that required you to place down your greed and despair, and now adding your pride to the mix, has sharpened your mind and increased your INT by 3!

Feeling the changes in my head, I breathed easier, "I'll do my best, now please stop giving me that look."

Her misty eyes dried up and began to exude a smile, "Thank you, Jaune. We're all thankful for your help, we really and truly are, but sometimes we'd like to do some things on our own, y'know?"

I nodded, "I know. However, if you're about to get your arm ripped off, I WILL save you and cut things short."

Marbel gave a slight smirk, "Somehow I think you'd act BEFORE that risk arose. Come on now, you have dinner and a massage made by the other two pretty girls you're bunking with." she giggled and let me go, grinning teasingly at me.

I smirked and chuckled, ruffling her hair, "Other two? Those words imply there's one to begin with, but I don't see a pretty girl in front of me." I let only a second pass before I added the bomb, "I see an adorable moeblob." I picked her up like a doll and hugged her tightly, laughing as I heard her squeal and let out other unladylike sounds, kicking her legs out and flailing around in my unbreakable grip. After a while, I let her go and endured the brief storm of punches that fell on my chest, each one hurting for only a second before fading, "Hey now, you're a lot stronger than a normal person. You should hold back when doing that."

She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest, "Ass." she said simply, "Just... keep our words in mind, Jaune, okay?"

I nodded, "I got it. Now come on, stop pouting, you know I hate that expression." I gave her a small hug, holding it until my sense of the air felt her lips curl into a small smile, "There we goooo~. I'm gonna change into something a bit more comfortable and try to relax, alright? Can you kindly exit?" I gave her a gently nudge with my hand.

She got the message and started moving, "Alright, I'm going. I don't want a repeat of the Vulcyrie tribe cave."

"Damn, and I thought my bones, muscles, and skin stretching to be half again in length, having thousands of huge feathers stick up through my skin, and growing four whole new limbs out of my spine, would be a very therapeutic experience." I smirked, "Oh yeah, and I guess you wouldn't want to see me moist and dusty and also kinda naked." the way I said it made the notion that she would see me naked seem like it was a small afterthought in my head.

She slapped my shoulder, "I'm gonna go train with Romargust while you... I dunno, watch TV or something." she turned and walked out, closing the door behind herself.

I turned away from the door and opened my inventory, dragging new clothes onto my body to replace the old ones. Fine motions saw that ten seconds later, I was redressed in an orange t-shirt, black cotton shorts, and blue slippers. My elementals moved with my will above my outstretched hand, quickly turning raw materials into a finished product.

Iron made a saucer, stone made a large cup, water filled the cup with a casting of Rain Burst, highly focused into it as the fast-moving, energized water was calmed and stabilized, then Xibu heated it to a boil, and my telekinesis settled a tea bag and some sugar into it. Using Roimunja's control over crystals, I ensured the perfect ratio of tea to sugar, and finally had Pluvistral chill the tea to a nice, cold, acceptable drinking temperature.

Taking a long sip and sitting on the couch in front of the large television, I focused a bit, and instead of using the remote, I had Juristimunja send the appropriate electrical signals to trigger what I wanted. With no real idea on what I wanted, I merely flicked through the channels and waited for something to catch my eye.

Settling on a random drama show, I began meditating with my eyes open, letting my mind wander as I explored and felt out the world around me through the perspective of the elements. I saw where Marbel was cycling some mass of the floor in a large vertical circle, pulling out a chunk of concrete, breaking it into smaller and smaller pieces as it rose along a curved path into the air. At the apex, the tiny pieces began consolidating into a single large chunk. When it touched the floor, it began to meld into it, pushing material along an magically-allowed river under the floor, pushing the concrete up to fill the original hole. It was a cycle.

I heard Weiss' shoes, a pair of blue slippers similar to mine, slide across the floor as she approached the kitchen. I hummed, turning the volume on the TV up a bit, and let my mind wander again.

---

(meanwhile, in the kitchen, Blake's POV)

I hummed, chopping the ingredients carefully, making sure each slice was as it should have been. I'd had to take a quick trip out to get some things we were lacking, but I slipped out and back in without anyone noticing. Or, at least, if they did notice, they didn't say anything.

It was a simple dinner I was preparing, but it was a classic. Sure, we were in Vacuo, but that didn't mean we couldn't eat things from back home.

That was the story I'd stick to when asked why I was making hot sandwiches.

In reality, though, I was doing it because it was my best dish. Kind of lame, I thought, but it was nice.

My left ear twitched, and I turned to see a surprisingly casually dressed Weiss approaching. A red t-shirt, black sweatpants, and blue shoes, "What. Are. You. Wearing?"

She huffed, "I quickly realized that I lack anything casual to wear. So, seeing as it wouldn't be appropriate to wear my nightgown, since it's still early in the evening, I've decided to borrow some clothing from Ruby and Jaune." she crossed her arms at me, "Is there a problem?"

I looked her up and down, and upon proper examination, I found that the 'shoes' were actually blue bunny slippers, "Bunny slippers?"

"They were the only things that fit me!" she pouted, "Anyways, can you please move aside? I'd like to do something too." she stepped up to the stove and began gathering together the ingredients to make...

"Soup?" I asked curiously, pausing in my cutting in the midst of my confusion.

"Yes. Are you surprised?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

I shook my head, "No, well not no, yes. Yes I am surprised. Honestly, I kind of took you for letting the butlers and royal chefs make all your meals." I couldn't help but give a slight smirk to accentuate my joking tone.

She rolled her eyes, but gave a carefree smile, to my slight surprise, "I know a few things. Butlers don't cook, the chefs do, and they're not 'royal' chefs, they're just hired to work solely for the Schnee family. Soup is... actually a favorite of mine. My mother taught me the recipe, and her mother taught her, and she learned from her mother before her, and so on. It's a recipe that's lived for at least a couple of centuries." she smiled at the pot as she pulled ingredients from the inventory, "I might have noticed your shopping list and added a few things while you weren't looking. I'd wanted to try my hand at making dinner before you'd even offered."

"Well, thank you." I smiled as we stood side by side, not getting in each others' way as we went about our preparation, "So... your mother taught you a soup recipe, huh? What's it called?"

She shrugged her shoulders, and that's when I noticed she'd also let her hair hang loose, "It's just called Pierce Family Specialty Soup, nothing especially complex about the name." she smiled as she began to add things to the water, which to my surprise had already begun to boil, "The only thing required, is that in addition to adding all the ingredients right, you have to... feel the soup's preparation." she giggled, "The first few times when she taught me, I scalded my fingers because I'd thought she meant physically feel the soup." she wiggled her fingers in the air, then poured some stock into the water.

I laughed too, but was curious, "How is your water already boiling?" I asked, slicing some meat.

"Eismeer might seem like a cold water elemental, but he's able to use the laws of physics to make things happen. Adding energy to the water by moving it caused it to become hot very quickly." she smiled in success, "So, sandwiches?"

I nodded, "Yes. If you're wondering, it's the Quinn Family Specialty Sandwich. Luckily I didn't cut myself because I was told I had to feel the sandwich's preparation-" we both paused to laugh at that, "-but I did get it wrong more times than not. The problem is mostly the moisture balance. The bread needs to be properly toasted in order to be drier, so it can absorb some moisture from the filling, but if it's too toasted dry, then it will either absorb too much, or I ended up burning it and it hardly absorbed anything... and also tasted like charcoal." I added with another laugh, "If it's undercooked, then the filling is too moist and either drips on you, or falls out. If it's done right, then the sandwich is warm, and stays warm, but is also moist and filling. If we're going to serve both of these together, however, I might have to change the recipe a bit."

She shook her head, "I'm not going to impose on your sandwich. We're making dinner, not a combo attack, we don't have to directly combine our items. The Pierce Soup is also better when eaten as it's served. Don't change a thing." she smiled at me.

I smiled back, resuming my task, "Heh, you're oddly personable and talkative right now. Are you drunk?"

She laughed, "Not tonight. I just... I love the soup, and making it... it reminds me of better times, many years ago. Those better times... well, it relaxes me... back when things were simple, better." she let out a long sigh.

I could feel my expression fall slightly in sympathy, "I know what you mean. Years ago, those times... they were simpler for me too, and better. It wasn't much, but it was better than what I'd chosen."

"The White Fang..." she summarized, chopping an onion slightly too hard.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. I haven't even spoken to my sister in nearly three years." I sighed heavily, thinking about those simpler times, "Most of what I remember about her is that she was looking to study criminal justice, like our mother had."

"Police? Sounds like you'd have probably encountered her during some... missions."

"No. Well... technically? I'm not sure where 'detective' falls in the hierarchy of law enforcement and criminal justice, but... well, that's what she wanted to do." I shrugged, "That's all there is to it. She wanted to become a detective and I'm pretty sure she became one."

"A fairly simple story. My sister went into the military, so... yeah." she didn't say anything more on that subject, "My mother was a Huntress, and... my brother wanted to be one too."

I raised an eyebrow, and let out a curious humming sound. It had been a very sad announcement on Atlas' part, that the young Rengir Schnee, heir to the SDC, had fallen ill and, despite having the best medicines available, passed away. I had only been about seven when the announcement was made, so I don't think I even knew about it until I later researched it, "What happened?"

Her eyes hardened into chips of ice, "Kronelassen, crumbling crown disease. A disease which has claimed both Rengir and my mother. Deadly, mental fatigue and a decaying of all brain activity until all biological functions cease... it's horrid. At the very least." her knife clattered onto the counter, "At the very least their suffering was over before I had even seen it." she sniffled

I hadn't lost any family, at least that I knew of, but I knew loss. It wasn't as personal as losing a brother or a mother, but my comrades and mentors in the White Fang, even though I now despised their path, had still been my comrades and mentors. Jaune was doing what he could to set things back on the right path, but it would take time and effort. I was prepared to wait for the long process, it didn't bother me, since I'd already changed my allegiance. Unfortunately, that im-personable experience left my empathy sorely lacking. I knew I didn't, and couldn't, understand Weiss' pain.

So I didn't pretend I did, or bother trying to, I just gave her a tight hug, "Hey, come on, it's... it's alright." I patted her shoulder, "You're still here, and they're in a better place now. It's terrible they're not here, but they'd want you to keep going, in their honor. If they truly were a huntress and an aspiring huntsman-in-training, I know they would. You've done your best to honor them, haven't you?" honestly, I was pulled most of this out of books and a movie or two.

Weiss took in a gulp of breath, then let out a small gasping sob, as if her emotions were all fighting for control In the end, an alliance of a gently curved smile and a tearful, but hopeful gaze won out, "I have. That's why I wanted to become a Huntress, to honor not only my mother and brother, but my family's name itself. I have very large shoes to fill, I know, but I'm willing to bide my time and prepare for the tests that await me." she hugged me back, "Sorry for getting emotional... heh, I guess I should have been more careful while chopping these onions." she joked, scooping up a handful of onion bits and dropping them into the water, "Shall we get back to what we were doing?"

I smiled at her, understanding her desire to change the subject. Sometimes, the best cure for your current emotions was to simply move past them, into the future. I nodded, then checked the bread... "Dammit, I burned the bread!"

My white-haired friend could only laugh beside me as potatoes were added to the soup.

---

(some time after dinner, Jaune POV)

I laid on the massage table. Honestly, I'd thought Weiss was joking about the massage, but I'm glad she wasn't.

You have received the status effect "Fully Physically Therapied (Extreme)"!

Effects: +80% effective STR, DEX, and VIT for (TBD) minutes. Increases Ease of Casting for ki-based techniques by 160%.

TBD, or 'to be determined', basically was just a continuously rising number of minutes this would last for. Technically the status effect was for achieving a full-body state of muscle relaxation and elasticity that would guarantee extra strength, an induced limberness, and increase pain tolerance. While not particularly useful since I would be going to sleep in about an hour, I happened to snag the masseuse's small book while she wasn't looking and absorb its knowledge, granting me a decent boost to the skill after the game realized that I knew it already, technically speaking.

I was starting to understand what The Fundamental Factor W meant by 'the ability to understand the skill'. Just focusing on how the massage was being done was not only helping it go a bit better than before, but also giving me a decent amount of EXP towards the next level.

After a few more minutes, I was told to turn over onto my back. Trusting the masseuse, I did so, feeling a slight bit awkward as my towel slide around a bit before being telekinetically held to my body. I watched her curious brown eyes trace my nearly flawless skin, her fingers rubbing along my skin with light, experimental touches. After a minute or two, she began massaging on key points, presumably where knots were. During most of the process of handling my front side, I noticed the woman's sharply featured face occasionally glance down at my towel. After a few repetitions of this, I realize she was also looking at my face for approval or disapproval.

My expression set itself into a firm, denying gaze, "I have a girlfriend, and you are definitely not her." short, short brown hair, slender and un-curvy figure, pretty much the only thing this woman and Yang had in common was their Vacuan blood.

Maintaining professionalism without flaw, she simply nodded in understanding and I internally questioned where Weiss called to in order to find this person.

Sighing, I just let her finish her job with a massage of my face and head, paid her, told her to leave, and once she had left, I used a few quick motions to equip a shirt and some boxers, followed by using Teleportation to appear in my room, over my bed.

Telekinesis held me in the air and adjusted my blanket. Lowering myself down, I couldn't help but smile at how fresh, clean, soft, and relaxed everything felt right now.

Though I hadn't been too worried in the end, this job's first outing had already started to give me some work anxiety. Knowing that the Vacuan White Fang could storm in and try something big, stupid, risky, but ultimately deadly for all of us, was a terrible fact to know.

I'd have to work quickly in dealing with them, but I needed to be careful too, lest I end up ambushed and possibly killed, assuming one of them can puncture my layered defenses, which I'm sure they can make a good effort on. With one final sigh, I settled fully into bed, and sent out the message to everyone in The Game.

Jaune C: Goodnight everyone. :C

Weiss C: Goodnight Jaune. :C

Blake C: 'night, Jaune. :C

Marbel TC: gn Arty. :TC

Skyler C: Goodnight, m-... Jaune. :C

Thomas C: Goodnight, friend. :C

John C: Goodnight, son. :C

Garnet C: Mew~ :C

I smiled, seeing Garnet curled up on my chest, and gently petted her sleepy head. After a little while longer, I quickly realized I was going to need something a little extra to fully let go of consciousness.

Sighing one last time for the night, I opened my scroll, put on some music, put in earbuds, and set it down, listening to the song.

Humming softly, I closed my eyes, and surprisingly, I found myself drifting off with ease, getting lost and eventually sailing off into unconsciousness.

---

This is wartime!
This is our time!
We won't be denied
Feed the fire that is raging inside
This is go time!
This is showtime!
We will fight 'til their wills are broken
This is game time!
An insane time, let the madness fly
Show them strength that just can't be defied
Find the power to devour, let the beast inside now be woken

In this world only the strong will survive!
Hear the roar and you will know you're alive!
Feel the energy build in your soooouuul~!
'Cause it's time!

...

Oooohhhhhh~!

In the calm before the storm,

Another legend will be born!

Another battle will be won!

We will rise

Oooohhhh~, so heed the call of confrontation!

Today we feed on domination!

Secure a legacy that will never diiiieeee~!

The history books are what yooouuu wiiillll wriiiite~!

...

Raw emotion, pure devotion, they will testify!
And our memory will endure for all time!
Never hiding!
No dividing!
Let them witness us move as one now!

Show no mercy!
Let the world see,

We're invincible!
Show them nothing is beyond our control!

Take it higher!
Our desire!
Will determine what we've become now!

Are you ready for the test of your life?
See the fear bleeding right through their eyes!
Feel the energy build in your sooouuul~!
'Cause it's time!

...

Oooohhhhhh~!

In the calm before the storm,

Another legend will be born!

Another battle will be won!

We will rise

Oooohhhh~, so heed the call of confrontation!

Today we feed on domination!

Secure a legacy that will never diiiieeee~!

Be immortalized~!

---

(?, ? POV)

The bright sun greeted my eyes as I exited the shelter. I covered them with one large, beefy fist. I gazed out into the harsh and unforgiving sands, which refused to sprout even a single blade of grass, even when coaxed with thousands of gallons of water and years of time. &*)# abandoned the idea of coaxing new life out of these forsaken lands, instead dedicating myself solely to the art of death.

I sighed, " (#*( #*, what of the quakes?" I asked both out loud and internally, gazing out across the bloodsoaked sand.

I heard the low, grinding voice of metal in my soul, "None for miles, #*&#%(!, we've an hour at least."

"Very well. I suppose this might be the finale of our war." I groaned, feeling the tug on my soul of time-based magic. Once again, she'd tried, and failed. I had to rely on this being the last.

What would I have done? Probably exactly as I would think I'd do.

"You know, my father told me stories about how you'd spend hours staring into the horizon, yet you'd get things done by willpower and mental integrity alone." a voice spoke from my right side.

I gazed at my second in command, # *&&*!$%, abandoned his name, not surprising, #%*&( century of war. Such a thing tends to drive people to boil themselves alive.

"Yet you've shown a lack of the latter." I smirked at him.

Eyes as deep and hued as the ocean blue shot me a glare, "The history books wouldn't approve of someone nearly two hundred years old. People usually wither in half a quarter again less than that."

"Bah, you lack faith in the soul." I waved my clawed hand at him.

"My lack of faith isn't in my soul, it's in society. Suppose we win, what would we be? Heroes? Kings? Gods? The stories already tell of your endeavors as though you're an ancient figure."

A mere thought brought up a simple sheet of blue light, white text laid over it.

Name: # &%&*
Title: King of War, Star Ever Shining, Beast Undying
Level: # %

&*#(%^*(#!%#

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

*^#&(*(&!#*&^(#%G^G!&*^#$*!& )! $^&#! %

Age: 550

%*&(^# )#!&%!#(%*&#&*

"I'm already ancient, %(&*^, they're correct on that account. The question isn't what we'll do after, it's how we'll survive to the after." I said with a groan, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Maybe it's YOU who lacks faith in the soul." a third voice spoke from my left, "Come on, Master, what happened to risks? Living on a prayer?"

"Those concepts withered within my first century, decayed in the second, and fully died alongside my third set of allies and my wife. You're lucky you children were allowed to join me." I looked at my left-hand-man.

These two... these two alone, with the strength and endurance to live and thrive in my war, were my only surviving companions of the original group of this generation.

"By the cross, such pessimism will do you in, Master." the ivory faunus by my side said with a smirk, "Believe in us, and believe in yourself. Sometimes, that is all that keeps us moving forwards."

"So YOU stole my book of heroes." my bleached-blonde haired friend accused, turning to my disciple.

How these two ever got along, I had no clue, "Children, behave."

"I felt you weren't creative enough to make such a name, #%&^* , but to steal the name of a saint? Unforgivable."

# %&^* nearly snarled, his golden aura arising, "I've no choice but to ask to be forgiven for being inspired by such a great man. As is my nature, truly, as Caritas, that I look to the generosity of an ancient hero for hope in these trying times. Saint Nicholas Charismus was a great man, and my story will be all the more seasoned that they know that even heroes had heroes."

"Seasoning be damned! This isn't cooking, this is war and DEATH. It seems what Olivia said was true, that you'd only let go of your damned pride when faced with ultimatum." his eyes shown like moon pearls with anger.

"Are you truly trying to curse me with such a fate right before our battle against the queen? You rat bastard, I'll kill y-"

"CHILDREN! BEHAVE!" my voice roared for miles, amplified by Strema's will and my own designed power, "%(*&^#(, you'd do best to cool your head, else you'll end up shattering when metal is replaced with fire in the sake of absolute strength! And #**&#! , you'd do best with cinching your pride and perceived moral high-ground down and controlling yourself as well." I turned to fully face the ivory faunus at my side, his ears folding in shame and his tail between his legs. His hair was white as the moon, bleached permanently by #%*&!#, and his eyes were similar, "We're soon to fight our final battle, and you'd rather give up any chance of victory in favor of tearing each other's throats out?" I turned to fully face the bleach-blonde haired man at my other side. He hung his head in shame, his hand already skirting towards the sword at his side, "What? Are you going to give up then, friend? Perform seppuku to cut out your indignities? Not only prideful, but greedy too, abandoning us to the storm of the millennium in favor of the cold embrace of death? That would be your greatest dishonor."

I placed my hands on his shoulders, using my ultimate weapon: The sheer, undefiable weight of our friendship, "Does that seem like it would be better in the eyes of your ancestors? To die a wretch overcome with grief and a single burst of negativity from his closest of friends? Or would they welcome you with open arms and smiling eyes after you walk to them after being consumed by the fires of a glorious battle against the greatest of evils?" I gave one final push, "And even prior to facing their judgement, you'd be dishonoring me too. I chose you, because I saw something in you that reminded me of myself, long ago, before so much loss."

He stared at me, then hung his head and let out a morbid laugh as a single glistening tear escaped his eyes, "You're a bastard, manipulating my emotions like that... it worked, though." he wiped his eye.

I smiled, planting a kiss of trust upon his lips, "Come on now. What are we waiting for? Let's meet them head on, swinging steel and claws and tearing into their flesh like thunder through the sky."

Blue eyes met my own whites, and he smiled brightly, "Well, alright then. Let's go. What ARE we waiting for?"

I felt &*# &*% smile and pump his fist, "Let's quit questioning what we're waiting for and get moving!"

In the split second of my turn to face the general direction of the army approaching us, "Come, everyone! Let us take from them, everything we can take! They may have our souls only when they pry them from our cold, dead bodies!" I shouted in gathering, hearing the footsteps of my other companions.

Together, we walked, then jogged, then ran, then sprinted, and finally charged beyond sonic speeds towards our final battle.

We intended to strike them like a storm.

...

So what you waiting for?

SO WHAT YOU WAITING FOR?

...

We saw the masses of vile creatures, ranging from Grimm to Demons to Legendary Beasts, I even caught a glimpse of the deadly Archdemons at the very back, on the massive moving throne of the queen.

I saw all of this, this wave of absolute death that would sweep through Vacuo and erase it from existence...

... And I punched the foremost vanguard in his fucking face.

...

I have never compromiiised!
I never gave in and so I,
Have welcomed every challenge in my liiife!
And I have never wandered bliiind!
I'm led by hunger, and so I,
Savor every drop each minute I'm aliiiive!

Leave noooothing leeeeft BEHIIIIIND~!

...

My allies fought with perfect synchronization, weaving past each other harmlessly and without obstruction. Those who fought directly together knew how to compliment each others' attacks and take down our enemies. We were outnumbered and outclassed, but we knew had something stronger than anything the Grimm could hope to grasp.

We had souls.

...

So what you waiting for, tell me what you're waiting for?
Don't stand by and deny it!
So what you waiting for, tell me what you're waiting for?
Break new ground and defy it!

Don't let the world outside,
Leave you cornered and alone!
So what you waiting for, tell me what you waiting for?
Let them all be reminded!

...

We were losing.

Memories became patchy as I let the beast consume me, roaring in an unstoppable rage against the dying light.

Black spots danced and popped in and out of my vision as I charged towards the three titans who wished to absolutely crush all of humanity's opposition.

I wouldn't let them win. I had to take them down!

I had to fight! To win!

I WOULDN'T LET THEM TAKE ANYTHING MORE FROM ME!

...

Don't let them undermine!
Your dreams can never be stolen!
Don't leave them stagnant, rotting on the vine!

Say goodbye to anyone who tries,
To bleed you dry, you will show them,
You're blessed with an unlimited supply!

...

Leave nooooothiiiing leeeeft behiiiiind~!

...

Salemonumender

*&#*(&$#$^

It fell as I tore it apart with combinations of techniques that turned me into a storm of claws and death. I leaped backwards, flipping through the air a few times with the help of my tail, watching the gargantuan obsidian dais that held the throne fall as the beast collapsed, dissolving into a massive storm of black smoke that began to blot out the sky.

Termanetia

)_(!#*&*#

Honestly I didn't care to fight that thing, so I simply gathered my Aura together and banished it from the area with a blast of spatial energy. Lasers were... awesome.

Goliath Vajra

%()% #%

Letting out a trumpeting sound louder than thunder, it fell to its knees, sending a shockwave of force through the ground and a blast of sand in all directions.

That, truly, was my mistake...

*SHINK*

A bright glow of orange pierced through the sand wave that consumed my body, until the air cleared to reveal the relatively young man, perhaps in his early forties, suspended in the air above me.

A smooth, sharpened rod of pure black had been struck through my chest, and I felt something wrench inside myself, all the way down to my very core.

A blink of my eyes lasted an agonizing eternity as I felt what could only be described as my soul being torn open, bleeding much like my body.

Walls of glitched text appeared around me as I grabbed the spear in my chest, glaring up at the man with hatred.

Gamboge Hew'kis
Title: #( *)%*&#%(*&BR
Level: 169

The spear snapped under the strain of my squeezing hand, and I wrenched it forward, swinging my body around and slamming the man onto the ground with such force that it blew a crater all the way down to the bedrock underneath us. I heard a crunching and hissing of sand as I wrenched the spear from his grip, gazing at it.

Lo(*#n#&)*
Description: The spear bathed in the (*%) # and made to slay (*# &* # and end the war of 500 years.

Effects: Induces Status Effect "Soul Bleed (Permanent)"

I roared with rage. Such deadly measures, such unbelievable power...

UNFORGIVABLE!

I raised the spear above my head as the young man pulls himself to his feet. He suddenly surges backwards a step, his arm rearing back and becoming covered with bright flames, "You should have died! WHY DIDN'T YOU DIE?" his flames solidified into four crackling blades, "DIE YOU ABOMINATION!" he screamed in overwhelming anger.

He was far too slow.

However, as I made to drive the fractured, but sharp tip of the spear down through his chest, time seemed to slow to a crawl for me. What pierced the suddenly silent air was a desperate feminine shriek, "NOOOOO~!"

Made to move against his will, I heard the sound of a pulse of energy, and a young woman, younger than the man, pushed the angry man out the way. Unfortunately, her desperation put her off balance, driven by emotion more than her own willpower.

*SHINK*

I saw her red eyes go wide as the spear pierced her chest, her rune-laced armor glowing in protest as the red heart painted on the chest dimmed with her dying light.

She stared into my eyes, and I stared into hers.

Vermilia Jali'U
Title: (* #$^&*# ()# *DT
Level: 170

Piercing her aura like it wasn't even there, she fell to her knees. Her name, however... it...

No...

No no no!

An unfortunate withering of the concentration, to think...

NO!

NO!

I held her dying body in my arms, wishing to take back the last several seconds, to reverse the results of my wrath, to get rid of this damned spear.

To show her mercy.

To save her life.

My own flesh and blood, unrecognizable after centuries of the effects of a family tree...

The man was shocked to the point of cognition-induced paralyzation.

I called upon a spell I thought I'd never use again, my soul reaching out to her withering one.

Morphed by the power she'd been given, it pulsated with energy, glowing with a hue of purest red.

It was with anger against the darkness that I consumed it, and an infectious, feverish wrath that I stood up again, feeling the energy conflicting with my own.

The orange man stood, spear in his hand once again, "YOU KILLED HER! YOU BASTARD YOU-" his voice was cut off about a nanosecond before his head was forced from his shoulders.

My closest friend hefted his gleaming golden scythe backwards, before it shifted like a liquid, turning back into its longsword form, "Hey! &**&( #, Remnant to # %*&(# (&*%, GET YOUR HEAD TOGETHER MAN!"

I couldn't. Despite my best efforts, I knew I was broken on the inside. Centuries of war, over a decade of sleeplessness, countless nights of pacing and breaking things, and now the blood of my own family on my hands.

I couldn't handle it. With a roar of fury, I found the queen, picked up the spear, and threw it with all my might towards her.

The dark storm overhead grew darker as a shriek threatened to launch the atmosphere away from our lungs. I grabbed my friend, "Run! We've taken a pyrrhic victory, now RUN!"

...

...

...

Passing by the slaughtered bodies of demons and allies alike, I found myself alone again, and feeling a tug on all sides from the calls of despair.

The battle left me wounded and broken, but I wouldn't let it claim me completely.

Against my will, my soul shined outwards.

It shone with a brilliance like a blinding star going supernova, power flaking from its surface.

It shone with what I could now see was a bright cyan hue, but as every beat of my heart sent pulses of agony throughout my entire physical and spiritual being, I felt it trembling, threatening to break.

It shone like the bright desert jewel, like the great North Star.

I was now on an indivertible path towards death, and it would be marked by my soul itself bleeding dry.

But... while I would pass into the realm of the afterlife, I knew I wouldn't truly die...

...

So what you waiting for?

SO WHAT YOU WAITING FOR?

...

I have never compromiiised!
I never gave in and so I
Have welcomed every challenge in my liiife!

And I have never wandered bliiind!
I'm led by hunger, and so I
Savor every drop each minute I'm aliiiive!

Leave noooothing leeeeft BEHIIIIIND~!

...

So what you waiting for, tell me what you're waiting for?
Don't stand by and deny it!
So what you waiting for, tell me what you're waiting for?
Break new ground and defy it!

Don't let the world outside,
Leave you cornered and alone!
So what you waiting for, tell me what you waiting for?
Let them all be reminded!

...

Don't let them undermine!
Your dreams can never be stolen!
Don't leave them stagnant, rotting on the viiine~!

Say goodbye to anyone who tries
To bleed you dry, you will show them
You're blessed with an unlimited supplyyy~!

...

Leave nooooothiiiing leeeeft behiiiiind~!

...

---

Welp, that was a thing!

I realized far too late that I wouldn't be able to include the ACTUAL meaning of the title in this chapter, what with everything I realized I'd need to include after the concert, but don't worry, that'll be in the next chapter! Hahaha~!

It's a pretty cool thing.

Lot going on in the next chapter, I plan on it taking us through the rest of the Vacuan leg of this concert, show Ren and Nora, and show some action of the Vacuan White Fang. After all, they've been doing their scouting, soon they'll be taking action!

If anyone is curious, the two songs I used near the end of the chapter were "Immortalized" by Disturbed, and "What you waiting for" also by Disturbed.

And because I can sense some of you are probably going to ask if Jaune is going to get some kind of skill to look like the Disturbed mascot, I will answer with a very polite "It is likely, but is yet to be seen or even approached"

So... yeah! I think I did pretty well with this chapter. I'm going to have to take some time off from writing in order to go and do well in college so I can maintain a steady supply of slack to work on my story with, so don't be alarmed if the new chapter takes a month, even if I know most of you won't care.

Thank you all in advance for understanding need for my prioritization, and enjoy this omake.

---

Omake: New Game Plus.

---

(The Arc Household, morning, Jaune POV)

I blinked as I sat up in bed, feeling something shift deep inside of myself, like I was being selectively mutilated.

What the fuck?

Last I remembered, I had increased LUK and spent pretty much all of my AP on one of my skills that had all but forced me to do so.

Calling up the skill, I examined it again.

-/\-

Prestiged Adventure (Active) Level: 4, Exp: 35.46%, Cost: 1,000,000 AP (LUK)
An extremely powerful ability involving the bending of the fabric of time and space by hands that lay in higher dimensions. Shifting these cosmic forces allows one to recreate the realm of the game in the past, back to a certain, pre-determined point. Think of it like rolling back your computer's hard drive, but replace "your computer" with "the universe"

Resets the world and all time back to the beginning of the first day when The Game activated.
Resets your level to 1.
Resets your HP, AP, and SP to appropriate numbers for your stats and skills.
Resets all relation statuses to what they were right before The Game started.
Resets LUK value to default
Clears quest log, titles, and nicknames.
You keep: All stat values besides LUK, most skills, most skill levels, some classes, your memories, and some items.

-/\-

I REALLY should have read this shit first.

Sighing, I opened my profile to see what the effects of those changes were.

-/\-

Name: Jaune Arc
Title: The Gamer
Level: 1
Class: Wizard v4
Nickname: N/A

HP: 2400/2400
AP: 6150/6150
SP: 4000/4000

Strength: 140 (+400%) = 700
Dexterity: 110 (+400%) = 550
Vitality: 160 (+400%) = 800
Intelligence: 205 (+5) (+400%) = 1100
Wisdom: 220 (+5) (+400%) = 1100
Luck: 10
Charisma: 130

-/\-

I hummed, then grinned broadly as I got up from bed. I didn't have pretty much any of my previous equipment except for the modified Crocea Mors, but that was okay to me.

"Well... let's see how fast I can race when I've basically been upgraded from bare feet to a fucking sports car." I flexed my fingers and prepared to start grinding levels.

"Son? You talking to some girlfriend or something?" I heard my father ask as the doorknob rattled a bit.

I smirked, "Nah, I'm just plotting. Hey dad, do you know what an illusion dimension is?"

The doorknob rattled as the old metal refused to open, "No. Sounds like something from one of your video games."

I walked over to the door, "Well, apparently it's this thing where you go through a spatial barrier, and everything that happens inside the barrier doesn't affect what happens outside."

The door finally decided to open, "Heh, sounds like a good place to train for a Hunter. Hey, but if you don't hurry up, you'll be late for sch-"

*SCHWING*

*CRASH*

The world lost a good bit of saturation as the sky turned cyan outside, and my father and I both crashed through the walls of our house, flying through the air, connected via my fist to his gut.

"Sparring match?" I asked as the wind screamed past us.

He grinned, then raised his fists high and delivered a swift hammer blow that sent me straight down, burying me several feet into the pavement.

"Alright then!" he shouted as he focused on a burst of Aura that shunted most of his momentum away.

I moved through the earth and out of the way, noting that while my Aura hadn't taken long to recover, there was the problem that I now only had six thousand of it. That hit had robbed nearly killed me.

Thankfully, Gaster Blaster's high level let me use it with ease, despite my reset bars.

My father watched in morbid curiosity and growing horror as twenty floating goat skulls phase into existence with a flash of cyan light and a burst of white dust, all looking at him with haunting gazes.

"Son, what has overcome you?" he asked as he began to glow bright with what I recognized as Aurora's prestige. That... was odd. I didn't recall him being quite so powerful, several levels shy of this display, actually.

Pain flickered across my skin before the overwhelming burning power of his unleashed light stopped. Knowing it was driven by his soul's intent, I knew, then, that he was hesitant to hurt me, doubt clearly plastered across his face.

I sighed, "I'll explain later, dad. Let me sum it up really quickly as 'I overcame myself and the world' and leave it at that for now."

He nodded, clearly not satisfied with the answer, but willing to continue, "I'm assuming you're testing yourself, so I won't hold much back. Just enough that we've a relatively fair fight."

I smiled at him, now glowing like a bright and shining star with Aurora, "Precisely. I'm going to need to try out some things before I go about messing with other things. Now then..." I raised my hand and the Gaster Blasters aimed at him, "Fall."

The lasers launched at my father one by one. I was amazed at how he dodged the first couple with ease, only to be hit by over fifteen others, all chewing away at a big chunk of his Aura. With a grin, I drew Crocea Mors, glad that I kept my skills, which included my mastery in the art of swordplay, and I charged at my father like a streak of lightning.

You have awoken the metal spirit dormant in your soul! You have gained the power of "Crocea Mors", the Metal Elemental!

I hummed in curiosity as I saw streaks of light emanate from the point of impact, wriggling like lightning in the air. Pushing harder, a spiderweb of cracks marked the pavement for thirty feet around.

Unfortunately for me, I was airborne and thus, had a total lack of anchorage.

My father realized this, and pushed me back, grabbing my arm and spinning around several times, throwing me with extreme force.

Featherfall allowed me to bleed momentum as I focused my Aura towards manipulating the air.

You have awoken the air spirit dormant in your soul! You have gained the power of "Jetruisseau", the Air Elemental!

That... was surprising. I had to do a bit more research into this, but for now I just had to dish out some more damage.

So, naturally, I decided to grab my father in Telekinesis and slam him into the ground repeatedly, before willing the ground to open up and crush him a bit.

You have awoken the earth spirit dormant in your soul! You have gained the power of "Lagrotte", the Earth Elemental!

Okay, I seriously had to figure out what was going on with my elementals!

Suddenly, the pavement exploded upwards, sending a shower of debris from dust, to gravel, to chunks of stone at least the size of my fists, up into the air.

My father jumped into the sky and, with my mind still lingering on the surprise of the changes in my Elementals, I was grabbed by the ankle and sent spinning and hurtling down towards the ground at beyond terminal velocity.

Thankfully, Featherfall negated most of the damage, but a radiant fist rocketed down towards my face.

I closed my eyes, and extended my arm.

*BOOM!*

*VWOOSH!*

The ground cracked from the sheer force of strength bearing down on it, and I opened my eyes to see wide, shocked blue eyes. The blade of Crocea Mors was stuck through my dad's stomach, crimson on the other side. His fist was mere inches from turning my head into chunky salsa.

"I think I win." I said with a small laugh, knowing the wound wasn't fatal.

He coughed, a bit of blood dripping onto my cheek, "Yeah... alright... you win." he said in a slightly strained voice.

You have won the spar "You vs John Arc"!

Your level has increased by twenty!

I stood up, Crocea Mors disappearing into my inventory as I healed my dad's wound with both my own power, and coaxing his Aura to do its job.

Taking him in my arms, I leaped upwards and glided back to our house.

He watched and heard the silence of the city, "What's going on, son?"

I sighed, letting go of him and dropping the I.D., a sudden storm of sound and life entering the air again, "Illusion Dimension, and a lot more. Give me a few minutes. Make us some coffee, please?"

He shook his head and chuckled, shoulders shaking with a plethora of emotions, "First you scare the hell outta me, then you trick me into impaling myself on Crocea Mors, now you want me to make coffee?"

I smirked, "Loser of the spar makes coffee."

Blue eyes lit up with mirth, "Haha, very funny. Go on, do your few minutes thing, Mister Superman, I have coffee to make apparently."

A pat on the back was my response, "Don't worry, I'll do my best to explain it after I go kill some Grimm."

Before he could respond, I disappeared into another I.D. and shot off like a rocket.

... (about twenty minutes later) ...

After slaughtering the fiftieth Cavaliscera in a row, I checked my profile again, confident in my raised abilities.

-/\-

Name: Jaune Arc
Title: The Gamer
Level: 41
Class: Wizard v4
Nickname: N/A

HP: 62,000/62,000
AP: 212,000/212,000
SP: 87,000/87,000

Strength: 140 (+400%) = 700
Dexterity: 110 (+400%) = 550
Vitality: 160 (+400%) = 800
Intelligence: 205 (+5) (+400%) = 1100
Wisdom: 220 (+5) (+400%) = 1100
Luck: 10
Charisma: 130

Stat Points: 200

-/\-

Humming, I decided to do the smart thing and increase WIS to 251, though I ignored the flurry of skills I received from the act, instead boosting it to an even 270 after the fifteen point bonus I received. Increasing INT in a similar way, though keeping it at only 255. I distributed the rest of my points into STR, DEX, and VIT accordingly to my own personally set build, and confirmed it all.

-/\-

Name: Jaune Arc
Title: The Gamer
Level: 41
Class: Wizard v4
Nickname: N/A

HP: 85,000/85,000
AP: 300,000/300,000
SP: 140,000/140,000

Strength: 165 (+400%) = 825
Dexterity: 155 (+400%) = 775
Vitality: 205 (+400%) = 1025
Intelligence: 255 (+5) (+400%) = 1300
Wisdom: 270 (+5) (+400%) = 1375
Luck: 10
Charisma: 130

Stat Points: 0

-/\-

I was satisfied with the results, and sped back home at supersonic speeds.

... (about a minute later) ...

"Well, how do I begin to explain this? I guess technically, since you know what an RPG game is, I'll skip to the part where I make The Game explain it for me."

Party invite sent!

As he accepted it, and was promptly given the 'the game is burning a hole into your soul and filling that hole with itself' feeling, I focused on 'reawakening' my elementals.

You have awoken the fire spirit dormant in your soul! You have gained the power of "Prometheus", the Fire Elemental!

His groans of pain went ignored for a while, as I hummed and wondered about my eastern-themed Elemental's disappearance

You have awoken the water spirit dormant in your soul! You have gained the power of "Mediteras", the Water Elemental!

Ah, well that explain it. My dad seemed to be calming down too, so that was good. I was almost ready to start a new life now.

You have awoken the lightning spirit dormant in your soul! You have gained the power of "Vietempete", the Lightning Elemental!

So... Yellow Death, Jetstream, The Cave, The Fire Bringer, The Mediterranean Sea, and Life Storm.

Interesting names... though they hardly had the story behind them like my original elementals.

My original elementals... damn. Now I felt bad. Their identities had been stripped away, but their power remained, waiting to be given a name, a mind, and a purpose.

With a sigh, I also lamented my loss of friendships with everyone. I wanted to go back to the way things were, even if I'd gotten 200 practically free stat points from it. I wanted my friends back, dammit!

A thought then occurred to me: Sure, I'd lost my friendships, but they were all still there! Marbel, Yang, Ruby, Blake, Weiss, Nora, Ren, even Thomas, Jenkins, and Skyler!

They still existed, and I could get their friendships again, I just had to be patient, and remember that they didn't know me like they did before. They only knew what I'd have told them after this prestige, reset, what was this? An answer came as I remembered Dark Souls.

I was in New Game Plus, or New Game+, technically both were right, I supposed.

Turning to my father, I discovered that more than just a few reset values, and a couple of extra features from the others would be present.

Johnathan Arc
Title: The Ninth Moon to Push Back the Night
Level: 138

Already, just from his significantly higher level, and changed title, as well as the evidence I'd been given earlier, I could tell things were going to be... different.

"So this is kinda like Final Fantasy, right? Heh, I love that series." he loved it? That implied he played the games often and paid attention to the history of it.

Yep, veeerrrrryyyy different.

"MROW~!" aaaaaaaand Sebastian stole my shirt. Damn bastard cat.

"Heh... well... looks like some things will never change." I mused while changing into another shirt, one that had dropped from a Grimm.

Different, the same, honestly I was already adjusting. All that mattered to me now was getting to my previous point of progress.

With all this new shit to deal with, though?

This... was going to be interesting.

---

Yeesh, I feel like that ending sucked balls, mostly because I couldn't find a really good stopping point. I wanted to stop at John's stat block there, but if I did that, I felt like it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense why Jaune thought things were going to be very different this time around.

Not that I think you readers are dumb, no no no, not in the slightest, I just didn't think it would be adequately explained.

IDK, it's easy to tell when other peoples' works are good or bad, but when it comes to my own, I'm as blind as a bat!

Anyways, that's all for now, folks! Tune in next time for when we see Nora and Ren, the Vacuan White Fang, another concert or two, and more!

But first, before I cut the chapter to a close, the stat dump.

-/\-

Jaune Arc
Title: Wizard of the Elements
Level: 72
Class: Wizard v3
Nickname: Mr. Player Man

HP: 38,000/38,000
AP: 152,000/152,000
SP: 55,000/55,000

Strength: 80 (+265%) (+110%) (+75%) = 440
Dexterity: 70 (+265%) (+110%) (+75%) = 385
Vitality: 80 (+265%) (+110%) (+75%) = 440
Intelligence: 143 (+5) (+265%) = 540.2
Wisdom: 166 (+5) (+265%) = 624.15
Luck: 115
Charisma: 80

Stat Points: 130

Age: 17
Birthday: November 20th
Race: Human
Height: 6'1
Weight: 220
Build: Med-Heavy Athletic
Hair/Eyes/Skin: Golden Blonde / Brilliant Azure / Medium Tan

-/\-

Welp, that's everything I can think of! Gonna post the chapter after doing a final wordcount update and taking a quick look for errors.

Thank you so much, all my beautiful and handsome and sexually attractive readers, for reading, and I'll see you all next time.

This is Player 1 logging off, see ya later~ ^w^