3/15/2017 at 4:05 AM: Well, I literally JUST pushed the button to post the last chapter like less than a minute ago. I'm going to make the document, set it up, and get to work on the supplementary book.
3/15/2017 at 4:12 PM: A little over twelve hours later and I've barely done anything. That's to be expected since I've been working on making the other fic with the handbook of info. I'm gonna do my best right now, after I go take a piss
3/18/2017 at 5:19 AM: Well, I've been working and doing stuff over the past two days, and I just now realized that I'm about 14.3k words deep and haven't even finished the White Fang stuff. Well, I won't spoil it here, you'll just have to read on, dear lovely readers. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
3/18/2017 at 7:40 AM: I have 16.1k words and I'm too tired to continue. I should sleep, since I haven't done that yet.
3/20/2017 at 5:25 AM: I shouldn't have stayed up so late, but at least I have ~20.2k words done, so yaaay~ ^w^
3/21/2017 at 2:52 PM: I feel like 40% of my writing these chapters is the meticulous and anal-retentive adjustment of the numbers acting behind the scenes.
3/23/2017 at 9:04 AM: I haven't slept yet. I went to the dentist about 20 hours ago. I'm going to go to sleep, I've made 31.4k words so far with the ending in sight, but the road hazy.
3/24/2017 at 10:51 PM: I've barely done anything today, but I DID watch the Power Rangers movie ^WWWWW^ it was awesome.
3/25/2017 at 6:08 AM: I've spent the last several hours just goofing around, but I've had a great time and that's all that matters, ^W^ on the bright side, I have made it to 33k words now, so that's something at least.
3/25/2017 at 10:19 PM: Well, I just saved because I'm going to go do a couple of things... the number was literally at exactly 34,999 words when I did. Hehehehe, rare moments people, rare moments.
3/27/2017 at 10:56 AM: Well, I've spent the last couple of days just taking some time to do stuff for myself. Now I'm back and ready to start writing more ^WWW^
3/30/2017 at 2:39 PM: So... my sleep schedule is 8 kinds of fucked up, I need to focus on my grades NOW and need to do a ton of work ASAP, it's all terrible TBCH.
3/31/2017 at 2:06 PM: Well, I'm currently dealing with some troubles in paradise and have to deal with them, but I'll get the chapter up in the next couple of days hopefully. It feels like so much time has passed when really it's only been like 2 and a half weeks. Crazy how life can make it feel like a month. Anyways, the current wordcount is 41.4k and rising. I'm nearly done with the chapter itself, then I'm making the Omake, THEN I'll be done.
4/2/2017 at 2:31 AM: Damn, I missed April Fool's Day. That sucks. I'm gonna just focus on finishing the omake now.
4/4/2017 at 5:17 AM: Wow, another 2 days down the drain with pretty much nothing happening, at least not enough to matter. Honestly, this stuff could have come out last week if I'd been able to focus on it. Current wordcount: 47.6k words... actually I guess at this point it could be said that I wrote 6k words in five days, but at the beginning I wrote 16.1k words in like 3 days. My chapter completion is more asymptotic than I'd like it to be.
4/4/2017 at 9:27 AM: I'm finally done with the chapter! Final wordcount: 50.1k words! Holy shit that's a lot!
Reviewer Responses:
Noble the Unknown Primordial: Yeah, that part was what I wanted to include in the previous chapter, but couldn't because of size and stuff (not that that helped here at all). Yeah, the White Fang in Vacuo is pretty efficient and self-ruling, to be completely honest. They received what they were informed was vital information. I mean, under normal circumstances, what are the chances of a conjurer being able to catch up to the other ship? What are the chances any help will arrive and will they even be good enough to stop a dozen highly trained soldiers from killing one single heiress? The interception is almost comical when you consider it. They expected little to no resistance, but someone and his lightning dragon beast meets them in room 1.
ShotgunWilly: Yeah, I suppose I kinda did. Don't worry, I'll be doing my best to correct such mistakes in the future.
XerzoLOTCN: That is certainly interesting. I may just take you up on that offer. Yeah, the sword is different, but I might include something like Renji's later as a drop. Yeah Aura Confusion is pretty scary.
Yeah, Yang is awesome. Yeah, Weiss has a sad past. Right now I'm honestly just trying to close some of these points so you can hopefully not have to type SO much in your next review, and move onto more recent things.
Yeah the disease is absolutely terrible. Yeah, harem stuffs.
That omake idea might occur, or it might not. You may have inspired me, you may not have. Honestly, at this point, I don't know for sure yet.
The omake from last chapter is not canon. A DLC omake is things that are plausible, but ultimately are not canon. It would be interesting, certainly, but it's just not how things are.
Jaune might have an assassin-style armor set, but he is a knight first, wizard second, and then an assassin would be third (or maybe 4th, depends on how important boxing ends up, LOL).
Zyxis ORA: Sorry, but DLCs are not true. They are plausibly canon, but ultimately they are not canon. Sorry about that, bud.
zen-aku the spirit of the wolf: Right... I'm gonna be honest, I didn't even really think about that. I mean, like, even when you say 3 AM, I'm usually up and active at 3 AM, so... yeah. I didn't mean to sound like a high-horse jackass. I'll try to be better in the future, promise ^-^
Umbrardor: Yep, it's not ideal that people like them have to die (or do they? Who knows? Anyone remember what Jaune's main belief is? Hehehe) But yeah, like... I guess the titles are sometimes indicative of more about a person's character than even *I* might think. Plus, I did explain the thing about the name Black, so that's a thing. I'm going to do my best in this chapter.
Dark Durian: I wouldn't say Night Omen is broken, per se. I mean, what Jaune knows about it is that it showed a single ONE, of possibly MILLIONS of outcomes that his mind could possibly think of. He didn't even predict it, he more theorized it. Yeah, the White Fang chose the wrong night to go against direct orders. The DLC is indeed pretty cool, I worked hard on it, mostly because I found it hard to write well. I always fear that when I get to the omake, that I sink into single-liner spamming.
Uchiha Rai: I'm glad I can keep you captivated with my story, dude, that means a surprising lot to hear.
bookcoda: and another surprisingly nice thing to hear. Man, you guys are pushing all the right buttons this time, ^WWW^
kyuzo3567: well the elementals increased in rank, in fact the skill became like 3.5 times more powerful in its new form, and it's one of the more powerful skills, so while other skills may get 20%, 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% more powerful "technically" (Energy Bolt does 200% base magic damage at level 99, the prestige Energy Rocket does 250% base magic damage). If the story extends to him getting all the way to the final tier of Summon Elemental (slight spoiler but it goes higher than 3), then he could... it's too much spoilers to say. I hope you understand. He could easily move mountains, just as an example.
uriil: the next prestige stage might not happen before Beacon, it ultimately depends on what goes down over the summer (beach episode confirmed). Jaune will find some of his questions will have the answer of simply 'no', but say a Nature Elemental? Well, that's a combination of the single elementals. I can't say which yet, but it's a thing.
He hasn't shown much training of those skills because he's been focusing on getting new skills and leveling up some of his oldest skills, but he's been doing it off-screen. Rest assured, Prismatic Spray has been getting training, but Engineer's Aura has been ignored for the most part.
Don't worry, he can still harvest their semblances from their souls. It worked for Adam, it will work for them.
Alex2909: And I love YOU, random reader, ^w^
A Guest with big claims: Actually, if you take a closer look, you can see that the first timestamp reads AM, the second one reads PM. I travel through time just like anyone else, at a constant rate of 1 second per second, thank you very MUCH! *sassy snap of my fingers* XDDD jk but I found this review too funny to not respond to.
Siriusly Grim: I have maybe 6 or 7, IDK. This current Story Arc has about 3-5 more chapters planned for it, because it's technically not ending at the Mistral Regional Tournament, it's ending a bit after that. This chapter WILL cover the rest of Vacuo, even if I have to make it 40k words long! The summer-based story arc will probably be only 2-4 chapters at the most, and even then it'll mostly be time-skips with significant bits in between, and a beach episode because any good anime has a beach episode XD. After that, Beacon awaits them all.
deepwound78: more like shallowwound0.78. Honestly I don't even care about the LUK thing anymore, I had my reasons for it, in fact the next review actually sums it up quite nicely.
Phoenix007x: Glad you're enjoying it, and you summed up the Luck thing very nicely. Jaune might have had high mental stats and Gamer's Mind (which mitigates but does not entirely prevent his emotions from coming up, and I'd established before could be overtaxed and broken), but in chapter 4 he was mostly still just a teenager with super powers still getting used to everything. He panicked because he didn't want to get in trouble with his dad, and his dad has been his only parent for seven very important years now, so to piss him off or disappoint him was something he desperately didn't want. He might have had high mental stats but he couldn't possibly know what skills would come about because of the dump into Luck, and couldn't see the value of them until much later... As for the concern that you yourself had, Phoenix, I've already explained it pretty well in the response to Siriusly Grim's review.
ABeaupain: Yeah, I didn't really have any plans on making more than 6 elementals, those hints and speculations were just to fill space and provide consideration fuel for the skill. The skill just evolves his elementals to be more powerful, like Pokemon, but with more than 3 evolutions (1st is Basic, 2nd is Lesser, which implies a 'Normal' version and a 'Greater' form, so he can guess there are 4 tiers at the current time)
jACK905: he will! And he'll use them to increase his mental stats (MINOR SPOILERS) enough so to get the INT 150 skills!
sorry-.-no-names: And I'll soon have this down and you JUST REVIEWED THE LAST ONE! Funny how nature do dat, XD. Yeah, the purple flames actually has to do with its opposite color, more than its adjacent colors. Technically speaking, Blue and Red are not opposites, Green and Red are, so Green is Kindness and Red is Anger. Blue is Calmness and Orange is ?. Yellow is ? and Purple is the opposite of whatever that is.
Factor Wisdom is indeed amazing, and Factor Intelligence will be just as amazing... yeah, pretty much, Proficiency to Mastery, a 100% increase from Skill, 500% increase from Proficiency, and 1000% increase from Mastery, leading to a total of 1600% increase to damage with such attacks, and if you think about someone who was just starting karate, and someone who was a complete master of it, blackbelt and decade-plus of training, there'd easily be a 17x power difference. The thing you haven't thought of is "What comes after Mastery?". I may have 63 pages of Jaune's Tier 1 skills, and only 17 pages of the Tier 2 and 3, but I'm planning on having him later focus more on prestiging his current skills rather than just getting new ones, so yeah man, what DOES come after Mastery? How do you improve further in something when you're already a master at it?... He would indeed, but sleeping takes 6 hours and while he may not be in a position where someone might want to come kill him in his sleep, he does prefer just staying up for that time to make sure nobody ELSE in his group (Hint: her first name starts with W and ends with S and sounds a lot like the first half of one of his stats) runs that risk, but yeah he'd get updates from Gamer's Mind using the Fundamental Factors of Intelligence and Wisdom to process information about what he knows about stuff, combined with Gamer's Sight letting him access the annals of history, he could literally prestige some skills with a nap... the nightmare is about immortality, in a sense, yes.
Ruby is indeed getting closer to Aurora, what will happen when she gets it? Hopefully good things, HOPEFULLY, but you never know when you poke at evil things you don't understand... Jaune's will to protect is indeed scary. I mean, take for example the fact that the guy recovers all his aura from 0% to 100% in under a minute, then take into account that he has probably in the top 50 largest amounts of Auras in the fucking WORLD at the moment, and that he can use it to do dozens of crazy things like cover you in red-hot ashes, shred you with magical bullets or high-speed gravel projectiles, slog you down with rain, cut you with the wind, or shock the fuck out of you, and that's just with the Shots spells! His will to protect will drag you into an extradimensional plane, throw you half a mile into the air, slam you back down like a rocket, grab literally tons of rock and metal to crush and shred you with, burn you alive, send LIGHTNING BOLTS AT YOU, choke you in a magically induced vacuum, drown you, and all the while, you're looking at a man whose very being seems to shift, jitter, and blip in and out of corporeality seemingly just through his sheer level of anger (the buff Blinking looks frightening for someone who doesn't understand it). Jaune is The Gamer, and if The Gamer's will is to protect, then by god those guarded things will be PROTECTED... unless he's restrained to an airship that he does not want to let crash, then he's greatly limited... Weiss is indeed getting happier, and this chapter she's going to get sick because she's going to have to spill blood. White Fang blood. Jeeves is indeed a shit.
Elementals upgrade YEAH~! Crocea Mors developed some mind, and the some mind that he developed happened to be that of a challenging person. They all went from basically mentally incapable, to being 1-dimensional characters (only one personality trait can ever be seen at any time), but that won't stop Jaune from delving into their minds and cultivating intelligence in them. He sees his elementals as his friends, and he wants his friends (even if they're pieces of his soul) to be healthy and happy... Crocea the sword also indeed got an upgrade, and Adamantium or Mithril would indeed improve it. The weight isn't actually for Jaune's physical stats, it's to increase the damage because he can already swing it super fast, and swinging a normal-sized sword super fast is more effective than swinging a super heavy sword at normal speed, but what if you swung a super heavy sword super fast? BOOM, like 8x more damage... the elementals aren't naturally destructive, they technically are only 'naturally' what their new dimension of personality dictates. The current environment encourages that Jaune adapt his elemental training. It's quicker to level up the skill by destroying the city every night than, say, going out into the desert and making giant sandstone structures or something. It helps all of them a lot, since some of these cities are extremely close (within a mile or two) of the coast, which is water for Pluviteus. Air is everywhere, stone is in the buildings, metal in cars and shit, flammable things burn, and electricity is in cars and buildings too. All the elements ready to be used.
Yeah, cancer isn't a joke, but mostly he was just like "Do I want to willingly give myself a deadly disease purely because it's possible?" and decided "Nah I'm good without skin cancer.". Dillan will certainly be under the spotlight soon, right after the White Fang he unknowingly pointed at the group are dealt with.
NexusBladeguard: The Player1 is pleased that you've finally gotten the chance to read and review, friend.
Well, that's it for reviews. I have no announcements other than go check out the supplementary handbook if you get a chance.
Alright then, let's get started.
Story Arc 2: Playing Prometheus
Chapter 17: Splitting the Sunlight, defying Corruption.
(Weiss' Ship, cargo bay, Third Person POV)
Everyone stood staring at the knight, who only stared back, his eyes flickering to each of the members.
Naranja's mind raced, "Silver Claw, go!" he barked out, already on the move.
With that simple command, hammered into their minds over years of training, Kroma and Jade surged forward, moving to perform a pincer attack. Kroma's spear hit the knight's shield, Jade's claws hit the sword
Crocea Mors soon found himself overwhelmed. Though his DEX had come increased in the great breakthrough that was his evolution into a Lesser Elemental, the change even greater than Roimontagne's, he was still solid and technically rigid. He empowered his shield while fumbling slightly to fight off a pair of clawed gauntlets. He was easily stronger than either of these fighters, but he was slow. He saw the others immediately move towards the door, Aeron brandishing a small tool and hooking it up to a box on his back.
He kicked at Kroma, but the soldier only jerked back out of the way, reducing a brutal blow to a glancing one that lacked positioning to do any real damage.
His shield needed to be constantly adjusted to resist the plasma torch effect that the spear would have.
The spear slid across his shield, and if he hadn't been occupied on the other side by the savagely quick Jade, he'd have easily been able to compensate his lack of true dexterity with overwhelming force and control over metal.
"Supply Chain!" another order barked, and he turned his physical eyes to see the soldiers passing along a case to Aeron. He hooked up a plate to the case and attached the other hose of his tool to it. Hitting a button, it shot out a long stream of plasma that he then used to rapidly cut the door open.
Drawing on more charges to increase his power, he pushed back the two fighters and shot out a blast of metallic magic at the door, slowing the process but costing him his entire shield arm as the metal was sheared through by the intense plasma-like flames. He swung his sword at the woman and scored a deep gash across her lower face. Reinforcing his physical form, he picked up his arm and reattached it, grinning at the shocked looks.
There was a loud clank as the door was cut open against his wishes, "Extinguish! Jade stay on him!"
There was no sign of acknowledgement, only a powerful bullet piercing his shield and punching a hole through his side to cover for the woman's escape. Jade did as ordered and stayed on him, his savage speed only getting faster as his aura glowed around him.
Crocea frowned, "You're going to lose. You're all going to lose."
The wolf faunus snarled at the elemental, "You're an abomination. I'm reading Aura all over you, but you're not protected. What the hell are you?!"
The knight exchanged his sword for a second shield, acknowledging this man's speed was far beyond what the others were capable of. If he caught Blake, then her ribbon would be tied to more ribbons... ones made of flesh that was, "I am Crocea Mors, and you are my enemy. Prepare to be vanquished, fiend!" he pushed the man back and switched to dual swords to stab him, but was too slow and was caught in the stomach by a kick, followed by five rapid swipes that cut through his armor, but did little actual damage. Technically, he had no HP, since he was a completely solid object, but it was concerning.
Focusing on reinforcing and fixing himself, he swung his swords at the man, who was pushed back and forced to go on the defensive as he was occupied by the knight.
Crocea only hoped his brothers and sisters were doing well, as well as their master/friend.
(Meanwhile, in the hallways, Nayro's POV)
I pushed myself faster, jumping along the walls with low gravity and high strength. I saw him in the distance, laying on the floor and smoking.
'...no no no no No No No NO NO NO NO NO!'
I reached him and pulled myself to a halt with gravity, seeing his charred corpse stripped of equipment, his wide eyes leaking steam. I grimaced, closing his eyes as my training kicked in, and I hit the communicator, "Navio is dead, I repeat, Navio is dead!" more emotion leaked into my voice than I wanted, but I was a little too bereaved to care entirely.
I turned when I heard footsteps, my ears twitching as I swung my axes, sending pulses of thunder at whoever it was. I knew it wasn't my teammates, they'd have announced their approach.
Skidding back was Jaune Arc, the man who they were told would not be on the ship. I snarled, "You shouldn't be here!" I swung another wave of thunder at him.
He sighed, looking tired, angry, and depressed all at once, "Pots, kettles, you're awful black for the White Fang." he said as he drew his sword from nowhere, obviously conjuring it up with his semblance, "You're crying." he noted with a bit of sympathy, "You don't have to do this."
I gasped at him. What kind of man was this? Was he already offering mercy before our fight even started? Was he so confident in his abilities that he felt pity on me for my seemingly inevitable being crushed.
I let out a roar of anger and charged at him. How dare he? HOW DARE HE?!
(One second ago, Jaune's POV)
I internally groaned. I wanted them to just leave. To be honest, killing someone still didn't sit right with me, and The Game had acknowledged that with the skill to reform the White Fang. I had Navio's soul, weapons, and visor in my inventory, exactly what I wanted, but... honestly, I thought that emotions like love and grief had been trained out of them, but I was clearly wrong.
I sighed, "Nayro." I said softly as I blocked her attacks with my gauntlets, using my Champion Boxer guards and the reflex boost they gave. I looked down at her, "You're young, full of potential, in a country where faunus and humans have the greatest level of peace. Why did you join the White Fang?"
She gasped in surprise, but recovered, "Why do you care? You're just a Huntsman-in-training trying to keep us from getting to the Schnee, why did you even take up this contract? Sensei Naranja saw my potential and helped train me to become the best!"
I held her back with my telekinesis, "I took Weiss' contract because I saw potential in her too, potential for greatness. She was a lot like me." she gasped, "Threatening to break under the pressure of her family name, with far too weak of a back to carry it. I offered her a chance to improve, I offered a helping hand to lift some of that weight off her back until she was able to get stronger." she grimaced.
"Stop trying to make me sympathize with you! You don't understand the grief of the orphaned, you rich asshole!" I noticed her start to shake a slight bit.
I grimaced and let her out of my grasp, "You and Naranja have a similar bond, don't you?" I was taking a stab in the dark. Honestly, this girl made me think of the young woman I saw in my dream, which gave me some intense feelings. I put away my weapons and went back to blocking, "I don't want you to die, know that. I don't like the White Fang, not one bit. The path they've taken is unacceptable, and needs to be corrected. I want to help everyone, Nayro, and I think you might be a good start. Please, help me help your friends." I offered my hand to her.
She chopped at it with her axe, which I caught and pulled from her grasp, "You don't want to help us! Why the hell should I believe you?!" she tackled me and rained blows down on me, "You killed Navio, didn't even give him a chance!"
I punched her back, followed by a slap to the face, "I DID!" I really had, but... "He told me to shut up and proceeded to try to decapitate me. He was a lost cause, consumed by the swarming mass of hatred and anger that the White Fang's vibes have become." I caught her other axe, stashing both in my inventory as she switched fluidly to an unarmed style and threw several punches at me in only a couple of seconds.
She snarled, "You humans take our rights without justification, just because we have animal features! You disgust me, Jaune Arc!"
I caught her arms and threw her against the wall, "You disgust me because you can't even fight properly! You're much too weak to get past my defenses, and when disarmed, your heavy damage abilities are nonexistent. You needed far more training, and perhaps some with Aura."
She shot to her feet and lashed out with both feet, and I ended up smooching a right boot while getting a left boot as glasses. I caught her ankles and swung her like a club, hitting the wall, the floor, even banging her head on the ceiling, before throwing her down the corridor. I pushed forward, but stopped when she flipped to her feet and screamed, "What do you know?! You're a dumb human and-" she stopped entirely when a pair of bear ears sprouted on my head, "What the hell?"
"I have great magical power, enough to turn myself into a faunus. I can help you, Nayro, help you become stronger. My goal... my goal is to save the world, even if it's just a little bit of it. I'm building a new kingdom too, one where faunus and humans can live together in peace. Did you know Blake is a faunus? She can attest to my honesty, she was once a part of the White Fang, but I gave her an opportunity to move on to something greater." I held out my hand, "What is holding you back from taking an offer for greatness?" I equipped Charmer just to give myself an extra boost.
She looked at the floor, then let out a small laugh, "You think that I'll trust the words of a traitor?"
"Not a traitor, a redeemer." Blake spoke up as she dropped from the ceiling, "We're trying to turn the White Fang back to the path of peace. If we have a human ambassador, we'll be better equipped to politically ensure our rights. Not only that, Jaune is indeed building up a kingdom, and already has a castle built for it. If we become another kingdom, then we can have whatever rules we choose to make. Doesn't a save haven where we get our rights without trouble much better that being forced to fight tooth and nail for them?" she held out a hand and we both noticed that my body-swinging attacks and rough grip had damaged Nayro's legs somewhat, "We're essentially handing you your goal on a silver platter."
Nayro looked between us, "I... I..." she broke down. She'd already passed crying over a minute, "I want that... I don't really want to fight. I already lost one of my friends, I don't want to lose more."
I breathed a sigh of relief, "Stay with Navio, and mourn. Listen, I'm going to do my best, but I might not be able to convince any of your friends to join us. Will you be willing to join us even if none of them are?"
She shook her head, "No. I'd rather die and be with them all, than live and dishonor their wishes."
I sighed, and nodded, "I understand. Come on, Blake, back to work."
Blake nodded and jumped back up to the ceiling.
I patted Nayro between her serval ears, "I'll do my best."
She growled lightly, "You'd better, or I'll kill you all myself, asshole."
Well... that was all the inspiration I'd get out of her.
Time to get to work.
(meanwhile, Marbel's POV)
I grimaced, looking at my profile. We were in an emergency, facing enemies who were easily more powerful than us.
I quickly dumped my points and prayed, bracing myself for the surges of power.
-/\/\/\/\-
HP: 16,000 -} 20,300
AP: 18,550 -} 20,900
SP: 22,000 -} 28,000
Strength: 52 -} 70 (+105%) (+25%) = 161
Dexterity: 62 -} 80 (+50%) = 120
Vitality: 63 -} 80 (+210%) = 248
Intelligence: 80 -} 90 (+45%) = 130.5
Wisdom: 60 (+58%) = 94.8
Luck: 50 -} 57
Charisma: 48
Stat Points: 70 -} 52 -} 34 -} 17 -} 7 -} 0
-/\/\/\/\-
I grit my teeth as I felt my bones surge with an odd sensation of being filled. I felt like my body might burst.
Suddenly, though, I was overcome with calmness, and I sighed, "Weiss, don't do what I just di-"
"AHP!" Weiss cried out in panic. My eyes shot open to see Lima standing across from me, holding Weiss up by the neck and using her as a meatshield.
"Well, it sssseems I was very lucky, then." he pressed his finger to one ear while holding a pistol under Weiss' chin, "Team, report in, I've found the Schnee and her little bodyguard."
I stepped forward, only for the man to tighten his grip and pull out a short spear that soon expanded into five points, crackling lightning arcing between the points, "Don't come any closer you little bitch! I'm here to kill this bitch and I'm not against shooting her early because her bodyguard was too jumpy. Heheheheheeeeh~." he grinned and licked Weiss' cheek, making her tear up in disgust and pain.
I growled in anger. Dammit, why was I so weak? So distracted? I literally JUST increased my LUK! That should have prevented this from happening. The moment I'm overwhelmed by my stats raising is the very moment he sneaks in with his mental effects and snatches Weiss up! Fucking fucking fucking FUCKING FUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUCK!
I felt something inside me cracking, my pinkish-white Aura glowing around me. I took a step forward, and he tensed up. I couldn't help but step back, and he relaxed a bit.
"Team, report in!" he said with a slight reduction in confidence, "Team? Are these damn things working?" he cursed and took it off, "HEY!" he shouted down the halls, "TEAM! FUCKING GET OVER HERE!"
My anger amplified with every word he spoke, until I felt myself reach the tipping point.
As if the world itself was responding to my mental state, the ship suddenly began tilting.
(One minute ago, Aeron's POV)
The communicators were fried. That lightning beast must have done it while we were distracted with that knight. I hoped Jade was holding up well, I'd designed those blades myself, so they should be more than strong enough to handle a cocky knight. How? How did they know we were coming?
We'd snatched Dillan's receiver off of him, and there had been silence the entire time between then and now. Not a single soul had spoken over their radios.
So why? How? HOW? HOW THE HELL DID THEY KNOW WE WERE COMING?
Luckily, we had backup plans on top of backup plans, enough to shower in for an hour, "Come on, come ooon." pneumatic were tricky sometimes. Dust helped a lot, but only so much. My Eternal Interface device was hooking itself up to the ship. I was going to send this thing on a one-way trip to Turbulence City! We all were more than skilled enough to handle it, but these Hunters have probably never dealt with it before. It was a bit of a gamble, but ultimately a risk-free game-changer.
*bweep~* GOT IT!
Provided with an interface to use my semblance with, I disabled the flight stabilizers and gave the engines the hiccups.
The ship began tilting, the precursor to further problems.
(Presently, Marbel's POV)
The ship tilted as my anger increased and my Aura flared up.
Lima shifted his weight, "Don't take another sssstep closer or I'll fucking zzzap you, kid!" he chuckled as I couldn't help but step back, "Good girl. You must be new to thisss, huh? And we were told it'd be 1.5 casssualties to 1, favoring your side. Looks like the big boss man didn't account for ssskill... or cowardiccce!" he laughed harshly, and it grated on my mind.
I felt weak. I felt helpless. I felt powerless.
Jaune wouldn't have let this happen.
John wouldn't have let this happen.
Blake wouldn't have let this happen.
I should have been stronger. I should have been braver. I should have been better.
I should have been more like a Huntress.
I felt something inside me snap as the ship vibrated slightly, my rage hitting the breaking point.
Advancing in the story of your life has granted you the trait "Heroic Willpower"!
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU~!" I screamed as I blinked and in an instant felt a surge of power fill me, seeing a horse and feeling strength fill my entire body all at once.
Lima thrust his spear at me, but my body moved somehow even faster, because I found myself teleporting behind him with a brilliant streak of aura connecting points A and B. I spun and stabbed him in the spine. It was a testament to their training that he didn't freak out from the pain, but I swung high and carved a deep gash into the back of his neck, a spray of blood covering my face as I moved quickly. He reacted to the neck slash, both hands flying back to cover the wound as he dropped Weiss. I grabbed her and jumped to the side, putting some distance between us and him.
He recovered enough to fall to one knee, grab his spear in one hand, and thrust it towards us, but Weiss' elemental, Eismeer, leaped from his position, having apparently been summoned in the middle of the encounter. He caught the lightning with his conductive body, saving us from getting fried like bugs, or at the very least probably getting a heavy DEX debuff and unbelievable amounts of pain.
Romargust compressed into existence from many solid particles and an activated Earth Dust crystal. He slowly swooped in from the side and smashed the man into the ground. I watched as my elemental's massive fist delivered a deadly crushing blow that made Lima's head pop like a grape.
Weiss looked at me fearfully, and the ship lurched, sending us both closer to the bleeding body. I got my bearings and shifted away from the growing pool of blood.
I saw the man's soul float up out of his body. I figured Jaune might want to keep it, and pulled it into the inventory. Looking in that direction, I finally noticed the two notifications that had popped up.
The synergy of your physical stats, your LUK, and your traits, has unlocked the Semblance Subskill "The Knight"!
Your level has increased by one!
Reading it quickly, I found that the teleportation had been called The Knight's Move, and my suddenly jumping ability was part of The Knight's Code.
"Is... is my semblance the ability to imitate chess pieces?" I asked in a moment of peace.
Weiss looked at me like I was crazy, "Who cares? Use that teleportation ability and get us out of here!" she stumbled when the ship lurched again.
I grabbed her, "Right! Alright... KNIGHT!" I commanded, but nothing happened.
Figured it was a mental command, I willed the knight powers up to bear, then picked Weiss up and turned to the door.
John was standing there, "Hey! You two move somewhere else. They'll smell the blood in here and know what happened. Go, go go go, I'll cover you." he practically threw himself down the hallway to our right, so I surged forwards, performing a side jump and twisting my body as best I could to make a sharp turn. It wasn't ideal, and Weiss' legs got banged against the wall, but we were moving and that was what was important.
Jaune C: Hey! I've taken down Navio, and Nayro has surrendered. I'll try to turn her later, but right now we need to stop the others. :C
Marbel C: Surrendered? Nevermind, our position was compromised, we need to get somewhere else, and FAST :C
John C: I'm covering their rears, don't worry. :C
Jaune C: Move quickly, no telling where they've gotten to. I'm going to try to find Aeron, he's probably the one causing the ship to freak out. You two stay safe. Blake, status? :C
Blake C: Annoyed more than hurt, nearly ran into
Recalling what I knew about the ship, it would be best if we headed towards-
*CRU-U-U-U-UN* the ship jerked under my feet and a jolt of pain shot up my leg. I ended up tumbling to the floor, sending Weiss several feet away.
I made to stand up and my Aura glowed around my leg, fixing my ankle as I used Soulforge Restoration like Jaune had taught us. Weiss stood up as well, but stumbled into the wall as the ship jerked again. It was like the engines had the hiccups.
Weiss looked scared, and my ankle's protests were silenced as the healing magic took hold. I ran over to her and helped her get steady, "Weiss. WEISS!"
She looked at me, eyes wide, "Marbel. Oh my god, I... I nearly died, Marbel."
I sighed, "I know, Weiss. It was terrible, but I saved you. The Game helped me save you. Jaune has our backs even when he's not here, you know this.
"Jaune..." she looked lost, so I resorted to percussive maintenance.
*SMACK* "Get ahold of yourself, girl! You freeze up here, then they'll find us and this time I don't think teleporting will save us. Come on, we need to find a new room to bunker down in."
She nodded, getting ahold of yourself, "R-right. Come, I know a room." I picked her up again and started running, "I can move on my own, Marbel!"
"Yes, but you keep stumbling. Come on, just direct me." I started running as fast as my feet could carry me, a notification informing me that I'd gotten another level in Run. I dismissed it and did my best to keep us going.
"Alright, left!" I turned left, "No wait, right!" I skid to a halt and turned around, using my Rook abilities to regain speed.
"Not a good time to get confused, Weiss." I informed her as she held onto me, relieving some of her weight off my arms and allowing me to free one hand to hold my shortsword.
I just hoped we'd make it in time.
(Meanwhile, John POV)
I ran through the halls, sticking close to Weiss and Marbel's position while watching out for any enemies.
Goddammit, this just HAD to happen, didn't it?
I'd already cleared my intoxication with Aurora and Soulforge Restoration, so I was cleared for combat. My sword and shield were still at my side, ready to be drawn. I needed my hands clear for running until I found a fight.
Lucky me, I saw an unfamiliar figure and ran down the hall, pushing myself into the familiar Furious Pace.
Nai'Lon, the armorer. She noticed me, how could she not with all the noise I was making? She turned towards me, got a look of realization, and up shot a wall of ice.
Shifting my shoulders, I armored myself and shoulder-tackled the wall, breaking through it and flipping through the glittering ice shards. I nearly slipped on the ice, but recovered and pounced towards the woman fist-first, knocking her into the wall. She slide along it before pushing off and rolling onto her hands and knees, jumping to her feet and swinging her long scimitar at me.
I tilted my hand away from the cold, hardened water that raked across my torso and cheek. My shirt nearly got torn, which irritated me. Clapping my hands together, my armor shifted into fullplate, "Alright, come on then. Let's go." a burst of aura flew from Midnight Tide's edge and hit her chest as I tore it from its sheath, which then expanded out into a shield.
She grimaced and her aura flashed over her blade. I saw it shudder for a second before becoming coated with frost. She snarled and made a tight swing towards my right side, "Die!"
I tsked and smacked her sword away, noticing frost form on my own sword, "So, how'd you turn water to ice with the ability to harden and reinforce?"
She gasped, but swung at me, "None of you business, now FIGHT!" she pushed against my shield, but I slashed at her chest and kneed her in the stomach. I stood strong even when the ship shuddered in the air. It seemed that one of them had disabled the flight stabilizers. Sent into a stumble, she fell onto her stomach, but pushed up and swung at my legs. I let it glance off my shinguards, but was surprised when it cut right through them, "And it's not just that. I can reverse the process." she sneered and her sword met my aura-saturated shield, "And under pressure, ice can form even when not at its normal freezing temperature." she grinned evilly and swung at me again, the cold threatening to sap at my strength.
I activated my Aura, fighting off the cold, "I see. You know, you don't have to do this. You can choose to do something else."
"No I can't! Naranja... he saved my life, I owe him absolutely everything. It would be the death of all of my honor if I betrayed him." she let out a small screech of effort as she swung at me in a flurry of slashes.
I shook my head, "Your ancestors wouldn't approve of you dedicating your life to hatred and death. Surely, if it's for a better path, then you could do the morally right thing, and go against Naranja's command." I tried to reason. It was tricky, dealing with Vacuans. Their warriors tended to put honor before reason. It stemmed from their soul-oriented culture and the importance of bonds and stuff.
She looked down, "Like your cause is any better. Liberating the faunus-"
"-Is one of our many goals. We all are planning to do a lot. He has incredible power, enough to influence the entire world. Liberating the faunus from their status would be easy with him on your side." I blocked another slash, bashing her backwards, "Stand down and we can work something out. Nobody has to die." I held out my hand, "We're offering you an opportunity to change your fate, with the help of people who can give you a far better positioning than before. Will you take it?"
She glared at me, but her weapon slowly lowered, "I... I will." she dropped her weapon and fell to her knees.
I smiled at her, "Trust me, things will get better. They usually do." it was a lie, one I knew was a lie, but it was a comforting one.
I didn't entirely agree with this idea of giving them this mercy, but I was the one who taught Jaune that second chances are some of the most important things in life.
I handed her a handkerchief to wipe her wetting eyes, "It's going to be okay." the lie weighed down on my back
"Trrrraitor~..." a cold, almost fog-like voice spoke, and I spun around in surprise.
(Meanwhile, elsewhere, Jaune POV)
I don't know how exactly I figured out how Aeron was at the very side of the ship, but I did. It was probably Mystral speaking to me, but it was hard to listen when my racing mind was screaming so much.
The ship lurched again, but my balance helped me stay steady as I approached him from behind. He stood and aimed his weapon at me, and I felt his gatling gun chew into my less armored body parts. It started to fight against Stone Skin and Metal Skin, which I noticed soon started receiving level ups, until suddenly...
By raising "Stone Skin" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Golem's Flesh"!
By raising "Metal Skin" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Robot's Flesh"!
I pushed upwards and the new skills took hold, They were harder to deal with, especially since they reduced from a fourth-dimensional space to a three-dimensional. I felt my muscles swell and grow denser as they were converted into stone, only to then find them compressing and turning denser as they were converted into metal parts. I experimented with it for a second and found a better balance between them, where a layer of pneumatic pistons and a stony amalgam blended together with far less interference with each other. Still, it was with reduced speed that I threw a right hook at Aeron, pushing him back several feet, "So, you've fucked with the engines." I said as I looked at his device attached to the wall. Before he could stop me, I smashed it with my fist, then lunged forward and hit him with another punch, "Fuck you!"
He was knocked back, but slipped into backflipping away to get more room, snarling at me, "Your friend and his fucking dragon fried our communicators!" he pulled up the box I'd sensed earlier, which Gamer's Sight told me was called Wallfly Zapper, and was actually four weapons in one. I grunted and dove to the side as he opened up with the gatling gun, then I jumped over the grenade he'd launched at me, drop-kicking him in the same move. He pushed and rolled as he fell, landing hard on one shoulder but deflecting me to the side.
I landed awkwardly and slid along the ground for several inches, receiving a karate chop to the face. I rolled away, but he rolled to catch up to me.
We rolled several times, exchanging blows as we went, until I got the bright idea and blocked his attack with telekinesis, giving him a telekinetic punch to the balls as a third burst of force threw me back to me feet. I caught myself and swung my open palms towards his chest. Grabbing his tactical vest and snatching him up into the air by it, I slammed him against the wall several times.
This should have been easy, but we were in the air inside an extremely expensive airship that happened to also be our own. If Crocea Mors wasn't busy fending off Jade...
Wait, what was taking so long?
I felt at the connection between us as I slammed Aeron into the wall, "Surrender. Surrender now and you'll face only fealty, rather than death." I pressed him further into the wall, my strength actually causing the steel to indent around his shoulders where the pressure was highest.
He let out a slight sound of pain, but glared at me, "Serve a human? I'd rather die." he thrust his palms at my chest and pushed me back.
I kept my grip, though, something he probably didn't expect, and simply spun around to slam him into the other wall, "I don't want to kill you, or make you into some kind of humiliated slave, dammit! I'm deeper connected than you could possibly realize. I want to help you, but before I can help you, you have to give up and swear to stop acting like terrorists dammit!"
He lunged forwards, biting at my neck. I felt a warm sting of something entering me, and I threw him to the ground, "What the fuck was that?"
Aeron hissed and kicked at my knee, which didn't break like he intended it to, "Venom. You honestly expect me to believe you?"
I sighed and shook my head, "I was hoping you'd be more reasonable. Adam and I are connected, y'know, so I knew about the attacks as you were planning for them, and encouraged him to stop it. He trusts me. I'm currently in the process of building a kingdom, one where humans and faunus can coexist freely, where the laws favor equality, where discrimination is discouraged, rather than encouraged or simply ignored. You can choose to believe me, to be brought into a community where you can relax, where you won't be discriminated against because of something as small as having extra features, or you die here, dishonoring your ancestors for having dedicated your life up until death to a cause based on violence and revenge."
Aeron stared at me in shock, "Adam himself trusts you?" he looked at the floor, "Adam trusts nobody except Naranja and Sierra..." he looked to be consumed by shock and awe.
I nodded, "And me. A human ambassador for a more peaceful rule. I defeated him in combat to get my message through his thick skull. It will take spit, and fuming, and letting go of hate and pride... but if we all can find a way to put our differences aside and come together as people united, then we can end the petty ways of the past, and move towards a brighter future." I held out my hand, "But it won't be possible unless everyone involved is willing to cooperate. Will you join me and your teammates, your friends, on a new, better path?"
It must have been something about my face, my tone, my reasoning, or maybe just my smile, because after a long pause, he took my hand and stood up, "If others trust you, then so will I." maybe he had his own issues? I didn't really know.
Convincing an enemy to abandon their cause and join your own has increased your CHA by 1!
I nodded, "Good. Thank you. I won't disappoint you." I shook his hand, "Now... can you fix what you did to the engines?"
The ship shuddered as he looked at the smashed device, "Not without my device."
I sighed, "Damn, and Crocea is still busy... look, stay here, and don't move. I'm trusting your honor on this."
He took a step back, then leaned back, his back hitting the wall softly and his body sliding down, "How many of the us have abandoned our path for you?"
I hummed, getting information that Nai'Lon had surrendered, "You're the third. Unfortunately, two of your group wouldn't surrender, and we were forced to kill them. I apologize."
He sighed, "Don't. I didn't really care for them the most. It's... fine." I could tell it wasn't fine, but I let him mourn in peace.
Feeling out with Mystral, even as the ship lurched again, I sensed two things very wrong happen almost simultaneously.
(Meanwhile, cargo bay, Third Person POV)
Crocea Mors grunted as Jade let out a loud battlecry of anger and sliced through his stomach. If there were internal organs to be spilled, then spilled and shredded they would be. Sadly, there were not.
Jade looked shocked, "How? WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!" he stabbed the knight in the core.
Crocea shuddered. He felt Mystral's breath on his neck, and smiled. He heard an apology from Jaune through their connection, and felt a surge of power throughout his physical form, which expanded a few inches.
Crocea Mors
Title: Metal Soul, Yellow Death Knight
Level: 78
Six elementals, six charges always used. Thirty-one charges available, twenty-five free at any given time, twenty-six charges maximum able to be used. Three levels per charge, maximum level possible was 78.
"Hahahahaa..." Crocea laughed, his voice sounding raspy, "Well... let's turn this around, shall we?"
"What?" was all Jade could get out before his face received an affectionate embrace from Crocea Mors' diamond-hard fist. Separated from his suddenly disengaged weapons, he watched as they were pushed out of the man's mending chest.
Crocea let out a breath almost hesitantly, as if he wasn't sure if he should breathe or not. Purple aura glowed around him, with a few specks of blue and silver. He grinned as his armor flared out slightly, "The power... it's overwhelming almost, far more than I thought I could handle. Such growth, it should take decades, centuries, but..." he turned to look at Jade, "Mere weeks... Jade Halberry, will you surrender, to join a cause of Jaune Arc and Adam Taurus united, to put the White Fang back on the path to righteousness, and join a new kingdom in the making, one where humans and faunus are equals by all laws and regulations?"
Jade stared at the knight as he grew to nearly seven feet tall, his figure swelling with more muscle, changing before his very eyes, "You're a fucking demon! That's the only explanation! A demon of fucking steel and gold! I'd never trust you!" he rushed forwards and move to grab his claws again.
Crocea didn't buckle from the kick to his shin, and instead just kicked Jade in the stomach with his suddenly quite pointy boot.
The faunus was pushed backwards and upwards, bouncing off the ceiling and hitting the floor, bouncing one and struggling to hide his pain tolerance. Dammit that hurt! Like an anvil was rocketed into his stomach with the horn at the forefront. He stood up, breathing more heavily, "I won't give up to you, bastard!" he dashed forwards and delivered a dozen aura-empowered punches.
Crocea took them all in stride, getting pushed back only an inch by the punches that honestly should have dented steel with their strength, "You're strong, but not very smart. A semblance that allows you to track Aura signatures and residues with extreme precision. No doubt infinitely useful under normal circumstances." he picked the buff man up by his neck, "It's a shame you let your pride get in the way of success... I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to kill you." he threw him against the far wall.
Jade stood up, slightly struggling for breath, his aura glowing around his body as he breathed deeply to recover, "Not if I kill you first." he reached for his communicator, "I need backup here! This monster is too strong!" he let off the communicator with a smirk, standing up, "What? You're just standing there." he eyed the knight suspiciously.
"I am. I'm waiting for you to realize the problem with your request." he smirked.
Jade sidestepped cautiously, moving towards some boxes of Dust, "Don't tell me, those filthy traitors have turned over to your cause already!" he tore open a box and threw a random Dust crystal at the knight, charging it with a bit of Aura.
A blast of flames tore through the air and washed over Crocea, leaving a layer of black char on his armor, "No, not all of them, but they wouldn't hear you even if you shouted into your communicator all night long."
The soldier gasped, pulling off the earpiece and seeing the deformation near the back, where the circuits had bee fried and the heat melted the plastic for perhaps only a moment. He threw it to the floor and ran at Crocea again, anger filling his mind so fully that his eyes glowed with a harsher glow of his aura than the rest of his body, fueled by anger.
It was a simple affair to simply grab the man by his neck and lift him up into the air. Arms made of diamond-strong steel and layers of gold made the deathgrip on Jade's neck functionally unbreakable, "This is the part where I have to kill you, Jade."
The soldier, ever defiant, spat on the elemental's face, "Then just fucking do it, asshole." he kicked his legs, struggling against Crocea's grip even when his struggle was hopeless and death stared him in the eyes.
Crocea sighed sadly, noting that the man's level of determination was great and respectable, and he even had a decent metal affinity in his soul, along with fire, but it wouldn't be enough. He simply doubled his gripping power and broke through the flickering techno-green aura, crushing the muscles and bones inside his neck into mush.
Jade stared at the ceiling, his final moments showing him the course of his life from his earliest memories until the end. As he looked into Crocea's eyes, his own faded into lifelessness.
"A great shame, and a sad one too. It's not fair that you'd give up your life over your pride, but the choice was yours. In your dying breaths, you were your own man." he felt... strange, as if his limited mind was trying to grasp something that was beyond its understanding.
(A few seconds later, Jaune's POV)
Expanding the power of your soul and cultivating understanding within its sentient parts has increased your WIS by 2!
Your level has increased by one!
Hm? That was odd. I saw Jade's weapons and soul enter the inventory, and I felt Crocea Mors return to my soul in his spiritual form. Had he grasped something that should have been beyond him? It was... an interesting thought, to say the least.
I hoped he would be okay.
(Meanwhile, John's POV)
I was not okay.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I was VERY not okay.
Looking down, I saw a massive spear-headed tentacle piercing my stomach. The damn thing had gone right through my aura, fucking hell! I drew my sword and swung it with all my strength at the tentacle, severing it easily and allowing my Aura to start patching me up as I pulled the severed portion out of my guts. I pressed two fingers to the bleeding flesh, hissing at the screaming nerves. I was sure one of my internal organs was completely penetrated, but I'd survived such an injury before, I'd be fine.
"Agh, dammit... fucking hell."
Prasino, the most mysterious of the White Fang members, stood twenty feet down the corridor, six long tentacles squirming in their position attached to his back. Two had three-fingered 'hands' on them, two had short cannons with discs of Dust in them, and the second of the last two had a broad triangular spearhead on it. The severed one detached a few inches below where I had cut it apart, and a new spearhead floated out.
His cold voice spoke again, "Vile creature, playing on the damaged hearts of innocent faunus just to save your charge. Despicable, almost as despicable as the one who believes such lies!" I couldn't see his eyes through his gas mask, but it didn't take X-ray vision to tell he was talking about Nai'Lon. I grunted, spitting out a bit of blood as I felt my aura form a protective layer around my lungs. Dammit, fucking DAMMIT!
I focused my aura and my semblance to heal myself, blocking a second spear thrust, "Nai'Lon, go and find your friend Aeron. Just go. Prasino clearly does not want to join us." my shield was ripped from my grasp by his grappling tentacle, "GO!"
I heard her footsteps slam down the hallway as I charged forwards towards Prasino, intending to cut him down to size.
I dodged past another stab that shook the floor, accidentally side-stepped a pulse of telekinetic force from his cannon when the ship shook yet again, then freed my arm from his grasper tentacle with a slash that I aimed further down its length, so as to disable its modular repair abilities.
I got within melee range, slashing off his left cannon and cutting a streak of blood across his chest. He seemed surprised that I'd made it that far, and rewarded me with a spear through my back, puncturing my right lung and throwing me away from him.
I bounced back down the hallway with several grunts, ending in a long groan as my body began sliding across the ground with its remaining momentum, leaving a messy streak of blood behind.
I felt my veins attempt to fill the new open space in my chest with blood. My semblance pushed the liquid out of my lung cavity, but I needed something more, something greater, something that would deny his usage of those spears, which seemed to slide past my Aura.
I sighed, bringing my hands together and chanting the words my father taught me. My eyes closed as my soul shuddered.
"Militis honorem non habet finem,
Militis ense ferit ad tenebras
Militis scuto protegit lucem."
My Aurora turned a brilliant white, and a clang of metal on metal rang throughout the corridors.
I opened my eyes, which now glowed with my Aura, as my armor had drained of all color, becoming a bright ivory white. I gathered aura into my fist, then lashed out, catching the tentacle and pulling Prasino's entire body towards me.
He cried out in shock, then in pain as my fist crashed into his masked face like a freight train. I grasped the mask and ripped it off of his head, revealing his dark, almost beady eyes, acid-damaged face, sharp teeth, and scales on his cheeks.
Slicing through the remaining two tentacles, thus disarming him, I grabbed him by the back of his head and ground his face against the wall, "SUFFER FOR YOUR MIDEEDS, VILLAIN!" I started to walk, then jog while grinding his face into the wall, "SUFFER! SUFFER!" I picked up my pace into a run, "SUFFER! ACCEPT DAMNATION!" I fell into a spring as I felt his aura start to peter out and a long streak of blood trailed behind his head. I reached an intersection and pulled him off the wall, before slamming him back onto the next one and grinding his face even harder. After several more seconds, I pulled him off the wall and slammed his head into the floor, breaking his nose. Another hit split his lip, then broke his jaw, and finally his face caved in. Only when blood poured from the tears in his skin did I finally let him go.
His soul floated up from his body, and the second after I stowed it away into the inventory, I saw Jaune approaching. He looked shocked.
"Dad, what happened?" he didn't look surprised by the white knight's power, but I suppose he knew about it with his Gamer's Sight.
I grunted, "That bastard Prasino had some way of making his spear-tentacle things able to slip past my Aura's defenses. I had to use my white knight powers just to deny it... I've got a punctured lung and am going to need maybe fifteen minutes to fix that alone."
Jaune nodded, "I see. Don't worry." he put his hand to my chest as I let the power fade away, falling against the wall and sliding down, leaving a trail of blood behind as I clenched my chest wound.
I felt the healing magic flow through me, but it wasn't going to be enough without my own semblance stemming the bloodflow.
Hit Points: 75,434/162,000
Aura Points: 102,235/211,000
Stamina Points: 120,352/270,000
I got a good clamp on the blood leaving my body, and saw a few thousand points flow in every second, but it wasn't doing much to fix my status effect, "Son, stop. I've got this."
He looked uncomfortable, "What if one of them finds you?" heh, what a hero, wanting to help the wounded so badly.
I shook my head in denial, "I'm a downed enemy, they'll ignore me. It's not honorable." I gave him the best smile I could muster as I internally winced at the familiar feeling of 'sewing' my lungs shut, "Just go and find them, and if you find them away from here, then that means they're not with me, trying to kill me.
He sighed, but nodded. I felt a few more surges come in, before a tiny notification came in.
Jaune's skill "Soulforge Restoration" level increased by 1!
I looked up and saw him rushing down the hall.
"Heh... well, alright then." I looked down at the hole in my stomach, "Let's see... intestines first, then stomach, then kidneys. Rest in any order." I recited, willing my aura towards the organs.
I hoped the others were having a better time.
(Meanwhile, with Weiss and Marbel, Weiss' POV)
Honestly, these ship jitters were starting to make me sick. It definitely wasn't the fear.
Definitely wasn't the fear at all.
Especially not with Marbel guarding the door to our current location, which was the kitchen. It had two doors leading in, but the other was hidden from view and only revealed itself when it was opened.
Goddammit, why did this have to happen? Did I need to pray again?
I pressed my back against the cold metal wall farthest from the main door.
Well, truthfully, there were four doors, but one led to the walk-in fridge/freeze and the other led to a small 'final prep' room before meals would be delivered to the passengers. That room had doors to it, too, but the layout wouldn't suggest that it connected to this room... at least I hoped.
The ship shook again and I was thrown forwards, landing on my hands and knees with Myrtenaster sliding a few feet away from me. To think that just this morning, we were having fun as friends, and now we were trapped in our own airship and trying to hide and fight for our lives.
I couldn't take this, I don't think I could ever learn how to truly take this. The stress, the fear, all of it, combined with my compromised Schnee composure, I felt like...
"Weiss? You alright?" Marbel approached, finally taking her eyes off of glaring a hole in the door like she was challenging it to get attacked, to look at me with concern thick in her eyes.
"I-i'm fine. Maybe... use your teleport to take a peek outside?" I needed a moment.
Marbel shook her head, "No way am I leaving my sister-in-arms alone like that."
My mind swam, and I teared up. Besides the 'in-arms' part, that sentence... it sounded just like...
I couldn't take it anymore. I lost all composure, and released my pent up emotions all over the counter... well, emotions mixed with my last meal.
"HOLY SHIT!" Marbel jumped back in surprise. Honestly, that didn't even make me feel worse, just confirmed that what I was feeling was real.
I stumbled back, taking a few several somewhat wobbly steps towards the sink before a second wave of vomit forced itself past my lips and hit the floor. My mind went blank, one single thought running through my head, 'Contain it.'
I stepped through the puddle and reached the sink, and simply retched into it. I turned on the faucet, running it over my face and not caring that some of it dripped onto my clothes, just so long as I could wash away the tears.
Marbel approached me and rubbed my back, which helped the third and final wave of bile and emotion let itself out, leaving me retching for a few seconds before my body caught up and the reflexes stilled. Regaining some modicum of mindfulness, I washed my mouth out to get rid of the putrid taste and harmful acids. Running a cloth over my face, I gasped in air and gave it a quick pass over my teeth, "Fuck..."
"You gonna live, vomit girl, or is your stomach going to kill you before the White Fang even find us?" Marbel patted me on the shoulder and rubbed my back soothingly.
I shook my head, "No, I mean yes, I mean..." I let out a heavy sigh, "I'll be fine, honestly. I'm sure that was the last of it." my arms shook slightly, and I took in several breaths as my Aurora filled the room, dispelling the feeling of weakness, "Come on, don't NOT keep an eye on the door."
Marbel gasped, "Shit, right, that's usually when the worst shit happens!" she turned and ran back towards the door, leaping over the puddle of vomit I left and returning to a position where she could watch it.
I called on Eismeer's power and moved some water to wash the vomit puddle into the drain system on the floor, which all led to a single tank that was usually cleaned out and filled between each flight.
Settling down finally, the ship lurched and I was nearly thrown into another fit of retching. Forcing myself to be calm, I walked back over to the hidden exit and waited.
Blake C: Kroma is heading towards Marbel and Weiss' location, I think. Be careful! :C
Marbel gasped, Marbel C: Surely she doesn't know we're here, right? The entire ship is lit up like christmas! :C
Black C: Don't take any chances. :C
I heard Marbel curse as she retreated from the door with a backwards lunge, landing next to me, "Alright, so let's actually have a plan for if they get in here. Last time we got luck, I don't think we'll be lucky this time."
I nodded, "Right, I think, if I go low and you go high, she won't hit me."
"Selfish much." Marbel deadpanned at me, "Why not use our elementals?"
"Sure, if you would kindly point out the source of earth for Romargust in here."
She sighed, then pulled an Earth dust crystal out of the inventory, "You're the heiress to the SDC, you tell ME where we can get some earth." she waggled the crystal in front of my face, "And I was looking through some of the items and found THIS bad boy." she pulled out a long, slender, dark gray revolver, "Witsmes 30, formed from human spiritual energy stolen by a Miraganger. My guess is it took the weapon used by the person, or it took the soul of the person that used the weapon. Either way, it does some pretty decent damage, and has a +50% chance to crit when the target is less than 20 meters away." she aimed it at the door, "Someone walks in that door, I pop them in the skull with this to disorient them, buying us enough time to act." she sighed heavily.
"What's wrong now?" I wasn't sure whether to be vitriolic or concerned.
Concern won over when I saw the look in her eyes, "I'm trying. I unlocked a trait, Heroic Willpower, it helps me act like I'm a huntress, but even then, I'm still adjusting... the thing is, no doubt that we won't be able to convince anyone to actually that comes for us, or more specifically YOU, to turn sides. It's kind of a foregone conclusion that they want you dead so much that they won't have enough brain power left to listen to our reasoning."
I groaned and facepalmed, then used my other hand to steady myself when the ship shook again, "So we can't reason, we can hardly fight, what hope do we have if the others can't make it in time?"
Marbel put her arms on my shoulders, "Heeeeyyy~, hey hey hey now, don't start talking like that. Losing hope NOW isn't going to make it any better. You should keep your chin up. I think I see what your problem is, you're stuck in a mold that they don't think you can break out of. You're thinking this because of the White Fang, not because you yourself have a lack of ability or potential." she sucked in a breath, "Weiss, listen, okay? I'm going to tell you something important, something that Jaune would probably slap me for saying."
I raised an eyebrow, "Don't tell me he's been... giving me looks that suggest he... 'wants' me."
She shook her head, "Oh no no no no no, nothing like that, Jaune is completely faithful. What I ACTUALLY wanted to say was..." she cleared her throat, "Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play."
"What?"
She shushed me, "Hey now, you're a pop-star, get the show on, get paid."
"What are you singing?"
She put a finger to my lips, "All that glitters is gold."
"How is this supposed to help me?"
She put her entire hand over my mouth, "Because only shooting stars break the mold."
I licked her palm, making her recoil, and I grimaced at the taste of cleaning chemicals on her skin, wiping my tongue on a handkerchief, "You know, instead of saying stupid and confusing things like that, you could have just said that I can break the mold I'm in if I try my best."
She blinked, "... yeeeaaaah that would have been a lot easier in hindsight, especially now that I feel sick after saying all that." she shuddered, "Anyways... the point is that we need to do our best, because our best is all we have right now."
I nodded, "THAT is a sentiment I can get behind." smiling at each other, I picked up Myrtenaster and she lifted Witsmes up, and we faced the door, ready to take on anything that came through.
We'd do our best, and fight together like a team, like real Huntresses.
No matter what.
(Meanwhile, Blake's POV)
I dropped down and drew Gambol Shroud right as Greyna passed under me. She let out the tiniest sound of surprise and spun around, swinging her whipsword at me.
I hummed, and Raidinger simply willed the electric whip away from me, "So, you may not have heard the news. Your friends are surrendering, because Jaune and Adam have made plans together."
She narrowed her eyes, "So... it truly is you, then, Blake. Working with a human, with the Schnees no less? You fucking TRAITOR!" she lashed out again, but her sword was diverted once more. I jumped over a low slash and lashed out with my own, only for her to teleport backwards a few feet.
I sneered and blinked with my semblance, appearing behind her and scoring a hit on her exposed back. She roared in rage and teleported again, swinging at me with her whipsword once more.
I diverted it and charged towards her, only for her to teleport as she pressed a button on the sword. I looked behind me, only to get chopped on the head by the sword, my Aura protecting me from getting my skull cut in half. It seemed she'd decided the whipsword wasn't going to work, so resorted to the normal sword, "Please, listen to reason." I blocked another slash, but got caught in the shoulder by a third and fourth.
She teleported away and I spun around, sliding the katana from its sheathe and going into dual wielding mode, blocking the next slash. If this had been just a couple of weeks ago, I'd have buckled under the pressure, but I held her back, if only barely. Her skills allowed her to compensate for how I overcame her, in only a bit, in raw physical strength.
I pushed as hard as I could, and felt my aura flare as I opened my profile. I couldn't deal with her in my current state, I needed something more.
Strength: 44 -} 60 (+8%) = 64.8
Dexterity: 80 -} 95 (+120%) = 209
Vitality: 55 -} 70 (+8%) = 75.6
Intelligence: 70 -} 84 (+155%) = 214.2
Stat points: 60 -} 44 -} 29 -} 14 -} 0
My body ached as I felt the changes take place, my aura surging as I pushed her back a few inches, before we broke the stalemate and both blinked away. She whipped her sword at me, hitting a clone as I appeared upside down on the high ceiling. I kicked off and rocketed towards her, sending her sliding at least ten feet back with a quick spinning strike with both my blades. I leaped over to her downed body and swung at her chest, only for her to roll away and sweep her arm at my leg. I fell backwards and landed on one hand and the bottom of Gambol's magazine, pushing up and flipping a few feet away to avoid an attempted counter. Greyna pushed herself to her feet with one thrust, glowing with her aura as she grabbed her sword and swung it at me.
Please, please, please, PLEASE WORK! I focused my aura into protecting my hand and caught the sword, using my cleavesword to chop at her wrists to make her let go. The second her hand left the handle, the sword disappeared.
She couldn't suppress her shock, "What the fuck?" and stared at me for several seconds.
I smirked, "It's in a better place now."
She blinked, "You... need to work on your one-liners." then she remembered we were fighting and lashed out with one fist, which I blocked with my katana. I'd gotten very skilled at mentally commanding items in and out of the inventory, but using it to disarm someone was new. A small nick on my thumb was well worth the advantage of fighting an opponent unarmed.
Unfortunately, by the heavy muscles the rhino faunus had, and how she flexed and limbered up her hands, I was pretty sure they'd covered unarmed combat years ago... still, she couldn't cut me at least!
Given the leverage and dexterity of her fingers, she caught my katana's blade at two points and lifted it up, "You can't beat me, I can tell you're wounded in some heavy, major way. You won't survive."
I grunted and pushed upwards, "I will, but you won't, especially not with fifteen holes in your chest." my fingers twitched and Gambol Shroud spoke its piece right into her armored chest. The material was good at dispersing the force, but I'd kept in mind the weaknesses of a pistol when designing and building it.
It wasn't deadly, but I could tell it stung more than a little bit. Her composure was breaking down, and she pushed me back and punched me in the face, sending hurtling backwards.
I slammed against the wall, but pushed and rolled to the side to avoid a followup punch that produced a heavy dent in the wall. I informed Jaune that Greyna refused to compromise over the chat, then took off, the angry woman behind me giving chase.
I pumped my legs as focused my Aura into them to assist me. I felt something inside me cracking slowly, but it wouldn't be on this run that it would break free. Given Weiss' example, I figured what it was, especially with how close I was to 25k Max AP. I couldn't stop, and couldn't focus on my AP at the moment, sadly. I just kept running.
Greyna followed me, shouting incoherent noises with a few expletives aimed at me. If scorn was a weapon, I was sure I'd have a smoking, 'FUCK YOU'-shaped hole in my head right now.
We passed by an intersection and Jaune crossed our path with a powerful flying kick right to the side of Greyna's face. She was thrown down the hallway by at least twenty feet while I skid to a halt and turned towards Jaune.
He nodded and formed his Excalibur in his hand while I pulled Gambol Shroud out of the inventory.
Jaune held his hand forwards as Greyna got up, shook off her disorientation, pulled her fried communicator out of her bleeding ear, and turned towards us. She charged and was immediately peppered by projectile gravel, which shocked her slightly, but she easily pushed through the assault as the gravels slid off her aura's protective shielding. What was shocking to me was that the shaking of the ship actually threw her off balance, sending her stumbling and falling to the ground. Before, she hadn't even seemed to register it. That blow to the ear must have compromised some of her balance.
She got up, but was met with five rapid strikes to the chest from Jaune, shredding her armor as I blinked behind her and put all of my strength into one huge stab.
A tenth hit from Excalibur proved to spell her doom as her Aura flashed in shock and my sword penetrated her flesh easily. I pushed and slid it out through an artery or two, slashing outwards.
Greyna fell to her knees, coughing up blood, with more blood spilling from her massive wound. I felt a stinging slap of remorse as she turned towards me, her eyes moist. Her emotions had drained in her final moments, leaving a calm sadness filled with regret and clarity.
She reached out, her aura sparking around her, "Na...ran...ja..." her final breath was let out as a broken gush of air and blood. One puff, two puffs, three puffs, then it all left her. Air, blood, and life itself left her.
Jaune's face was set into stone, a mixture of remorse and anger, "Stupid, stupid woman... so stupid..." he shook his head, then flashed a weak smile at me, "You did good, Blake, that's eight of them." his tone said that he wasn't able to think of a way to comfort me.
Honestly, I didn't want comfort, I wanted to soak in my emotions until I was numb to them, that's what I usually did.
He looked me up and down, then grabbed Greyna's soul, turned around, and ran off with feather-light steps as I stood there, blood dripping from my blade.
I already felt the numbness setting in.
Your level has increased by one!
And that didn't help any.
(A minute or two ago, Naranja's POV)
I heard distant clawing fade away, looking and catching Blake retreating away.
I turned and moved in the opposite direction of her, running with open hands. I turned the corner and met Kroma nearly head-on, both of us stopping and assessing each other, "Heya there, bud. The comms are down, that knight's lightning dragon thingy must have fried them." I said with a point towards her ear.
She nodded, "I noticed when nobody responded to my shouting that I'd seen the Schnee and her little bodyguard running through the halls. The distraction of my confusion proved to be their boon, because they escaped."
I shook my head, "Dammit Kroma, always getting distracted. I told you last week that one day it'd cause a huge problem on a mission, and here we are now."
She snarled, "Fuck off, asshole. Do you hear them?"
I focused easily on my semblance, and my hearing expanded outwards, catching pieces of conversation, including an interesting bit from Blake. If I was hearing it right, then this Jaune fellow was working with Adam... thaaaaat explained why we weren't supposed to attack them. Damn, I hoped we could fix some things up, "Hey, listen, maybe not attack them? I dunno right now, we're stuck in the dark. I hear someone stumbling around in the kitchen, it might be her, stupid bitch wears heels."
She nodded, "Right, thank you, leader." and ran off.
I raised a hand, "You're... welcome..." I shook my fist as I contemplated my next action, "Riiiight... shit." hearing that info had really shaken me up. I took in a deep breath as adrenaline calmed slightly in my system and I took off in search of my remaining squadmates. If they died, I'd be pretty beat up about it.
If this was a big misunderstanding... then it would be an enormous dishonor to all of us.
(Presently, Jaune's POV)
I ran down the hall in search of someone, anyone else. I passed by my father and hit him with a supercharged Soulforge, then was forced into a stumble when the ship veered suddenly.
I called up Crocea Mors and simply phased through the walls by means of making me-shaped holes in them, until I reached one of the windows.
Calling Mystral to form outside, I saw her form shift in the air, getting closer... we were moving away from the land road, out of normal air traffic space. I cursed and unsummoned Mystral as I made my way towards the cockpit. If someone had made their way up there, things would be-
My thoughts were cut off when I suddenly got shot in the side of the head. It bounced off my hair and I stumbled a bit, letting myself fall, only to immediately push up and spin to face the attacker.
"The engines are starting to fail. A hundred tiny problems are adding up and the stress is going to rip this poor bird from the sky." he said with a snort.
I turned towards him, focusing on Crocea Mors and getting him to fix the engines up a little bit, "You don't have to do this, you know. Adam told you to stop for a reason." I moved Crocea back to spread across the entire ship, "There's another, more peaceful way to bring about change. The White Fang used to protest, boycott, and other such things, but now... there's a new way. I'm a conjurer, you know that, and I've been working to conjure up the makings of a whole new kingdom. It's near Vale, but far away enough that nobody will bother us for the foreseeable future. I've already worked with the Valean White Fang to push them back towards peace, to give them a place where they truly can be free. Weiss is helping us, and Ozpin himself is endorsing my endeavors. I've staked a large claim and made sure nobody is grabbing at it." I stood tall and proud, "Tell me... if you could change your fate, would you?"
He looked at me, eyes full of malice, but they softened a bit and he lowered his rifle, "I found Nayro and Nai'Lon... they're willing to join you, and they wanted me to give up to... I'm a master of illusions, so I know a lie when I see it... how much does the Valean White Fang trust you?"
I hummed softly, "I'd say a great deal." I smiled at him, "So... will you accept peace, Lucen, or will you let yourself die in an agonizing war?"
He looked down at his weapon, then held the side of his head, "Every instinct I have tells me I should just shoot you dead right now..." he groaned and I could guess that a migraine was coming on.
I stepped forwards, "I'm sensing there's a 'but', here."
He gave a slight nod, "But... there's this voice in the back of my head... a voice I hardly recognize... telling me to stop... to think about it, and to see if you're right about what you say... to see if your claim is legitimate."
I took another step towards him, "And which are you going to listen to? Your instincts, that are pulling you back towards war, or that voice of reason that wants to have peace?" I held my hand out, "Will you accept my offer, or do we have to fight?" I pushed a slight bit harder.
I saw his hand shake, which transferred to his weapon, now wobbling in the air, before he dropped it, and his hand desperately clung to mine, "I don't want to live a lie, Jaune Arc. I want something that truly will realize my goals... OUR goals..."
I shook his hand and smiled, "Don't worry, all the lies will come to an end, Lucen." I pulled him into a brief hug, patting him on the back of the head and giving him a supercharged Soulforge Restoration.
"Social Impression" level increased by 5!
+44 Closeness to Lucen Mirros!
Lucen's respect for you rose monumentally!
He hugged back briefly, then we let go of each other, and I pointed behind him, "Go find Nai'Lon and Nayro, and stay with them, I'll go deal with your other friends."
He nodded, "Right. I'm counting on your word, Jaune Arc."
I flashed him a winning smile, "An Arc never goes back on his word."
He shook his head and turned around, running down the hallway again.
From the look in his eyes as he gave one last glance back at me, I felt that he trusted me on that.
(Meanwhile, Blake's POV)
I took in a deep breath, slowly gathering my wits back together.
Had I killed? Yes, I had. Jaune had helped take down her Aura, but I had dealt the rather brutal killing blow.
Did I enjoy it? No, only a true psychopath like Adam had been would have enjoyed killing. I wasn't like him, I left for a reason.
Was it necessary to kill her? Yes, she wouldn't listen to reason, too far gone to accept a new truth, she'd probably end up still fighting even after the war for change was eventually won. Someone so sick in the head couldn't be dealt with at the current moment. The situation didn't give us many options.
Was it difficult to kill her? Honestly, it hadn't been in the moment, but dealing with it... I had to move soon, physically move. I knew that I needed to provide more recon info, but this moment of reprieve really helped me out.
Most people would think that I was a cold, clean, efficient killing machine, but they'd be wrong. It was depressingly easy, I had to admit, but every stabbed lung took my breath away, every sliced heart stopped my own, every splattered brain sent my thoughts into a tempest, and every ended life made my own seem all the darker.
Then... then in came Jaune, a beacon of light that I thought was either too stupid or too brave, because he fearlessly ventured into the darkness to pull someone like me into the light.
Was this an appropriate time to think such things? No, no it wasn't, but it also wasn't appropriate to mourn the enemy when the situation had demanded either their death or mine. Jaune had saved me again, so I owed him my life twice over now. I might have been able to fight Greyna off, but that stat dump had left me damaged as my body struggled to adjust to the new parameters The Game said it could take.
I heard footsteps behind me, creeping up slowly, and spun around to grab the slender, almost fragile arm that swung the weapon at me. Xavia Fargrad stared at me, "What are you doing just standing around like an idiot?" she demanded.
I answered in a deadpan tone, "Mourning your teammate." I stepped to the side to reveal the dead woman, "The situation demanded one of our deaths, but sadly I'm not nearly that selfless."
I saw a flash of concern enter her eyes, "I believe only a special few are. I suppose you don't want to fight, do you?"
I shook my head, "No. I offer you a chance to join a kingdom in the making. Jaune is conjuring buildings and making plans to create a new kingdom that will treat humans and faunus equally, where everyone can live in harmony. I know it sounds disgustingly stupidly idealistic, but Jaune is one of those special few, the kind that can make something so absurd into a reality."
She looked at me, "A place where any man, woman, or child, will be treated with the kindness, equality, and respect they deserve?"
I nodded, "Exactly." I listened to the new instructions Jaune added to our 'arguments list', "Jaune has turned Weiss Schnee to our side, as well as become deeply connected with the Valean White Fang, and received Ozpin's endorsement on his endeavors."
Xavia seemed shocked, "This... it would be a great dishonor to my family, for me to leave the world like a terrorist, when such a wonderful plan for the future is presented to me. I accept." she sheathed her sword and held out her hand.
I took it with a smile, "Thank you."
She suddenly held my hand in both of hers, "No, thank you." her voice shook, and for a second my instincts told me she was going to try to slam me into the ground, but instead her shoulders shook and tears escaped her eyes as she hugged me sadly, "Aubur will be so happy."
I blinked, "Who's Aubur? Another teammate?"
She wiped her eyes, "Oh gods no, she's my daughter." she hugged me fully once more, "It's never been easy, but I did everything I could for her. She'll be so happy that mommy doesn't have to go on dangerous missions anymore."
I smiled softly, patting her on the back, "I'm sure she will. Don't worry, we'll take good care of both of you."
She let out a soft blubber of gratitude, and I made to help her find the others that had been converted to our cause.
(Meanwhile, Marbel POV)
I nearly yelped in surprise when the door shuddered slightly, then a spot of red formed on it, the metal and its coating hissing and popping, bubbles forming as it suddenly started getting torch-cut open.
That had to be Kroma, she was the only one with that kind of, quite literally, firepower.
I stood ready, Witsmes aimed at the door, ready to unload in her face.
The door slowly got cut open more and more, bubbling metal and sizzling coating dripping down its sides. How did she know we were in here? We couldn't just run, she'd be able to smell that we'd been here. Blake informed us that Xavia was converted, meaning that the only two people unaccounted for were Kroma and Naranja. I informed everyone that Kroma was now here at the kitchen, slowly torch-cutting the door open. I was tempted to open the door, because no doubt she'd probably fall through and get caught by surprise.
I turned towards Weiss, Marbel W: I'm going to open the door and unload on her, you be ready with glyphs, alright? :W
Weiss W: This is insane! We should just leave through the hidden door. :W
Marbel W: And where do you think she's going to look first? I don't think it's going to be the fridge. :W
Weiss W: Dammit, you make a good point... alright, I'll do my best. :W
I heard the sound of casting behind me, and double-checked the hammer to make sure it was cocked. I didn't want any surprises, not when surprise was the weapon I was trying to wield at the moment.
I pressed the button and lunged backwards. The door suddenly slid open, causing the woman on the other side to stumble in, barely catching herself before I pulled the trigger.
The gun let out a loud crack of noise, then another, then three more in rapid succession, one getting a critical hit and piercing her armor. I pulled some bullets from the inventory and opened the gun, but the soldier had recovered and her tongue shot out impossibly far, grabbing the gun out of my loose grip.
Right, she's a frog faunus... I still thought that was a little much. I whipped out Avtaklo 30 and fired at her, feeling an rising power building in my hands. Thirty solid hits shredding through her armor. She thrust her spear at me and I lunged backwards to dodge.
I saw Weiss lash Myrtenaster from its position near her head towards the faunus. Several glyphs flashed to life. The first thing that happened was dozens of various pieces of cutlery and crockery flew at Kroma, either getting deflected by her spear or an unarmed guard, or grazing past her as she found herself immobilized. A purple glyph filled with sharp strokes of color flashed and launched over a dozen magical slashes at her, slicing at her sleeves and scratching her spear.
The ship shuddered, and I used the opportunity to grab Weiss and teleport out, moving out of the hidden door and into the hall.
I pulled her by the sleeve as she cast a glyph on the floor. A few seconds later as we caught our balance, I heard the chiming of ice and a shout of surprise and pain. Suddenly, footsteps clanged out from our side, and I looked back just in time to see Kroma running along the wall and kick off of it. I snapped my head back to our front and stopped just a few feet short of her. She thrust her spear at me and I lunged back to avoid it.
"You're coming with me, Schnee!" she reached forward to grab Weiss, when the ship shuddered, making them both stumble, which made me notice the blood on the walls from the wound on Kroma's foot, caused by the ice spikes.
Weiss, on the other, cast a new spell, one that the game didn't register, but I would definitely name 'Projectile Vomiting'
The woman shrieked in surprise and shock, "You little whore!" she brushed the vomit from her face, then brought her spear up to stab at Weiss.
I lunged towards her, flipping over and landing a flying kick to her face, sending her stumbling and tumbling back, her spear skittering a few feet away. She rolled and spun her body around, pulling herself up and kneeling in a three-point crouch. She jumped, but not at us, rather she went over our heads, "That's it, I'm taking this fucker down!"
Weiss and I exchanged looks, before we realized what she meant. She was going to take out the pilots and crash the ship! We both ran after her, pouring as much effort into our speed as we could. She'd gotten a good headstart, but we were catching u-
*BANG*
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" a lightning bolt of pain shot up my body, bouncing around my skull a hundred times before traveling back down into my leg, specifically where a hole had been blown in it. I was thankful I had a thin figure, because it reduced the chance of the bullet passed beside the bone and blowing a huge hole in the back of my leg. Blood still poured heavily from the wound, however, and I felt the bullet scraping against my bone, sending more jolts of pain through my body.
I fell to the floor, "Weiss, please, make sure she doesn't crash the ship, I'll be fine." I struggled as the pain sapped my strength away, but I pushed myself onto my back and sat up against the wall.
Weiss bit her lip in nervousness, but nodded and ran off.
I grunted and hesitantly summoned Romargust, deciding that he'd keep watch over me. His fat fingers formed a few blunt, but fine claws with which to pick up my shortsword and pass it to me.
I sucked in a breath, braced myself, and held it inches from my wound. It would be best if I dug the bullet out, but...
Heroic willpower or not, that was a hell of a task to undertake.
(Meanwhile, Weiss' POV)
I spat out some water as I chased after Kroma down the halls. She fired at me a few times, but they either missed or bounced off my Aura. We exited the dining room, passed by some staff rooms, and I knew we were getting close to the cockpit because of the way the hall curved inwards. I was so close to her, almost...
Myrtenaster nipped at her heels as she gathered her aura into a large bolt, her spear glowing brightly with a large bladed head of flames
She shot the door in the distance, and the flames raged furiously, turning the door orange-hot. She laughed and I cast a glyph at her, sending a dozen more magical slashes at her. The cut into her armor and her greatly reduced Aura, but she still glowed with the silvery-orange light of her soul and tackled her body through the softened, thousands-degrees-hot door, causing it to lose cohesion and ooze into a ghastly, almost hellish portal into the room beyond. I heard a gunshot and used Eismeer to throw water at the metal, cooling it as I jumped past and stopped on a dime.
One pilot was on the floor, blood spreading from his body, the other was held up by his neck, his nervous sweat sizzling from the heat of the flaming spearhead pointed in a reverse grip at his face.
Kroma lashed backwards with a foot and hit the control panel, hitting it hard and causing the ship to tilt a bit. She laughed crazily, "You're too late, Schnee. once this damned thing hits the ground, the pressure and force of the crash will kill you."
I cried out in anger and disbelief, "You'll die as well!"
She shook her head, "No, we'll both live on. Your death will inspire hope in the faunus of the White Fang, and I'll be known as the brave soul who sacrificed herself to kill the Schnee Bitch."
I felt my aura flare up in anger, "You're fucking crazy! This isn't the way! My death won't collapse the SDC, and the faunus will only be hated and persecuted more! There are other ways of getting what you want, ways that don't involve this incessant war between humans and faunus!"
She let out a laugh, "Oh that's just HILARIOUS coming from YOU of all people. You know what I've learned tonight? Fuck this war, I just want you DEAD!"
I saw the pilot gesture in pleading, his eyes telling me that he was okay with dying if it meant I'd kill this bitch as well.
I nodded, "I've learned... that being a Huntress isn't about being fearless... courage isn't fearlessness, it's about action!" I felt my Aurora blaze around me, "It's about doing what's right, in spite of your fears! It's about not being controlled by them! It's about recognizing danger, and not letting it cow you into submission. It's about ENDING THIS NOW!" Aurora focused into my arms and into Myrtenaster.
Power Strike was a skill that focused your willpower or your Aura into an attack that dealt more damage than you normally would be able to dish out. It costed 30 AP, and increased the power of a physical attack from 100%, to about 160% as my level in it suggested.
Aurora poured through Myrtenaster's fine edge as I forced fifteen thousand AP into the maneuver.
(Meanwhile, John's POV)
I stood up shakily, my hand holding my stomach closed and keeping my internal organs inside me as my semblance worked on restoring the positioning tissues they needed. I'd lost two quarts of blood, but I still had plenty more.
The ship tilted slightly, and shuddered, and I fell down again. Pushing myself up through the pain, I found my way backwards in the ship, and eventually stumbled upon the gathered group of surrendering faunus. I coughed painfully, and they all turned to me, "I'm fine, just holding my intestines in place." I chuckled, grinning as I felt said intestines shift slightly.
They all looked a bit horrified, but I smiled at them, "So... you're all willing to join the new kingdom, then?"
Nayro stepped forward and nodded, "Y-yes... you're John Arc, Jaune's father, yes?"
I smiled, "Last I checked, that is correct. Does that have anything to do with anything?"
Aeron glared at me, "Is he as truthful as he claims to be?" his eyes were cold and calculating, "I will know if you're lying."
I nodded, "Yeah, he's telling the truth. Jaune isn't the type to lie about something like he has. He hates seeing people get their hopes and dreams crushed, he's kind of an idealist like that." I smiled, sitting against the wall and loosening my grip slightly as I felt my stomach shift back into its proper place, "It's probably less glamorous than you're imagining, but it's a work in progress. You can't build a kingdom in a day... takes at least a week." I chuckled painfully, but was relieved to hear their laughter join my own, even if it was weak on everyone's account.
Weiss' level has increased by one!
Well, it seems like that's one more Fang agent down. I tuned back in to hear Nai'Lon speaking, "Prasino hurt you pretty badly, didn't he?"
I winced as I felt my organs shift slightly, "Yeah, he did. I don't know how, my Aura was still pretty full, and I'd focused on its protective power."
Nai'Lon shook her head, "Prasino's tentacle blades are the only conduits he had for an ability of his semblance to slip past Auras briefly."
Slip past Auras? Well I was honestly glad he was dead, then. There were few who had such a power, and thankfully he was the only that I'd seen of them that also happened to be an enemy, "Well... thankfully I'm an excellent healer." I gave a slight, toothy smile, "So it shouldn't be TOO big of a deal."
Heavy footsteps came thudding down the hall. I could tell by the resonance that they were forced, made by someone who was walking with a heavy weight on their back, rather than on their gut.
I looked and saw Naranja approaching, weapon held in hand, staring directly at me.
A sniffle was heard, and we all looked towards Blake and a red, moist-eyed Xavia. Blake seemed to be whispering softly to the woman as she helped her walk, looking sympathetic. I wondered what it was about until she was greeted with the soft smiles of Nai'Lon and Nayro.
Naranja sighed, "So... that's six of us accounted for, then." he looked like his emotions were in a brutal, bloody, and brightly burning war within his head, his muted-orange aura flaring up in random small wisps around his body.
I sighed, "The other six are dead. They refused to even listen to our offer, much less consider it. Our situation forced us to kill them."
The man sighed, then raised his head towards the ceiling and let out what I could only describe as a strange squeaking roar of anger, like he was a pissed off dolphin.
Wait... oh yeah, he WAS a dolphin faunus, and funny enough, Prasino was his second in command and was a fish faunus.
I sighed again, then looked up to see Naranja staring at me, weapon in hand.
I just smiled. I might have been injured and low on Aura, but if he attacked me, I'd be able to defend myself easily.
We stared at each other, waiting for the other to act.
(Meanwhile, Jaune POV)
I ran through the hall, following the Game's tracking function to find Marbel. She was losing Aura and HP at a steady rate.
I entered the dining room, seeing Romargust looking around, Marbel sitting against the wall, holding her shortsword above a hole in her leg. Grimacing, I ran over, getting Romargust's attention as his amethyst eyes focused on me, then looked away. Marbel lifted her head, "Jaune?"
I saw a small pool of blood under her, "Dammit, what happened?"
She grimaced, "My aura flared up, and I unlocked a new part of my semblance, but it ended up destabilizing my Aura and I had used a good amount of it... then I got shot in the fucking leg. My femur stopped the bone."
I groaned, and Crocea Mors pulled the bullet out of her leg, "You realize that leaving that thing in there possibly gave you lead poisoning? I'm going to have to heal you so much over the next week until it passes through your system." I saw her muscle fill in and sew itself back together as Soulforge pumped into her leg. After a while, her skin seemed to stretch out and cover the wound, no scarring left behind. I smiled lightly and pat her on the leg, "It might still sting, but you're all healed up."
She bit her lip, eyes closed as she winced, but she opened one and looked at me, "Th-thanks." I poured a Rain Burst over her, washing the blood off of her skin as I helped her up, "Heh, figures you'd find a way to get a girl wet with your hands and Aura."
I cringed, looking away, "Eugh, where have these sexual-based humor jabs come from?"
Marbel giggled, her voice a slight bit absentminded, "I don't know if I'm broken or reinforced, right now, but I'm grasping onto any form of familiarity I can, and us jabbing at each other is familiar." she pat me on the shoulder, "Come on, Weiss probably needs help."
I nodded and turned to head towards where The Game said she was, which if I wasn't mistaken, was in the cockpit.
(Meanwhile, Weiss' POV)
I wiped blood from my face, looking at the pained face of the bisected pilot, the heftier of the two, and the shocked and horrified face of Kroma, I felt my knees shake. I looked down and saw that my overpowered attack had sprayed their blood at me, covering me head to toe.
I didn't even try to deny it, I threw up again, which was redoubled as the ship shuddered again. I barely had the strength to reach out and use Auto-Loot to pull Kroma's soul and weapon into the inventory, stepping forward and falling to my knees. A sixth wave of vomit cascaded from my lips like a waterfall of vileness, followed by a final seventh, before I was stuck retching, hardly able to breath in the middle of the thick scent of bile and iron.
The remaining pilot, a somewhat lanky man, got to his feet, staring at me in awe and horror. He helped me up, then corrected the ship's course.
Weakly calling to Aurora, it reacted and refilled my body with strength, and Eismeer grabbed a bottle of water from the cabinet at the side of the room. I practically tore it open and washed my mouth out, then guzzled it down, feeling a little more energy and strength fill my body.
Pulling my body along, I walked slowly to the door, "Keep the ship steady, please. I don't want to throw up again." I honestly didn't expect my body to be able to again, considering I could feel the slowly gnawing emptiness in my stomach.
He said something that sounded like an assurance, but my head was swimming. I guzzled down the rest of the water and grabbed another, downing that one too as I walked out into the hallway. Feeling the ability to walk fully return, I made my way back towards the others. I saw that Jaune and Marbel were approaching quickly, and nearly fell as the ship shuddered again. However, an invisible embrace of strength and warmth caught me. I looked up and saw concerned cyan eyes. I smiled weakly, "I beat Kroma."
Jaune sighed, "You did, but you're a mess. Just a second." I felt water pour over me, washing most of the blood away, then heat covered my body. I smiled softly, feeling my strength returning more as the comforting sensation of Soulforge filled me. It didn't dispel the new sensation of sickness in my stomach, but I felt invigorated as he stood me up again.
I clung to his warmth for a few extra moments before letting go, feeling my face grow warm, "Thank you, Jaune. We should go, Blake and you father seem to have regrouped." I tried to ignore the sweet sense of comfort in my stomach that had come with his embrace. Calling up my Aura, I felt the boost I needed to run alongside the other two, and Aurora seemed to be enough to keep my stomach settled.
Its effect seemed to lessen a little bit when Jaune surged ahead with a burst of air and aura.
(About twenty seconds later, Jaune's POV)
I looked ahead, my left eye burning with power as I saw Naranja standing over my father, weapon in hand.
"NARANJA!" I shouted as I slowed to a halt, standing a mere six feet away from him, "Step away from my father."
He looked at me, then at my father, and I saw something in his eyes crack open, and he dropped his weapon, "Then how will I help him stand up?" he said simply, sighing, "It doesn't matter, I suppose. So... you claim Adam knows you? I remember him once mentioning he had a human friend, one who was trying to be a huntsman."
I was a little surprise, but didn't let it show, instead simply nodding, "Yeah. Being the leader of the White Fang didn't give him the most room to be open about a human friendship, but we stuck together. He had favor for me, I inspired him into believing that people will listen... sadly, he took that as meaning he should start screaming his cause... metaphorically speaking." I sighed.
Naranja sighed too, "So that's it, then? Five years of violence and now he's going soft?"
I bit my lip under an illusion, then crafted the story in my mind and went for it, "Not... exactly." I opened the inventory and switched the sheathed Crocea Mors out for Murasama and Sandrust, the upgraded forms of Wilt and Blush. I saw Naranja's eyes widen.
I took in a deep breath, and opened my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Heh... I've been busy, I'll tell you that."
He stared, "Is that..."
I ignored his words, "Naranja... I have a question for you... do you think that even the worst person can change...?"
Naranja blinked, "W-what? I mean... I..." he was lost for words.
I switched my pants, t-shirt, and hoodie out for Adam's pants, longcoat, and button-up, "That everybody can be a good person, if they just try?"
He stared, shocked beyond belief, "How are you...?"
I equipped Adam's gloves, "Eh, here's a better question... would you trust me, if you knew that I'd bent the truth?"
They all looked betrayed, "Bent the truth?" Nayro asked in disbelief.
I sighed, "What I show you next... I need you to understand why I did it." I removed my armor and equipped Adam's old mask, "Why I took over a friend's life."
Naranja picked his weapon up and aimed it at me, "You bastard, are you saying-"
I shook my head, hearing Marbel and Weiss catching up as I slipped into Adam's appearance with the activation of Beast's Blood, my hair turning red and brown. Just for effect, U used his voice, "Adam and I were training together, it was before my level of power really started to pick up and grow to what it is now. We were attacked by a Giant Nevermore, and struggling against it, suddenly, it surged down and ate him whole. Just... fucking sucked him up and swallowed him like he was a tasty little treat... it horrified me."
"Acting" level increased by 4!
I ignored the notification, "I killed the thing, but Adam was already dead by the time I'd killed it and it dissolved. I took his clothes, mask, and weapon, and gave him a warrior's burial, on the battlefield he died in, with a sword as a grave marker. I knew the White Fang would be thrown into absolute chaos when they found their leader had been killed, so I took up his identity and acted in his place." I privately text-chat messaged Thomas about the change in story, just to make sure he'd be informed, "I've been acting for over a month now, it's difficult, but while Adam the man has passed, Adam Taurus the leader of the White Fang lives on, and he lives on in me."
"Acting" level increased by 6!
Naranja looked shocked, "So... your plan, then... for the new kingdom-"
"-is still in effect, yes. The rest of the White Fang doesn't know about Adam's death, and I'd rather its reveal happen on my terms than by random chance." I sighed, "In a way that will be advantageous to the White Fang's goals. I think it would be beneficial if they stopped trying to reach their goals from the chaotic sea of outcast-status, and gained a foothold by having a kingdom's favor." I smiled, "So... knowing all of this, will you still follow me?" I switched everything back to my normal self, holding out my hand.
Naranja looked at it, then slowly reached out, his hand slightly trembling, and grabbed it, shaking it, "The Schnee, the Huntsman, and Ozpin are also on your side, right?"
I smiled and returned the handshake with a confident, affirming grip, "I can assure you of it."
He smiled back, returning the grip, "Then I can assure you that we'll follow your lead, Jaune Arc. To be honest, the routine was getting stale. 8 years of the same thing got tiring." he sighed, "But... we six refuse to be separated. We travel together, even if we might not act together, we will all remain within the same kingdom at the same time."
I nodded, "That's fine with me. You can't be seen with us while we're in Vacuo, though, but I'll arrange for you all to travel to what we have for the kingdom thus far. I assure you it'll be enough. I'll even make a new section just for you." I smiled at them, "Now then... if we're all in agreement, then we can start working on cleaning up this mes-"
The ship jolted, twitched, and began to tilt. I went wide-eyed, and looked at Aeron.
He looked horrified, "The engines... they must have been getting damaged by the stuttering pattern I put into the system... the ship... it's going to crash!"
I grimaced, then closed my eyes as I heard my father directing everyone towards the side we'd land on, so everyone wouldn't be thrown into a long fall. I lifted myself telekinetically, reaching out with the senses of my elementals and feeling at the entire ship all a once. My mind was nearly full of the sensations, but I focused on metal and lightning. Calling on them, I activated the transponder and sent out a distress signal, then focused every charge I could into Crocea Mors.
The ship tilted a bit more, descending towards the sands below.
I gathered my Aura together, feeding it into my metal elemental.
I expended it, pulling at the entire ship all at once.
(Below the ship, Third Person POV)
Two figures rode on bikes towards the next town over, the one on the left sighing as the one on the right sang.
"And in the end, I'LL FLYYYYY~!" Nora grinned, repeating The White Songbird's latest song.
Ren sighed, "Nora, please." this trip wasn't an easy one, but he would do it to make Nora happy. That alone gave him the strength for this.
They were used to taking refuge in alleyways and on rooftops, it wasn't hard, and using Jaune's word had gotten them in for free. Apparently they had an equivalent to a 'season pass' for the entire tour.
Looking at Nora, he smiled at seeing her so happy. If you didn't know her that well, maybe if you only had a handful of experiences with her, you would think she'd despise classical music, but that just wasn't the truth. For an orphan and a street urchin, she had a surprising level of appreciation for refined tastes. She wanted to be a queen one day, by some means, no idea how it'd happen, but she was the type to make it happen just to laugh in the face of logic.
Queens had to be fancy, and classical music 'Is made of three Os, operas, orchestras, and ofancy.'
No matter what he argued, she refused to give up that spelling, and just insisted that the O was silent.
He had to admit, he loved the songs too. Recently, The White Songbird had been singing with much more passion than before, making her songs even more beautiful.
Nora had her eyes on the sky while Ren kept his gaze fixed on the road and the sparse land traffic. The roads connecting the cities were fairly safe at night, despite concerns, and even if they were attacked, the martial artist was sure their training would get them through it.
"Hey Ren? How high up does wind blow?" Nora suddenly asked, and Ren looked at her.
He didn't show any confusion at the sudden question, figuring she just got a random burst of curiosity, "Well, they can blow anywhere from ground level to all the way in the upper reaches of the atmosphere."
Nora nodded, "Huh, okay... how much wind does it take to move an airship?" Ren lightly rolled his eyes, smiling at Nora in a way that spoke of his exasperation and endearment in equal measures.
"Airships might have wings, but they don't fly like birds, Nora. They use dust-powered turbines and thrusters... which are like fans and rockets, but powerful enough to move an airship." a car passed by them, a bit of sand flying up at their faces.
Nora didn't notice, instead focused on the sky still, "Well if it's not the wind, then what's blowing that airship off its path?" she pointed up.
The pink-eyed boy looked up in surprise, and sure enough a fairly large, somewhat decorated ship above them had tilted and was on a steady, declining path that would lead to it crashing down in the sands.
His eyes went wide, "Nora, that's not the wind, that airship is damaged and it's going to crash!"
The ginger-haired girl gasped, jumping off her bike, "Ren we gotta help it! There's gotta be people on board, they might get hurt!" her bike was left in the road as she ran off across the crusty patch of sandstone leading towards the dunes.
Ren went wide-eyed, "Nora! Nora no!" he swung his body off of his bike and tossed it into the ditch, speeding off to catch up to his best friend.
The two ran out into the dunes, following the ship as it began tilting more, nearly falling on its side. Ren could swear he saw a faint cyan and purple glow surround the ship, its fall slowing greatly right before as a great hissing *CRASH* noise emanated from where its right wind landed in the dunes, the heavy joints cracking under the weight of its bulk. The rest of the ship followed, shaking and definitely sustaining damage even if its fall seemed to have been mysteriously slowed down by a great amount.
Nora gasped as the ground shook and sand leveled out from the quaking force of hundreds of tons of steel hitting the ground in rapid succession.
Silently, both of them prayed to whatever gods they could think of that the people inside weren't hurt.
(Meanwhile, Jaune's POV)
I could sense some stress cracking, but overall most of the ship was completely undamaged. The interior would need a hell of a cleanup, but that could be handled later. I floated in midair, suspended by telekinesis. I spread my AD wings and flew to the cargo bay, opening it up and getting an eye on the sky, looking for the ships that would be sent. It would take a minute or two, but a couple of ships would fly out and send back a more detailed report of what happened. I sighed and waited while my AP regenerated, spending some points to increase my INT and WIS.
At this point, I didn't particularly care.
Intelligence: 143 -} 155 (+5) (+265%) (+50%) = 664
Wisdom: 168 -} 195 (+5) (+265%) (+50%) = 830
Stat Points: 135 -} 123 -} 96
AP: 155,000 -} 162,000
By raising INT above 150, you have earned the skill "Biospiritual Integration"
By raising INT above 150, you have earned the skill "The Fundamental Factor I"
By raising INT above 150, you have earned the skill "Moral Fiber"
By raising INT above 150, you have earned the skill "Flowing Mana"
By raising INT above 150, you have earned the skill "Leading Edge Cognition"
Raising your INT to incredible levels has unlocked the class "Mage v4"
Increasing both your INT and WIS to incredible levels has unlocked the class "Wizard v4"
I felt my mind, body, and soul all tremble at once, and fell to my knees.
I'd probably have to sleep again, to get the full effect of Fundamental Factor I. I checked the skills as I struggled to pull in breath.
Moral Fiber allowed me to extend my 'mind over matter' principal to my STR and VIT, referring to the discipline and temperance that formed as a part of enduring life's suffering. Flowing Mana allowed me to cast spells that normally had a casting or charge-up time up to 5.0 seconds faster, down to an instant cast. Leading Edge Cognition expanded my mental processes and faculties by the power of my INT, WIS, and any boosts to the two.
Already I figured I might be able to lead a shot using mathematics, perhaps even better than I might using my DEX.
Biospiritual Integration was... well, it was something else entirely.
-/\-
Biospiritual Integration (Passive & Active) Level: 1, Exp: 25.64%, Cost: 10,000 AP (achieved for raising Intelligence above 150)
Transcending the limits of the normal body, those with this skill have integrated their physical self and spiritual self into a yet greater whole. Connecting the corporeal power and senses of the body with the ethereal energy and abilities of the soul, the synergy produced allows the user to become much more than just a man.
The needs of the body may be fueled by the soul, including food, water, air, temperature, and sleep.
Increases HP regeneration by 100%
Increases SP regeneration by 300%
Increases the effectiveness of buffs by 100%
Passively increases Ease of Casting by a percentage based on DEX.
DEX Modifier: 1.0x (Total: +78%)
Ease of Casting can also be increased with certain somatic casting motions.
When active, combines the totals of HP, AP, and SP regenerations and applies the sum to all.
When active, can allow you to sense the world with the five bodily senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) through Aura alone, at a range based on Skill Level and Max AP.
Sense Range: 100+180 meters.
Resistance to certain types of magic are increased based on physical stats.
Costs an additional 15,000 AP per minute
-/\-
I recovered after a moment, seeing two figures approaching quickly. I activated the skill, smelling a male and a female, as well as a combination of fear, concern, and anxiety. Hunters, no doubt, but young. I saw them without needing to use Schwarza, and recognized their faces immediately.
Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. How were they here? I reached out further and sensed a couple of bikes, by the road, though one had been run over and broken, the other thrown into a ditch.
Thinking back, I vaguely recalled seeing them at some of the shows... were they following the tour?
Nora must have been insane to do such a thing.
I called out to them, "I need some help here!" and waved them over.
They got close and I saw Nora's speed increase as she caught sight of my glowing body. I braced myself, but was thrown backwards perhaps fifteen feet by a tackle-hug, extended to twenty five by the loose sand.
"Jaune! Oh my god this is YOUR ship?"
I nodded, "Not entirely, it's Weiss' ship. My ship is currently... oh shit." I looked up into the sky, catching sight of the security ship hovering. I sent a message over the radio that they needed to go inform the air control administration that we needed help. I looked at Nora and Ren once the order was confirmed, "Follow me, I could use a little help getting everyone out." I didn't truly need it, but I'd let them feel useful. I turned and headed into the ship, "There are probably injured crew members, they'll need help first." I headed in another direction, calling back to them, "Just find anyone you can, literally anyone at all."
I went straight to my group. Naranja and his people were a little banged up, but a few heals fixed them up. Weiss, Blake, Marbel, and my dad were all fine. I looked at them all, "Okay, so a couple of people are currently helped. Dad, go help them. Weiss, Marbel, and Blake, we need to get you three out of here, and White Fang?" I looked at them all, "We need to get you much further than 'out of here', got it?"
They gave affirmation, and I let my dad exit sight before pulling us all into an I.D.
Calling up Telekinesis and Crocea Mors, I levitated us all out and peeled the ship open, bringing us all outside, then closing it and dropping the ID. I didn't need to be so complicated with it, but I needed to keep the White Fang out of suspicion mode so early, especially when I hadn't yet had the chance to explain more of my 'tale'
Speaking of which...
QUEST COMPLETE!
You succeeded the quest "The Dead (or Polished) Skull in the Desert"!
You gained 12,000,000 EXP!
"Stealth" level increased by 25!
"Acting" level increased by 30!
Your Intelligence has increased by 2!
Your Charisma has increased by 2!
An objective in quest "Some much-needed Polish" has been completed.
BONUS: Establishing yourself as a friend of the now-dead Adam Taurus and providing an illusion that grants you inconspicuousness has increased your CHA by 2 and given you the title "The Yellow Fang"
BONUS: The collection of fallen enemies has (#)(%#& *)*# %# no effect present?
That second bonus was pretty weird. I felt something shift inside of me, similar to the odd feeling I'd gotten when I increased LUK this past time, but deeper, like it was inside my bones.
I could only assume it had to do with gathering the dead White Fang's souls and weapons. I really hoped I wasn't on the way to unlocking some sort of necromancer class, THAT would ruin my reputation if even a small hint of such knowledge got out.
Ignoring it for now, and deciding to check my new title, I smiled.
It essentially 'confirmed' my story through the power of Charisma and granted significant fitting bonuses. I decided to switch to it for the time being, feeling my STR fall significantly. It didn't matter to me, because I had more important things to worry about than a significant increase in the power of my punches.
I turned to everyone, "Alright. Naranja, I want you and your friends to go back to Bai'Jian, okay? Weiss, Marbel, Blake, you three need to greet our assistance, while I go help my dad find and save people." we broke off into our three groups and I entered the now shadow-filled airship once more.
Outside, I heard it start to rain, and had Pluviteus make a glowing rain-cover for the girls. I knew it wouldn't last long, but it was going to get them wet.
I didn't want any of them getting hurt any more than they already were.
(?, ? POV)
A brisk breeze rolled by, sending scents of food into my nostrils. I smiled, wrinkled hands reaching out and breaking the bread, initiating the banquet.
Friends, wonderful friends who'd pulled me out of solitude, I loved them so.
We parted and I assisted them with a bolstering of power, power far beyond their normal capabilities.
It would help them, as it had with friends before, push back the night.
(The next morning, Jaune POV)
Blake's skill "Soulforge Restoration" level increased by 1!
Blake's skill "Temperantia" level increased by 1!
Hm? I opened my eyes to find my short rest interrupted by the familiar surge of healing energy. Blake looked down at me, surprised, "I was told you sleep for six hours."
"When did I fall asleep?" I hadn't recalled much. After we got everyone out of the airship and loaded onto medical ships, I went with the others back to Bai'Jian after the grav-anchor tuggers came and picked up the ship, aaaand~...
I vaguely recalled Marbel pushing me onto a bed and demanding I slept.
Turning, I saw her asleep in a chair. I tuned my hearing in and heard Weiss' voice and some people I didn't recognize talking in hushed tones.
Sitting up and carelessly ripping out the monitoring equipment, I turned the machines off and looked to see some stern men talking to an exasperated, yet relieved Weiss. I cleared my throat and stood up, noting that of the three, only one was taller than me.
Three names, all the same title, A Black Blanket over the Snows. Observing them further, I found that they were specialists of the SDC PR department.
"Miss Schnee, we understand, and we've already provided a cover story for you and your allies." a cover story? Jaune W: How much did you tell them? :W
To her credit, Weiss only looked a slight bit surprised by my whisper, but spoke while thinking something else, Weiss W: I told them there was an error in the ship and one of the engines stalled. Blake told me that the White Fang are long gone, but will keep in touch with you. :W
I checked my scroll as I equipped my clothing, "Gentlemen, as you can clearly see Miss Schnee is still shaken from the incident. She understands your message and I encourage you to return to your jobs." they looked at me, then the one who clearly seemed to be the leader spoke up.
"Ah, you're Jaune Arc. This incident has raised a bit of concern in Atlas with Mr. Schnee, and he has considered pulling the contract." he said, and I shook my head immediately.
"Four and a half weeks more of shows. Millions will be devastated if they find out the tour has been canceled halfway through. I'm the one who owns the contract and I paid 25 million for the damn thing. We're continuing." I crossed my arms and gave them a death glare.
The tallest one spoke up, showing me his scroll, "Mr. Schnee has expressed that he'll compensate you for your lost profits, sir. He simply wants his daughter to return home."
I shook my head again, "Weiss and I have had many conversations, and she does not wish to return home. Tell Mr. Schnee that Weiss is training to become a Huntress, and after her contract expires she has already arranged herself to train with me in preparation for Beacon Academy."
The shortest one grumbled something, and I glared daggers at him, "I suggest you all go back to working on covering this up, as you should be doing."
They all kept a professional air, but they simply weren't the type to respect my authority. I sighed as they left, looking around the room.
Ren was fast asleep, but Nora was watching the silenced TV. I looked at it right as she turned the volume up, "Our top story of this morning is the tale of the crashing of the SDC Songbird, caused by a fault in the engine after maintenance was run in Bai'Jian. The department of aeronautical affairs has already provided the statement that they have fired the engineers responsible. Weiss Schnee, AKA The White Songbird, is currently on tour throughout Remnant, but her next few shows might be cancelled while her ship is being repaired. Only a few staff members were injured during the crash, and there were thankfully no fatalities. We will provide a repeat of this announcement as well as an update when new information is available."
I checked the time to see it was just breaking daylight, then groaned and looked at Nora, "Thank you for helping us. I don't know what we'd have done without you two."
She giggled, "We didn't do much, just pulled out a few people." she waved it off, "Renny nearly got put on a ship himself because he worked so hard he passed out."
I smiled at them both, "You two are very skilled, helpful, and noble. Tell me, you're hoping to become Hunters, are you not?" Blake W: Jaune, what are you doing? :W
Jaune W: The more the merrier, Blake. :W "Well, I happen to have room on my team, so would you be willing to join me and my friends in our training?"
Nora shook Ren and grinned brightly, "Renny! Wake up! Jaune's up and he's gonna help us become super strong!"
Ren took in a deep, manual breath and let it release, opening his eyes and looking at me, "Well, I believe we left our master, and he said not to return, so we're in need of help."
I smiled, "Great! Don't worry, you're gonna love it at Celeste." I heard Blake give a small huff, but ignored it for the moment to send the party invites.
(One second later, Third Person POV)
Nora and Ren both went wide-eyed as they both saw a floating blue square appear in front of them, filled with white text.
PARTY INVITE!
You have been invited to Jaune Arc's party "Team Celeste"!
You will be brought into The Game with this action.
[Accept] [Decline]
They shared a look, then looked at Jaune, who smiled, "Accept them, and you'll be a part of our group, and a part of The Game."
They looked at each other again, then came to a silent agreement. Whatever this was, it had helped Jaune and his friends improve, so it mustn't have been bad, plus they felt they could trust him about this.
They accepted at the same time, Nora 'boop'ing the button and Ren quietly poking it.
At the same time, they both felt a raging painful energy ignite in their chests, feeling like something was drilling into their souls, and liquid fire was poured into the hole. After a few more seconds, however, they felt a comfortable warmth and a massive wave of relief.
Lie Ren has joined The Game in the party "Team Celeste"
Nora Valkyrie has joined The Game in the party "Team Celeste"
Jaune smiled as they saw new blue windows filled with text pop up, the tutorial.
The room fell into a period of science as whispers were exchanged and text read.
(Second's later, Jaune POV)
I let Ren and Nora read the tutorial while answering the burning questions on people's minds, silencing and deafening Ren and Nora to the chat with a few mental commands, and reading the skill level-ups I'd gained.
By raising "Acting" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Roleplaying"!
"Sword Proficiency" level increased by 30!
"Unarmed Proficiency" level increased by 59!
"Shield Proficiency" level increased by 32!
You unlocked the class "Ninja v2"!
You unlocked the class "Assassin v2"!
By raising "Flirtation" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Romancing"!
All "Boxing Champion" skills' levels have increased by 40!
By raising all "Boxing Champion" skills above 50, you have earned the title "All Star Boxer"!
I cracked my neck, Jaune C: Look, I've met them before. They're disciplined, noble, friendly, and nice. Their first response to seeing a ship crashing was to go to it and help the survivors. :C
Ruby C: Jauney, I'm all for more friends but this is kinda sudden. I'd think you'd have had the courtesy to talk to us about it even just a little bit before you did this. :C
Yang C: Yeah. I'm okay with it, we all are. We all respect that it's up to you who gets included or excluded from The Game, and that ultimately we can only hope to change your mind, but babe, we should talk these things over. How much do you know about them? :C
Jaune C: I've read over their backstories. They'll be loyal, and if they won't... :C
Skyler C: M-... Jaune, are you saying you would kill them? :C
Jaune C: I COULD, it wouldn't really be particularly hard either, but my conscience and morals would never allow it. I'd never do something like that to someone if I could avoid it, that's actually how we got Thomas. :C
Thomas C: I understand the sentiment, Jaune, and you probably took a far larger risk with me than anyone else you could think of, but communication is key. :C
Jaune C: You all just keep repeating the same things with different wordings! I get it, I know, I should have talked it over with you all, and the results and my own sureness and the low risk level don't negate the ignorance of the principles of it. The principles demanded it and even with all my INT and WIS... no, no it wasn't an act that was despite my mental power, it was actually probably because of it. I acted with a grossly unbalanced ratio of thoughts to emotions, because I was already so sure that it would be good and that you'd all agree and be okay with my decision that I forgot that it wasn't appropriate to act before actually confirming my assumptions, and so I've just made an ass out of myself and out of all of you, and for that I'm deeply sorry. :C
Weiss C: We forgive you, Jaune. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that. Next time, though, please tell us your intentions so there aren't any misunderstandings. :C
Jaune C: Right, of course. So... just to confirm, everyone is in agreement, right? :C
I received a small crowd of confirmations, with was adorably punctuated by Garnet meowing in response to all the noise. I comforted the tiny kitten, who I was surprised hadn't freaked out throughout all of this shit. Maybe it was the effect of having previously absorbed that hero's soul shard. She was insanely good at filtering out ambient chaos.
I hummed, then thought of something, and looked at the others with a smile.
With the issue put to rest, I had to deal with a few things before we could move on.
'Materials, then Garnet, then airship, then...' I growled lowly, petting Garnet as I let her explore Marbel's shirt while I carried the sleeping girl through the hospital, stopping by all the crew members' rooms and healing their injuries. Collecting them, I arranged transport and payed the hospital bills in full, with a Hunter's discount.
Once we were at the street below and I'd teased Marbel about being a cuddle-bug when she was asleep, we piled into the limousine, and I gave the driver a list of locations.
Well, it was time to get to work.
(About an hour later, Jaune POV)
I sighed as I looked at the ship, suspended in midair by the gravity anchors in the repair. Of course it was going to be repaired, the SDC's personal ships were too expensive to simply scrap. I was pleased that not only was I able to get a significant amount of the various 'spectrum steels' from a local refinery, but there were a few hundred pounds of whitesteel in the ship that weren't needed with the skills I had.
I levitated up to the ship to enter it, having already paid the mechanics to step back and not interfere. Crocea Mors was already at work moving himself through the ship, encapsulating it with his power.
We worked together as I adjusted and fixed every dent, crack, and even the chips and scratches in the material, reinforcing it with Diamond Alloy and tempering it with some usage of Plastic Alloy. The ripped portions fixed themselves and metal that was missing, which I'd run out and collected into cubes and stored into my inventory, was being replaced with both internal metal that gained a reinforcing internal rebar lattice to make up for lost mass, as well as the old materials. I'd done my best, and in the end the ship was even better than it was when it was new, but weighed a few hundred pounds less.
Grinning, I walked out and, as a courtesy, fixed up the other stuff the engineers were working on. I re-entered the ship and focused with Juristimunja this time.
Slowly, my Aura reached out and suffused through the entire ship, and I activated Engineer's Aura.
The ship, still fueled up, turned on, all the lights and systems were online, as the onboard maintenance AI informed me. I grinned and contacted the team to spread the word that we were ready to head out soon.
First, though, I had something to do.
... (Fifteen minutes of searching later) ...
I pounded my fist on the door, then simply teleported inside, already hitting the man with a slap to the face and one last Gamer's Sight.
Dillan Esior
Title: A Frosty Sentinel disgraced by Envy
Level: 24
I stood over his body and glared down at him with a challenging gaze, "Hello again, Dillan. Tell me, why did you tell the White Fang about our operation?"
He groaned, "Fuck you, asshole, what are you even talking about?" and got to his feet, but smartly kept his hands to himself.
I grit my teeth, "I have half a mind to tear your fucking throat out! Why'd you tell the White Fang about our operation?"
He looked at me funny, "Oh... oh don't tell me the fucking PR team got ahold of the story and changed it THAT fucking much... you fucking idiot kid, don't you know how the real world works?" he stormed over to the chair in his room, one that he'd soon have to give up or pay for out of his own pocket, "Of course you fucking don't. Let me tell you something... people have bad days, they go and get drunk, and they complain about their shitty fucking jobs or families or friends or whatever the fuck has got them pissed off at the time, and they bitch about it to anyone with two ears and who looks like they're paying even halfway attention. I did just that."
"To the White Fang." I added, crossing my arms.
He cracked open a beer, "Oh, there you go, crossing your arms in that 'badboy' stance, fuckwit. I didn't tell shit to the white fang, I told it to some guy who bought me a drink because he seemed like he felt bad for me. Did I question the free alcohol? Hell no, nor did I question who the fuck I was talking to. You see, in the REAL WORLD, things CAN just happen for no real intention. They got lucky, you got unlucky, because I got fired and did what most normal people would do: get drunked up and fucked up." his tone held no less venom than it did before, "I bitched about my boss and his lying ways and his cocky attitude and how full of himself he was and how he didn't listen, and just... you get the idea, ya pisshead."
I ground my teeth together. Oh I got the idea alright, but that didn't change the principle of it, "Still, people could have died because you went and got loose-lipped, AND didn't turn in your earpiece."
"You fuckin' want it, boy? Too bad, I don't have it. Probably wouldn't give it back if I still did, though, but then again you'd probably break my fucking arm to get it, wouldn't you?" he glared up at me with an amused smirk, as though he knew he was right, even though he wasn't.
My fists fell to my sides, clenched so tightly my fingernails began to cut into the surface of my skin, "I'm not nearly as bad as you think I am. You didn't give me a chance, instead just talking down on me like I was a child just out of fucking diapers. I might only be 17, but that makes me a teenager just into adulthood. I guess you thought me arrogant enough to take up my first task of true adult responsibility with something as massive as this?"
"Arrogant and fucking stupid. It's like you bought the contract just so you could be friends with Miss Schnee, not even minding the study of the procedures involved in what you signed yourself up for." he took a swig of his beer, his glare having softened a bit. Perhaps he saw maturity in my logic, patience, and even tone, "I had my reasons to disrespect you."
"And I had my reasons to fire you. You weren't entirely mature yourself, you let your emotions get the better of you and were blinded by your own pride. Ageism might be a small discrimination, but it's still a discrimination." I sat down on a reconstructed steel block turned into a chair, "You'll have to forgive me for being pissed off by it, because just about anyone would."
He looked me up and down, "You're a hell of a piece of work, kid... but I suppose I do appreciate the fact that you didn't just write me off as an insensitive asshole and move on your merry, ignorant way." he leaned forwards a little bit, a pleased grin on his face.
"Oh trust me, I've still written you down as an asshole, but I figured you had reasons, and so I allowed us both some time to cool off before I confronted you about it." I poured myself a small, neat glass of whiskey, slamming it back, "I suggest that now, you find yourself a decent job that can pay for this hotel room, or perhaps an apartment. If you've nothing to say, then I'll take my leave."
He leaned forward again, "I do." he looked at me and I swore I saw a familiar flash of humane concern enter his eyes, "How much of the story was true? Did the White Fang crash the ship, or was it the engine failing?"
I sighed, "There were a number of factors to it. We might not have needed to worry about the engine until well into Mistral, but the problems they posed accelerated its deformation. It's all fine now, and the White Fang won't be bothering us again." I changed my tone to imply that I'd killed them all, and in a way each of the members of the White Fang were dead, just not all of them were in the physical sense.
Dillan sighed, "Well, damn. How many injuries were there?"
"The worst damage anyone took in the crash was a now-healed broken ankle, which my dad handled. He's a healer. Other than that, no casualties on our side." it was the truth, but not the absolute full truth, or perhaps I was thinking with a little too much dedication to my insight, "For the record, I'd been tracking the White Fang's movements since we got to the kingdom. That was what my disappearances were all about. They were incredibly smart, and while not able to deal with them before we left, I knew of their attack and when it would take place, so the others and I were able to handle it swiftly and efficiently."
He sighed, "Well... that's good, then. I suppose I DID doubt you a little too much, and that explains what was going on, too." he leaned back in his chair, "Our whole situation was kind of fucked."
I let out a small chuckle at the understatement, "To be fair, yelling at a person isn't the most efficient way of teaching them, and you're nowhere near being a drill sergeant. In the future, I suggest asking people to explain their actions could save a lot of anger and headache."
He lowered his gaze to his beer, "And in the future, I suggest explaining your actions if someone is so radically questioning them."
I looked at the ceiling, "Well... I'll keep that in mind." I sighed, "I should get going, explain this shit to the PR agents." rubbing the side of my head, I stood up, reclaiming my chair, "Goodbye, Dillan. May our paths never cross again."
He let out a hum that I could tell meant 'I hope the same', and gestured for me to leave.
I didn't walk, merely teleported away.
... (One second later, on the streets below) ...
Appearing in the alleyway, I stepped out to see my father standing next to the limousine, leaning against it. I could see he was causing it to tilt slightly, and called out to him, "Don't flip the thing over, dad. We kinda need it."
He chuckled, "We really don't, to be honest. We all could run faster than this thing can drive."
I shook my head, "Yeah, but appearances." I said simply, as if that explained it all.
He understood it, "Damn, right, appearances." he sighed, "Well anyways, your new friends are inside, waiting to talk to you." John W: They finished the tutorial and want to talk to you about it. :W
Jaune W: Figures, I already expected as such. :W
I entered the limo, taking a moment to use my various elementals to reinforce the structure closer to my standards, as well as be able to handle the weight of everyone at once. I sat to Weiss' left on the rear-facing seat, while my dad got in on her right. Blake and Marbel were on either side of Ren and Nora on the front-facing seat, both looking wizened, but still questioning.
-/\-
Name: Lie Ren
Title: A Blossom of the Wind
Level: 35
Class: Monk
Nickname: Renny
Hit Points: 8000/8000
Aura Points: 10,000 -} 12,000
Stamina Points: 5000/5000
Strength: 31 (+40%) = 43.4
Dexterity: 68 (+40%) = 95.2
Vitality: 40 (+25%) = 50
Intelligence: 51 -} 64 (+25%) = 80
Wisdom: 66-} 72 (+25%) = 90
Luck: 30
Charisma: 38
Aura Level: 45 -} 48
-/\-
Name: Nora Valkyrie
Title: A Warrior of the Hammer
Level: 37
Class: Berserker
Nickname: Queen of the Castle.
Hit Points: 7000/7000
Aura Points: 7000 -} 9000
Stamina Points: 9000/9000
Strength: 62 (+104%) = 126.48
Dexterity: 61 (+95%) = 118.95
Vitality: 52 (+24%) = 64.48
Intelligence: 20 -} 30 (+24%) = 37.2
Wisdom: 26 -} 35 (+24%) = 43.4
Luck: 30
Charisma: 42
Aura Level: 28 -} 36
-/\-
I could see Nora had a trait called 'Storming Spirit Field', which translated to her not needing to increase her control over her Aura in order to level it up and prestige it into Aurora. On that note, I also saw that they both had quite powerful souls. I didn't have a reference point to go off of, but I felt like they'd end up extremely powerful with my help.
Giving my winning smile, I addressed them, "So, I guess you two have some questions, right?"
Ren nodded, "Certainly. The tutorial explained most of what we would be dealing with, but Nora skimmed over most of it." he sighed and I couldn't help but feel that he was used to Nora being too excitable to handle the task of reading through a long and explanatory tutorial.
"So we can kill Grimms and get better at fighting?" was Nora's first, excited question.
I smiled jokingly, "You could do that before, Nora, but it will be much easier now. I need to get you two up to par. The differences between the levels will shrink as we get further along, and I believe that, since you two are fresh, and need extra help, I'll be keeping you along for the trip 'round Mistral." I smiled and made a circle gesture with my finger.
Ren nodded, "I see. I can tell how this would be incredibly useful, having exact measurements of your physical and mental attributes. It's... certainly something beyond what I expected."
I put a hand over my heart, "Oh, Ren, you wound me so! Am I that unimpressive?"
He shook his head, clearly unamused by my teasing, "No, you're perhaps the most impressive of all of us. If this thing is correct, then a rough estimate would say that your stats are over twice as high as they should be at your level."
I checked my stats and did the math and, sure enough, he was right. I was level 73, which should have said that my total gain in stats would be, at base, 360. However, my stat total was 737, twice that plus another 17. Smiling I nodded, "Well, thank you. Any other questions?"
Nora made to speak, but Ren covered her mouth, "Nothing we shouldn't be able to figure out on our own. Thank you, and we look forward to training alongside you." he smiled at us all.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, and I for one hope that we may all become close friends soon eno-MPH." her hand flew to cover her mouth as the limo went over a bump in the road. She'd done this a couple of times already, but refused to give any answer.
If she wanted to tell anyone, she would have, but I had boundaries for myself and wouldn't pry further, letting her settle herself as we moved on.
I just hoped she'd be okay.
(Half an hour later, Weiss' POV)
The airship, or should I say the FLYING METAL DEATHTRAP, moved under my feet.
*BLURGH*
I couldn't stand it anymore, I was going to go mad if I got sick like this every time we-
*BLARGH*
Fucking FUCK! I hated this, it was making me want to scream... scream AIR, and not BILE! I just-
*BLORGH*
Weiss W: Jaune/Marbel, please come to my room. :W I whispered to them both, feeling the agony of my churning stomach settle only a fraction when it was empty.
I felt the air in the room shift as the two entered, not in the way Jaune had described with his Air Elemental, but rather the comforting emotions filled my entire room and en-suite bathroom, helping return my strength. I groaned at the humiliation of my current position, head hung over the toilet bowl like a drunken party girl.
Why was my luck in life so terrible?
Traits:
Chronic Motion Sickness (Psy): Your mind and body do not agree with most levels of turbulence while moving in a vehicle. This psychological problem makes you feel debilitatingly nauseous when riding in a vehicle, to the point of throwing up multiple times. Effects: When riding in any vehicle, disturbances in the smoothness of the ride make you feel very sick.
Marbel's hand rubbed my back, and I felt Jaune's aura help alleviate the weakness and frail feeling that had sprung up in place of my breakfast. His hand came from the side and gently wiped my face clean, leaving behind a gentle scent of cucumbers. I sniffled a little, and blew my nose, cringing as I cleaned up with their assistance.
Things had changed, that was beyond obvious. Before, I might never have started getting motion sickness, but if I randomly did, I'd not have had friends to assist me, instead I'd be cleaning myself up in the solitude of my room before being able to see anyone else.
Finishing up, I looked in the mirror, seeing myself. I was different even after only a week's time, my face had relaxed and a gentle smile came naturally to my lips. I breathed more easily once the stench of vomit was pulled away, presumably by Jaune's air elemental. I sighed, "I have motion sickness..." it was best to get to the point as soon as possible, "The incident was traumatic, we all have changed from it, and among us, Blake got friends, Marbel got strength, your father got brevity, you got half of a dozen new allies... and I got motion sickness." I rubbed my face with a hand, "I must look pathetic."
Jaune sighed, shaking his head and pulling me into a small hug, "You look fine, Weiss. Everyone has their faults. Marbel's still getting into the mindset of a Hunter, I'm too proud for my own good sometimes, Blake's stubborn and I think she knows for a fact that we can all see those bags of erotica she stashed in her section of the inventory, my dad is still getting over his own self and I think all of this time together with people he can consider friends is helping improve his self-worth... it's hard to see, but I can tell it's lacking, a lot like you must feel right now... in fact I'd say that's another point of similarity we have, even if it's flipped." my face met his jacket and feelings of warmth, calmness, and security, among other things, wrapped around me, "A son with pride to spare of a father with his self-worth damaged by life's cruelty, and a daughter with her self-worth damaged by life's cruelty of a father with pride to spare."
I sighed, hugging him back, "I don't need to be reminded of my faults."
Marbel rubbed my back, and I nearly flinched from the contact. I had had to get used to embraces and affection, but the suddenness of the gesture threw me off, "Don't worry, Weiss. We'll make sure you feel better, every single day if we have to."
I smiled, "Thank you for that... thank you both."
Jaune smiled, "It's no problem at all, Weiss. We're happy to help. How're you feeling right now? Still nauseous?" the fool, he was too much sometimes.
I looked up at him, "Right now? I feel better already."
And I truly did.
I really, truly, honestly did.
(An hour later, Jaune's POV)
At this rate, I might need to get some gel, scent, or even grease, for all the times I keep running my hands through my shaggy hair.
This shit was ridiculous. Weiss had informed me of her own feelings on the situation, but the fact of the matter remained.
These 'celebrity endorsements' were fucking stupid. If it weren't for the money I'd receive, which would be wired to my bank account from the SDC after the revenue rolled in, I wouldn't even bother with it.
We'd missed two of the meetings due to the time it took to prepare for everything, and I considered slipping into an ID and destroying the entire building with my spells, just to relieve some boredom and irritation that was gnawing at Gamer's Mind.
The worst part was the director, who I honestly think was operating with a stuffed nose. Vacuan people tended to have smaller noses, so I guess it made sense... GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
"Alright, Miss Schnee, we're so close, one more take." the woman said, and I could see the cracks in Weiss' professional mask widening. We were both tired of this shit, but it would be worth it later.
I stepped out of sight and went into an ID, which was then followed by me raising my foot and Power Stomping the ground, sending a massive web of thick cracks through the concrete. Collapsing the roof and melting the building to ash and molten stone, I sighed in satisfaction.
I might have had possibly one of the greatest minds in the world, but I was still human, I still got bored, and perhaps Gamer's Mind made that somewhat worse, despite its best efforts. The illusion fell and I was in the real world once more, gritting my teeth less than half as much as before.
"Barrier Breaker" level increased by 1!
"I.D. Create" level increased by 1!
Skill "I.D. Create" gained a new ability.
I checked, and found that the ability in question was Time Dilation. I did the math in my head (and with my scroll) and found that my current Max AP and APR totaled out to letting even the steep cost of 10,000 AP per hour extend a day in an I.D. by nearly double the length if I dedicated all of my APR solely to running the Time Dilation, and that was only if I gave every spare bit I could and didn't draw out more than what came in. As it stood, I might extend a day by 50%, so that spending three hours in my I.D. would only take two hours in real-time.
I cracked my knuckles and brushed off an unfamiliar hand that came to my shoulder, "No touching." I said in a professional tone.
"Sorry dear, it's just that I had a lovely idea and I thought you might be interested." it was the director, and I looked at her.
"Okay, you've caught my interest for the moment, what is it?" at this point, to relieve the boredom, I'd do just about anything.
She smiled almost like plastic, and that's when I realized she'd also undergone some cosmetic surgeries, "Well, in addition to its class and grace, the SDC is a large, strong company who many rely on. We thought that maybe a similarly large, strong man like yourself might be able to best display such an image."
I raised my eyebrow, "You want ME to show up in a video?"
"Ah, no no no, Mr Arc, just a few photos." she smiled widely, showing perfectly white teeth, "We believe your rugged good looks will help show the SDC's strength."
I sighed, "I'm a bit bored, so I suppose I'll indulge you." she laughed in a way she must have thought was pleasant, but I certainly didn't agree with her misconception. I followed her and she pointed me to some people who rapidly began applying some makeup to my face. I endured it for the time being, but drew the line when I felt them try to take my clothing.
Following the rather simple directions, I was in my jacket, button-up, a pair of slacks, and my armor. For effect, they wanted me to hold up my sword while Fire dust burned along the blade. I did them one better and 'conjured' some fire directly around the blade, smiling confidently as I faced some invisible foe. The camera flashed and my image was captured for them to use. I sighed and dropped the pose, "That's not even a proper combat pose." I noted out loud, pretending to conjure my normal clothing back.
The director cheered, and I saw Weiss staring at the picture. I hummed curiously, walking over, "How'd it come out?"
"Perfect, absolutely perfect, darling!" she grinned brightly, "You look wonderful. Strong, confident, rugged, and after the edits you'll look even moreso. Oh I'm so pleased I had this idea!" she swooned and I sighed, shaking my head.
Standing by Weiss' side, I cleared my throat, "So, we're done here, are we not?"
The director looked at the time, "Ah, yes, yes we are, thank you both SO much. Miss Schnee, the money and fame will pour in at our feet!"
Weiss cleared her throat delicately, "I see. Well, we should be on our way. Our day is busy busy busy." she waved as we turned to leave.
I felt the director's eyes remain on us until we left the building.
(That night, Jaune's POV)
"Your father must be disappointed, you're doing so well at something that he doesn't want you to do." I said in a congratulatory tone, and Weiss' moment of distraction was enough for me to cartwheel and deliver an axe kick combined with Far Strike to her face, sending her tumbling backwards to the ground.
She shot to her feet a second later, shaking her head to clear it after receiving the stunning magical force, "Stop talking!" and shot towards me, rapier pointed straight at my heart.
I activated Blade Mode and used Champion's Left High Guard to block the stab and deflect it to the side, feeling it slide off of my Golem's Flesh. My body jerked and twisted as we went into a pure battle of speed, her rapier versus my guards, which I broke after delivering a punch to her chest that pushed her back well over thirty feet, taking a chunk of her Aura with it, but also receiving a burst of scalding steam from her Aura's flare in protective power. I grinned a little, happy that she'd been able to keep up for so long.
We'd been fighting for nearly six hours, now, and talking during all that time. I extended our relative time to 150%, so outside of the ID, only 4 hours had passed.
She'd done very well right before we'd begun, which was moments after I brought her down to the hotel lobby. She'd caught what I meant by '3 seconds to ass kicking' and preparing in that time, switching to her combat outfit a the same time I pulled us into an I.D.
In fact, she'd done so well that my opening attack, right hook, had been blocked by a glyph. The fight after that had become a blur as time went by.
Weiss' status effect "Regeneration" has worn off!
Weiss' status effect "Washing Steam" has worn off!
Weiss' status effect "Reparative Claying" has worn off!
Weiss' status effect "Arcane Polish" has worn off!
Weiss' status effect "Storming Energy" has worn off!
Weiss' status effect "Frozen Light" has worn off!
I held up a hand and approached Weiss while forming Excalibur in my right hand. My left hand stretched out, and through my Magical Bombardment I renewed her buffs. I sensed her Aura fill her rapier as I swung Excalibur at her, and she blocked the slash as we slipped back into the rhythm of battle.
We exchanged several blows after I commanded her to switch to her weightsuit. I'd gone to a junkyard, and while it didn't have many metal objects due to the kingdom's policies on recycling, I'd found a few things and taken them for myself, putting it to use for Weiss' training.
So far, sharing this extended conversation and training Weiss with both some lessons from fencing books and my own growing style, we'd both come far.
-/\-
Name: Weiss Schnee
Title: The Frosty Princess looking in the Mirror -} The Frosty Princess looking at her Blade
Level: 45
Class: Regal Fencer
Nickname: Ice Queen -} Vomit Girl
Hit Points: 6400 -} 8000
Aura Points: 27,000 -} 28,000
Stamina Points: 9700 -} 11,700
Strength: 27 -} 32 (+50%) = 48
Dexterity: 70 -} 75 (+110%) = 157.5
Vitality: 41 -} 50 (+60%) = 80
Intelligence: 90 -} 92 (+200%) = 276
Wisdom: 50 (+180%) = 140
Luck: 32
Charisma: 50 -} 57
Stat Points: 32
Age: 17
Birthday: January 15th
Race: Human
Height: 4'11 -} 5'0
Weight: 90 -} 99
Build: Graceful Slender
Hair/Eyes/Skin: Snow White / Crystal Blue / Pale White
Cup Size: A -} AA
-/\-
"Sword Proficiency" level increased by 10!
"Shield Proficiency" level increased by 10!
I hummed softly. I hadn't been paying the most attention to refining my strikes, instead focusing on what I was going to do for the upcoming weeks.
"At least Marbel and Blake are putting Ren and Nora through their paces." I said casually, "They're both quite capable, they just lack vigor, I've figured. You know, I did the math, and we've a hundred and ten days to get everyone up to standards."
Weiss flicked a hand across her rapier, Eismeer's power wiping her sweaty forehead clean, "I'm sure we'd all be fine, Jaune."
I shook my head, "We might be 'fine', but 'fine' isn't good enough. I don't want anyone falling behind or getting hurt. We have from today, April 22nd, all the way to August 10th when Beacon starts, to get everyone up. Technically speaking, we can only truly start on May 23rd, when schools let out for the summer." I stated simply, "Because of the limits in place for Marbel, Yang, and Ruby." Juristimunja redirected a bolt of lightning away from me and into the sky.
Weiss hummed, "We'd think that was a lot of time, but our training is only moving as quickly as it is because you're able to push us as much as you are. You just got those double-element buffs yesterday, correct?" she deflected Crocea Mors and made to stab at me, nicking my side but receiving a heavy punch to the face in return.
I nodded, blocking her slashing glyph with Candidus Murus, then hummed as I got an idea, "I did, and at least the water ones are already between levels 6 and 9, hehehe." I chuckled, then turned my head to see Roimontagne form from a nearby broken building, rubble re-consolidating into his huge form.
Weiss ignored him, focusing on me and getting a slash into my shoulder thanks to my minor distraction and the fact I'd let her. I grabbed her wrist as Candidus Murus slipped into the inventory, then flipped her over my head and slammed her onto the ground, repeating the overhead smash a few times.
Weiss has endured great damage, raising her VIT by 1!
I stopped at that point, hearing one of her bones crack and fixing it with several Soulforges. I called up Crocea Mors and a nearby car reformed around his metal-leaking core, letting him team up with Roimontagne. I chuckled, "You know, to someone so tall, a greatsword is regular sized."
Weiss glanced at Roimontagne, then went wide-eyed and dashed to the side, avoiding the relatively very slow attack that instead cleaved a car in half.
"Sunbeam Zweihander" level increased by 1!
Roimontagne held the blade of solidified light in his right hand, following Weiss as I messaged her that she'll be moving on to dodging, while I doubled the weight of her weightsuit.
Turning to Crocea the elemental, I smiled, "Well, friend, looks like it's you and me once more."
He nodded, "Yes, it is indeed." he looked at me, and I swear as Summon Elemental v2 leveled up again, I saw a spark of wisdom and curiosity in his metallic eyes, "I am the Yellow Death Knight." he said simply, drawing his sword, "But death is the opposite of what I have come to represent. I am Metal, I am enduring, is that not to mean that I should not change?" he hacked my arm off with the diamond-sharp copy of the normal sword.
I backed up, my arm reforming in a second, and amped up Golem's Flesh, "You're not just Metal, Crocea. You're more than that, even if it may seem that it is entirely what your being is." I assured, smiling as we exchanged blows and my body rocked as he casually hit me with tons and tons of force, "You and the others and even myself, all parts of a yet greater whole, who we are and what we do is connected to each other. We're all distinct, of course, as my senses are what my flesh can detect, and the six of you are able to sense your elements... tell me, as far as you know, there are no other elementals to get, are there?"
He looked troubled, as though I'd given him a far too difficult problem, but his literal gear-filled brain ground out an answer as his core's purple light covered his body, balancing his speed and strength by tempering his body and softening his flesh slightly, "It... is not. From what I remember seeing, and what I see now, from all of my forms, there are six, and only six. Never more, never less, in a way like metal, unchanging even when repurposed or reinterpreted. You are the one with the soul that brings us all together, who allows us to mingle in ways we'd never be able to normally. In a way you've done the impossible already... you've changed metal, silenced fire, weakened earth, frozen water, choked air, and stilled lightning. I suppose then that it would make sense. We are not entirely pure, all mingling in your soul, we strengthen as your own strength rises, and we change as you change. Then, even as Metal, the element of endurance, I too would change, guided and made yet more powerful by your soul." he reattached his leg shortly before I hit him with a powerful kick to the stomach.
I grinned, "You're smarter than you look, Crocea, tell me something, what do you think about the others?"
He huffed slightly, "The others are our allies, growing friendships, something that will change, but in some ways stay the same. I suppose it is that part of humans that guide you, Metal, the element that represents your endurance, your innate nature and determination to live. Humans were made to love, it is what we've found Aura to be, is it not?"
I hummed curiously, "What's your take on the light of the soul?"
(The next night, Jaune POV)
"I've thought of it." he finally answered as we clashed once more, "The human soul is as we've determined that it is."
"So it's exactly what we think it is, then? It's like Metal, enduring?" I asked in return as our swords clashed, noting that the sword Crocea the elemental had was not an exact copy of the Crocea Mors sword I held.
"It is. It remains as it is, made to house light and strength with its capacity for love and emotion. It is infinite in distance as it is able to stretch the body's capabilities beyond what is normally possible, even though it is in different amounts. Not just physical attributes and those that can be measured, but emotions as well."
I grinned, "You're a lot smarter than I anticipated, Crocea."
He smiled, "I've had a long life, seen many things. Mystral or Juristimunja might want you to think them the smartest, but it simply isn't true." he shot at Missile at me, which I dodged and heard the distant shout of complaint from Marbel as it nailed her in the side. I stopped for a second and threw some healing her way, feeling a massive surge of pain as Crocea's sword cut off everything from my left shoulder to my left hip in a shallow crescent-shaped slash. I spun around and punched him back, feeling my hand crack as my body reformed.
"So our friends are our friends and even if that changes, they'll still be our friends in a way because despite the Lightning that is change occurring, humans are made to be loving and compassionate?" I summed up his long, around-the-bush thought process, which I wasn't actually surprised must have taken him a full day to come up with.
"That is it, then. Though becoming freer, my mind still remains as it is, enhanced only by the increase of your power."
I raised an eyebrow, "Freer? So you're becoming wiser, but not smarter?"
He let out a sound of struggling, "It is... not so simple. I feel hidden restraints slowly falling away, it is hard to determine what they mean, but it assists me in using my power, the same as it assists you."
I mulled over that as we went back into the normal exchanging of blows. From his wording, I could tell that he was referring to something that increased the Ease of Casting for my elemental skills. That narrowed the field down greatly, only eight of my skills increased my Ease of Casting.
Storming Energy was rather small for 'freeing his mind', only currently providing a 57% increase.
Frozen Light was honestly more likely, because before, Crocea Mors wasn't able to cast metal spells so easily, so that might have been it, but it only increased the ease of casting for Ranged Magic Attacks, and only by 27%, so it didn't make sense either.
Ki Body didn't make much sense either, since it increased the ease of casting for Ki, not the elements.
Aura Channeling had been extremely slow with its creeping levels, and provided an extreme 1700% increase, but it was an older skill, not one that Crocea would have recently been able to manipulate, not with what had to be the answer.
Battlemage provided a much less extreme, but still very impressive 300% increase, so it seemed like one of the best bets here, definitely in the top three guesses.
Biospiritual Integration provided a boost to Ease of Casting equal to my DEX, as well as an additional boost based on 'somatic components', AKA casting motions. Crocea wouldn't be affected by that since due to the way it worked, it only affected spells *I* used.
Aura Suffusion increased by Ease of Casting by 74%, but that was mostly to increase the ability to utilize the 'cloud' of Aura that I projected, it wouldn't help like that.
Which left the most logical answer, Druidic Proficiency. It increased the Ease of Casting for all elemental skills by 200%, and had leveled up rapidly after my elementals prestiged, already at level 51. It had to be the answer, it was the one that made the most sense. Occam's razor, and all that.
Cracking my neck and blocking Crocea's sword from bisecting it, "Druidic Proficiency. It boosts the Ease of Casting, which is what fits best with what you're saying. I can only suppose that is what it is. Makes me curious about the prestiged form. It feels like it's the one that might prestige first, among my stat-benchmark skills, which makes me curious as to what it might become."
"I do not know. Juristimunja would be best suited to 'think' about that." he said the word with an instance of hesitance, as though he wasn't sure about it.
"What's so weird about thinking?" I asked, though I felt I already knew the answer.
He let out a sound of struggle, "Before, when we were Basic Elementals, we were limited to only our perceptions of the elements, and enough mental power to know what we were, to understand you and though tiny bits and pieces were added to our minds as you grew stronger, it wasn't until we evolved that our small minds bloomed outwards like flowers."
I raised an eyebrow, then smiled, "Do you like flowers, Crocea?" I figured the worst I'd get was a non-answer, so it seemed okay.
He let out another sound of struggle, "I suppose... it is change, yet perhaps only change in the form of repurposing, or reinterpreting, as they say 'swords into plowshares'. Your concern for Ruby's well-being, it may have been reinterpreted as an affection for flowers along the way. I do not know for sure, again Juristimunja would be better for this type of thought."
I tilted my head side to side as I stopped the spar to roll the thoughts around in my hand a bit, "I suppose that makes sense... so then what, your minds expanded to become more like mine? Will you eventually all have minds that are exactly the same as mine?"
He smiled, "Ah, this is more to my thoughts. No, we would not. The process was nearly perfect, yes, but some things grew unclear during the growth, it felt. Even if it were perfect, we all would still be ourselves, even despite having your mind entirely. We would have our own minds too, retaining ourselves even when so much had been added to us. We have our own experiences, our own thoughts and feelings even now growing within us. We relish how you've begun to summon us so often now, the feeling is impossible to describe. Our 'eyes', thought imitating yours, had never before seen the sun, or the ocean, or the sky, or the clouds... to see through the eyes of our master the world that we influence..."
I grunted, "I'm not your master, not truly anyways. I may command you, but the relationship is not a master and his servants, the closest to THAT would be 'a leader and his teammates', but I think of us all as friends. I might be at the center, as the glue to bring us and keep us together..." I smiled at him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "...But we're together on a level deeper than any master could hope to achieve."
He smiled back, "I... think that you'd be disappointed, that I am unable to feel the same."
I wasn't just disappointed, I was heartbroken. I knew it was a longshot, but the evolution had done more than just make them all massively more powerful. It had given them a handle that I could grab onto and lift them up in ways more bonding than simply being a guide and a battery for them.
I dismissed him with a pat on the shoulder, commanding him to head off to help Roimontagne bug Blake and Nora, who were sparring tonight. I laid on the ground and sighed.
My life had changed so much in so little time. I'd gone from pretty much a physical nobody too stupid and weak to make a difference, to a man on par with full Hunters. I was reaching a plateau, too. I could tell, since there were only so many Miraganger Stars out within a reasonable distance, and I'd need to kill hundreds to get a couple levels above them, and then what?
At that point, no more levels unless I took myself to further lands with bigger, stronger Grimm. I might eke out a level in a year if it took so long to find sufficiently powerful Grimm to defeat or complete sufficiently difficult quests.
I stood up, leaping to the top of a nearby short building where Garnet had been placed to keep her safe from the destruction. I smiled at the excited kitten that had been enjoying all the flashy displays across the nearby area, dazzled in her tiny mind. I nodded to Xiburichu, who floated nearby, keeping his pool of flames away from the fragile baby.
I opened my profile, humming in contemplation. I had my friends, granted technically eight of ten of them were girls, but they were still my friends and I loved all of them dearly. I had been pushing myself as hard as I safely could, to grow stronger and be able to protect them all better.
-/\-
Jaune Arc
Title: Big Star Boxer -} All Star Boxer
Level: 73
Class: Magic Knight -} Magic Knight / Tank v2
Nickname: Knightlight
HP: 44,100 -} 46,000
AP: 180,000/180,000
SP: 65,500 -} 68,000
Strength: 86 -} 88 (+295%) (+115%) (+80%) (+175%) (+125%) = 818.8
Dexterity: 78 -} 80 (+295%) (+115%) (+80%) = 501.5
Vitality: 90 -} 92 (+295%) (+115%) (+80%) (+175%) (+50%) = 782.4
Intelligence: 157 (+5) (+295%) (+50%) = 712
Wisdom: 195 (+5) (+295%) (+50%) = 890
Luck: 116
Charisma: 85 -} 90
Stat Points: 96
Age: 17
Birthday: November 20th
Race: Human
Height: 6'1 -} 6'2
Weight: 250 -} 260
Build: Med-Heavy Athletic
Hair/Eyes/Skin: Golden Blonde / Brilliant Azure / Medium Tan
-/\-
I sighed. I didn't want to spend my points, because what I had and maybe less than a hundred more were all I could see myself realistically getting. I especially didn't want to spend them right now when my physical stats were getting closer and closer to the next benchmark. The days had been busy, not allowing for much time with training, but Time Dilation helped balance it back out. I cracked my neck, and put three points into INT, just to get it to the next multiple of ten.
Intelligence: 157 -} 160 (+5) (+295%) (+50%) = 734.25
AP: 180,000 -} 185,000
"Aurora" level increased by 1!
I smiled. I had gotten the notification that I received the status effect Natural Growth, which I'd also noticed Weiss and Marbel had gotten.
An objective of the quest "A Boy of his Word" has been completed!
I smiled a little wider. The quest was a silly one, a promise of a boy who didn't understand a damned thing about life, and whose heart and ideals were bigger than he could even hope to manage. Still... it had a charm to it, a sentimental value tied to days gone by.
I sighed heavily. We were nearly done with Vacuo, two more days, then we'd fly all the way to Vale, stop for a while to fuel and resupply, then we'd be on our way to Mistral.
My smile grew twice as wide when I thought about the chance to see Yang again. Our relationship might not have seemed entirely normal from an outside point of view, but we'd made a connection, and that connection was reinforced, bit by bit, with pretty much every sentence we exchanged. She was my Sun Angel, I was her Knightlight, we'd be the light in each others' lives that would cast away the night.
I sighed, shaking my head. The thoughts were wonderful, yes, but I still had things to do at the moment.
My class, or rather, classes, were a result of Roleplaying, which I was a little surprised by.
Roleplaying (Passive) (prestiged from Acting) Level: 11, Exp: 0.00%
The ability to take on a role not your own, honed with constant practice until the illusion becomes as convincing as reality. Going yet even further than that final step, this skill allows one to dedicate themselves to multiple roles in life without the need to actively switch between.
+750% role immersion
+400% character immersion
+350% voice alteration
+420% body language control
+600% emotion fabrication
+18% Master Convincingness
Allows you to equip 2 classes at once.
I had managed to power-level it by not only rapidly equipping different combinations of two classes, but also telling some somewhat complex jokes to the others.
Even now, I maintained the steady flow of EXP by rapidly switching my classes, but the most common combination was Magic Knight and Tank v2, since it was preferred due to the usefulness of both and the lack of necessity in terms of Tank. I could have gone for Wizard v4, but it came with an 80% reduction in physical damage, which I guess would actually help not hurt the others so much during our spars... shit.
Facepalming, I once again switched the classes out. If I could select three classes, then I would, and I assumed that I'd probably get that ability with a high level in the skill. I definitely wouldn't be able to get more than four, if not for the realism (because if it was mental, I could certainly handle five or more different roles at once), then for the balance the Game had. I'd also found that I couldn't equip two of the same class in order to increase the effects.
Cracking my neck again, I turned to look at Garnet, who was standing on the tips of my fingers trying to see all the cool stuff going on. I smiled and pet her head, "You're a sweet kitten. I know for a fact that the others love you." I chuckled softly, "But regardless of your strange level of curiosity, I don't want you to get mentally, or physically damaged."
She meows in response, and I brought her close to my face. She took it as an invitation to nuzzle me, and we both smiled.
"It's time to increase your stats." I instructed simply, opening her profile and observing the changes from before.
-/\-
Name: Garnet Arc
Title: Blanketed with Good Will and Fortune
Level: 51 -} 61
Class: Cat
Nickname: Lil Furball.
Hit Points: 350 -} 400
Aura Points: 400 -} 480
Stamina Points: 600 -} 660
Strength: 1 -} 2
Dexterity: 2
Vitality: 2
Intelligence: 1 -} 2
Wisdom: 1 -} 2
Luck: 25
Charisma: 30 -} 33
Stat Points: 250 -} 300
-/\-
I smiled and scratched under her tiny chin, "Impressive for someone who would instantly lose in any fight."
I gently waved her in front of the shiny numbers and letters, then closed it. Sure enough, she was confused and wanted it back, thus bringing up her own profile, which I saw had the buttons for increasing her stats.
I chuckled softly and lifted her up to Vitality, "Go on, press it." I said softly and encouragingly, smiling.
She poked the button, which made the number go up, and the other button light up. She meows and poked the other button, and the number went back down. She poked them both back and forth, enjoying the sight of the number moving.
I moved her away and tilted her so her tiny paw was over INT's button. Sure enough, she poked it and meowed in delight as the number changed. I let her bat at some of the buttons for a little while, then stopped her, not wanting to make her receive damage from the sudden surges in power, especially not when she was so fragile to begin with.
Booping her tiny nose to the minus buttons, I settled her down and tricked her into confirming the changes.
-/\-
Name: Garnet Arc
Title: Blanketed with Good Will and Fortune
Level: 61
Class: Cat
Nickname: Lil Furball.
Hit Points: 400 -} 2000
Aura Points: 480 -} 2400
Stamina Points: 660 -} 3300
Strength: 2 (+10%) = 2.2
Dexterity: 2 (+25%) = 2.5
Vitality: 2 -} 10 (+10%) = 11
Intelligence: 2 -} 8 (+25%) = 10
Wisdom: 2 -} 8 (+25%) = 10
Luck: 25
Charisma: 33
Stat Points: 300 -} 280
-/\-
I healed her with over a hundred Soulforges to ease her distress, which had caused her to start trying to wiggle out of my grasp. I wrapped her in an Auric Embrace, soothing her as she passed out in my hold with a strained meow.
I frowned, saddened by her pain, and gently set her down. I commanded Pluviteus to clean her and stood up, stepping off of the roof.
It hurt, a lot of things hurt my heart right now, but I wouldn't be discouraged so easily.
Not Yang's distance.
Not Crocea's ignorance.
Not Garnet's sufferance.
I would continue, no matter what. I would become strong enough to keep my friends safe, to fuel the fires of love, and to give my elementals the gift of emotions.
I once thought the world as a neverending void of darkness, and myself too weak to make a difference, but no longer.
No longer was I weak and filled with fear.
No longer was I blinded by the illusion that the darkness was impenetrable.
No longer was I going to stand still and let the forces of evil continue.
I'd uplifted warriors of light.
I'd redeemed people who were once villains.
I'd gathered the necessary power to trek ever onwards.
I chuckled softly, smiling as I watched the others training. They were good, and they'd get better. We all would.
I had my friends by my side, and I'd get more friends too.
I'd bravely walk into the darkness in order to guide others to the light.
My party... we would stand together and chase away the night.
I was The Gamer, I was chosen to play this game, I was given the tools to take on this task.
"Xiburichu... you are Fire, and so I too am fire, because we are one."
He grinned, "We are. Is there something you want to say?"
"Yes." I said simply, turning to look him in his face, with his azure eyes and ash-filled maw, "Fire is the willpower of nature, both to create and destroy. It's warmth and pain and healing and destruction and all sorts of things." I smirked confidently, "And that willpower is enhanced even more by my mind and my soul.
I am The Gamer, that's what I was born to be, is it not? Destiny chose me to take up this mantle, it chose me to play The Game, to ascend to the power of legends and to fight against the eternal darkness, to possibly put an end to it. Whether I fight for two months, two years, or two centuries, I will play this Game." I clenched my fist, raising it to my face, "I will play the Game for as long as it takes...
...and I will win it, because I'm the fucking Gamer..." I unclenched my fist and held my fingers open for him to long hands with me, "...and we're all in this together, are we not?"
He looked taken aback, but slowly reached out, his flaming fingers touching mine, but instead of burning heat, what I felt was an invigorating warmth, "We are, Jaune. We are one."
I grinned vigorously, "Then let's get back to training, shall we?"
He grinned back, then flowed into my hand like a surge of water down a drain. I felt invigorated, then looked towards Ren and Nora, smiling and closing my eyes as I summoned Mystral.
Meditating on the elements and reaching out to hear the echoes of lessons from long ago has granted you the skill "Zhu Que's Vermilion Bird Style"
Casting away the calls of despair has sharpened your mind and increased your INT by 2!
Realizing part of your destiny as you ride the chariot of righteousness has increased your WIS by 5!
I felt the heavy surge of power flooding into my system, and grinned with excitement.
Time to start training.
(The next morning, Jaune POV)
"Roleplaying" level increased by 10!
"Gaster Blaster" level increased by 70!
"Prismatic Spray" level increased by 6!
Manipulation of aura into mannic patterns has created the skill "Energy Beam"!
"Energy Beam" level increased by 30!
"Excalibur" level increased by 8!
All "Boxing Champion" skill levels increased by 10!
By raising "Energy Shot" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Energy Bullet"!
By raising "Mana Bullet" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Mana Shotgun"!
By raising "Ash Sparks" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Cinder Sparks"!
By raising "Rain Burst" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Rain Blast"!
By raising "Gravel Blast" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Pebble Blast"!
By raising "Razor Winds" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Razor Windbursts"!
By raising "Zapping Arcs" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Shocking Arcs"!
"Battlemage" level increased by 15!
(Many more notifications...)
I cracked my neck, closing the many notifications of skill level increases. I began walking towards an Ursa Gigantus. I remembered the pain it once caused me, a long time ago, when I spent the night at the Rose/Xiao Long household, and once came stalking out of the forest.
I sighed at the memory. We'd all been so shocked back then, but now?
It roared and made to swipe at me, but I simply jumped over its claws and into the air. My fist rocketed into its chin with a flying uppercut, snapping its head clean off.
"Champion's Right Uppercut" level increased by 1!
"Azure Dragon's Shocking Steps" level increased by 1!
I'd found that Shocking Steps could be seamlessly used alongside my Boxing skills without interrupting either of their experience gains, and as such I'd been using them together all night.
The others had all called it a night, and I'd used another I.D. based skill to remove them from my 'realm' without having to destroy it.
I stretched time out as far as I could willingly manage, taking 12 hours to pass by the last 8.
Taking a moment to stretch my limbs out, I ceased the summoning of the usual army of Beowolves, Ursas, and Boarbatusks. My Magical Bombardment filled with Cinder Sparks. Whereas Ash Sparks were a dull and dim orange and gray, Cinder Sparks were significantly brighter and had much smaller amounts of gray per 'spark'.
I launched thousands of sparks at the last wave, each one lingering in the air or on fur and flesh for a couple of seconds before fading, dealing a bit under half the normal damage over that course of time.
With flames thinning the crowd out as HP was pissed everywhere, I funneled the remaining Grimm down a corridor formed by Roimontagne, about five feet wide. I watched as Ursas awkwardly tried to move as Boarbatusks scurried under-foot and Beowolves were willing to climb over their brethren to get to me faster.
I widened my stance and summoned a single Gaster Blaster, which rose from nonexistence under my feet, lifting me into the air. I held out a hand with a wide grin.
A swirling vortex formed in its mouth as it drew in an extremely long, ethereal breath, growing in size as I beefed it up with Aurora. Chuckling, I heard the hateful roars of the Ursas, and had only one response.
"'Roar' to you too, motherfuckers." and I snapped my fingers.
The air screamed in pain from the beam of plasma energy tearing through it, but its weeps of agony didn't compare to that of the remaining squadron of Grimm, which all cried out in unison as they were obliterated.
The skull disintegrated rapidly, and I landed on another that formed under me. I laid down on it and let Rain Blast pour over me, thousands of droplets soaking me and washing away sweat as I burned more Aura for calories, filling my Hunger bar fully. I exited the I.D. and cast an illusion of invisibility over the Gaster Blaster, using the actual buff on myself, and flew back to the hotel. I dismissed the GB without it firing, mostly thanks to my Ease of Casting being so high that I could 'reverse' the spell quite easily.
Teleporting to Weiss' suite, I smiled softly as I reached down and shook her gently, "Wakey wakey, sleep-head." we'd grown a lot closer over the past couple of days, mostly because it seemed like my presence was the only thing preventing her from getting her Motion Sickness symptoms, poor girl.
She was humiliated beyond belief at her condition, and though I'd made the White Fang apologize to her eight times, it still happened and there wasn't any changing that. She simply had a deep-set, trauma-based mental condition involving airships that resulted in her vomiting.
Groaning, she opened her eyes and looked up at me. I grabbed her hand and flipped her up out of the bed and into a tangle of covers, then pulled the blanket off of her with an auto-looting hand and deposited it back onto the bed, "You have 30 minutes to get ready for another stupid fucking advert recording."
She groaned again, though this time in a much more specific agony. I turned and walked out to give her some privacy, Jaune W: I'm glad, at least, for these small things, because it can just be the two of us and not any other guards who don't know us like we do. :W
Weiss W: Yeah, I suppose that's a positive point. The others still worry, though. They're not speaking against you or taking any steps against you, from what I've gathered, but it's definitely something they talk about. I hardly ever hear it, though, because they keep quiet around me, but I HAVE heard it. :W
Jaune W: Well, as long as we don't have to deal with any more mutiny, I'm fine with them just talking. Workplace banter, and all. :W
I heard her giggle a little, and sensed a smile. Rolling my shoulders, I focused on a different conversation, since she seemed to want to focus on her shower.
Jaune W: You there, babe? :W
Yang W: Yeah, I am. What's up? :W
Jaune W: Not much, just waiting for Weiss to get ready so we can go deal with lame advert recordings. It's going to net me and the SDC fucking millions, but all the people are so obnoxious. :W
Yang W: Yikes. I had a test today, and I'm like 90% sure I passed. Studying was a breeze. I love having such high INT and WIS. :W
Jaune W: Hehe, yeah, it's especially good as The Gamer, because I get benchmark skills. 9 for INT and WIS each so far, and all of them very useful. :W
Yang W: Oh yeah right~. Say, when you get back to Vale, do you want to... I dunno, just... go out? :W
Jaune W: On a date? Yes, I'd love that. I've missed my Sun Angel for quite a while now. :W
Yang W: You've only been gone for 6 days! Then again, I guess that's a long time when we DON'T have the option to see each other at our leisure. :W
Jaune W: Yeah... true. I've been tempted to chase the night and just put in my all to run all the way back to Vale. Given my boosts all together, I have a maximum speed of over Mach 2.5 :W
Yang W: Wow... that's fast... so fast I don't even know how fast it is. :W
Jaune W: Let's just say I could run from here to Vale in under 3 hours, barring any distractions. :W
Yang W: Oh! Shit, that's awesome! Why don't you do that? :W
Jaune W: Because then people will wonder where I am and I can't get back within a reasonable time. Any time that I would get there would be while you're in Signal or while you're asleep. Neither would work well :W
Yang W: Damn. Alright, alright, I'll just wait, then. Waiting sucks ass, though. :W
Jaune W: I know, baby girl, I know. I know it must be harder for you, too, since you don't have a Gamer's Mind to fight off these feelings. :W
Yang W: I know, so you'll just have to make up for it with an even nicer date, then, Knightlight. :W
I smiled softly at the use of my nickname, Jaune W: I'll take you out for the best date you've ever had. :W
Yang W: Well, the bar hasn't exactly been set very high in the past, but hopefully my dad and uncle will keep their distance. :W
Jaune W: I doubt they can get into my Illusion Dimensions. We'll be safe and sound, don't worry. :W
Yang W: I'll hold you to that. Arcs and words, what was the saying again? :W
Jaune W: An Arc never goes back on his word. :W
Yang W: Hehe, yeah, we'll see about that. :W
I couldn't help but frown internally. Was she starting to doubt me? Jaune W: Don't worry, babygirl, I won't let you down. :W
I smiled and we shared another camera kiss, her eyes twinkling with happiness as we shared a heartfelt gaze.
Goddammit I loved her so much.
Turning off our cameras, I took a few glances around, my eyes honing in on exits and whatnot.
"Snapping Glance" level increased by 1!
By raising "Snapping Glance" level to 99, you have earned the skill "Snapshot Glance"!
Humming, I checked the skill, and found that as the name implied, I could capture images into my memory with greater ease and clarity now. Smiling, I tapped my foot as I combined Crocea, Mystral, and Jurist into Shimfan, playing music into my ears.
After a few more minutes, I checked the time, a quarter till ten, Jaune W: Weiss, you nearly finished? :W
Weiss W: Almost. While the ability to manipulate water certainly hastens my showers, I still need to use my soap. I'll be ready in four minutes maximum :W
Jaune W: Alright. Six minutes is enough time to destroy a city block. :W
Weiss W: Wait what? :W
I grinned and coiled my legs in a crouch, charging a few Buffs up, mostly all of my Earth ones, plus Thunderous Motions. I.D. shimmered into existence and I broke through the ceiling, soaring over a thousand feet into the sky. I pulled my focus into Superweight Field, pouring over ten thousand AP into it and rocketing back towards the ground like... a rocket, basically.
My body struck the roof fist-first, and I plummeted through sheet after sheet of hard stone, feeling the shards rake at my skin, clothes, and armor.
"Shining Armor" level increased by 1!
I smiled viciously as I sent out Razor Windbursts at the random Grimm that spawned inside the hotel, sensing how they worked similar to how their new name implied.
Energy Bullet flew at speeds faster than sound and presumably would go supersonic. Mana Shotgun had a larger amount of bullets fired, and that amount was increasing much like Energy Shot's amount had. Cinder Sparks were brighter, deadlier, and lingered in the air to deal some more damage to any who touched them. Rain Blast delivered over twice as much rain as before, but not much else. Pebble Blast had larger shots than before, but not much else. Razor Windbursts, as the name implied, burst on contact and sent out a small explosion of wind, meant to do a bit of damage and stumble/disorient the target. Shocking Arcs gained the iconic Lightning spell 'DEX Debuff' ability, but reduced the target's DEX by only 1 per 'arc', which meant a maximum of what I could guess would be 25 DEX. I doubted it would stack much higher as well, so it was little more effective than the far more damaging Shock Orb and Lightning Bolt.
Reaching the basement, I let Roimontagne and Crocea Mors send the debris at my now unarmored body like bullets.
I grit my teeth as I took the pain of being assaulted by thousands and thousands of sharpened shards of stone and metal, chewing through my HP and AP as I used Ki Body to combine the two regenerations together.
To illustrate how utterly powerful my combined regeneration was now, due to all of my soul-enhancing abilities... I could regenerate from 1 HP to my maximum of 46k HP in just over six and one-thirds seconds.
"Physical Resistance" level increased by 1!
Grinning, I let it all run through, then jumped back into the air well over a thousand feet, slipped back into the real world, redressing, and teleporting back into Weiss' room.
Shining Armor was one of the skills that I hardly remembered where it came from, but it was useful, since it allowed me to 'enchant' my armor and clothing to be protected by my Aura's effects, and allowed it to regenerate much like my body did. Given that leather was just treated skin, I could guess it was only slightly harder to regenerate.
Rolling my shoulders, I turned my head to see Weiss, now clean and fully dressed, walk out of her room, "You ready?"
She sighed, "As I'll ever be." she rolled her eyes, "Let's get this over with. A courier delivered some books to study yesterday and I've yet to look over them."
I nodded, "Alrighty then." I put my finger to my microphone on the communicators, "I'm coming down with Miss Schnee, heading to her 10 o'clock. Have a car ready when we get down there." I got a confirmation that my orders had been received, and walked with Weiss to the elevator.
We shared a smile, and entered the elevator.
(That night, Jaune POV)
We collapsed out of the elevator when the doors opened, breaking our stalemate. Excalibur streaked through the air as I grabbed Weiss and spun us so I'd land on bottom.
Weiss pushed off of me, stumbling away and getting her balance. She was grinning, as was I, at the simple joy of relieving stress by hitting stuff.
"You're a disappointment to your entire family, and you love that. Admit it." I smiled jokingly. It had become something of a joke, since she wasn't very fond of her father or sister, and actually enjoyed being awash with the possibility of their disapproval.
She laughed, "The ones that are alive at least! The angels smile upon me, Arc, can you say the same?" she cast a glyph on me, throwing me into the air, before another glyph shot a flurry of energy arrows at me.
Regaining control of my body and flipping myself over with telekinesis and landing on my feet, I used Aurora and Elemental Aura to dispel the icy rods of energy and get rid of the brief status effect Chilling Weakness, then used the VB skill Incandescent Glow to start burning Weiss, forcing her to use her Aura to protect her.
Zhu Que's style was actually a lot more magical than I anticipated. More magic-based than even Qing Long, who I now decided was more of a magic swordsman than strictly a mage. The skill I was currently using was actually the defensive technique of all things, emanating a field of burning heat and flames made to prevent the enemy from getting close, rather than directly protect from the attacks they'd make.
I reared my arm back, casting VB Feather Storm, forming nine feathers on the underside of my arm and swinging them at Weiss, watching them fly through the air and explode on a glyph shield.
I was suddenly assaulted by dozens of cuts from behind, but merely swung my elbow back and broke the glyph. We'd found that even if they appeared nearly entirely 2D, they were still made of Aurons and therefore could be 'broken' as with other 'hard' aura constructs, much like 'soft' constructs like Ren's pulses of force could be 'disrupted'.
Cracking my neck, I grinned, "I'd say yes, actually. Blake and Yang are angels blessed with virtue, and they smile at me." I chuckled and surged forwards, only to plow through the wall when Weiss expertly sidestepped, jabbing me maybe four times before I was out of range.
The thing about a person like me, though, was that even when falling from a thirty story building, the world was so small for me that I didn't panic in the slightest.
Tanking the fall, I surged Aura into my legs with Power Jump and surged straight back upwards, mentally counting down the distance. When I got within range of Weiss, pushed off of a square of solidified air, went through the wall, and impaled Weiss through the stomach with Excalibur, dismissing it seconds later as we hit the ground, "I win again, Weisscream." I began healing the wound with Soulforge. It was getting extremely close, but its EXP gain wasn't getting higher from the Fundamental Factors... I guess that's because I couldn't quite understand exactly how it worked?
"I told you not to call me that, or I'll call you... Goldstein."
I raised an eyebrow in confusion, then we shared a laugh as I knelt by her side. Observing the wound while it was healing wasn't getting me anywhere, and it was healed before too long, so I lost the opportunity there. Sighing, I stood up and helped Weiss to her feet, "At least be a tiny bit more creative, like... Arcrocious, like Atrocious but... y'know... my name."
She rolled her jaw, both to settle it after a few brutal punches there, and as if tasting the word, "I can accept that. Arcrocious it is, then, even if you're really quite excellent."
"And you're really quite... not food." we shared a laugh at the stupidity of my statement, "And I guess warm too." I ruffled her hair, which was tied back in a low ponytail to keep it out of the way.
"You're the warm one." she sighed and leaned into my side. We'd established that she had a thermal disability and I helped greatly, and I'd already been helping her since my aura nearby (read: within touching distance) seemed to prevent her from getting airsick, "And your jokes are Arcrocious."
You have gained the nickname "Arcrocious" from Weiss!
I chuckled supercharged Roimontagne and he brought the building into a controlled collapse, my agile feet carrying Weiss all the way down without either of us getting hurt. The random odd chip of stone just bounced off her Aura's shielding, and we ended up in the basement. Dismissing the ID, we were greeted with the sight of the others training, and I set Weiss on her feet, "Alright!" I raised my hand and my voice to get everyone's attention, "I think that's enough for tonight!" Crocea's power came to bear and turned the equipment back into unshaped steel, "Tomorrow is our last day in Vacuo, so let's all get rested up. We leave in the morning."
With a curious eye, I looked at everyone with Gamer's Sight.
Marbel Mayston
Title: The White Rook of the Flowering Kingdom -} The Brave White Rook of the Flowering Kingdom
Level: 53
Blake Belladonna
Title: The Nighttime Beauty -} The Deadly Midnight Beauty
Level: 55
Weiss Schnee
Title: The Frosty Princess looking at her Blade -} The Cold Princess holding her Blade
Level: 45 -} 47
Johnathan Arc
Title: The Ninth Moon to Illuminate the Night
Level: 110
Lie Ren
Title: A Blossom of the Wind -} A Monk of the Wind Blossom
Level: 35 -} 46
Nora Valkyrie
Title: A Warrior of the Hammer -} A Warrior of the Storm Hammer
Level: 37 -} 49
I'd taken Ren and Nora out grinding on Grimm, happening upon a dungeon that was a ruined castle populated with hundreds of Lizalgrunts and dozens of Lizalwarts, with a 'boss' Lizaleneral.
You gained the item "Dash Potion (x1)"
You gained the armor "Cresilerk"!
You gained the weapon "Graunsclarush"!
Nora was actually wearing Cresilerk, since it was a massive step up from Sphinreber and even the other armors, made from aluminum brass plates (which I'd coated with titanium for a silver sheen like she wanted) and having a silicon carbide lining, presumably from combining lightning magic like the sword conducted, and fire magic to electrolyse the sand into its component silicon and oxygen particles.
All in all, it was clever, and Ren was thankful that Nora was better protected, even if he'd been embarrassed to admit it. I also noticed him talking to her and, shortly after, her INT increased by 10 through usage of points, plus 5 more points used to balance out her physical stats a little.
Overall, it seemed like their training under Hoshi had at least conditioned them to be disciplined and vigorous when it came to all training. It seemed, though, that while Hoshi had dedicated himself to one art, the Vermilion Bird, Ren had grabbed bits and pieces of the four arts and brought them together, using his own ingenuity and cleverness to make them work.
I think Weiss might have been a little upset about being the lowest leveled person in the party, but most of her training was conditioning and skill development, not necessarily leveling up. Despite that, I answered her silent request and taken her out to fight some shit. With just the two of us, the EXP was split halfway, instead of five ways, meaning we got a LOT more.
Cracking my neck, I watched everyone finish going to their rooms. Ren and Nora clearly weren't opposed to sharing a room, which was good because we only had one spare. I went to my own room, which I rarely used, and sat on the bed.
I sighed as I laid down, staring at the ceiling and meditating with my eyes open. I closed them and began willing myself to sleep.
Sleep was important for people, not only did it give them a period of time to recover while the rest of the body rested, it helped their minds organize and process their thoughts during a time of no other input.
The Fundamental Factors of Intelligence and Wisdom were telling me to sleep, to let Gamer's Mind organize everything, and I was willing to comply... but not at the moment.
Sitting up, I sighed and rubbed my face, looking around the little room. I decided that nothing here was worth looking at and stood up again, equipping my traveling clothes and teleporting up to the street.
Looking out over the horizon, I cracked my knuckles, equipped every single thing I had that could increase my speed, slipped into ID, and blasted off.
For achieving incredible speeds, you've earned the title "Twice Pacing a Bullet"!
I smiled, equipping it and getting a bit more speed. At the current limit of my speed, I was going over two-thousand miles per hour, a bit over Mach 2.7.
I had places to be, and so I sent a message ahead.
(Ten minutes later, Jaune POV)
"I'm glad that you were willing to have this little midnight chat, Sayon."
The man smiled politely, "It is no problem, Arc-san. Every moment of my waking life is dedicated to everything the world may require of me. I do believe sleep insignificant for men like us, no?"
I nodded, "My semblance lets me ignore just about any mental status effect besides an eternal state of calm rationale... it can be overtaxed, but sleep is incapable of doing that."
He hummed, gently blowing at his tea, "So you came for a simple chat, or for a purpose?"
"I did, I simply decided we could wait until our second cups of tea before we could get down to business." I smiled, "So how's Shade been?"
"It has been Shade. No different than it has been before or what it may continue to be. We hide the people in the shadow of a guardian as the guardian stands in the light, fights away forces of evil that wish to take our safe place." he hummed softly, taking another sip of tea.
I nodded, "And that's why the giant statue is out front?" a winged, robe-concealed man with hands holding a sword outwards, statues of innocents standing in his shadow.
He smiled, "Precisely, and why school was built into the ruins of a long-gone city."
I hummed, "And why, if I may ask, was the actual city not built here?"
He sighed, "Its current location has much greater closeness to water. The desalinization plant there is also great source of jobs for people, as are the others."
I nodded, "Well that's good." I set down my empty teacup.
Sayon took one last sip of his cup, then set it down across from mine and filled them both back up, "So... to business, then? What you request of me?"
"I give help, I get help in return, that's how this deal works does it not?" I received an affirmative nod, "I've turned the White Fang to my side, and they're under the impression that my semblance is conjuring, as does my security team. I need you to forward to Ozpin that he needs to vouch for me when I bring up the proposition of the Kingdom of Celeste. I'm currently working on it, but when the time comes I need him to be ready to give the go-ahead. I've made the image that I am conjuring the place from the ground itself. I'm going to need an assload of Earth Dust crystals, which I've been made to believe are relatively rare for Hunters to use?"
"Not as much as fire, air, water, energy, ice, or lightning. I believe only gravity is rarer, if only for the price."
I nodded, "Right, and I'm going to need an assload of Earth Dust crystals to help me get more earth to manipulate and turn into buildings. I'm not keen on trying to turn the entire damn mountain into a city, I have plans for it. I also plan to reclaim Friar and Glenn as well, if it's worth mentioning."
He hummed, "If you may write this down, I could inform him of it more easi-" he stopped when a stack of papers nearly slammed down onto the table, "Notes?"
"I suggest getting photocopies of all that. They'll only last 38 hours before the ink fades. That's a rough sketch of all my plans for the next few months."
He hummed, then went wide-eyed, "Is the 'beach vacation' necessary?"
I shrugged, "People go crazy without fun in their lives, the beach is fun."
He sighed, "You are correct, then. I suppose this is fine, then." he set the papers down, then called for someone to come collect them, "I assume you don't have permanent copies?"
"Nope, so send them to me too. I'll need to review them." I smiled, "Anyways, I gave something, and I requested something back, that's nearly all I came for." I drank the rest of the tea, "To process a transfer of knowledge. I'm going to need copies of some books from your library, mostly ones about weapon proficiency, as well as maybe one or two advanced books written by master swordsmen?"
He nodded, "I'll have copies provided, at least. I do not plan on letting my unique books get burnt up as your semblance absorbs the power."
I nodded, "Right, right, of course. Don't worry, I wouldn't do something so cruel." I would, but chose not to, since I didn't want to piss off the Illuminati.
"You've done very well, Arc-san. A few books to a student is hardly a price under normal circumstances, the relief you've provided us... doubtless." he smiled at me, sending a quick message on his scroll, "You will be compensated. You're good man, Arc-san, no need for money from us, only knowledge. The path towards enlightenment."
I deadpanned, "Is it just a habit that you all make light-based puns?"
He shook his head, "No, not truly." he looked over his tea and at the fireplace, then his eyes lit up with realization, "Ah, take this. Ozpin felt you might make some sort of accomplishment in Vacuo, and sent this for you to receive after completion." he produced a small amulet from inside his robe, holding it out towards me, "Take it. It has no tie back to us, but we will know what it means." I took it and examined it as I turned it over in my hands. A white crystal with a leather string wrapped expertly around it, "He suggested an item of power would be of more value to you than one merely of symbolism. It still symbolic, but more to your liking."
Luminescent Amulet
Description: A small crystal of Light dust tied with a leather strap treated with natural oils to make it strong, yet comfortable to wear. It gleams with power.
Effects: +5% resistance to all Elemental magics. +60% Ease of Casting to all Elemental spells.
I smiled and equipped it, "Thank you."
"Ah, it is bribery, I wish to rely more on trust. You are an honest soul, I knew you would do well for us." he smiled pleasantly at me, "Let this good faith continue, and we will provide for each other as allies."
I smiled and nodded, "Of course. I wasn't going to stop just because I got a cool amulet. I should get back to the others, make sure they're alright. I'm a lot more tired than before, so perhaps I'll take some time to sleep."
He yawned as well, "Yes, it been many moons since I last slept. I will rest as well. Goodnight, Arc-san." he bowed.
I bowed too, looking in his eyes, "Goodnight, Miyagito-san." we nodded, and I walked out of the room.
On the way out, I was flagged down by a woman carrying a stack of books. Graciously accepting them, I stowed them into my inventory, gave the brief explanation of 'conjuring semblance', and left.
I had dreams to go have.
(?, Jaune POV)
I blinked as I found myself standing in the streets of Vale. I had Crocea Mors in my hand, and could see my friends all fighting against a horde of Grimm.
I saw, in the far distance, obscured by fog and the crimson sky, a stampede of massive elephant-shaped Grimm heading straight for us. I ran towards them, intending to intercept them.
They trumpeted thunder at me, sending my backwards, but Mystimunja countered them, and I pushed through. Gaster Blasters roared to life and vaporized the legs of the Goliaths, sending them into a crashing, rolling stop. My blade struck true, cutting massive furrows into flesh and rending bone plates apart. One of them seemed to gather energy together, then blasted me with a massive jet of water, sending me through several buildings.
Not content to let them get away with that, I teleported to it and lashed out with Sunbeam Zweihander, severing the beast's head and disintegrating its body with Gaster Blasters. Casting it several more times softened the whole lot up again. The fog, which had cleared just from the sheer forces they'd been exerting, burnt away as one of them opened its mouth, drawing in flames and what seemed like sunlight itself. I wasn't keen on finding out what it planned to do, so I launched myself forwards and doused its flames with Crashing Wave, followed by peppering it with Water Pulses.
Unfortunately, I was grabbed out of the air and slammed into the ground by another trunk, which I then cut off. I was surrounded, and so I decided to do what I did best.
Spray and pray.
I floated up, far beyond their trunks reaches, and began simply spamming every single ranged magic attack I had, occasionally throwing in a dozen Far Strikes for good measure.
I gradually ground them all into paste, annihilating them with all the spells I could muster. With a heaving sigh, I landed on the ground.
And then I found myself lifted from behind, a clawed hand thrust through my chest. I looked down and saw blood streaking the white bone claws. Pushing myself away with telekinesis, I spun and landed on my feet, heaving as the damage healed.
Grimm Zombie
Title: Damned into Darkness and Anonymity
Level: 84
It looked like... Jade, if half his flesh was torn off and his throat torn out, the meat shredded, and then put back together and painted black. Bone plates formed over his hands and feet where his weapons previously were, and he let out an inhuman roaring sound, disharmony in his tone as his roar was laden with cracks of higher pitches, grating on my ears. I stood up and cast my buffs, feeling the energy, and swung my sword...
Only to have it suddenly fall into two pieces, shorn in half by extreme flames.
Another Grimm Zombie was at my side, and shot me with a blast of dark energy, knocking me back several feet. I grit my teeth as I glared at it... it was Kroma.
"Wait... is this some kind of 'facing my demons' dream? Hell no! I summoned Gaster Blaster and immediately shot the two, immediately destroying a weak layer of black energy with splotches of color splattered throughout it, followed by the two of them.
I was... lucid dreaming, I realized, and found it... oddly boring. I snapped my fingers and immediately Vale was restored to its whole self and the sky had turned to that of a bright and sunny day.
I smiled, walking back to where my friends all were, and gave Yang a hug. Chuckling softly, I took her on a date, letting the others go do whatever it was they desired.
It was... nice...
(?, ? POV)
I awoke in bed, feeling light, with a pair of arms around me. I slid them off and got out of bed and onto my feet, standing up and stretching, letting out an inhuman sigh as I did. Rubbing my eyes, I very unstably walked into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and threw some water into my face. Rubbing it around, I blearily looked into the mirror, closing my eyes after confirming my blond hair was as it was. My skin felt oddly smooth this morning, and I paused and felt at it a slight bit more.
A sudden draft blew across my chest, and I shivered lightly at the sensitivity of my skin. As more of my body woke up, I became aware of my hair tickling at my shoulders...
Huh?
I opened my eyes and stared at the woman in the mirror. Brilliant cyan eyes, golden blonde hair reaching several inches down her back, a slender and very fit figure with medium-sized, perky breasts capped with light pink nipples. I blushed at the sight, and saw her blush too.
My mind was still turning on, and I realized I should use Gamer's Sight on her, seeing the information pop up above her head.
Jane Arc
Title: All Star Boxer
Level: 73
Lightning filled my head as I realized what I was seeing, and I let out a shriek.
"Zzz-zhuh? Babe? Are you alright?" I heard a male voice call out groggily, and cautiously walked to the bathroom door, staring at my bedmate.
Yang Xiao Long
Title: Hotter than the Sun in the middle of July
Level: 60
A man with shoulder-length blonde hair who... honestly looked like a Vacuan-blooded Thor with a slightly slimmer build that owed more to speed, sat up, propping his body up on one hand and staring at me, his cheeks reddening, "I uh... m'I still dreaming?" he asked with a yawn, staring at my... breasts.
I opened my mouth to speak, but just sort of ended up fainting like a little bitch.
(?, ? POV)
I smiled as I frolicked in the meadow, my legs moving freely to carry my body past grass and flowers. It was a wonderful time to be alive.
I looked at the woman who had led me onto this path, our smiling eyes locking for a few moments.
#*&((*#%*& #&
Title: A Lady of Strength, Vigor, and Passion
Level: 41
We shared a laugh, stopping in a meadow of flowers and picking a few. A gust of wind blew by, twirling the petals of a spin-blossom I held out to her. She smiled and took it, giving a sniff of its light and airy scent.
An aged hand snuck over and placed a trio of large, healthy daisy blossom in her hair, the yellow contrasting the bright red. She smiled at me, and I returned it.
A weight slammed into my shoulders, but I was stronger than I looked, "# %Y# (*&!#, it's nearly time, I can feel it~." I turned and smiled at the cheerful woman who'd helped revitalize my long-forgotten garden, which now teemed with life thanks to my influence over nature.
#*( &%*&(# %& #
Title: A Lady of Vitality, Love, and Nurturing
Level: 34
I ruffled her hair, "Time for what, young lady?"
"Time for dinner, of course!"
Dinner? When was the last time I'd eaten? I could hardly remember. Probably explained my frailty. My head hurt just thinking of it all.
Name: (#!&*#
Title: (#*#!#&) Nature
Level: (##
Nickname: Mr. # (* #*face
# (*%&# *(&# %
INT: 400
WIS: 400
#%&*# *&(%# #
Age: 962
# *(&%# %(!#)&^
I groaned, "Ah, well could you help me back, then? These old bones aren't the sturdiest." I stretched out an arm, taking in the sight of the tattered sleeve of my dirty grass-green shirt, one I'd probably worn for months straight. I sighed and felt the two sisters help me walk, which was surprising. I was sure after seeing me practically run a marathon and only get a little winded, they'd assume I was faking it. I suppose they were truly kind after all, which said a lot.
We walked back to my home, the ruins of a once great city, reduced all the way down to a single shabby house. Lilian watched in awe as my magic came to bear... #&* !#)&#% & the pattern of power flowed and plants grew into the foundations and walls, but rather than tear them down, the vines and ivy and flowers built it back up, reinforcing it with nature's will itself.
"Tired already? You should rest, it's only right." a third voice spoke up, and I looked at the stoic woman with pale blue hair smiling softly at me.
*&( #*&%#&)%!# #
Title: A Lady of Wisdom, Calm, and Temperament
Level: 37
She laughed as I glared at her, "I'm not young like you girls." I said with a sigh, plopping down into my seat at a table I could only assume # )(%# *& had either found or provided. Very resourceful, that girl. She'd go far in life.
Sighing in malcontent, I snapped my fingers and dozens of leaves fell down on her all at once, getting into her hair and making her react as I'd expect any woman to: with panic followed by rebuke.
( #$*&%) #& went over and quickly helped her sister with the leaves, while another figure came up over the horizon.
# &*(%(# * *) #*
Title: A Lady of Intelligence, Poise, and Grace
Level: 43
I hummed curiously. While she definitely wasn't as much of a fighter as # )(^ #^&* , she definitely was a lot smarter and more capable of thinking on her feet.
She regarded me with kind eyes, "Hello, great wise man." she smiled, "I am # (*% $&%# and I'm-" her words were drowned out by a ringing in my ears. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, taking in the scents of the food.
"I wish I could repay you, but... I'm a lowly hermit, I have nothing." my inventory was barren but for several essentials, "You're all so kind."
I sighed, thinking about the failure that was my life. I had no friends, in fact if it weren't for my perfect memory, then four centuries of no human contact would have led me to completely forget how to even speak. Talking to myself kept me sane most days, as I meditated without end, stopping only to keep my home from collapsing or the roof from leaking.
I smiled, catching the brown-haired woman's words even without truly listening. I could feel the kindness in their hearts and souls, something I could simply sense.
I realized that... their kindness, their pure hearts and the power they had the potential to wield... it wasn't ideal, not at all.
Compressing seven into four, it already made my head ache at the necessary work. I'd become rather lazy and lethargic over the past three centuries, but conjuring the powers of the light were rather easy.
The ground shook slightly, "You all are such kind, perfectly virtuous individuals." I didn't even listen to my own words as I allowed them to witness my power without fear, and the light of my soul first glowed around me, then shone outwards with a corona of light.
I began to glow like a star, then the brilliant white light split the night sky apart, and finally the very sky itself turned bright white as my light penetrated far into the atmosphere. All at once, it disappeared, and compressed into seven orbs of energy floated around my body. I smiled, melding them into four and #(*%&* #&*%(# ) #^&# &*%(*#&^%&*
#*() #&*(^ #^) #&*()# *&(#! ^&*) #^&(* #$^%)!#!)!&#*% &^# #$#$^#^#^#!#!#%)*%# %
The four women smiled at me, in awe over their new powers, while I myself felt quite drained.
AP: 461,343/49,000,000
My very soul had been weakened, three years of progress with my meditation instantly reversed. At the very least, they'd all been massively empowered, enough to push back the threats that face this world. I was far too frail and out of practice to do it all, and my light... # (%&*&*%!# %&* #
# %*# *%& #&*%&*
About a mile back, I followed them, my #^%&* #$*&^) and observed how they helped others... it brought joy to my heart.
I was glad I made the right choice.
(The next morning, Jaune POV)
I awoke with a soft smile, feeling warm inside. It was honestly a nice ending, despite what The Game said.
You suffered from an "Ominous Nightmare"! What could it mean?
You did not recover any HP, AP, or SP.
(glitchy eye-fucking text)
SYSTEM UPDATE: The Fundamental Factor of Intelligence has caused many updates!
SYSTEM UPDATE: Some previously unresolved numbers have been resolved.
Many skills have received many levels!
"Sword Proficiency" level increased by 20!
"Ki Breathing" level has increased by 20!
"Soul of the World" level increased by 15!
"Green Thumb" level increased by 10!
"Nature's Bond" level increased by 20!
"Power Burst" level increased by 40!
"Cyclone Strike" level increased by 30!
By raising "Far Strike" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Far Slayer"!
By raising "Bullrush" to level 99, you have earned the skill "Bulldoze"!
"Rushing Strike" level increased by 30!
Your high level of WIS has granted the class "Monk v5"
SYSTEM UPDATE: All classes have gained special attributes!
Etc.
I filed the rest of the notifications away for later, humming as I felt at Far Slayer and Bulldoze. While Far Strike projected an attack, like a punch or a sword strike, Far Slayer projected much more. Instead of an amorphous projection of force, it was shaped much more like my fist or my sword.
Slipping into ID, I brought Crocea Mors into my hand and cut a furrow through the wall about the length of the blade. It actually had a modifier for 'Attack Size', which pretty much said that I'd get a larger 'slayer' as the skill leveled up.
Launching dozens of the strikes and effectively destroying the wall and most of the furniture, I could level it up until I saw what could be reasonably assumed to be every attribute of the skill change. At level 6, the range finally increased, and I was satisfied. I switched to my gear, sheathed Crocea the sword, and dropped ID, appearing in the middle of the room in a spot that Realm Summon helped tell me was clear of anybody else.
I snapped my fingers as I appeared, getting everyone's attention, "Good morning everyone." I smiled at them all, "We've got a pretty full day, all things considered, so I need you all to be ready ASAP."
Most of them didn't speak, just gave a small, inarticulate sound and moved with noticeably more speed and urgency, and I made sure that they all got what they needed.
It felt nice to help them out.
(Later that night, Jaune POV)
"Thank you everyone~! I've loved just about every single minute I've been in Vacuo, this kingdom is beautiful, and I'll have to return in the future. Thank all of you for coming out here tonight, you all are so wonderful, I think I might just do an encore!" there were cheers and claps from the crowd, and Weiss smiled, before diving into one last song.
I knew the joy wasn't from the singing, but rather the massively improved time she's had thanks to being able to have friends, real and true friends that didn't see her as a bank or a princess, just as Weiss Schnee.
To be honest, she'd had the barest modicum of receiving my respect when we first met, and that's only because she was able to hold what seemed like half her bodyweight in liquor. Respect from me wasn't just given, it was earned, and I'd be damned if Weiss hadn't earned my respect by turning a new leaf and proving she could keep up with the training, even if she may have felt inferior.
I'd been purposefully increasing the difficulty of her training as she went along, so while she might have felt improvements, her progress wouldn't look as quick as it actually was.
Ren and Nora were something else, and that wasn't a joke. Ren, despite what he might have seemed with his low SP, was a fucking machine, and seemed to be able to draw on his AP to pay for SP costs at an extremely high efficiency. Just yesterday, he actually worked until he passed out from exhaustion. Of course, I'd made sure to bring him back up with Soulforge, which I'd found that if I used I.D. duplicated Dust Crystals, the effect actually still worked, surprisingly, as long as it was used in the I.D. and not outside. As long as the effect was performed fully inside the I.D., I could save money and resources and just use the duped crystals.
It probably had something to do with Metal, I honestly didn't really know. The Game tended to come up with rules with no rhyme or reason for them, leaving me to guess what would be effective and what wouldn't.
I cracked my neck, something I'd noticed I'd begun to do a lot of recently. I sighed... another thing I'd begun to do a lot. My fingers curled and uncurled, and as expected nobody attempted to do anything. Luck probably had something to do with that.
Weiss finished her encore and there was more cheering, but she decided to end it there. I left the monitoring room and met her in her room. I smiled, "Well. That's all I can say about your show, you did very well. I loved it, and you really grabbed their hearts with that encore. I think tonight we should all take a break, whaddya say?" I walked up to stand behind her, smiling a little as I began braiding her powder-soft, smooth, snow-white hair, "Have a few drinks to celebrate getting through Vacuo and making eight new friends along the way." I smiled at her, finishing the braid with expert ease... why did I do that again? I just sort of felt like, really. Weiss looked really cute with a braid, and I smiled, patting her shoulder.
She smiled up at me, "That sounds wonderful. I should probably disguise myself, though."
I nodded, "No need, my I.D. can get us into any bar we want."
She tilted her head, "The drinks in an I.D.'d bar are actually viable?"
I nodded with a broad smile, "I'm pretty sure if I can use I.D. duplicated Dust Crystals to use Soulforge Restoration with all of its normal function, we can drink I.D. duplicated alcohol." chuckling, I lifted her to her feet, "Cooooome on, we're going to pubs and taverns, and it's gonna be great."
Weiss kicking her legs briefly, then calmed as I set her on her feet, "D-don't pick me up like that." I saw her blush, and chuckled, "Don't laugh at me! Come on, you dunce, we should collect the others."
"Already covered." I heard Blake say as she opened the door, "Come on, Miss Schnee." she said professionally, to keep up appearances, "We've only a few hours until it's time to leave Vacuo."
Marbel came in moments later, "From there, as you know, we'll be stopping in Vale to refuel and restock the ship, then we'll be flying to Mistral to continue the tour."
Weiss nodded, "Of course, just as scheduled." Weiss C: We're going out to get drinks. :C
Marbel C: Yeah, that's the plan. :C "Alright, we should make our way back to the hotel."
Blake C: It would be best to make them think we're all there, meanwhile Jaune can make sure we don't take too long by extending the time we're in the I.D. :C "Right this way, everyone."
John C: I shouldn't be condoning this type of behavior, but honestly the booze here is too good to keep all to myself, I'd feel disgustingly selfish. :C
Jaune C: So it's settled then, we leave immediately. :C
All smiles, we headed out, past the crowd outside (which took an extra ten minutes as Weiss generously signed most things people were requesting, but a couple of 'dragons' made the bolder people back up), we got into the limos and began making our way back to the hotel.
(Hours later, Jaune POV)
I sighed as I sat on the side of Weiss' bed. I wasn't going to sleep tonight, because Weiss needed me, but I still had limits.
Even if she'd looked adorably pitiful when she drunkenly requested that I stay near her while she slept, I refused to lay down beside her, instead feeling the faint warmth and pressure of her back mere inches from mine as I stared at the mirror.
I'd already grown what looked like a short beard, and my hair had grown out to be a few inches long. My very high VIT was probably the cause, accelerating my body's growth.
I sighed again, still focusing most-all my attention to my meditation, lest I break it. I breathed in and out, slowly and steadily.
I felt the elements outside of my body, the wind outside, the electricity running through the ship, the metal body of the ship which I'd reinforced entirely, the warmth of my body and the warmth I was focusing onto Weiss because of her thermal fragility, the earth let me feel a little at the plastics in the ship, but just barely. I felt the teeny tiny amount of moisture in the air, but Pluviteus let me enjoy sailing on the ocean within my thoughts. I was able to reach out much further, and feel significantly more than before.
I sighed for the third time, mentally jotting down everything I needed to do tomorrow, followed by preparing some plans for all of that. It would be a bit of a rush, but I'd do everything I could.
Vale... I'm coming home!
... for a little while, at least.
Well, that's that, then! End of chapter, FINALLY! It only took me over 50k words, a new record.
About a whole third of the the chapter's entire length (omake included) is just the White Fang stuff.
Ren and Nora join the party, because Jaune sees in them a great potential and the essence of true Hunters.
Even big corporations run ads, just look at McDonald's and Walmart.
I lost a lot of ending explanation stuff because Chrome randomly crashed, and I don't feel like explaining it all again, so let me sum up the rest:
A large theme in this story is "Knowledge and passive power can only take you so far, it's up to you to take the final step", and a damn good example is how Jaune prestiged both Aura into Aurora, and Summon Elemental into Summon Elemental V2.
Weiss pushed forward and embraced the positivity of her new friendships, as well as the light within herself, allowing her to prestige Aura.
Blake's method was a little different, she held back her negative emotions and helped the VcWF (VaCuan White Fang) to get regrouped, AND helped Jaune place himself as the person currently pulling the strings in the WF as a whole. This ability to do what's right despite what she feels allowed her to embrace the strength of her soul and prestige Aura.
Marbel may not be prestiging Aura for a little while, but she's taken her first major steps into becoming a true Huntress, washing her civilian mindset with a major dose of courage, which The Game helped her do by assisting her in unlocking a new facet of her semblance. Now the Rook(ie) has officially been Knighted. One day she may become a full chessboard!
Next chapter will have Vale City, Beacon, VaWF (Valean White Fang), the Rose/Xiao-Long sisters, Celeste, and more before they head off to Mistral.
Now that that's all out of the way, you know what time it is!
Omake: Bending Rules, Acting like Fools
(Summertime, Jaune POV)
As the smoke from the massive magical explosion cleared, I found myself staring down at Yang, humming curiously. This was...
"Ohmigosh you're so CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE~!" Ruby squealed as she picked her sister up, hugging her tightly as I observed her.
-/\/\/\/\-
Name: Yang Xiao Long
Title: Hotter than the Sun in the middle of July -} The Little Sun-Candle Hatchling
Level: 60
Class: Fiery Martial Artist
Nickname: Sunflower
Hit Points: 25,000 (-90%) = 2500/2500
Aura Points: 15,000/15,000
Stamina Points: 35,000 (-90%) = 3500/3500
Strength: 90 (+310%) = 369 (-85%) = 55.35
Dexterity: 70 (+50%) = 105 (-80%) = 21
Vitality: 90 (+120%) = 198 (-90%) = 19.8
Intelligence: 60 (+50%) = 90 (-20%) = 72
Wisdom: 60 (+50%) = 90 (-20%) = 72
Luck: 32
Charisma: 100 (+20%) = 120
Age: 17 -} 7
Birthday: December 12th
Race: Human
Height: 5'9 -} 3'10
Weight: 200 -} 50
Build: Med-Heavy Athletic -} Healthy Young Girl
Hair/Eyes/Skin: Golden Blonde / Brilliant Lilac Purple / Light Tan -} Youthful Pallor
Cup Size: E -} N/A
-/\/\/\/\-
"Ruby let gyoooooooo~." the de-aged Yang whined childishly, pushing against her sister, but even with her aura-enhanced strength, her smaller body just wasn't strong enough to break free.
"I'm gonna dress you up all cute and you can't stop me!" Ruby giggled evilly, retribution burning bright in her eyes.
Yang seemed to realize she couldn't fight back, and instead opted to simply whimper.
I put a hand on Ruby's shoulder, "Ruby, please, don't. Just don't. She doesn't deserve that."
"She tried to dress me up as a stripper. I'll help you with any sort of bibs or diapers or anything else you want to humiliate her with, Ruby." I heard a very familiar, but oddly smooth voice say, and turned to its source.
Name: Blake Belladonna
Title: The Deadly Midnight Beauty -} The Angelic Midnight Beauty
Level: 65
Age: 17 -} 21
She had... well, she had developed pretty well, I might dare say she was ridiculously gorgeous. She filled out and stood at a respectable 6'0.
I turned to the others, observing them all.
Name: Ruby Rose
Age: 15 -} 25
Name: Marbel Mayston
Age: 15 -} 25
Name: Weiss Schnee
Age: 17 -} 22
Name: Nora Valkyrie
Age: 17 -} 8
Name: Lie Ren
Age: 17 -} 21
Name: Pyrrha Nikos
Age: 17 -} 14
I blinked, he blinked back, and it took me a few seconds to realize I wasn't staring at a mirror.
Name: John Arc
Age: 45 -} 17
As my dad stepped closer, I realized I towered over him, and checked myself.
Name: Jaune Arc
Age: 17 -} 34
Birthday: November 20th
Race: Human
Height: 6'2 -} 6'9
Weight: 260 -} 350
Build: Med-Heavy Athletic -} Heavy Athletic
Hair/Eyes/Skin: Golden Blonde / Brilliant Azure / Medium Tan
I blinked, then looked at everyone again, counting it all out. Fifty years, fifty total years were taken and redistributed among ourselves.
Nora was whining too, but about wanting candy rather than not wanting to get dressed up. Ren, I noticed, was still bare-faced, but his hair had grown out and he'd become 5'9.
Marbel looked fantastic, time being very generous to her as she cut a beautiful figure, well-built and well-rounded, standing at 5'8.
Ruby looked... like a thinner, less busty version of how Yang had looked, with thinner hair. She stood at 5'10 and looked swift and powerful.
Weiss... was busy playing with a pair of impressively sized breasts she'd apparently grown, stars gleaming in her eyes as she marveled at the development. She stood at 5'6, with quite a curvy figure, and was currently too preoccupied with her own body to take notice of what was around her.
Pyrrha had a fairly small amount of change, she was just shorter and less developed both in muscle and womanly figure.
I rolled my neck as I looked down at my father, now young enough to, if you could push aside the disbelief in the difference between our ages, be my own son. He looked basically almost exactly like I had a few minutes ago, but his beard stayed put, though it was a little thinner and shorter.
"Well... I guess I shouldn't be playing around with spells with this many people involved." I said simply, shrugging, "It seems that the effect is counting down, we'll be like this for another four hours as long as we all stay within a certain range of each other. If we move out of range, it'll stop counting, but luckily it won't reset. So we all just need to keep calm, and-"
"GET CANDY!" Nora managed to wriggle her way out of Ren's grasp and, with her semblance and Aurora boosting her, sped out of the seaside home we'd rented for this vacation.
I opened my mouth, closed it, then opened it again, "We should go catch her."
Ruby still seemed too distracted holding the now defeated Yang in her arms, cooing and fussing over how cute she was, but luckily Blake nodded and ran out after the little pink lightning-infused warhead.
My dad sighed, "Son, I need your I.D. and your clothes. Luckily we should be able to pass for each other."
I nodded, handing over the appropriate items as we "Right, maybe, except I'm 3 inches taller than you were... then again, with especially tall people, it's hard for most people to tell their exact height." I noted with minor dismay that he kept most of his stats, getting at most a 15% decrease to his STR because he didn't have as much muscle mass when he was my age.
Then again, mass didn't matter as much as density did. Even as a 7-year-old, with the changes The Game brought on, Yang was still over eight times stronger than the average young adult non aura-user, given how STR scaled.
I smiled, then my smile took a quick trip southward as I noticed both Magnhild and a few hundred Lien leave the Inventory. It wasn't but six seconds later that we heard a distant explosion, "We're going to be in some big legal trouble."
Ren went wide-eyed as he seemed to recover from all of the reeling in shock, and he realized he let a candy-desiring Nora run away without even trying to go catch her.
I pulled us into an I.D. as we charged towards the city with such momentum we broke down the front door and a lot of the wall surrounding it, exiting our seaside house AND the I.D., using the Party Tracker to locate Nora and Blake.
We split up, aiming to make a pincer move. It wasn't but 20 seconds later, after I'd forcibly removed Magnhild and all the grenades from Nora's person with my privileges as The Gamer Himself, that we found a panicking Blake, a screaming Nora, and a broken storefront. I quickly had my Elementals working together to repair the store and everything in it (luckily Nora's grenade was only concussive and didn't have any fire in it), throwing about fifty thousand lien onto it to make them kindly forget all about what happened, and I pulled us all into I.D.
Ren looked furious, and picked Nora up, making her pause briefly in her screaming, then she cried into Ren's shirt, "I just wanted caaaaaandyyyyyyyyy~!" goddamn, she whined like a fucking thunderstorm.
Ren gave her no quarter, "Nora, stop crying. Just because you're... eight years old for a time now, doesn't mean you're allowed to go running off and exploding stores just to get candy."
I leaned over towards Blake, "I think that's the most he's said all week." she giggled in response, and Ren looked up at me.
"Jaune, Gamer or not I will tear you a new anus if you don't fix this." damn he was angry, which honestly surprised me.
"Ren, I can't just DO that. It's a status effect we've never experienced before and has a lot of variables included in it. We can minimize our chances of shit going badly with a few methods: Firstly, Nora, you're grounded and not allowed to leave the house until this status effect is resolved. Ren, Blake, and Pyrrha will be overseeing your containment, and if you're good, then you might not receive one hell of a whoopin'." I glared at her, "You did a VERY bad thing, and you'll be punished for it."
Ren's eyes blazed, and he gently set Nora down, and in a flash projected what felt like a train hitting me, sending me flying back through a couple of buildings. I used telekinesis to bleed off momentum, and stood up, wiping my mouth of the bit of blood that escaped a cut that healed in a second. Day Breaker formed in my hand as white mist billowed off of it. I chuckled, "BLAKE! TAKE NORA BACK THE HOUSE! SEEMS LIKE I GOTTA BEAT SOME SENSE BACK INTO REN!" I used Realm Banish to send her and Nora away after she'd grabbed the now rather quiet.
Ren shot forward like a bullet, "You ASSHOLE!" he was swatted aside like a baseball with one heavy swing of the hammer-shaped solidified aura.
"WHAT CRAWLED UP YOUR ASS AND DIED?!" I called out to him, only to get a fist to jaw as he uppercut me, his semblance sending my skyward.
He jumped up and landed ten punches to my chest, "Nora had a terrible childhood and you've probably reminded her of those times."
My expression softened as I grabbed Ren by the face, "I'm terribly sorry to hear that, but trying to tear my throat out isn't going to help, nor is it an equal punishment. Yeah Nora had a shitty time, but she also blew up a candy store, so I'd say she damn well deserves a whoopin'." I threw him to the ground, his body breaking through the street and sending him into the sewer below, "SO CALM YOUR TITS, BRO! YOUR ARGUMENT IS VERY ONE-DIMENSIONAL!"
He stood up, only to immediately meet a Wrecking Ball to the face, sending him stumbling back. He stood up once more, but held his hands up in surrender, "Alright, alright, stop! I realize it's futile to try to fight you."
I lowered to the ground, "Good man." I pointed at him, "Thank you for seeing reason, I didn't want to delay this shit any more than needed. Look, it'd be best if instead of fighting over whether I triggered childhood flashbacks in Nora, how about instead we make sure we she has a nice time this time around, huh? A big brother and two big sisters, maybe three if Ruby wants to extend that hand. I think it'd be nice." I smiled and held out a hand, "Come on, let's not lose our minds in less than ten minutes, okay?"
He sighed, then grabbed my hand, "I can agree with that, I guess the weight of the situation struck a little too hard. To be fair, threatening 'one hell of a whoopin' on Nora... that sort of pissed me off." he sighed, "Come on, let's get back home."
"Yeah, hopefully the others haven't started acting weird either." I took us out of the sewer and led the way back, taking the rogue's highway back and slipping out of I.D. as we got inside.
...
We were greeted with the sight of Yang blushing bright red as she wore an adorable little outfit of brown overalls and a cute yellow t-shirt that read 'Don't make me pout', which made me confused on how quickly Ruby had acquired it. Shaking the thought from my head, I looked at Ruby, and the now quiet Nora being held in Blake's lap.
"Hey, Nora... you're not getting a whoopin', but you WILL be staying here for the day... with your new big sisters!" I said as I knelt down to be eye-level with her, smiling brightly.
She looked at me confused, sniffling, "W-what?"
I smiled at her, "Ren is like a brother to you, right?" she nodded, "Yeah, and now Blake, Ruby, Pyrrha, and Weiss will be acting as your big sisters, and you five will be playing and stuff while we wait for this all to wear off."
She wiped her nose, looking at me shocked, "You're not mad?"
"I was more worried than mad, to be honest. Ren was too. We care about you, Nora, in fact I'm completely sure that it's safe to say that we all care about you as much as you care about all of us, and I know THAT'S a lot." she nodded, smiling lightly, "So chill out, okay? There are other ways to be a kid besides a rabid desire for candy."
She smiled at me, and I smiled back, and we shared a brief hug, and I found that she was a lot weaker than even her younger age might have implied, which I chalked up to genetics. I cemented the gesture with a small kiss on her forehead, "Now then, thanks to our celebratory feast for your birthday a few days ago, I and a couple of the others need to go get groceries, okay? You be good while we're out, okay?"
She nodded, smiling, "I promise not to blow up more stuff."
I chuckled, "I hope. I'm trusting the others to keep an eye on you while we're gone." I looked at Ruby, Blake, and Weiss, who seemed to have gotten over her new chest and was nodding happily.
I stood up, only to feel a tugging on my pants leg. I looked down to see Yang pouting lightly, staring up at me with begging eyes, "I wanna go with you~." she pleaded.
I chuckled, then knelt down and scooped her up into my arms, "D'aaaawwwww, of course you can come with us, Sunny. I'm thinking Marbel, dad, you, and I will all be best at navigating a grocery store and getting what we need." I smiled, noticing her hair was in pigtails, which was adorable.
She smiled, then looked at Ruby, who rolled her eyes and nodded, "Yes!" she quickly switched from that outfit to... well she tried to switch to her normal outfit, but it ended up hanging off of her small body and nearly all falling off before I quickly threw one of Weiss' dress/combat skirt things over her, which suddenly switched to fit her body.
I blinked, quickly collecting the fallen clothes and looking at her, "I... honestly don't know what to think. I think the game considers 'toddler up to nearly-medium' as a small size. Well... that makes it easier." I put one of Ruby's blouses over her, giving her a very cute look in the black and white, "Ruby, Weiss, Yang doesn't have any tiny kid clothing, so we need these for the time being." they didn't mind, but it was just plain courteous to make sure they knew what was going on.
I lifted Yang up to sit on my shoulders, "Marbs, John, come on." I said as I began walking to the door.
It was still a little weird, referring to my dad by his actual name. I think it had something to do with how my perception of him shifted after he'd made up with Juniper. The two had at least spoken and made an honest effort to clear the air, which was better. It wasn't perfect, but I guess that helped, really. I truly had seen how my father had failed, cementing in my mind the fact that he too was a normal person, and it would be best if I allowed myself to treat him like that, rather than some ideal figure that did no wrong.
Had I already forgiven him for his wrongs? Yes, long ago, but he'd still done them. He was a person and he made mistakes, and that was okay, because human beings might have incredible ability to improve, but they aren't perfect. It was stupid to stay obsessed over something like that when he'd proven he had my best interests at heart. Sometimes, emotions get in the way of logic, and neither of us were particularly good at hiding our pride.
But... even though perfection is unobtainable, is no excuse not to strive for it.
We found ourselves walking the streets, Marbel to my left, John to my right, and Yang sitting on my shoulders, hugging my head for stability as her legs rested on my chest. I smiled and held her steady by her shins, "I just figure we should be able to get stuff, then head back home. I don't wanna have to stay out for longer than needed."
Marbel giggled, "You can't just throw yourself into your work and ignore the world, Jaune."
John nodded, "Yeah s-..." he cleared his throat to cover his near-mistake, "-dad." he corrected himself, "It's not healthy to work all the time."
I sighed, "I know, I just worry about all of you, is all." I reached up and gently ruffled Yang's hair, receiving a little squeal and a halfhearted punch in response.
Despite what one might have thought, she enjoyed it, even if she was protective of her hair. I think it had to do with how it made her less like her mother, which while sad, was one of those quirks that was just a part of who she was.
I smiled, feeling... oddly comfortable with all of this. I guess it was just Gamer's Mind, really, but it was still part of me. I was already getting used to this, which was to be expected. I sighed, and we soon found ourselves at the local grocery store.
Well... best to get this over with. I quickly Aura Stained a piece of paper and cut it into three pieces with Gleaming Dagger, handing one third to John and another to Marbel, "We'll finish this faster if we split up. Come on, Yang, we're gonna go get cereal~." I said the word in a funny voice, and as I'd guessed, she giggled at the silliness. I smiled and grabbed a cart.
We split up into three groups, and I let Yang continue sitting on my shoulders, since it seemed to make her happy. I walked down the aisle, "What kind should we get? We'll still be here for a couple of days, so we should get a big box."
Yang looked through them all, bending down to look at them, "Get the one with Pyrrha on it~."
I chuckled, "She looked at me funny when I told her it was my favorite cereal." I picked it up and telekinetically put it into the cart, "I think she's into me."
Yang giggled, "Yeah, it's pretty obvious. Too bad you're taken~."
I smiled, "You're awfully giggly today." I raised my head back to look at her, even if it was upside down.
She smiled back, "I dunno, I guess." she giggled more, then leaned down and kissed my cheek, "I love you."
I took her hand and gave it a little kiss, "I love you too, princess." she liked the nickname, surprisingly. I didn't question it, I simply gave her what she wanted.
I heard someone nearby giggle, and saw a woman looking at us. I ignored her, looking for a second box of cereal. I bent down and let Yang grab it, watching her smile and hold it up. I held a hand out and she dropped it into my grasp, and I slapped it into the cart, hearing Yang let out a little cheer, "Goal~."
The woman giggled again, walking past us. As she left, though, I heard her say something after she assumed she'd left earshot, "What a lovely father."
I blinked, the blinked again, "..." Jaune W: Yang, that woman thought we were a father and daughter. :W
Yang W: What? No, no way! :W
Jaune W: Yang you're currently 7 years old and I'm 34. It's entirely logical that she'd come to such a conclusion. :W
Yang W: That's... a fair point... I feel all awkward now. :W
Jaune W: I don't, not fully. I know it's not the truth, it's just a little mistake. Honestly, I think I'd be a great dad. My kids would be awesome. :W
I heard Yang let out a squeak, then it hit me what I'd just said, and the images I probably had just put into her head, Jaune W: And THAT was a mistake, too. Don't worry, okay? That's as far off as we decide it is. :W
Yang W: That doesn't make it any less embarrassing! :W
Jaune W: Yeah, so then let's not talk about the having of kids, especially when you yourself are a kid. :W
Yang W: Agreed! :W
I felt myself blushing a little too, "Let's just move on with the stuff. A house of ten hunters consumes a TON of food in a couple of days." I grabbed a third box of cereal, just in case. We could just eat whatever was left either on the trip back to Celeste, or at Celeste, just stuffing it into my Inventory. I had nearly a thousand inventory slots, I could handle some leftover groceries. I cracked my neck, rolling my shoulders. Yang giggled, and I smiled.
I began to do a little dance, shaking her around and making her feel like she was on a rollercoaster. We both broke down laughing, smiling. I plucked her from my shoulders, gently placing her inside the cart, and taking us to another aisle, making a little race of it.
Despite her desire to stay as she was, she couldn't deny the excitement of the little cart ride, and we stopped at the back of the store, "Hey, sunshine?"
She turned and looked at me, smiling, "Yeah?"
I reached down, "Tomorrow's breakfast will be... egg-celent." I chuckled and lifted the carton of eggs into view, triggering a deluge of sweet little giggles.
She opened one of the fridge doors and picked up a gallon of milk, "Well, at least milk makes the dai-ry-lly start good."
I gave a so-so gesture, "Eehhhh~, that one was a bit of a stretch." I chuckled and smiled, "You're pretty strong." Jaune W: A lot stronger than I'd have expected with the sudden de-aging, but I guess a lot of it is your Aura's enhancements. :W
Yang W: Yeah, it pretty much is. I can confirm that my arms are kinda flabby without my aura helping me. :W
I chuckled, smiling at her, and she smiled right back.
It was a nice time.
...
I heard more mumbled coos at me and Yang as time went by, mostly of us being an adorable father-daughter pair, enough that the sheer volume of it started to annoy me, even if the words themselves didn't.
I sighed, stowing our stuff into the inventory as John and Marbel caught up with us, "Alright, let head home. The others are probably waiting."
John paused mid-step, "Actually, I think I'm gonna walk around town for a bit, see if we missed anything, maybe take a few pictures and stuff."
I looked at him, "Eh, alright. Don't be out late though." Jaune W: Remember, we still need to make sure we all get re-aged properly. :W
John W: I know, I know. I won't be too long. :W
He split off from the three of us, heading in a different direction.
Marbel sighed, "He keeps just going off on his own. I get he has the right to, but it concerns me."
I chuckled, smiling at her, "You realize you already sound like you're his mother, right?"
She blinked, then blushed, "But I only got aged-"
"But nobody knows that." I pointed out, "Nobody knows our ages, just that we look like adults and a kid." I looked up at Yang, "Let's keep it that way."
As we walked through the streets, a young woman approached us, a stack of flyers in her hand, "Hello~." she greeted cheerfully.
I hummed, "Well hello there." I held up a hand and stopped the others.
She offered me a flyer, "I'm handing out flyers to get everyone aware of the Summer's Evening festival starting in just two days now." I wasn't sure if he was faking it or if she was honestly THAT excited over the festival
I held up a hand, "So, SO sorry, ma'am, but our flight home is tomorrow, and will be missing the festival. I apologize, it DOES sound very interesting though."
She nodded, "Right, that's okay. Thank you for stopping and listening, at least." she smiled and held up the flyer again, "But, in case you end up staying, families are allowed to attend for free, and for families of five or more, each member gets five free festival tokens." she smiled even wider, "Trust me, it's a wonderful festival, lasts a whole week too!"
I nodded, "Thank you, but I don't think that will be necessary. Have a good day now." we walked past her, and I idly tossed the flyers she'd handed us into the inventory.
I sighed, then hummed a tune as we walked back to the house.
...
Opening the front door and stepping inside, bending low to make sure Yang didn't get bumped on the frame, I heard familiar cheers of joy and sounds of video games. Smiling, I shifted Yang to sit in my arms as I found my way to the games room, seeing all of the other girls (and Ren) playing a game together, letting out the usual gamer sounds and having a great time, Nora was even snuggled up to Ruby's side in a really cute way.
I smiled, "Well, looks like you've all been having fun." I leaned against the door frame, "We might be having a few lil' problems, but it'll be over in... 8.45 hours?"
I stared at the status duration, rubbing my eyes, "What the fuck?" I tapped it several times.
It jittered and glitched out for a few seconds, then seemed to correct itself.
Font glitch resolved!
Status: Bodial Year Disposition [Med]
Description: You are a total of 10 people that have been affected by the spell "Bodial Year Disposition", shifting the distribution of a total of 50 years of physical age among yourselves.
Effect: Alters your age to 34 years old.
Duration: 8.95 d
I blinked, then tapped on the duration again, which made it read 8 days, 22 hours, 44 minutes
"... well shit." I said frankly, "So... do you want the good news first, or bad news?"
They all turned to me, "What's the bad news?" Blake spoke up first.
I sighed, "So uh... there was a font glitch, it wasn't 4.00 'h' as it 'hours', it was 9.00 'd' as in 'days'. We won't be able to leave for basically a week and a quarter."
Weiss deadpanned at me, "So... what? What exactly are we supposed to do, then? Stay in the house for a week? We can't do that, we'll go insane trying."
I blew air and ran my hand down my face, "I know, I know... but we can't make a reputation for ourselves like this either. We can leave the house as needed, but we need to keep a low profile. People don't really know us here, but we're known back in Vale. Well... sorry, Pyrrha, but I think just a little bit of manipulation of perception will keep your changes from getting discovered."
She nodded, smiling politely, "That will be fine."
I looked at the others, "So... yeah. That's all I know to say. Ruby, you get to enjoy having not just one, but TWO little sisters, Marbel too. Blake, you can... I dunno. Weiss you can enjoy your womanly figure like I saw you do earlier. Ren and Nora, you two can just be a lot like you were before, but I guess with a larger age difference." I shrugged, then looked at the shrunken Yang held in my arms, "Yang, I guess you can reclaim a few precious days of childhood, and I'll be helping you the whole way." I booped her nose, making her giggle and cover it.
She hugged me as best she could with her shortened arms, "I'll have to get used to it, but I think I could handle this... but um..." Yang W: I know people think I'm your daughter, but that makes me feel really, REALLY weird... I know it might not seem much better, but could you correct them by saying I'm actually your baby sister? :W
Jaune W: Of course, baby girl. I might or might not be a great dad, but all my sisters agreed that I'm a very good brother. :W I smiled, kissing her forehead, "Alright, we have a plan, and we have room to compensate for backups. I think we'll be fine." I hugged my 'baby sister' to my chest, smiling and feeling her give me a little nuzzle, "So... you all need two more to make a proper tournament." I chuckled and pulled out my scroll, connecting it and prompting Marbel to do the same.
I sat with Yang on my knee, and settled in for a little Smash Bros.
Even if we were all fools for having gotten into this situation, we'd all make it through this.
Together.
...
John sighed as he just took to walking through town, like he usually did.
He never really explained it to Jaune, but he took these walks to clear his head, calm himself down, and escape his regrets for a little while.
It certainly said something that he took walks every single day. That he and his wife would never truly recover from what happened years ago... it weighed on him very heavily.
The resurfacing teenage hormones certainly weren't helping. He forced his breathing to be slow and even.
He stopped by a cafe, one of the all-day kinds, and ordered a black coffee and some blueberry scones. He had downed the entire mug of coffee before he even sat down, letting out a heated sigh.
After flagging down a waitress and getting a refill, he opened his scroll and read some recent news.
The air shifted and the chair across from him scraped on the ground. He looked up to see a bright-red-haired teenage girl with curious blue eyes looking at him.
He cleared his throat, "Can I help you?"
The girl smiled, "Actually, I was wondering if I could help YOU, man." she smiled, "I felt like a really cute guy like you didn't deserve to eat alone, even for just a snack."
John looked the girl over, noting the naivete apparent in her tone. Just a hopeful civilian. He sighed, "I'd honestly prefer it."
She pouted, "Well that's pretty rude, dude. I come over here to give you some company, and you just-"
He looked up from his scroll to stare directly into her eyes, "I'm only here on vacation, and have a woman back home, thank you very much."
She stared at him for a few seconds, then cleared her throat and spoke up, "You look like the kind of guy who could use two~." she blew a kiss at him.
John glared at the girl, and returned her blown kiss with a thrown scone, which bounced off her forehead, "Not interested." he stood up, downed his coffee, grabbed the last of his three scones, and walked away, leaving the shocked girl behind.
He sighed, stewing over the surge of emotions the girl made him feel, even if she'd fallen rather flat with her delivery. Seriously, what kind of line was 'You look like you could use two?' So he looked like a harem guy? He wasn't that much of a man, he couldn't do that.
Still... the words had struck several chords within him, making him realize what could fix his long-standing problem. Something seemingly so simple, but emotionally very, VERY difficult.
He had to... to let go of Juniper, because it just wasn't going to happen. He had to let the wound close instead of waiting for the torn-away piece of his heart to be put back into place.
He had to move on.
He swore he began to hallucinate as the thoughts tore at his mind. It hurt him in indescribable ways, but he reached deep inside himself, and gathered the courage to take off that broken ring.
It was nothing but a few mental words, but the thought of actually doing it, while at first scary, was oddly relieving, like one of the many chains holding his heart in place had been shrugged off or outright snapped.
He sighed heavily, his hands falling to his sides as his wandering became even more aimless for several minutes, in fact he could have sworn at one point he circled the same block three times.
He just... followed a path his heart slowly marked out before his very eyes... and ears?
He hummed softly, focusing on an odd tune he could hear playing in the distance. He found the song pleasant, and approached its source, finding a bit of peace in what sounded like a resonating violin.
He happened upon the sight of a young woman standing on the sidewalk, playing a violin that was hooked up to a small, portable amplifier, playing a simple, soft, pleasant tune, her violin case open and showing a few scattered lien thrown into it. She played with her eyes closed, ears covered by headphones. She wore a white hoodie with a red line across the chest, and three more red lines, one curling around each sleeve and coming into a ring around the cuffs of her sleeves, the tail of the hoodie, and the mouth of the hood. Her short, brownish-black hair was loose and blew in the breeze that carried her music towards him, and she wore black cargo pants held around her slender waist by a tight belt. He could tell, even without seeing her move, that she must have been a huntress. The black undershirt she wore was made of armorweave cloth, the pants were a tactical design, the belt had a combat pouch on it, and the red lines on her hoodie were dust-infused stitching. She appeared rather slender at first glance, but dense, compact muscles covered what he could see of her body, hinting that she was far tougher than she appeared.
He focused on the permissions Jaune had granted to him, and used a very nerfed version of Gamer's Sight.
Celia Harmonia
Title: A True Diamond among Golden Masks
Level: 77
That's all it gave, but it was enough. She looked lonely, too... damn him and his bleeding heart, he had to go over and talk to her! He'd never find something to fill the hole left in his heart if he never even looked.
He just hoped he wasn't making a mistake.
The woman didn't skip a single beat as he approached her, getting a little closer than most would, "Hello there, miss." he smiled at her, his best winning smile.
She played a few more notes, which glided to a stop in the song as she sighed blissfully, opening her eyes, "Well, hello there, Mr Handsome." she giggled softly, her voice like a tinkling bell.
He chuckled softly, "Well, I feel like I should upgrade my greeting. Hello Miss Beautiful."
Celia smiled, "Well, my oh my, what a charmer. What brings you to my little corner of the street system?"
He smiled back, "I heard your music, got curious, saw you, and became very, VERY interested." he shrugged lightly, "So... do you have a name, or do you actually prefer Miss Beautiful?"
She giggled, "Well, I could get used to being called Miss Beautiful, but my name is... well, you can call me Octavia."
John nodded, noting that she'd given him what was obviously a stage name, "Well, you can call me Crocea, Miss Octavia. Mind if I join you? I think a pair of artists make for better profits than someone by their lonesome."
She hummed, "Well... that sounds lovely, but there's a problem." she pointed at her violin, "I only have the one violin, and it's not like a milkshake where we can put in two straws and both drink at the same time. We can try, but I'm fairly certain if we both tried to play it at the same time, we'd probably lose in a music quality contest versus a dying cat."
"We-hehehe-ll, fair enough, but that's good, because I don't play the violin." John chuckled, then smiled and reached behind himself, pulling a guitar out from the inventory. He brought it forward, "I play guitar."
Celia gasped lightly, then smiles, "Well, you're full of surprises, then. Alright, let's play."
John smiled, positioning himself next to her, "Alrighty. Any tips for playing on the street?"
She nodded, "Play with your eyes closed, it makes you look cooler." she brought her violin up to bear, smiling.
John smiled back, "Alright. Well, can you at least look me in the eyes one more time before we play blindly?" he asked with a hint of playfulness towards the musician
Celia giggled, smirking at the blonde, "You don't play blindly, you play the song you hear in your heart."
John nodded, "Well, alright then." finally, they looked directly at each other.
Royal blue met sterling silver, and the two smiled at each other, closed their eyes, and began to play a duet of guitar and violin.
It was pretty awkward at first, but it settled out in the end.
Just like John had hoped.
BOOM! That makes 3 'serial omakes' set up.
In chapters ending with 4 or 9, it will be Celestia Arc's Story.
In chapters ending with 3 or 8 (including next chapter), it will be Jade Hex's story (the one with Gamer Jaune ending up in canon RWBY world)
In chapters ending with 7 and 2 now, will be this story of the age-shifted group on a Mistrali vacation.
Also, before assumptions are made, Celia is not the person from the vision Jaune got long ago, assuming anyone actually remembers that. That person is a different person, Celia is an OC that will probably exist solely within this omake series. I just decided to spice up the de-aged John's prospective girlfriend.
Alright, well that's pretty much it for now. This chapter too a lot longer than normal, but then again, it was forced to contain a certain span of time no matter how high its word count, so that explains it.
I hope the size of it makes up for spending days on end doing nothing, even though I'm like 90% sure that most of you don't care how long it takes, as long as it comes out finished and good.
And so, this chapter is now nearly finished, just gotta do the stat dump.
-/\/\/\/\-
Jaune Arc
Title: All Star Boxer
Level: 73
Class: Magic Knight / Tank v2
Nickname: Knightlight
HP: 46,000/46,000
AP: 185,000/185,000
SP: 68,000/68,000
Strength: 88 (+325%) (+115%) (+80%) (+175%) (+125%) = 809.6
Dexterity: 80 (+325%) (+115%) (+80%) = 496
Vitality: 92 (+325%) (+115%) (+80%) (+175%) (+50%) = 777.4
Intelligence: 162 (+5) (+325%) (+50%) = 793.25
Wisdom: 200 (+5) (+325%) (+50%) = 973.75
Luck: 116
Charisma: 85
Stat Points: 93
Age: 17
Birthday: November 20th
Race: Human
Height: 6'2
Weight: 260
Build: Med-Heavy Athletic
Hair/Eyes/Skin: Golden Blonde / Brilliant Azure / Medium Tan
-/\/\/\/\-
Alright, NOW it's finally fully finished, and I hope it was good for all of you, and wasn't poorly written in the parts with the White Fang and what-not.
With that said, I bid you all adieu.
See you next time ^w^
This is Player1, signing off.