Good afternoon, folks! Or is it night? Morning? Fuck it! If I wanted to understand time zones, I'd of studied Astrology, or googled it. It's NeoShadows here with a new chapter up for your reading eyes.
You know, I was planning on releasing this on Friday, but I finished Chapter 3 pretty early today. So I thought, what the hell? Might as well upload it before working on Chapter 4 after this. I swear, since putting off on video games, watching tv, listening to music, and reading other stories on this site, I've gotten a lot of writing down. Which is hard to do with games like Destiny, Fallout 4, Bravely Second, Monster Hunter 4, and my steam games on my laptop. That's right, I'm multi platform. I don't see brand! Honestly, it was all this glorious crap that kept me from writing in the first place to begin with. I get distracted easily. Now, onto answering some reviews. Don't think I've ever done that before.
King of Plot Bunnies: First of all, love your story, Childcare and Warfare(Tales of an Irate Father of Twelve). One of my favorite crack fics. As for your question, Nope! Not even close, buddy. Gotta think outside the box.
Csad21: Haven't watched Ranma, but I get the jest of it. And yes, it'll just be several girls chasing after him. There are planned romances, but I have something planned for it. After the story is complete, I'm going to write epilogues, basically one shots where they get together in the end of the story. It'll fit in with what I got planned, don't worry. And I get ya, I use to love harem stories when I was younger, you know, being a guy going through puberty and all, but as I got older I got sick of it. It was still fun to read, but, eh, unless it's written well, I won't really read it. And the game mechanics won't eat up 3/4's of the story, I always skimmed through all that text. Got annoying.
MirzaHakeem98: I. Love. Your suggestion. I was having something like that planned out originally, but it got too overbearing in the end. Still, some of those aspects will remain once the story starts hitting all cylinders. Nice on ya.
Hirshja: Don't worry, I got something else planned. Just because he's a Gamer, doesn't mean he'll have the same powers as the normal ones do in other stories. He won't have that ability to invite others to his 'party'. And Oc's can be annoying too, but I like them if their done right. Like Coeur Al'Aran's OC's. I love Kitsune in Professor Arc. That's doing it right. And I won't write in too many, but ya gotta have some to make it original.
Private Jenkins: It's weird, when I started this fic in my head a year ago, it had originally been about time travel, but I wanted to make it more interesting, and soon gaming elements mixed in to create this story.
Pyrovortex: Ugh, I know. I'll be the first to admit it, I such at spell checking my own work. I always notice other writers mistakes, but when it comes to my own, I suck. Adding names to my dictionary works, but even then I miss them. Swear I need someone to help me with this. I'm just to eager to upload a chapter to look over it. Thanks though, it's nice to hear some criticism from time to time.
Alright, that's enough of that. If you all have any more questions, be sure to review. I'll get to answering whatever I can without spoiling things in the next chapter. And boy, will you be asking some at the end of this bad boy.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to RWBY. But you come into my story, tracking your accusing eyes in, and accuse me? You disrespect me, you disrespect my laptop and my dead laptop, you disrespect my sweet mother who done birth me, and you disrespect my doggy Princess. I only have one thing to say to you, say hello, to my old laptop! ICE THEM!
. . .Jesus Christ. I should not watch Zootopia with my baby sister while uploading. I got that little rat mob's voice stuck in there. Good flick though.
Chapter 2: Start Over.
Pyrrha Nikos was happy.
Walking along the trees of the beautiful forest of the Emerald Forest, she was more then pleased with the blonde haired boy beside her that was now her partner. When they had first met she was sure he'd be fawning all over her. She was practically a celebrity in the hunter world, especially in the tournament sect. Every hunter and huntress in training looked to her as an idol, as a perfect image that they hoped to become one day. There expectations put her high above a pedestal, unknowingly separating her from her peers.
She had never wanted that. To be seen as some unapproachable Goddess of Victory. While she wanted to be a great huntress in her career and fight off the threat of the Grimm, at this point in her life, all she wanted was a friend. One that didn't care for her status or skills and just wanted to be her friend because she was Pyrhaa, not the four time Mistral tournament winner, but the teenage girl.
And by some unseen stroke of luck, her prays were answered in the form of Jaune Arc.
"Oww! Dammit! That didn't work, maybe this will? Fuck! Okay, that should of done something! Hmm, maybe this will-No! Nope, that's not doing a thing, oww!
Jaune didn't see her as an idol. If anything, he had only been starstruck by the fact she had been on the cover of Pumpkin Pete's cereal box. Which wasn't good. That cereal was chuck full of sugar and little pumpkin. It was horrible to ones health like all junk food. But that was more then fine with her. He didn't fawn over her like the rest did, didn't look away from her as if she was better then him, didn't ogle her as if she was some trophy to be won. He looked at her like she was some regular girl that wanted to learn how to fight monsters.
It was at that moment in the locker room as she was talking to Weiss and he had introduced himself to them with his flirty grin, that she had made up her mind! Jaune would be her partner. She didn't care what she had to do make him hers, she would make him her partner for the next four years in Beacon or die trying. Was she being a bit over dramatic, yes but his boyish charms only made her want him more as a friend. And, possibly if things went well during their stay together in Beacon, maybe a, dare she say it? Boyfriend.
She was still a teenage girl after all. And he was the first boy not to stare at her, ahem, assets. That won him major points. She did huff though, remembering Jaune's attention had been all over the Schnee heiress.
"What about this? Yeow!"
Pyrrha's eye twitched as another whispered shout of pain entered her ears.
And sure, the knight was a bit odd with pinching himself all over as if he was trying to wake up from some dream. But he did have his aura unlocked. Maybe he was just testing it out, seeing just what it could do now that he was protected from simple blows and physical pains. He was still okay in her book of friends, which was simply a single dusty worn out page with his name written in very fresh ink.
'Okay! This isn't a dream. That should make me happy, right!?' Jaune was trying, really trying, to hide the panic that was taking over him. Just a half hour ago he had been fighting some chainsaw swinging maniac that wanted sweet Weiss's head lobbed off and died protecting her. The memory was still fresh as it sent a chill down his spine. You couldn't fake a memory like that, he wasn't that creative. When his parents bought him a puppy when he was five he named it Doggy. His sisters still made fun of him for that. He was five though, they should of cut him some slack. The point was that whatever just happened earlier today couldn't be made up.
Here he was again, in the Emerald Forest during initiation having his aura unlocked half an hour ago with his partner who'd he worked and studied with for a few months now, talking to him nervously as if they just became friends. She didn't know a thing about him if her questions about his likes and favorite activities were anything to go by. She didn't know a thing about him, but he did.
Her height? She was 6'0" feet, not counting her in heels. The names of her weapons? Milo and Akouo. Her favorite colors, red, gold, and recently blue for some odd reason. He even knew her cup size! Not because he was some pervert or anything like that, but when Nora shouts something like that out loudly it kinda sticks with you no matter how hard you try to forget it.
A buzzing in his pocket made the slowly maddening twitch in his eye only grow worse as he felt his sanity whittle down.
And then there was his Scroll. And the magical abilities its gained.
Reaching for the now annoying flat device, he was no longer surprised by the rustling leaves and gentle breeze blowing past him freezing still. His partner paused in her walking as well, stopped by some unseen force with a smile on her face.
Jaune wasn't sure how the hell he did it, but he had just paused reality with the press of a button. He'd been doing that several times now since he had first opened his Scroll to the odd menu displayed on its screen. The little ability took him by complete surprise. Did he just unlock his Semblance or something? Was it possible for someone to gain a Semblance that altered reality around them? Looking over the functions of his Scroll he made out five available options on the screen for him to click on.
Bonds.
Skill, Abilities and Slots.
Inventory and Special Gifts.
Event Finder.
Perks.
?
?
?
Three more options were displayed, but they were colored a dark gray with a mini lock icon blurring their words. Clicking on the Bonds option brought up three rectangle boxes with Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha's names on one of each box. He opened Ruby's box first, seeing as she was his first friend when he entered Beacon and soon found the same window screen as Pyrrha's, only with a few differences.
'Ruby Rose. Friendship Lvl: 2. Affection Lvl: Locked. Status: Happy, slightly grumpy, frustrated, in need of a sack of cookies. Available Perks: 0. Soul Wave Link: Locked. Until next Friendship Lvl: 105/300Exp.'
The screen showed off a little mini Ruby smiling back at him, waving her hand with a strawberry filled cookie in her hand at the bottom of the stats window. Exiting her window he brought up Weiss's next only to find an annoyed glare staring back at him from the chibi heiress.
'Weiss Schnee. Friendship Lvl: Locked. Affection Lvl: Locked. Status: Unavailable. Available Perks: 0. Soul Wave Link: Locked. Progress through 'Players and Chess Pieces' to unlock Friendship.'
The little Weiss tapped her foot impatiently as she continued glare up at Jaune from the screen. The scene was actually pretty cute and made him wish he could save the image for himself. Little Weiss seemed to have enough of his staring though, huffing in annoyance before somehow force closing her window back to the Bonds main menu screen.
Jaune blinked at the action, groaning in disappointment a second later. Didn't they kiss earlier today? Did his life hit a reset or something? He was pretty sure she had come to see him as a friend after the dance. Didn't any of that pass over in his next life?
Wait a minute, next life? Jaune quickly punched the left side of his face to snap him out of that line of thinking. There was no way on all of Remnant he was seriously considering he was living a new life. This wasn't some kind of game! Life was not a game to him! You can't just die and then come back to life a second later at some save point. The world didn't work like that.
"Then again, what do I know about Semblances?" he said with a sigh as he brought up his partners window next. The sight of a smiling little Pyrrha waving hello at him made him cheer up though. He couldn't complain about the chibi's though, they were just too adorable.
'Pyrrha Nikos. Friendship Lvl: 4. Affection Lvl: 4. Status: Happy, giddy, slightly worried, really wants to hold hands. REALLY wants to hold hands. Available Perks: 1. Soul Wave Link: Locked. Until Next Friendship Lvl:450/700Exp. Until Next Affection Lvl: 13/700Exp.'
"Okay, message received, I guess." Jaune blinked as he read little Pyrrha's status. That was weird. And very specific. A small little box popped up above Pyrrha's head, bouncing on top her red ponytail as she giggled. He pressed it, wondering what it was.
'Tap that.'
. . .What?
Little Pyrrha gasped into her hands, turning her head to the side a second later, whistling innocently with a blush on her cheeks. Did she send him that message? How the hell was that possible? He looked away from the chibi to stare back at his partner, still frozen still with a smile on her face. She meant tapping her on the screen right? Not the other way, right? If Yang was here she'd be waggling her eyebrow.
He was going to go with the more innocent meaning. He gave the little Pyrrha a tap on her head, the action making her smile widely and blush brighter.
He was losing his mind. He truly was. At this point Jaune was wondering if he was even real. Because nothing was making sense, not even his own existence. He just died for crying out loud! And the amount of cuteness he was seeing was going to kill him all over again.
So, what was he suppose to do now? Jaune sighed in frustration as he exited out of Pyrrha's status window.
He was suppose to be dead. He was raised to believe that when you died, you went to heaven if you were seen as good in the eyes of god. Though there were a lot of people who believed in the Oum Theory, saying that all of existence had been created by a great force not unlike god that had everything planned before it. He didn't know much about Oum, but he did know Ren believed in the Oum Theory. Whatever the case was, he did know that something was suppose to happen after you died. Either you went to paradise, or hell if you were evil, or your souls just faded away to nothing. But so far none of those things happened to him.
Did that mean he was just given a second chance at life? At this point that was the only explanation he could think of. And even still it sounded ridiculous. Did he have an extra life or something? It was almost as if his life had turned into a game. That was the only explanation for his scroll giving him game like options and statuses and pausing time.
His life was now a game. When he stopped to think about it, it was actually a pretty cool thing. He did always love playing video games, especially the RPG kind. They always made him feel like a hero. Looking back to the main menu screen of his scroll, Jaune hovered his thumb over a small bubble beside the Bonds option. The bubble was blue and had a little house icon decorating it.
It was the Home button. Pressing it made the world go back to normal. He found he could still use his scroll normally if he didn't will it to its 'game menu' or receive a message regarding its new functions. If he pressed it, then he would be accepting his new fate. He couldn't go back to pinching himself awake anymore. No matter what he did at this point he couldn't deny the simple fact that he was alive again. And that he was just giving a second chance at life many would literally kill over.
Maybe it was his Semblance that had given him this chance. Maybe it was responsible for everything that was going on with him now. He didn't really understand what they were or what they could do, so all he could think of was that this was all his Semblance's doing.
Jaune could start all over. This time he could train to be a real hunter like everyone else. And maybe this time he could help them out when the Breach happened again. Hell, he could stop it all from happening if he planned things right. He wouldn't be the damsel in distress anymore, he could be the hero that saved the damsel instead.
If life was a game, then he'd play it his way. How he was going to play, he didn't know. He'd get back to that when he had the time. From his experience playing games dealing with time travel, he knew he couldn't make any drastic changes. Paradoxes and such. Not to mention he didn't exactly know too much. Maybe a few months of information dealing with hunter lessons and a few events that Ruby had told him about dealing with the White Fang. It wasn't much to work with, but he'd do what he can.
His finger tapped the 'Home' button. He couldn't stop the small grin working its way to his face as the world came back to life around. He didn't understand much about his new power, or the statuses he read dealing with the three girls he had met in a previous life, but he'd learn along the way.
This was his life now. He was given a second chance after losing it fighting to protect Weiss. He'd be sure to make the most of it.
Pyrrha blinked in confusion for a moment, her cheeks blushing lightly. Why did she have the sudden urge for Jaune to pat her on the head? She hadn't even known him for that long and already she was thinking of such thoughts. It was embarrassing.
"You okay, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked as he stepped beside her. She was starting to turn red just like her chibi in his scroll. Hopefully none of what he had done to her other self translated to the real world. He really wished his new powers came with a help guide.
The spartan themed girl smiled nervously as she shook her head.
"No, everything's fine. I just remembered something embarrassing from my time at Mistral is all. It's nothing important."
Jaune nodded his head back. She wasn't telling him the truth, her mannerisms hadn't changed since his previous life. Having sparred with, worked alongside, and slept in the same room as her all these months had made him a little more insightful with his partner. Not enough to see through her when she was hiding something important or private, but enough to tell when she was saying little white lies. He wouldn't push her, everyone was entitled to their own privacy.
The buzzing of his scroll caught his attention again. He really didn't want to pause things after testing it out over and over again. It was already getting to be annoying.
Pulling it out, he was surprised when the world around him remained moving as he looked at the message text on his screen. Huh, looked like he didn't have to pause things every time he wanted to look at the game menu. That was helpful.
'Help Guide Locked. Complete Tutorial 'Players and Chess Pieces' to Unlock. 1 Perk is still available.'
"That sucks. I was hoping for help here." Jaune groaned. So, he did have a help guide after all. He just had to complete initiation to read it. That didn't really make sense.
"Hmm, what you got there, Jaune?"
Green eye's peered over his shoulder, startling Jaune as he found his partner peeking at his scroll. Shit, could she read what he read? He wasn't exactly sure how to tell someone that he could control the world around him like a game. They'd think he was insane.
"Hunter's Storm: Your Hero has Leveled up! New skills are available." Pyrrha read the message out loud, confused at what it was. Sounded like something from a game. "You play video games on your scroll, Jaune?" she asked the knight. She had been wondering where he had gotten it. Looked like he had his own personnel scroll with him when he entered Beacon Academy.
Jaune breathed a sigh of relief. So, she saw something else when he was reading his Game Menu. Man was his Semblance helpful. It thought of everything.
The knight grinned sheepishly at the redhead as he gestured to his scroll, "Yeah, I'm a bit of a video game nerd. That's why I brought along my scroll with me, the teachers said it was alright. Sorry if it sounds lame."
"Oh, no! There's nothing wrong with playing games." she waved her hands with a smile, "It's actually a nice way of relaxing. Though I'm not much into them. Never had time with all the training for tournaments."
"That sucks. They've always helped me when I've been feeling down. Playing the hero in them always made me feel like a real one." Jaune chuckled with an embarrassed blush. "You know, when this is all over, I can show you a few you might be interested in. It would be nice way to bond for starters."
Pyrrha smiled gently, "I'd like that."
Anytime spending with him would be great. She was really thankful for all her training with her weapons. She wouldn't of been able to pin him down with her spear otherwise. She would of missed out on his boyish charms.
As the two continued their way in search of the relics, Jaune took a moment to read go through one of the options on his scroll. The message did say he had a Perk available. Might as well see what that was.
Opening the Perks menu, Jaune found a long list of perks in rectangle boxes. Pretty much everyone of them was locked by a gray lock icon except for one. It was red and read 'Knight of Victory'. He selected it and read its description.
'Knight of Victory. Due to your bond with Pyrrha Nikos, you have unlocked this special Perk! This Perk grants the user a 15% rise in Defense and a 10% rise in Attack. Your chances of winning a fight also rise by 5%. Deepen your bond with Pyrrha Nikos for the chance to evolve this Perk into a better Perk.
Until Next Lvl: 0/7000.
Do you wish to equip this Perk? Yes/No.'
'YES! Hell, yes!' You couldn't stop Jaune's finger from pressing the 'yes' button if you could. This was exactly the edge he needed if he was going to stand toe to toe with everyone else. Now he was really thankful for this new found power. He didn't know just how high his defense and attack where, but the rise with this new Perk would definitely help him. He just wished he could look at his own status. He needed to complete the tutorial even more for that help guide to see if he could look up his own stats.
Grinning happily, Jaune was too thrilled of his new power to notice that they had just stopped in front of a very familiar cave. Cave painting of old hunters fighting some odd bug like beast decorated the outside. Almost as if warning them of the hidden threat inside.
"What do you think, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked her partner, taking away his attention from his game. He must of really liked playing them. She'd just wish he'd spend a little more time on their mission then on his screen.
Could it be? Was her partner a shut in? That would explain his awkward behavior and lack of skills with talking with girls.
Jaune looked back to the cave, suddenly grinning devilishly. Oh, what luck. Things were playing out just like last time. They had run into the cave housing the large Deathstalker. And if he remembered right, he had a score to settle with the bastard for making him scream like a girl. His new Perk would do nicely in helping him get revenge. Sweet revenge!
"I think the relic's in there! I'd bet my entire collection of X-Ray and Vav on it!" Jaune pointed his gloved finger at the cave with excitement.
Pyrrha nodded back with a worried smile. His grin was freaking her out a bit and his right eye was twitching. Looked like he wasn't all there in his head. Must of been all the games he's played. Poor guy, for all his boyish good looks, he must have been a loner as a child. Looked like he didn't know how to act with regular people.
She'd humor him though. She was his partner after all. She'd slowly help him fit into society like a normal person.
Grabbing a random stick off the ground, Jaune got right into starting a fire for a torch inside the cave. This time was going to be different. He'd show that stupid bug who the boss was. And then vengeance would be his!
A sigh escaped the Goddess of Victory as she watched Jaune poorly attempt to make a torch while laughing maniacally to himself. Just how shut off from the world was he? Poor handsome idiot.
To say the least, young Ruby Rose was not having a cookie-reffic day.
Falling down the sky she began to ponder where it all had gone wrong as she waited for the painful impact with the ground.
For one, their were no cookies at the breakfast hall when she'd woken up this morning. That was bad, really bad. Just how the hell could she start the day without her glass of milk, which they had somehow run out of as well, and cookie? To make matters worse, the cafeteria had also run dry of pancakes, something about some ginger haired devil queen eating them all up before anyone else could savor a bite. So, instead she had to settle for some toast, oatmeal, and a glass of orange juice. A losers breakfast.
Second, she had learned that they going to be stuck with partners for the next four years with the first person they made contact with. Ruby was not a social creature like her sister. All her talking had been done with her precious baby, Crescent Rose. She wasn't good at talking with strangers, let alone one that she'd be stuck with for the rest of her stay at Beacon Academy. She'd hoped her sister would be her partner, but Yang wanted her to make friends with others instead of sticking with her all the time. Didn't dad say not to talk to strangers?
And finally, her new partner turned out to be the crabby rich girl, Weiss Schnee, who despite how pretty she looked and proper she acted, was not nice. So, she accidentally caused her fire dust to go off and explode, creating a small crater in front of them with her sneezing. She was the one that had been shaking it in front of her face! And even worse, she didn't even say bless you. That was rude. That didn't give her an excuse to be rude to her. Ruby was her partner now. If she was partners with someone as awesome as her, she'd feel lucky and grateful for her.
Luck was not looking down kindly at the red hooded girl. If Ruby had any choice in who her partner could be, then she would of chosen either Yang, the mysterious book reading girl, Blake, or Vomit Boy. Jaune didn't seem so bad. If anything he looked to be feeling the same way as her. Awkward and nervous at making new friends.
'Hmm, I wonder if Crescent Rose's recoil can soften my fall.' Ruby thought to herself as the ground was looking too close to comfort. A loud feminine scream snapped her out of her thoughts, making her frown in worry.
'Sounds like a girl's in trouble! Dang! I wanted to play hero today.'
Was it her, or was the screaming getting closer?
Turning to her left, Ruby blinked in confusion as the familiar sight of her first friend, Jaune Arc, flying towards her. Well, flying was putting it lightly. Looked like he'd been shot out of a cannon. And was that him screaming? Man, did Jaune have some girly pipes.
The two hunters in training collided in midair a moment later, Jaune's force of flying picking Ruby up and stopping her fall. Together they continued to fly across the air till they crashed against the bark of a large tree.
Ruby's eyes spun in circles, the image of little baby Beowolves circling her head. Okay, so she wasn't dead. That was good. But now she was dizzy atop a tree. That wasn't good either. Shaking away the dizziness, she looked up to the sounds of cursing from the blonde headed knight. He was caught by a few branches by his legs, leaving him dangling upside down in front of her.
"God dammit! I was sure I had that bug eyed, six legged, nuts for brains bastard by the ropes this time!"
Jaune was not happy. After entering the cave and assuring Pyrrha that they would find the relic inside, they had come across the glowing stinger of the Deathstalker. And just as his last life, it was as big and terrifying as before. But they had beaten the dumb Grimm before, and with his added boost in Attack and Defense, Jaune was sure to beat it with only Pyrrha by his side.
Unfortunately for him, he had forgotten just how strong the scorpion themed Grimm was. And how tough its hide had been. Even with his team working together, they had struggled against it. Hell, it was Nora that had dealt the finishing blow by nailing its own tail into its brain with her missile launching hammer. So, when he had fearlessly charged straight at its glowing six eyes, ignoring his partners cries to stop, he was pretty surprised when his sword bounced back from his swing. He was able to cut into its mask though. That was more damage that he had ever done to it before.
When his attack failed, he panicked and grabbed at its stinger to avoid its claws ramming into him. And then he soon found himself swung around its tail as it barged out of its home before being launched once again into the blue sky. He was sad, and embarrassed to say, he screamed like a girl.
If there was anything that he learned from all this, its that he discovered both the Deathstalker's HP bar, and his own. His scroll showed a box for the Grimm and its name along with a bar for its health.
'Deathstalker. 7,970/8,000HP.'
'I don't know what to say. Just how hard did I hit back then?' Jaune sighed in defeat. Looked like he got carried away with his new Perk and powers. His own HP had gone down from his little fly trip.
'Jaune Arc, Heart of the Gamer. 2,780/3,000HP, 50/50MP.'
His own box showed off his health along with a little picture of his face beside his health bar. Sadly, that's all it showed. No stats or signs of Exp. The 'Heart of the Gamer' tag was confusing too, but it didn't seem all that important right now.
"Stupid Deathstalker, if I had a stick, I'd poke out every last one of its eyes." he grumbled to himself.
"Why not use your sword? Wouldn't that be more effective?"
"Yeah, but a stick just seems more insulting though."
"I don't think Grimm can be insulted. They don't really feel anything at all."
"Tell that to the Deathstalker. I swear he was glaring at me before it slung me away."
"I don't think they have genders either. And why were you even fighting something like that?"
"Pride and vengeance. It made me feel less of a man." Jaune sighed in depression before realizing he wasn't talking to himself. He looked down, or up, at Ruby's own amused gray eyes before smiling.
"Hey, Ruby! When did you get here?"
"About the same time you flew into me." Ruby laughed, poking the knight's nose. "Who taught you how to fly? I'm pretty sure you cut off a Nevermore before you crashed into me. Don't tell me you're flying without a license?" she glared at him mockingly.
Jaune waved his hands in front of him in fake panic, "I swear, I left my flying license in the pocket of my other jeans! I don't normally forget it, please don't write me up, officer! I'm just having a bad day."
"Sorry, but rules are rules. I'd take you in, if you weren't such pretty young thing, Vomit Girl." Ruby grinned teasingly, getting the young knight to drop his head in shame. She did smile sympathetically though.
"Having a bad day too, huh?"
"How could you tell?"
"You are hanging upside down in a tree."
"Pride and vengeance. My vendetta against the Grimm only continues to grow with each girly scream." he grinned playfully before a more somber look take over.
It was weird talking to Ruby like this again. The last time he saw her, her face was slick with his blood and tears were running down her face. He'd been dying and her team was beside him as he drew his last breaths. They said such heartwarming words to him before he died and woke up in the Emerald Forest. It made him wonder what happened to them once he passed away.
To be honest, he felt horrible dying on them like that. Especially Ruby. She was just a kid. She may have been let in two years early, but she was still a kid in his eyes. And he was her first friend stepping into Beacon. To die in front of her, knowing there was nothing she could do to save him, made him feel like a horrible friend. She wanted to be a hero so badly. Like in the fairy tales her mom had read her. To leave her feeling so powerless, it made him wish he had held onto his life.
But what was done, was done. He was alive again anyways. And this time, he would be the best friend she ever had. There was no way he was dying this time.
Ruby frowned in worry noticing the somber look in Jaune's eyes. It kinda reminded her of the look her dad had on his face sometimes when he looked at her and saw her mother. She didn't like that look. They both looked so sad.
"You okay, Jaune?" Ruby asked softly with a tilt of her head.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, sorry about that." Jaune shook his head to clear away his thoughts. He smiled reassuringly, "Like you said, bad day. Though, do you mind getting me down from here? The bloods rushing to my head, and I don't think its a good sign to be tasting purple."
"Oh? What's purple taste like?"
"Like blue, only with a hint of green. Swear it tasted like magenta though."
Ruby continued to laugh as she helped her friend down. That's what she liked about Jaune. He had a sort of way of making her feel better and smile. She wished he was her partner instead of Weiss.
Speaking off which. Where did Weiss land to? She did jump off, right?
"Ruby!"
Hearing her name being called, Ruby quickly looked down across the tree to find her big sister, Yang waving towards her with Blake beside her. Looked like she found her partner. Lucky.
Setting Jaune down, the dark red headed girl smiled apologetically at her friend. "Sorry, Jaune. My sis's is a calling."
"Oh." Ruby suddenly paused before smiling shyly at him, "And thanks. You cheered me up. I'm really glad I have you as a friend, Jaune." she said before using her semblance to zip down and greet her sister.
Well, that was nice. 'I swear, there are times I just want to pick Ruby up and hug her like she was one of my sisters. She's too damn adorable for her own good.'
So, Yang and Blake were here too? Jaune shook away the leaves and branches tangled in his hair before looking down the tree at the three girls. Which meant that Pyrrha was close by too.
"RUN!"
Yup, he nodded with closed eyes. Just as he predicted. And the Deathstalker was close behind. That also meant that Nora and Ren were here too.
"NORA!"
Man was she hyperactive today! Looked like someone sneaked in some coffee along with her breakfast. They tried keeping away the stuff from the bomber, but she always found a way to get what she wanted. She looked ready to explode from his view of things below. She was tittering on her toes, ready for something fun to happen.
Which also meant that his Snow Angel was falling down from heaven. And her knight in shining white armor was going to be there to catch her.
A message from his scroll broke Jaune from his fantasies. Taking it out, the world paused for a moment as he read the text over.
'Your Friendship with Ruby Rose has risen! Friendship leveled up! Friendship Lvl: 3! You've just unlocked a new Perk and Ability! Iron Roses Perk, Unlocked! Teres Mors Ability, Unlocked!'
Whoa, a Perk and an Ability in one level? Ruby was officially the coolest girl he knew. And her Perk and Ability sounded cool too.
Jaune opened the Perks menu first to see what power ups he received.
'Iron Roses. Due to your growing bond with Ruby Rose, you've unlocked a Perk! This Perk grants the user a 15% increase in Speed, and the special ability, Gale Speed. Gale Speed allows a user with a high Speed stat to run with bursts of speed, vanishing like the wind in small intervals. This Perk does not evolve as you deepen your bond with Ruby Rose.
Do you wish to equip it? Yes/No.'
Of course he was equipping it. He wasn't exactly the fastest in his team, he was more into defense and planning things out. But with this nice little Perk, he could do even more.
'Now, onto the Abilities, Skills and Slots menu.'
The screen brought up two separate windows side by side. On one side was the Abilities menu, showing off a little animated model of himself in his hunter armor along with many boxes. Again, many were blocked as he scrolled down a page before finding a black, red tinted, box named 'Teres Mors'. Taking a quick peek to the side of the window to its brother, Jaune found a model of Crocea Mors along with three dust icons pointed at his blade and two at his shield. Seeing as he didn't have anything for Crocea Mors, he turned his attention back to his skills section.
'Teres Mors. Using MP, the user is able to channel aura into their blade and turn it into a temporary vine like blade of thorns! The user is then able to slash, stab, and whip enemies with their Teres Mors as long as they maintain enough MP. It can be used for many other uses as well.
MP Cost: 10 MP. Must retain at least 10 MP to use.
Skill Tree.
Teres Blade: Uproot.
MP Cost: 10MP.
Teres Blade: Coil.
MP Cost: 5MP.
?
?
?
Until Next Lvl: 0/800.
Would you like to equip this Skill? Yes/No.
Jaune stopped to stare at his scroll in silence for a good minute. He could tell, he could only hold his breath for a minute. And after coughing and sucking in some air, he was not embarrassed to say he squealed like a teenage girl in a Achieve Men concert.
Holy crap! This is what Abilities did!? He'd only wished he got something as cool as this when his Lvl's with Pyrrha had rose. Quickly tapping 'yes' on the skill, Jaune had to hold back another squeal as a little animation of him using Teres Mors played out. The animation showed him swinging Crocea Mors at a little Beowolf as the blade glowed white before transforming into a short sword with a green vine of thorns coiled around it. The blade cut the Grimm in a melee combo he'd have to remember before sending it up high into the air. The blade then stretched out its vine, coiling around its neck and then slammed it back down to the earth. His animation then stabbed the short blade theme of thorns into the ground, shaking the earth a bit before a long elongated spine of thorns stabbed underneath the Beowolf, killing it in one blow.
Now this was going to make a difference in his fighting style. So, this is the kinda stuff he could unlock if he raised his Friendship and Affection with others. Jaune was going to have to make a mental note of it later. After all, mom always said, 'Stranger are just Friends you haven't met yet'. It was only right that he made as many friends as he could.
Though the MP cost was going to make things hard. As cool as Teres Mors was, it took a lot of Mana to use. Hell, still couldn't believe he could use Mana! That was even cooler. He always thought that it was make believe, then again things like aura and dust existed, so why not? He was going to have to use the thing sparingly. If he could. Honestly, he wanted to bust it right now.
Turning his eye's back up, he was reminded that he had an Angel to catch. And this time, he was going to do it in style!
Hitting the Home button, Jaune quickly put on his suavest smile before running towards the end of the large branch he stood on. Weiss's screams for help were getting closer as she fell. Wouldn't be long till she was in his sights.
As before, the world around the two seemed to slow down as Weiss suddenly found herself dropping into the arms Jaune. The heiress looked at him in confusion, wondering how he had found her falling in the vast Emerald Forest.
He gave her his smoothest smile, "Hey, there. Hope your fall from Heaven didn't hurt, Snow Angel." he winked.
Nailed it! That line was so much better then his first try! Now for the razzle dazzle.
Gravity had enough of his flirtations as it sent them falling back down. Jaune didn't mind though, his smile was still intact. Even as Weiss began screaming and held onto him tighter as they fell, he was cool. Because he had Teres Mors! With a fancy twirl of Crocea Mors sword, Jaune aimed its tip at the branches above. Now all that was left was to swing down in style and rake in Weiss's blushing awe struck gaze.
'Any minute now.' Yup, he had things under control. His new thorn short sword would be saving them any minute now.
. . . . . . .Why the hell wasn't it working!?
The ground got closer and he began to panic. Jaune's cool pose wilted like his absent ability, abandoning it to huddle against his Snow Angel in mid air.
Dammit! He thought if he willed Teres Mors like he did with the other functions of his powers he could use it! Just how did the thing work? Oh, right. He didn't know how to use MP.
Seeing his plan blow up in his face, Jaune settled for plan B instead.
Weiss grit her teeth watching themselves about to crash into the forest floor. Even with aura, the impact was still going to hurt. Stupid idiot! Did he not have a plan for landing? And here she thought Beacon only accepted the best of the best.
Her vision off the ground suddenly changed, her eyes staring into the chest plate of the blonde headed buffoon.
"Hello, God, are you there? It's me, Jaune, again!"
"Weiss!"
"Yup, told you she was falling."
"Do a barrel roll!"
"Nora! What did I say!?"
A large dirt cloud blew up with their crash landing along with the sound of a deafening boom. The onlookers shielded their faces, coughing slightly as the cloud blew against them. They watched it settle, waiting to see what happened to the two hunters. What they saw was a moderate sized crater with Jaune lying back, covered in small scratches and dirt, with Weiss clutched close to his chest looking alright.
'Is it me, or was that tree higher then before?' Jaune groaned in slight pain. He didn't remember making a crater with his fall last time. Did he land into a different tree this time? He did not see that coming. Guessed he deserved it for trying to use his powers to look cool in front of Weiss.
At least Weiss was fine. And he didn't die this time from protecting her. That was good.
"Did you even have a landing strategy in mind when you caught me?"
Jaune's left eye flinched, sucking in a pained breath before turning his eyes down towards his chest. Icy blue eyes lightly glared back at him, bringing back memories before his death.
"Eh, kinda?" he laughed, flinching again as he sat up. "I thought something would come to me. But, this works fine too. You're not hurt, are you?" he asked with worry.
Weiss was taken back from the question. She looked up at his face with confusion. Did he not care that he had just crashed down from several feet off a tree? Gods sakes, their impact created a crater! That took a lot of force. If it wasn't for his aura, he'd be dead.
Yet, he was worrying about her?
The heiress grit her teeth, looking away from the stupid blue eyes looking down at her. He probably did it because of her last name. That's all anyone saw from her. She could protect herself. Still though, the gesture was nice.
"I'm fine. Though you did dirty up my combat dress with your fall." she huffed. She moved back up and dusted off the dirt before turning away to glare at her so called partner watching close by, hiding behind a busty looking blonde with purple eyes. Oh, did she have some words for the little red brat.
She stopped her marching, clenching her fists before relaxing them. She spun back on her foot and sighed.
"Thank you, though. The Schnee family thanks you for your protection."
Schnee family? Oh, not this again. He almost forgot that the only reason she thought he flirted with her was for her families name. He didn't know what all the fuss was about. Her family owned some big company that sold dust, so what? Then again, he was a bit of a country boy himself. He didn't know about the SDC till he entered Vale.
"I didn't do it because you're a Schnee, Weiss." Jaune lightly frowned. His words took the white themed girl by surprise as he continued, "I don't even know what the big deal is. The SDC isn't a brand I'm familiar with back at home. I did it because you needed help. That, and you're really pretty, Snow Angel." he grinned back.
Was, was he for real? Weiss didn't know how to respond. It wasn't often that she met someone that didn't recognize the SDC and the family behind it. Was he a hick, or something? Her eyes softened a bit. He really was an idiot. Still flirted like one too.
Maybe, Beacon wasn't so bad if they let in people like him. Made her think back to her own partner. She did realize she could be difficult to work with. And Ruby had been trying to work with her, even if she did try showing off.
"Well, thanks anyway." Weiss thanked with a small smile. The sound of an insect like screech and whistling thumps brought her attention back to her partner. She frowned, noticing her long red cape pinned down by Nevermore feather as a Deathstalker came close for a pinch of its claws. She was her partner, even if she was a bit childish. Looked like she had some making up to do.
Weiss looked back to the knight one last time, getting a small nod of understanding before using her semblance to dash to the rescue of the caped red head.
Jaune watched what happened next between Ruby and Weiss with a nostalgic smile. Those two would fight, and bicker like cats and dogs sometimes, but in the end they'd work together. They did it once before, he was sure it would happen again. Their whole team would become like sisters to another, and they would do some pretty cool things in the coming months.
Speaking of team, where was his soon to be team anyway?
"Jaune! Are you alright!?"
'Deja vu just won't leave me alone today. I knew I was too good looking for my own good.' The familiar sight of a panting Pyrrha once again greeted him. He smiled at his partner, waving away her worries.
"I'm fine. Question is, when did you get here? I was thrown pretty far."
Pyrrha dropped her mouth open in disbelief. She huffed in annoyance, giving him a look that shouted 'Did you not just see what happened?'.
Jaune laughed softly as he got up with her helping hand. "Sorry, didn't mean to mess with you. Kind hard to miss my arch enemy chasing you from the trees."
"Arch enemy?"
"That bastard has it coming. He's had it out for me since the beginning!"
"Jaune, you two just met. And you know you're talking about a Grimm, right?"
"I swear that thing was glaring at me with hate glowing eyes! How can you explain that!?"
Following her crazed partner's finger pointed behind her, Pyrrha was surprised to find the Deathstalker's left pincer and stinger encased in a spiked block of ice. Even more so when she found its six eyes staring back at her, the nick on its face armor still intact. She hated to say it, but she could feel its eyes go through her towards its true target. It even hissed.
"See, I'm not crazy, just eccentric." Jaune nodded firmly.
"I believe him."
"See, even Nora agrees with me, Pyrrha."
Jaune blinked, suddenly noticing the grinning ginger haired Valkyrie leaning towards him on the tip of her toes.
How the hell do you not notice a presence like Nora standing next to you?
"Hiya! Names Nora Valkyrie! And I'm Queen of the Castle!" she loudly proclaimed, frowning once a thought hit her. "Hey! How did you know my name? Are you psychic or something? Quick! Tell me what sound a sloth makes!"
"Uhhh, what?"
"Calm down, Nora." Ren sighed as he walked next to his hyperactive partner. He smiled apologetically at Jaune and Pyrrha, "He probably heard you shout out your name earlier. He just put two and two together is all. Names Lie Ren by the way."
"Like a genie!"
"No, not like a genie. Where do you even get that?"
"You tell me! Now, where are my seven wishes!?"
"They seem nice." Pyrrha smiled politely. The orange haired girl sure had a lot of energy on her. Just looking at her made her feel tired.
"Yeah, as much as I like meeting new friends, we still got a problem." Jaune interrupted, bringing their attention back towards the two large Grimm in front of them. The Nevermore was circling its way back towards them, and it wouldn't be long till the Deathstalker broke free.
"Deathstalker looks really mad. Did you steal its pancakes, Jaune?" Nora glared, getting an aghast look back.
"Me? Never! I was planning on poking its eyes out with a dirty stick."
"Oh, it's more insulting that way, isn't it?"
"See!? Nora gets it."
Ren shook his head, pinching his brows with a sigh, "That's not a good thing, Jaune." Didn't they say crazy recognized crazy?
"Well, what are you waiting for then?"
Walking towards them, the soon to be team RWBY gathered along with the rest of them. Weiss crossed her arms in front of her chest as she spoke to him.
"Our objective is right in front of us. No sense in dillydallying."
"Who still says dillydallying?" Yang snorted.
"She's right though." Ruby nodded, getting a smile from her partner. Fighting the Grimm wasn't their mission. Getting an artifact was. They'd only be wasting their time with them. "The mission is to grab and artifact and get back to the cliffs. There's no point in fighting these things."
"Run and live?" Jaune simplified. He could always get behind that. "Sounds good to me, but I don't think he'll give me a choice." he gestured to the thrashing Deathstalker trying to escape its icy shackles.
Blake frowned in confusion, "You act like it's actively coming after you."
"Him, and his boyfriend. I think their taking out their failing relationship out on us."
"I thought their was some tension in the air." Nora hummed.
Hearing another cry from the Nevermore above their heads, the last of the group ran towards the pedestals housing the artifacts. Jaune grinned reaching for the familiar gold Rook chess piece. The memories it brought. And he was going to be reliving them all over again. He matched Ruby's grin back as she picked the gold Queen piece.
This time would be different though. He would be the leader his team deserved. The friend Ruby deserved. With his new abilities in hand, he would make sure things ended right.
The eight hunters in training ran out the green tree tops of the Emerald Forest followed closely by the two large Grimm. The sight of the old ruins greeted them along with the cliff top that completed their mission. Their goal was right in front of them, all they had to do was cross over the large ravine by the bridge connecting the ruins to the forest.
The hunters smiled in relief as they made their way towards the bridge. Their relief was short lived though. Several sharp tipped feathers stabbed into the ground in front of them, stalling their movements. The shooter flew around them, circling back and forth before flying towards a spire facing the cliffs. The Nevermore perched itself on top the tip, shaking its wings before releasing an intimidating screech at the hunters in its sights.
"I think he wants to play." Jaune gulped as he raised his shield up. The rest followed his example, taking out their weapons and preparing for the coming fight.
"Well, we still have to try to make it to the cliff, so let's go!" Ruby shouted as they charged for the bridge.
The Nevermore let loose another screech, shaking the ruins underneath it before spreading its wings and flying into the air.
The feathers on its large wings ruffled, firing like bullets after the humans bellow. They cut through the air, taller then the average human with iron hard ends. The ground around them was peppered by the airborne assault. They dodged and weaved through the deadly feathers, cursing as it fired off another round of feathers.
"Nora! Distract it!" Both Jaune and Ren yelled in sync. They looked back at each other in surprise, smiling soon after.
"Yay! Time for some relationship counseling!" Nora grinned. Jumping through another volley of black feathered pins, Nora aimed Magnhild's sights at the circling crow Grimm. Seeing her as an easy target, the Nevermore aimed a large volley at the orange haired girl. Jaune and Ren quickly stepped in, the blonde's shield working on blocking the feathers that got close and the raven haired boy working on shooting out the feathers out of the sky.
The air space around the Nevermore was soon filled with pink explosions. The missiles knocked the Grimm around, damaging it as it abandoned offense to dodge the heart shaped missiles.
'Sweet, we're hurting it. Now, let's see if I can bring up its health.' Jaune's powers worked on will, that much he could tell by now. So, if he wished to see simple things like messages without pausing the real world, then maybe he could do the same with seeing Grimm's HP bars.
"Let's see if this works. Scan!" he whispered to himself, keeping his eyes on the giant bird. Too focused on working his powers, Jaune missed Ren's pink eyes narrow at him in confusion.
'Nevermore. 7,555/8,000HP.'
'Alright! It works.' Above the Grimm's head, a black HP bar with a green bar within was displayed for his very eyes. And it looked like Nora's attacks were doing some damage. Had to love that hyperactive, pancake obsessed girl.
A loud screech from behind reminded the three of the second threat. The Deathstalker was hot on their trails and it seemed fed up with playing.
"Let's keep moving!" Jaune ordered, getting nods back from Nora and Ren.
They ran off towards the others who had already reached the front of the bridge. The Deathstalker picked up its pace, racing after the back of its closest target. It's glowing stinger rose high in the air above its head, ready to pierce through Nora's back. Jaune grit his teeth, he wasn't about to let that happen. Reaching the bridge, Jaune spun back to back to Nora, lifting his shield up to block the thrusting stinger. The bridge shook, trembling under the force of the connecting blow with his defense. "Jaune!" Pyrrha shouted back in worry, watching her partner hold off the powerful tail end of the Grimm. That was some insane pressure pressing into his shield. Could he take it?
"Keep going! I can hold it off for a sec!" he struggled to smile back as his knee's buckled. If it wasn't for her Perk, 'Knight of Victory' he was sure he wouldn't be standing. Thank god for miracles. It felt like a tree trunk had rammed into his arm.
The Deathstalker hissed, annoyed if possible. It raised both its pincers up, dropping them down onto the scrap of metal blocking his tail.
The front of the bridge cracked, the two added blows becoming too much for its old structure. And with a shout of pain, Jaune was slammed through the bridge, breaking through it as he fell into the deep, dark ravine below. Chunks of the bridge fell along with him, leaving him to stare up through the hole he fell through. The shouts of fear and panic calling his name as he grit his teeth in frustration.
"Jaune!"
'NO! This can't be how things end! I already died once! I'm not willing to find out if I get a third chance like this again!' He just died earlier today for crying out loud! Not even a day had passed since his death at the hands of a chainsaw wielding maniac and here he was falling into a deep hole.
Jaune wasn't about to let them go through his death again! Never again. There had to be something he could do. Seeing a hand reach for him though the hole he dropped into, he began to wish he knew how to use Teres Mors. It's whip could reach them and pull him out. But he didn't know how to use Mana. Why couldn't he start out with the help guide? It would tell him how to use his powers.
'I mean, what am I suppose to do? Call it out like it was some kind of spell or incantation?'
Wait. Could that work? Mana was magic, and that's how he'd seen it done in some of his video games. They sometimes called out their special attacks or spells. And his life was a video game now. What the hell, he was going to die anyway. Might as well try something.
Thrusting Crocea Mors towards the slowly shrinking sight of the pale hand reaching out towards him, Jaune began to shout out the name of his ability.
"Teres Mors!"
Power ran through his being not a second later that the words left his mouth. The power ran down his left hand, moving towards his ancestors blade. The old gray blade of Crocea Mors was coated in white energy, shaping it to a thin dark red blade 24 inches long, a green vine of thorns coiled around the blade to it's hilt, adding to its exotic new look as the scabbard shaped into grip with a blood red rose at the bottom side of the hilt. The vine tightened around the blade before, like a spring, it shot out towards its target. The thorny whip struck the reaching hand far above, causing the owner to wince sharply before it wrapped around the arm of their wrist. The owner grunted, using all their strength to pull the knight back up from his demise.
Like a bungee, Jaune was shot back up with incredible force, sending him flying up high above the hole and up in the air. Looking down, he was surprised to see Yang grinning back at him as she held her slightly bleeding wrist. Huh, so she had reached out to him? He didn't see that coming. Hearing a screech close by as he began to fall back to the bridge, Jaune found the Nevermore opening its beak to devour him in on fell swoop.
"Sorry, but not today!" Jaune shouted back to it. The vine of Teres Mors retracted, slapping back to its place. A small blue thermos like bar appeared in his vision, seeming to represent his MP. He had to plan this out carefully. "Teres Blade: Coil!" The thorny appendage fired off towards the flying Grimm, snapping its neck in a noose. Pulling on it, Jaune landed onto its thrashing back. It tried to rid itself of the human riding him, flying erratically to shake him off. But he wasn't having any of that. If he was getting off, he was doing some damage before he went.
Gripping both hands onto the grip of this new sword, Jaune roared, stabbing the thin blade deep into its feathered back. "Teres Blade: Uproot!" Blood flew up, splatting his clothes as the blade lite up in a white glow before piercing through the Grimm's tough feathers. A white spike of energy broke through its stomach, shaping into a spine of thorns.
'Nevermore. 6,120/8,000HP.' Sweet! That move did some nice damage. That's more then he could ever do till today. The white spike poking though the Nevermore's body bled red as its blood trickled down its point. Flipping itself down in the air, the raven colored bird shook off the annoying pest, succeeding once the spike slid off its body. Jaune cursed as he found himself once again falling. The Nevermore took it as a chance to take him out. The deadly tipped feathers of its wings rained down upon him, shooting towards him at incredible speeds. Jaune swung his new blade at the incoming projectiles, hoping to block them. He blocked a several shots with wild swings, failing to completely stop a few as they grazed his body. Pain lanced through him, weakening his grip on his short sword.
'Jaune Arc, Heart of the Gamer, 1,780/3,000HP, 15/50MP'
'Shit! That's not good. My aura won't hold up for long at this rate. And it looks like Thorn Blade won't last much longer either.' Another feather shot by his right arm, dropping his HP by 200 points. Blood soaked through his hoodie's sleeve, trickling down his fingers. He needed to get its attention away from him.
Someone must of heard his thoughts as streaks of ice, blazing shotgun shells, and high caliber bullets flew across the air into the body of the Nevermore. It recoiled in pain, shaking itself of the damage. Its HP was dropping, falling into the five thousands. Its sights turned away from him, moving to the four huntress standing on the columns of the ruins spire. It shrieked, flapping its wings as it flew off to its new targets.
Alright, he was saved. Kinda. He was still falling to his doom again. And there wasn't anything close by the front of the bridge to grab onto with Teres Mors. A loud series of booms caught his attention though, turning him away from the ground to see Nora flying towards him. She was basically riding on top of it, using the firing missiles recoil to ride the wind.
"Sup, Jaune-Jaune!?" She grinned widely as she caught him in her arms. He smiled back in relief before turning away to the sounds of fighting below them. Looked like Pyrrha and Ren were taking it on themselves. They dodged its striking tail and claws, aiming their guns at its exposed face through its attacks. Their bullets did small damage from the looks of it. It's HP was dropping down at a snails pace. At this rate, they'd die before it reached half of its health.
An idea hit him though as he found himself riding back down at the Deathstalker with Magnhild's recoil.
"Nora, I got an idea." he grinned back, getting an excited squeal out of the girl.
"I don't know what it is, but I'm loving that look in your eye!" she giggled.
"Okay, I need you to hit me with your hammer-"
"Got it!"
"Wait, let me finish!" he shouted in panic noticing her about to swing at him. "I need you to hit me with your hammer, with my shield up, and send me firing towards the Deathstalker. Think you can do that?"
"Done and done, boss!" Nora nodded with a grin.
Nodding back, Jaune raised his shield up in front of his chest before the hyperactive huntress slammed her hammer into its metal frame with an added boost from firing off a missile. The force of the impact sent him rocketing off towards the Deathstalker, more specifically, its raised stinger. He had only a few points of Mana left, so he was going to have to make it count.
Spinning around, Jaune swung his elegant blade at the midsection of the tail, the velocity of his shooting fall and the tough steel of Teres Mors allowing him to tear off a nice chunk of its HP. His swing nearly sliced through the monster's tail, leaving it hanging awkwardly close its head. He skidded on his landing, gritting his teeth as he felt his own health dropping into the red. It didn't stop him though from digging his rapier into the ground below him. "Teres Mor: Uproot!" The vines of Teres dug through the earth below, digging deep before stopping below the Deathstalker. The vine glowed white with aura, stabbing through the earth and through the middle of its body, piercing its boned carapace.
"Ren! Take out its tail!" Jaune shouted before flinching, slumping back to the ground as his MP dropped to five. He was already sweating and panting, his energy spent.
Looking towards the dangling appendage, Ren nodded, jumping above the Deathstalker's swing to miss it's dense pincers. He then ran along its arm, eyes aimed at its damaged tail. Spinning around the lancing spine from Jaune's blade, he jumped up and spun his body, slicing through the deep nick and chopping off its glowing stinger with Storm Flower's fanged blade. The Deathstalker squealed in pain, thrashing around and smacking Pyrrha back from it. Her shield blocked against the blow, sending her skidding back just as Nora landed beside her. Looking at red and gold round shield, Nora was gifted with an idea. Worked with Jaune.
"Hey, Pyrrha! I got an idea! Know how to pitch?" she waggled her eyebrows at the spartan. Seeing her grip her hammer, Pyrrha nodded back with a smile. "Good! Renny, Jaune-Jaune! Keep that buggy distracted! Me, and Pyrrha are going to play some baseshield."
"What does that even mean!?" Jaune yelled in exasperation. He hung his head in defeat, Teres Mors transforming back to normal as he ran to fight off the giant scorpion. He stepped to the side of a striking pincer, bumping back to back with Ren. The two looked back to another, nodding before turning back to its two claws aimed at them both. Jaune stopped the combined blow with his shield, holding his ground as it continued to slam its claws into this defenses. His HP was chipping away with the assault, draining it closer to zero. Ren stood behind Jaune, firing off several rounds into the monster's eyes with hawk-eye accuracy.
Running far back from the Grimm, Nora and Pyrrha stood a distance away from another. Pyrrha moved her round shield back, hoping for it withstand the firing swing of Magnhild. If not, then maybe Beacon had a smithy to fix it back up. Putting all her strength into her arm, Pyrrha sent Akouo spinning madly towards the ginger haired girl. It cut through air before Nora's well placed swing sent it vanishing into thin air.
"HOMERUN!"
"Oh, no." Ren groaned at the sound of an almost crazed yell and feint whistle before tapping Jaune's shoulder. The blonde looked back at him with a grimace as another claw struck his family's shield, "We need to move, NOW!"
"Good, my HP's close to zero." Jaune grumbled. The hand on his shoulder suddenly tightened with crushing force, causing him to shout out in pain. "Ow! Ren, you can let go now!" he hissed.
The pink eyed boy frowned in apology before letting go. The Deathstalker squealed in anger, raising its claws high above its head for a pounding strike. The two boys jumped far aside from the falling blow, the force breaking apart the ground the two once stood. Its eyes glowed with hatred, upset at failing to kill the humans in front of it. It was ready to go after the two again, only to fail to see the blitzing shield flying towards its face in blazing speeds, even with six eyes.
The bone mask shattered in a shower of bone and blood, the protective disc cleanly slicing through its body with unimaginable force. It didn't even have time for last breaths as it exited out its behind, destroying its insides. It slumped to the ground, dying in a pool of its own blood.
'Deathstalker, Dead. Congratulations on beating the Tutorial Boss! You've earned 2,500EXP! Your level has risen by 1! You're level has risen by 1! You've learned Power Strike! Guide 'Gamers Heart Help Guide' Unlocked! Weiss's Friendship, Unlocked! Yang's Friendship, Unlocked! Blake's Friendship, Unlocked! Nora's Friendship, Unlocked!'
Jaune sighed with relief as he moved to meet his team near the bridge's broken steps. Pulling up his own HP, he was surprised to see 247/3,000HP left. His aura was nearly gone! If they had kept at it any longer, he wasn't sure he'd make it out in one piece, his arms were throbbing as it is. The sound of a croaked screech made him turn his eyes to the top of the cliff, just in time to watch Ruby execute it with her scythe in a petal of falling roses. 'Still as cool as the first time.' he smiled nostalgically.
"That, was, AWESOME!" Nora cheered excitedly as she jumped around with a grin. The three hunters looked at her with tired smiles as they watched her spin in place and reenact their own fight.
"Ren was all, whoosh, tatatatatatatat, ninja slice, and Pyrrha was all, bang, bang, bang, swish, ding, ding, fast ball! And Jaune, where do I start!? He was as awesome as me! And that's pretty hard to do." she nodded to herself, crossing her arms against her chest in front of her friends.
"Which reminds me." Pyrrha raised her finger, catching their attention before she moved towards the fading Grimm, "I have to find my shield. I really hope it survived Nora's swing." she said worriedly.
"Oh,oh,oh! I'll help! I wanna see if I broke it!"
"You shouldn't be happy about that Nora. I really love Akouo."
"And I love my hammer. Your shield knew what it was in for when it attacked me."
Jaune smiled at the two as he watched them go look for Akouo. They'd all just met and they were already on the road to becoming best friends. Now, all that was left to do was reach the cliff and complete their mission.
But, just before he could begin planning on how to cross the bridge, Ren's hand once again found itself on his shoulder. The blonde looked back to his friend in confusion, noticing a frown on his normally cool face.
"Jaune, you don't mind answering a question for me, do you?" Ren asked politely, despite his fingers digging into his shoulder.
"Yeah, sure, go ahead." Did he do something wrong? Jaune couldn't remember anything that had changed between them since his first life.
Ren's eyes moved back and forth around the two, looking out for anyone within in earshot before continuing, "What was it you were whispering about? Scan? And I could of sworn you said something about your HP. What was that about?" he asked.
Oh, that. Dammit, he should have been watching his mouth. How the hell do you explain your life turned into a game to another person. Especially to someone like Ren? He was the calmest, down to earth guy he knew. He'd think he was crazier then Nora.
The buzzing of his scroll broke his thoughts, thanking it for some time to think. He needed to look up his new Ability anyway. Pausing the world, Jaune looked away from Ren to read his messages.
Though, once he stopped to look them over, he frowned. He unlocked the Friendships of every one of his friends, except Ren. He didn't even see an option for him. That was weird. Did his powers only work on girls? That didn't make any sense.
'Oh, god. Don't tell me my life's turned into a dating sim! I don't think I'm ready for that yet!'
"Jaune, what did you do?"
The blonde knights body froze in shock, his finger stopping its scrolling at the sound of the familiar male voice. Turning around, he was speechless to find Ren standing in front of him, with wide pink eyes staring at him.
Didn't he stop time? Checking for signs of the others, he found that the girls and the world had remained frozen in place as they always did when he willed his game menu up. So, why was Ren unaffected? Did his powers really not work on guys? Nothing was adding up.
"Ren? You can talk? And move? How? I thought the game paused everything." Jaune asked frowned in confusion. A strange look crossed his friend's eyes, vanishing a second later. Ren calmly smiled at him, easing his worries.
"Calm down. I don't know how, but how about you tell me what's going on here. We're friends now, right? You can tell me anything." he reassured him as he began to lead him towards the bridge.
"Really? Anything? Because if I trust you with this, you might not believe me." The thought of being called crazy and insane didn't sound good coming from a guy like Ren. He was friends with Nora and thought she was sane.
Ren chuckled as they stopped by broken bridge. The rest of it must of collapsed during their fighting.
"Kinda hard not to when the worlds frozen still. I'm guessing you did this?"
Jaune nodded his head. Well, Ren was his best friend. Was being a key word seeing as his life's started over. But they would be during their stay together at Beacon. He was the brother he always wished for. Someone he could look up to during the stressful times at school. If their was anyone he could tell his story to, it was him.
So, he did. For several minutes, Jaune retold his tale, about coming to Beacon Academy with fake transcripts, his lack of training, somehow surviving initiation with them the first time, and his entire stay at Beacon. All the way up to his death at the hands of the chainsaw wielding maniac. Even as he began to talk about waking up alive and breathing in the Emerald Forest with Pyrrha unlocking his aura, and his new found powers that involved his scroll, Ren's face hadn't lost its cool. He just nodded along with the story, slightly frowning when he mentioned how his life turned into a game. At the end of it, Jaune looked back to him for any signs of confusion or disbelief.
But he found none. He couldn't believe it, but Ren looked like he believed him! As crazy as it all sounded, he didn't think he was crazy and lost his mind. Then again, freezing time helped to prove him his powers weren't make believe. That probably helped.
"Your life's now a game, huh?" Ren closed his eyes in thought as he moved around him. Jaune nodded as he rubbed the back of his neck shyly.
"I know, hard to believe. I'm actually surprised you took that all in so well." Man, was Ren the coolest guy he met. Nothing seemed to faze him.
The sound of knuckles cracking confused him though.
Looking out towards the forest, Ren breathed in a deep breath before talking again, "Jaune, you say we're friends, right?"
"Yeah." he frowned in confusion. What was he trying to say? "Best friends, actually. You're like my brother, if I was to be honest."
"Really? Hmm, that's good to hear." he chuckled softly. "Then, you wouldn't mind doing me a favor, would you?"
"Or course, Ren. But, what's this all about?" Something was wrong. Looking around, Jaune tried to find the where the feeling of danger was coming from. Was it possible for him to be attacked by Grimm in here? Ren could move, so why couldn't they? They were genderless, so maybe they weren't affected by his powers either. He ignored his scroll going off in his hands to turn back to his friend.
That's when it struck him, Ren's glowing pink hand tightly gripping his face with enough force to break the bones in his skull. His blue eye's stared back at his friends calmly smiling face as his eyes glowed with dark pink energy.
'Congratulations! PVP, Unlocked and Entered! All Four Players are now activated! Star Stillness Perk, Unlocked and Equipped to all Players! Have fun!'
"Good. Then listen closely. If you really are my best friend, my brother, then you'll listen to me when I say this."
Sparks of pink crawled along Ren's left arm, jumping towards Jaune's body before shocking him to a crisp. His HP dropped to zero, drained of its aura as black smoke wafted from his gruesomely burnt body. A weak wheeze escaped the blonde's body as his fading blue eyes looked back to his friend in hurt betrayal.
"Give up this game. Let your soul reset back to its NPC setting. I don't want to kill you if your memory returns." he glared before lifting his body up with one hand. Moving closer to the edge of the broken bridge, Ren didn't spare Jaune's dying body another glance before carelessly dropping it off into the never ending ravine below. His back turning away and leaving him to die was the last thing Jaune's blue eyes saw.
And, once again today, Jaune Arc died.
Abilities, Skills, and Perks List:
Power Strike[2AP]: A strong physical blow; Strength is amplified by 15%. MP Cost: 10MP.
Well, shit. I bet none of ya expected that coming, and if you did? Good for you! Ya want a cookie? Sorry, but we all got our own Ruby's in our lives. I'm all out.
What does this mean for Jaune? He's died twice now, will he get a reset again? Or will his soul vanish into thin air? This only brings up even more unanswered questions! Tune in next time, on Multiplayer!
What? Did you expect a Dragonball Z reference? Come on, I got class. I watch the abridge version.
Now, to get onto other matters. If you're all wondering about my upload schedule, it goes like this. It takes me up to a week to finish one, you know with work and life keeping me busy, and I don't upload it till the next chapter is finished. Kinda like insurance if you think about it, to inspire me to finish the next on time. Or holding it hostage. Both work. After finishing that chapter, I take the day spell checking it for errors and any other corrections, and then upload it. Then repeat the process all over again. Which means that Chapter 3 is finished today, but won't be up till next when Chapter 4 is done. Hopefully with this schedule, I won't fall behind like my other fics did. Which I'm trying to get back into.
As for pairings, well, like I said, it's joke harem. Think of it like Coeur Al'Aran's Professor Arc fic. But games have multiple endings, don't they? I'll work in the pairings in those endings. They'll still be romance in this fic, but they won't be final till the ending. I hope that makes sense if you didn't understand during the first chapter.
If you got any more questions, don't be afraid to ask.
I do want to thank you all for Reviewing, Favorites, and Follows with the first Chapter. I was kinda nervous about uploading again. It's been a while. So, thanks. Hopefully I might inspire someone to draw some fan art for my story to upload as cover art. Never done that before either.
As always, Read and Review. It's common courtesy. Even if I fail to have some.
NeoShadows fading in and out.