Hello people, Spiceracksargent001 here, bringing you the next chapter of Remnant's Skybound Striker! Now originally this was going to be all of the next quest Giro would receive, but I felt like that would be a bit long, so I'm covering the end of his current quest and the first two destinations of the following quest, and tackling the rest of his next Main Story quest in the next chapter. Got it? Good. Let's get started. Oh, also, I don't own RWBY, that honor belongs to those brilliant bastards at Rooster Teeth.
Chapter 3: Vale pt.1: Meeting Coco; Making Weapons
At some point during the train ride I remembered that I'd leveled up and decided to put in my luck point. I also made another little rule for my level ups: I'm also gonna put a point into my Acrobatics with each level up. Sure, it'll mean I build up unused stat points more slowly, but it also means I'll be faster and more accurate with my attacks in the long run, so I also put 2 points into my ACR since I'd leveled up twice already. I also decided to look up what AP and exploration do for me.
According to what I read from the Help menu, AP, or Ability Points, are something I gain from things like exploring and from using a certain Title (no idea what Title, as the spot where I suspected the Title's name would be was blanked out) and are another way of enhancing my abilities. For every one AP I put into an Art or Skill, it gains a burst of XP, making it easier to level up said Art/Skill. I can also use AP to power myself up by trading in AP for stat points, with the conversion rate being 5 AP for every 1 Stat Point. As for exploration, for every new continent, region, area, etc that I personally visit, I gain a burst of XP and some AP, and with certain locations, aka: Landmarks, I'll always know where that location is no matter where I am once I've discovered it, and the quickest, safest route from wherever I am straight to said landmark. There are also apparently secret areas throughout Remnant that function similarly to Landmarks, but offer incredibly scenic views, are devoid of Grimm no matter the locale, and, upon discovery, typically yield a better XP and AP reward than most other areas.
Either way, after Blake and I had finished chatting, we simply sat in comfortable silence for the remaining 6 minutes of our train ride, simply watching the scenery of Forever Fall go by. At the sixth minute, we saw the walls of Vale coming in from our left, which prompted Blake to jump off of the train. Blinking at her sudden departure, I stayed on the train for about ten seconds longer before deciding to follow her example. It was only after I'd jumped off of the train traveling along an elevated railway that a thought occurred to me: do I take fall damage? Shifting my position mid-air so that my hands would impact the ground first, I ducked into a forward roll not even a second after my hands hit dirt. I rolled a few of times, the momentum of my fall bleeding off in the process, before stopping on my back, panting a little. I idly noted the pop-up that informed me that I'd reduced the impact of my landing to 10 HP in damage, meaning that yes, I do take fall damage, and that I'd gotten another 50 XP and 2AP for discovering the location Vale Walls. I dismissed it as Blake came over and stood over me, looking down in concern. "You okay?" My fellow Faunus asked, a bit of worry in her tone.
"Yeah, gimme a sec," I pant out before accepting the hand Blake had held out to help me up. I was then promptly decked for 30 HP and wound up falling on my butt.
"Are you insane?!" Blake hissed. "You don't even have an Aura yet! Did you not think about how much that jump could've hurt you?"
"Okay, one, ow," I groan before getting back to my feet. "Two, Gamer's Body means pain doesn't affect me all that much unless I die. Three, I'd hit the ground in a roll and only took 10 damage, that damage is now 40 after you decked me, so while I do take fall damage, I am able to reduce the impact by landing accordingly."
Blake blushed, apparently having briefly forgotten about my status as The Gamer in her worry, and looked away sheepishly. "Sorry," she apologizes. "Would you like me to unlock your Aura for you? That way you'll have an extra layer of protection."
I blinked. I'd only just met Blake in person, and now she was offering to unlock my Aura? Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Zephyr, you'll only hurt your head more than it already is. I nod and give Blake a small smile. "Sure, and don't worry about decking me, I forgive you."
Blake's cat ears perk towards me and I hear her sigh in relief and nod before walking up to me and then putting a hand on my cheek. "Okay, now, close your eyes."
'Oh, there are so many ways one can interpret this situation,' I quip in my head, but close my eyes regardless so Blake can do her thing. Sure enough, I soon feel Blake's Aura enter my body as it searches out my own Aura and activates it.
"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality," Blake intones. "Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance, and unbound by death. I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee." I then feel Blake's Aura leave my body as she removes her hand from my cheek. I quickly catch my fellow Faunus when I open my eyes and see her stumble back a bit. There was a pop-up, but I'd moved it to the side so I could catch Blake before she had a chance to fall.
"You okay?" I ask in concern. Blake takes this chance to regain her balance before letting go of my hand.
"I'm fine," the cat Faunus reassures as she pulls out a black ribbon and starts tying it into a bow atop her head to disguise her cat ears. I don't blame her, to be honest. I mean, she was part of Remnant's most wanted terrorist organization until a little over half an hour ago. "By the way, why is your hand positioned like that?"
I bring the pop-up I'd moved out of my way back into view to properly regard it.
-Your Aura has been unlocked! You've obtained the Utility Skill: Aura Mastery!-
"Pop up, telling me my Aura was unlocked, got a new Skill out of it too," I reply. "Menu. Skills."
I'd ignored Gamer's Body, Gamer's Mind, Observe, and my Proficiency skills to look up my two new Utility skills. Detect Bloodlust was pretty self-explanatory though, so I pretty much just skimmed it before moving onto Aura Mastery.
Aura Mastery: Utility Skill - Toggle (On/Off) - Lvl 1
Your ability to call upon and utilize your Aura. While Active, any damage you take is deducted from your EP before HP, but your EP Regen is halved. Unlocks new benefits as this skill levels up. Levels up by honing your mind and body.
"Hmm. Well, that's pretty useful," I muse, getting a look of confusion from Blake. "You unlocking my Aura just now, just gave me the skill Aura Mastery. Right now, it basically just lets me turn my Energy Points into a second HP bar, but leveling it up will get me added benefits."
"Oh," Blake utters in understanding before looking to a rather tall ladder leaning against the outside of the wall and makes her way towards it. I follow, deciding it's best not to question the conveniently placed ladder. My head's still ringing a little from Blake's remarkably strong left hook, I'd rather not add to my headache if I can help it.
Almost as soon as I stepped into Vale, I got the following pop-up.
Quest Complete!
Awakening:
Now with confirmation that you have arrived on Remnant and have found a friend and confidant in Blake Belladonna, you have made it to the namesake capitol of the Kingdom of Vale.
Reward: 150 XP, +300 Lien
Bonus Objectives Complete:
Defeat an Attacking Enemy - +50 XP, +200 Lien
Make a Friend - +1 Stat Point, +5 AP, +Relationship: Team RWBY
-You've leveled up; gained 5 Stat Points! You've discovered a new region: City of Vale! Gained 100 XP and 6 AP!-
I let out a low, appreciative whistle at everything I'd gained. "Not bad," I mutter, getting another look of confusion from Blake. "Oh, I just completed the 'quest' I was on," I explain quickly. "Everytime I complete a quest, I gain various rewards, especially if I complete certain bonus objectives, and I also get rewards for exploration. Completing the quest and making it here to Vale netted me a level up, 6 stat points, and a grand total of 11 Ability Points, which I can use to upgrade various skills. Speaking of levelling up, I better put in my Acrobatics and Luck points now before I forget, also gonna put that free stat point into Acrobatics while I'm at it."
"Right, well, I'm gonna get going," Blake says as she starts walking ahead. "Maybe we'll see each other at the entrance exam?"
"Here's hoping," I reply while putting a point into Luck and two into Acrobatics. After that, I decided to sit down at a nearby street bench and start thinking. Alright, I'm gonna need a good number of things if I'm going to be living in the world of Remnant. Better weaponry, for one, some more skills would also be good. Oh, and new clothes. Can't forget about the clothes; the people of Remnant love theming their attire.
-Quest Created-
Vale:
You have just arrived in the city of Vale. Now's as good a time as any to get yourself properly situated for living here on Remnant.
Objectives:
Upgrade and name your tantō
Create a Primary Weapon
Purchase Skill Books - 0/5
Obtain some new clothes
?
Rewards: +400 XP, +1 Skillbook, ?
I give out a small whistle. "A level and a skillbook, nice. A hidden objective and a mystery reward as well, though, I wonder what I'll have to do for that," I muse quietly to myself before pulling my tantō, still in their sheaths, out of my inventory and think about how to make them into a set of mecha-shift weapons worthy of RWBY. It'd have to be something small, since I imagine that these tantō won't have a lot of space inside them, even if they are yoroidōshi, so it'd have to be some sort of handgun… I think I'll go with a pair of pistols that use shotgun shells. That way people will have double reason not to mess with me in close quarters, plus I'll still have the ability to deal damage at a fair distance. That'd make a good, well-rounded secondary for me, now that I think about it. They wouldn't have that much ammo per clip in them, not that pistols typically do, but considering I'd have two of 'em, that shouldn't be as big an issue.
"Those will make good sidearms," I muse to myself as I get up from the bench and start walking, looking for a blacksmith or somewhere to tackle one of the other objectives. "A pair of armor-piercing daggers that are also shotguns. That'd cover secondaries, but that still leaves me with limited range in terms of melee, and not that much damage output beyond close range in the firearms department. I'd need something to properly call my primary weapon if I'm going to be set for living in Remnant."
That was the big question for me: my primary weapon. To be honest, there are any number of weapons that would be suited to how I intend to make my fighting style. I could do a Dust-Action Rapier like Myrtenaster, an Estoc with a parasol for a sheath like what Neo has, any number of variations of a katana, and that's just swords. Then again, considering how I think I wanna fight, I might be better off with something a bit more conducive to Dust spellwork, like a polearm, or something. Oh! A staff! That'd work well, especially if I put in chambers for Dust and a sphere at the top. That way I'll be able to focus Dust into the spells I want to use for extra power. Plus, the ball at the end will make it that much more effective a blunt object, it would have a longer melee range than most other weapons, and I'd probably even have enough space to put in a good rifle for mid-to-long range firepower. It would take some work, but I think-
WHAM!
I got cut off from my thoughts by a door opening and nailing me for 25 hp right between the eyes and left me flat on my butt with a cry of pain while clutching my nose.
-You've obtained a new skill: Physical Resistance!-
'Why am I not surprised?' I think while dismissing the pop-up with a thought before looking up to see the person - sorry, the girl - who'd opened the door in my face looking down at me in concern.
"Woah, sorry, didn't see you there," the girl says while offering me her hand. "You okay?"
"Yeah, you just caught me with my Aura down," I say while taking the offered hand and being pulled back up to my feet. In one go with minimal, if any, effort on my part, no less. Recovering enough to make the dizziness go away and stand up straight, I was now able to get a good look at the young woman before me.
She was about as tall as me with her high heels, and had fair skin, dark brown hair with wavy locks going down the right side of her head, said locks gradually going from dark brown to a caramel color at the tip, and dark brown eyes hidden behind a set of black aviator sunglasses. Her attire honestly looked like she was either following or trying to start a fashion trend. Possibly both. It consisted of a long, cocoa-colored shirt with a blast of fluff around the base of her neck that left the barest amount of her midriff exposed with a dark brown waist cincher. She also had on a pair of dark brown trousers with ribbons going down both legs, and the aforementioned high-heels, which were a pair of dark brown, leather boots. Wrapping somewhat loosely around her waist was a cocoa-colored belt with bullets going along most of it, connected by a golden belt buckle shaped like a crosshair. She also had a bunch of accessories: a black bracelet and scarf on her right arm and around her neck, respectively, both with black rose decorations, black gloves that left her index fingers exposed, three black, pearl necklaces, a black drape of skirt hanging off the right side of her belt, and a dark brown beret atop her head. She also had a black shoulder bag draped off of her right shoulder, but I wasn't fooled: that was her weapon. The bag itself had a bandolier strap of bullets that held the bag on her shoulder, and in complete defiance of logic, space, and conservation of mass, the bag itself was capable of unfolding into a giant, fuck-mothering minigun capable of mowing down entire hordes of Grimm in a matter of seconds. I didn't need Observe on, even passively, to know who just hit me in the face with a door: it was Coco Adel. Of course, I do still have appearances to keep up, so I offered my hand to Coco for a handshake.
"Girouette Zephyr," I say in introduction. Coco smiled and took my hand, giving me a firm, but thankfully not bone-breaking, handshake.
"Coco Adel, nice to meet you," Coco says before looking me up and down, taking in my attire. "What are you wearing?"
"To be honest, I'm kind of new in Vale, so I was hoping to get some new clothes," I admit. I would've continued, but Coco put a finger to my lips after I'd said 'new clothes', shushing me.
"Say no more, and follow me," Coco insists firmly before opening the door and walking back inside of the building she was leaving. I blink a couple of times before following her into the building without really looking for a sign identifying what the building was.
As it turned out: Coco had just led me into a fashion studio. After checking us in, Coco grabbed my t-shirt's collar and practically dragged me into a fitting room with a full-body mirror on one side. Coco then stood me in the middle of the room.
"Alright, I need to go grab a few things, so in the meantime, I want you to strip down to your underwear and wait in the middle of the room until I get back," Coco instructs, which, quite obviously, got me flustered. She didn't give me time to argue, though, as she'd left not a second after saying that and slammed the door shut. Letting out a sigh, I start sending my current clothing (minus my underwear) into my Inventory, since I would not put it past Coco to start stripping me herself if I wasn't undressed by the time she got back. After I was down to just my underwear, which was a pair of red boxers with a black waistband and stitching, and glasses I simply waited in the middle of the room for Coco to show up. It took her another three minutes after that for the fashionista to return, a near literal mountain of fabric and sewing supplies piled up in her arms. Her Strength stat truly must be near Herculean to be able to lift all that without showing even the slightest bit of discomfort. After setting down and organizing everything, she tucked a pencil between her left ear and her head, then produced a roll of measuring tape and had me hold my arms out to my sides while she took my measurements. Now, I'll be completely honest here: this was embarrassing as all heck. I mean, here I am, in Remnant, getting my measurements taken for new clothes by Coco Adel, hands down my top favorite secondary character from RWBY. The quiet intensity with which she went about getting my measurements honestly made me wonder for a moment if this truly was the same confidant, sassy heavy weapons gal who could beat multiple Beowulves to death with a handbag that turns into a flipping minigun capable of one-shooting Deathstalkers and giant Nevermores. Soon enough Coco finished getting my measurements and wrote them down on a, piece of paper before looking to me. "Is there any particular theme you'd like for your clothing?" she asks, snapping me out of my thoughts and back to the situation at hand.
"I'm thinking something sky themed," I reply.
"I figured you'd go with that sort of answer," Coco says with a smirk and slaps my butt, making me jump, blush, and let out a surprised, fox-like yip, all at once, prompting the heavy weapons girl to laugh a little before walking over to the stuff she'd brought into the room and start turning me into her personal mannequin. We ended up making some small talk while she was making my new clothes, again, basic "getting to know each other" stuff, and I don't know how it got brought up, probably just wasn't watching what I was saying, but I ended up telling Coco about my ability. She seemed skeptical at first, but in the end, seemed to just roll with it; didn't even ask me to show her proof. I'd bet 50 Lien she's just waiting for a more appropriate time and place for that particular conversation. After about an hour, at least, I think it was an hour, could've been longer or shorter than an hour, Coco stood me in front of the mirror to check out the attire she'd made, and to be honest… I was blown away by it.
The attire consisted of a sky blue shirt with sleeves that reached halfway between my wrists and my elbows, white shorts that went to just below my knees, and light grey, steel-toe leather boots with sky blue socks peeking out just beyond the top of the boots. Overtop the shirt was a short, white fur vest, and wrapped around my waist was a light grey belt with slots for bullets wrapping around most of it and a gold buckle in the shape of a sun peeking out from behind a cloud. Rounding out the ensemble were light grey, fingerless gloves that went to my elbows, my glasses (I'd initially protested Coco taking them off until I found that my vision was now much better than before I'd become a Faunus) being replaced by a pair of steely blue, wire-frame aviator sunglasses, and a short hip cape that was a slightly darker shade of grey with a sky blue interior that hung from the right-back of my belt and went down to my knee.
"Well?" Coco asked with a knowing smirk. "What do you think?"
"This is… wow…" I reply, still blown away by the fashionista's handiwork. I then turn to Coco and smile. "Thank you, so much, for this, Miss Adel."
"Please, call me Coco," Coco insists with a smile.
"Alright, Coco," I acquiesce with a smile. "How much do I need to pay for your services?"
"Consider this to be on me as my way of saying sorry for smacking you with the door," Coco says with a wink. "I'll also toss in a spare outfit for in case that one gets torn up a little. Anything else, I will have to charge you for, though."
I couldn't help my smile widening a bit and, deciding on impulse to screw formality, pulled Coco into a hug. I could tell that she was caught off guard by the sudden hug, but she recovered quickly enough and pushes me back to arm's length of her.
"Okay, big guy," Coco says while pushing me away. "You're welcome, but that was a lot more personal a thank you than I was expecting. At least buy me dinner, first."
I blush a little and scratch the back of my head. "Right. Sorry."
"Ah, don't sweat it," Coco says, waving off what had happened. "Your spare outfit should be ready by tomorrow, so just come by here, say, noon tomorrow, and I'll have 'em ready for you."
"Noon tomorrow," I say with a nod and wave as I head out. "See you then, Coco!"
"Catch ya later, handsome!" I hear Coco call out from behind me. Thank Oum she couldn't see me blush at that. Once I was back outside, I shake my head to, hopefully, clear my blush before resuming my search for a blacksmith. As I did, I decided to take the moment to myself to dole out some Stat Points, and here's what my stats are looking like after I'd distributed my stat points:
HP: 107
HPR: 1.177/min
EP: 205
EPR: 4.92/min
SP: 97
SPR: 10.67/min
STR: 11
ACR: 15
CON: 11
INT: 14
WIS: 13
LCK: 9
Satisfied with my choices, I continued my search, soon finding what I'm hoping is the blacksmith's. It had a sign with an anvil and a sword crossed with a spear in the background, so I'm pretty sure it's a blacksmith's, anyway, and my hopes were confirmed as I entered the shop, and it seemed the owner was a Bear Faunus. Grizzly, if I'm looking at the tufts of fur on his arms right.
Anyway, I explained to him what I wanted to do, and he agreed to provide the materials so long as I helped him forge everything. It took, maybe, an hour and a half, but we soon finished. My tantō were still yoroidōshi, but their entire construction was just a little bit thicker, and the blades had actually gained another two inches to them. With a flick of my wrists, the front edge of the blades split down the middle and moved to the side, exposing a gun-barrel on each weapon while the blades rotated forward at a 90 degree angle and slid back a bit. The two halves of the front edge then rotated back and tilted outward a 135 and 30 degree angles respectively, forming a pair of side wings while the tip of the back edge rotated a 180 degrees, then split and shifted to form a v-shaped iron sight as the weapons finished entering their pistol form. Of course, these weren't ordinary pistols. While I couldn't make them shotguns like I'd originally wanted, I was able to make them the next best thing: .357 Magnum pistols, with each one getting 7 shots a clip. I ended up naming them Donner and Blitz, the German words for Thunder and Lightning (the Blacksmith also confirmed in my mind that Atlas is basically Germany, since he commented about me naming my weapons Thunder and Lightning in Atlesian), since the metal strengthening we had to do to make the modifications work made them a dark grey with yellow highlights for Donner and the inverse of that for Blitz. Then, we got to my main weapon: a combination Dust Staff/Rifle that I called Wynn, after the Wind attribute Charmer cards from the YuGiOh card game.
I had used Kid Icarus Uprising's Orb Staff as the basis for the weapon's design, making the weapon look like an intricately made spellcaster's staff and was white primary with gold secondary and a large, glass orb on one end. The Orb's connecting area (which functioned as the stock when the weapon is held as a rifle) was filled with several hidden vials for Dust, with the orb changing color depending on the Dust type being channeled. I don't have any Dust at the moment, though, so the orb was completely transparent right now, though if I were to channel Wind Dust the orb would be the same color as the Orb Staff I'd modeled the weapon after.
Of course, like I mentioned, the weapon also functioned as a rifle, so, flipping the weapon around in my hand, I then shouldered it and looked down the holographic scope (which I'd actually modeled after the Dark Pit Staff, another sniping weapon from Kid Icarus Uprising) and fingered the trigger, though I didn't pull it just yet. The gun itself was a semi-automatic rifle with a barrel length somewhere between a standard rifle and a sniper rifle, allowing it to be used as a sniping weapon while still being capable at mid range. Plus, since it wasn't a Mecha-Shift, all I had to do was flip the weapon around in order to use either function, and the orb on the end also makes an effective bludgeon for melee combat. For ammo, the blacksmith and I crafted the weapon to chamber sniper rounds with a 10-round box magazine.
Lowering the weapon, I then looked to the blacksmith. "Do you have somewhere I can practice using these?" I ask, getting a nod while the blacksmith motions for me to follow. About half an hour later in an empty lot behind his store that he'd made into a practice area for customers looking to try out their weapons before they purchased, I now had three new proficiency skills: Dual Guns (which, after a quick check, I found also applied for using only one sidearm at a time, which would definitely prove helpful), Sniper Rifle (not too surprising, Wynn is basically a mid-range semi-auto sniper), and Javelin (which apparently applies to polearms in general, not just Spears and Javelins). I'd also gotten three new Arts, one of each of the aforementioned weapon types: Early Bird (Dual Guns), Shrapnel (Sniper Rifle), and Arcing Horn (Javelin). I also leveled up my Dual Swords proficiency and learned a new Art for the Weapon type: Stream Edge. After thanking the Blacksmith, and giving him 150 Lien as a thank you for helping me with making my weapons, I then walked out of the store, Donner and Blitz sheathed at my sides and Wynn in hand.
"Okay, that's Weapons and clothes check," I mutter to myself, crossing said items off of my mental checklist of the Quest's objectives. "Now I just need five Skillbooks and to figure out what that mystery objective is…"
And there's the chapter. Also, since I've already given you Giro's most recent stat totals, for this, I'll be giving you guys the descriptors for all of his proficiency Skills and his Arts at the moment.
Proficiency: Knives - Lvl 1 - The Gamer's Skill with Dagger and Knife-type weapons used in a one-handed style. New Arts for weapons covered by this skill are unlocked as the skill gains levels. Gains experience by using a single knife or dagger-type weapon in combat.
Proficiency: Dual Swords - Lvl 2 - The Gamer's Skill with all dual-wielded melee weapons. New Arts for weapons covered by this skill are unlocked as the skill gains levels. Gains experience by using two melee weapons at once in combat. Unlocked Arts: Back Slash, Stream Edge.
Proficiency: Dual Guns - Lvl 1 - The Gamer's skill with sidearms, both single and dual-wielded. New Arts for weapons covered by this skill are unlocked as the skill gains levels. Gains experience by using sidearms in combat. Unlocked Arts: Early Bird
Proficiency: Javelin - Lvl 1 - The Gamer's skill with polearm-type weapons. New Arts for weapons covered by this skill are unlocked as the skill gains levels. Gains experience by using polearms in combat. Unlocked Arts: Arcing Horn
Proficiency: Sniper Rifle - Lvl 1 - The Gamer's skill with Sniper Rifles and other long-range, single-shot weapons, like bows and crossbows. New Arts for weapons covered by this skill are unlocked as the skill gains levels. Gains experience by using high-precision, long-range weapons in combat. Unlocked Arts: Shrapnel
Back Slash - Melee Art (Dual Swords) - Lvl 1 - Coats the weapons in static electricity while executing a powerful diving slash on an opponent for 200% damage. Increases damage dealt by an additional 200% when activated from behind. Costs 50 SP and 25 EP to use.
Stream Edge - Melee Art (Dual Swords) - Lvl 1 - Executes a string of five acrobatic slashing attacks followed by a horizontal slash for 200% damage each hit. Increases power by an additional 100% if triggering a ranged combo. Costs 75 SP and 25 EP to use.
Early Bird - Buff Art (Dual Guns) - Lvl 1 - Focuses the user's Aura into his legs and weapons, enhancing his combat capabilities. Boosts the critical chance and power of weapons and increases evasiveness for 20 seconds. Costs 50 EP to use.
Arcing Horn - Melee Art (Javelin) - Lvl 1 - Coats the weapon's head in lightning while executing a powerful thrusting attack for 250% damage. Increases power by an additional 30% if triggering a Melee Combo. Costs 50 SP and 75 EP to use. EP cost can be negated with Lightning Dust.
Shrapnel - Ranged Art (Sniper Rifle) - Lvl 1 - Infuses the bullet with Aura to fire a powerful shot for 500% damage. Deals an extra 100% damage on Vital Shots. Costs 100 EP to use.