Okay, so, prior to the posting of this chapter, I had put an arbitrary limit on myself in terms of length for not only this arc but also the reminder of the arcs. Granted, the chapter limits were extremely reasonable, but as I continued to write I realized that it was hampering my ability to be creative with certain things. So, being the smart person that I am, I decided to drop those limits.
I don't know why I found myself compelled to tell you all this, but I decided to anyway. Moving swiftly on, how about we just jump straight into my response to reviews/comments?
[Response to Reviews/Comments!]
(Qoutev) TACO SENSEI: Rantaro will try his best.
AidenJacksonSmithDSBB: Here is the next one!
Kolt999: Rantaro won't let a little thing like distance discourage him from allowing Jolyne to do something stupid. Hint: This will become a bit of a pattern for a little while. I feel like I rushed the Jebidiah betrayal plotline, considering I never got to grow the four characters in the way that I wanted to. If I had the chance to go back and do that I would. But, alas, it is of no consequence anymore.
The "Found Family" Dynamic kinda goes more something like this, at least, in my mind anyway: Jolyne's the mother, Sayaka's the other, cooler mother when she's around, Rantaro is the Uncle, Natsumi is the crazy Aunt, and the kids are the kids.
Speaking of Natsumi, yeah, she's gonna be getting some more page time once I clear up the stuff with Jolyne and the White Fang. So will Jasper… and the rest of that group. As well as Chinatsu and everyone else.
Maybe I should've shortened the cast… Oh well! Have a great day Kolt!
Now, onto the chapter! Here's the segment I cut out from the last chapter!
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{Flashback – 21 Years ago: Makaria}
The night sky of Remnant was peaceful and tranquil. There weren't many clouds in the sky on this night, and with the Shattered Moon being in full view, Makaria Plutos had to admit that, even though it was strange, the natural satellite that was the moon was something that she could see herself getting used to viewing.
Her old world, the one she was taken from after her death, didn't have a shattered moon. It had a regular, plain moon. It also had magic and great beasts that were extremely dangerous if one wasn't careful. This world was relatively the same, though the creatures here weren't nearly as dangerous, and she got stronger far faster here than she did in her old world.
She quite liked this world for that reason. Though what she didn't like was the dreadful heat of Vacuo—the name of this part of the continent of Sanus that she was in. And so, to protect herself from this dreadful heat, even during the night, Makaria had decided to do something rather genius and totally original.
Makaria sat up against one of the few palm trees that were in the Vacuan Desert to protect herself from the heat, partially thanks to the shade and also because of the light amount of clothing she was wearing. She rested her pale hand against the surprisingly gentle sand whilst her other hand lay on her lap. Her bright white gown was probably going to get dirty, but all she'd have to do with that was put it in her System's inventory for a few seconds and wallah! Clean dress.
The dress in question covered up to just above her knees, and it was adorned with several black ribbons that kept her dress from falling off of her body. There was a ribbon just under her cleavage that, if tugged on, would tighten the fabric so that it didn't appear too loose. It was a bit strange, yes, but even so, that was what she wore.
Her silky white, knee-length hair was done up in a ponytail so she didn't sit on it on accident. And while she didn't like ponytails, she also didn't like sitting on her hair. So, she opted to get over the fact that she had to wear a ponytail to avoid doing the one thing she disliked more than it.
It was a calming night. The kind of night that was rare in these monster-infested lands. The Grimm, as the locals called them, were quite the devastating bunch. They tore through settlements like they were nothing, mauled humans and faunus alike, and seemed to do so for the thrill rather than for sustenance. In other words, these were pure evil beings with a penchant for killing things for the sake of killing things.
Strangely, they reminded her of goblins and orcs… Though only for the fact that they had a one-track mindset. Whereas the goblins and orcs of her world were lustful creatures who did everything in their power to capture and rape the women of her world, using them as "breeding stock" as they were so often referred to as, the Grimm were something else entirely. The beasts of the shadows were made of pure darkness, solidified apparently by fear and hatred, and from what she gathered thanks to her innate knowledge of summons, were controlled by someone to cause wanton chaos.
While they seemed erratic and attacked things at random, they most certainly did not. They attacked places that were known for large amounts of progress. Recently, they attacked a settlement known as Tajirian. They had discovered a material that would allow them to control Hard Light Dust more proficiently. A day later, before they could spread the word of the newfound material, Tajirian, along with everyone who resided inside the settlement, was eviscerated by hundreds and thousands of Grimm.
The fact that no one else seemingly caught onto this phenomenon baffled Makaria to the point that she had reasonably decided that everyone was either stupid or woefully ignorant. Either that or no one really looked hard enough or read in between the lines long enough to pick up on that particular pattern. The rulers of this world didn't seem to be the brightest, which, upon looking back at it, reminded her of how The Seven Shield Alliance acted when going up against the forces of darkness.
Oh well, she was no longer in that world anymore. So who was she to care about what they were doing now? Right now, she was more focused on her new world, and the new inept leaders of this place rather than the ones from the previous world. Although, the more she thought about it, at least the old leaders of her old world would've been able to catch onto the fact that The Grimm were summoned by someone.
Of course, she also reasoned that she was being a bit too judgemental to these new world leaders on account of the fact that this world was not very familiar with the concept of summons. From what she gathered most Semblances, which were what was considered magic in this world, either boosted something about the person, or gave the person a generic spell that most newbie wizards, warlocks, or even witches would learn in a matter of days.
Makaria sighed. Compared to her old world, this one was far more simplistic than her home. But, even so, she much liked this one over the former. At least here she didn't have to worry about being kidnapped by orcs the size of trees and be turned into a sex slave for them to produce their young.
Only now did she realize how strange that sounded. How come there were no female orcs or female goblins? Perhaps they were a parasitic species that required other species to exist? A possibility, upon thinking about it.
Whatever, she wasn't there anymore. She didn't need to worry about it. And even if she had the ability to return, she probably wouldn't. Besides, it wasn't often that she got to express her newfound freedom and become what that world had killed her for trying to be. At least here she could be whatever she wanted to be, so long as it wasn't evil, or in other words, a mass murderer.
As she sat against the palm tree she was resting under, Makaria looked off into the short distance between herself and her travelling partner, though she more considered him a friend than anything else. He was someone who she found by pure happenstance and happened to be just like her, something known as a "Gamer." I.e. someone who grew stronger by "levelling up" and "increasing one's stats" through completing "Quests."
It would sound like a bunch of nonsense had Makaria not lived through the experience of being one right now. In fact, she had recently completed a Quest with her friend, that being to stop an invasion of one of the settlements by a horde of oncoming Grimm.
It went off without a hitch. Her army of the dead was stronger than those pathetic measly little abominations, and the boy's ability to call down lightning storms and increase his speed and strength made things even easier. The settlement regarded them as heroes, and she quite liked the attention. Though her friend was more humble about the exchange.
The friend in question was a boy, perhaps somewhere around her age at 17 years old physically speaking anyway, maybe a little bit older. His age was dwarfed by hers, seeing as she was 63 years old. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin, though typically it was pale but due to the sun constantly beating down on them, his skin became tan. Hers would've too, had it not been for the fact that she couldn't tan.
Moving on, the teenager in question was wearing a standard white tee shirt and a pair of shorts this time rather than a pair of jogging pants due to the dangerous heat of the Vacuan Desert they had found themselves in. For footwear, he had on a pair of wooden sandals with black straps that kept his feet in place. It helped the boy with running in the sand and it gave him better traction, supposedly.
This boy was named Jasper Quartz, and Jasper had been one of her closest confidants for a little over a few years now. He was strong and knew what he was doing the majority of the time. He was a master with lightning and spears, even wielding one of the weapons of the Gods as if it were nothing.
Speaking of spears, Jasper was currently training with one right now, the one she had just previously mentioned: Rhongomiant. It was quite a beautiful weapon. The staff part of the spear was seemingly carved out of golden wood, covered on each side with glorious jewels with them seemingly containing pure electricity in its rawest form. The head of the spear was forged out of some kind of unknowable metal; at least, not any kind of metal that Makaria had seen before. Just between the shaft of the spear and the head, there was a banner of what appeared to be a cross wrapped in thorns, with the banner itself being made of red fabric, the cross being coloured in a bright yellow, and the thorns a dying brown.
According to Jasper, a man by the name of King Arthur once wielded it, and before King Arthur, it was wielded by the Legendary Angel of War, Michael. According to legend, The Almighty gave it to King Arthur to protect his kingdom, along with Caledfwlch and Carnwennan, the former being wielded by Raphael and the latter being wielded by Gabriel.
The Angel of War's spear could guide the lightning of storms, The Angel of Guarding's sword could manipulate the wind, and The Angel of Messaging's dagger could freely control water. Legend has it that if all three weapons were to be smelted down and combined into one, it would create the Mythical Weapon known only as Digofaint Duw which quite literally translated into God's Wrath from Welsh to Common.
Makaria found it interesting that Jasper was able to wield the weapon of The Angel of War. But it wasn't just that, it was how fluent Jasper was with it that interested her the most. It was like the weapon was a part of him. Every movement, every thrust, block, and slam was so fluent that it was as if he was born to wield it. Every ounce of ground he took when he was in a battle was done so masterfully, and his aim with the spear was divine. It was as if he could hit anything without so much as trying.
Makaria couldn't help but wonder if it was because he was a chosen one, or if he just got lucky that he gained that weapon. Either way, that still didn't explain his mastery over the weapon after just picking the damned thing up. Most women she knew who picked up the spear had to train with it since they could walk and talk to get even remotely as good as Jasper had by just touching Rhongonmiant.
Perhaps it was because it was a weapon of an Angel that he was able to master it immediately? It probably transferred the knowledge of all of its former users to Jasper for him to be competent with it. At least, that was her theory of how he was so good with the weapon. Although that begged the question of why he trained with it. Perhaps it was just to have something to do while she rested? Perhaps so, perhaps not. Either way, the white-haired lady watched on with an interested gleam in her eyes as Jasper trained.
Mayhaps one day, he could teach her how to use a spear. She might've been an amazing Necromancer, and she might have the best spells of dealing damage to the soul and preventing one's ability to heal, but her physical "stats" weren't the best, and if she was ever going to become a strong individual, she'd need to be physically strong.
According to her "System" whose name was Hina, her "HP Stat" was considered low for her level, being a "measly" 9,893. Her "Attack stat" was stuck at a worthless 220. Her "Defence Stat" was a lowly 990. And her "Endurance Stat" was a pathetic 605. Her "Magic Attack" and her "Magic Defence" were the same at 1,000 and her Stamina was, for some reason or another, 100,000. She had no idea why it was so high, but she had to assume it was because she was an Elf.
The reason for why she assumed this was because of her species… "sexual stamina." Elves, for as much as she loathed it, were seen as creatures of lust no matter where she went. Even in this world, in a world where her kind didn't exist, in books and fables most stories of elves were told through the lens of a man fucking one, and the female elf being able to go for hours on end.
And, unfortunately, as much as she'd like to deny that to be a fact, at least where she came from, it was true. Although, she was probably the only Elf that she had known that had been uninterested in the concept of sex. Or, at least, having too much of it. Some of her old friends were what humans called "Whores."
That wasn't the case. Or at least, she thought so anyway. Her friends were just extremely sexually active. Then again, she had no idea what a "whore" was, and she never really cared to know. And yet, despite her kind's females being lusted after for their ability to go for hours on end, something humans couldn't do because they had low stamina for the common creature, elves were viewed as a way to have "cheap sex".
The concept of "cheap sex" illuded Makaria. Why would it be "cheap" if it were an intimate moment between one's lover? It was an aspect of human culture that she could never grasp even if she tried. Then again, there were a lot of things she could never quite understand about humans as a whole.
"Humans are strange…" Makaria thought in passing, watching as Jasper wiped the sweat off of his brow. His attention was drawn to her as he smiled. Jasper was one of the only humans who didn't stare at her lustfully. He respected her for her, and that was a rarity. Both in this world and her world her body was considered "sought after" because one of her ex, a human, spread rumours of how… "tight" she was. Here, it was because she was simply a beautiful woman.
She much preferred the latter over the former.
Perhaps if she ever returned to her world, if that was even an option for her, and if she had decided that it was worth returning to, she'd personally request an audience with Celestine to hang those who spread the rumours. Of course, considering they already executed her for Necromancy that would be a far bit harder than it would've been before she was found to be a necromancer….
Oh well! That wasn't exactly all too important now was it?
"How are you fairing, Lady Plutos?" Jasper asked, walking over to her as Makaria smiled.
"I'm doing good, Sir Quartz. Although I would hope you would stop addressing me as a lady. I was a Princess in my old world, not here. And you were what… a "neet" as you called yourself during our first meeting. I still have no idea what that is, and you haven't told me yet like you said you would," Makaria replied as Jasper sighed.
"I already told you. It was just another word for a loser, Lady Plutos. And for the record, just because you were a Princess in your old world does not mean that you aren't still of royal blood. So I'm going to treat you as such, Ma'am," Jasper retorted as Makaria couldn't help but giggle softly to herself.
"And yet, if that were the case, you would swarm me with jewels and try to court me, yet you have done neither. So I'd say you're doing a poor job at that, Sir Quartz," Makaria quipped as Jasper chuffed.
"Sure, Ma'am, sure. I already told you I see you as a friend, not anything more. Besides, I thought you hated that kind of attention," the blond said, taking a seat next to Makaria with his knee raised high, resting his spear next to him as he cupped both of his hands atop his folded leg. Makaria shifted, giving the teenager more room.
"You're correct, I do. I was merely pointing out how I was treated back then, and you aren't doing that. So, technically, you aren't treating me like a royal," the white-haired Elf said as Jasper sighed.
"Well, that wasn't how we treated our royals back in our world. We treated them with more respect than that. Or at least we used to when being royalty was more than being a celebrity. Just what kind of world did you live in?" Jasper questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"A Matriarchy, Sir Quartz. What of you?"
"A Patriarchy, ma'am," Jasper replied curtly as Makaria raised an eyebrow.
"You valued men more than the people who brought you into the world?" The elf questioned, curiosity in her tone as Jasper couldn't help but laugh.
"No, we valued strength. In my world, we had no such thing as magic, so we based things on physical strength. And, on a biological level, men were found to be stronger. I can't apply that logic to your world because ours are so different, so to me it's a little strange that women were in charge instead of men. Or well, I would say that if I didn't believe in equality more than the governing leaders of my world…" Jasper explained as Makaria awed while nodding.
"I see… then you're right, our worlds are wholly different than one another," Makaria said as she cupped her chin. "A world without magic… I can't believe it. It's hard to envision it. Did your world have to deal with orcs and the like, or did those not exist either?"
"No, they do not, ma'am. Though, we did have to deal with our own fair share of monsters…" Jasper replied, his expression forlorn as Makaria leaned forward with interest.
"Such as?"
"Human cruelty…"
Makaria was taken aback. Humans were cruel where she came from as well, but the way he spoke of it… it sounded like he was surprised by it. "Why act so shocked? Everyone is inherently cruel to some degree. Humans are no different. You demonstrate that on the battlefield when you show little regard for your enemies," the elf stated as Jasper nodded.
"Yes, and that is exactly why humans are as cruel as we are. We don't truly care for one another. We only pretend we do. And it's especially worse during times of war. As you probably know, warfare is what our kind is known for. We wage war with everyone, no matter what. Even if it seems there is peace, there is always some kind of war going on. I was… a victim of it. A civilian casualty in a war that should've never happened."
Makaria tilted her head in confusion. "What kind of war?"
Jasper frowned, his relaxed posture straightening as his eyes narrowed with a level of hate that she hadn't seen in his eyes before. His usually calm, stoic blue eyes gave way to that of a barbarous rage the likes of which didn't belong on his face. It was the kind of rage she had seen in the eyes of the Grimm she had mowed down with her army of the dead, not the kind of rage she had expected to see within the eyes of a man such as Jasper.
"A war between everyone. It all started because of one man and his want to retain a legacy… I was caught in a bombing run, running in the streets to get to safety. My death was sudden. I didn't suffer… but… there is a reason why I fucking hate Atlas… they remind me of the country that caused the third world war that I lived through, if only briefly…"
Makaria looked away. And here she thought it was more than that. Or, perhaps, it was precisely the fact that it was so sudden that he was so bitter. "But… I don't understand. If your death was so sudden, why are you so… angry about it?"
That caused him to snap in her direction, his anger now aimed at her. "What?"
Makaria apologetically raised her hands, a look of upset strewn on her face as she spoke. "Ah, I think that came off the wrong way. I meant… if you didn't suffer, why would you have such hatred for dying? Shouldn't you be glad a worse fate hadn't befallen you?"
His anger didn't go away, it merely faded a little, and it was no longer directed toward Makaria, but rather something distant. Like a memory. He grit his teeth, then looked to the ground, sighing. "Because I never got to say goodbye to my friends… as far they know, I'm still alive, and stuck somewhere without any means of communication."
"Oh…" Now Makaria felt bad for bringing up the topic. The loss of one's family was something that hurt even her. Her mind flashed back to her mother and father in Eostia, watching her get dragged away by the Knights Templar for resurrecting her dead ex-husband with the help of Necromancy, the one she had after her ex-boyfriend. It was two days after that when she was hung for all to see by decree of not only the Church but from Celestine Lucross herself. She never got to say goodbye. Not to her dead husband, not to her family, not to her brother, not to anyone….
"I'm… sorry for bringing that up. I know what it's like to not be able to say goodbye," Makaria said as Jasper placed a hand on her shoulder, earning a look from the white-haired woman.
"Apology accepted. But, uh… I think we should get going now. The winds changed suddenly. I think a sandstorm is near…."
"That it is," a voice that neither Jasper nor Makaria recognized made its way to her ears as she turned to look over to the direction it came from, that being her right. There, she saw its origin. The person who spoke was large, easily 7 feet tall. He was dressed in white armour with several golden crosses adorning it. There was a large cross on his chest plate, two smaller crosses on his gauntlets, and two more on his kneepads.
The armour covered him from the base of his neck to his feet, and it was a brilliant white, the kind of white that was almost as pristine as the dress that Celestine Lucross had worn. It, much like the spearhead that Jasper used, was made out of a metal she had never seen nor heard of before, which was probably where the metal got its white look from.
His skin was a few shades darker than what she had seen before and it reminded her of the dark elves that she had heard about from the stories of the great war between Olga Discordia and Celestine. His hair was shaggy and brown, and his eyes were a deep shade of yellow. On his back was a pair of hilts sticking upward with a chain connecting the two blades, and his face wore a confident smirk. One that she had seen before on the faces of confident men.
He was physically built, like most men she had known. His arms were the size of tree trunks, even underneath all of that armour, it was clear that he was a very, very muscular man. He was likely more than capable of lifting an entire Ursa Major with a single hand if he so chose, and with his armour, he'd be more than protected enough to do so.
Speaking of his armour, it was marred with stains, specifically blood stains. It was dried, sure, but it was nevertheless a little bit on the disgusting side. Though who was she to judge? She had killed her fair share of people in the past. Though that did make him seem a little more dangerous than he was probably intending to appear to be.
As a result of that accidently hostility, Jasper stood up, standing just in front of Makaria as the man looked down upon him with a smirk. "Ah, what's the defensive stance for kiddo? Relax, I just couldn't help but overhear the two of you talking about the sandstorm that's on its way. If you're willing, you can come to my palace. You'll be safe there."
"Thanks for the proposition but we're not going to take any offering from a person we don't know," Makaria spoke up as Jasper nodded, eyes narrowed. The man, for his part merely laughed heartily. It was loud enough that one could probably hear it from miles and miles away. And yet, it carried an air of genuine humour rather than any kind of annoyance that she had been expecting to hear.
After a moment or two of laughter, the large man calmed down, sighing as he stared at them. "Well, I suppose it was rude of me to waltz up without so much as introducing myself. I apologize for that, but first, can I get your names?"
"Jasper Quartz," Jasper bit out, still taking upon the defensive stance that he had assumed when the man first approached. For some reason or another, the teen looked on edge. Why? If she had assumed any better, Jasper thought this man a threat. But why? Why would he see him as a threat? Especially after he so kindly offered them a place to stay before a massive storm hit.
"Jasper, that is quite enough, you don't need to try and protect me from this man," Makaria said as Jasper looked back at her. He looked like he wanted to protest, but whatever he was going to say he stopped when she narrowed his eyes. With a hint of hesitation, he backed away as Makaria stood up, before curtsying before the armoured man in a gesture of respect. "Makaria Plutos, former Princess of a kingdom that has most likely long since faded away. And may I ask just who are you, good sir?" Makaria asked as the man smirked.
At that moment, Makaria felt a chill cascade down her spine. She had no idea where it came from, and she had no idea why she felt it, but it happened the moment the man's face went from neutral to a smirk.
Then, the man introduced himself.
And Makaria's life went down the gutter afterward.
"Well. Princess Plutos, Sir Quartz, my name is… Jamol Anderson."
[Natsumi]
Black fire danced upon her hands and coated her arm as she batted away a swipe from what appeared to be a monstrous wolf the likes of which she had never seen before. Well, no, that was a lie. She had seen a Beowulf before, but it was only in the distance, and that was before they were completely eviscerated by The Dog.
The large demonic dog snapped and bit at her face, though it missed as she back peddled. She made sure to keep her footing as she fought the beast. It was nearly double her height, so she needed to be mindful of her surroundings. And despite its appearance what with it appearing like a sickly dog, the damned thing was durable.
It survived blow after blow of her Black Fire-infused punches. Most people barely survived being grazed by it as she found out before her clan had been exterminated by Jolyne. A group of thugs from a rival gang tried raiding one of their warehouses while she was there. They found out what it was like to be burned by a fire that never went away until the job was done.
And yet, with these things, despite being on fire, they attacked relentlessly. And it was starting to piss Natsumi off.
The Beowulf she was attacking lunged forward, trying to bite her face off yet again, only this time, it was in for a world of hurt. For some context, Black Fire not only burned forever, depending on where it was on her body, but it also enhanced that particular limb. The drawback to it is that it left small burns.
Of course, it wasn't limited to clinging to her body. She could form it into weapons if she wanted to, but mostly melee ones. She could also blast it like normal fire spells, but it was weaker if someone did that. It was more or less used for close ranged stuff. It also got more powerful the more enraged the person was. Perfect for people with loose tempers like her.
Honestly, if she could go back and Thank Himiko, if she was still alive, Natsumi would.
When the Beowulf tried to lunge forward to rip her face off, it was met by its lower jaw being grabbed by the canines, and before it could clamp its maw shut to rend the blonde's arm to bloody chunks, Natsumi ripped its jaw off with a tug. Blood sprayed all over the place as the Yakuza heir tossed it to the side, her hands soaked in the liquid red. The beast howled in pain, or at least tried to as it fell to the ground, where its head was immediately curb-stomped.
Natsumi wasn't given a chance to rest, however, as something knocked heavy into her, forcing her to the ground. When she hit the ground, she felt something sharp claw at the back of her neck. Skin tore open as she screamed in pain, something warm and red pooling around her as her screams intensified. She couldn't move as whatever was on top of her had pinned her down and had been putting all of its weight on her body.
"Get off of her!" A loud, angered shout came from her left as whatever had been atop of her was shoved off, and in the corner of her eyes, she saw whatever had knocked her to the ground get lit up by purple electricity. Natsumi was then lifted up by Jasper as the glow of her pendant around her neck surrounded her neck, sealing the wound on what she assumed was the back of her neck.
Jasper grabbed her shoulders, keeping her in place for a moment so she could gather her barrings. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah…" Natsumi groaned, rubbing the back of her neck. It was probably going to leave a pretty nasty scar, which was something she had been hoping to avoid. She looked over to her right and saw what had attacked her. It was another Beowulf, and it was disintegrating before her very eyes. "When you said Grimm-Infested, you really meant it."
"Yeah, I did," Jasper quipped as the loud cawing sound of a bird caught their attention. Looking up, a flock of Nevermores was facing them, wings prepared to fire off their rock-hard feathers as Jasper narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, I don't think so…. Alright, here's what's gonna happen. You go deal with the terrestrial Grimm, I'll clean up the Nevermores, 'kay?"
Natsumi didn't respond verbally, she simply ran off to go contribute to the assault that had been levied against them by the mindless hoard of monsters. It came with no warning. One moment they were walking the desert, minding their own business, then out of the blue, a group of 50 or so Grimm came at them from nowhere.
According to Jasper, it wasn't uncommon for Grimm to travel in packs, and to do so in varied species. Before the fighting started, there were at least 20 Beowolves, 10 Beringals, 15 Death Stalkers, and 5 Nevermores. As the fighting went on, the number only increased.
So, yeah, no, she wasn't having fun. But she was learning a lot about her powers as she fought. Combat was the best teacher, as she found. Better than any reserved area, at least. Here she could all out without having to deal with rules and bullshit like that.
Off in the distance, she watched as Mahiru was being overwhelmed by what appeared to be two Berigals—ape-like creatures with hard bone-like armour covering their arms, chest, and face.
All the redhead had to fight for herself was a sword and a shield that was given to her by Jasper, along with the limited future sight that she had access to thanks to Chinatsu Ouma. She had been fairing well at the beginning of the battle, having known the basics of swordsmanship probably thanks to Pekoyama having taught her due to them sharing the same class. But now, with everyone having been spread out because of the sheer volume of Grimm, she was starting to falter, and if someone didn't step in soon, she would most likely fall to them.
The Yakuza heir didn't even so much as blink when she leapt into action. Several runes appeared behind her as tips of swords hovered within them, waiting to be launched off at the snap of her fingers. The runes were a deep menacing shade of black, and the scrawlings in the runes were an eerie shade of red. With a wave of the hand, the swords fired out like cannonballs, plunging through the Beringals with enough force to split entire buildings in half. Overkill? Perhaps, but that wasn't exactly what mattered, now did it?
The demonic apes died the moment the swords stabbed through their chests, and before Mahiru could even blink, Natsumi was already in the air as a Nevermore had snuck up behind her. The blonde dragged one of the swords out of the rune closest to her, reared her whole body back, and sliced downward, cutting the bird from head to ass faster than Natsumi expected she would.
Landing just behind Mahiru, the Yakuza heir levelled a look over her shoulder at the redhead and smirked. "Never say I don't do anything for ya, photo nerd."
Mahiru scowled, raising her shield as she protected herself from a slamming attack at the hands of a Deathstalker. Its tail was primed and ready to strike when out of nowhere a cage of bones surrounded the creature. With it cornered, Natsumi swung her arm out in a swathing motion as several runes appeared around it, swords primed and ready to be fired.
With a snap of her fingers, 10 swords went flying at 200 miles per hour and skewering the Deathstalker with minimal difficulty. The beast died as the cage of bones went away. The culprit for the act was Fumiko, who was breathing heavily. In that moment of daze, another Deathstalker snuck up on her. She was too far away for Natsumi to reach her, and just as the poor girl was about to be impaled, a blanket of fire washed over the Deathstalker, drawing its attention over to the right.
Standing there was Satomi, who had her arms outstretched to blast forward bright red flames. She was glaring at the monster, and in response, the Deathstalker roared, as if it were a rallying cry. And much to their horror, more Grimm came rushing out from over mounds and out from the ground. Most of them were Deathstalkers, but now there was a singular King Taijitu.
"For fucksake! They just keep coming!" Natsumi thought with a grimace. She looked over to Mahiru and narrowed her eyes. "Try and meet up with Jasper, I gotta help the other two, okay?" Natsumi said as Mahiru waved her off. The blonde wanted to curse her out, but she didn't have time to.
Black flames washed over her legs as she lunged forward, gripping the hilt of the blade that she had taken from one of the runes with enough pressure to turn her knuckles white, the blonde landed atop the Deathstalker that's right side was still being burned, causing it to squirm.
The overgrown scorpion tried to shake her off, striking at her with its stinger, missing each time. Natsumi slashed with an upward arc, cutting the stinger off of the tail. The blades were sharp enough to dice entire buildings in single strokes right out of the runes as she had accidentally found out when training with Himiko in a park, when she had accidentally fired off a sword into a house, causing the house to be split down the middle lengthwise.
Thankfully, no one had been hurt at the time, but the family that had been living there was displaced, which should've been obvious. Not that Natsumi cared. Not back then, and most certainly not now. Besides, they were probably dead anyway thanks to Jolyne ending her world.
The Deathstalker howled in pain, though it was quickly silenced when the Yakuza heir sliced the bastard's head off. Jumping off the corpse and atop a Beowulf that had been looking to most likely bat her off of the overgrown arachnid, Natsumi slashed the creature down the middle as she coated the blade in Black Fire.
The smothering flames covered the blade from guard to tip in an instant. It was going to melt in 2 minutes, so she had to be quick with what she had planned to do. To her right was Satomi, and directly in front of her Fumiko. Over to her far left, about 1 kilometre away was Mahiru, and somewhere behind her was Jasper.
As for The Dog, it was ordered to stay behind. Jasper wanted to see how well they did in combat, so at the very least she knew The Dog wasn't going to get in the way. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Jasper take down the last Nevermore. Good, that meant that she could do what she wanted to do.
"Oi! Jasper! Can you get these guys out of here for just a moment? I want to test something out!" Natsumi called out as Jasper raised an eyebrow. Nevertheless, he didn't ask questions, he simply activated some sort of lightning-based upgrade and collected Mahiru, Fumiko, and Satomi in the blink of an eye and got further away faster than Natsumi could see.
Good. That meant there would be no unnecessary casualties.
Natsumi closed her eyes as the black flames roared. Raising the sword upward, the blade began to glow in a nebulous black light, its light reaching 10 feet out. The sword then began to clone itself, black flames included. The blonde opened her eyes again, her eyes glowing bright green as the clones of the swords began to clone themselves, and those clones began to clone themselves on top of that.
By the time she was done cloning the swords, she was starting to feel drained, and the sky in a 10-foot radius was bloated out by the sheer number of swords that had covered the area. All of the Grimm, who had been charging in her direction, stopped dead in their tracks, almost as if for a split second they realized that, even with their feeble minds, trying to push forward would be a wasted effort.
One of the Beowolves howled as if to do another rallying cry, but unlike the last time, nothing came for them. And it was at that moment that Natsumi plunged the blade that was in her hand down to the ground. All the other blades followed suit, impaling every Grimm in a 10-foot radius and killing them either by impalement or the fire that was on the blade covering them and burning them to ash.
The ground cracked, chunks of ground uplifted and rippled 100 hundred feet. The ground shook as if an earthquake hit right where she had stabbed the ground, and at the same time, black fire coated the ground, razing everything in the area the ground was obliterated.
After a few seconds, the fire petered away, and the swords that had been summoned disappeared. Natsumi fell to one knee having completely run out of energy. Moments later, Jasper and the rest came back. Everyone, even Mahiru looked at her as if she had done something that seemed outright impossible. Everyone except Jasper, looked at her with an impressed smirk.
"That was crazy, Kuzuryu. You did good," the blond man praised, outstretching his hand as Natsumi took it without hesitation. "How long have you practiced that move?" Jasper asked as Natsumi rolled her shoulders, and cracked her neck.
"Not even once. I did say I wanted to test something out. I had no idea it was going to work," Natsumi replied as Jasper frowned.
"That was reckless, then. You could've died," Jasper admonished as Natsumi nodded, a look of understanding in her eyes as she sighed.
"I know. But even if I did, I'd die knowing I'd get to see my family, so it was a win-win for me either way," the Yakuza heir replied in earnest as Jasper bit his lip, sucking in a breath with a wince as he closed his eyes.
"I see. I'm sorry for your loss, then," Jasper said whilst placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Natsumi just shrugged, looking over to the north. Jasper looked in that direction too as The Dog came to his side. "We're heading North. Another hour and we'll be in the forest, so long as we don't get jumped by another horde of Grimm."
"After what Kuzuryu just did? Why would we need to worry about that?" Satomi asked, genuine confusion on her face as Jasper's expression hardened.
"Because The Grimm do not care if they die. So long as the person they are trying to kill is dead, they'll gladly throw themselves off mountains if it meant that they could so much help in ending the life of a mortal. They are soulless, heartless creatures with no concept of mercy. I'm surprised more haven't come yet. But after what we just witnessed… It'd be safe to assume that we should be good for now…." Jasper said as Natsumi raised an eyebrow. She was about to ask what it was that she had done, only to realize the amount of destruction that she had caused.
For what felt like miles, she had singlehandedly terra morphed the dessert. Where it was once flat lands, entire ridges and small 10 feet tall cliffs formed. Uneven ground spanned for as far as she could see, and on top of all of that, water that had been trapped under the ground was now starting to seep out of the wounds she had made in the earth.
It was unbelievable, inconceivable that she was capable of that. All just by using the two spells that she had known in tandem with one another. She hadn't had a chance to actually fight in a long, long time, and when she had it was in the confines of the PTD, and there, she was only training, not fighting for her life.
This… this was completely outlandish. No human could ever hope to do this much damage to their surroundings, and yet here she was, not quite human but human enough to where this seemed damn near impossible.
"H-How…?" Natsumi muttered, looking at her hands. "N-No… there is no way in hell that all of that was me. Where did this even come from?! I haven't trained any of what I did, at least, for the most part! That, and I was a human a few days ago… how did this even happen? Is it because… because I'm a Faunus?"
Jasper shook his head. "Nope. That's not it. Faunus are strong, don't get me wrong, but they aren't stronger than the average human. It most likely has everything to do with the magic you can use. What even are the names of those spells you were using, anyway?"
Natsumi frowned, dusting herself off. "Sword Summoning and Black Fire. Why?"
Jasper hummed. "Just curious. Those two abilities reminded me of something. But, that doesn't matter. We need to get moving. We're burning hours and the last thing I want to do is waste any more time as we had. Once we get to the forest, we can look for a settlement to rest our heads. Vale is known for their settlements and how close they are to each other."
With that, Satomi, Fumiko, Jasper, and The Dog all went ahead. Mahiru, on the other hand, stayed behind staring at Natsumi. The Yakuza heir looked at the photographer with a raised eyebrow, waiting for her to do something. After a minute of the girl just staring at her, Mahiru spoke.
"Thanks. You know, for saving my life," Mahiru said as Natsumi grunted.
"Don't need to thank me, I was just doing what I should've done," Natsumi replied as Mahiru scoffed.
"I hope you know this changes absolutely nothing, Kuzuryu. I'm only thanking you out of courtesy," the redhead stated as she placed the sword that Jasper had given her on her back, which was now sitting in what appeared to be a leather strap with a place to put her circular steel shield.
Natsumi couldn't help but snicker to herself at how much of a tsundere that Mahiru was being. It got her a sharp glare from the teen, who stormed off. The blonde's tail swished from side to side, thinking about the stupid look on the redhead's face.
"Heh, cute…" The blonde thought as she followed after Mahiru. As she did, in the back of her mind, she thought of what could've happened had she not moved as fast as she had. Mahiru probably would've been torn in half. Even if Mahiru hated her, and even if Natsumi didn't quite like that stubborn photo nerd, watching her die would've left the blonde feeling hollow.
Thankfully, that hadn't happened, but there was always the chance that it could've. And had that been the case, she probably would've gone ballistic. Mahiru was the only real thing she had left in this world, and she was going to be damned if she lost that.
And so, it was there, at that moment, when she saved Mahiru's life, she vowed to make sure that Mahiru would live through all of this. She would protect her until she could properly protect herself. It was the least of what she could do, after all. And, it would help her make amends for the bullying she had subjected the teen to.
[Jolyne Brooks]
Jolyne was never one to complain about how far a location was, but this was getting ridiculous. She had thought that the estimated time to get to The White Fang camp nearby Styx was an overall assumption of how long it would've taken to get there, and not accounting for her speed.
But, as she soon found out, even with her speed and the rate that she was travelling, it would still take her 13 hours to reach her destination, she realized that Mono had indeed factored that in with the time it would've taken to get to point A to point B.
For reference, she was running at the same speed she had been when she was making her way to The Branwen Tribe, which that journey was supposed to have taken days. It, in comparison, only took her about half an hour to get there. And as it stood, her Stamina was draining faster than she could replenish it, mostly because she had not so much as stopped for even a second.
She had been going full throttle nonstop for the last few hours or so, and she was now dipping into the triple digits for her stamina pool. If she didn't stop, she'd be exhausted, something she had never experienced before, as well as something that she didn't want to experience.
But, at the same time, she was in a rush. The clock was ticking, and Jolyne needed to rescue her friends. She needed to rescue Sayaka. She needed to rescue Nagisa. Those damned bastards had her girlfriend and son, and the last thing that she was going to do was stop for even a singular sec—
[Stamina Depleted, please rest!]
As soon as that pop-up appeared, Jolyne tripped and tumbled forward. The action had caught her off guard as she ate dirt, skidding forward as the ground tore up beneath her fall. By the time she had stomped, a small mound of dirt, grass, and rock had piled before her. The Dragon Faunus slowly got up, exhaustion blanketing her.
"What the hell…" Jolyne thought as she sat against the mound she had created. In her wake, she left nearly a trench's deep scar across the earth, marring it until the ground was returned to its rightful spot. The dual-haired witch, uncaring of this, tried to stand up, only to falter and fall flat on her face again. "Okay, seriously, what the hell?" It was then and only then that she realized a pop-up had appeared before her, making her squint.
[Status Effect: Exhaustion – 2hrs left]
[You have completely drained your stamina! Please wait {2hrs} until your stamina bar is replenished. To make the wait less tedious, you may sleep to regain all of your stamina! Be careful, however, as rough sleeping surfaces may actually deplete your stamina rather than refill them!]
Well, this was her fault, she supposed. She had never actually run out of stamina before, so she couldn't be all that mad. Although that didn't stop her from being so. What kind of stupid downside was that!? Being barely able to move after expending all of her Stamina? That was just a bunch of bullshit! That shouldn't have been possible!
[And yet, it was, Jolyne Brooks. You should be more careful.]
"Oh quit your sass, Mono. Is there anything I can do to shorten the timer without sleeping? I'm kind of in a rush right now and I have no time for resting."
[Afraid not, Jolyne Brooks. Unless you sleep, you will have to wait out the timer. Perhaps you can take this time to run through all of the tokens you have been hording? You have about 20 regular tokens, 2 epic tokens, and 1 legendary armour token. You also have 30 Stand DISCs you can use. They're starting to take up your inventory.]
Jolyne cursed under her breath. Mono was right, they had been taking up her inventory space. That, and considering she could quite literally do nothing else, she figured that going through what she had wasn't exactly a bad idea. And so, that was exactly what she did. She started off with the 20 regular tokens. After going through the first 10, the only notable things she got were a few more rings that gave her certain buffs.
For example, she had gotten one common ring that allowed her to resist nature damageby 5%, and another ring that allowed her to resist thunder damage by 5%. She was running out of fingers to equip rings. 7 out of 10 fingers were now covered in common rings, without only one rare ring that increased her mana regen by 10%.
The rest of what she got were common weapons and pieces of armour that she wasn't even going to bother to keep. Her luck, as it seemed, despite being at 150-something or whatever, wasn't exactly kicking in all too much.
By the time she got down to her last token, she had discarded so many weapons and duplicate rings that she was starting to get annoyed. Some of these things she wasn't even thinking of giving to anyone because of how useless they were. Like, seriously, a 1% defence increase? A 2% chance of inflicting bleed? What was the point of a weapon or piece of armour like that? It was like it was made to be thrown away! The only things worth keeping were the common rings, and even then she only kept them because they looked pretty.
By the time she got to her last of the regular tokens, she frowned. "Well, let's see what I get from this one…" Jolyne thought, rolling her eyes as she began to crack the coin. A bright purple light came from it, which made her raise an eyebrow. Finally, something worth keeping. When she finished snapping the coin, in her hand was some sort of… pendant.
To describe what it looked like, it had what appeared to be a ring around it with three circles carefully spaced apart. The ring was made of gold, and the circles were hollow. Underneath the center of the ring were two bands that crisscrossed underneath one another, and in the center was a gem of sorts with what appeared to be a snowflake surrounded by an ice-like substance.
"What… is this?" Jolyne murmured as an information box came up next to the pendant.
[Ice Vision (Inazuma) – Epic]
[A pendant that, upon being worn, will give the user the ability to freely manipulate a facet of ice depending on the user's inherent desires and will. This is often gifted to individuals by the Gods of the world of Teyvat. But, luckily for you System Users, you can draw them from your Gacha systems! Try not to be too greedy, as having more than one can cause great harm to the body! Sincerely: Barbatos!]
[Note: Having this vision will greatly decrease the damage you do with your Magu-Magu no Mi. Store it in inventory?]
[Y/N]
"Uh, fucking yeah? What kind of question is that!?" Jolyne thought as The Ice Vision entered her inventory in the blink of an eye. For her, that was a nightmare, but for someone else? Perhaps even the likes of Sayaka or even one of the other idols? It was a possibility to give them it. Though she was more leaning toward the idea of giving Sayaka the Ice Vision seeing as the only ability she had was instant death, and it would probably drain her from using it too often.
Huffing, Jolyne frowned. That was a good way of thinking about it. For a split second, she considered Gundham, but that man hated her so there was no way in hell she was going to give him more ice on top of what he could already use.
Or… perhaps she could give it to Weiss when she got back. That was also a possibility. After all, seeing as Weiss probably wanted to do something with her limited amount of time in this world, having her help make Styx become a better place to live might be one of those things.
Pulling out the first of the two epic tokens, just as she was about to break it, a pop-up came up.
[Epic Gacha Token]
[A Token that works differently from other Gacha Tokens, as you can only get Epic Rarity items from this Gacha Token.]
"Thanks, Mono, I already knew that."
[I am aware. However, this is the first time you have held one of these, as such, it was an automated prompt.]
"Right…"
A bright purple light flooded her vision as the token snapped in half. When it broke, a sword found its way into her hands. The sword in question was in a bright white sheath. The hilt, much like the sheath, was a pure white colour. It had a circular handguard and a golden end. There was a diamond pattern littering the hilt and from what she could tell, it was a Katana.
After she inspected the sheath and the blade, a pop-up appeared.
[Wado Ichimonji – Epic]
[The Wado Ichimonji is a sword of great personal importance to a man by the name of Roronoa Zoro. It was forged by Shimotsuki Kozaburo and was a prized heirloom of his family. It is also one of the 21 Great Grade Swords within the World of [Redacted]. These swords are said to be alive in some way, shape or form. It is not understood how, but they are.]
Jolyne stared at the sword and frowned. She wasn't particularly keen on using a sword, let alone a Katana. However, she thought back to Weiss. Perhaps she could use this as well alongside the Ice Vision she obtained.
Out of curiosity, Jolyne took the blade out of the sheath and inspected it. She could see the reflection of her face within the blade, and she felt the urge to smile. She had no idea why, but she did. The blade looked incredibly sharp, and could probably cut through just about anything in its way.
"Well, I can't use a sword. I like my scythe thank you very much. But I'll gift this to Weiss. She looks like the kind of person who would wield a sword."
[Reputation with Wado Ichimonji – 010/100]
Jolyne blinked when she saw that appear before sheathing the sword, sighing. "Well, the description wasn't kidding when it said the sword was alive…" the dual-haired Dragon Faunus thought, storing the Wado Ichimonji in her inventory.
Grabbing the second token, the same verse as the first, Jolyne snapped it open as a bright purple light invaded her vision. By the time it was gone, a small bottle with a singular capsule residing inside appeared in her hands. There was a label on the front that read as: Transformation with nothing else to describe it. That was, until, the pop-up came into view.
[Quirk Capsule: Transformation – Epic]
[By taking this pill, you gain the Qurik "Transform" which previously belonged to the individual by the name of Himiko Toga. Take the pill to learn more about the Quirk. Warning: By taking the pill you get the same side effects as the previous user!]
Jolyne raised an eyebrow. "Quirk? What the hell is a Quirk?"
[A biological superpower developed at birth with, more or less, biological side effects. Think of them as Devil Fruits but instead of having to eat a fruit, you are simply born with them. Or, in this case, you'll have to take a pill to have it.]
"Ah…" Jolyne thought, staring at the capsule. A part of her was curious about what this particular power was. But, at the same time, the name alone was turning her off from having it. Transform. What kind of power was that? The ability to transform into something? She was already made of magma, so if she wanted to she could turn her body into anything she wanted using that.
"Wait a minute…" Jolyne looked at her arm and attempted to turn it into magma. However, it failed, and when it did, a pop-up appeared.
[Not even Stamina to perform that action. You need 100 Stamina to act. You have 52 Stamina at the moment. Please wait.]
"Oh for FUCKSAKE, are you serious?! And why have I never been told it requires Stamina to do even the simplest of actions!?" Jolyne growled as Mono spoke up yet again.
[You simply never had the need to be told, Jolyne Brooks. You have so much stamina that it is of secondary nature for you to be able to do something so simple. In turn, I never saw the need to mention it.]
"You know… that's the kind of thing you tell someone BEFORE THEY COMPLETELY DRAIN THEMSELVES OF STAMINA MONO!"
[I will be more careful next time, Jolyne Brooks.]
"Thank you…" Jolyne sighed. Out of all the ways she could've learned that she need stamina to transform her body into magma, this was not the way she wanted to learn. She was lucky this wasn't a combat situation, otherwise, this could have potentially cost her her life. Frowning, the Dragon Faunus searched around her inventory and grabbed out the legendary armour token. It was the final token that she could open, and then there was the Stand DISCS.
Realistically speaking, she COULD open all of those, but she didn't want to. Why? Because she already had a backup of Stands that she could give out, and that was if she gave them out.
Looking down at the token, before she could break it, yet another pop-up appeared.
[Legendary Armour Token]
[A Token that works differently from other Gacha Tokens, as you can only get Legendary Rarity armour from this Gacha Token. Note: You will not get full sets of armour, but rather pieces of armour. Not all armour looks like armour such as chest plates and the like.]
Huffing, Jolyne began cracking open the token, and as it cracked, a golden glow emitted from the coin. With a little more effort than she probably needed, she cracked the token in half, and what she got was something that confused her beyond belief. Why? Well, because it was… straight up just a jacket.
Moreover, it was a white jacket with red cuffs and golden tassel shoulder pads. Several buttons were adorning the left side of the coat, and it had a rather large collar that went up to someone's chin. It was sized to fit her, but even then it was pretty big, stopping just above her thighs had she put it on. She flipped the thing over, and on the back, in Hiragana, it read "JUSTICE" in large symbols.
And then, the pop-up appeared. And when Jolyne read it, she couldn't help but open her mouth in shock.
[Fleet Admiral Akainu's Marine Jacket – Legendary]
[Description: The Jacket worn by the current Fleet Admiral Akainu in The World of [Redacted]. It is said that these jackets stay upon a person no matter what, so long as they stay true to their morals and their form of justice, no matter how corrupt that vision of justice may be. Come hell or high water, Justice will always be served.
Upon wearing this Jacket, the wearer will receive an immediate 50% buff to their Physical Attack, permanently, so long as they are wearing it. They will also gain a 25% buff to their Charisma stat, alongside the ability to completely and totally negate all incoming damage that isn't enhanced by some sort of ability, such as Haki, or that universe's equivalent, should the wearer have eaten a Logia-type Devil Fruit. If you are fighting a boss enemy, then all damage dealt will be halved. All buffs that are applied when wearing this piece of armour will stack with all other buffs gained.
When wearing the full armour set (current progress 1 out of 4) then you will gain an extra 100% buff to all stats that will remain until all clothing is taken off. You will also gain an intimidation bonus that will force anyone and everyone to listen to you with, at the bare minimum, some level of respect.
When wearing any parts of the armour while having The Magu Magu no Mi (Mag-mag Fruit) you will gain an extra 150% Physical and Magic Attack buff and all stamina costs for attacks are lowered by 75% When in The World of [Redacted] you will also have a far easier time learning all forms of Haki while wearing this coat.]
[Would you like to equip this piece of armour?]
[Y/N]
Jolyne never tapped [Y] faster in her whole life than now. The moment she did, the effects were immediate. She watched in real time her stats SKYROCKET from what they were to what they are now. And it was fucking insane the difference that was made.
[ATK Stat: 1,911 – 5,733 (200% Buff)]
[Mg Atk Stat: 2,252 – 5,630 (150% Buff)]
[Charisma Stat: 134 – 167.5 (25% Buff)]
[Physical Damage Taken enemies: 0% Damage Taken – 0% Damage Taken]
[Physical Damage Taken by Boss Enemies: 50% Damage taken (Dragon Faunus Buff) - 0% Damage taken (Dragon Faunus Buff and Armour Buff)]
[Stamina used for attacks using the Magu Magu no Mi (Mag-Mag Fruit) reduced by 75%]
Her body felt more durable, power flowed through her veins and her skin felt harder than it had before. She looked down at her arms and noticed that they had grown about a centimetre in diameter with pure muscle. When she flexed her arm, her bicep tensed, and it looked a hell of a lot better than what it appeared to be prior to the buff.
The high of the power lessened when she realized that this was all temporary and that eventually, she'd have to take off the jacket. But never the less, it was quite a powerful boost in her stats. Physically speaking, she felt as if she had the strength to shatter mountains with no effort.
She glanced down at her stamina bar. About a quarter of it was full. Just how long had she been sitting down and opening tokens? It must've been 30-some-odd minutes of her just sitting there, doing nothing. She also felt less exhausted than she had been before eating dirt. Sighing, Jolyne stood up, looking over her shoulder to see how the jacket looked on her. Only now did she notice that the jacket wasn't on her arms, but rather, it was draped over her shoulders. And yet, it felt as if it was snapped into place like a piece of Lego.
Her only complaint was how it made her hoodie blend in. Otherwise, it was a rather cool-looking jacket. The power she felt from wearing it… it was out of this world. And the crazy part was that it was the first piece of a set of four, and she was already feeling that strong. If she collected the whole set, she'd gain another 100% buff to all of her stats. And that wasn't mentioning that the buffs stacked with one another.
Unless she got a better piece of armour, there was no way in hell that she was going to switch out the clothing that she was wearing.
She could continue her journey, or wait till her stamina recharged. Granted, now that she knew constantly running had its own drawbacks, slowing down was something that she was probably going to need to do. If she wanted to be there at a reasonable time, however, she was going to need to pick up the pace. And she had no time to be sitting around and doing nothing.
Opening the tokens was a distraction. A good one, mind you, but a distraction nonetheless. She needed to get moving, and she needed to get moving now.
Sayaka was still being held captive by those filthy pieces of shit, as was her son, as were her allies. And she would not stand for it.
And so, with that in mind, she continued her trek through the woods.
-To Be Continued-