This chapter is going to be the end of the first part of the RWBYverse. I know that sounds insane, but that is the case. Although, I feel like I should note that there are going to be four major parts of the RWBYverse, all of which are varying in length. We are now finished with the first one, meaning there are three more parts to go. Oh boy, I am very, very excited.
The next chapter is going to be an interlude, focusing on The Gods, and the overarching plot of this "series".
That being said, let's get into my response to reviews/comments.
[Response to reviews/comments]
(Qoutev) TACO SENSEI: I'm just gonna be honest, I don't like doing character revivals unless they are required for the plot, like the Kuzuryu's. So the chances of Sayaka coming back to life is basically next to none.
(Ao3) Tymaddux: Well, I'll try to make this chapter light-hearted, but I can't promise anything.
(Ao3) AidenJacksonSmithDSBB: That actually makes sense, so reject what I said earlier about that. Drink more caffeine.
(Guest) Reader 451: Honestly, I kinda don't like team SSSN with the exception of Sun, so it wasn't exactly too much of a stretch to believe I would kill him off. Not saying that's going to happen, but that's beside the point. Sayaka's now dead, and there will be consequences (duh). And boy, those consequences will be fun.
Kolt999: The Way Of Kings is peak literature. A little slow at the beginning but it picks up pretty quickly. Anyway, the funeral "chapter" isn't exactly going to be long. Well, the funeral part, really. I don't like making the mood dull and upsetting all the time, so you don't have to worry about that too much. Have a good day, Kolt!
Dragon slayer of death 88: Welp, I don't what to say to that. Get used to it, it's gonna be common. This story isn't exactly a happy one and never has been. So for me to suddenly switch it up would be kind of ballocks. The best solution is to either continue to read or tap out.
With that out of the way, onto the chapter!
[Rantaro]
The Funeral for Sayaka Maizono was short, Rantaro noted. The reason being was that it was so abrupt. The town didn't have a graveyard, so the dead were burned both as a way to not attract Grimm due to the negativity surrounding the dead, but also as a way to prevent scavenger animals from eating the dead. It was a smart move, all things considered, but still, Rantaro didn't know how to feel about the whole situation.
Jolyne got straight to the point. There was no faffing about, no delaying anything, none of that. She built a small funeral pyre out of some wood with the help of some of the villagers, and after that, she gathered everyone who knew Sayaka, placed her body on the funeral pyre and lit it on fire using her magma. Very few words were spoken, even from Jolyne. But Rantaro could tell that it wasn't out of a lack of caring. Far from it.
When Rantaro even so much as glimpsed at Jolyne, he could tell she was suppressing an almost mountainous amount of rage and grief. It probably took everything in her power to stop herself from lashing out. Almost immediately after the funeral, Jolyne said nothing, went to her room, and entered the PTD.
It had been a day since she entered. A whole day. Nothing had happened in that time, other than the town finishing rebuilding, and the sombre mood somewhat lifting. The townsfolk might not have known Sayaka, but it was clear that she meant a lot to Jolyne, the same person who had saved their settlement. Out of respect, they mourned alongside her, even if it was only brief.
When they had gotten back to Styx after the three-day trek, prior to Sayaka's funeral, the White Fang Soldiers were forced to train with the bandits that Jolyne had taken from the Branwen Tribe, who had changed their name to the Styx Defence Contingent, or the SDC as they called themselves. It was most likely a pun, considering Clay had been the one placed in charge.
Rantaro didn't much care for that, but it seemed to get the White Fang soldiers irritated. According to Clay, because of the name of their new group, it was a difficult task getting those who were part of the White Fang to listen to the human leader, but after Rantaro threatened violence on them and showed off a mere hint of his newfound physical strength, they all shaped up and began to listen to Clay.
Rantaro would admit that it was fun watching the White Fang squirm at seeing a human, something they probably viewed as weaker than them, knock down a healthy tree with a single lovetap, with no use of magical ability, or flaring of any Aura.
That, and he would also admit it was funny to see the bandits equally squirm with the same amount of discomfort, knowing that the person they had captured in the past could have easily crushed. Of course, back then he couldn't, but he didn't need to tell them that.
That aside, the little kids, Monica and Jataro, reaction to Sayaka's death was… well, it was interesting. Jataro looked legitimately upset and cried about it. Full-on bawled his eyes out. Which was strange, because Jataro had barely known Sayaka, but even then he guessed the kid had seen her as a friend. After all, if she was a close person to Jolyne, the person who saved him, he had to assume that he viewed her with the same reverence.
Then came Monica's reaction. For a moment—only a moment—Monica looked like she was shocked, confused, and also terrified—of what, Rantaro didn't know, but the little grizzly bear Faunus wasn't going to say anything about, that was for sure. But after that brief moment of those flurried emotions, she defaulted to an "aw shucks" kind of mood. She was upset, but she didn't show it. She waved it off as it meant very little to her, when in truth she seemed more than a little upset at her death.
Again, it was strange. The two kids hardly knew Sayaka. They had one interaction together and that was it. But still, they seemed more than attached to her. Then again, Rantaro reasoned that it was because she was close with Jolyne, and they already saw Jolyne as their big sister or perhaps parental figure. So they could have also applied that logic to Sayaka.
Either way, their reactions were more than justified. Although Rantaro noted that after he told them, and after he went to go check on Weiss, they retreated to their rooms. They hadn't left their rooms very often, and when they did it was to eat and use the bathroom. Otherwise, they stayed in their rooms. Again, it made sense, but still, it was a little weird.
There were plenty of kids their age, so why not interact with them? Perhaps they simply had trust issues. And if that was the case, that made more sense than them just being anti-social. Whatever the case was, Rantaro wasn't willing to figure it out. Don't get him wrong, he cared about their health—obviously, they were children for crying out loud—but he had more important things to deal with, such as a sickly ex-slave who still needed to be attended to.
And speaking of that ex-slave…. Weiss was… alright. He had focused most of his time yesterday on healing her after the funeral, making up for the three days he had been gone. He stayed up all day and all night healing her, and because of that, she had come along far quicker than he would have imagined. Most of her bones have completely healed, meaning that she can now walk safely without having to fear breaking her bones. That being said, she still needed to put more meat on her bones, so when she did walk she had to use a cane.
Until she could walk without a cane, she was basically bedridden. She would also get winded walking up the flight of stairs from the second floor to the first floor. That wasn't even beginning to talk about the amount of dirt and grime embedded into her skin. It would take at least a month's worth of showers and baths to get it out of her. And because she was so physically weak, she couldn't do it on her own.
Meaning someone else had to do it. And because a majority of the Faunus in the village wanted nothing to do with a Schnee, or someone who looked like a Schnee, and considering the kids weren't too keen on talking to anyone else, and Jolyne was MIA in the PTD. That left Rantaro being the only one available to bathe her. At least until Weiss was able to do it on her own.
Weiss… was not the biggest fan of it. Neither was Rantaro, and he had even made it clear to her that he hated the idea as much as she did. Unfortunately for the two of them, there was nothing that could be done about it. And considering they had to bathe her twice a day to make sure that all of the dirt, grime, and god-knows-whatever-else was out of her skin in a reasonable amount of time, Weiss was even less happy about it.
"You know…" Weiss grumbled, raising an arm as Rantaro took a scrub cloth to her armpit, making sure to be gentle so as to not tear the still delicate skin. "I really… really feel uncomfortable right now."
"Yeah, well, no one else is willing to do it. And besides, you can barely lift up a plate full of food on your own without someone else doing it for you," Rantaro replied, sighing. "But, as long as we keep up this routine, you won't have to worry about me for much longer," the teen continued as he lowered Weiss's arm.
Currently, the two of them were in the Inn's bathroom, which had a wooden tub filled to the middle with warm water, and soap that made bubbles. It didn't go high enough to cover Weiss's chest, but considering there was barely anything there, it was no different than looking at a guy's chest with slightly swollen pecks.
"That doesn't mean I don't like being in a room with a man, nude, Mr. Amami," Weiss retorted, her expression drawn in annoyed visage.
"Not saying you have to like it," Rantaro said, motioning her to face him so he could get under her neck. She did so, her face lighting up. He was staring directly at her chest with an expression of indifference. "And besides, I had seven sisters. So I'm trained to not care about women's bodies. Not that I would care in the first place," Rantaro continued.
"So… you're queer?" Weiss asked. Rantaro, in response, shook his head.
"Nope. I'm into women. I just don't care how a person looks. I can be at a nudist beach, and I wouldn't bat an eye. Sure, hormones might do hormone things, but I genuinely do not care," Rantaro replied, splashing the now slightly more clean neck area, moving down to the sternum and just above her chest. "Considering I had to bathe and clean all of my younger sisters, this is nothing new to me."
"But I'm not a child, I'm a young adult," Weiss replied, watching as Rantaro's clothed hand came ever so close to her breasts. "Surely this must be different for you," she continued as Rantaro stopped, looked directly at Weiss, and frowned.
"Weiss. I mean this as no insult to you, but if you hadn't outright told me that you were a woman, aside from the obvious lack of male genitalia, I would not have assumed that you were," Rantaro stated as Weiss recoiled, offence strewn about on her face.
"Are you trying to say that I have no boobs!" Weiss exclaimed as Rantaro sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand.
"Weiss, can we not make it about that? I just want to get this over and done with. We'll have to do it again after dinner. Don't make this more difficult than it has to be," Rantaro said as he continued, finally getting to the most embarrassing part for Weiss, which was scrubbed under and around her breasts. She got extremely uncomfortable at this part, including to where she cringed every time he did.
Rantaro didn't care. He was just doing what had to be done. That, and he made it go by quickly, so he didn't linger. After finishing, he quickly moved his way to her stomach region and asked her to relax. She did, and thusly he made her lean against the tub so he had a better way and sturdier way of scrubbing. This also embarrassed Weiss, though then again Weiss was embarrassed about the whole thing.
"I hate this…" Weiss grumbled. "It makes me feel weak…" the snow-white-haired teen said as Rantaro sighed.
"That's because you are weak. At least, at the moment anyway," Rantaro quipped, making the white-haired teen's face flush with annoyance.
"I am not weak! I—"
"You can't walk without a cane, Weiss. You can barely carry a plate full of food. You tire yourself out from walking up a flight of stairs, and you can't even clean yourself without nearly spraining a muscle. You're shaking from being on your knees for over 10 minutes in the tub, and you need to rest your body more than you would if you were healthy. Your bones and frail and most of, if not all of, your nerves are shot due to constant physical abuse—need I go on?" Rantaro rattled off as if it was second-hand knowledge.
Weiss, for her part, couldn't help but pout. Rantaro sighed, finishing up with what he was doing and motioned for her to turn around so he could clean her back. She did just that, hunching over so he could reach the places that he otherwise couldn't.
"I… I'm sorry, Mr. Amami, I just… get frustrated with others call me weak," Weiss said as Rantaro hummed in acknowledgement.
"I know you do. But, look on the bright side of things, you were doing far worse yesterday. If I keep doing what I'm doing, you should be able to walk perfectly fine in… I'd say about 3 days. Then you can bathe and walk and do whatever else it is that you can do by yourself…. For the most part, anyway, and provided nothing happens that could worsen your condition," Rantaro said, scrubbing just underneath her left shoulder blade to scrub away a certain patch of dirt that just wouldn't go away.
"I look forward to it. That way I don't have to feel like I'm being watched by some pervert," Weiss muttered, looking over her shoulder. "No offence to you, of course, Mr. Amami."
"None taken, I get where you're coming from. It must be weird to have someone younger than you clean you like you're a toddler," Rantaro replied, earning a chuckle from Weiss.
"Quite. Though, I have to admit, at least it isn't that old man doing it. It would make things feel even weirder," Weiss said, looking back toward the wall. "What was his name again? Ronin?"
"He's a good man. Besides, he wouldn't want to anyway. He's got too much on his plate as it is, and I don't think he'd be comfortable doing it," Rantaro answered as Weiss hummed. Rantaro motioned for her to stand up so he could clean her legs and lower half. Weiss sighed, standing up as water cascaded off of her skin.
Rantaro immediately got to work, cleaning in between her legs, maneuvering himself carefully so as to not disturb her. "Spread out a little bit," Rantaro muttered as Weiss sighed, doing so as she grumbled something under her breath. "I know it makes you uncomfortable, but it won't be for much longer," Rantaro said.
"I can still complain," Weiss grumbled. Rantaro cleared his throat, reaching just a tad further. He wasn't going to touch her, she could do that herself. It wasn't too hard for her to clean her own junk. He passed her the cloth, then turned around. It didn't take her very long to, seeing as there wasn't much to clean, unlike guys. She passed him the cloth before tossing it over his shoulder, grabbing a new one, dunking it in cleaner soapy water, then went back to cleaning her legs.
"You're right… my arms do feel weak after that minor amount of labour…" Weiss said as Rantaro chuckled to himself.
"I told you so. I am a medical expert… sorta. Just not licensed. But because I used to live in the wild, I had to learn how to take care of myself," Rantaro said, scrubbing behind Weiss's knees. "Before I met Jolyne and moved to that settlement I mentioned—"
"Japan, correct?" Weiss asked as Rantaro nodded.
"Yes, Japan," Rantaro said, biting the inside of his lip. It was a lie, and he hated lying, but again he couldn't go telling people he was an interdimensional alien from another world that no longer exists because of the volatile Dragon they live with. "Anyhow. Before I lived there, I lived on my own in the wilderness."
Weiss gasped, "In Grimm Infested forests? Are you a madman?" The white-haired teen said as Rantaro shrugged.
"So long as you don't approach them, they won't attack you. Not unless you're in their territory. They're just like any other animal. They're just more violent. Especially at night," Rantaro said as Weiss raised an eyebrow.
"The Grimm want nothing more than the destruction of humanity. Are you trying to tell me that they are docile unless threatened?" Weiss said, her tone of voice dripping with sarcasm as Rantaro sighed.
"I never said that. I said that they aren't violent unless you approach them. I know how they can attack a hair trigger. But they aren't as volatile as you think they are," Rantaro began, lying straight through his teeth as he had never even encountered a Grimm. Well, aside from Tyrone of course. He assumed that The Grimm weren't as evil as everyone said they were. They might be magical constructs, but they were still animals at the end of the day.
"As long as you don't move when they see you, they'll walk past you. Beowulves, anyway. Ursa's and the like will straight-up attack you no matter what. Beowulves are kinda stupid, and don't register if something's there if you don't move. So it doesn't apply to all Grimm," Rantaro said as Weiss crossed her arms.
"I see… well, I guess we'll have to put that to the test one of these days. After all, I plan to become a huntress," Weiss said, earning a raised eyebrow from Rantaro.
"A huntress? I… I don't really know what those are," Rantaro said, earning a confused and exacerbated look from Weiss.
"How can you not know about Hunters and Huntresses!? They're like… the main thing that keeps everyone from dying and protect those outside of the Kingdoms, even inside of them too," Weiss said, flabbergasted as Rantaro hummed.
"You mean like those people who Jebidiah killed? Were they Hunters?" Rantaro asked as Weiss nodded.
"Yes, they were. I guess you really did live in the wild if you didn't know Hunters and Huntresses," Weiss said. Rantaro, for his part, rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, an embarrassed expression on his face.
"Yeah…" Rantaro said, finishing scrubbing the back of Weiss's legs. Getting Weiss to turn around so he could scrub the front of her legs, he made sure as to not look anywhere in the middle of her waist. He was already embarrassing her enough by just doing this, best for him to not stare anywhere he could avoid. It didn't take long for him to do that, and as a result, she was looking cleaner by the day. She still looked covered in dirt, but she didn't look nearly as bad as she did when she first got here.
Helping the teen out of the tub, he quickly dried her off before dressing her. Once he was done doing that, and just as he was finishing buttoning up her shirt, the door to the bathroom opened. When it did, Rantaro and Weiss were greeted by a far less upset Jolyne and… well, she changed. Somewhat, anyway.
There wasn't much difference from what she looked like last time. Aside from her arms looking to be a little bit thicker with muscle than they were before she entered the PTD, everything looked about the same. However, the biggest difference was… well, the wings. Jolyne had wings. They were folded behind her back, out of the way and whatnot. But she had wings. They stood taller than herself, somewhere around six feet, and that was just an educated guess.
"Uh… hello, Jolyne. Um… nice wings," Rantaro said as Weiss stared at her with wide eyes.
"How… did you get more Faunus features?" Weiss asked, confusion dripping from her voice as Jolyne looked over her shoulder. She blinked before the wings simply… sucked away into her back. One moment they were there, the next, they were gone.
"Forgot I still had those deployed. I'm still getting used to them," Jolyne replied, rubbing the back of her neck as she faced the pair. "I was training in the PTD so that what happened to Sayaka can never happen again. And, well… they kinda just… showed up when I was killing another Dragon."
"A-Another?!" Weiss gawked, near shouting as Rantaro choked back a laugh at Weiss's reaction.
"Yeah, with that little pocket dimension of hers, she can summon enemies relative to her strength and use them to get stronger. Speaking of… how much stronger are you?" Rantaro said, turning to face Jolyne as he stood to his full height. He had been on his haunches for far too long, and as a result, his legs narrowly gave out on him.
Jolyne reached out and caught him so he didn't fall flat on his face, "Thank you," Rantaro murmured as The Dragon Faunus smirked.
"No problem. But, uh… you want me to clean her from now on. I think she'd be far more comfortable if another girl did that," Jolyne said as, much to Rantaro's confusion, Weiss lit up like a Christmas tree and shook her head in denial. Jolyne cracked a grin, placing a hand on her hip. "Ah, I see the problem then. Well, go on, I guess you can continue doing it from now on. Oh, and to answer your question… very. About, um… I'd say another 100% stronger than I was before."
"A-And… just how strong is that?" Weiss asked as Jolyne's smirk transformed into a smile.
"Well, you'll see soon enough. Also, I have a gift for you waiting in my room, Weiss. I know you lack Aura and a Semblance, and considering you want to become a Huntress, well… I think the two gifts will be of use to someone like yourself," Jolyne said, before turning and motioning for the pair to follow her. Rantaro, confused as ever, helped Weiss up to her feet, grabbed her cane from the doorway and passed it to her, and followed the Dragon Faunus back to Jolyne's room.
When they entered, there were two things strewn about on her bed. A sword in a white sheath, along with a clip to hang off of someone's belt, and a necklace with a very interesting design. The Necklace was a light blue gem, with three golden rings above it, along with a much larger ring surrounding the gem. The bottom portion of the major ring crisscrossed and sported off to either side. In the center of the blue gem was a snowflake emblem, and within the gem was some sort of ice-like substance.
"Uh… might I ask what these are? I know one is a sword in a sheath—of which I am quite thankful for—but what is the necklace?" Weiss asked as Jolyne smiled.
"Well, think of the necklace as an artificial Semblance. Once you wear it, it will never leave you unless you give it up, and it doesn't require Aura to use. As the emblem suggests, it gives the users ice powers, though if I were to wager a guess it forms to your preference," Jolyne explained as Weiss's eyes widened to the size of saucers.
Immediately, Weiss approached the necklace, picked it up, and placed it around her neck. The moment she did, she shivered, as a blue aura surrounded her. Then, out of nowhere, a voice thundered within the room.
"Outsider, Weiss Schnee. Though it is rare for one such as I, Raiden Ei, Goddess of Thunder and Eclipse, Master of the Euthymic Plane, to grant one outside of Teyvat with a Vision, I have blessed thee at the request of the 7 Elder Gods, and The Almighty. Please take great care of it, and it shall take great care of you. And if you, for whatever reason, find yourself in the world of Teyvat—despite our dislike of Outsiders—please visit Inazuma. I would like to meet you in person. I bid thee farewell."
The voice was feminine, regal, and meant business. And as soon as it touched their ears, it left. Weiss was shaking in both shock and awe. She sat down, slowly but surely, as ice particles began to fall from her hands. "I feel… strong. Powerful, even…" Weiss muttered as Jolyne placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Good. I'm glad you do. When you're ready, I will personally train you. And while you lack transcripts to enter any huntress school, I'm sure I can have someone I know pull some strings," Jolyne said as Rantaro raised an eyebrow, skepticism in his eyes.
"Daimen?"
"Daimen," Jolyne replied. "He's… special, let me put it to you like that," Jolyne said, looking over to Weiss, who frowned.
"I don't know how I feel about faking transcripts, but… I guess I don't really have much of a choice," Weiss said, her tone forlorn as Jolyne shrugged.
"Eh, honestly, it doesn't matter. Though, you will have to go by a different name. After all, to the world, Weiss Schnee is dead. So think long in hard about what that name will be, and get used to being called that. Because—"
"I already have one in mind," Weiss cut Jolyne off, earning a surprised look from the Dragon Faunus and Rantaro. "I… I knew that if I ever escaped from Adam Taurus and his White Fang, I would need to change my name to integrate back into society. So… I came up with something in advance." Weiss stopped, closing her eyes as she lowered her head.
"It's close to my actual name but different enough so as to not arise suspicion." Weiss paused, sighing. It was almost like she was contemplating whether or not to say it, or whether or not she wanted to change her name in the first place. But, when she opened her eyes, there was a distinct, resolute determination in her eyes. And so, she spoke.
"From now on, please, call me Weixue Sung. It's mainly inspired by Northern Mistrailian Names, and the name shares the same initials as Weiss Schnee, W and S. I didn't want to stray too far away from my name, but I knew I had to change it enough, so that is what I did."
Rantaro hummed, and Jolyne crossed her arms. "Well, if you want to be called Weixue, then I'll do that. I take it only in public, correct?" Jolyne asked as Weixue shook her head.
"No. In general. I want nothing to do with the Schnee family, period. This is me fully stepping away from it. That bastard Jaquces named me Weiss, so I'm taking back my own identity and giving myself a name that I like. Not what he likes. Besides, they forgot about me and didn't bother trying to find me. Neither my sister nor my father ever so much as tried to go looking, or even tried to have anyone from the Atlas Military search for me. If they have abandoned and disowned me, then I shall do the very same," Weixue replied as Jolyne nodded.
"Very well then. Weixue it is. I'll get Daimen to get on it then. The sooner the better. From what I know, there are three days until the entrance exam at Beacon Academy. That is where we will be going, as it is located in Sanus, specifically in Vale. I need to go to Sanus so that I can visit The White Fang and take back what is mine."
With a short nod, Rantaro stood up, stretching as Jolyne exited the bathroom. Rantaro watched her walk away, then turned to look at Weis—Weixue, who looked content. "So… I take it you really mean that. You're Weixue Sung now?"
Weixue nodded. "Yes. I've been meaning to change my name for a long time now. I thought I would have left that stupid camp months ago, but it seemed the world had other plans," Weixue said, crossing her arms. "I am glad to have met you and Ms. Brooks, Mr. Amami. You are good people," the white-haired teen said as Rantaro smiled.
"Thank you. Now, let's get you back to your room. I take it you are tired?"
"Very."
[Jolyne Brooks]
Jolyne had to admit, the newfound strength she had was amazing. That, and taking out her frustration, anger, and grief on hoards of Dragons within the PTD was nothing but cathartic. That was not to say that she was completely free from her anger. Far from it. It was simply… suppressed. For the time being, she would keep a lid on her fury for The White Fang, and keep her mind focused on what she was going to do.
The first thing she wanted to do was speak to this Zain Hotaru individual. He was another Gamer and a rather self-righteous one at that. But first, before that, she had to review all of the upgrades and enhancements she had gained during the training she had undergone throughout the last handful of hours—or a full day out here.
[Quest 1 – Make Styx Great Again! – Complete!]
[Rewards distributed]
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[40 Great Storm Wyverns, 15 Flying Terror Dragons, and 1 Lord of Lightning – Killed]
[26 Million EXP rewarded]
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Congratulations! You have levelled up! [297 – 400]
[Name: Jolyne Brooks: Ultimate Mage, Slayer of The Ultimate Fighter – Guild Master of The Grey Council – Age: 16 – Class: Witch – Level: 400 – Faction: World Ender/Remnants of Despair, The Wizard – Race: Magma-Dragon Faunus]
Stats:
HP: 26,650
Stamina: 30,661
Mana: 18,089
Atk: 15,693
Mg Atk: 4,532
Def: 11,044
Mg Def: 5,112
Endurance: 11,026
Int: 25
Crit: 168
Crit Def: 168
Mg Crit: 294
Charisma: 134
Faith: 125
Luck: 125
Karma: 200 (Evil), 1 (Neutral), 65 (Good)
HP Regen: 158.9 per second
Stamina Regen: 158.9 per second
Mana Regen: 294 per second
Currency: 218,146.27 Lien
Exp till next level: 150,000
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Blood Control has levelled up to Lv. 50
New Spell-related perk – Blood Weapon Creation: With this perk, you can now create weapons out of your blood. Note that this will take away 25% of your HP when creating a weapon, and they are good for one attack before they are blown away, to which your HP will return. This perk has a 30-minute cooldown. The weapon is always a melee weapon, and it can be either a sword, a mallet that is 10 feet tall, or a ball-and-chain. These weapons will inflict Blood Poisoning on anyone they hit for 5 minutes, and it does not stack. You can only create one weapon at a time, so make a good choice.
New Construct Unlocked – Blood Doppelganger: With an open wound, you can create a Doppelganger that can do everything you can do, just slightly worse. They are also extremely fragile, dying in a single blow. No damage is done back to the person who creates it, but all of their memories are retained for the user to view.
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Despair Aura has levelled up to Lv. 15
New Ability Unlocked – Despair Wave: For 10 Kilometres, you can unleash a wave of Despair on anything in the area, and anything that gets in its way will immediately fall into Despair and kill itself, providing that they have a soul. However, this will prevent you from using Despair Aura and Despairful ambition boost for a full hour. It also costs 1,500 mana to cast.
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Finger Laser has Levelled up to Lv. 75
New Ability Unlocked – Multi-Finger Laser – At the cost of 750 Mana, you can concentrate pure Mana to all five of your fingers on one hand, and blast out five thin beams of pure plasma from your fingers, doing massive damage to anyone or anything in its way. The beams can pierce through any kind of metal and travel upwards of 5 feet away from the point of origin. Use of this move has a 30-minute cooldown
[Rarity Upgrade Quest – Unlocked]
[Go Further Beyond]
[Quest: Gain 30,000 Mana, and use Multi-Finger Laser 500 Times]
[Multi-Finger Laser uses – 000/500]
[Mana gained – 18,089/30,000]
[Reward: Finger Laser [Legendary] – Lv. 1/100]
[Note: All Abilities will retain the original damage that they had at max level 75, as will any ability you already had upon evolving the spell beyond its original rarity]
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Bellowing Thunder has levelled up to Lv. 25
New Ability Unlocked – Roaring Storm – At the cost of 5,000 Mana, you can create an entire Thunderstorm at the snap of your fingers that spans a 5-kilometre radius. It will last 30 seconds, and strike any and all living beings in that area, dealing insane damage to any living beings within the 5-kilometre radius, with the exception of non-hostile targets. This has a 1-hour cooldown.
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Your Magu Magu no Mi has levelled up to Lv. 40
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You have unlocked a new spell for levelling up to Lv. 300!
[Legendary] – Wing Summoning (Lv. 1/1): This spell allows you to summon a pair of wings that spread out to at least 15 feet in a wingspan, and when folded are about 6 feet tall. These fings can be used for flight, obviously, and they use the same amount of stamina as when you are running (50 per second). Hovering in place also absorbs stamina (about 50 per flap), and gliding takes half of the regular stamina cost (25 per second).
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You have unlocked a new trait for levelling up to Lv. 350!
Poison Resistance: You are heavily resistant to any kind of poison, making all poisons half as effective as they normally would be. Notably, you are immune to weak poisons, such as all kinds of animal venom, and regular poisons like cyanide and anthrax. Basically, you are immune to natural poisons, but man-made poisons can be a bit of a pickle, which is why they are half as effective as normal.
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You have unlocked a new perk for levelling up to Lv. 400!
Dragonic Strength: All physical defensive stats go up by 100%, and physical attack stat go up by 200%. You're a dragon, you should've seen this coming (This has been automatically applied).
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Congratulations on reaching level 400! You have been rewarded a free Mythical Gacha Token!
Jolyne hummed with a hint of excitement, as well as a helping dose of smugness. She should have done this more often. She was fairly certain that not many things could be able to keep up with her anymore. So any chances of her dying for any reason unless she came up against someone who was on the same playing field as her, which she reckoned that no one else was.
Well, she could be wrong. There was always the chance of someone being on the same level of strength as her. After all, in a mostly normal world such as the last one she was in, there was Izuru Kamakura. This world might have someone similar to him, and if that was the case, then she was going to be more than ready to face them, should the time come.
Standing in front of the detention center, which had been one of the buildings that had been untouched during the raid conducted by The Bandits all those days ago, Jolyne entered. The person manning the desk nodded to her in acknowledgement, pointing to the back. "That kid you wanted us to lock up is still back there, you know. He's been really chatty, you know. Saying that he's a good guy and that he shouldn't be here."
Jolyne scoffed. "Whatever. He was the one who attacked me unprovoked, and in broad daylight. The boy's lucky that this is all he's getting. If he wasn't a child, I would've—" Jolyne paused, biting her tongue. "Nevermind that. Thank you for keeping him here. Are you sure he cannot use his abilities?"
"If he could have, he wouldn't be here right now. That, I can assure you," the man said as Jolyne nodded. Walking past the man and down the narrow hallway to the holding cells, the dual-haired Dragon Faunus walked past five or so empty cells, until she got to the one at the very far end, stationed on the right. Sitting there was Zain, who looked more than annoyed.
"You! What have you done to these people!?" Zain demanded, making Jolyne sneer.
"Nothing, brat. Now you tell me, what the fuck is your problem?" Jolyne spat, glaring at the kid. "Do you have any idea of what it was you did? Or are you one of those self-righteous turbo virgins who thinks that they can do no wrong?"
"First of all, no," Zain scoffed. His arms were tied behind his back and held down by some pretty hefty chains, as well as what appeared to be ability-nullifying cuffs situated around his ankles. He was practically shackled to the ground, unable to move much of anywhere. He was still wearing that outfit of his, with the black and white cloak, ying and yang necklace still draped around his neck, and his tunic and pants were still the same, if not a little dirty from their brief scuffle outside of the Inn. "And second of all, I don't have a problem. It's you who has the problem. Those bandits—"
"—massacred this town not but a week ago. What I did to them was nothing. So, I ask you again. What. The fuck. Is your problem, brat," Jolyne snarled, interrupting the child, who glared back at her.
"For starters, Jolyne Brooks, I am not a brat. I'm 23 years old, and I choose this body so that people would underestimate me," Zain retorted, his tone dripping with condescendence. "And second of all, regardless of what those bandits did, they didn't deserve that. They should have been punished under the fullest extent of the law."
Jolyne wanted to slam this twit's face against the concrete but chose not to. Who knew how long it would be until she came across another Gamer like herself outside of Chinatsu? She didn't know, and that was precisely why Zain kept his life. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Jolyne opened the cell door using her brute strength, before stepping inside the cell, and getting down on her haunches to stare the child-like man in the eyes.
Her single green eye bore into his blue eyes. A bead of sweat trailed down the side of his face, as Jolyne frowned. "Listen to me, and listen to me well. If you couldn't guess, I am not exactly a good person. I have morals, very bog standard ones, and I also have a code that I follow. That code is "do unto others as you would wish to be done unto you". Those bandits choose to die when they attacked Styx. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
"Another thing. You were the moron who thought it wise to come here and attack me in broad daylight with the intent to kill—not that you have any hope in hell of doing that—and by that metric, I have every right to kill you. The only reason why I am not doing that is because finding other Gamers in this world is very, very rare. At least, in my experience anyway.
"And another thing. What level are you," Jolyne asked, ending her tirade as Zain narrowed his eyes.
"34. What about it."
"You are… hmm… let's see here…. 366 levels below me. So tell me, seeing as you are a Gamer, why didn't you use CHECK on me to confirm whether or not doing such a thing was a good idea?" Jolyne spat, as Zain's skin lost all of its colour.
"W-What…? But… Ma'at said that Gamers could only go up to level 150 naturally…. That… that can't be—"
"I'm not just a regular Gamer, Zain. I'm sure your System tried to warn you, although, if I were to guess you refused its information because you made an assumption," Jolyne reasoned, narrowing her eye. "But I'm One of The Seven, a Multiversal Gamer. So even if you were say… level 150, you wouldn't stand a chance in hell," Jolyne interrupted, as Zain began to tremble. Good, he was terrified. That meant that she could drill it into his thick, boney skull so that he wasn't as tough as he thought he was.
"Now, I'm willing to look past this, alright Zain?" Jolyne began, earning a small nod from the child-like man. "All you have to do is, once I unchain you, you are going to walk out of this building, and you are never going to return to Styx unless you have done one of three things – One: Reached level 150, two: are in desperate need of help for something that you cannot do without back up, or three: have come to swear undying loyalty to me. Though I doubt you'll do the third option."
As she backed away, the man in the child's body stared up at her. And then, in what Jolyne could only assume was some sort of courageous burst of pride, Zain glared at her. "Then that only makes what you did worse! You're supposed to defend all of mortal kind, are you not?! So why does The Branwen Tribe not count!?"
At this point, Jolyne was starting to get annoyed. Did this man not register a single thing that she had said? Or was he just that stalwart in his beliefs? Either way, it hardly mattered what he thought. Sighing, Jolyne grabbed Zain by the scruff of his tunic, making him bite back a gasp of shock.
"You seem to misunderstand. I can't blame you for that, and while it is extremely annoying, allow me to correct that understanding," "Not that I know it myself, but whatever." "I have no obligations to defend mortal kind. None at all, whatsoever. What I do with my time is decided by me. I only buckle down to orders if my Patron decides that I have to do something to fit their needs. The only person who supersedes them is The Almighty. And as you are most likely aware, The Almighty believes in Free Will.
"I do what I want to do, and that is final. If I want to kill The Branwen Tribe for massacring the settlement in which I live, I will do just that. If I want to level one of the four Kingdoms of this world, I will do just that. If I want to rape and pillage this world for its resources, I will do just that. I am, for all intents and purposes, a God to these people.
"So, if you were smart you'd keep your dirty fucking nose out of my business. And besides, it's not as if I am harming anyone innocent. The only people who need to fear me, are those who have done me and those in my Guild wrong." As Jolyne concluded her rant, she dropped Zain to the ground with a thud, the white-haired child groaning as he hit the ground.
Zain growled, staring up at Jolyne. "That doesn't mean you have the right—"
"If you do not shut up, I will kill you," Jolyne interrupted. "Keep your self-righteous bullshit to yourself, and be glad I am sparing you," the Dragon Faunus spat, summoning Whitesnake to her side as it broke off the cuffs and chains from Zain's body. "Now do yourself a favour, and get lost. And remember the three rules. If you come back here that doesn't line up with any of those reasons, I will end you. You are an insufferable shithead, and I want nothing to do with you. Not unless I have to."
With a final glare sent her way, Zain left the cell and walked away. Jolyne sighed, looking at the wall of the prison cell she had kept Zain in. She really needed to keep a lid on that anger of hers. It was detrimental to what she wanted to do, that being to make sure that those of Styx lived in peace. That, and according to her new faction, bring peace to the world and rid it of The Witch—whoever that was.
Exiting the cell, she walked down the hallway, and nodded to the man running the desk, before exiting the detention center. When walked outside, she noted the second thing she was going to do, and that was open the two Mythical Tokens she gained. One from the Quest she completed, and the one she got from reaching level 400.
Looking over to an alleyway across the street, she marched her way toward it, and when she made sure no one else was looking, she drew out the two tokens. Much to her shock, they appeared to be different than normal Gacha Tokens.
Compared to most other Gacha Tokens, which were always a brilliant gold with the emblem of The Almighty on the front in his younger years, The Mythical Gacha Token was a bright rainbow in colour, and instead of The Almighty being engraved in the center, it was of the heavens itself. Either way, the token would be broken, so it hardly mattered what was on the token.
Upon cracking the coin, as was typical of something mythical, a rainbow light began to glow from the coin. And, in the blink of an eye, the light disappeared, as did the coin. What appeared in her hand was… interesting, to say the very least.
The object in question was a ring. An odd thing to get from a mythical token. The ring in question was bright gold, with silver gems encrusted within the band. On the top of the ring was a single blue gem, and within that blue gem was what appeared to be some sort of ethereal energy. It radiated an almost godly amount of energy, and because of that, without having to look at the information screen that came up, she knew it was beyond powerful.
[Mythic – The Ring Of Stopped Time]
[Description: Upon wearing this ring, the person who wields it can stop time for five seconds, all for a hefty cost of both Stamina and Mana (10K each). Everything within a 10-mile radius will cease to move, and anything that enters the bubble of Stopped Time will also freeze in place. This can only be used once per hour, and any attempt to use it multiple times within an hour will crack the gem. Should the gem break, you will lose this item. The only way to crack the gem is to force the ring to stop time multiple times within a single hour. Otherwise, it is indestructible. Note, that using this will cancel out things such as Bullet Time, Time Crash, and Time Scramble.]
Slipping on the ring, Jolyne smiled. This time, she had put on her ring finger on her right hand, rather than her left, while her other less powerful rings were on her left hand. This ring, of course, was not like the others. And while it had a hefty cost to activate it, in those precious five seconds, it could change the flow of a battle.
While she didn't know what Time Crash or Time Scramble was, she had to assume that those were similar abilities to Bullet Time. Either way, Jolyne didn't care all too much about that. It wasn't as if she was going to try and use both at the same time. That was just stupid.
Moving on, Jolyne cracked the second Mythic Token, and as that happened, yet another item fell into her hands. And this time, it wasn't a ring, but rather, it was something else. It was a rock, but not just any rock, it was a rock coloured like that of a red gem. It was flat, oval, and it was extremely light. There was nothing else to it beyond that, and at first, she was kind of disappointed.
But then, the description of the item came up, and her eye widened to the size of dinner plates.
[Mythic – Stone Of Resurrection]
[It is what it says in the title: A Stone Of Resurrection. However, there are a few rules to this stone. Rule number one: The person you seek to resurrect can only have been dead for less than 24 hours. Rule number two: The user of the stone must have the original body of the person they are trying to revive from the dead. Rule number three: The user of the stone cannot, for any reason, give it away to anyone else, lest the stone become useless. This is a purely selfish item for the user and the user alone. Rule number four: You cannot use it on yourself, duh, because you're dead. You need to be alive to use the stone in the first place. And Rule number five: Once this stone is used, it is gone forever, and you cannot use it ever again. You will never be able to get it again from any draw from any token, and if you come into contact with one again, it will instantly become useless. This is to prevent constant summonings of this item, as there are a limited amount of them in the known Multiverse. When someone is resurrected, they will be brought back to life at the moment of their death, and they will remember nothing of what happened to them. They will retain all of their abilities, and it is all at the cost of sapping away the user's HP till there is only 1 HP. Use it with the utmost caution.]
Words could not describe the mix of emotions that Jolyne felt at that moment. It wouldn't have mattered if she had this stone when they got back here, as she only got it from a Mythical Token that she obtained after she exited the PTD, and she wouldn't have gained it otherwise.
But this… had it not been for those rules, could have brought Sayaka back. It could have given her her lover back. But because of those rules… those stupid, stupid rules, Sayaka was still lost to her. She wanted to cry again, knowing that this was most likely a spit in the face from Daimen because she knew Daimen had to be sitting there laughing his ass off.
But, she wouldn't give him that satisfaction. She couldn't. Not now. Not after she had promised to keep herself composed. Until she found The White Fang, she wasn't going to allow herself to break down. She wasn't going to shed a single tear, let out a single rage-filled roar, or anything like that. She would save all of that grief, all of that anger, all of that unbridled fury, all for that piece of shit Adam Taurus.
All she needed was a map. And as she put the stone away into her inventory, a stone she knew that at some point she would have to use, she made her way to find the settlement's local cartographer.
She was going to go to Sanus. One way or another, she would get there, she would enroll in that stupid Beacon Academy, and use it as a stepping stone. One to where she could destroy that pitiful terrorist group.
Adam Taurus was going to pay.
[Adam Taurus]
The irate Bull Faunus slammed a hand down his table, fury in his eyes as he all but snarled. How?! How could Fennec have been killed? He was one of their strongest. His weapon was second to none, and now his brother, Corsac wouldn't shut up about avenging him. Not that he was against that idea—far from it, Fennec was one of his most loyal members!
However, it presented a problem. That problem was that, despite their move to the continent of Sanus, they were down a camp. It was one that could be rebuilt, yes, but it would also mean he would need to divide the slaves from the other three camps to the fourth one that would need to be remade.
"200 men and women, dead. 400 slaves, most likely free, and now we're down a High Leader…" Adam thought, glaring at his wooden desk. He hadn't had to replace a High Leader since the day Ronin betrayed them and left, and that was over two years ago. It was upsetting, to say the very least, but then again, it wasn't as if it couldn't be done.
"Adam…" Blake's voice carried to his ears as he looked up, wiping the snarl off of his face as his expression became neutral. His single good auburn eye was able to stare at her, as she looked upon with worry. "Do you… need a moment?"
"No, I'm fine, Blake, but thank you for asking," Adam replied, calming himself. He couldn't be angry. Not in front of Blake. He couldn't typically control his anger, so he had to keep it under lock and key. It was a fault of his being a Bull Faunus. Much like the actual animal, he was prone to become aggressive easily. Blake was his natural countermeasure, and with just a mere glance, she was able to calm him down.
Was it because she was beautiful? Probably. But he also had to admit it was because her voice was so calming.
Ah, what did he do to earn her love? A man like him, and a woman like her. It seemed ludicrous. But they made it work. He never once raised a hand to her and she to him the same. The most they would argue about was tactics. She disapproved of slavery, of which he couldn't blame her, but she tolerated it. It was required if they were going to get anything done.
While he liked having slaves, mostly for the pure irony of it, the second part was due to the amount of labour that was required to run such a large army. Truth be told, it was extremely difficult to run such a large militia with only soldiers. They had run into countless problems time and time again, always coming up short on certain things when they were needed, like food, weapons, armour, and ammunition.
But with the slaves, they never had to worry about it ever again. And sure, while at the beginning it left a sour taste in his mouth, he had gradually warmed up to it. He saw that Blake was doing the same. The only slave she ever showed sympathy to was, oddly enough, Weiss Schnee. Every other slave she looked down upon.
Some might say that the White Fang's hatred for humans was irrational. And to them, he said, 'Are you fucking kidding me?' Because Humans had always been the problem. Whenever he looked through the annals of history, time and time again he was met with the obvious: humans enslaving the faunus, the faunus revolting, and the humans curbing the revolt by giving them a small amount of rights, before going right back to enslaving them again.
History kept repeating itself. So it was about time that he had shown them what for. It was about time that The White Fang gave them a taste of their own medicine.
"We need someone to replace Fennec as High Leader of the foods camp. Do you have any suggestions, Blake?" Adam asked as Blake cupped her chin in thought, her yellow eyes moving toward the floor. Her tail moved in every which way as she hummed, until finally, after a moment or two, she spoke.
"If you would allow it… might I suggest myself?" Blake questioned as Adam raised an eyebrow.
"You want to be a High Leader? But… you're already the Co-Commander. If something were to happen to me, you would replace me as Commander. Are you sure you can handle both roles? It's a lot of stress, and I know you're stressed out enough as is with your current position," Adam said, a hint of concern in his voice as Blake nodded.
"I'm more than sure, Adam. Besides, it would be best if it was someone you trusted enough to marry, correct? Don't get me wrong, the other High Leaders are trustworthy, but especially those like Yuma and Trifa, the two who lead the Ammunition Camp in unison? I don't trust them. Who better to keep an eye on them than the person who can make doubles of themselves?" As Blake said that, Adam smirked.
Had this been before she evolved her Semblance into what it was now, he would have denied it. Don't get him wrong, he trusted Blake with his life should it come down to it, but if her Semblance hadn't evolved, he didn't think she could do it—not out of the fact that she wasn't strong, far from it, there was a reason why he entrusted her with his life—because having both positions was incredibly taxing on the mind and spirit.
"Very well then. You've made your point, and thus I appoint you as High Leader of the Food Camp. I will let the others know as soon as I can. You're free to leave," Adam said, but not before Blake walked up to him, kissed him, before walking away and out of his tent.
When she left, Adam sighed. Now that had been out of the way, he needed to find some sort of way to make some connections. Back in Anima, he had the Branwen Tribe. Now, he no longer had that. He would need someone who knew Sanus like the back of their hand. And he would preferably need that now.
He barely trusted The Branwen Tribe because of their human leader, but he tolerated Raven because Raven never dared tried to boss him around. He remembered their first meeting. It had been quite the spectacle. When their blades clashed, it left ripples in the air, and since then, he had only gotten stronger.
He wondered what would have happened had he killed her. Nothing good, that was for sure.
Suddenly, the guard from outside of his tent—a Crab Faunus, as indicated by their clawed hands—stood in front of him. The man cleared his throat and spoke. "Sir, I hate to intrude, but someone wishes to speak to you. They wish to… ally with The White Fang."
Adam raised an eyebrow underneath his mask. As the saying went, ask and thee shall receive, he supposed. Though he would tread carefully. For all he knew, this could go south fairly quickly. He wondered how this person was able to find them so quickly, and in turn, why they wished to ally with them.
"Very well, send them in," Adam said, and just as he did so, two figures entered the tent as The Crab Faunus positioned himself by the entrance of the tent, just on the off chance something happened. The two figures in question were… interesting to say the very least.
First and foremost, the figure on the right, as they seemed to be most interesting. They were a dark-skinned woman around the same age as Blake, with mint-green coloured hair done up in a bob, though with diagonally flat bangs. Her outfit was… interesting, to say the very least. The collar of her shirt twisted and curled into itself until it reached her chest, transforming into a green crop top.
On her right arm were three ring-like armbands that were seemingly attached to her upper arm, as well as a string of golden beads tied just above her wrist. Then, came her shorts, which were a bright white colour. They were held up by a gold coin-plated belt, which even he had to admit, for as outlandish as the outfits of The White Fang could be was a touch strange.
Another thing he noted about the human woman'soutfit was that the leggings were attached to her belt like that of a garter belt. They were made of leather, which was yet again very strange, though who was he to judge? They were a shade of brown like most leather had been, and they stopped just below her knees, followed up by a pair of standard light brown heels.
Then came the figure on the left. He too was also human, something he beginning to frown at. The person in question, who appeared to be as young as 15 years old, had bright purple hair that sparked out every which way, equally purple eyes, and pale skin.
He was wearing a black and white scarf over his neck that reached to just past his shoulders, and he was wearing a black button-up shirt with half of the buttons undone. The kid was also wearing a pleated office skirt that stopped just above his knees, and continuing down, he wore a pair of rainbow knee-high socks and flat black runners. Over his shoulders was a purple zip-up hoodie with a rainbow pin just beneath his rather large scarf.
On his hip was what appeared to be a baton, but he could tell a Mechashift Weapon when he saw one, so it put him slightly on edge. These two could easily be hunters, and this could very well be a trap. And if it was, he would make them pay for being so bold. Especially since they were humans.
"You have guts to approach me, Humans," Adam bit out, narrowing his single functioning eye as the purple-haired kid scoffed.
"Oh, spare us with the "ya got guts" bullshit, Adam Taurus. That makes you sound awful cliché," the boy replied with about as much snark as one could possibly have. He would've approved, had it not been directed at him.
"You are crossing a fine line, Human. Now spit it out. What do you want? Before my patience wears thin," Adam spat, glaring at the two humans before him as the one with darker skin spoke up, but not before whacking her pale counterpart in the back of the head.
"I apologize for Mr. Ouma's attitude, Mr. Taurus. He tends to have a sharp tongue. Especially considering the fact that you have his sister hostage as a… hmm, what was it again… a slave," the mint green-haired woman said as Adam's functioning eye widened. So this purple-haired boy was the younger brother of that Chinatsu woman at the Armoury Camp.
However, that wasn't what had got him on high alert. What had him on high alert was the fact that they shouldn't have known that. Not only that, but the fact that they knew anything about any of the identities of the slaves spoke of two possibilities. The first, and the one he was actually banking on, there was a mole within The White Fang, meaning these two really were Hunters or worked for the police.
The second option, the one he was hoping to the Brother Gods about not being the case, was that these people were a part of another Criminal Organization and that they had a mole inside their ranks feeding information about The White Fang back to their boss, which therefore meant they had blackmail on him and his organization.
"How do you know that? Even if that were true, what does that matter? It's not like you're going to—"
Seconds. No, not even that. It was less than seconds. In the time it took for Adam to begin the process of intaking oxygen, the purple-haired boy was on top of him before he could even blink. The guard behind him was dead—his head exploded into meaty chunks—and his aura had been shattered. He couldn't even draw out Wilt or Blush, it was that fast. There was a dark look in the boy's eyes, and with his baton now having transformed into a spear and aimed directly at his jugular, mere inches away from making contact, Adam couldn't help but panic.
"Who the hell are you people!?" Adam roared, as Mr. Ouma smiled devilishly.
"None of your goddamned business, Adam Taurus. Now, if you want to live, there are two things I'mma get you to do. Thing numero uno, you free my sister right fucking now, and have her brought to the address that will be put on your desk in a moment. And two, you work for us. No questions asked. If we call upon you, you answer. And if you try and run, we'll track you down, and snuff you and your pathetic little terrorist organization out. Got it?"
Adam gritted his teeth, glaring at the human behind his mask. He'd retort, had it not been for the fact that he was at this human's mercy. Any movement that he made that could've so much as hinted toward a violent action would have meant his death, and that was the last thing he wanted to have happen.
"Fine," Adam spat. "You can have your sister, and… we'll work for you. I swear it on my name," Adam growled, earning a smirk from Mr. Ouma.
"Good. Glad we could reach a deal," Mr. Ouma said as he got off of him. At that moment, once Mr. Ouma was no longer atop of him, Adam reached for Wilt, lunging forward and closing the distance between himself and Mr. Ouma. He was going to pay for humiliating him. No one did that to Adam and got away with it.
At least, that was what was supposed to happen, as not only did Mr. Ouma disarm him with a simple flick of his spear, but he also transformed his spear into what appeared to be some sort of fat shotgun, and stuck the barrel directly in Adam's face.
"I wouldn't try anything now, Adam Taurus, lest I paint the wall behind you in a bright, beautiful red. Don't get me wrong, I know how many rounds are loaded into Mischief, but you don't. Do you want to test that luck? Or can we walk away without any more unnecessary casualties?" Mr. Ouma said, gesturing toward the deceased guard. It was also then that he noticed that the mint-haired teen had what appeared to be a dark green mecha-shift revolver pointed directly at him.
Adam looked to the ground, seeing his weapon on the ground. His Aura was still recovering from being shattered, and while he was a little dizzy, he could still think somewhat clearly. "Fine… just get out of here. I won't do anything, promise."
With a grunt, Mr. Ouma lowered his shotgun, but not before kicking Wilt across the room and to the other corner of the tent. A few moments later, the two left. Adam sighed. He was a fool for letting them enter, and now, yet again, he was finding himself having to listen to a pair of humans, who were more than likely a part of something bigger.
"I have got to get better security, this is ridiculous…" Adam thought, looking at the piece of paper on his desk. Just like Mr. Ouma had said, there was an address. Sighing, he brought out his scroll and called Corsac. Within seconds, he answered.
"Commander, this is a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?" Corsac said, his expression that of a small, barely noticeable smile. The man's dark features are the most noticeable, namely his eyes and his skin. Aside from the red hood covering what little hair the man had, there wasn't much else to say about Corsac. He wore the same uniform as his late brother, and that was all there was to it.
"The slave known as Chinatsu Ouma. I have been informed that she… has connections in the underground. I just got paid a visit by her brother and a friend. To cut a long story short, if we don't release her and hand her over to the address that I am about to send you, they will no doubt report us to every official in the area, possibly alerting Atlas in the process," Adam said, earning a shocked expression from Corsac.
"Are you serious? And you couldn't get rid of them?" Corsac asked, confusion in his voice as Adam frowned.
"I wasn't expecting such a fast attack. Not only that, but they had me pinned down with my aura shattered faster than I could breathe. No matter what I did, I would have died. Do as you're told, Corsac. We don't need any more trouble than we already have to deal with." As Adam said that, he hung up the call, and sighed out of frustration.
He needed a nap.
[?]
His dark brown, tattered, full-bodied hooded cloak blew in the desert wind. His dark red eyes narrowed before the palace in front of him as the grip on his sword's hilt increased tenfold. This was where the person of interest was located. No matter what, his goal was to get in there, find them, grab them while he had the chance, and get out of there.
Now was his chance, seeing as the owner of the palace was currently preoccupied with something. He had already done a thorough sweep of the palace last night, noting how there were absolutely no security measures put in place. Either the owner of the palace was so cocky that he believed that no one was stupid enough to raid him, or, perhaps there was security guarding what he was after.
Either way, the cloaked man was strong enough to handle himself. He had been trapped in this world for well over a hundred years, so whatever the hotshot believed to be enough sure as shit wouldn't be. This body, while powerful, was nothing like what he used to have. Perhaps he shouldn't have done what he had done, but then again, this was his punishment.
Had it not been for his recklessness, had it not been for his impatience getting the best of him, he wouldn't have been stuck within this body. This… inferior, fleshy, fragile body that could only contain about 5% of his true power.
Walking up the massive flight of stairs that connected to the entrance of The Palace, the cloaked man outstretched his black-gloved hand, and as soon as he did, red lightning zapped the lock on the door, allowing the doors to creak open. Slipping in, the cloaked man was greeted by a massive, grand entrance.
Marble pillars that reached up to the nearly 100-foot roof, and paintings of various world leaders from several different universes lined the walls as a massive carpet covered the floor. He noticed that several Faunus slaves were now all staring at him, none of them moving even so much as an inch. He gestured for the door, which they ran out of as soon as they noticed that he wasn't going to stop them.
As the man continued, he made it a point to not touch anything that he wasn't after. The last thing he wanted to do was take something that was boobytrapped, or worse, had some sort of tracking spell placed on it. As much as he wanted to take from this piece of shit, he knew that it would only make things worse in the long run.
After a handful of minutes, he found the room he was looking for. The owner's bedroom. In there would be what he was looking for. Once again, using the same spell he had used to open the front door, that spelling being Master Of Locks, the cloaked man opened the door without so much as a hint of worry. When he entered the owner's bedroom, he shrivelled his nose in disgust.
The owner was disgustingly rich—as was to be expected. There was a Queen sized with an overhang, fitted with bright red currents, draped in matte black sheets and white pillows. There was a mirror—the owner's Personal Training Dimension, of which he knew he wouldn't be out of for another 11 weeks—and a bookshelf, which was what he was looking for.
Walking up to the bookshelf, the man reached out for the middle shelf and pulled at a red book. When he did so, it tilted outward, acting as a lever. The cloaked man smirked, watching as the bookshelf fell to the ground, rumbling as it did so. Walking into the passage, the bookshelf shot back up without a hint of hesitation. Now that he was where he truly needed to be, the cloaked man walked down the spiral staircase of the dungeon underneath the room of the owner of this palace.
As the cloaked man walked, he couldn't help but appreciate the brickwork. Had the owner not been such a horrendous man, he would have complimented the construction of such a horrific dungeon. It was dark, with only a handful of candles to cast a light. With each step he took, his armour's metal clanged against the steps, reverberating throughout the dungeon's spiral staircase.
Once he made it to the bottom floor, he could hear muttering off to his right. Looking over in that direction, he saw exactly who it was he was looking for. There she was, white hair matted and naked body covered in scars, some new, most old. She was chained up against a wall, with cuffs that prevented the prisoner from accessing their magic.
"Please… I beg of you… please just leave me alone…" The woman's barely audible voice reached his ears, as the cloaked man frowned. Oh, how far the mighty had fallen. Seeing Makaria like this… it wrenched his heart in every which way. But, at the very least this fate was far more pleasant than the fate of her brothers and sisters back in her home dimension….
Wordlessly, the man in the cloak approached the woman, and reached out toward her chains, before retracting his right hand before it made contact. He hissed, magic barrier. Of course, the owner of this wretched place would think of such a measure. He knew this wouldn't be easy. But, luckily, he had a spell to prevent the magic barrier from reacting to his presence.
It was a simple, very, very simple, deactivation spell. It barely costs a "mage" such as him any mana to use, and so, with a flick of his wrist, the magical barrier surrounding Makaria was dispersed. It was only then that she opened her eyes to see what was going on. Her sunken face and tired eyes barely registered what was going on, as that was how far the stupor she had been in had become.
"W-Who are you…?" Makaria asked as the man said nothing, grabbing his sword from its sheath, and cutting the woman free from her chains. She fell gracefully into his free arm, and without so much as a missing beat, he summoned an orb that would transport him away from Vacuo, and back to his base of operations.
In the flash of light, the two were transported out of the dungeon within the Palace of that man, and instead, they were in a wooden cabin located a great distance away from any known civilization on the island of Menagerie. Makaria flopped backward and sat on the cushioned bed that the man in the cloak slept in, weariness and confusion marring her expression.
The man in the cloak snapped his fingers, and a dress made of white silk found itself over her body, covering her once nude body. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Her red eyes gleamed with hesitancy, as the man lowered his hood, this black hair covering his head, his red glowing eyes with black sclera striking fear in any who dared looked at him. He wore a sharp black beard, and his skin was as pale as ash.
"W-Who are you…? W-What are you…?" Makaria asked as the man smirked.
"I once went by many, many names, Princess Makaria Plutos," the man said, unbuckling his cloak from his body as he draped it behind him on the ground. Underneath his cloak, he wore what appeared to be dark purple armour that covered his body from neck to toe, with the exception of his black leather gloves.
"And while this isn't my true form, I can no longer retain it thanks to my… brother. But, that is beside the fact. You may simply refer to me as Syd. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Outsider."
~End of Part 1 of The RWBYverse~
To Be Continued in – Interlude 2