The second Blake's aura was inserted into the pedestal, the portal whirred to life, switching to another place. And his confusion reached an all time high.
It was the image of a bullhead. The storage room of a bullhead, to be more precise. The machine was flying through a weird territory, a mass of water with earth spires raising from it, which repeated themselves in a loop.
Definitely the most unique location yet. He couldn't help but wonder if the Grimm were also somewhat stuck in this… time freeze that had apparently befallen their world. It would explain these "pockets out of time" as Ozpin had called them once.
Speaking of Ozpin… he eyed the sign on the ground. Right, he wanted to call the guy as soon as he was free, right? He wanted to ask about Oscar. The shadow should know something about him, at least in theory.
No harm in trying, he guessed.
With a couple of steps, he approached his destination, bent down and touched the writings on the floor. After a good five seconds of waiting, the former headmaster's form raised up, his translucent body becoming just a bit more solid.
"Greetings, Brave Huntsman. How may I help you?"
Jaune asked his question. Do you know where Oscar is?
"Young ? That… is a good question, actually. Give me a moment to see if I can sense him…"
The shadow closed his eyes, humming and scanning the kingdoms with his mind. It took almost two entire minutes before he was done, and his expression wasn't encouraging.
"I apologize. It seems that I am unable to get a grip on his locations. His trail leads him towards the Grimmlands. So, either Salem captured him… or he's no longer with us. These are the only possible solutions to the problem".
The Grimmlands?! Yikes, poor guy…
He could only hope that he was alive. And if he was not… the one who killed will pay dearly for their action.
Switching topic, Jaune decided to ask a bit more regarding the Guardian Grimms that he had to defeat.
"As I believe I said earlier, these Guardians are Creature of Grimm, stuck in small pockets of time that interrupt communication between the various portals in all the four kingdoms. I am unsure if they were spontaneously created when Salem took over Remnant or if she deliberately placed them there, but for as long as they stay, you cannot move on to the next step of your journey. Beware, though. Battles against them are rarely the straightforward fights that you are used to. Many are gimmicky battles, where the only way to win is to think outside the box and figure something more than just mindlessly swinging your sword. Do keep that in mind, please".
So, not even Ozpin knew much about these guys. He casted another look towards the portal. That looked like one of these "gimmick battles". He doubted he'll be able to hit… whatever that was going to be with his main weapons. Well… except Mors Renata, he guessed. But he had more than enough bullets, so he wasn't worried.
What did worried him was what kind of gimmick it could be. It was obviously going to be a flying Grimm, so he needed a reliable way to deal more than abysmal damage. Because, as much as he liked his gun, fixing whatever problem it had that caused it to jam, also took away the extra punch it packed. Figures…
"You are halfway through your journey, Brave Huntsman. I know that it hurts… but you must forge on. Your friends are always going to be with you, in one way or another… and they will be back. I promise".
With that, Ozpin's shimmering form dimmed and disappeared, leaving him alone in Haven's vault with a vague sense of sickness in his stomach.
Forge on. That's what he had to do. Keep walking forward… and keep on shouldering this world's pain, until he could heal it.
He took a deep breath, exhaled…
And entered the portal.
The wind hit him in the face like a slap. He was standing in the storage of the bullhead, the emergency door was opened and the machine was being followed by lancers.
Fun, he loved lancers, they totally weren't a pain for him to deal with. How annoying.
.
.
.
SWARM OF LANCERS
.
.
.
Some of the flying menaces charged him. His shield managed to defend him, but they were way too fast for him to hit, even with Mors Celeri.
His gun was his only option. A quick look around revealed a case full of ammunition nearby.
Like those carnival games that his sister liked so much. Just gotta hit the targets…
Small, flying and annoying as fuck targets. Another lancer charged him. He blocked, thrusted the gun and shot, killing the thing instantly. Another one met the same end.
The third one he missed. With a curse he tried shooting again, but that left him open to another of the small annoyances, who charged and slapped him on the nose painfully.
His irritation flared almost instantly. These little shits…
The carousel lasted for a couple more minutes, blocking and hitting (and missing…) various potshots, often using the case of ammo to reload. Until, the true enemy he had to defeat announced itself with a screech.
Another lancer, joy of his life, only that this one was as big as the bullhead he was riding, obviously directing the smaller Grimm. That… was going to take a LOT of thinking outside the box. Or the bullhead, he should say.
.
.
.
QUEEN LANCER
.
.
.
Quickly, he started considering his options. He still had plenty of ammo, but the Queen was armored in a way that no bullets could hit and do proper damage. Sure, the eyes were exposed, but he didn't really trust his aim that much.
Throwing his weapon was a thing he could theoretically do, but he wasn't Pyrrha, meaning that if he did start yeeting shit, he wasn't gonna get it back anytime soon.
Consuming an Aura also wasn't gonna help. Being stronger or faster wasn't going to improve his aim, on top of the fact that the buff would be worthless if he couldn't hit his enemy.
His bombs maybe? He didn't have many of them, but maybe the electricity of his lightning dust bomb could cause the Queen to have a seizure and make it plummet and die?
Worth a shot, he supposed. But how was he supposed to do it? He doubted that simply throwing the thing was going to be effective. He needed something that could cause a great, big boom.
But until he managed to get it, he was at the mercy of this stupid thing and it's children, who kept on kamikazing him, confident in their superior speed. And they were right, the little shits.
Fortunately for him, the ammunition didn't seem to end. Maybe it was looping itself back in the case? Which would mean…
That by killing the small lancers, he wasn't gonna get anywhere. They were affected by the loop, since all the bullets that he shot at them would return. He had to focus on the Queen.
But how was he supposed to use his bomb?! Just the thing on its own was never going to be enough!
Unless…
He casted a look at the self refilling ammo box. Hmmm… maybe that could work…
A lancer smacked him on the back of his head and he damn near exploded right then and there. Fine! He was out of options anyway! Like usual, might he add!
He turned towards the case and stuffed his lightning bomb inside, his actions no longer dictated by cold logic, but by hot and burning anger.
Ignoring the lancers trying their hardest to show him a history lesson, he dragged the box towards the end and prepared himself. He'd have to shoot the bomb and make everything explode while it was close to the Queen, otherwise he was royally fucked.
No pressure or anything. And so he waited patiently, blocking as many hits from the lancers as he could, gritting his teeth until he could feel them crack.
He needed the Queen to be as far away from the bullhead as possible, before he could blow her to kingdom come. Come on, get tired already…
He saw the chance. With a mighty kick, he sent the box flying out of the machine, took a moment to aim… and fired.
For a moment nothing happened, and Jaune feared that he had missed.
He hadn't. An explosion lit up the sky like a firework. The smaller lancers were completely wiped out, while the Queen's wings stopped working, causing it to be unable to fly. It started precipitating, until it hit the surface of the water, never to be seen again.
.
.
.
PREY SLAUGHTERED
.
.
.
Obtained: Proof of Passage for Atlas
That was easily the most annoying fight of his life. Not even the frustration of being tossed around by Cardin during combat class even came close to the level of "fuck this" the fight left him. But at least now it was over…
The world flashed white and he…
Wasn't at Atlas Academy. In its stead, he was… in a white, empty void. How inspiring.
He couldn't even feel his body, which meant he likely didn't had it. He was… dreaming, or something like that.
Two lights suddenly spawned in front of him, blinding his nonexistent eyes. When it faded… he could barely believe what he was seeing.
Two naked person's, without genitals, but the features looked vaguely masculine. One had deer horns on its head and was completely golden, while the other had goat horns and was completely black.
Team RWBY had described them… the God of Light and the God of Darkness. Did they summon him here? Why?
The God of Light moved his head and a voice resounded from… somewhere, he guessed.
He was probably talking.
"Brave Huntsman… chosen one of the Twin Gods. You have reached the halfway point of your journey. Your quest to oppose the traitor Salem is proceeding like expected. As a reward for your struggles, we have seen fit to answer some of the questions that you asked yourself".
"You better be thankful, human!"
The second voice was obviously the God of Darkness.
"First thing first… Ozma did not lie to you. Finding all four Relics will lead to the resurrection of your friends. We will personally see to it".
Okay… okay, that was the most pressing matter. He was not doing all this for nothing. There was a point to all this suffering he was going through.
"As for your… second chance at life, that was also our doing. The world needed someone strong enough to fight against her treachery. The auras that you're slowly gathering will be the keys to your success. Hold onto them and do not waste them, unless absolutely necessary".
"The eternal night is caused by Salem. We do not know how, but the darkness is the realm where my Grimm are stronger and more aggressive. Killing her will likely revert everything back to normal".
They… didn't know?! What kind of gods are these two?!
"Your greatest challenge still has to come, Brave Huntsman. Keep true on your path and you will see the light. Good luck, young chosen one".
In a flash, they were both gone and he was in the basement of Atlas Academy, where the Staff of Creation used to be.
He was back because of them… Ozpin was right, then.
He tightened the grip on his weapon and drew a deep breath. Another fight to the death, coming right up.
Hello?! Is this thing on?! It is?! Noice.
Welcome back, dudes and gentleladies, to another episode of Auraborne, the show where casual visits from deities are but another tuesday!
We have officially left Mistral behind and started Atlas! Now to actually go watch the volumes…
As already stated last time, there will be no programmed chapter on August, as to allow me to rest and recuperate my will to live. I might still update, but no promises.
Review responses!
merendinoemiliano: Thanks dude, much appreciated!
Cipher 56: That is a very big compliment! Wow! I hope that I manage to keep up with your expectations!
Essiter1987: I always try to make the boss fights as original as I possibly can, even slightly playing with what is usually possible in a Soulsborne game, as to have something a bit more interesting than just "Jaune waited for hit, he dodged hit and then he hit back". Sometimes it's inevitable, like The Ursa Major in the first chapter being very similar to Vote, from Dark Souls 3. Yeah, Blake lost a lot of 1v1s… but never as many as Weiss. She has possibly the most busted Semblance in the entire series and she still manages to somehow lose almost every fight. I didn't really like volumes 7 and 8, I really don't know why. But I'll have to suck it up and watch them, for the sake of the story. I have something different planned for Vacuo, so even if volume 10 ends up being a dud, the story won't be affected.
That's all folks! Ta-ta for now!