Fist 6: Roaring Aura Sky Ripping Fist!: Extreme Fa Jin!
Crushing oppression, that's what Qrow felt in the face of the enemy before him. It was as if gravity had suddenly decided to increase, a sensation that made his body want to bend in submission due to the instinctual fear that dwelled in every living being when confronted with a superior life form.
A superpredator.
Any normal human would have fallen to their knees in absolute fear imprinted in every fiber of their DNA.
Qrow Branwen gritted his teeth, and his aura glowed, causing his spirit to rise and ignoring that suffocating sensation.
"Ho~" the Grimm smiled widely as he saw her show of bravery out of the corner of his eyes but his vision was focused on someone else.
Someone radiating a sense of danger to its existence.
For the first time since it had merged with the Grimm and started devouring it from the inside out to take over its body, it felt something that was genuinely "dangerous" to it.
How interesting, it wondered how nourishing it would be once it consumed his body.
Jaune removed the gray cloak that covered most of his body, rolled his shoulders, and assumed a stance.
The air seemed to stagnate, and for a brief moment, silence reigned.
Then they moved.
Qrow could barely react in time as a white bone spike shot up from the ground under his feet at high speed.
Instincts and years of experience saved him from being impaled on the spot; his body quickly retreated and where had been before, the spike it shot more than 5 meters into the sky.
The Grimm didn't even glance at Qrow to see if its surprise attack had succeeded. Its blurry figure met Jaune's, and the sound of an explosion echoed as they collided in mid-air.
Strong winds swept through the area, and several trees were uprooted by their force.
Qrow drove his sword into the ground, preventing himself from being carried away by the currents.
Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist!
The Grimm opened its four pairs of eyes wide as its humanoid body was suddenly assaulted by countless blows from the front. Its body was immediately covered in dozens of impact marks, and some of its bone plates shattered instantly.
Jaune didn't stop, didn't hesitate. His heart beat strongly, and adrenaline surged through his system. "Exploding Heart Release Fist!"
His right fist seemed to leave residual images as it moved and released a shockwave that exploded upon impact with the monstrous Grimm's body. The entire place shook, and the Grimm's chest caved in, black blood splattering. Without wasting a second, Jaune's body shot forward, both palms together, aiming directly at the Grimm's abdomen. For a moment, his palms seemed to glow from the intense amount of gathered kinetic energy. Then, both open palms collided, creating multiple shockwaves that pierced through the Grimm's body entirely.
Great Fa Jin!: Dai-hakkei!
Like a meteorite, the Grimm was sent flying back into the cave, shockwaves spreading and destabilizing the entire natural structure. Then, the entire mountain began to collapse upon itself, raising a large amount of dust.
Jaune took a deep breath and looked at his palms, both of which were bleeding deeply. Was that enough? The reason Jaune had unleashed such powerful attacks consecutively, not giving his opponent any time to react, was because the sensation he felt was one he had felt before but hadn't fully identified until he faced it when he entered the cave.
Level of threat: Superior Demon, almost reaching Dragon level.
If he let this thing continue to roam free, there would be no way for any settlement near Vale to remain standing.
Qrow stared in disbelief at the now-ruined mountain and couldn't help but open his mouth in astonishment. What the hell?!
He looked at the boy again, now that he didn't have that gray blanket covering him and the alcohol had burned out of his system. He could now understand why he had seemed familiar before.
Wasn't this the boy that Ozpin had asked him to find? Was Ozpin crazy?!
"I- You?! What the hell!"
Jaune looked at him, noticing his disbelief, but he didn't have time to respond. His eyes widened as he felt the entire place tremble, and the debris from the collapsed mountain was forcefully thrown into the air. A twisted mass of black, contorted flesh grew in size, surpassing any Goliath. Then, thousands of white bone spikes stretched out in all directions from the ground, and the entire terrain changed instantly.
With quick reflexes, Jaune dodged hundreds of spikes that sought to pierce his body. Qrow, proving himself worthy of the Huntsman title, evaded several of them and used his sword to block those he couldn't escape from. The impact sent his body flying and made his hands tremble.
"That hurt, kid!" The Grimm retracted the massive flesh back into its body, returning to its humanoid form, as if the previous damage had vanished.
"Let me return the favor." With those words, the Grimm accelerated forward, destroying everything in its path as its speed surpassed the supersonic level in an instant. Just as Jaune was about to deflect the attack with the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist, the Grimm's fist grew to colossal proportions, covering Jaune's entire frontal field of vision with its mass. Without hesitation, He quickly crossed his arms in front of him.
It was as if a mountain had struck him. His body began to move backward at high speed, everything on his back breaking as he tore through the entire forest in less than a second. His feet, however, remained firmly planted on the ground even though his body didn't stop. Then his back slammed into the wall of the settlement he had left earlier, piercing through three meters of reinforced concrete as if it were paper.
The Grimm growled, and its fist stretched like a snake, sending Jaune directly into a building, causing him to go right through it. His body, however, didn't stop and continued to tear through building after building, some of them collapsing due to severe structural damage. Shockwaves after shockwaves caused even more damage to the surroundings, and if not for the fact that all the people in this settlement had died before, this strike it would have killed thousands.
The outstretched arm quickly returned to its "normal" size, and the Grimm grinned as it saw the blood on its fist.
"Hahaha, what did you think of that? This body is truly marvelous! So malleable, I can hardly contain my cells' excitement!" Black felt euphoric. The fusion of his cells with the bodies of these Grimm creatures had brought unexpected benefits, with the ability to mold his body beyond what he could do before being one of them. Of course, he had previously been able to use his cells to modify the size of parts of his body, but it was limited in a sense. In this body, it seemed like he had almost absolute control.
What was even better was that he, the first cell to enter this body, had full control. Even if there were more like him inside, eager to emerge, his will dominated over the others, just like when he became Platinum.
They weren't so perfect, of course. His current strength was not even a shadow of what it once was, but the feeling was similar enough to fill his mind with euphoria.
As he enjoyed his new body, he felt several projectiles coming towards him but didn't pay them any attention. He felt them impact his body with no effectiveness whatsoever, not even leaving a mark on his bone plates.
How could such useless things like bullets even be a threat to him?
"Damn it!" a figure fell from the sky, a scythe in his hand.
Qrow didn't really expect to do much harm with those shots, but for the Grimm to ignore them as if they were thrown grains of sand? that was total bullshit.
He was really having a serious headache here. This Grimm and that kid had completely shattered his logic with the things they had done in the few seconds since this disaster began, and Qrow really wanted a drink right now.
But he couldn't, not as long as this unknown Grimm was still alive. No matter what it was or where the hell it came from, even if Qrow died here, he couldn't let this thing roam the continent of Sanus or any other place in Remnant.
"You're a bit disappointing, but it's okay. I'm not picky with food," the Grimm laughed, and then its figure became blurry. For the first time in his life, Qrow was glad to have his Semblance. Just as fingers, as sharp as claws, were about to pierce his eyes, the Grimm suddenly slipped on a puddle of blood from one of the settlement's residents.
Seeing an opportunity, Qrow swung his scythe with all the strength he believed he had. The blade struck the monster's neck with a powerful blow, creating a shockwave. The bones in Qrow's hands trembled from the impact, and with horror, he watched as the blade of his weapon came to a sudden stop against the Grimm's tough black skin.
"Nice try, but an insect could never harm me," the Grimm said coldly. Tripping like that had been an unexpected embarrassment, and its temper was about to explode. It couldn't let anyone who witnessed such a shameful scene live for another second.
Spikes of white bone shot out from its shoulder blades faster than any bullet. Having felt how tough the Grimm's skin was, Qrow didn't want to find out how hard those bone spikes were or what they would do to his aura if they hit him. With no other option, his body transformed into a bird and quickly navigated away from the attack.
"What?" Black looked at the sudden transformation with some astonishment. "Interesting, I suppose you're not a bad appetizer after all." Just as he prepared to launch himself towards the bird, his sense of danger screamed at him.
Instant Movement!: Shunshinkō! Piercing Fang!: Gasōshi
Like a fluid current, Jaune's figure approached at high speed. like a sharp point his fingers aimed at all the vital points a humanoid figure could have.
Where shotgun bullets and even the edge of an aura-enhanced weapon couldn't leave a mark on the Grimm's skin, Jaune's bare hands caused the flesh to sink and the bone plates to break.
"Ugh!" The Grimm growled, but its feet remained steadfast, and it forced itself not to be sent flying. Its clawed hands retaliated, but Jaune deftly deflected each attack with grace.
Swiftly dodging a spike that suddenly protruded from the Grimm's side, Jaune performed an airborne spin, and his leg struck the monster's head, causing it to lose its balance. Still, the creature counterattacked by extending its arms like whips, lashing out at high speed, but Jaune effortlessly deflected each of them and returned each blow with twice the force.
The buildings and houses around them collapsed during this brief encounter.
Qrow descended from the sky and watched the confrontation with mixed emotions. He had been unable to harm the Grimm with everything he had, yet the boy was doing it barehanded!
"Damn it, I'm a Huntsman, how can I stay behind like this?" He quickly reloaded his weapon with dust bullets. If regular projectiles weren't effective, then this should do something, right?
He waited for the right moment from the side, watching them clash at nearly imperceptible speeds, even for him. But even as they moved so fast that he could barely see their blurry figures, he remained a veteran Huntsman. He knew when the precise moment and opportunity came.
A devastating attack by Jaune caused the Grimm to stagger backward, and Qrow pulled the trigger.
Black had paid no attention to the sound of the projectile, completely useless against it, How could it be a threat?
The response came when the bullet struck, and suddenly half of its body was covered in ice. "What?!" More surprised than hurt, he looked at his left side with curiosity.
That was a foolish move on his part, and Jaune demonstrated this when his fists struck, shattering the ice. But even though half of his body was encased in ice, only a thin outer layer of skin was truly affected. Any other Grimm with a body part encased in ice dust would have seen that part shattered after being struck.
The monstrous Grimm roared! Jaune's blows had stunned it enough for more bullets to start hitting it as Jaune sidestepped to let the projectiles pass.
There was fire and lightning this time, electricity coursed through its body, and flames bathed its figure, but they could barely be considered a nuisance. Still, it angered him. How dare an insect attack him in this manner?!
With a mental command, several figures that had been lurking rushed toward Qrow. A whole pack of Beowolves interrupted his shots.
Soon, the Huntsman was forced to focus on the Grimm attacking him, moving a bit away from the main fight.
Jaune realized that it was the enemy in front of him who had called those Beowolves, marking it as another ability of this strange Grimm. The more they fought, the more Jaune realized that this thing was vastly different from the Grimm he had encountered before.
Moreover, its face, for some reason, seemed familiar to him. He couldn't quite place it, but a small voice in his mind told him that he was missing something.
Where? Where had he seen that face before?
Wiping away the blood that had started to trickle from his nose, Jaune decided to save those questions for later. This confrontation was proving to be more challenging than he had anticipated. The Grimm could modify its body in the midst of battle, suddenly producing more of those spikes or altering the size of its fists and claws.
Moreover, that blow that sent him all the way from the forest through the settlement's wall and multiple buildings was not something easy to endure in his current state. He could feel that his arms were nearly broken, and at least two of his ribs were fractured.
He had to end this soon.
His lungs began to rhythmically inhale air, and the Awakening Breath began to take effect in his body. His muscles swelled slightly, and his heart started pumping blood faster. Then he let that indomitable spirit within him that had been eager to break free awaken, Fighting Spirit!
Perhaps sensing the change in him, the Grimm opened its eyes, and its pupils suddenly shrank, alert bells going off. The Grimm clenched both fists, and the white bone plates began to cover them, taking the form of two large blades. The whip extending from its head also increased in size to nearly two meters in length, and the tip became sharper.
Flowing Shadow Feet: Ryū Ei Kyaku.
Suddenly, Jaune's figure became blurred, and hundreds of residual images flooded the battlefield. The Grimm suddenly couldn't discern the real from the fake. Like ghosts, they attacked it from all sides. The monster crossed both arms, and from its shoulders, two enormous mouths full of fangs opened suddenly.
It was then that a powerful shockwave was released in all directions. The ground sank as a massive crater began to form, rapidly extending over a hundred meters in less than a second. Buildings and debris were sent flying, and in an instant, half of the settlement collapsed.
Shockwave Energy Blast!
The residual images vanished instantly, and Jaune had to exert himself to deflect the thunderous impact that threatened to engulf his body.
Qrow wasn't as lucky. The Grimm around him was instantly killed by the impact, but he didn't manage to move away in time. The shockwave pierced through his aura as if it didn't exist, directly hitting his insides. His vision became blurry, blood sprayed from his mouth, and he lost all balance. Spasms began, his body convulsing as his nervous system was affected.
The fact that he didn't faint demonstrated his astonishing willpower.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jaune saw him collapse to the ground in violent spasms, but he couldn't do anything for him now. He couldn't afford to be distracted.
"That was exhilarating, do you like it? It's a new move I've been practicing," the Grimm arrogantly boasted, looking at the destruction around with satisfaction.
Jaune didn't respond. Instead, his right arm swung back, the fingers of his hand coming together and forming a blade.
His figure disappeared faster than Black expected, and suddenly he saw hundreds of blade-shaped hands stabbing directly towards his body.
Heavy Flashy Slash! JūSenZan!
Like a sword stabbing at extreme speeds, the Grimm's body was pierced hundreds of times in less than a second.
"Damn it!" The Grimm growled, and suddenly, from every part of its body, the black whips with white spikes shot out, attacking Jaune and leaving residual images in their wake.
Like a flowing stream of water, Jaune began to deflect them with his hands. Wherever the whips passed, everything was cleanly cut as if an incredibly sharp blade had sliced through it with great force. What little remained standing of the settlement began to collapse.
Then, while about to deflect another whip, a mouth full of teeth suddenly opened, and a concentrated shockwave shot out toward the hand that was about to deflect the blow.
Jaune opened his eyes and quickly shifted from defense to offense. His fist collided with the attack, piercing through the shockwave and shattering the black whip.
His instinct screamed at him, and he leaped backward when four more whips attempted to strike him with those same shockwaves. Then, the Grimm lunged forward, its blade-like hands stabbing toward his body.
Seeing the imminent danger, Jaune couldn't help it, an enormous smile formed on his face at the thrill of a true battle.
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Qrow forced his aura as much as he could to calm his body, spitting out more blood and attempting to get up. It wasn't easy, given that everything around him seemed like a war zone in the middle of a bombing, with explosions and shockwaves seeming to come from all directions, making the ground continuously tremble.
He blinked several times to clear his vision, and when he raised his head, all he could see were two blurry figures moving at high speeds, beyond what he believed a human could do, aura or not.
Wherever they passed, everything was destroyed. The terrain changed instantly, and debris flew everywhere. Black whips covered in spikes and mouths lashed out indiscriminately at everything around them like a massive wrecking ball. Except this wrecking ball had swords and explosives attached to it that not only demolished but obliterated everything in its path.
And as if to oppose this mass of massive destruction, the other figure moved like currents, diverting, countering, and nullifying every deadly attack directed towards it.
One of those whips was deflected, and one of the few remaining buildings, a 20-story structure, was cleanly sliced in half, then shockwaves reduced it to rubble.
Qrow would think he was dreaming if not for the intense pain emanating from every part of his body. Slowly, he retrieved his nearly broken scroll and started recording everything he could. He didn't believe anyone would believe him unless he had evidence.
If he managed to come out of this alive.
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Jaune deflected three of those pesky whips with one hand and, with the other, his fist struck the monstrous face. He felt his neck snap, but this wound that should have been fatal for any other living being didn't faze him in the least.
Both of them moved rapidly throughout the area, but Jaune was careful to keep the fight away from where Qrow was. If they stayed too close, they could accidentally kill him.
Jaune quickly analyzed his opponent. No matter how many wounds he inflicted, this thing seemed capable of rapidly healing from all of them. But slowly, he realized that this didn't come without a cost. It was a faint sensation at first, but he could tell – it was weakening after each healed injury.
Of course, the rate at which it weakened was so slow that it might as well not be happening at all.
If he wanted to win, he had to deplete this healing ability.
Time to go further.
Taking a deep breath, Jaune extended both hands forward, in a circular motion, merging two different martial art forms to create a superior move.
Roaring Aura Sky Ripping Fist!: Senpū Ryūsui: Gōki Kūretsu-ken!
Suddenly, an extreme aura of death shot into the sky, and Black's pupils shrank to their limits. Its four eyes widened in horror, and mouths of all shapes and sizes on its body suddenly opened, unleashing an omnidirectional Shockwave Energy Blast with a force ten times greater than the first.
Then Jaune's fists struck, and the shockwaves released by the Grimm were instantly obliterated. It was as if an explosion hit its body, bypassing any defense and penetrating its interior with the force to ripping the sky.
Visible cracks extended across its body, which began to swell, on the verge of bursting.
"How is this possible? How is a mere human so strong?!" For the monstrous Grimm, this made no sense. It considered itself the superior life form, a true monster beyond any human or Faunus, a super predator. Humans should know their place and be happy to serve as its food.
So why was it losing?
Feeling his body on the verge of tearing apart, terror flooded him. NO! He couldn't let his body separate; if he did, his cells would go out of control and detach from him, losing his control over the collective consciousness that composed him.
He would cease to be one and become many, ceasing to exist.
"RAAAAARGHHHH!" He roared with all his might, and with his extreme control over his body, he forced it to remain intact, while the energy inside continued to devastate him.
More and more cells were dying, but he didn't care. Still, if he kept it up like this, he'd soon run out of cells, and he'd become weak, losing over half of his power if he didn't do something soon.
His entire thought process might have seemed to take a few seconds, but in reality, it happened extremely quickly. Almost instantly after Jaune had executed his attack and his body was on the verge of exploding, he regained his composure. Then, from his front, a massive mouth several meters wide opened.
If he couldn't do anything with the energy inside his body, then he would expel it!
Jaune's eyes widened, his bleeding hands barely managing to get up on time. the world seemed to freeze in his perception.
A shockwave in the form of a massive lightning bolt shot out of the giant mouth. Everything in its path disintegrated instantly, in less than a millisecond, it was in front of Jaune.
The tip of Jaune's hand met the energy bolt, and as if it were a stream of water, he guided it through his body. It was extremely difficult, but Jaune still did it. He guided the flow of energy within his body and, as if his hands controlled the lightning itself, he held it between his palms and then struck back.
In a life-or-death moment, his instincts unleashed a move he currently couldn't use. Using the Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist's ability to counter with double the strength, he managed to reach the minimum power to use one of his strongest techniques in combination with the energy from another:
Roaring Aura Sky Ripping Fist!: Extreme Fa Jin!: Goku-hakkei!
"IMPOSSIBLE!" The Grimm screamed with absolute horror when it felt Jaune's palms strike its body.
For Qrow, it was as if a flash of light had hit his face. Suddenly, all sound disappeared only to reappear suddenly as a massive roar, followed by an explosion. Qrow lost consciousness at that instant.
At that moment, if one were to look at the sky, they would witness a massive torrent of energy piercing through the clouds, tearing through everything in its path. If it were nighttime, the sky itself would have lit up as if it had suddenly become dawn.
Across the continent of Sanus, people could feel a brief but powerful tremor.
Jaune gazed at the spot where the Grimm had been, its body having disintegrated completely from the inside out.
With the battle over, Jaune felt his body burning all over, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. His legs trembled, and he almost fell to the ground but forced himself to stay upright.
He looked at his hands, from the tips of his fingers to his shoulders, every bone had been broken. That attack had come at a great cost, but if he hadn't done it, he would have been the one to die.
Still, he couldn't help but let a broad smile spread across his face. For a brief moment, he had reached the Dragon level once again.
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"Uh?" In an underground laboratory, a mass of flesh trembled upon sensing something.
"What's happening?" a somewhat weary voice asked. Not far from the mass of flesh, Doctor Merlot observed the unusual behavior of his newest "companion."
"I felt a large number of my cells disappear," a white face appeared in the mass of flesh and spoke. His expression was somewhat darkened. That was a significant amount of cells that vanished suddenly.
Well, it's not like there aren't others of his kind out there, although that was the one that had gathered the greatest amount of cells so far. It seemed like he would have to wait a little longer.
"Will that be a problem?" Doctor Merlot asked with genuine concern rarely seen in him.
Black Sperm shook his head. "They were just a bunch of spare cells. I have more out there, although in smaller quantities. It doesn't matter; they will multiply again over time. Now, what were we talking about?" When the conversation returned to the topic of interest, Doctor Merlot got excited, like a young child getting their favorite candy. His eyes sparkled with the excitement.
"You were telling me about these monsters and the monster cells you've helped create."
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Bianca finished organizing the clinic, the patients who had suddenly arrived, having been picked up by a Bullhead from Vale, were now being transferred to a hospital that could provide full treatment.
A sense of worry filled her heart. She had noticed Jaune's absence and, having a bad feeling, had inquired about what had happened to the group of mercenaries.
When she found out, she knew why Jaune wasn't in sight. That fool had gone straight to confront that Grimm, right? Although she knew he was strong, stronger than anyone she had ever seen before, she couldn't help but worry. The significant tremor she had felt some time ago and the sudden bolt of light piercing the sky did nothing to alleviate her concerns.
With a heavy heart, she began to review some documents in an attempt to distract herself. It was then that she heard a noise from the room where she always let Jaune stay when he visited. That room always had the window open for him to enter.
She quickly approached the room and when she opened the door she couldn't help but exclaim.
"H-Hey! I may have exaggerated a bit," Jaune smiled, blood covering his teeth and his entire face, his hands bent at angles that shouldn't be possible. On his back, he carried a man who also seemed very injured.
Bianca hurried to help them without hesitation. It seemed that this day wouldn't be calm at all.
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Note:
And here's the chapter! What do you think? I really had trouble writing this due to various factors. This is probably going to be the biggest fight we'll see for a while. The action is good, but if this story were only about Jaune killing Grimm and practicing martial arts, it would end too quickly. I want this story to have more than just fights, even though it's great to write battles. There are many things I want to write that may be boring to some and interesting to others.
Anyway, I want to know what you think about the story so far and what direction you think it will take with everything that has been presented up to this point. I have an idea in mind for it, but knowing your opinions could help me better solidify that idea or take a completely different direction if I believe I can do it better.
Anyway, this is just a novice author seeking feedback from those who follow this story.
By the way! Thanks to the people on FF, we've reached over 140 followers and more than 100 favorites! I really appreciate the support and the reviews you leave.