So this chapter ended up being quite a bit longer than planned, and that's after three rewrites and trimming it down a LOT. You'll see why.
Between the Arnold Sports Festival 2024 (This will happen again when WSM happens in a few months) and the start of the 2024 F1 season, I was, uh, busy, so I wasn't able to write as much as I wanted to either.
But I got drunk this weekend and was able to pump out the rest of the chapter! Then I sat and slightly edited it on company time, nursing a hangover.
Honestly, I've been debating making a , but because I deleted my old body of work I just don't see it happening till I have a new body of work to take its place and a more reliable update schedule.
Anyhow, this chapter marks 2/4 chapters done till shit gets real, so, enjoy the peace while you can. It's gonna go off the rails REALLY fast after that.
long-time readers of my tripe know I don't respond to reviews often but I'll make an exception this time because somehow BlackJackHero read this story. The first Beacon-Expulsion Jaune fic I read came from him and it sent me on a hunt for more.
On that note, write more or I will cave your head in with a nailbat.
Snow is a treacherous opponent.
It's all a matter of footing on snow. One wrong step and your leg would simply sink right through.
In fights where a second worth of time was a matter of life and death, such a mistake could prove costly.
Aura was something of a deterrent. Being above level 40 meant he had enough aura to spare that even three Ice Sabyrs attacking him simultaneously couldn't break through, but therein was the issue.
Aura defended, aura healed, and aura increased his stats. Aura also fought off the effects of heat and cold, but Aura had the side effect of being a finite resource, and constant fighting and moving through the cold plains of Solitas drained it fast.
Of course, he'd had this issue to some extent in the forests near Vale too, but there, he had the benefit of rapid level-ups restoring his HP, MP, Stamina and Aura instantly, which would have been incredibly useful right about now.
When he'd arrived at Mantle, he'd been level 40. He was now level 42. He had been travelling and killing Grimm for three days. He should've seen this coming. His system was faithful to a meta system in any old-school RPG. The XP curve per level went up incrementally at every level, and enemies that weren't a threat gave much less XP than he needed to level up.
And every Grimm he'd killed in the last three days had a grey nametag.
Thankfully, he was still gaining proficiency with his skills. Though the only new Grimm he'd fought were Ice Sabyrs, he'd seen a herd of Megoliath from a few miles away.
The thought of killing them, each with an orange nametag, was enticing, he also knew the impossibility of this task. He'd killed one Goliath before, and compared to these Megoliath, it might as well have been a juvenile, and that was not accounting for the fact that there were at least seven Alphas in the herd. Those monsters made the Behemoth look tame by comparison.
When the herd was at least a hundred orange nametags, all under the control of seven red ones, and the battle was on unstable terrain, he knew it wouldn't be a battle he'd be winning anytime soon.
Other than that, he'd been making decent progress towards the western frontier. Whenever possible, he'd been running. He even got a new skill due to it.
Free Running
Allows the user to traverse most terrain at incredible speeds
+50 move speed
Stamina cost - 10 Stamina/Minute
The stamina drain wasn't the worst thing ever. Originally, it had been six times as much, to the point where maintaining Free Running was impossible for long distances, but he had another trick up his sleeve, one that had unlocked at level 40.
The dimensional shop.
It was a miraculous store that only he could access through the system. Killing Grimm gave him points, and the points could be traded for various items. Hell, the shop had practically everything he could ever dream of. High-end weapons that could cut through anything, armor that could block the strongest of blows, all for a price.
And boy, what a price it was.
"This is daylight robbery!" Jaune complained, scrolling through the listings on the store. A sword half as good as Goliath's Ivory was worth over two million points! His entire levelling spree had only netted him around two hundred thousand points!
On the other hand, though, consumables were cheap as all hell. A set of six low-grade potions was worth ten points, and each could recover ten per cent of his health, all for the side effect of sending him to the washroom out of overhydration.
The real winners were the aura and stamina potions, the latter had made it possible to grind out Free Running to a level where it was infinitely maintainable, and that was a necessity.
Between Free Running and the fact that he was cutting a path straight to the frontier, he assumed he'd hit a colony in a day or less.
Of course, he had no idea what kind of welcome he could expect, but oddly enough, he couldn't help but look forward to it.
This was a bit of a pickle.
The further one went from society, the stronger Grimm they encountered. This was a very well-known fact. He understood this fact when the Nevermores he'd gotten used to fighting were replaced with the agile and strong Treyxes.
It wasn't until a Sphinx accosted him that he realised just how much truth was in that statement. It opened with a fireball from above, one that - had he not had his high sense stat - Jaune would have fallen prey to.
He rolled aside, taking cover behind a craggy, frigid rock. The Sphinx was not a Grimm he knew a lot about. He could see it circling him from the sky, probably preparing to take another potshot with its fireballs.
He activated Domination, telekinetically picking up some rocks around him and flinging them at the Sphinx. The rocks flew faster than bullets, blasting through the sound barrier as they did so. One impacted the Sphinx's face mask, shattering but leaving a crack on the bone armor. The rest of them went right through its wings, shredding them.
Yet, through sheer force of will, it seemed the Sphinx could at least float down to the earth instead of plummeting like a rock. The moment it hit the ground, it leapt straight at Jaune, letting out a blood-curdling screech.
Jaune blinked out of the way, getting behind the creature. He slashed down with his sword, cutting off the creature's serpentine tail. A spurt of black blood shot out, covering him, as the Sphinx screamed. The shrill sound overloaded his senses for just a second, allowing the Sphinx to slash at him with its sharp claws.
His aura took the hit, but the force behind it was enough to push him back. He quickly regained his footing, finding himself facing the Sphinx head-on.
"For someone with an orange nametag, you sure are tenacious, aren't you?" Jaune commented, holding out his sword defensively, his eyes locked with the Grimm's glowing pools of red.
If it understood his words, it didn't show it. It slowly started to circle Jaune, and Jaune followed suit, both man and beast looking for an opening, one moment of weakness to end it.
Then, it happened.
The treacherous snow gave way under Jaune's feet. His right leg sank into loose snow and the Sphinx capitalized on the opportunity. It lunged with speed that belied its massive form, and before Jaune could even retaliate, he found himself pinned to the ground by it.
It mauled Jaune, chipping away at his aura faster than he could regenerate. Dazed, Jaune tried to put up a rudimentary defense, but the Grimm was strong, and more importantly heavy. Kicking out, Jaune was able to scramble out and blink away.
The Sphinx was relentless. Jaune had just blinked away and before he could even launch a counterattack the Sphinx had already fired a fireball at him. With Blink being on cooldown, he had to roll out the old-fashioned way. The heat from the exploding fireball washed over him, singing the tips of his hair.
It was then that he heard a shot ring out behind him. Definitely higher caliber than even the shots Ruby's Crescent Rose fired. In front of him, he saw the Sphinx's bone armor explode, sending it reeling back in pain.
"Let me handle this one, kid."
It was hearing the raspy, old voice that made Jaune realize that there was a short, old man standing next to him. Jaune had completely failed to notice the man approach, even with his massive sense stat.
The man held a gigantic sword, one that even dwarfed Jaune, a work of art that was ornately designed from tip to pommel. One side was a clean edge while the other edge was serrated. His face was old, covered in wrinkles, but stern. He had a scruffy beard of white and a clean-shaven head.
And as he walked towards the Sphinx - which was still being pelted by high-calibre fire from a sniper that Jaune couldn't see, Jaune realized why he wasn't able to track the man. His steps were light beyond measure, not even leaving indents in the snow. Carrying a weapon so massive that Domination wouldn't even work on it, there was no way one could do so. Yet, this man did it passively.
It reminded him of how Weiss moved in combat, but much, much better.
The man closed the distance to the Sphinx fast. Not as quick as Jaune could have with Free Running, but fast enough that he was close enough to attack before the Sphinx could retaliate. Yet, he did not attack. The Sphinx, on the other hand, tried to batter him with its rime-covered wings.
The man simply stepped through them, then in a show of strength that could give Jaune a run for his money, he slashed upwards with the huge sword, cutting deep into the Grimm's neck. Yet, something was wrong. The old man's eyes widened and he quickly pulled back his weapon and somersaulted back, just in time to avoid being gored by the monster's pinions.
It was at that point the Sphinx decided it'd had enough. With two flaps of its half-ripped wings, it was able to temporarily take to the sky, but at this point, Jaune was ready. Blinking right above it, he swung his sword sideways with all the strength he could muster. The moment the sword connected with the Sphinx's neck, Critical Chain activated, six vertical lines made of white light, coupled with the force behind the swing, completely beheaded the Sphinx, giving him a level and restoring all his stats.
He landed with the Sphinx's dead body, which was already evaporating into black smoke. Sheathing his sword, he slowly started walking towards the old man.
"Thank you for the assist, sir. Without you around, I might have lost my life to that monster." Jaune spoke, giving the man a bow.
"Don't lie to me, kid." The man spoke, his tone gruff and dismissive. "That Sphinx railed on ya for over a minute and yer aura ain't even dented. Hells, ya ain't even winded and ya cut through that Grimm's trunklike neck with that wee little sword of yers. Even my strongest blow wasn't enough for that."
Taken aback by the man's observations, Jaune was silent. The man took that as a sign to continue.
"Ya got crazy strength and incredible fortitude, yet ye move faster than almost any huntsman I've seen in ma life." He continued, "But ya swing your sword like a kid with a stick. Yer footwork is worse than even an academy student." He looked Jaune over, "Yer too well dressed to be unable to a get into Atlas, and ya look far too young to be here for the Legion."
"So tell me, why are ya here?"
Jaune racked his brain for an easy way to summarize why he was here. Before he could even start answering the question, the sniper decided to join them in the clearing.
It was a little girl. She couldn't have been more than twelve years old, In her hands was clutched the largest rifle Jaune had seen in his life. There was no expression on her face, it was eerie, like staring at a lifelike doll. All the things that made a human were there, but the spark of life was just… missing.
"Uh, why don't we get to some shelter so I can answer your questions?"
"So, let me get this straight. ye was sent here by a professor, just because ya got expelled?"
Jaune nodded, taking a swig from a water bottle he kept in his inventory. "Well, yeah. That's the gist of it. Name's Jaune, by the way."
The old man grunted. "Name's Diamante. The little one's Jade." he said, gesturing towards the girl sitting next to the makeshift bonfire. "We've been tracking that Sphinx for a day. Thanks to the diversion you provided, we was able to get to it before it could get to Ingress. Ya have my thanks for that, and also for landing the killing blow. My strength ain't what it used to be."
Jaune shook his head. "No, it is I who should be thanking you. While it is true that I am probably stronger than most, it's not exactly easy to fight on the snow." he spoke, offering the bottle to Diamante.
The old man huffed. "That's what tells me ya aren't a student of Atlas. They're taught the snow step in the first year itself." He took the bottle, taking a deep swig. "Yer too polite for Vacuo, and yer sense of dress is too tame for Mistral. Beacon, then."
Jaune nodded. "Yeah. I got expelled from Beacon, and a professor was kind enough to tell me to come here if I wanted to become a better huntsman."
Diamante laughed. "Kind? Oh boy, ya really are naive huh? Are ya sure this teacher didn't have some sort of grudge against ye?"
Jaune shook his head. "Pretty sure Professor Ozpin doesn't have a reason to want me dead. He probably knows my situation better than anyone but myself."
Diamante cocked an eyebrow at the name. "Ozpin, eh? Tall, silver-haired fella? Always carries a walking stick and a mug of coffee?" Getting a nod from Jaune, he continued. "Yeah, that conniving fuck wouldn't send ya this far if he wanted you dead. Though you's freakishly powerful, he's got enough pawns under him to take ya out with relative ease if he wanted to."
"You know him, I take it?" Jaune asked.
"Wish I didn't, but sadly I do. Served with him in the aftermath of big 'ol war. Ain't seen a more crafty fuck in my long life." He spoke. "Had an eye for talent unlike any other. Which brings me to the question that's been buggin' me real good."
"Once Ozpin has his eyes on someone, there's no way he'd let them go. A freak like you? He'd sell his own mother to have ya by his side. So how the fuck did ya get expelled from a Huntsman academy of all things?" he asked.
Jaune hesitated, an uncomfortable look on his face. "I'd… I'd rather not talk about it. If it's all the same to you."
Diamante grunted. "True, that's your call. At my age, ya can't help but be a bit nosy." He got up. "Ingress is a day's walk from here. It's the largest of the five settlements. Come along, maybe you'll find whatever it is yer looking for there."
Jade got up behind them. "I'll go scout ahead, da." She spoke, slipping out of the cave, her footsteps making no noise.
"Is… is that safe?" Jaune asked.
Diamante just shook his head. "She took up the gun when she was six. There's more dead Grimm under her belt than most fully grown huntsmen." Jaune could still see the scowl on his face. "Her semblance turns her invisible, so she'd probably safer than either of us can be. That don't mean I have to like it though."
Jaune shook his head. "And you don't stop her?"
Diamante sighed. "I can't, no. And even if I could, Ingress needs every fighter it can get." He then walked to the mouth of the cave.
"You'll understand better when ya get there."
The journey to Ingress was boring by design. Jade communicated with Diamante through a radio, warning us of any Grimm along the path. It was so boring - in fact - that to pass the time, Jaune started to emulate how Diamante moved.
It was quite wondrous. The man's steps were light, mostly using the balls of his feet and not his heel. When he stood in place, the heel touched the ground, and his feet were spread evenly. It went almost counter to how one would normally walk on snow, maximising their contact patch with the snow to get the most traction.
Compared to that, Diamante's movement felt like controlled falling. Momentum was given by moving his high-set centre of balance, and speed was maintained by gently nudging the ground with the tips of his feet.
Jaune almost fell when he tried it out himself. Yet he kept trying it. In an hour or so, he was able to maintain the state of movement for a few steps. It wasn't till he was able to do it for a few hundred meters that he gained the skill for it.
Steps of the Assassin
Allows the user to traverse and maintain steady footing on uneven surfaces.
Reduces movement sound by 50%
Stamina cost - 5 Stamina/Minute
Okay, maybe not the same movement skill as Diamante, but something close enough. The 5 stamina per minute price was negligible, and it seemed to combine well with Free Running. Still, 'Steps of the Assassin' was a rather interesting name for a movement stability skill.
Still, getting the skill was a massive boon, and Diamante noticed immediately, yet didn't say anything.
It wasn't till they ran into an unavoidable flock of Teryx that Jaune understood how good the skill was. Blinking up to the first one and slicing through its neck, Jaune was able to jump from back to back, standing on their moving forms as if he was standing on the ground itself, cutting down the flock in seconds.
"I think I might see why Ozpin sent ya here," Diamante spoke, "You've been able to learn the snow step in hours. Even the most talented person I've ever met took months to learn it, and definitely not to the level of execution where he could do what you just did."
"I've always been a fast learner." Jaune countered.
"Another lie. That's two in one day." Diamante spoke. "Don't matter. Come along now, we's almost there."
An hour later, Jaune got his first look at Ingress. It was small, smaller than any settlement he'd ever seen. One large building that seemed to house a CCT connection, was flanked in a circle by a few dozen housing units, each three floors high. The decision to build upwards rather than outwards was one of necessity, as the settlement was bordered by a wall that - at some point - was made of metal. Over the years, parts had been destroyed and fixed like patchwork with whatever materials the locals could scrounge.
Atop the walls, there were guns. Extremely old models at that. Yet even from a distance, Jaune could see how well they were maintained. They seemed automated, the way they were all aimed at Jade, who was standing at the main gate of the settlement, talking to two people.
As Jaune and Diamante approached, the two men, moved over to two consoles, one on either side of the gate. By the time the two arrived at the gate, it was slowly opening.
"Welcome back, Diamante. Heard you had very little trouble with the Sphinx?" One of the men spoke, walking up to them.
"Yeah, all thanks to this little hero right here," Diamante said, pointing to me. "Got the durability of a wall, and before you ask, he ain't here for the Legion."
Jaune couldn't see the person's expression through his helmet, but he sure as hell caught on to the way his body slumped with relief the moment Diamante told him that Jaune didn't want to join this Legion.
"What is this Legion you keep mentioning?" Jaune asked as he and Diamante walked through the open doors.
"That's… a bit of a story. Come along, the least I can offer you is some grub for your help. Get me a drink too." He spoke, his brows scrunched up in annoyance.
It wasn't much of a journey from the gate to Diamant's house. It was more of a weapons workshop and a smithy with a house tacked on. "Wait, you're a weaponsmith?" Jaune asked, and Diamante chuckled.
"Ma son was a weaponsmith. After I retired from being a huntsman, he just kind of pushed me into working with him." As his laugh subsided, it was replaced with a rather serene look, sad, but at-peace. "Working in the smithy reminds me of my time with him. It's a cherished memory."
Jaune knew better than to ask more. He took a seat next to a table that had seen years of heavy use. Diamante walked up to a counter and took out a bottle of Brandy, pouring it out for both himself and Jaune.
"By the way, Jaune, mind if I looked at your weapon?" Diamante asked. Jaune complied, pulling Goliath's Ivory out of his Inventory. If the action surprised Diamante, he didn't show it. Instead, his gaze was transfixed by the blade itself.
"Well, I'll be! A grimmsbone weapon in today's day and age. How did you even get this?" He asked, leaving Jaune at a loss for words.
"Well, it was a gift of sorts. You're telling me that sword's made of a Grimm's bones?" He asked, "I thought every part of a Grimm dissipates when you kill them."
Diamante shook his head. "While yes, that is the way of things. What if someone kept a Grimm in captivity, breaking its armor and then letting it heal?"
Jaune nodded. "Ah, okay that makes sense. Still, aren't the bones of Grimm quite brittle?"
Diamante laughed. "That may be true for the usual Beowolves and Sabyrs, but the bones that make up the armour and tusks of a Megoliath can even take heavy artillery and not even get scuffed, tough buggers, those. That, and they channel aura better than any metal does. Weird, considering those fucks are practically soulless." He passed Goliath's Ivory back to Jaune. "That sword's got summa the toughest grimmsbone I've ever seen. Whoever gave ya that must really cherish ya."
While he wasn't sure the system 'cherished' him, Jaune couldn't deny that its gifts were invaluable.
"That said, the sword ain't doing ya much good." Diamante continued. "Ya remember what I told ya when we met, right?"
Jaune nodded. "You basically called me untrained, and yeah, you're not exactly wrong."
Diamante laughed. "What a negative kid! Sure, I did say that, but I also acknowledged that yer a freak of nature. That, plus I can't even figure out yer semblance. I saw you use telekinesis, some sort of teleportation, and that storage thing you've got going on. My bet's on some sort of spatial fuckery. Am I right?"
Given an easy explanation, Jaune nodded. "Basically. Let's just say I can do a lot of things with my semblance and leave it at that."
"Holding yer cards close to yer chest, eh? Good on ya, that'll take ya far." Diamante spoke, downing his glass of brandy. Jaune did the same, though he had to hide his surprise when the system gave him a notification.
Harmful Substance Detected: Purging
So, apparently, he couldn't get drunk or poisoned either. Good to know.
"Either way, your fight style is all instinctive. I can recognise some of yer movements, but it seems like yer trying to emulate people rather than finding what works for ya." Diamante finished, refilling his glass.
"Part of why I was sent here, I guess," Jaune answered. "I learn fast, but I'm also woefully undertrained."
"Learn fast my ass. Kid, you mastered Snow Step in less than a day. Even the greatest prodigies I've ever been around took years to master that skill. There's no way someone that gifted can exist. I'll put it down to more semblance shenanigans." he finished.
"Whatever floats your boat. All I'll tell you is that I didn't lie when I said I learn fast." Jaune continued, allowing Diamante to fill his glass again. "Show me a technique, and I promise I'll have it down by the end of the day, doesn't matter what kind of technique it is."
"It's good ta have confidence, kid." He spoke but was interrupted by the door opening. Jade walked in, a small bag in her hand. She walked over to the table and quietly kept the bag there. She gave a terse nod to Diamante, who pet her head with pride.
"I trust tha guild didn't give ya any trouble?" he asked, and Jade shook her head. "That's good. We'll go hunting again tomorrow."
With that, Jade walked upstairs, leaving Jaune and Diamante with the little bag in front of them.
"I assume that's pay for the Sphinx?" Jaune asked.
Diamante opened the bag, pulling out a few high-quality crystals of fire dust. "Yep, that's the pay. Bastards are short-changing us again."
"Fire dust? I thought all Huntsmen transactions happened in Lien." Jaune questioned, picking up a crystal from the bag. Sure enough, it had the SDC logo imprinted on it. There were seven crystals, that was worth less than the Lien price of hunting one single Beowulf, even with the surging dust prices back in Vale.
"We used to trade in Lien until we realized that Lien won't keep a fire running in our boilers. Plastic don't burn too well, I'm afraid." Diamante spoke. "This much should last us a couple of days, even excluding yer cut."
Jaune shook his head. "Keep it. I'm already imposing on your kindness by being here."
Diamante chuckled. "Yer a confusing person, Jaune. On one side, yer defensive and cold when talking about yeself, but the moment it comes to altruism, yer naivete is on full show."
Jaune chuckled. "A complicated life makes a complicated person, won't you agree?"
"That it does, kid, that it does," he answered. "I have a proposition for ye, if ye don't mind listening to this old fool."
Getting a nod from Jaune, Diamante continued, "Yer obviously here to grow. Funny that, when most people are sent 'ere to be forgotten. Yer gonna hunt, but without direction, yer not gonna grow, hell, ya might even stagnate, might even die yet."
"So, come hunt with us. We're always low on hands, and I bet you could learn a thing or two from good 'ol me. I'll give ye food and a roof, hell, last long enough and I'll even make ye a weapon, considerings ye don't got nothin' for a ranged option." He finished, letting Jaune think.
On one hand, this was ideal. Jaune was in foreign territory, and his scuffle with the Sphinx had shown him that even with his ridiculous physical stats, death was very much possible in this land. An image of the herd of Megoliaths came to his mind unbidden. He'd been lucky enough to see them from miles away, but had he run into them head-on, the chances of his survival were slim.
Even if the Sphinx wasn't alone, would he have survived?
It was slightly humbling to him. His levelling spree had left him feeling invincible, yet here he was, with the world reminding him just how low humanity sat on the totem pole of existence.
The system allowed him to grow, it didn't afford him invincibility, he'd need to learn that, to remember it.
"I like the suggestion, but there's a catch," Jaune said, finishing his second glass of Brandy, "There's no way you're offering me this out of the goodness of your heart. You're too old and jaded for that. So tell me, what do you have to gain from this?"
It was an important question for Jaune. No one helped a stranger for free. The only reason Pyrrha wanted to help train him was because it would get her closer to Citron. The only reason Ozpin showed an interest in him was because he saw potential. He'd learned his lesson, and looking at the pause his question had given DIamante, it was a lesson well learnt.
Diamante collected himself. "I want to strike back at the Legion."
Jaune shrugged. "I've never killed a human in my life, and I don't plan to change that anytime soon."
Diamante shook his head, a frown on his face. "Kid, you could be the best huntsman in the world, you could be the second coming of the hero-king Ozymandias himself, and yet you'd be unable to damage the Legion in any way that matters."
There was a brief silence between the two, before Diamante continued, taking a swig straight from his bottle as he did. "The Legion is an army of fully-trained huntsmen, Jaune. They're all people who the kingdoms did dirty. They ain't got no love for Atlas, but they ain't got no reason to kill us. This itself is a problem."
"We're a small settlement, but we still fall under the jurisdiction of Atlas. We get supplies once per quarter from the big 'ol city in the sky itself. Chiefly among them, fire dust. We get just enough to cover basic needs. Sure, we've learnt to ration, but even then, it's barely enough." He picked up a crystal from the small pile. "This here's worth a few weeks at best if we eat cold food and only run the boiler at night. If you don't have Aura, though, this won't last you more than five days."
"That was the price for downing a Sphinx. We make contributions, we get paid. It's a system that works well… as long as the Legion don't intervene." he continued, putting down the crystal. "While they can't grow, repair, or maintain shit worth a damn, they sure can monopolize all the bounties in the town hall and take away a quarter of our fire dust every year."
"And you can't ask them to stop without it coming to blows, huh?" Jaune asked.
"They need the dust, we need people to kill Grimm. It's a symbiotic relationship." Diamante had forgotten about his glass at this point, taking swigs straight from the bottle.
"The original reason they moved here was that SDC prospectors once found mines full of prime-grade dust in mountains two weeks north of here. They thought that between the dust, hydroponics, and the local elk population they could live easily here." Diamante finished..
"And let me guess, the SDC prospectors were wrong." Jaune commented, but Diamante shook his head.
"No, when the Legion did their initial forays, they returned with dust samples. The people in the settlement were pretty hyped about it too. Sadly, they also ran into something so terrible in those mountains that the Legion hasn't committed to a second foray since." He answered.
"Lots of Grimm, then?"
"Nay, something far worse. Armies of Grimm mean nothing to the Legion. They are lacking in many ways, but as combatants, they are good. Plus, with that man at the helm, it wasn't until they retrieved the bodies that we actually believed the Legion lost." He finished.
"That man?" Jaune asked, and Diamante sighed, leaning back into his chair with a defeated expression on his wizened face.
"Lau Ka Long, the first leader of the Atlesian specialists, a war hero." Diamante took another swig from his bottle, a long one at that, before pausing for a second. "You can count the number of people that can defeat him on one hand and have fingers left to spare. I saw that man take down an entire Valean brigade alone during the war. The Legion was his idea, and its failure is our cross to bear."
"So they can't get get dust from the mountains, which means they are reliant on you guys for it." Jaune surmised.
Diamante nodded. "That about sums it up. They said we'd be protected from the frontier as a byproduct of them setting up their 'other kingdom'. Now, they protect us for dust."
"And you want to monopolize all the dust," Jaune asked. "Won't that make things worse?"
Diamante shook his head. "We been at this 'ol song and dance longer than ye'd imagine. It's why a workman like me's out doin' huntsman things. They know the score. We're still Atlas. In their eyes, we got a bailout, they don't."
"But you don't have a bailout, do you? Atlas doesn't care about the frontier towns." Jaune leaned forward, taking the bottle from Diamante.
"Ahh, see young lad. That's the kicker. They still send us dust, and that means they need us. These 'ere settlements are the only reason we have a border. We fall, and tensions in Atlas rise. Keeping us alive means they have mental stability. It divides Atlas from the frontier, and that - in their mind - makes all the difference."
"...damn, that is rather fucked." Jaune finished.
"Ye can say that again, son." Diamante sighed. "So, you in?"
Jaune shrugged. "Might as well. So, what is it that you want to teach me?"
"That's more like it, son! Go over, not under!"
Jaune did as asked, jumping over the Sabyr and cutting its spine out midair. The next one came at him, but Diamante's voice caught him first.
"Let yer momentum carry ye. Yer sword will do the rest."
Again, the instructions were perfect. Jaune slid on the frozen lake as he landed, using the momentum to carry him past the Sabyr, his sword lashing out with practised precision, bisecting the monster.
"Telekinesis, now!"
Goliath's Ivory shot out of his hands and buried itself into the final Sabyr. It didn't have so much as enough time to let out a pained howl before the sword lodged inside it pulled itself out sideways, killing it.
"Huh, ye weren't lyin', I ain't never seen no one learn that fast." Diamante spoke, running over to Jaune. Around them, corpses of over a dozen Sabyrs were disintegrating into nothing.
It had been three days since Diamante and Jaune had picked up almost every mission in the town hall. Diamante's method of teaching was simple. Take him into a group of Grimm and shout commands while he fights.
And by the brothers did it work.
Sure, a method like that would never fly in any institution. Parents would revolt if the students of any of the four big academies were subjected to such dangerous training. Hell, he himself would never have done this if not for the system. For him now? There was no better method of learning, and the results were apparent.
Swordsmanship - Level 11
Passive - You gain familiarity will bladed weaponry.
Increases sword damage by 11%
Allows precise control of your sword based on Dex and Sense stats
That was the skill description, but it was so much more than that. At every level he got in the skill, he could feel his blade get more deadly. Every stat point he put into Dex made his strikes far more precise, every single point he put into sense increased his awareness of everything around him.
If this was what high-end huntsmen perceived the world as, he could see why they got addicted to it.
"Well, I have a good teacher." Jaune replied.
Diamante laughed. "Can't teach ye to stop lying, though." he kicked at the corpse of the last Sabyr. "Clean cuts, even through armor. I think I've said this before, kid, but yer a monster."
Jaune didn't answer. Opting instead to store his sword back in his inventory. They were done with nine out of the fourteen missions. And he'd gained one level. They'd killed Manticores, they'd killed Sabyrs, even a young Megoliath that had wandered away from its pack. Still, just one level.
If he hadn't met someone like Diamante, someone who had taught him new skills, he would have plateaued.
That left him with the question. If even the strongest Grimm he could find weren't enough, what was? Sure, he could spend months grinding out Grimm in the frontier. He'd get slow, but steady progress. Maybe he'd even make a dent in the frontier's Grimm population, but the XP curve had shot up dramatically over time. It would get to the point where even one level could take years.
The other option was to find threats that far outscaled even the strongest commonly-found Grimm. There were always tales, always legends of creatures that made Grimm feel like ants by comparison. Maybe it would be worth it to go out seeking these legends.
Other than that, he could grow in ways other than simply leveling. Hunting with Diamante's instruction had taught him swordplay and better footing. That, and he was promised a weapon once the missions were all over. Originally, Diamante had wanted to make him a gun, and to that, Jaune said no. He also wanted a defensive option, something that worked like a shield, but also allowed him to two-hand his sword when needed.
Diamante sure had his work cut out for him.
"So, what do you have planned for me, boss?" Jaune asked, making Diamante pause.
"Well, I have a plan, but before I commit to it, I want to see how good you are with your telekinesis." he spoke, holding his chin, lost in thought.
"You know what? Next mission, you're going to only kill Grimm with telekinesis. If you can do that, I think i'll be able to work with that." Diamant stated, walking away. Jaune followed.
"Why're you thinking so hard about what to make me? You could just build me a buckler-bow combo as I initially suggested and be done with it." Jaune questioned.
Diamante shook his head. "I'd be doin' the memory o' ma son a disservice if I built ye anything less than a masterpiece."
The topic of his son brought back questions to Jaune's mind. There was no doubt the man was dead, yet - insidiously - his curiosity wouldn't be sated till he knew the whole picture.
"What happened to him, if you don't mind me asking?" Jaune spoke up.
"He used to lead the caravans between here and Mantle. Met his wife that way too. Coulda called him the lifeline of this here settlement. He'd deliver weapons, and bring back dust. On one such trip, he never returned. It wasn't till months later that we found the caravans in a ravine, never found their dead bodies." Diamante spoke, his tone dispassionate. "He was Huntsman-trained, which is why he chose to lead the caravans. We always knew the risks… it took me a while to get used to my loss. Jade helped. She was too young to understand, and I was too old to bear it."
"Jade means the world to you, doesn't she?" Jaune countered.
"That she does, but I think it broke something in her. You've seen her, she cannot process emotion. In the last six years, I've never seen her smile. The only thing she ever asked from me is to teach her how to fight." He sighed. "These days, I'm just happy she's safe and strong enough to fend for herself if something happens to me."
"You shouldn't say stuff like that, you know?" Jaune countered.
"I shouldn't have said any of that, to be honest. Old age must be making me soft, making me blabber my entire life story to someone I've only known a few days. Then again, you've got that same trustworthy face your great-grandfather did." Diamante countered.
"Huh?" Jaune eloquently responded, making Diamante laugh.
"I fought in the war, kid. Anyone who fought against Julius and lived to tell the tale would recognize you, even if you don't wear the family crest." He pulled out a bottle of brandy from a cupboard and took a deep swig. "Helps that you look exactly like he did when he was your age. You're a bit taller, but other than that, you even sound like the guy."
"You seem to be rather fond of him for someone who fought on the other side of the war." Jaune leveled, making Diamante laugh again.
"Good 'ol Julius never was one for sides, ya know. His only wish was to end the war as fast as possible, to avoid as much loss of life as one man could. 'Tis why he's a hero." Diamante's eyes looked out into the distance, unfocussed, lost in memory. "That, and because at the peak of his ability, he cut a mountain in half with a single stroke o' is sword. You may be freakishly strong, kid, but he was one in a billion."
"Guess you gotta be special to be a hero." Jaune answered, wondering just how many points he'd have to dump into strength to pull off such a feat.
"Bah! That's enough dawdling. The next pack was last sighted three miles east hence. We kill 'em fast enough and I promise I'll make ye a dinner that'll remind ye of yer ma." Diamante concluded, rushing off at speed.
Jaune sighed in exasperation but followed nonetheless.
Snow is a treacherous opponent.
Perched atop a small hill around a hundred and ten miles northeast of Ingress, Jaune looked down into the valley. As reported, he found his quarries nested all along the slope of the hill.
The mission intel mentioned one Alpha Sphinx and a flock of around ten Manticores, no Alphas other than the Sphinx. But the mission had been on the roster for almost three years, and what he faced now was far beyond the scope of the original mission.
At least thirteen Alpha Manticores had their nests set up around the main nest of the Sphinx, it was a protective formation. Simple, but effective. Jaune had seen it at least three miles out, which had led to him hiking around them to scale the hill.
As he'd scaled the hill, visibility had dropped significantly. It was a whiteout, the second one he'd been through. For the last one, he and Diamante had Jade and her tracking prowess to count on.
For this one, all Jaune had were his own abilities and the results of his fresh training with Diamante and Jade.
That, again, was enough for the system to give him a new skill
Eyes Of The Golden Emperor
Passive - You gain unhampered vision in even the worst of scenarios.
Marks enemies in red once designated
Additional effects unlocked as INT and SENSE increase
The unlocking of the ability felt natural. It was the system rewarding him for taking his time to learn to fight in the harshest of climates, in situations where the surroundings were as much of an enemy as the Grimm themselves.
His training with Diamante had reminded him of something he'd forgotten. When he made it into Beacon, when he made it through initiation, it was his wit that had helped him think up a plan to take down that Deathstalker, even when his ability was practically nil.
The rush of finally getting power had swept over him. It was an intoxicant, and it was only luck and the fact that he could level up rapidly that had kept him alive in the forest. In that fugue state of leveling up and killing, he'd thrown away his greatest gift, his penchant for strategy.
Hunting with Diamante reminded him of it. It reminded him that creative solutions could always be used to increase his safety, to skew odds in his favor, to create situations that would make life easier for himself.
So with a clear mind, Jaune still knew that snow was a treacherous opponent.
He also knew that it could - in the right situation - be his greatest ally.
He pulled out Goliath's Ivory from his inventory and planted it into the snow below his feet. Diamante had told him that grimmsbone weapons conducted aura better than any conventional weaponry, which was why he decided the best course of action was to overload the sword with his Aura.
The snow in front of him exploded, instantly vaporising around him, and he was rewarded with a skill that - had he used his brain before - he would have had earlier.
Aura Blade
An explosive AOE skill that does 50x your weapon damage following the arc of your blade.
Cooldown - 10 Seconds
Additional Effect - can be used as a point-blank AOE by planting the tip of your blade your sword into any surface.
Aura Cost - 200 AP
Four uses were all he could manage with his current aura pool, but for the destructive power of the skill, it was more than worth it. After all, the explosion had served its purpose.
The ground rumbled as the disturbed snow and rock in front of him rolled down the slope of the hill. By the time it reached the flock, it was a bona-fide avalanche. He watched as some of them tried to take flight, and a few even succeeded, but the majority were lost under the blanket of snow.
The survivors flew at him with speed. The first to reach him was an Alpha Manticore. He'd never killed one of these. Sure, the basic version was a pretty tough customer to begin with, but with all the extra armor and size, the Alpha put them to shame.
Too bad it was all for nothing.
Jaune jumped straight at it, landing sword-first on its back, plunging the blade straight through the toughened bone armor that most huntsmen could barely dent. With his blade half-sunk into the monster's back, he activated Aura Blade.
After all, the insides of a Grimm counted as 'any surface'
The resulting explosion blew the Manticore into smithereens, while the shockwave was enough to throw the three Manticore behind it to the ground, their wings broken.
Jaune jumped off, but the Alpha Sphinx was ready for him. It perfectly predicted his trajectory and fired a glob of fire at him. A few days earlier, he'd have been powerless against this attack, but Diamante had taken care of that.
Not through his training, but his craftsmanship.
The fireball was intercepted and destroyed by a shield made out of six interlocking blades, each three feet long and triangular, with a handle similar to that of a saw, embedded in their body.
"Dies Irae, scatter." Jaune yelled, more for effect than function. The blades broke apart and flew back to Jaune, snapping onto the magnetic harness installed under his jacket. The way they sat on his back made them look like wings, and with a little help from Domination, that was their precise function, allowing Jaune to hover in place.
The Alpha Sphinx saw this. Had it not been an Alpha, had it been just a dozen years younger, it would have fought to the death. Yet, as with all Grimm, age brought intellect, and it knew when it was facing an opponent it couldn't defeat. As such, it tried to run.
The key word here being 'tried'.
"There's no escape for you, you overgrown turkey." Jaune yelled, appearing before it with a blink. To its credit, the Sphinx was maneuverable, and avoided his body by barrel-rolling. But with a single use of domination, Jaune was able to thrust himself forward, aligning the wings of Dies Irae to angle him correctly as he hurtled through the sky at a speed the Sphinx simply couldn't match.
Jaune landed on its back, and with one command, all six blades of Dies Irae plunged into the Sphinx's wings, shredding them. Meanwhile, Jaune swung Goliath's Ivory at the creature's neck, activating Aura Blade yet again.
An arc of pure gold followed the trajectory of his blade, cutting through armor, skin, sinew, and bone instantly, beheading the Sphinx instantly.
As the Sphinx fell from the skies, Jaune jumped down towards the three Manticores, who were trying to recover from their fall. Jaune landed on one of the blades of Dies Iraes a few meters above them, the remaining five blades circling around him. His hand went up, and the blades angled downwards, aiming for the creatures.
Then, his hand came down, and the blades plunged into the Manticores, killing them.
Jaune finally landed on the ground, brushing himself off.
When he finally looked at the three blue boxes floating in front of him, he couldn't help but smile.
One step closer to his dream, another thousand to go.
He closed the three level-up boxes and relaxed for a second, allowing the noises of nature to calm him down before he began the long trek back to Ingress.
He had to report to Diamante about how good his babies had performed, even though the old man didn't approve of the name Jaune had given them.
It was the least he could do before he moved on from the frontier.
Something was wrong.
When Jaune reached Ingress, he found the main gates shut. This was normal, sure, but the guards were missing. He'd only been in the settlement for a few weeks but he'd never seen Nehan and Olivia miss duty.
As he walked closer, the gates opened, and he could hear shouting.
"Jaune! Get inside quick! We can't keep the doors open for long!"
Jaune replied by simply blinking past the opening doors, surprising the two guards. Once he was in, he realized that instead of the automated door system, the two guards were toiling over the manual hydraulic wheels that were used when the machinery was either under maintenance or de-powered.
"What's going on, guys?" he asked, using domination to take over for them, spinning the wheels automatically and shutting the gate much faster than what the two could have managed.
Olivia walked up to him, a panicked look on her face. "You know how the dust shipment from Atlas was running late when you left?"
Jaune nodded. "That's quite usual, right? Considering winter's almost here and all?"
Olivia nodded. "Yes, they often get delayed. Sometimes even by a week, but Diamante felt something was off and left to meet up with them on the trail."
Jaune nodded. "Okay, how long has he been gone?"
Olivia scratched her head, "He left the same day as you did, just a few hours after you, in fact. Said he'd be back in a few days."
Jaune's heart sank, he'd been away for two weeks. "Where's Jade?"
"That's the problem, Jaune. Two days ago, she left to find him. We haven't been able to contact either of them since." Nehan replied. "We ran out of dust two days ago. If not for you clearing out the mission board, we'd be under siege by now."
"I'll go after them." Jaune finished, dashing past them the moment he could. He crossed the settlement in seconds, equipping Dies Irae in flight mode. He saw the gate on the other side of the settlement and used domination to throw himself over it. Another usage of domination found him shooting through the skies, his trajectory controlled by the aileron-like movement of his blades.
Two days, Jade could have travelled upwards of fifty miles in that much time. If there was something out there that could take out Diamante, then she wouldn't be safe either.
He had to find them, and time was running out.
He couldn't afford to fail again.
He ended up finding her in time.
She ended up finding him too late.
Jaune landed next to Jade. If she noticed him coming, she didn't show it, she didn't even turn to see him when he laid a hand on her shoulder. Her rifle was lying next to her, its barrel still smoking. Strewn around them were the corpses of at least a dozen uniformed men, their weapons varied, and buried in the snow. Their bodies had been slashed open, their limbs hewn, some of their bodies lacked a head, chopped clean off their shoulders by Diamante's giant blade.
Beside her was a fresher corpse. Unlike the others, this corpse was almost pristine, discounting the bullet that had passed through his head. Still, none of these were important, not now, not compared to what was in front of her.
In front of her, was the frozen, mutilated body of the one family member she had left in her life.
"Jade…" Jaune spoke, his eyes unwilling to look at the mutilated corpse of Diamante. "We… we have to bury him."
Jade didn't answer. She didn't even stir. Looking at her, it didn't even look like she was breathing.
"Jade… you'll freeze out here. We have to bury him." Jaune continued. He knew the system was suppressing his own sorrow, but it wasn't doing a good enough job at it.
He tried to pick up Jade, and she allowed him to. He sat her down under a tree, her rifle leaning against her. She barely looked alive, more like some sort of human-sized doll. Cold, insensate to the world, the light in her eyes all but faded.
Jaune got to work. He picked up the weapon from one of the corpses, a greatsword of all things, and used it like a shovel, digging out the snow, and then the soil underneath. Once the hole was deep enough, he lowered Diamante's corpse into it. Jade's gaze didn't leave the body once throughout the whole process.
It wasn't until Jaune started digging the second grave that Jade decided to move.
"No" She commanded, her small hand wrapping around his own. "They killed him, they don't deserve it. Let the Grimm have them if they want."
Jaune stopped. "They still need to be disposed of. Let me at least burn the bodies. We'll talk after."
Jade was silent for a while, her eyes moving away from Jaune and back to her grandfather's new grave. "Yes, burn them. Leave not a trace. And once we're done with the dead, we'll go after the living."
"The Legion took my grandfather's life, and for that, I will have theirs."
Yes, I still end my chapters on bad cliffhangers, sue me.
Next update should be a bit faster than this one. A lot of snippets that I cut out from this chapter are gonna end up there so that saves me time and effort. Plus I REALLY want to finish the next chapter before Dragon's Dogma 2 comes out because y'all bitches ain't gone find me for a good month once that game launches I swear to god.
Peace,
Cold Daylight