Yo! No, I'm not dead...
It's been a while, eh? I would love to say that the last few months of my life were very productive, but truthfully they were anything but... Got caught up in some shit, had the biggest writer block in my short life and my job pretty much took away any motivation I had to do anything after I was finished with my work.
Thankfully, I somehow managed to kick myself in the ass to get back on track, or at least push myself in the right direction again. That's why some of you probably noticed that I just published a chapter for each Grimm's Evolution, For Myself, and Road to Power. Two of those were ready for two or three months on my discord server, but I never really got to editing them. Well, now it's done so enjoy.
Of course, those three chapters aren't all I worked on during this time. No, most of my almost non-existent motivation went towards the revamp of my original story, which I just published on RoyalRoad. To give you some insight, I will just say that if you enjoy the gamer system, post-apocalypse setting, evolution (human to monster), and progression, then you might like my story.
So if any of you are interested you can either copy the link at the end of the chapter, or on my profile after deleting the spaces. Or you can just go on RoyalRoad and search for "A Universe of Bloody Evolution". Just remember to go for the new version, not the old one. And don't forget to leave a rating, comment or review if you enjoyed the story.
With that said, please enjoy the chapter that will mark the end of the first part of Grimm's Evolution. It's been a wild ride.
Chapter 25. The Last Light
The next morning came way too early for my liking. I didn't close my eyes for even a single minute during the entire night. Instead, my mind constantly wondered if I was doing the right thing. Neo was a twelve-year-old, a child and yet here I was, taking her on a trip that no child should ever be part of. I understood well that this world was different, deadly, ready to swallow a person whole if they weren't careful enough. But even then, did it make it right to go through with my plan?
No, not really, and if the choice belonged to me and me alone, Neo would have never fought a single Grimm until I was sure she was ready...
Only it wasn't my choice alone.
No matter how much I cared about her, how much I acted like her guardian, brother, or hell even a parent, this little girl was a person of her own. She was forced to mature and grow up faster than any child should and so I just couldn't take the option to choose away from her. She had to learn how to make her own decisions and to live with them, because sooner or later, I wouldn't be there to decide for her.
It was the sad truth of this life. I was a Grimm for only a few months and yet, I already managed to get myself involved in events that shouldn't concern me. Really at this point, it was only a matter of time before this world's powers took notice and decided to do something about me. Be it either about the mysterious, Grimmified Umbra, who should have died in Merlot's base, or the large dragon that coincidentally decided to appear just after Umbra "died" and another huge Grimm had awoken.
As such, I had to make sure that Neo was prepared, physically and mentally, to take care of herself when I was away and couldn't be there for her.
This trip, no matter how much I hated it, was one of many lessons Neo had to go through to become independent and ready for this world. It wasn't fair, not in the slightest, but the little girl was my responsibility. I would do anything to make sure she survived and lived a long, happy life. Even if that meant hating myself for putting her through training and battles reserved for veteran soldiers.
It's a mad, mad world, I hummed quietly, my gaze settling on Neo whose soft snores filled our unhomely cave. For some reason, it felt even worse that the little girl never protested against anything I taught her. Instead, she took it all head-on and then fell asleep with a smile on her face. You make it so easy and yet so hard...
Shaking my head, a long sigh left my lips as I approached the sleeping girl. "Time to wake up, brat," I whispered, giving the girl's shoulder a light squeeze. "We have a long day before us and you still need to get ready."
A smile crawled onto my lips as the girl let out a soft whine, one of the few sounds she ever managed to get out. "Come on or I'm leaving without you," I said, giving her another nudge. Neo growled and rolled onto her back, her eyes already set into a glare.
Grinning, I threw a pack of clothes and a single red crystal on her bunk. "Go wash up and meet me in our clearing in half an hour. I will prepare everything we need so don't worry about that." Seeing the still present glare, I rolled my eyes, "Yea, yea. I will have breakfast ready for ya. Now scram, I really want to be off as soon as possible."
Neo huffed but still grabbed the thrown items and jumped off the bed, her short legs carrying her towards the cave's exit. She really looked like an angry duck in the mornings. Adorable, I snickered.
"Remember to take Bob with you and for the love of Gods don't let him knock down any more trees. You do enough of that on your own!" I shouted after her, Neo's quickened pace becoming the only answer as she stormed out of our home. "Alright, now what should I take with us..."
Every bit of explosive dust was always safely packed in my inventory — God forbid that I left it laying around when Neo was in one of her moods —, and ready to be used against yet another hidden base. Food also wasn't a problem, I probably bought way too much when we visited Patch. Although that was Neo's fault, she took my words of "you can get anything you want" a bit too literally...
Yeah, never mind, that was my fault and mine alone, I should have known better than to give a little girl free reign during shopping.
I grimaced, my gaze sliding across my inventory filled to the brim with items I didn't even recognize. "Gonna need to sort through this shit once we're back... If I couldn't pull out items with a voice command, this would be a major pain in the ass."
Sighing, I went around the cave and gathered another change of clothes both for Neo and for myself. I hoped to be gone only for a day, but with trips like that, you could never know. With that in mind, I grabbed an additional sleeping bag and a few items that Neo could use in case of a longer adventure. Better to get them now than listen to Neo complaining later on. Been there, done that.
"That should be almost everything. Now, where did you put them, you little..." My voice trailed off as my gaze caught a familiar glint of metal in the far end of the main chamber.
"Ungrateful brat," I grumbled and picked up the twin short swords. "You spent a small fortune on high-grade weaponry and she just goes and throws it into a corner without a thought... This is why we can't have nice things."
With a scowl permanently painted on my face, I trudged towards the cave's exit, muttering obscenities under my breath. No way in hell I was going to buy Neo a mechashift weapon, not before she learned how to take care of what she already had.
Children...
Stepping into the morning sun, I stretched my arms, smirking at the pops that filled my ears. For some reason, I just couldn't get the same effect in my dragon form and nothing was better than hearing your body snap into place right in the morning.
I let my gaze wander across the mountain range and the valley underneath before it settled on the largest clearing. Not that it was hard to spot with the entire ground being scorched from either my lightning or dust experimentation. The multiple fallen trees didn't help either.
"Someone is bound to notice this one day," I hummed in thought. "Maybe a large training room inside the mountain?" I shook my head, "Nah, that's a disaster in the waiting. I wouldn't even be able to blame it on Neo... Shit, we're just gonna need to take our training somewhere further from here. At least the destructive kind."
I really need some time to take care of all this shit. A new training space, improving our cave to somewhat home-y standards, improving my own abilities, trying out the Territory feature and so much more, I sighed, trying to list even a small part of the tasks I had to finish once I finally had some free time.
This entire Merlot bullshit completely derailed any plans I had for the future. Not that I was complaining, the rewards were more than worth it, but I really needed a longer break. Vacations of some sort.
Only two more bases, I chanted like a mantra and began the descent towards the clearing. Only two more bases...
"So can you finally tell me where we are going?" Came the synthetic voice of Neo's scroll as we soared just slightly beneath the clouds. Text-to-Speech, go figure. Not once did I have an urge so strong to smash my head into a wall when we found this feature in another application. While not a groundbreaking discovery, it at least enabled us to carry on conversations in situations like this one.
Not sure if that's a good or bad thing... I grumbled, stretching my gaze across the land below us. Green canopies, plenty of black and white sludges swirling underneath the leaves, and of course the looming tower in the distance, one I knew well from the show. Right, gotta go a bit higher.
With another powerful beat of my wings, I dived right into the clouds, filling my vision with infinite white... We might still be far from Beacon and Vale, but if the famous tower was already appearing on the horizon then some safety measures couldn't hurt... Not that my current form was big enough to attract attention from this distance, but still.
"You are doing this on purpose! Now I can't even see what is below us, much less where we're going," The robotic voice might lack any emotions, but I could easily imagine the pout on Neo's face as her fingers rapidly flew across the keyboard.
Shaking with hidden laughter, I decided to spare the girl — and myself — any further suffering. "Our first stop is Forever Fall Forest. Beautiful place, but way too close to Vale for my liking... The only good thing about this is that the base should be stationed somewhere at the edge of the forest. Even then we have to be fast. In and out. Get rid of whatever is inside and then blow the building to pieces. Nice and easy."
Once again soft tapping reached my ears and I quickly added, intercepting the obvious question, "No, we're not staying around to watch the fireworks. Do you want us to get caught, cuz I really, really want to deal with this shit and then rest for a few days."
"Spoilsport. :Sad_Face:" The synthetic voice shouted and I momentarily lost control of my flight as the urge to plant my face into a wall suddenly returned.
"Did you..." I began, not believing my own words. "Did you just use an emoticon with text-to-speech?" Gods save me.
"Yeah?"
I took a deep breath and counted to ten. This was not happening...
"You know what?" I grinned. "From now on, I'm limiting your time on the web. You evidently have way too much free time on your hands, so why not put it into something useful, eh?"
"Bullshit!" Even with the text-to-speech, I could hear the scowl on Neo's face. "No way you are gonna take away my Scroll just because I used one stupid emote. That's not fair."
This time I didn't even try to stop the booming laughter. "Life is not fair, brat," I teased. "And no, the dumb emote isn't the reason. You really should have known better than to annoy me during the entire flight. Almost starting a forest fire during your bath also doesn't help your case."
I craned my long neck to take a quick look at the girl attached to my back and grinned when I spotted the fierce glare mixed with a pout. "Oh none of that, Neo," I winked and turned back. "As the only responsible adult in our group, it is my job to punish you when you do something stupid."
"I hate you," Neo quickly added, eliciting another round of chuckles from me. "Whatever. :middle_finger:"
"Neo!" I almost spluttered. Before I could even think of going on another rant, a familiar notification jumped in front of my vision.
[You are entering major territory number 2: Vale & FFF]
-Take control over the City of Vale
-Destroy the facility of Merlot Industries
Foregoing what just happened, I snapped to attention. "We are almost there," I called out, my voice calm and steady. "Now, Neo please listen because I won't repeat myself again," the grip on the spikes on my back tightened. "I'm not sure what we will find inside. Humans, Grimm, mutants. It can be everything or nothing considering the base's distance from Vale. I'm hoping that Grimm will be the worst we find, but if there are humans inside, they are my problem. Do you understand?"
"Yes," came the immediate answer.
"Good," I nodded. "Once we land, you are to stick close to my side and listen to what I say. I won't stop you from fighting, that's not the point of this trip, but please always remain in the range of my sight and if it becomes too much, just remember about your Semblance. It's a powerful tool and if you become overwhelmed, it can save your life when I cannot."
"Also," I swallowed hard. "If something goes wrong and I tell you to run. You run, no complaining. I know it will be hard, but while I can take whatever they throw at me, I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to you. You are the only person I care about in this fucked up world, the little annoying sister I always wanted and... I just don't want to see you hurt. So please, promise me that you will run and let Bob protect you."
As my voice died down, the howling of the wind filled the heavy silence. I knew I asked for a lot. Especially from a girl that put her complete trust in me. But even then, I had to cover all my bases. I had to be sure that Neo knew that even if everything should go quite smoothly here, there was always a risk.
"I promise to run if you promise to come back. I don't care how long it takes you, but you have to come back. I can't lose you too," Even though the voice wasn't Neo's and I couldn't see her face, the words alone conveyed enough emotions as my chest tightened.
"You won't, Neo," I answered, just loud enough for her to hear. "No matter what will happen, no matter how long it takes, I will find you. And as much as it pains me to say that, don't forget about Bob. He might be dumb, but he will protect you when I am not there."
Nothing else had to be said between us after that exchange, especially not when Neo's arms slid from my spikes to hug my back with her entire body. Trusting me to stop her from falling off, and what was most important, trusting me to keep my promise.
And keep it I will, even if it's the last thing I do.
Alarms blared all around her and yet it became just another background noise in the symphony of screams, growls, and howls. Neo barely registered any of them as she rushed forward, her short swords singing the song of death as she sheathed one of the blades in a mutated Creep's head. The creature spasmed, howling in protest but it was all for naught when Neo twisted her blade and kicked the monster away. It landed a few feet away, its body collapsing into dust.
Neo grinned and turned on her heel, her gaze drifting to Umbra who only left a trail of carnage behind him as they traveled through the long hallway that led further and further into the base. Even now the almost human-sized dragon had his hands wrapped around a beowolf's head. Unlike Neo, he didn't need a weapon to finish it, instead, the dragon simply closed his fist, crushing the head like a melon.
My brother is so cool, Neo cackled, jumping towards yet another mutated Creep. The small Grimm tried, it really did, but the little girl outclassed the monster in every single way. Neither it nor its brethren could do anything as she drowned the floor in dust, severing limbs and heads, never leaving a single creature alive. It shouldn't be so easy to tear those monsters apart, to kill what plagued the entire world of Remnant.
And yet, it was. Almost too easy.
Neo reasoned that without Umbra here, she would be overwhelmed, killed by one of the larger Grimms that never managed to take a step past her brother. Nonetheless, she reveled in this carnage, in the howls of steel as she cut the air with her swords. And she let herself drown in the adrenaline that rushed through her veins every time a Grimm fell.
It was beautiful even when it shouldn't be, at least not for someone as young as her. Not that Neo cared, it was what she trained for and she wouldn't give away this moment of fighting next to Umbra for anything. She wasn't a burden anymore, and now she could prove that.
"Having fun?" Umbra called out through the noise, his slightly higher pitch immediately registering in her mind.
Neo looked left, then right, and frowned. Huh, we really killed them all. Maybe Umbra really is a worrywart. We fought bigger and stronger than anything they sent towards us... Whatever. With a shrug, Neo turned to face Umbra and grinned, after all, she indeed had fun, a lot of it.
"Glad to see it," Umbra returned the grin, showing a row of deadly sharp teeth. "Now come here, I got a surprise for ya."
Eyebrows raising, Neo sprinted the short distance and gave Umbra a look. First, he talked about punishing her during the flight and now he had a surprise for her? This man — Grimm, whatever — sometimes really acted like a yo-yo. Neo never knew what to expect from him... Although the same could be said about her. Hmm, maybe we really are related.
"Stop daydreaming brat," Umbra grumbled as he waved one of his claws in front of her face. "Here take this," he added and thrust a bag half as big as Neo into her chest.
I would really love to know where the hell did he hide this, Neo scowled, glaring at her obnoxious brother.
The dragon shook with silent laughter, "Now, now, Neo. There is no reason to be mad. After all, it was you who wanted to have a part in blowing this place to pieces. Go on, take a look."
Sighing, Neo sheathed one of her swords and did as she was told. A silent gasp left her lips at the sight that met her. Crystal upon a crystal laid inside the bag, all shining with sickly orange light tainted by a purple spark. Neo's mind ran a hundred miles per hour as she tried to remember what type of dust this was. The orange seemed familiar, but not once in her life did she see a crystal sparkling with a dark violet glow.
Probably seeing the question written all over her face, Umbra quickly elaborated. "Those are mostly my creations. While not a normal orange color you would expect from exploding dust, I can assure you that's precisely what those are. Just as powerful, but with a modification so I can activate them anytime and anywhere I want. That's where the violet spark comes from. Trust me it was a long grueling task to create them, but my recent power-up obviously came in handy," he grinned, a violet spark of lightning dancing between his claws.
Neo's eyes widened, hand grasping at one of the crystals. To think that Umbra learned how to manipulate dust with his own Aura without having it to hold it. And he did it with exploding dust no lees. Neo almost wanted to squeal and throw her hands around Umbra's scaly neck.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm awesome, I know," he drawled. "Now it might not be the grandest task, but I trust you to place those every twenty or so feet as we go lower. I will protect you from anything that comes our way until we get to the heart of the base. There we will meet a bit more resistance from what I gathered so I will hide the bag before we go in and bug this place after we deal with those idiots. Sounds good?"
Neo nodded, her eyes never leaving the sack of exploding dust. Umbra could take on all the Grimm he wanted, she didn't care in the slightest. Not when the prospect of being responsible for blowing this place up was up in the air.
"Great, also remember to throw one or two crystals inside any room we pass. Can't leave anything standing," Umbra shouted as he once again began his descent into Merlot's base, his long spikey tail wagging left and right. Neo giggled silently and skipped after her brother, the wide smile never leaving her face.
They didn't have to walk far to reach another thick steel door, almost identical to the one at the entrance. Neo frowned, the howls and growls coming from the other side, told her enough of what to expect. They already bugged the entire base with explosives so this was probably what Umbra called the heart of this base.
Throwing the almost empty bag of explosives at Umbra, she nodded towards the closed door.
"Wait a moment," he whispered, the bag disappearing behind his wing. Like many times before, Umbra touched the floor in front with his snout and closed his eyes. Once again, Neo shivered as a wave of something passed over her, searching, looming like an invisible gaze. As unpleasant as before. I really need to ask Umbra what it is.
"Dozen or so humans and plenty of Grimm. Nothing we can't handle," Neo almost jumped at Umbra's voice, the looming weight disappearing in an instant.
Throwing a quick glare towards the dragon, Neo once again pointed toward the door. Couldn't the man take a hint and just get it over with? Neo's hands practically itched to test herself in yet another battle and even a single thought of facing trained humans put fire in her eyes, Umbra's warning notwithstanding. She wasn't ready to take a life, Neo knew that, Umbra knew that, hell Bob probably knew that as well. Still, no reason for her to just avoid them when she could easily disarm and knock them out.
A chuckle brought her back to reality. "Not so quick, Neo. Let me give you a quick rundown on how this is gonna go down and then you can go have your fun, okay?"
Scowling, she nodded her consent.
"I'm going in first, just like always to draw the fire and make sure there is nothing too dangerous inside. Got it?" A nod. "Great. Now, I will try to take down the humans as fast as I can, but that doesn't mean you need to wait for me to finish. No, quite the opposite. While I draw fire and take care of the living, I want you to sneak in under your Semblance and assassinate as many Grimm as you can before your illusion breaks. Think of it as a training exercise under some heavy pressure. It might help you with furthering your control."
Neo tilted her head, a tiny frown forming on her face. She didn't really have anything against the plan, but it also didn't mean she liked it. Neo and her Semblance had a complicated relationship. And to throw herself into a battlefield with a plan that depended fully on her illusions just didn't sit right with her. But it's for my own good... I need this control.
Shoulders slumping, Neo sighed and nodded once again. I need this.
"Don't be so gloomy, kiddo," Umbra smiled, or at least Neo thought it was a smile. It wasn't easy to read the dragon's facial expressions. "Once your illusion breaks, you can join the party... Just please try to stay away from humans. Now back off a bit."
Unsheathing her swords, Neo took a few steps back and watched as Umbra rose to his full height, standing on his hind legs. His right forearm shifted in a long wicked blade. Yet another ability he managed to pull out of his ass, Neo snorted, taking note of the violet sparks running along the blade. Lightning manipulation, though not that well utilized from what I have already seen.
At once, Umbra brought down his arm, sending sparks flying as steel met unmovable force. For a second, it seemed like the door won, but then a primal roar left Umbra's mouth, and the steel parted, leaving a human-sized gash behind. Never to do things half-assed, the dragon cocked his left arm, claws closing to form a fist.
The door never stood a chance upon meeting Umbra's fist. Its only resistance manifested as a soft whine when the steel exploded outwards, leaving a wide hole where a door previously stood. Just like with the entrance doors, Neo gaped once again, her mind still not used to the power of her guardian.
Only the comeback of blaring alarms managed to return some senses to her as the air was once again filled with sounds of all kinds, this time joined by human screams and shooting. Neo took a deep breath and closed her eyes, the outside world becoming just another silent voice in her mind.
Now! She shouted internally and forced her Aura outwards, pushing it out in small bursts. From a normal person's point of view, such an action could be only described as wasteful, stupid even. For Neo though, it was everything her Semblance needed.
Eyes snapping open, Neo's gaze became filled with infinite shards of pink glass, all floating around her. Just like many times before, Neo flared her Aura once, then again and again, watching as the shards moved. They danced together, connecting into strings and weaving each other into a small see-through dome.
Neo's Aura flared one last time and right in front of her eyes, the pink dome shimmered, disappearing like it was never there. Just like Neo did for anyone who was outside the dome.
Grinning, Neo rushed through the hole, ready to join the fray.
Umbra was already there, violet lightning almost constantly leaving his limbs to target either a mutated Grimm or one of the four brave humans that decided to test their chances against the powerful dragon.
Neo averted her gaze and searched for a first suitable target. There were plenty of them. Creeps, Boarbatusks, and even a few small Ursas ran around the huge underground chamber, waiting for their chance to strike as their stronger brethren attempted to take down Umbra. Of course not all of them were smart enough to wait and instead they rushed straight ahead, only to be sliced by Umbra's lightning or blade.
And so Neo settled her gaze on a small Boarbatusk who seemed eager to join the fight, yet it couldn't ever find an opening without running into one of its own.
Despite not being trained in stealth, Neo stalked toward her target. Weaving between angry beasts and men, not once straying from her target... In hindsight, she shouldn't have worried that much about this exercise as the Grimm never noticed when she thrust her swords right into its eyes. Her mirage might have wavered a bit, cracks forming in the once again visible dome. But one pulse of Aura was all Neo needed to fix the damage.
And that was how it went for a while. Neo found a target, killed it, and fixed the damage to her illusion. In those few minutes, it became a routine for her, almost as easy to perform as breathing. Of course, like every routine, it was easy to break, but with Neo, it didn't break, it shattered.
It happened just as she finished fixing the latest damage in her illusion. In the corner of her vision, she noticed him. An adult male, one of the few soldiers left on the battlefield. He just reached inside one of the many wooden containers scattered across the chamber and took out a long and massive weapon, a weapon that Neo had never seen before. Atlas probably.
Then the man took aim and Neo's word stopped. Umbra.
No.
Neo never noticed when she started running, only that she did. She also never considered what her plan was, not even when only a few steps separated her and the soldier or when Umbra's shout filled the air. And she definitely never expected her arms to move on their own and bury her swords right into the man's stomach and heart.
In hindsight, she probably should have as even now, standing right above the man's dead body, she didn't feel even a sliver of guilt. No, there was only an all-consuming feeling of relief, because the man who tried to take away the only family she had, was dead. Never able to hurt Umbra again.
Despite all of that, Neo couldn't move even a single digit. She stood there frozen, eyes wide as she screamed at her body to move, only it just wouldn't listen. There was just too much blood. Too much blood painting her hands crimson. Too much blood flowing out like rivers from the wounds that her swords made.
All of those images prevented her from noticing the single Boarbatusk that rammed into her side with everything it got. A silent scream left her lips as she was sent crashing right into the nearest wall. She slumped towards the floor, her breaths coming out in rasped gasps as her Aura flickered strongly but didn't break.
Neo's perception of the world ironically came back a moment later, when everything around her was consumed by black leathery wings. Umbra.
"Neo! Neo!" he shouted, his voice finally pushing past the fog in her mind. He lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes. "I need you to listen to me, okay?" For the first time in the last minute, she managed to move her body to give a shaky nod. "Even though I wish I knew what you feel right now, I don't… What I do know is that you are one of the strongest people I have ever met. Neo, you survived most of your life by yourself and then managed to convince a Grimm to take you in, a Grimm," he chuckled even as his large slitted eyes glistened with tears.
"What happened today won't stop you, can't stop you from fighting for a long and happy life." He grinned, "So what do you say, do you want to finish this bullshit with me and show this world that it can't bring you down?"
Swallowing hard, Neo grabbed her blades from the ground and nodded. She had to do this. For the family that died for her. For Umbra. And most importantly, she had to do this for herself. Neo had been running for her whole life, but today it ended. No more running, no more hiding. She wanted to be strong. Well now was her chance to prove it.
It was hard to say what exactly happened after she made that decision. Almost everything became a blur of sweat and dust as Neo fought side by side with Umbra. It was glorious and even though the images filled with blood sometimes tried to rush to the forefront of her mind, they never managed to consume her. With the strength Neo now knew she had, and the confidence she constantly borrowed from Umbra, they finished the last mutated Ursa Major and scattered a handful of explosive dust around the chamber.
They left soon after and no more words were exchanged between the two. Neo climbed onto Umbra's back with a smile, knowing that while she still had some demons of her own to face, at least now she had the strength to do it.
"Another dead end," Tai grumbled for probably the thirtieth time in the last week. Not that Summer could fault her partner. Even her own unending enthusiasm was reaching its end. Although she wouldn't call another collapsed hidden base a dead end. Given time and some tools, Vale could easily uncover those ruins and maybe dig out something useful.
"It could always be worse Tai," she smiled or at least tried to. "At least we have some information."
Tai snorted as he retraced the red gauntlets on his hands, "Yeah, we know that someone decided to hunt down Merlot's bases just when we received info about their location and that it just might be the work of a certain hybrid that should be dead... I almost feel like I have Qrow's Semblance. Are you sure he isn't hiding somewhere in the Bullhead as a bird?"
Summer giggled, lightly slapping her partner's shoulder, "Don't say things like that, we have had enough misfortune in the last week as it is... Besides, I very much doubt that the girls would let him disappear. I'm pretty sure I heard them whispering something about 'Druncle Qrow's Watch' before we left."
The pair looked at each other before exploding in laughter, filling the surrounding forest with their happiness. Only the soft buzzing of Summer's scroll in her pocket stopped another burst of giggles from escaping her mouth.
"Ozpin?" she frowned before accepting the call, Taiyang already leaning over her shoulder as Ozpin's face appeared on the screen. "Hello, professor. Did something happen?"
The headmaster sighed, rubbing his brow. "Indeed. About three hours ago, a powerful explosion reverberated through the entire northern part of Forever Fall Forest."
"You have got to be kidding me," Tai muttered. "Forever Fall? This close to Vale?"
Ozpin nodded, "I would have called earlier, but after we discovered that the explosion indeed came from another hidden base, I had to make sure that no one tried to dig too deep into this matter. After the Atlas virus people are wary and I don't need anyone spreading panic about Merlot's base being this close to Vale."
The pair nodded, not even trying to question Ozpin's late call. "I assume that you want us in the forest to carry out the investigation?" Tai asked.
The headmaster shook his head, a small smile forming on his face. "Quite the opposite. Not even ten minutes ago, I received a call from one of my teams about a particular Grimm that was just spotted flying over the Northern Plains near Ironforge. And while its flight path isn't a completely straight line if it came from Merlot's base, it's still a very close call."
Summer frowned. So the dragon appeared again, in Sanus no less, it couldn't be a coincidence. A quick glance at her partner told her enough to know that she wasn't the only one thinking this.
"What is its direction, professor?" Summer spoke up. No time to waste.
"If it doesn't change its direction or stops somewhere at the edge of the Plains then it's most certainly flying towards Vytal. There is no other place to go from there so unless it decides to fly back to Atlas, this might be our only chance to solve this mystery."
Summer nodded as Tai mumbled next to her ear, "We are about two hours away from Ironforge and then another two from Vytal. If we cut straight to Vytal and push the Bullhead to its limit we can maybe make it in three. It's risky and we might completely miss the dragon, but as you said, it might be our only chance."
"I'm glad we are on the same page, Taiyang," Ozpin inclined his head towards the blond. "What about you, Summer?"
The huntress shrugged, "Tai is better at logistics than I, so if he says that this is the best path then, what are we waiting for?"
"Well said," Ozpin smiled. "I will have another team flying the same path that the dragon used so even if you miss it, we at least have something to fall back on. They will report straight to you once they arrive in Vytal. Now you two better get going, I feel that we have a long day ahead of us. And please, be careful. We cannot be sure that the dragon and Umbra are the same being and I don't want you two to go up against a creature of such power."
"Understood, professor," the pair saluted in unison, earning a chuckle from the older man.
"Well, if that doesn't bring back some memories..." Ozpin shook his head, the soft smile still present on his lips. "Good luck and call me as soon as you find something."
Will do professor, will do.
At this point, I wasn't too sure how to rate this trip. Everything seemed to go so smoothly at first. We arrived in Forever Fall Forest without a hitch and dived inside the hidden base just as easily, the few dozens of mutated Gimm trying to kill them notwithstanding. Hell, Neo even seemed to have an almost permanent grin attached to her face as she fought against the mutants and then distributed the explosives. For most people, her behavior would raise plenty of red flags.
For me? I was perfectly happy to let myself drown in her unending excitement.
Of course, it only took a few seconds for everything to come crashing down when we reached the main chamber. I could remember it all perfectly. How Neo suddenly appeared out of nowhere as she almost flew across the battlefield. How my voice filled the chamber without me noticing. And how Neo's swords slid inside the soldier's body only for the girl to be sent flying as one of the Grimm jumped at the opening.
Back then I acted on instinct and jumped forward, covering the fallen girl with my whole body. I couldn't be sure how I even managed to form coherent words, much less a motivational speech, but somehow I did and it worked. Despite the obvious pain and distraught mind, Neo pushed through it all and fought like a woman possessed. I could bet that she even scored more hits and kills than me after that point.
Something changed within that little body of hers. And while I tried to find out exactly what that was during the hour-long break after we left the forest, Neo's only answer was the widest grin I had ever seen and a short message of "I have never felt better". Not really what I expected to hear after what just happened. Though no one would hear any complaints from me. I might treat Neo like a little sister, but dealing with emotions just wasn't my forte.
Not that Neo ever gave me an opportunity to even talk about feelings during the break. She shot down any questions I had and instead just kept pestering me about moving towards the next base. And that was pretty much how we got here.
Vytal. Merlot's last base, which turned out to be a complete disappointment...
For Neo at least, as I couldn't care less that we found only a few mutants inside and no loot. My mind was already on what we could do next. Speaking of.
"What do you think about a short visit to Patch or even Vale? We can take a few days to relax, buy some nice things for our home, hmm?" I nudged the silent girl as we wandered side by side through the hauntingly empty hallways of Merlot's base.
Neo raised her gaze from the path ahead and shrugged, Scroll already in her hands. "If you can get us inside Vale then why not? I was always a bit curious about the Kingdoms. It just seems so surreal that all those people live behind the cover of walls, never worrying about the hoards of Grimm waiting outside."
"That indeed is a bit surreal. Although I'm pretty sure it is a bit more complicated than that," I noted. "As for getting us in-"
All of the sudden, I stopped, my body freezing from head to tail as an ear-shattering howl echoed through my mind. Bob? What the fuck was that?! Another howl answered my call, only this time it was followed by a surge of sheer terror. Shit, not good. Bob! Whatever is happening, come back to the base's entrance. We're coming.
"We have to go. Hold on, Neo!" I shouted, grabbing the girl and swinging her onto my back. With all the power my four limbs gave me, I sped through the countless hallways, climbing higher and higher. Bob might not be the most intelligent creature, but not once before had I felt fear from my subordinate. There!
With one mighty leap, I cleared the entire length of the last corridor and flew through the hole I blasted in the entrance door. The vast grassy plains immediately came into my sight as I dug my claws into the ground to stop my momentum. I didn't even have a moment to take in my surroundings before a bone-chilling screech blasted through the land. Even the ground shook in fear.
What the hell?! I growled and turned my head towards the origin of the screech. "Shit."
Far away, carried by enormous leathery wings, a monster straight out of Lovecraftian mythos slithered through the air. Its body partially reminded me of a winged serpent, only it was all wrong.
Skin that upon a first look seemed completely normal, almost snake-like, only required a bit of squinting to notice its dark red, scarred texture. Were the scarring the only unnatural thing about it, I wouldn't even blink twice, but no, there was more. Like the dozens of tentacles that laid scattered across the monster's entire body, all alive and ready to skewer the first thing that dared to come close.
And then, there was its head. Dear god.
The head didn't follow any natural laws. It just seemed like someone decided to take a bag full of eyeballs and maws filled with razor-sharp teeth, and then attach them to the serpent monster. Hell, from this distance I couldn't even be sure if the head was the only place where its eyes and teeth spawned.
Not good, it already looks bigger than my true form and it is still far away. 'Observe'
Jailer, Salem's Warden | Level:?
HP:?
MP:?
Tier: B+/A-
Additional Info: Semi-intelligent (Wary), Strong Armor, Adaptive, Hunter (Umbra), Living Weapon,?,?
Scratch that, it's a fucking disaster. Salem?! Cursing, I snatched Neo's shaking body off my back and placed her in front of my head. "Neo, I need you to run, okay? This thing is way beyond you." The girl shook her head, eyes wide.
I growled. "We don't have time for this! Remember your promise. Please run," I pleaded as the girl's fists whitened. "Run as far as you can. Keep your promise and I will keep mine."
Even as silent tears gathered in her eyes, she nodded, my heart almost shattering at the sight. Gulping, I summed a single backpack from my inventory, "Take this, just in case."
Eyes closed, I turned, never looking back as I reached within myself and waited until I could no longer hear the soft thumps of Neo's steps. Take care of her Bob, listen to anything she says, but no matter what happens, don't let her come close to this monster. A soft thrill answered through the link and I nodded softly.
Let's do this. Anything to say System or am I alone today? I called out in my mind as my entire body stretched, growing back to its full size.
[New Quest Obtained]
Survive. Also, you have 47 unspent SP.
Rewards: ?
Failure: Death
Will you accept?
Yes
Why did I even ask... Although you might be right about the points. Add ten to everything except luck and wisdom, I ordered and jumped into the air, my wings easily carrying me to the same altitude as the approaching Grimm.
As if the monster only now noticed me, it screeched once more, its tentacles flailing in every possible direction. In answer, I gathered just a tiny bit of lightning in my throat and roared, thunder following my call. Too bad that a sound is all I can call for now.
The monster, obviously angered by my defiance, pushed its wings harder, its speed picking up. Uh oh. And so I moved, higher and higher until the Jailer was no farther than a hundred or so feet. Only then did I tuck my wings and dived straight towards the ground.
The Jailer screeched once more and followed, its own wings almost blending into its body. As I expected, it was faster, coming closer and closer. I flipped my body around to face the monster and let my Semblance activate as the claws on my frontal limbs shifted into their improved form, a blade forming at the tip of my tail.
Not waiting for an invitation, I just slightly opened my wings and barreled right into the oncoming serpent. The monster had no time to react as I plunged my claws right into its head. The Jailer howled, its multiple eyes glaring at me as we fell.
At once every tentacle moved like one army. Some grabbed my limbs in a tight hold, trying to push me off, while others attacked, reddish Aura flickering across my body. Just a little bit more, I growled, focusing on the growing charge of lightning inside my core.
We bit and clawed at each other for what felt like an eternity. Even then I had eyes only for my MP bar and the ground that was approaching fast. Grinning, I let go of the Jailer. Bye, bye you ugly fucker. Discharge. The lightning inside my body exploded outwards, sinking right into Jailer's tentacles and body, scorching, and burning.
I freed myself from the now loose hold and spread my wings, stopping my descent in an instant. My wrestling partner had no such luck and instead, its body crashed right into the hill that hid Merlot's base.
As soon as the ground shook from the impact, I spread my senses and searched for every single explosive crystal we left inside the base. And boom. I snorted as the world shuddered once more, rocks raining upon the earth as smoke and dust filled the area where a hill once was.
Think I got it, System? Another blood-chilling screech reached my ears. Yeah, I thought so.
The Jailer didn't wait for the dust to settle down and jumped out straight away, its smoking, bloody body stitching itself right in front of my eyes. Not even the eyes and jaws that evaporated in the explosion remained dead. All of them regenerated, albeit not in the same pattern.
That must be the Adaptive attribute. Fucking great. I grumbled, flying towards the ground and shifting into my human form, claws still ready. Buy some time to regenerate, test a few things and figure out a new plan, cuz no way in hell that I'm hitting this shit with a Midnight Comet and wasting half of my MP.
And so began the game of cat and mouse. I tried everything I could as I weaved in between its enormous body and hundreds of tentacles, cutting and slashing at everything I saw. Sometimes I had to shift back to free myself when I found myself in a pickle, but I never stayed in my true form for long. Not when dodging and regenerating was much easier as a small human.
My lightning barely did anything at this point apart from slowing down its healing by a minuscule amount. And the less said about different types of pure dust, the better. For a moment I thought of just running away, but two very obvious observations stopped me. First was the not so mysterious Hunter (Umbra) attribute. Although I didn't really care about it as much as the second reason. After all, how in the hell did I escape from something that was faster in the air than me?
It regenerates way too fast for me to cut it into pieces. There must be another weakness, I snarled, jumping away from the monster as another screech of pain filled the air. It took way too much sweat and Aura, but I finally managed to land the first decent strike onto its right wing, slicing off a major part of it. In response the Jailer backed off a bit, curling around itself and cradling its damaged limb.
It's not even that strong... Okay, I might have had a few close calls, but the Arctic Prowler was way more dangerous. Here I just don't have enough firepower to bring it down.
As if responding to my disrespect, the Jailer opened its numerous jaws and spit out a handful of black goo. Goo that slowly shifted and grew into nine human-sized Beowolves that happily ran in my direction as soon as their ruby eyes spotted me.
[Jailer's trait: Minor creation discovered]
You don't say! I growled, reading my claws... Which apparently wasn't needed as not even a second later, nine barely noticeable streaks of light cut right through the air, ending each Beowolf with one hit. Huh, that's new.
Turning around to face the source, I felt my eyebrows climb to my hairline. What in the fuck were they doing here? Qrow I could accept, but Taiyang and Summer? Also, is that a mechashift bow? Cool. And I can see where Yang got her weapons from...
Snorting, I gave the two a bow, tipping an imaginary hat, "Summer Rose and Taiyang Xiao Long, a pleasure." The duo stiffened for just a second before resuming their approach, eyes still trained on the massive Grimm in the distance.
"Umbra," the blond man greeted, eyes hard. "For a dead man, you seem to be doing fine." So they knew who I was. It seemed like I wasn't as sneaky as I thought. Ironwood must have had a field day after the events in Atlas...
Shrugging, I grinned. "As you can see, the tales of my demise were greatly exaggerated. Although my friend over there is doing his best to make them true." Having said that, I wasn't too sure about Jailer's true intentions. It tried to trap me with its body and break my Aura, but it never attempted anything more offensive, more lethal. Well, it's called Jailer for some reason...
Said monster still laid in the distance, watching us like a hawk as its tentacles flailed back and forth.
"How did you even find this thing?" Taiyang nodded towards the Jailer, clenching his fists as the yellow gauntlets shifted to cover his entire forearms. "It's like you attract those leviathans. First the one in Atlas after you disappeared and now this? You got some shitty luck, my friend."
"Find it?" I snorted. "More like this ugly mug found me. I was just enjoying my vacation and then this thing starts flying straight towards me, screaming bloody murder. No fun, let me tell you. I had been trying to put it down for what feels like hours now."
"Murder?" Summer called out, bow and arrow trained on the Jailer as a small grin appeared on her face. "It seems pretty docile now, are you sure it didn't just want to play?"
Cheeky.
I shook my head. "It never acted like this before. Each time I had cut off something, it just attacked with more fervor. At first, I thought it had something to do with the damage to its wing. Now though, I'm pretty sure that it just spotted or felt you approaching and didn't want to take unnecessary risk when wounded."
"So it is one of those, eh?" Taiyang grimaced. "Smart, experienced, and huge, with the ability to fly... Like the thought of a Grimm capable of creating more Grimm wasn't disconcerting enough."
You don't know the half of it... The duo definitely didn't need to know about the Jailer's title. 'Salem's Warden', yeah, no way in hell I was telling them that Salem decided to send a Grimm after me. I didn't need me attention on me than I apparently already had. Better to just give them what they needed and deal with this bullshit now that I had some kind of support.
"If only," I grumbled. "Fucker can regenerate from everything and adapt to almost any damage. And the less said about those moving tentacles the better. Oh and look at that, more idiots incoming..."
The Jailer, evidently getting bored with the break, opened its jaws once more and retched forward, spilling rivers of the same black goo. Dozens of Grimm climbed out of the growing pool on the ground, all of them running towards us right away.
"It wants to test us," Summer shouted, spinning her bow as it shifted into a long spear. "Tai! Melee only and save your energy unless the big one moves. We don't want to give anything away before we have a solid plan."
"About that!" I called out as I cut down a small Nevermore. "Any ideas? Because like I said, my abilities are mostly useless at this point. I can cut through its hide with ease and maybe slow down its healing a bit, but that's about it."
"Found any weaknesses during your previous fight? A spot we can target?" I heard Taiyang shout, his fists smashing the heads of two creeps a little way off.
Releasing a salvo of spikes at the group of Nevermores circling above us, I grunted. "Hardly. If there is a weak spot, it is well hidden... Although it doesn't like having its wings targeted."
Summer appeared on my left, skewering an Ursa with her weapon. The woman then turned on her heel and with the power added from her momentum, she threw her spear right into the head of a particularly large Beowolf.
Frowning, she retrieved her weapon. "That's at least something... What if we try to cut it in two? It usually works well on King Taijitus and Feilongs."
I snorted. "Good luck with that. We would need to slowly chop through its body and its tentacles wouldn't ever let you stay close for long enough to do that."
"But what if we cut it in one attack," Summer said, pulling a frown onto my face. "Tai!" She suddenly shouted and the blond man instantly turned in our direction. "Do we have any ZF-02 missiles in our Bullhead?"
Taiyang punched another Beowolf away, his face scrunching, looking just as confused as I felt. "Yeah, we got four," he nodded. "But Summer, how do you even want to use them here? Those things fly in a straight line and are fired only from vehicles for a reason."
Feeling left out, but still curious, I focused on the unending army of Grimm as the duo continued their exchange, their weapons also never staying idle.
"We don't need to fire them! If we somehow manage to hold this thing down for just a few seconds, then we can place the missile where we want and activate it manually with Aura."
Taiyang laughed, a long and bitter thing. "The explosion is almost instant after activation, Summer. We won't have enough time to get away. And besides, how do you want to immobilize the biggest Grimm we had ever seen."
"I can delay the explosion with my Semblance easily enough. A short time freeze is nothing big for me, Tai," she growled, yet another Grimm lost its head. "The problem is to get it to stay down while we escape... Tai, do you think your Limitless can put it down if you channel all of your Aura into it?"
Taiyang cursed under his breath. A few new ones for my collection. "It knocked out a much smaller Leviathan for about a minute. Given this thing's," he motioned towards the jailer, "size and ability to regenerate. I might, just might be able to buy us a few seconds… But you know how I get when I channel every ounce of my Aura into my Semblance. Everything is hazy and I need a clean hit for it to work. There is no wa-"
"I can create an opening," I cut in, a sudden grin pulling at my lips as I cut down the last minion, or rather the last of in this wave as more already rose from the remains of the goo. "I can distract it and even limit the snake's movement a bit so you can do whatever you need to. Just don't miss."
"Are you sure?" Summer asked and I nodded, it was time to end this anyway. "Tai?"
The blond man sighed, brow furrowing. "I don't like it, but I don't really have any better ideas... Go get the missile Sum, we will handle things here until you are back. Send me an alert when you will be in range."
The woman nodded and dashed away, a soft red glow covering her form.
I blinked, "Fast." She really was, not even with my current attributes could I move with such speed.
Taiyang chuckled. "That's her Semblance. She can manipulate time to some extent around herself or inanimate objects she recently touched. Very handy, but tiring and hard to control."
Huh, that's pretty strong... "And what about you? Limitless?" I asked, only for the Jailer to cut in, a powerful screech filling my ears. "Never mind. It seems that with Red gone, the little bitch decided to join the fight."
Giving the blond a look, I nodded towards the remaining newborn Grimm. "Take care of those while I take our friend for a walk… And don't complain, apparently you need Aura for our plan to work and coming close to that thing won't leave you with much to spare."
The blond man hesitated only for a moment before he nodded and dashed towards the small horde. As for me? Well, I roared with all the power a human body allowed me to and rolled away as the Jailer came crashing into my position. We began our second round of cat and mouse, only this time I ran and ran, slashing at the offending tentacles that sometimes just came a little bit too close.
Everything around me faded away as I let myself slip into a routine. One I knew so well.
Jump, roll away.
Cut once, run.
Left, down, cut again.
Discharge, change weapon.
It was a miracle that Taiyang's voice somehow managed to push past my hyper focused state and register in my mind. "Umbra! Whatever you are planning, now is the time, Summer is waiting!"
Taking a deep breath, I let the Jailer barrel past me. Lightning filled my veins as I locked eyes with Taiyang. "Throw me!" I shouted, extending my arm.
The blond's eye widened slightly, but just as my hand came into range, he grabbed it tightly.
Using the momentum I created, Taiyang swung me around and threw me right towards the Jailer's head.
Grinning widely, I let lightning consume me as my body grew, scales shining against the evening sun and wings extending, pushing me even faster. 'Midnight Comet' you ugly fuck.
Our bodies collided in a shower of violet sparks, wind booming in every direction, uprooting the few bushes that survived on the battlefield. Somewhere in the background, I heard a shout of "Holy fuck", but I had eyes only for the monster beneath me as we rolled on the ground.
I attached myself to Jailer's body as well as I could, but I still was only about half of its size. And so we tumbled in every direction, clawing, and biting at each other as I watched my MP disappear like a magician.
A shout of, "Look out," was the only warning I received when a figure covered in golden fire flew over my head, its fist aimed straight at the Jailer's head. Taiyang?
The punch connected a moment later, an almost nuclear shockwave blasting my body away from Salem's Warden. I gritted my teeth and looked up just in time to notice Summer land on the Jailer's body, a strange long object in hand. A soft red glow covered it as the woman thrust it right into the space between the monster's wings.
Summer jumped away not even a second later, but my eyes were on the long object — missile — and its flickering glow.
Boom.
Flames and gray particles erupted from the object, weaving into a web to create a perfect silver dome. It grew and grew until it consumed about one-third of the Jailer's body, its head, and tail rising in response as the Grimm let out its last howl. And then, like it was never there, the silver dome disappeared, along with everything it consumed.
The Jailer's body slumped to the ground, two halves, head and tail, still, unmoving.
We did it. Or so I thought.
Taiyang, who apparently decided to confirm the kill, approached the lower half of the monster's body, giving it a few nudges without expecting an answer. Only the answer came, swiftly and deadly.
The tail moved, multiple eyelids opening at its tip as tentacles rushed forward. The first broke through Taiyang's remaining Aura, the second pierced his heart, then came the third, the fourth, and the tenth. They all skewered the blond's body, ripping it apart as blood rained onto the ground.
No.
A bone-chilling scream pierced through the heavens and my wide-eyed gaze darted to Summer who had fallen to her knees.
What came next, I should have expected, I really should, but as a blast of red miasma struck the woman right into her shoulder and Summer's eyes snapped open — wide and silver —, I didn't even have time to blink as my entire world exploded with blinding light.
I always thought that the last thing you see before falling asleep was darkness, and yet as the last bit of consciousness left me, all I could think of was the infinite silver tinted by a red streak.
Beautiful.
Far from the battlefield, on a lone hill, a figure fell to her knees. Mismatched eyes watered as they gazed at the empty crater in the distance.
No, She cried out, a soft whine of the creature at her side joining her.
You promised!
Wow!
Over 10k words. It's been a while since I posted a chapter this long. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the final of the first part of "Grimm's Evolution". I left you a few clues for you to find that will help you figure out what happens next. And yes I killed Taiyang... Sorry?
With that said, I would like to thank you all for still sticking with this story even after my long break. I hope you are here to stay because I definitely am. Now as I mentioned in the beginning, I just posted the new version of my first ever original story. For now, it's only a prologue, but I will be posting every day from Monday to Friday (2k words chapters). As my story will be kinda similar to this when it comes to the setting (post-apo, gamer, evolutions human to monster), I would be grateful if some of you could check it out. Who knows, you might enjoy it. You can find the link to the story below, on my profile, discord or you can just search for it on RoyalRoad.
"A Universe of Bloody Evolution" on RoyalRoad: royalroad (.com) / fiction /58667 /a-universe-of-bloody-evolution (Delete the spaces and brackets)
Have a great day/night.
PS: Because some people are worried in reviews. I just want to say that this is not the end of Grimm's Evolution. This chapter just marks the end of the first part of this story. Which to be honest isn't even half of it. So yeah, you got nothing to worry about. I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but it's coming.