Panic gripped at Jaune as he sprinted through the forest, desperately trying to reach the safety of his hometown. He knew it was a dumb idea but he just couldn't help himself, as a twelve year old kid if you had a chance to see an actual huntsman in action, you took it.
So when he heard a huntsman was going out to dispatch a group of Grimm that were coming a little too close to the wall less town of Ansel than was comfortable, his legs started moving before his brain could process just how dumb the action he was about to take was.
Not that it would've changed anything, Jaune had always dreamed of becoming a hunter, not that his family was very happy about his aspirations, always encouraging him to try other things and find a different purpose in life, something he enjoyed.
But nothing ever had that same luster or draw. Nothing ever felt quite as righteous or important as being a huntsman, that and I'd always wanted to live up to my family lineage. The warriors of the Arc bloodline ever present through the history of remnant, never as a king or political figure. No, the Arc bloodline was known as knights' regal figures that stood against the never ending tithe of Grimm, generals and warriors that stood above the rest, and I desperately wanted to live up to that.
Though much to my frustration, my father refused to train me, always saying he was too tired or I was too young even saying something like the grass was too wet outside to train properly. Like come on if you can't even train in wet grass how are you supposed to fight in the rain? But it's fine, he just figured his dad would give in eventually and train him, he simply couldn't imagine his father denying him the one thing he wanted his whole life.
It still didn't stop Jaune from being frustrated, which had led to him doing his best to trail some huntsman in hopes of watching him fight and maybe learning a thing or two, just something he could copy and start using to train on his own until his dad would train him.
Not that he could keep up, it would be pretty pathetic if a twelve year old managed to keep pace with a veteran huntsman, luckily he didn't have to. Jaune just headed in the same direction until he heard gunshots and then followed them.
His efforts were rewarded as he spotted a human figure dashing about the trees, viciously attacking every Grimm in reach with a savage looking hand axe in one hand and a massive revolver held in the other.
The man cleaved through Grimm as though they were made of paper mache, every step he took was filled with confidence as he cut an imposing figure even amongst the Grimm, the man never wavered as he fought and Jaune was lost in a trance as he watched the man, only snapping out of it when the man kicked a smaller Beowulf away sending it flying towards Jaune's hiding spot.
My eyes widened in panic as I dove to the floor barely avoiding the beast that sailed over my head, slamming into a tree behind me.
It was then that a certain clarity came over me, I was so focused on the hunter it never even occurred to me just how close I was to the Grimm, a fact that seemed to dawn on me as I looked into the fiery red orbs of a Beowulf that had just noticed my presence.
I prayed the beast wouldn't be able to stand again, that I could slowly walk away and sprint back into the forest, to the safety of my small village. A snarl shattered that hope as the beast stirred, slowly making its way to its feet.
It felt like I was locked in place, too scared to think and too shocked to move, I simply watched as the beast stood while staring me down, its glowing eyes daring me to try and run. It wasn't until it took its first staggered step that a new wave of panic surged through me forcing myself to my feet as I took off into the forest as fast as my legs could carry me.
That was how I found myself desperately sprinting through the woods being chased down by a Beowulf, and despite the situation I was lucky. The Grimm had taken a pretty big blow from the hunter when he kicked the beast, crushing a few of its bones and hindering its ability to run, if it wasn't for that … the thing would have run me down by now.
However I quickly ran into a new problem, I was getting tired, very quickly and there was no way I was going to run at full tilt all the way back to Ansel, and no matter what I did I couldn't shake the Beowulf that was following me, even with its injury it was able to navigate the woods without tripping.
My stomach dropped to a new depth I didn't even think possible, I would have to fight it if I wanted to live.
I quickly shoved my hand into my pocket and retrieving the only thing of note I had on my person for something like this, my whittling knife.
One of my mothers attempts to get me to find something else I liked doing, she probably had a little hope I might enjoy it because it involved me holding a blade of some kind. She was wrong, but she was trying.
The knife wasn't very big, maybe an inch or two bigger than my hand when I unfolded it and the blade was incredibly thin. The only thing the blade had going for it was its extremely sharp edge and he'd made sure of that. It took him two months to convince his father to teach him how to sharpen and care for a blade, it was something only a huntsman would really have to know, so he wasn't happy with teaching me the skill but one look at me while I was trying to whittle with a dull blade and he caved.
If I was being honest the blade in my hand didn't bring me any comfort as I considered the beast behind me. Holding a blade so thin I was sure I could snap it and if I could do that much damage to it, what could the Grimm behind me do to it? Would it even feel the blade if I somehow managed to stab it? Guess either way I was gonna find out.
Sending one last prayer to whatever deity above that was watching, pleading to let me walk away from this alive, I swallowed my fear and brought myself to a halt quickly spinning in place to face my foe.
Surprisingly the beast didn't simply run me down, instead it came to a stop and stared at me, dark saliva dripping from its maw. I held the knife out in front of me and yelled at it hoping to try and scare it off.
The beast let out a few short huffs almost like laughter. I wanted to be surprised but it's reaction was the furthest thing from it, my weapon was laughable at best and despite its small size I couldn't hold it steady unable to keep my hands from shaking, my legs felt like they could give at any moment it probably looked like you could knock me over with a light breeze and my voice was both hoarse and high pitched and cracked horribly with every other word.
I might as well have been a child in the eyes of this beast and it was enjoying itself as it watched me. Slowly the Grimm began to pace around me, never closing the small gap between us but forcing me to move with it so I didn't have my back to it.
This is too much, there's no way I'm making it out of this. Panic began to consume me as my confidence faded, being an Arc meant nothing without the strength or training to back the name.
My eyes started to well up as I fought to hold back my tears. That was when the beast lunged, I screamed and wildly lashed out with my knife as I desperately jumped backwards hitting nothing but air. It took a moment to register that the beast never fully made it to me.
It stood perfectly still, having stopped before closing half the distance between us. Its eyes focused solely on me.
Was it playing with me? I needed to get it together before this beast really does decide to tear me open.
I did my best to calm my breathing and steady myself, slightly spacing my feet out in an attempt to brace my stance.
The Grimm did not like my resolve as it started to growl and once more close the distance between us. Suddenly it lunged once more, but yet again it was nothing more than a feint as its claws never came near me, and the only response I gave it was a small shuffle backwards to ensure some space between us.
The Beowulf huffed, obviously disappointed I would no longer give it the reactions it wanted, the beast went quiet as it lowered itself to the ground, its muscles flexing under its thick black skin, like springs compressing and readying themselves to fly into action.
Even as I prepared myself and was waiting for the beast to lunge at me I could barely keep up with its movements. I ducked expecting a claw to lash out at me and try to tear out my throat, the claw never came. Instead the beast chose to bite me.
In a flash the Beowulf had its jaws around my left shoulder, I was still trying to process what was happening as pain bloomed to life in my shoulder as its teeth tore through my flesh.
I began to scream as I kicked and punched at the Grimm, my blows did nothing to the Beowulf, it felt as though I was beating a tree doing nothing more than disturbing the bark as I broke my hands upon it.
In my panic I took my knife and plunged it into the beast's neck earning nothing more than a growl from the creature I felt it try to lift me but the Grimm was too small so it instead drug me to the floor.
I could do nothing as the Beowulf began to thrash me around like a dog with a chew toy, I could do nothing except watch and try my best to stifle my pained screams. I could feel the snap of muscles and the crunch of my bones as they gave way under the beast's jaws.
I was about to die.
Anger surged through me. Was this how I was going to uphold the arc name? Killed by an infant Beowulf on my own in this accursed forest?
The thought angered me. If I was going to go out then I would take this monstrosity with me. Maybe then I could face my forefathers in the afterlife.
With a burst of adrenaline I tore the small knife I had left in its neck free, and plunged it into the beast's eye.
It began to howl in pain as the steel of the knife vanished, buried in its soft flesh up to the handle. The beast released me from its maw as it screeched in pain but I wouldn't let it get away.
Using everything I had I wrapped my legs around the Grimm unwilling to let it get away from me. The beast tried to pry me off of it with its large claws, it never got the chance.
Using all of the strength I had left I lifted myself up and slammed my good hand down onto the knife as hard as I could. My palm met bloody fur as the knife fully vanished into the skull of the creature. I felt it shudder before its paws fell limp sliding off my stomach rather than shredding through it, as the creature fell to the ground lifeless.
I was trapped under the Grimm unable to pry myself out from beneath its lifeless corpse, but that was fine, I guess it would eventually fade. My arm and shoulder felt like they were on fire and the pain made my eyes well up with tears but I couldn't bring myself to care.
I had done it. With no training and nothing but a pitiful whittling knife I managed to kill a Grimm. I couldn't bring myself to care about anything else. Not the startling amount of blood that was seeping from my injuries, not the pain in my legs from running too hard or anything else, I had slain the beast.
*Ding*
The sound of a bell drew me from my thoughts as a blue screen appeared before my eyes.
Congratulations
Jaune arc
You have fulfilled the prerequisite and have been invited to join the game
Will you accept?
Yes no
I have to be going crazy, was this a hallucination before death? Or just my mind trying to distract itself as it slowly died.
I couldn't help but chuckle, Eh what's the harm? I always loved a good RPG anyways. With a shaky hand I reached up and hit Yes.
The blue screen flashed as my finger hit the button.
Congratulations
As a gift for entering the Game please select one Perk
Parkour - move more effectively over difficult terrain whilst maintaining speed.
Steel hide - The gamers skin becomes as tough as steel turning into a flexible suit of armor. (Cost: 10 Mp per minute)
Critical eye - whilst in a fight the weak spots of the gamers enemies will begin to glow.
Gamer's body - After 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep The gamers body will return to its healthy state refilling both the Hp and Mp bars.
Return to a healthy state? Jaune had briefly glanced over his other options but they felt pointless when compared to Gamer's body. Filled with hope he quickly tapped the Gamers body option before he passed out. The screen immediately changed after he made his choice.
You have been granted the perk - Gamer's body
Welcome to the game
The blue screen vanished as Jaune laid on the ground.
He waited for a moment expecting something to happen, but nothing did the only change being the slowly fading Beowulf was getting lighter as it disappeared.
"Welp, guess I really was hallucinating." He mused to himself.
Now that the creature was lighter he tried to pry himself out from under its weight, only to drop the creature the moment he began lifting it as waves of pain rippled through him from his arm.
Jaune immediately ceased any form of movement letting himself lay back down onto the dirt until the pain subsided.
he huffed to himself after the pain died down. "Guess I'm staying here then."
Jaune gazed at the sky through the canopy of leaves above him. He tried to look on the bright side or just get everything over with and go to sleep but the pain kept him awake. Between the constant inescapable pain and the weight that was pinning him to the floor Jaune's head began to hurt.
He could feel his heartbeat in his head like a drum as his vision began to blur. Eventually Jaune succumbed to unconsciousness.
/-/
Jaune startled awake on the forest floor, his hands running over his body searching for an injury while he gasped for breath, eventually his mind caught up with him.
"Wait, I'm not dead?" The events of everything that had taken place flashed through his mind, quickly his attention was brought to his left shoulder. Before he could barely stand the sight of it, the Beowulf had torn it to shreds, pulled the flesh away and exposed bone, it had been a gory horrific sight that he'd desperately tried to not look at or remember.
But now it was like years of healing happened while he had been passed out, the only evidence left of the fight were the new scars that decorated my shoulder where the teeth sank into my flesh and a jagged line where my flesh tore. The memory sent shivers down my spine but it was quickly forgotten as I realized exactly what this meant.
I wasn't hallucinating and the screen was real. I quickly found my way to my feet as I did my best to control my excitement. Is this my semblance? I overheard a couple of the retired huntsmen in the village talking about them and how a few of the kids had some crazy powerful semblances, while they thought I wasn't around and I guess this was mine.
"Umm, game?" Jaune began speaking to the air in hopes of summoning the screen again and was disappointed when nothing happened.
"Okay, ummm help?" Again nothing appeared much to his frustration.
"Come on Jaune think, it said welcome to the game, if it's treating this like some sort of RPG then maybe…" Jaune turned and spoke two words into the air.
"Status screen" A smile erupted from his face as another blue screen came to life in front of him.
-/-
Jaune arc
Lvl 2.
Title - N/A
Hp - 110
Mp - 50
Str - 5
Dex - 5
Con - 5
End - 5
Int - 5
Wis - 5
Cha - 5
(5 unassigned skill points)
Aura - Locked
Semblance - The game
-/-
Perks
Gamer's body - after 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep The gamers body will return to its healthy state refilling both the Hp and Mp bars.
-/-
Jaune could practically jump for joy as he read over the screen, sure his stats were kinda shit but a single level gave him enough points to outright double them, and it would be surprising if he could increase them on his own time. After all, if these stats represented him they should change if he were to gain muscle mass.
Now the question was, how to spend them? And should he spend them?
He figured he should have left it alone but he couldn't help himself and decided to spend a single point to see if it worked. He tapped on Con and assigned it a single point after clicking yes on a secondary confirm screen, he changed.
Nothing major happened or even anything that that someone else would've spotted but Jaune felt like he was on a sugar high as he forced himself to take a deep breath as his body quickly adjusted itself and the feeling slowly faded.
It was like Jaune was a battery that was full and someone had overcharged him and rather than the extra electricity slowly bleeding away it was like his battery grew to accommodate the new charge and it felt amazing. Quickly he pulled his stat page up once more.
-/-
Jaune arc
Lvl 2.
Title - N/A
Hp - 120
Mp - 50
Str - 5
Dex - 5
Con - 6
End - 5
Int - 5
Wis - 5
Cha - 5
(4 unassigned skill points)
Aura - Locked
Semblance - The game
-/-
Woah, ten Hp per point? If that's how much one point does for my health I wonder just how effective these points are for my other abilities.
What's the difference between Int and Wis anyway.
He'd have to think carefully about what he would do now, after all there were too many instances of Jaune investing all of his points onto a character then getting upset at the result causing him to start a new game, and he didn't think he'd get a reset this time around.
Then there's this perk system, as if being able to use stat points wasn't enough, For no reason I can recover from just about any injury, just by sleeping? It was amazing, and if the Perks were gonna be anything like how they tend to be in games they could make me unbelievably powerful.
The only thing on his screen that confused him was the term Aura. He'd never heard of it before yet it was listed as locked along with all of his stats. Whatever it was maybe it was linked to combat, with his family trying so hard to keep him away from anything hunter related. If he ever found something he'd never even heard about normally it was because his family went out of their way to censor any information he might be able to get ahold of and his dad asked all of the retired hunters in the village to not say anything.
That had also been a reason Jaune couldn't find anyone to train him. His father said if anyone was going to train his boy then it would be him and he had a firm understanding with every other hunter in Ansel that no one was to teach me anything combat related.
It was frustrating and he could tell some of the older men really did want to help him, but didn't want to earn the ire of my father while doing so. Which Jaune didn't blame them for he wouldn't cross his dad for some random little kid either, he just wished they wouldn't look at him like he was some puppy they just kicked.
The thought of it coaxed a sigh from his lips, he looked back up at the beautiful orange sky as he pondered what his next steps should be.
Dread washed over him as he realized why exactly the sky was orange, the sun was setting and he had promised his mother he would be back by five. It was way past curfew and his mother would tan his hide for it.
Quickly scrambling he snatched his knife off the floor as he took off for his hometown. Due to his bump in Con he was able to keep a good pace for a decent amount of time as he cut through the forest making his way directly home.
He fell into a slow walk as his house came into view. "Mannn, this is gonna suck." He pressed down on his shoulder trying to massage the joint but when his hand met skin he realized just how bad of a condition his shirt was in after the Beowulf got ahold of it.
"Shit, mom's gonna freak if she's me like this." Quickly he darted around the back of the house to his outdoor stash. Mom would get pretty mad if anyone came home with messed up clothes so I'd taken to hiding an extra set or two outside that I could change into, so I could sneak my other clothes into the laundry when no one was around.
Rounding a tree that marked his hiding spot and reaching beneath the roots that hid a small hollow space where the dirt had washed away, he pulled free a watertight camo traveling bag. One of the few things his grandfather had left him.
Quickly he changed his shirt and decided to hold onto the ruined one for now he wasn't too sure what he would use it for but didn't see the harm in leaving it in the bag, after all the blood the shirt was covered in had dried, he could probably tear it up and use it as a fire starter kit or something.
Rounding back around to the front of the house he slowly approached the front door.
Man, I'm gonna have to hide the scar now, not that it should be too big of a problem, his T-shirt managed to cover it after all. But with all of my sisters it wasn't rare for one of them to catch him without a shirt on.
Jaune sighed as he reached the front door pulling it open, and accepted his fate when he came face to face with a not so happy mother.
With a face of thunder she stared down at her only son. "Jaune Luna Arc, where have you been!? Do you have any idea how worried we were? And can you explain why old man Jenkins said he saw you taking off into the forest, poor Saffron has been out there looking for you."
I wanted to pay attention to my mothers words and hopefully avoid her wrath, but I was entirely distracted by the words that floated over her.
Juniper Arc
Lvl ?
The mother who reigns
"Well? Anything to say?" I could feel the danger as my mother bent down to get face to face with me.
"Sorry, I didn't go far, I climbed up a nearby tree to whittle in peace, and fell asleep." I kept my eyes glued to the floor unwilling to meet my mothers gaze. I was hoping she would buy it, if she thought I was lying she'd ground me, and it would suck to be stuck in the house right after I entered The Game or whatever it was.
Besides technically I wasn't lying, I didn't really want to fall asleep and it may not have been wood I cut with my knife but I sure as shit cut something.
I could feel my mothers gaze harden as she tried to stare a hole through my head. "Fine." She finally spoke. "You came back before dark so I won't ground you, but if I hear something about you running off into the forest you'll have more to worry about than the Grimm. Understand?"
"Yes ma'am." The words practically tumbled from my mouth as I was silently celebrating a grounding successfully dodged.
My mothers voice turned soft back to her usual happy self. "Now go get cleaned up, dinner is almost done and I'm not gonna believe for a second that you're clean."
Wordlessly I followed her request as I made my way to the bathroom, a few floating words caught my attention.
Amber Arc
Lvl 3
Ebullient
Seriously? My youngest sister was sat upside down on the couch as she waved her feet through the air.
How is she a higher level than I am? She's like eight!
Quickly I slipped into the hallway before Amber caught my gaze. I knew that position, she was bored and if Amber was bored and you caught her interest you weren't getting away until she was thoroughly entertained.
"Oh, hey Jaune." My second oldest sister Lavender stepped out into the hallway. "You didn't get into trouble did you?" She gave me a quick look over as I shook my head. "Hey why are you wearing a different shirt? That's not the one you left wearing."
Why does she have to be so perceptive at the weirdest of times? "I might have gotten my other one a tad dirty."
She chuckled. "Don't worry I won't say anything, but be careful Saffron wasn't too happy being forced to go looking for you." She walked past me moving into the living room, my eyes lingered on the words above her head.
Lavender Arc
Lvl 4
The weight that withers
Her title worried me a bit, but it wasn't surprising Lavender had a really weak immune system and couldn't ever keep up physically so it made sense.
After washing my hands I went through the rest of the day on autopilot just trying to get to a point where I could be alone. I was itching to check through any other screens The Game might offer but I didn't want to look like a crazy person if no one else could see it, or worse I didn't want my family to know I had access to something like this. With it being something that can definitely help me become a hunter they would most certainly do their best to keep me from it.
Though I did get to see everyone else's titles at dinner even if Saffron shot me a glare when I glanced over at her.
Saffron Arc
Lvl 8
Solace of the earth
Blanc Arc
Lvl 5
The winds of folly
Coral arc
Lvl 4
Ink-bound dreamer
Violet Arc
Lvl 3
Sweet risks
Rouge Arc
Lvl 3
Sewn dreams
Man, I knew before that I never really wanted to make Saffron mad, but level 8? She was a force to be reckoned with.
Dinner was a quick affair as everyone seemed they had something else to get back to, meaning I had no other questions thrown my way. Quickly washing the dishes and doing a few extra chores to help appease mom after my last disappearance, I headed to my room.
On the way the front door opened as my father walked in, he was home earlier than expected meaning his mission had gone well.
"Hey dad." He looked down at me and smiled before ruffling my hair.
Nicholas Arc
Lvl ?
The solitary sentinel: carrying the weight of existence
"Hey kiddo, any idea where your mother is?" I shrugged my shoulders. "I think she went to lie down for a bit." He smiled down at me as he patted my shoulder. "Thanks."
I watched as he walked away, my eyes glued to the words above his head. That's the second time I couldn't see someone's level, maybe it has something to do with my own stats? That and what's with that title? It's easily the longest one I've seen, but it's so morbid.
I thought about what it was that my dad could be hiding from us to earn a title like that, as I laid down on my bed finally able to get a bit of privacy. I quickly shook those thoughts away as I turned my attention to the blue screens.
I figured out I didn't actually have to say status I could just think it and not only that but it only popped up if I wanted it to. Which was nice, I had been a little worried about screens randomly popping up while I was talking to someone and being stuck with those blue screens in my face till I could find a moment alone to get rid of them, just so I didn't look like an insane person to anyone else watching.
Okay let's try 'Spells?' Unfortunately nothing popped up. It would have been cool to throw around lightning bolts or something but can't win them all I guess.
How about 'Skills' I let out a small triumphant laugh as a window flickered to life in front of me.
Jaune Arc
Skills
N/A
Even if with the screen empty, devoid of anything helpful it made me excited. If there was a screen it meant more improvements and to top it off it was something entirely separate from Perks.
I closed the screen as I attempted my last Idea, 'Settings'. My thought line was if this thing treats life as a game, well what kind of game would it be if there wasn't a way to adjust your experience.
Thankfully my game wasn't a shitty one. A screen popped into view with a list of options from Display and Audio to Language, I immediately began to dig through the display options. It offered a lot of things from toning down the glare of the sun and letting me mess with brightness to activating subtitles, which sent me into a small laughing fit after I discovered it. The only thing I found that I thought was better was the BGM screen. Currently it was empty so there had to be a way to add music to it, maybe through listening to music or simply reading the lyrics and memorizing the tune each instrument played? I'd figure it out with some time.
While it was all useful what really caught my attention was the HUD settings, after fiddling with it for a few minutes I now had two bars displayed in the bottom left of my vision at all times a red one for my Hp and a blue one for my Mp along with a small mostly translucent bar at the bottom of my vision that represented my progress towards my next level up, sadly the bar was mostly empty.
Language was something Jaune swore to himself he would never touch again, the option had pulled up a rather long list of languages with no explanation, and Jaune being the button pusher he was, and just had to click something. That sent him into a small panic attack as he tried to navigate a bunch of menus that were in Chinese, it was only for a minute or two at most three but it had scared him to death.
You get a hold of some cool power that'll help you grow without your father and the first thing you do is render it obsolete by forcing it to speak in a language you don't know? Nice job Arc.
He was getting ahead of himself and Jaune knew it. I'm too excited and I'm making a lot of changes on a whim. He forced himself to close the window before he did anything else he might regret.
Let's just go to sleep and tomorrow I can head to the library and try to get some answers. He laid down and attempted to get some rest in spite of his excitement, that and the sudden words that would appear while his eyes were closed, turns out subtitles will literally write out things like *footsteps* and *cough* even when he could barely hear it himself. Yet again he opened the window to quickly turn the feature back off, maybe he shouldn't mess with setting at all.
/-/
Jaune was dressed and up early feeling far more refreshed after a night's sleep than he'd ever been. Maybe it was a side effect of Gamer's body? It would also explain why no matter how hard he tried he couldn't go back to sleep either, too awake to even try. Which was amazing if every morning was gonna be like this, but on the flip side he loved his lazy mornings where he didn't have to get out of bed and it sucked to say good bye to that.
My sisters of course couldn't help but poke fun as I walked into the room, shouts of "He's alive." and "Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" I just rolled my eyes at them as I walked by, I couldn't really be upset with them, I could get really lazy during summer break. It was a rare moment to see me out of my bed before eleven if no one forced me to get up.
Quickly I wolfed down breakfast and was out the door before any of my siblings could rope me into anything and cause me to lose the whole day. "Bye I'll be back before dark I promise." I called out as I was halfway out the door so no one could stop me.
It only took me half an hour to make it to the public library, Ansel wasn't a very big place it only took three hours to walk across town. The town was small and mainly focused towards agriculture, however a majority of the population was older people settling down, finding a comfortable house in the country to die in.
It helped that a majority of the people were ex-military or retired huntsmen because of it the town never needed a wall, just a few turret emplacements and a good early warning system. But it was because of this that the town was built like an old age home. Neighborhoods planned to make any weekly shopping trip as short and convenient as possible, it also resulted in absolutely nothing interesting in town unless you went crazy for bingo.
Most days were spent hanging out watching the clouds slowly roll across the sky, simply because there was nothing else to do. Luckily though, old people love books and according to Coral the nearby library was amazing and had a wonderful selection.
When he saw the outside of the building he believed it. The building itself was made to resemble older architecture to reflect Mistral, the place where most of the books came from when the building was first put up.
A large set of stairs ascended to three archways that covered the doors that led in. The entire structure was made of stone from the walls to the banister rails that ran across the top of the entry archways that also doubled as an outdoor reading area. The building exuded an aura of professionalism and a general sense of too much money went into this to not have what you're looking for.
The musty scent of old pages and ink instantly washed over him as he opened the door. He was taken aback for a moment as he looked over the interior of the building, it was no wonder this was Coral's favorite place to be this might as well be Monte-land to her.
Rows of bookshelves towered over him and every shelf was packed to the brim and to top it all off he could see more bookshelves on the second floor. While helpful he didn't exactly rejoice at the thought of digging through a book, school had him do that plenty and all of it was either dull, useless information or both. But even if he wasn't excited he was certainly impressed.
So Jaune got searching and searched and searched aimlessly scanning the shelves taking odd guesses as to what category Aura might be in, and he was searching for hours. It wasn't until a librarian took pity on him and offered to help.
The older woman pulled out her scroll and a few taps later was leading him to a particular section.
Man I really need to get a scroll at some point, scrolls were great but they were expensive especially because you had to buy a service to be able to use them effectively and that tied you down to yet another monthly payment. It was also the reason why Jaune didn't have a scroll yet.
"Ah, here we are." The older lady came to a stop, pulling a book free and handing it to him. "Here you are, this one covers Aura and is rated quite highly amongst teachers and huntsmen, please do not leave the premises with the book. If you'd like to read it at home, come find me up front and I'll have a library card made for you." A nod and a quick thank you and the older lady promptly returned to her position at the front of the library behind her desk.
Quickly finding a nearby table Jaune sat down intently looking over the book. "The light of the soul. By Peter Port." Jaune cracked the book open and began intently reading the pages. The information within shocked Jaune, Aura was a core part of being a huntsman, it was the manifestation of your soul projected outwards.
It took blows for you, reinforced muscles increasing power and quickness and could heal wounds, And after a lot of training and time it had the capability to manifest into a semblance. The emotions that roiled through Jaune were varied and extreme.
On one note he was excited and happy, he had found something he could accomplish without his father to reach his dream. On the other hand why had no one told him? It wasn't like I had kept it a secret, hell I practically shouted it at the top of my lungs. There wasn't a person that lived in Ansel that didn't know about the boy who wanted to be a huntsman.
Yet no one had told him about Aura something that was apparently so vital another huntsman would unlock it for children who were just begging training to become a huntsman so they could master it as soon as possible and that was common place around the age of nine, that meant he was already three years behind.
Jaune felt betrayed and wondered just how many people in his whole family knew about this and worse he knew for a fact that both of his parents did and had elected to say nothing from the very beginning.
The thought put a sour taste in his mouth as Jaune arrived at one final thought. 'They never intended to let me be a huntsman." That truth stung, it was a pain that hurt bad enough to cause tears well up at the corners of his vision, but he bit them back.
With determination he threw himself headfirst into the book. If his parents wouldn't help him, he'd just do it without them. The book covered many theories on the soul of a person and the way it channeled itself through one's body. It went into especially great detail when it came to unlocking Aura on your own as well as controlling it.
Each diagram was committed to memory and every exercise memorized, even going as far as to borrow a piece of paper from the librarian to make his own notes.
*Ding*
A blue screen flared to life in front of him.
Through extensive study you have gained 1 intelligence
A smile broke from Jaunes face as he read the words over, he felt proud of his accomplishment that his defiance had already made progress. With a renewed vigor he resumed his reading.
Hours passed as Jaune read over every detail the book contained again and again until he was sure he completely understood the contents, before depositing the book back into its place on the shelf and headed back home.
Once back home he went straight to his room unsure if he would be able to talk to his parents any time soon.
Pushing those thoughts aside he sat in the middle of his room mimicking the pose in the book using his notes and did his best to clear his mind. Slowly he directed his attention inward as he let all sensations fall away, bit by bit he shut out the feeling of winds gently flowing around his skin, forgot about the softness of the carpet he sat on and closed his eyes rejecting the light that poured in from the room around him and did the best to force himself into a state of unawareness where the only thing he could feel was himself.
Once he achieved that he directed every one of his unused senses inward in an attempt to reach out. It was a strange thing like digging through your backpack looking for something you didn't leave in there.
You weren't looking for something strange or out of place, Aura was a part of you, it was something that belonged and had always been there, just dormant. Even unlocked it still permeated your being it just had no effect like a skill that had been turned off. But if you reached out you could find the channels that your Aura flowed through to cover your body and use those to find the core, The place where your soul gathered within your body.
It wasn't as easy as someone being able to say focus on this one spot because everyone was different channels in different spots and had different thicknesses, some people described them like rivers through their arms, but if I was feeling the right thing mine were more like a fishing line that had been strung throughout my muscles.
*Ding*
A noise startled me from my concentration, shattering my meditative state. I opened my eyes to find another blue screen.
Through extensive observation of one's self and inner working you have gained
1 wisdom
It pleased him seeing two different stat point gains completely by accident and it made him want to keep going, just being able to actively see your improvements was way better than any pep talk anyone could've given him. On the other hand he really wished The game had waited a bit before notifying him rather than interrupting his trance.
Checking the clock by his bedside revealed that he had been meditating for a couple of hours now, instead of returning to his trance he decided to hang out around the house just so his family would see him around.
It wasn't strange for me to lock myself in my room all day but whenever I did so my sisters would eventually band together to drag me out and do something, but if they saw me they would eventually leave me alone.
Jaune spent the next few days in a similar cycle of waking up early making sure his family saw him so they felt like they could keep tabs on him and then sneaking off somewhere private so he could meditate.
It took another two days to earn one point in wisdom through the observation of one's self. Which just proved to me that the more points I earned the harder it would be to earn another, meaning the points I could freely assign were far more powerful than I first thought, especially if I gained five every time I leveled up.
As the days went by I began spending longer periods of time in meditation as I learned to interact with the web that seemed to spread throughout my body. Every shift, twitch of my muscles every time I drew breath it caused a change. After a long period of experimentation I slowly figured out what did what until I was able to crudely manipulate my state of meditation. For as simple as it sounds the process took two weeks to get down. However his semblance had seen fit to award him a few more points of wisdom for his efforts.
gently I pulled and shifted my inner self trying to find the core of my soul. The channels or at least what I thought were the channels my Aura would run through were incredibly small and thus hard to grasp or directly shift, they felt like muscles or organs but they had no substance to them more like an image projected overtop my own musculature.
It took a week for me to properly grasp it and it wasn't till one afternoon as I meditated quietly in my room that I got my first reaction. It was just a gentle tug but I could feel something in my whole body shift with it.
The sudden change was startling and caused me to gasp but I refused to lose the sensation and be forced to start back at square one. I screwed my eyes shut as I focused on the shift of the web of nerves that spread through my body as I traced it back to its source.
Lightly plucking at the line to elicit small ripples to help guide me, slowly my attention shifted towards my heart and what felt like a ball wrapped in fishing line that then dispersed through my whole body.
I gave the sphere a light tap, immediately a warm sensation rippled through my chest but just as fast as it came it was gone.
Was that my aura? My curiosity peaked and I tapped again but harder, I could feel the shell crack.
At once I was suffused with a warm feeling as I could feel the lines throughout my body flood with warmth before going cold again. But now that warm sensation didn't leave my chest seeping out of the crack I had left in the shell.
Maybe they were literal when they talked of unlocking one's Aura. It felt like there was a shell around my soul and the act of breaking that shell would free my Aura and allow it to flood outwards.
I took a deep breath as I focused in on the shell and hit it rather than trying to deliver a light tap. Aura rushed through my body once again as cracks began to stretch out across the shell like a spider web, but rather than wait for the rush to fade I delivered another strike immediately and at once the shell around my soul crumbled.
The warm light suffused through me as my aura flooded my body, it tried to fill the small lines that ran under my skin, but it was too much. The light itself was comforting, like the pleasant heat of being under a blanket in your bed, but for a few moments a burning pain burst throughout my body. It felt as though my skin was too tight and my body was growing, forcibly stretching it out.
I realized the pain was my Aura flowing through the channels. The amount I possessed must've been too much to handle and my Aura was forcibly expanding the line's throughout my body to help accommodate for itself.
Before it felt as though fishing line was ran throughout my body resting just atop everything but now my Aura had forcibly stretched those channels out causing them to resemble drinking straws as they seemed to properly connect to my body allowing my Aura to spread across my muscles and seep through my very being.
In a moment everything around me seemed to shift, the air around me felt cleaner, my breaths deeper as though I had never properly taken a breath before. Everything felt the same but with a new depth to it like I had never stopped to properly take in everything I was sensing. The subtle shift in the air, the slow rise and fall of my chest as I took in a breath, even the soft feeling of cotton against my chest as my shirt laid against my skin. All of it felt familiar yet entirely new.
*Ding*
I opened my eyes to find several things, for one I was glowing as my skin seemed to be emitting a white light that was slowly beginning to die down. I inspected my arms before turning to the blue window that I had expected to appear once I managed to unlock my aura.
Congratulations
Through the extensive observation and manipulation of one's self you have managed to unlock your Aura
Aura - The embodiment of one's soul, Any damage taken will first subtract from your aura pool, Aura points may also be spent to reinforce one's body allowing you to achieve greater feats of strength.
Wisdom effects overall size of your Aura pool
Intelligence will affect the rate at which your Aura pool refills
Adjusting your stat page accordingly
With a single thought the notification window was replaced with my stat window.
-/-
Jaune arc
Lvl 2.
Title - N/A
Aura - 180
Hp - 120
Mp - 60
Str - 5
Dex - 5
Con - 6
End - 5
Int - 6
Wis - 9
Cha - 5
(4 unassigned skill points)
Semblance - The game
-/-
"What the!?" A startled cry shook me from my thoughts. I quickly closed the window to reveal Coral as she sat with a book in hand gaping at me as the white glow from my skin subsided.
Crud.
AN - Hey guys its been a while since I posted anything I've been struggling to write out the next chapter if intrigue and had a few ideas for my own Gamer Jaune fic so I decided to give it a try. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading and hope to see you next time :)
P.S. I'm almost ready to release the next chapter of Intrigue