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Preparations

"Did you… just take a selfie?" Blake asked, sounding incredulous.

"My sisters wanted to know that I'm okay," I replied distractedly, still focused on my Scroll.

Gengar - 'Seven Deadly Sisters' | Friday, 20:04

‹Gengar› r u fuckin kidding me

‹Gardevoir› Jaune, what the hell happened?

‹Aegislash› my last delivery was in the hood, and my deliveree was in the middle of a situation

‹Gengar› define situation

‹Aegislash› her asshole ex shot the friend she was staying with after she left him

‹Gardevoir› So you called the police, obviously.

‹Aegislash› uh…

‹Gengar› via his shirts full of holes n blood, tf you mean did he call the cops

‹Gardevoir› I'm trying to live in denial, because I'd like to believe my baby brother is intelligent enough not to run into the middle of what sounds like a hostage situation.

‹Aegislash› there wasn't time

‹Aegislash› the woman got shot as soon as I got there

‹Gardevoir› Jaune…

‹Aegislash› you wouldn't have run either, don't be a hypocrite

‹Aegislash› I'm sorry I worried you, but I'm not sorry I did it

‹Moltres› Jeez you guys are popping off all of a sudden

‹Moltres› Hey whos the cutie in the pic they look pretty beat up

‹Moltres› Wait

‹Moltres› Jaune?

‹Aegislash› sup

‹Moltres› When the fuck did you get here

‹Moltres› And

‹Moltres› Why are you covered in blood

‹Gardevoir› I added him earlier today, Shani. Read back from this afternoon.

‹Moltres› Ugh fine

‹Gardevoir› Jaune, where are you right now?

‹Aegislash› back at the bookshop tending to the wounded

‹Aegislash› once I'm sure she's stable I'll head your way to clean up; fuck taking the train home like this

‹Aegislash› …actually, your place has a guest room, right?

‹Gardevoir› Yes, why?

‹Aegislash› sec

I looked up. Blake was sorting through her box of books, Tukson was counting his day's take, and Jazz was examining the scar on her abdomen.

"Do you actually have somewhere else to stay?" I asked both ladies, who looked up, one sharp, the other curious. "I'm not asking where," I assured Blake. "I just want to know that you have someplace to sleep tonight. If you don't, my sister has a spare bedroom a few blocks from here."

Blake watched me with narrowed eyes, but Jazz answered. "I guess I'll have to stay with my folks for a bit. They live outside the city though, and my Scroll is back at my apartment, so I'll have to go tomorrow."

"You can't go back to your apartment," I said immediately, causing Jazz to slump. "They'll be watching it. At best, they'll follow you, hoping you'll lead them to Blake. At worst, they'll kidnap you right then and there. Tonight you can definitely crash with us."

[Rational deduction caused your INT to increase by 1!]

Realizing Jazz was still wearing just a bra, I dug in my Handy Haversack and withdrew Jaune's old hoodie from my [Inventory]. "Here."

She took it with a quick thanks, and pulled it on, tossing her short brown hair once it was over her head. "It's a bit tight, but I appreciate the thought," she said, glancing down at the rabbit mascot stretched across her bust. "Big Pumpkin Pete's fan, are you?"

I shrugged. "I must have been. I haven't tried it since I got out of the hospital, though."

Jazz winced. "Right, you said you have amnesia. Sorry, I forgot."

"There's a lot of that going around," I replied, making both Jazz and Blake snort a laugh. They also both immediately looked mortified, and I smirked. "Blake. You have someplace to crash or no?"

The cat faunus immediately became serious again, staring down at me from her place at the table, where I was sitting on the floor . I met her gaze evenly, though I doubted she could see past my sunglasses. "I don't want to leave Jazz alone, so fine."

Aegislash - 'Seven Deadly Sisters' | Friday, 20:09

‹Aegislash› prep your spare room for two guests, would you kindly?

‹Aegislash› and order some pizzas

"What do you like on pizza?" I asked, without looking up.

"Anything's fine," Jazz shrugged, at the same time Blake firmly said, "Anchovies."

I took a moment to pull a face, but didn't comment.

‹Aegislash› let's get two large pies; first one, supreme with half anchovy; second one, half meat lover's and half whatever you want

‹Aegislash› I'll pay

‹Gardevoir› Shouldn't the question of whether I have guests be up to me?

‹Aegislash› you gonna turn away two girls who just escaped a home invasion, one of whom got shot while the other helped save my life?

‹Aegislash› coz if so, that's fine and I'll get them a hotel, but let me assure you that my respect for you will fucking plummet

‹Gardevoir› No, it's fine. I'm just stressed. You've barely been out of the hospital for two weeks and it looks like you got shot.

‹Aegislash› I'm fine, Olivia

‹Aegislash› feeling 100% right now

Hopefully Olivia would catch my meaning — that my HP was fully recovered — without me having to actually say it. I had no idea how good Cinder or anyone else on Salem's squad was at comint (that is, computer intelligence, i.e. hacking) but it was best not to broadcast my Semblance over the internet if I was meant to be keeping it secret.

[Careful decision-making caused your WIS to increase by 1!]

"What did you tell your sister?" Blake asked, sounding like she was trying hard to maintain her calm.

"That your asshole ex broke into your friend's apartment where you were staying, she got shot, and you saved my life," I summarized. "There'll be food there and hopefully Olivia can find something for you to change into." I glanced at Jazz as she stood up, saw my hoodie went clear down to her thighs, and added, "Both of you."

I got back to my feet, only wobbling a little. My HP and MP were both full, and my invisible Stamina must be also, but I was still tired. Cracking my neck, I did my usual pocket check, including the Family Sword at my hip which I was too paranoid to take off anytime soon, and then slung on my Handy Haversack.

"I appreciate the shelter, Tukson," I told the big man, extending a hand, which he clasped firmly.

"No, thank you," he said seriously. "That's twice today you've helped out someone that I only wished I could. Take care of yourself, kid."

As we filed out the back door, I glanced at the manhole covering the sewer we'd climbed out of. "You be safe too, Tukson. Call me if you ever need help with something." I hesitated, since I'd only read about his conflict in his bio, but couldn't resist adding, "You should probably consider leaving town. They know Blake is in this city; if you've had any contact with the White Fang in the past, they might guess she'd come to you for help."

Tukson froze in the middle of closing the back door behind us, staring at me. I lowered my sunglasses and met his gaze directly, willing him to understand that I was serious. After a moment, he nodded jerkily and shut the door.

[Increased closeness with Tukson Mayes!]


I led the way out of the alley and up the road toward Olivia's building, Jazz sticking close behind me, while Blake took the drag position to keep an eye out in all directions. I kept the pace easy for Jazz's sake, and hooked my thumbs in my belt so that I wouldn't be tempted to rest them on the Family Sword. Better to look casual.

I debated for a moment, then activated [Detect Aura] and [Eavesdrop]. The amount of sensory data I suddenly had to sort through was pretty overwhelming, but on the off chance someone found us, I wanted as much advance warning as possible.

The quest completion implied we'd gotten away, but I had no idea if that meant Adam couldn't find us again. My Semblance let me interact with the world like a game, but that didn't mean the whole world ran on game logic. The people in it were real people, not NPCs, and my encounter with Adam Taurus wasn't some scripted cutscene. It was a real fight, where I could have really died.

Letting out a breath, I glanced over my shoulder and met Jazz's eye. She smiled nervously, and I returned it before opening the door to the lobby for her.

I could have really died, certainly, but instead I really saved someone's life. Someone who very likely would have died without my intervention. I had to wonder, Does that mean Jazz died in the 'canon' timeline? If so, no wonder Blake was so slow to trust her teammates.

Taking the elevator this time, I hit the button for the Penthouse, and led the way to Olivia's door. Swiping my Scroll, I pushed the door slightly open, and called out, "It's me!" before opening it fully.

I didn't even get a chance to take my shoes off before Olivia all but tackled me, prodding at my shoulder and stomach through the bullet holes in my overshirt and the slash in the side of my tee shirt.

"Relax, I told you I'm fine," I said, grabbing my sister by the shoulders and forcing her attention back to my face. "You can look me over in a second, but right now what we all need is new clothes."

Olivia straightened up, seeming to pull herself together, and turned to greet the other two. "Hello, I'm Olivia Arc."

"Olivia, this is Jazz and Blake," I introduced the ladies as I pulled my boots off the hard way at the door, since I couldn't simply unequip them in front of witnesses.

Olivia scrutinized Jazz wearing what was clearly my hoodie, as well as Blake's visible weapon before lingering on her face. After a moment, though, she nodded and gave a welcoming smile. "Shoes off at the door, but please make yourselves at home. Let me show you where the shower is, and I'll find you both something to wear."

Blake murmured a thanks, while Jazz — who I realized wasn't wearing shoes since she'd been shot in her own home and I'd carried her to Tukson's — echoed the sentiment more brightly.

Once Olivia had shuffled them off into the bathroom, I moved into the kitchen and quickly unequipped my weapons, armor, and shirts, leaving them in a pile so that Blake and Jazz wouldn't question where they'd gone. Wetting a paper towel, I cleaned off the dried blood on my shoulder and side, which was way less than there should have been thanks to [Gamer's Body] repairing my flesh so quickly. The new scar sat along my side, angling across my lower ribs, but fortunately it was also completely closed and looked a few days old.

Deciding that I could get away with pretending I'd had a change of clothes in my backpack, I equipped a new 'Casual' outfit, then went digging in the cabinets until I found a trash bag to stuff the worn clothes into. My first instinct was to throw them out, but there was a chance I could develop a skill to repair them, so instead I tossed the bag over beside the door. Then, realizing I was still wearing sunglasses, I took those off and dropped them into my [Inventory].

"Jaune, can you make up the spare room?" Olivia called, poking her head back out of the short hallway and directing me with her eyes toward the door on the other side of the living room.

Guessing that she was getting me out of the common area while the girls moved from the bathroom to her bedroom, I nodded. Padding over to the spare room, I half-closed the door behind me and started pulling back the tightly-made bed into something more usable.

There was a knock at the front door, and I could sense that the others were all in Olivia's room, so I went to answer it. I was pretty sure the White Fang would sooner kick it down than knock, and [Detect Aura] only revealed a single, untrained, locked Aura, so I felt reasonably confident it was the pizza. Still, I was feeling paranoid, so I withdrew the White Fang's stolen pistol from my [Inventory], stood well away from the door, and opened it to the crack that the chain would allow. Then I took another step back before shuffling to the side to peer out the gap, keeping the gun out of sight.

Seeing only a nonplussed delivery boy, I grinned and stuck the gun down the back of my waistband, then opened the door properly. "How much?"

"Three hundred fifty," he grunted, evidently choosing not to comment on my odd behavior.

I passed him six hundred Lien, grabbing the boxes with my other hand, and advised him to keep the change. He blinked, but nodded, obviously not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Shutting the door with my heel, I turned around and found my sister and our guests all watching me. I raised an eyebrow. "Good thing I don't get stage fright," I said lightly, setting the food boxes on the coffee table and returning to the door to lock it securely. "I assume you've gotten to know each other a little better; I wish I could have done a better introduction but, you know." I knocked on my own skull.

"It's fine," Olivia said, ushering the girls to the loveseat while she dragged a stool out from the kitchen and pushed me into it. "You, shirt off."

I rolled my eyes. "I just got dressed," I complained, even as I shrugged off my new overshirt and tugged the gold tee over my head, leaving me sitting there in my A-shirt as Olivia examined my perfectly-fine shoulder. "The shots went clean through, and there's not even a scar left, see? Sorry about that," I added to Jazz. "I'm better at healing myself than others."

She blinked up at me. "I thought I was going to die ," she said bluntly. "I'm not going to complain about a little scar that's so easy to hide. I didn't say it before, but thank you, so , so much."

I opened my mouth to protest, yet again, that I just did what anyone would have done, before I caught Blake's eye. With a mental sigh, I changed what I was going to say. "I was glad to help. It's the best part of having a healing Semblance." There, that should let Olivia in on the deception of my 'public' Semblance, if she hadn't already figured it out.

"What about your side?" Blake said, obviously not willing to take my word for… anything, apparently. "I saw Adam cut you when you shoved him."

"You're just trying to get me naked," I accused her playfully, and she blushed and broke eye contact.

Olivia was having none of it, however, and gave me the stink eye until I sighed and peeled off the undershirt as well, leaving my new scar visible.

My sister sucked in air through her teeth. "That looks almost as bad as the one on your face." She traced her fingertips along it, making me squirm away.

"Quit it, that tickles." I told her, pretending not to notice the other two checking me out. Blake is at least being subtle about it. Jazz is not.

"Jaune, this looks like it should have cut out your lung!" Olivia growled.

I shrugged. "My ribs did their job and blocked it," I replied, not mentioning that if [Reinforcement] 's damage-amplifying effect had activated, the blow would have easily depleted my HP. "I'm fine , okay? You know how well my Semblance heals me up."

At that moment, Olivia's Scroll started pinging repeatedly, and she finally let me go so she could silence it. Since my Semblance was buzzing along with it, I guessed it was our group chat going wild. I took the opportunity to get dressed again before grabbing a slice of pizza and settling back onto the stool, leaving Olivia the easy chair.

Articuno - 'Seven Deadly Sisters' | Friday, 20:41

‹Articuno› what the hell. i leave this chat. for one. mission. now jaune`s here. with huge scars on his face. we`re all apparently cursed. to keep him from getting trained. he`s got his semblance somehow. he`s rescuing people instead of calling the cops. and getting shot doing it. he`s telling olivia off for not wanting to help people. what the actual hell did i miss.

‹Gengar› welcome 2 our world

‹Gardevoir› All, Jaune is here with me now. He brought the victims along with him. Indigo, I'm putting them up for the night. I can confirm that he appears uninjured apart from a new scar on his left side. And, yes to all of that, Sienna.

‹Aegislash› so little faith, jeez

‹Reuniclus› I CAN ONLY SPEAK FOR MYSELF BUT IM STILL ADJUSTING TO THINKING OF YOU AS ANYTHING OTHER THAN TOTALLY UNTRAINED .

‹Aegislash› understandable, have a nice day

"They're a chatty bunch," I commented to Olivia, slipping my Scroll back in my pocket.

"Just be glad both the twins weren't both on at the same time, and Vi's still out on assignment." Olivia sounded exhausted just thinking about it.

'Vi' would be Violet, the second-oldest, which meant her chat handle was… "So, the three birds like to squawk?"

Olivia snorted. Catching Blake's curious look, she explained, "I don't know if Jaune has mentioned, but we have a few siblings all around the Kingdoms."

Rolling my eyes at her understatement, I interrupted her, "Your chat is literally called 'Seven Deadly Sisters'. There's a lot more than 'a few' of us."

"Wait," said Blake, looking between us. "Like the Seven Sins of Vale?"

[Quest Alert!]

[The Seven Deadly Sisters]

[It has been implied that your siblings were once known as The Seven Sins of Vale. Find out why.]

[Reward: ?, new title, increased closeness with Bianca Arc, increased closeness with Violet Arc, increased closeness with Sienna Arc, increased closeness with Shani Arc, increased closeness with Azure Arc, increased closeness with Indigo Arc, increased closeness with Olivia Arc.]

[Accept/Decline]

I turned my whole body to face Olivia, mentally accepting the quest. "Something you want to share?"

Her head dropped. "Not particularly…" she mumbled.

"Okay," I said immediately, making her head snap up. I ignored her and grabbed another slice of pizza. I would find out eventually.

After a long moment, Olivia shook her head. She looked back at Blake and Jazz. "Well, I'd like to know what happened tonight, and how. But my dear brother has rather set the bar on respecting boundaries, so I'll just say, you're both welcome to stay as long as you need to feel safe. I am a fully-qualified Huntress, and if I for some reason need to leave for a mission, Jaune can take you to our parents' house to stay with our sister Indigo, who is also a Beacon graduate."

She got up and went into the kitchen, then came back with a bottle of liquor and four small glasses, just too large to be for shots. Pouring a bit for each of us, she settled back down.

"All that being said, however," she refocused her attention on me. " You do have to answer some of my questions. Debrief, Jaune."

I picked up the glass of liquor, sniffed, and then sipped. It tasted like…rye, I thought? Not bad. Is the drinking age seventeen here? Or is this just to calm our nerves?

Leaning my neck to the side until it popped, I replied, "There's not much more than I already told you. I was running some errands for Tukson today. My last delivery was out toward the Industrial District. The door was ajar, and right when I was about to knock I heard a gunshot, so I kicked it open. The door hit a guy behind it, and there was another guy on the other side that I clobbered. Unfortunately there were two more, and one of them shot me. I managed to get him too, but the other one had a sword, and he was stronger than me, so with Blake's help," I raised the glass to her, "I shoved him out the sixth floor window. Then we picked up Jazz and hauled ass."

Olivia raised an eyebrow, and clearly pretended not to notice the incredulous look Blake was giving me for playing down my injuries, and for not mentioning that the people we fought were White Fang. After waiting a moment, Olivia asked, "And that's all you have to report?"

I shrugged. "I guess if you want to put out an APB, the dude had short red hair and his katana looked like Huntsman-quality. Red blade. I didn't pay much attention to the others; they weren't very strong."

Blake seemed to be struggling with herself, before she added. "He's a bull faunus, his horns blend into his hair, and…he usually wears a mask to hide a…scar on his face."

"Not as cool-looking as this one, I bet," I interjected, turning to the side so my own scar was visible. I gave an over-the-top wink to break the mood, making Jazz giggle. Olivia snorted again, and Blake shook her head, though her lips twitched.

"I'll keep an eye out," Olivia told Blake, before turning toward Jazz. "But whoever he is, he won't get in here so easily. My…'security system' will prevent the door from opening and make the five feet in front of it completely unnavigable, so nobody is getting in before morning. On which note, I'm going to turn in. Ladies, you're sleeping through there; it's only a double, so I hope you like each other."

Nodding, I stood up, leaving my drink only half-finished, and went to grab my Handy Haversack. "I'll come back by tomorrow," I said over my shoulder as I turned the doorknob, but my passive [Detect Aura] suddenly flared in the same way it had when Olivia was cutting my hair, and the door refused to open.

"And just where do you think you're going?" my sister drawled. "You expect me to let you out of my sight when you almost died tonight?"

I turned around, frowning slightly. "I was planning to not force two women who've just been assaulted in their home, to try to rest with a man they barely know nearby."

Jazz looked flabbergasted, and even Blake blinked in surprise.

"You don't have to leave because of me," Jazz said, glancing at Olivia. "I mean, this is your sister's place. We're the guests. And you saved my life, I don't know who I could feel more comfortable having around."

"And you can speak for Blake's comfort, too?" I prodded, raising an eyebrow.

Blake wouldn't meet my eye, glancing away and biting her lip.

"Blake?" Jazz looked shocked.

Blake sighed. "It's… fine. You shouldn't have to leave just because of my paranoia."

"Then it's settled," Olivia cut in before I could mount another argument. "Jaune, you've got the couch, you can borrow one of my pillows."

Standing up, she left the bottle on the table while she dropped off her glass in the kitchen. Then she crossed the room and folded me into a hug that I was shocked didn't grant me a [Bludgeoning Resistance] skill.

"Sit back down and relax," Olivia said, and then headed to her bedroom with one last smile. A moment later, her door opened again, and a pillow flew out, apparently unsupported. I prepared to catch it, but the pillow swerved impossibly around my outstretched hand and walloped me in the face instead, drawing another giggle out of Jazz.

I pulled it away and grinned reluctantly. "Sleep well and wake, Olivia," I called out, setting the pillow on the stool while I dropped into her easy chair and poured myself another drink.

We settled into a semi-comfortable silence for a while, before Blake, who hadn't touched her drink, finally asked, "She showed that she can keep the door closed, but how is it 'unnavigable'?"

"Something to do with her Semblance," I shrugged, gesturing vaguely at the pillow. "However it works."

"You don't know?" Jazz asked curiously.

I shook my head. "She's telekinetic, or something like it, obviously. But I'm really not joking about the amnesia thing. I woke up in the hospital on 23rd July. That's effectively the beginning of my memory. I know how to walk and talk, but my personal history is a big blank." Seeing an uncomfortable look on Jazz's face, I gave a shrug. "I don't see the point in being all emo about it. I can't miss what I don't remember. Apparently two weeks ago I was a huge wuss who couldn't stand up to school bullies, though, so it's not like I'm eager to go back. I decided to just keep moving forward."

"And made an oath," Blake remembered.

I rubbed my neck, a little embarrassed — but only a little. "Yeah. Since my past was such a blur, I decided to outline what I wanted my future to contain. Holism, Goodness, Justice, Steadfastness, and Joy. Anything that could be considered a 'moral' choice, those are the criteria for my decision."

"And which of those points led to you jumping in tonight?"

My eyebrows rose. "All of them. I would have thought that was obvious."

Blake frowned, considering that. "I can see where jumping in could be considered just. And good, I suppose. Staying in the face of overwhelming odds was steadfast. But the other two?"

"Being able to keep you both alive, especially being able to heal Jazz, was joyous," I pointed out. "And I learned more about myself and my capabilities, both leading up to the altercation and as a result of it, which was holistic."

Blake sighed, eyeing her drink for another moment before finally picking it up, and sipping it.

"I'm going to sleep. Good night, you two," said Jazz, having already drained her glass. Circling the coffee table, she pecked me on the cheek and added, "Thank you again, for saving my life."

I bade her sleep well and wake, and she left me alone with Blake, who was staring at her empty glass.

I picked up the bottle. "Another?"

Blake lifted her golden gaze to me instead, and didn't reply for a long moment. "No, thanks."

Nodding, I simply topped my own glass off. We sat in silence for a while, Blake continuing to study me as I sipped. Finally, she said, "I don't understand you."

"In what sense?" I asked.

Blake's hands, resting in her lap, suddenly clenched. "Humans– People don't act like you do!" She said, not quite yelling. "You almost died today, and you're just shrugging it off, despite that scar you're likely to carry for the rest of your life. Do you have a death wish or something!?"

"Not at all."

"And I'm trying to respect this oath of yours," she went on, as if I hadn't spoken. "Or at least understand it. But it just sounds…ridiculous! It sounds like you're trying to be a fairytale knight, but there's no such thing in the real world!" Blake took a deep breath, before going on more softly. "Everybody wants something. Everybody expects a reward for going out of their way. And you just keep piling our debt to you higher, feeding us and giving us a room. But you haven't asked us for anything!"

She paused for breath, looking a little flushed, and I raised an eyebrow. "Would you feel better about it if I asked for a favor, then?"

"A favor?" Blake repeated, eyes narrowed once more. "What kind of…'favor'?"

I smiled.


DM: Nightshade - Paladin | Monday 19:17

‹Nightshade› All right, I accept. I'll meet you by the Emerald Gate tomorrow.

‹Paladin› I'll have to ride the train into town, so I can meet you at like

‹Paladin› eightish?

‹Nightshade› Can we do it at 9?

‹Paladin› sure, I'll see you then

Only took her three days to agree, I thought, slipping the Scroll away. Drawing my practice sword once more, I tried out a lunge.

Frowning, I glanced down, readjusted my feet and tried again. That felt better.

Jazz had demanded my Scroll number, to my surprise, since I figured she would have wanted to put the whole ordeal behind her. Blake had escorted her to her parents' house after just one night at Olivia's. I offered to accompany them, but Blake had declined immediately.

Accepting that, I went home and redoubled my workout, trying to get my base stats up higher so my buffs would be more effective. Five points in STR, two in CON, four in DEX, plus getting a few more ranks in Sleight of Hand and Parkour.

I was still scrambling to figure out how to effectively raise INT and WIS, but I didn't have much to go on, other than another point of INT when I finally got around to studying local and world history online for a few minutes while waiting for my mana to recharge.

Squaring off with the training dummy, I lunged once more, and the tip of the wooden sword smacked squarely into its chest.

[Sword Mastery has increased by 1!]

Perfect, that brings it to level ten, which gives me a boost to attack speed as well as damage.

Twirling the sword by rolling my wrist, I took a few more test swings in the air, noting that the sword really did seem a bit easier to handle. It was like it was more…at home in my hand, and closer to being an extension of my arm than a stick I happened to be holding.

"You really are getting better," observed Indigo from behind me. She was leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded.

"Just hit a skill threshold," I reported. "Check it out."

Activating [Cat's Grace] and [Bull's Strength], I ran at my sister, equipping my training shield while in motion, and swung with no expectation of actually hitting her.

Sure enough, she ducked under my swing easily, and slammed an open palm into my abdomen to knock me back. As I stumbled away, gasping, I raised my shield instinctively as This Is Gonna Hurt started blaring in my ears. Sure enough, she hammered the shield with a stab from a training sword she'd snatched from the wall.

It was blatantly obvious that she was going easy on me, but her eyebrows still rose at my successful block. Not much of an opening, but I wasn't likely to get a better one against an opponent whose level I still couldn't see, so I just swung with as much speed and power as I could reasonably control.

She parried easily, and lectured, "Exhale completely before you get hit in the gut and you won't get the breath knocked out of you."

I nodded, committing that to memory and slipping into a comfortable sword pattern I'd learned, when the sudden absence of Indigo's blade clacking against mine abruptly threw me off. Realizing my sister was done simply defending and ready to counterattack, I tried to huddle behind my shield again, but Indigo was having none of it. She delivered a toe-kick to the bottom of the shield with her steel-toed boot, and sent a thrust at my unprotected solar plexus. This time I managed to exhale. I curled up from the pain, but managed to stay upright, and immediately raised the sword I had refused to drop.

Indigo's sword clattered against my hasty block, and the shield I'd instinctively yanked back down tried to block the knee she was simultaneously sending at my face. I even activated [Reinforcement], but unfortunately, Indigo was definitely still physically stronger than me, and the result of the attempted block was simply the back of my shield smashing my nose instead of her kneecap.

"Fuck!" I exclaimed, the pain of a broken nose blinding for an instant before [Gamer's Body] immediately returned it to normal. Before I could so much as wipe my face, I had to jump back as Indigo lunged again. I managed to interpose my shield, to much better effect this time, and my return stab almost hit her leg before she twisted away. Glancing down, I saw her shadow unwrap its fingers from her ankle, and both of us took a moment to breathe.

"You've definitely crossed some kind of threshold," Indigo said, tossing her bangs out of her eyes. "You get distracted too easily though."

"Yeah, I get caught up in my own head." I sighed. "Not to worry, you're beating that habit out of me, fast."

"That's the idea." Indigo smirked, resting the practice sword on her shoulder. I lowered my guard, cautious of a trick, but she didn't strike. "What else is on the docket today?"

"Today, not much. Need to figure out a reasonable way to grind flat CON, since I don't get much anymore from running myself to exhaustion."

Rather, I couldn't reasonably run enough to exhaust myself from just that, anymore. Apparently 25 CON was the baseline for cross-country running.

"Maybe running with weights on me?" I picked at my lip, thinking about how to manage that. "Tomorrow I'm going to go try to find some Grimm to kill. I still think there's a decent chance they might drop loot."

Indigo stiffened. "You're going Hunting?" she asked.

"On the edge of the Emerald Forest," I confirmed, then added, "With a partner."

She instantly relaxed at hearing I wouldn't be alone. "Someone I know?"

"No, though Olivia met her," I replied. "That girl from the other night, Blake, is aiming for Beacon as well."

"So you'll be two tyros heading out?" Indigo was frowning again.

"You're not my mother," I reminded her, a little sharply. "Besides, from what I saw, Blake is pretty good; she's just a little bit below the weakest students I've seen in the city. I assume those must be the freshmen from last year."

Indigo's eyebrows knitted. "What do you mean?"

"I can see other people's levels if they're within a certain range of mine," I reminded her. "You and Olivia are still a mystery, but Blake is only a dozen levels ahead of me. Of the people I've [Observed] in town, the lowest ones with the Job of 'Beacon Student' have levels in the mid-twenties, while the highest I've seen look a few years older and are still outside my range, meaning they're over sixty."

"Because you're level ten," she deduced. "And you said most civilians are single-digit, so you're… probably reaching beginning-of-combat-school levels." She sounded reluctant to admit that. Sighing, she continued, "I want to say you're crazy for expecting to be ready for Beacon next year when you're only at this level right now, but getting this far in just a couple weeks is already nuts."

"It'll still be tight," I admitted. "I'd like to hit at least level twenty before school, but each successive level takes way more EXP. My Semblance doesn't give me the numbers, but judging by the curve, it's exponential. I'll probably need like… four times as much total EXP as it took to get from one to ten."

"You still got that in a couple weeks," Indigo observed, lowering her head in thought so that her hair fell across her face.

I snorted. "A couple weeks in which I had legitimate fights with people way out of my weight class, that I only won through quick thinking and cunning," I pointed out. "I don't have any intention of repeating that pattern, it's bad for my health."

Indigo shook her head sadly. "Then you shouldn't come at me willy-nilly." Her hair parted, and the mocking smile on her lips betrayed her.

Realizing what she was doing, I tried to jump away, but failed as shadowy hands suddenly grabbed my ankles. "Shit!"

I caught her first stab on my shield, deflecting it to the outside. My footing wasn't too bad, all things considered, but not being able to move my legs was going to make me lose in short order. I had no Dust on me, so there was no easy way to make enough light to disrupt Indigo's control of my shadow, so I needed to take advantage of my sister being off-balance from my parry. My sword was too far and at the wrong angle for a good strike, and I couldn't kick, which left…

Crouching as best I could as Indigo unwillingly completed the motion of the lunge she had committed to, I leaned forward and straightened up explosively, driving my forehead into her nose. Her dark blue Aura flared, but not fast enough, and I heard the cartilage snap. Unfortunately, even that wasn't enough to make her lose focus on her Semblance, and the blood that spurted from her nose got in my eyes almost immediately, leaving me not only immobile, but blind.

Sure enough, I sensed her start circling me with [Detect Aura] as I tried to clear my vision. I brought my shield up, but she just attacked my legs instead. Soon she was behind me, and the wooden sword was 'stabbing' me over and over. I was only blocking maybe one in every eight or nine shots, and my HP was dropping rapidly despite the nonlethal nature of her weapon as she jabbed at my liver, spine, and kidneys.

"Uncle," I grunted at about 10% HP. I dropped my sword and unequipped the shield, which blinked it to my back in time to block the next stab that was already coming. I finally wiped my eyes, and Indigo whacked me upside the head with her free hand as she strolled back in front of me.

"You broke by dose you liddle shit," she complained through gritted teeth, grabbing a towel and straightening it with another crunch.

"Turnabout's fair play," I grunted, sitting down and deactivating my active animal buffs in favor of [Bear's Endurance]. "Besides, I'd be pissing red from all the times you hit my kidneys if I wasn't a healer."

Indigo blew the blood out of her nostrils. "But you are a healer," she reminded me, sounding normal again. "So what are you whining about?"

I squinted up at her, but she was wiping her face with the clean side of the towel. "It still hurts when you hit me."

"So take that as incentive to not get hit," Indigo was smirking again when she threw the towel away.

"Do you need healing?" I asked, but she shook her head.

"My Aura dealt with it. Good shot, by the way."

"Only opening I could find," I replied, shutting my eyes and preparing to meditate my HP and MP back. "You don't make enough mistakes, or I'm not good enough to see most of them." I paused, cracking one eye to look at my sister again. "You do lunge too often, though."

"Hazards of using a stabbing weapon through Beacon," she shrugged. "It's my first instinct, even if these swords aren't designed for it."

I shrugged painfully, and Indigo moved to leave, hanging the sword up where she'd grabbed it. "I need a shower."

She paused at the door and glanced over her shoulder. "Good job, Jaune."

I grinned, but it dropped off my face as soon as she left, my missing HP feeling like an ache all over my back even with the regen from forty-something CON. Sighing, I triggered [Gaia's Pulse], sinking into myself for the ten or so minutes it would take to get my HP back to full. Since I kept the buff going, my MP only ticked up very slowly in comparison, but it was above half so I wasn't worried about it.

When the aches had faded and my HP was full, I tilted my neck to pop it, and the notifications suppressed by the fight began crowding my sight.

[Duel Alert!: Jaune Arc vs. Indigo Arc]

[Result: Defeat!]

[You have gained 2,000 EXP!]

[By Enduring a new damage type, you have unlocked the skill [Bludgeoning Resistance]!]

[Bludgeoning Resistance (Passive) LV 1 EXP: 0.00% ]
[A skill that makes the body's durability increase, reducing damage taken from bludgeoning and crushing attacks.]
[1% decrease in damage taken from bludgeoning attacks.]
[1% chance to maintain focus and not Flinch when taking damage from any source.]

[Endurance's rank has increased by 1!]

[A skill has been created through a special action! Deflecting an incoming attack and immediately counterattacking has created the skill [Parry]!]

[Parry (Trigger) LV 1 EXP: 0.00% MP: 100]
[Often, a greater defense is possible than simply absorbing blows. This technique allows an incoming blow to be deflected instead, using the opponent's momentum against them to avoid damage.]
[Allows for a counterattack following a successful parry.]

[Trigger skills are a type of active ability with an associated MP cost to activate, but unlike Active skills, can only be activated if specific circumstances are met. Each Trigger skill is unique in its prerequisites.]

[Reinforcement has increased by 1! Shield Mastery has increased by 1! Shield Mastery has increased by 1! Blunt Resistance has increased by 1! Shield Mastery has increased by 1! Martial Arts' level has increased by 1! Blunt Resistance has increased by 1! Blunt Resistance has increased by 1! Blunt Resistance has increased by 1! Blunt Resistance has increased by 1! Melee Combat Mastery has increased by 1!]

[By pushing your body past its limits, you have increased your physical abilities! Your CON has increased by 1! Your CON has increased by 1! Gaia's Pulse has increased by 1! Bull's Strength has increased by 1! Cat's Grace has increased by 1! Bear's Endurance has increased by 1!]

That much from a blatant loss in a straight fight, I marveled. Just how damn strong were my sisters, anyway? And I picked up a Blunt Resistance to go with the Slashing Resistance I got from Adam. Wonder how many damage types there are? Jeez, it's already to level 6, so the resists are at 6% now too. Damn, I guess practice swords are only going to give me Blunt Resistance. I'll have to practice with live weapons before Beacon if I want to get Slashing Resistance up.

I stretched where I sat, and idly shoved the practice sword back in my [Inventory] before getting up and heading for the weight room to lift some more.


I was cooking breakfast the next morning when Indigo staggered downstairs under her own power around half-past eight. She didn't knock anything over, but her shadow still had to tug her chair under her as she sat down a little too far to the left, already reaching blindly for the coffee I poured as soon as I felt her on the stairs.

"Didn't expect to see you before noon," I commented as she set the mug down, now half-empty.

"Wanted to see you off," she grunted, head drooping before she forced herself to sit up.

"Wanted some breakfast you didn't have to make, more like," I teased. "How many eggs and what style?"

"Four, over medium." Indigo said, the last word being cut off by a yawn. "What time are you leaving?"

"We're meeting by the Emerald Gate at nine; I'll probably take off once I eat and get there a little early," I replied, tilting the already-heated skillet to better coat it with the grease from the bacon I'd just finished frying.

"Didn't expect you to start this late," she observed belatedly, taking another sip of coffee. "You've been getting up at, what, six?"

"Thereabouts," I agreed. I cracked four eggs into a bowl, then poured them into the pan all at once. "But this is when Blake wanted to meet. I offered eight, but I guess she wanted to sleep in."

"She rescheduled on you?" Indigo asked, looking a bit more awake.

"Yeah," I said, unlocking my Scroll with my left hand and tossing it to her as I shook the skillet with my right to make sure the eggs didn't stick.

There was a moment's silence as Indigo scrolled back through my text history with Blake. "Suspicious little thing, isn't she?"

"With those guys looking for her, can't be too careful," I shrugged, flipping the eggs carefully so the yolks wouldn't break.

"Not what I meant, bro-bro," Indigo smirked, borrowing Olivia's nickname for me. "Look at all these little adjustments she makes to any plans you suggest. Look at how long she kept you on the hook for an answer on whether she'd come today at all. And even then, she still rescheduled on you?"

"What about it?" I asked, plating her food and setting it in front of her.

"You really think she's got something better to do this morning?" Indigo asked rhetorically. "She's testing you."

I blinked, cracking three more eggs to cook over easy for myself. "About what?"

Indigo shrugged. "I've done th– seen this before, from girls with controlling exes." She clearly changed what she was saying there, and I elected not to pry. "If a guy you're talking to, especially if he's a romantic prospect, has a habit of planning everything out, and telling you what to do instead of asking, you introduce a change to the plan to see how he reacts. Something harmless, like meeting an hour later, or at a different place."

She waggled my scroll, and went on. "A good guy will accept it. A scumbag will refuse to change his plans and insist you go along with him.

"What if he really can't meet later because of another engagement?" I suggested, curious.

Indigo shook her head. "If he's decent, he'll explain that he has something else later and probably ask when a better time would be. A scumbag will demand to know why you want to change it. It's just an easy rule of thumb to narrow down who not to meet, if you're chatting digitally."

She flicked her finger to scroll back to the most recent messages. "Good answer from you, Jaune-o."

"Thanks," I scoffed, "But I'm pretty sure she's more the type to do that to anyone, and it doesn't have anything to do with 'romantic prospects'."

Indigo rolled her eyes skeptically, which I ignored, eating my own breakfast quickly and equipping my Combat gear. I stood up, shrugging and stretching to get used to my range of motion with the breastplate on. "I should get some more armor pieces," I mused, mostly to myself.

"Really?" Indigo raised an eyebrow. "Most Huntsmen prefer to dress light, you know."

"I still don't have Aura that protects me," I reminded her. "But even if I did, armor is still armor after my Aura breaks. Plus, with my stats, I doubt I'll notice the weight."

She bit her lip. "Point."

I also went ahead and equipped the Family Sword with its shield-sheath — sheathld? shielth? — causing the bandolier to appear automatically to hang it beside my left hip. Using my Semblance's interface to do the same to my stolen pistol gave it a holster on my right hip, shuffling the pouches I'd attached to my belt the previous day into better positions. Testing the draw and finding it both easy and natural, I sat back down on the edge of my chair and laid it in front of me.

It was fairly large, looking like a big brother to Indigo's pistol, with a barrel nearly a full inch longer. The elongated slide meant both a longer sight radius and more weight toward the front to keep the barrel down when shooting, all of which combined to mean better overall accuracy, which made me think this was probably the Remnan equivalent of a G41, compared to Indigo's G21.

Ejecting the magazine and racking the slide a few times to make sure the pipe was empty, I popped a bullet out of the mag and peered closely at it, noting as usual that it was a bit lighter than an equivalent Terran bullet, probably because Dust was such an energy-dense propellant. I hadn't broken any of the bullets open yet, mostly because I lacked a proper workbench, and I only had the one clip that was already half-empty.

"Your gun is a forty-five, right?" I asked Indigo. "Can you spare a half-dozen rounds? Or will that conflict with the geas?"

She considered it for a moment, then got to her feet. "Who cares? The geas is stupid."

Crossing to the safe beside the door, Indigo scanned her thumb and pulled her gun out. She ejected her own magazine and slid six bullets out, watching carefully as I loaded my clip to a full thirteen round capacity.

I quickly stripped the weapon, clearing the slide and inspecting the action. It didn't look quite right compared to my memories from Earth, but I'd taken the time to examine and test the gun over the last few days and this seemed to be normal for a Dust-based firearm.

Checking the time, I reassembled the stolen gun, slapping the newly-full magazine in and slipped it back into the holster. Standing up once more, I pushed my Scroll into my [Inventory] and did a quick pocket check. Scroll, I'd just touched, sword, gun, armor, wallet, knives; I was good to go.

Indigo, who had sat back down to eat more leisurely, followed me with her eyes as I headed for the door. I glanced back, even as I pulled out my sunglasses.

"No more complaints?" I asked, to be sure.

Indigo shook her head. "I don't have to like it, but after our spar last night I can admit you'll probably be fine. As long as you're smart and don't bite off more than you can chew."

I grinned. "I'll see what I can do."

"Good Hunting, Jaune."


We didn't live far from the Emerald Gate, so I was there after only a few stops, at maybe five minutes to nine. As I stepped off, I glanced around, but I didn't see Blake anywhere.

That doesn't mean she's not here already, though, I mused.

Taking a seat on a bench, I hummed along to the ambient background music of the Emerald Forest, just barely audible here on the edge of town, and focused on [Detect Aura] as I activated it.

The Emerald Gate wasn't exactly a thoroughfare, since there wasn't much reason for most civilians to go outside the walls of the Kingdom, but there were a few dozen people in the hundred-twenty meters I could currently sense. Four guarding the gate, a few outside it heading in, one outside heading away, and the majority off somewhere behind me, simply going about their day and only in my range coincidentally.

And one on the roof of the building across the street.

Flicking my eyes up without moving my head, I still had to peer closely to notice that one of the silhouettes against the sky wasn't a chimney or a plumbing vent, but a head with a bow, angled toward me.

Let's see what [Observe] tells me.

[Name: Blake Belladonna]
[LV 23]
[Title: On Whom The Pale Moon Gleams]
[Race: Cat Faunus]
[Age: 17]
[Job: Amateur Huntress]
[Class: Rogue]
[Semblance: Shadow]
[Stats: 16 STR, 12 CON, 35 DEX, 17 INT, 13 WIS, 22 CHA]
[Background: Only child of Ghira Belladonna, Chieftain of Menagerie. Former White Fang operative, defected recently. Intending to test into Beacon Academy.]
[Emotions: Curious, nervous.]

The bow twitched slightly as I watched.

She didn't have that the other night. I thought. Wonder if it's new? Hard to believe that's her entire disguise after Jazz got hurt. And if Jazz died in canon, it's even more ridiculous that Blake wouldn't go to greater lengths. Still, there's nothing there I didn't already know or couldn't have guessed.

As I was pondering, Blake slipped away from the edge facing the train, and coincidentally me, moving out of sight. A moment later, she emerged from the alley beside the building, walking toward me purposefully.

Standing up, I moved to meet her. "Hey, thanks for coming."

"Not at all," she said, looking me up and down. Not checking me out — at least not primarily, though her eyes did linger on my recently more-pronounced forearms, revealed by the cuffed-up arms of my overshirt.

Thank you, boosted STR and CON.

Rather, she was mostly examining my openly-worn weapons and armor, and the quality of my boots. "You might have wanted to wear something other than your regular outfit under that," she remarked.

I shrugged. "As a Huntsman I'll be expected to keep my clothes in good shape."

That had been a lesson from my studies of history. The reason Hunters wore such distinctive and often-impractical outfits was much the same as with comic book superheroes: Aesthetics. Not just personal style, though that was certainly a valued factor on Remnant, but because it was important for Huntsmen and Huntresses to stand out in a crowd. Grimm, the manifestation of anonymity, all looked the same, and in the face of an oncoming horde, civilians needed to be able to spot a Hunter at a glance.

And it's the All Might principle, I guess. Bright clothes say, 'I am here. I will protect you. You have nothing to fear.'

[Clever intuition caused your INT to increase by 1!]

Blake nodded, and I stretched my neck to the side until it popped, before following her toward the Emerald Gate. The guards looked us over as we scanned our Scrolls to indicate we were leaving the city, but it was daylight, and we were wearing bright colors and openly carrying weapons. Most likely they took us for a pair of Beacon students, rather than hopefuls, but what mattered was they made no move to stop us.

Blake and I passed through the gate, strolling up the road at an unhurried pace until the road passed into the Emerald Forest itself, about half a mile away from the walls and the section of land the Guard kept clear-cut. At an unspoken agreement, we both stepped off the road and into the treeline.

Blake seemed just as much at home in the woods as in the city — that is, mostly, but not quite, yet faking it as best she could. She still made a lot less noise than me, but once I started focusing on it I managed to just sound like someone twice my weight rather than a whole Boarbatusk crashing through the undergrowth.

[A skill has been created through a special action! Making an effort to reduce the sound of your passage has created the skill [Stealth]!]

[Stealth (Passive/Active) LV 1 EXP: 0.00%]
[The art of remaining unnoticed. Reduce noise from your movements and breathing, to sneak into a place or up on someone. Stay out of sight of guards, cameras, and alarms.]
[-25% movement noise.]
[ACTIVE: MP: 15/min]
[Highlights observed guard patrol routes and camera recording areas.]
[Increase noise reduction percentage by DEX while active.]
[25% chance to spot hidden cameras and traps.]

Hey, not bad. Activating the skill, I found the drain to be slightly higher than my regen, but as long as I wasn't using any other skills it effectively only cost me about 1MP/min. That brought my noise down by about sixty percent. Still, I feel like I can do better. Do I remember how to do this…?

I looked down and started placing my steps more carefully, avoiding twigs and fallen leaves, stepping mostly where there were roots and rocks.

[Importing Outsider save data… Save data loaded successfully!]

[You have remembered the skill [Woodcraft]!]

[Woodcraft (Passive) LV 10 EXP: 0.00%]
[The skill and practice of maintaining oneself and making one's way in a variety of natural environments; encompassing knowledge and understanding of obtaining necessities such as foraging for food, sourcing safe water, shelter-building, firecraft, and navigation.]
[You always know the number of hours left before the next sunrise or sunset.]
[You know how to build a temporary shelter with the materials you have at hand.]
[You always know which way is north.]
[You can move 10% faster and smoother through natural environments.]
[Any trail you leave is 10% harder to identify, find, and follow, unless you decide otherwise.]
[You can find 10% more food and water when foraging.]
[You can build a fire 10% easier in any weather conditions.]

There we go. Actually, I was pretty sure I should be better at fire-making than that, but on the other hand, I don't actually need a skill to start a fire. Physics, thankfully, was not fully bound by 'game logic'.

I looked around, and had to do a double-take before I found Blake. Even with as much white as she wore, she was hard to pick out of the forest gloom. She arched an eyebrow, looking pleased with herself, but waved that I should go ahead, content to shadow me for the moment.

As soon as we started moving forward though, I lost her again.

[Detecting something trying to remain hidden… Success!]

Ah, there you are… I tried to keep her in my peripheral vision, and eventually gained a point in WIS for the trouble.

I didn't break the silence until [Detect Grimm] went off. I'd been keeping it active for a minute at a time, then relying on my other senses for a few minutes before popping it again. We were about twenty minutes into the woods when I finally felt something enter my hundred-meter range.

[Detect Grimm has increased by 1! Detect Grimm has increased by 1!]

"We're getting close to one," I reported.

"I hear it," Blake raised an eyebrow. "You shouldn't be able to, though."

She was right, it was just a dark spot on my 'Grimm-dar', obscuring the metaphorical light behind it by its presence, but I ignored her comment. "I'll see if I can take it, it doesn't seem that strong. Just hang back and make sure I don't get snuck up on?"

"I'll shout," Blake agreed. "Are you sure you don't want help, though? You said this was your first Hunt."

I shook my head. "I need to get stronger very fast, that means fights are going to be a bit dangerous. And although this is my first Hunt, it's better to see what I can handle now, while I have someone to keep me alive."

We started off on an intercept course toward where the Grimm's lazy pace was taking it, slowly from right to left across my senses. Blake kept drifting right, before correcting to match my course, but we gained on it pretty fast.

"Why the urgency in getting stronger?" Blake asked softly, as we closed in on the Grimm we'd sensed.

"I'm trying to get into Beacon next term," I said. Blake's back stiffened, but I kept going. "It's the one thing my old self seemed to want that I agreed with. But he was in a public school, so he was pretty lazy and out of shape."

Blake glanced skeptically at my recently-toned forearms. "When did you get out of the hospital?"

"23 July," I sighed. "See what I mean? I've got eight months to get on a level with someone who's been to Combat School. I've been working my ass off and I can tell it's only going to get harder from here."

"If you were that unprepared, why would you have been aspiring to Beacon?" Blake asked, after a moment.

"Not a godsforsaken clue," I shrugged. "Maybe he was planning to cheat, like send in fake transcripts or something."

"There's no way Professor Ozpin wouldn't spot fake transcripts," Blake scoffed, which made me grin.

[Acting has increased by 1!]

Ugh, and there goes that good vibe.

"All right," I murmured. Mostly to myself, though loud enough for Blake to hear. "Solo kill, let's go."

We fell silent again as we approached the Grimm, which was still alone. I let [Detect Grimm] fade, since even I could hear it now. I was down about 10% of my MP, and staying there as [Stealth] matched my natural regen. I could see the monster now, a good-size bear, so I had mana to spare, and something told me [Stealth] would end once I attacked, returning my regen to normal and leaving me open to use whatever skills or spells I might need.

[Observe] .

[Name: Ursa Minor]
[LV: 17]
[Title: I Don't Speak Softly]
[Stats: 50 STR, 85 CON, 40 DEX, 15 INT, 8 WIS, 0 CHA]

Stats are higher than expected for its level, I mused, feeling my breath quicken as the bearlike creature got nearer. It wasn't huge, only a Minor, but its physical stats were better than mine. Unsurprisingly, I was not stronger than a bear.

Shit, am I ready for this? I was starting to sweat.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the Ursa's head snapped around to face me, and it instantly began to charge, leaping from a slow amble to a dead run. It had also been eerily silent, apart from its footsteps, but now suddenly let out a muddy growl.

Fuck, that's right, they can detect fear! I remembered a moment too late. Yanking the Family Sword clear of the sheath, I deployed it into a shield at the same time I flung myself sideways, rolling with my passive [Parkour] skill to come instantly back to my feet. There was nothing I could do about the fear and tension I was feeling, but at least it was starting to get washed away by adrenaline.

The Ursa skidded past me, digging its claws into the loamy forest floor to stop faster than it could have otherwise, and reared up. I raised my shield, and just had time to activate [Reinforcement] and [Bull's Strength] before it slammed down.

Fortunately, the combination brought me to 55 STR, letting me hold back the Ursa's flat 50 for a moment, before I flexed my legs and forced its paw back up. Suddenly off-balance, the Ursa roared again, in what seemed like frustration that I wasn't already dead.

I dropped both buffs, so that they wouldn't last past the current minute. I needed to preserve my MP, so I'd practice my animal buffs later. Instead, I was going to use this fight to focus on one of my most underleveled skills. Gritting my teeth, I brought the Family Sword around in a diagonal swipe, slashing at the upright bear from shoulder to hip.

[Crusader's Smite] !

There was the slightest white glow around the Family Sword's blade as it cut the Grimm's black flesh, and its HP dropped by a respectable amount as the dark fur parted to reveal the monster's odd red insides. No organs or even internal bone structure visible, just a flat red substance that barely ran.

‹I Don't Speak Softly›
LV 17
Ursa Minor
HP: [-82%- ]

Hmm… That HP bar is new.

The Ursa let out a bellow of pain, and I was forced to jump back as it brought both paws down in a mighty slam.

Taking a page out of Indigo's book, I lunged, stabbing it through one paw, but the other paw swung up faster than I expected and walloped me across the head.

Staggering, I managed to keep a hold of my sword and stay on my feet, but my eyes streamed from the pain before [Gamer's Body] made it fade into a mere 15% of my HP being depleted.

"That HURT!" I growled, slashing at the Ursa and triggering [Crusader's Smite] again. I laid open its shoulder, deep enough that I should have seen bone, but the Grimm barely seemed to notice, lunging forward with only a slight stumble and latching its jaws around my own shoulder before I could raise my shield again. "FUCK!"

I didn't have the leverage to slash, so I just shoved the blade point-first into its neck, triggering [Crusader's Smite] once more. That hit must have been critical, because the Grimm seemed stunned for a moment, and I was able to wrench my arm and blade free to jump away again.

Furious now, I was about to step forward again when the Ursa suddenly stiffened, and then collapsed on its face, HP suddenly dropping from the forty-ish percent I'd left it to zero. Blinking, it took me a moment in the dim light to notice the matte black kusarigama impaled through the back of the Ursa's head, or the ribbon leading back to the edge of the clearing, where Blake had apparently scaled a tree to observe the fight.

She was watching me intently, almost looking through me, even as she yanked her weapon free by the ribbon and caught it as it came flying back. I looked down at the Grimm, already beginning to dissolve into nothing, then back at Blake.

"Thanks," I said simply, sliding the Family Sword back into the top of the shield, but leaving it attached to my arm. With my hand now free, I rubbed where I'd been bitten. "Damn, that hurt."

Blake visibly relaxed, dropping from the branch with barely a sound. She bit her lip, then asked, "Are you all right?"

I nodded, pulling the neck of my shirt away to show that my shoulder was unblemished. "Healed right up," I assured her. "Guess I wasn't quite as ready as I thought, though."

"I think you could have finished it," Blake offered, keeping her distance and leaning against the trunk. "You got some good hits in."

"Took too many myself, though," I said, scowling down at the holes in my shirt. "I was really hoping to deal with it myself."

"I didn't know you would recover that fast. It took you some time to heal Jazz," Blake observed.

"I can heal myself about twice as fast as I can other people," I said, which was true for the moment, although [Lay On Hands] seemed to advance in an interesting, staggered way, letting me give more than half of my regen to the target after level 1 but actually costing slightly less than half. "Fortunately, my skin knits almost immediately."

[Acting has increased by 1!]

Tch… Ignoring my sarcastic Semblance, I stretched my muscles and turned on the spot, feeling around with [Detect Grimm] to see if there were any more nearby as I checked the rest of the notifications that had been suppressed by being in combat.

[You have gained 200 EXP! You found 200L! You found a Grade I Shock Dust Crystal Shard! Shield Mastery has increased by 1! Crusader's Smite has increased by 1! Crusader's Smite has increased by 1!]

[By Enduring a new damage type, you have unlocked the skill [Piercing Resistance]!]

[Piercing Resistance (Passive) LV 1 EXP: 0.00% ]
[A skill that makes the body's durability increase, reducing damage taken from piercing and stabbing attacks.]
[1% decrease in damage taken from piercing attacks.]
[Reduces penetration of the body by all projectiles by 1%.]

[Endurance's rank has increased by 1!]

Good, looks like Auto-Loot works, I thought with a sigh of relief that I wouldn't have to explain cash and Dust appearing from dead Grimm. Although I kind of envy Han Jee-han for getting to start off fighting zombies instead of goddamn bears. And there's my third physical resistance as well. Wonder how many resistances there are?

Not wanting to spend too much time staring into space, I started moving North again, and Blake followed.


Name: Jaune Arc
Level: 10 (Next: 90.33%)
Title: Initiate
Race: Human
Age: 17
Job: None
Class: Paladin
Semblance: The Gamer
HP: 626/873
MP: 667/762
STR: 40
CON: 29.9
(29)
DEX: 35 (31)
INT: 33
WIS: 44
CHA: 28.3
(23)
Points: 30
Money: 40615L
Status: Cursed – Yellow Death [Highest]


A/N: Surely Jaune's line about not planning on getting in dangerous fights all the time won't become immediately tragically ironic. Surely.

There've been some comments that Jaune talks too much, to himself and otherwise. And...yeah, he does. I'm a fairly decompressed writer and this story is, as much as anything, an experiment in first-person, which I don't use often. The shifted perspective makes it much easier to exposit, which is a double-edged sword because it's easy to fall into telling without showing. As a way to avoid that, I lean into dialogue, because characters playing off each other is what I live for. If the pace is too slow overall, I'm not sure I can really fix that, because the way this story is shaping up, there's bursts of intense activity contained in the space of a few days, followed by timeskips of weeks.