A/N: Reminder: f you're enjoying this story, feel free to check out my discord server. discord dot gg slash RD3Y5pM7u2
Imperator
I gained a single point in CHA for my pronouncement, probably from the mayor's young bodyguards, but the mayor herself remained skeptical about our chances. She didn't want anyone else in the village even aware of our mission, in case their nervousness about the long odds raised enough negativity to draw in Grimm. While the open desert couldn't support many plants or animals compared to less-arid regions, Grimm weren't entirely biological. Deathstalkers could bury themselves in the sand and hibernate — for lack of a better word — for decades before waking up every bit as homicidal as when they went inactive.
For my part, I spent the final leg of the flight staring at my [Stats] sheet. I had 124 points to spend, as I hadn't gained any more levels since waking up Amber. I hadn't gained any other stat points since then either, and had been saving my free points out of habit. Raising my STR in the middle of the fight with Krios had outright saved my life, and I had been instinctively hoarding them ever since, preparing for the next crisis… but if heading into battle with a hundred-meter two-headed snake didn't qualify, I wasn't sure what would.
Moreover, I was hitting a point where the flat point change was probably more valuable than the new skill would be, because I had enough passive and active buffs available that a higher base meant much higher passives, and absurdly higher actives — right now for example, before spending any points, my base 53 DEX reached 292 with all my buffs active. Thanks, [Parkour].
My mental stats didn't boost quite that high, since the active component of [Aura] didn't increase INT or WIS and [Reinforcement] also excluded CHA, but even they received a hefty boost from the animal buffs at this point.
Screw it, I'm bound to get some points back from the EXP of killing another Named.
I was primarily a healer on this mission, but that didn't mean much when our squad was this small. If I tried to hang back and just recharge Amber, it would mean leaving Aisha and Professor Rumpole fighting on their own.
That meant I was best off sticking to my physical build. I could maybe see myself buying up WIS in the future, but now wasn't the time. My DEX was also high enough for the moment, as speed wasn't a central focus for me either. No, what I needed was to be able to hold the line, to stand steadfast and unyielding in the face of any Grimm, even a Named, and to be able to dish out as much punishment than I could take. Or preferably more.
[By raising STR to 100, you can select a new skill!]
Giant Killer (Passive)
A skill that represents your growing legacy of bringing down titanic beasts.
Boosts damage vs higher-HP enemies.
10% chance to stun struck enemies.
Power Overwhelming (Passive)
A skill that represents your growing reputation for outstanding strength.
10% reduction in armor encumbrance.
10% defense penetration.
Interesting phrasing. I guess my choices are having an impact on the skill descriptions, I'll have to see what it says once I pick one.
[Power Overwhelming] suits the strength build I've been leaning toward. I have a feeling these are like the Aspects where one part of it scales and the other is static; defense penetration is tempting considering every Grimm has bone armor, and I imagine it would pierce Aura in a similar way. I do keep meaning to pick up more armor pieces, but with my STR this high, I can't imagine needing a 10% reduction, even if it would be nice.
On the other hand, [Giant Killer] doesn't say how much the damage boost is, and I have to assume the way I'm scaling that I'm going to outstrip most average Grimm in terms of HP soon. If I haven't already. But… that probably won't be true of the Named, and since they're my ultimate goal, it's probably the better play. And I bet that stun chance stacks with Shock Dust, too, so with [Elemental Weapon] I could potentially stunlock an enemy I hit frequently enough.
[You selected the skill [Giant Killer]!]
[Giant Killer (Passive) LV 1 EXP: 0.00%]
[Your name is starting to become known for the feats you have accomplished. Facing down a monster is a challenge; killing a giant monster is the domain of legends, and you are taking your place amongst them.]
[Boosts the damage of your attacks by 20% against enemies with maximum HP higher than your own.]
[Gain a 10% chance to stun enemies when striking with a physical attack.]
Okay damn, starting the scaling at 20% isn't too fucking shabby. And now…
[By raising CON to 100, you can select a new skill!]
Indefatigable (Passive)
A skill that represents your growing legacy for relentless determination.
10% increase in maximum Stamina.
Stamina costs halved.
Steadfast (Passive)
A skill that represents your growing reputation of tireless protection.
10% increase to poise.
Reduces damage taken to Aura shield.
Hm, stamina… that mechanic is one of the only opaque things about the Game. For [Indefatigable], the increased stamina pool is presumably the one that will scale, while halving costs is something that basically doubles my effective stamina. That could make me a real juggernaut. I haven't had much of an issue with stamina since the fight with Krios, coz most fights end pretty quick and I have a chance to meditate. Hopefully passing over that doesn't fuck me.
[Steadfast] is speaking to me, though. I hadn't expected a CON bonus to increase how much tanking I can do with [Aura], but the more I can use that, the more I'll resemble a normal Huntsman and the less suspicious I'll look to Cinder and the rest. That wouldn't be enough on its own to tempt me, but the Poise boost… if that refers to what I think it does, this is a no-brainer.
[You selected the skill [Steadfast]!]
[Steadfast (Passive) LV 1 EXP: 0.00%]
[You are becoming recognized as a stalwart defender, always ready to defend others in times of danger. Hunters are the shield that guards the realms of mortals, and you are living up to that legacy against all odds.]
[Improves your ability to hold your ground and resist staggering under heavy blows by 10%.]
[Reduces damage taken to MP via active Aura by a flat amount equal to 50% of current CON.]
'Against all odds'… The Game doesn't usually insult me directly, so I wonder if that's referring to Yellow Death? Anyway, poise is as good as I thought it was, and the hardened shield effect is way better than I expected. Okay, I feel good about this.
This also wasn't the time to be using my [Academy Student] Title. Normally, when heading into battle with a Named, I would be jumping straight to [Grimm Slayer], but since I was rolling with a squad this time, I decided to go with my Paladin title [Chevalier]. Sure, Rumpole and Aisha were probably experienced enough to not worry about emotional upheavals, and I would protected from external ones by [Gamer's Mind], but while Amber had Huntress training, she was also recently recovering from a coma after a traumatic event that literally damaged her soul. A little extra insurance that our morale wouldn't break could only be a good thing.
Aisha's Scroll chirped, and Bianca's voice came over it. "Denium, we need to add Jaune and Amber to our comm network."
"Copy that, Commander."
She dug into a panel by the door and returned with earpieces, showing us how to connect them to our Scrolls before syncing us into the Legion's mission frequency.
[You have connected an earpiece for near-me radio communication. Would you like to switch to Intent input mode?]
[Intent mode activates voice input based on your desire to speak over the radio. Note that this will disable ordinary Scroll communication until radio mode is exited.]
Yes, please.
I held my hand over the earpiece, not actually touching it, I spoke at a normal volume. "Bianca, Jaune, how do you hear me? Over."
Bianca's reply was immediate, so it obviously transmitted as I'd intended. "Good and readable. This is the teamwide frequency; for local comms my Squad Alpha will shift down 1, your Squad Bravo will shift down 2. Read back, over."
"I read back: current frequency is teamwide, Alpha down 1, Bravo down 2, over."
"We'll each be landing a klick away from where Amphivena was spotted and the ground teams will approach on foot," Bianca continued. "Sanzang and Rumpole will return to the sky and provide overwatch. Denium has command of Bravo. Is that clear, Jaune? Over."
I rolled my eyes. "Wilco, Commander. Good hunting. Out."
Aisha, meanwhile, banged on the cockpit door, calling out, "ETA?"
Rumpole answered over the intercom, "Two minutes, and quit hitting the door you barbarian."
Aisha's lip curled for a moment before she turned toward us, putting on her game face. "We'll approach at a speed you can maintain; once we have a visual on the target, we'll wait for the Commander to signal they're moving in so both squads can attack in concert. No Aura buildup before then unless you're under active threat, and we might just be able to get the drop on it."
"Any idea which head we've got?" Amber asked curiously.
Aisha shrugged. "No telling. We've got the East end of the canyon; if we get overwhelmed, we fall back and the Commander will let her Semblance rip to hopefully drive the monster into the desert."
"What could go wrong?" I snarked.
Amber slugged me in the shoulder. "Don't jinx us, I don't want to bite off more fish than we can fry."
"I was being sarcastic, that doesn't count as taunting Murphy," I argued.
Aisha snorted. "Rookie, in this business, everything counts as taunting Murphy."
Rumpole didn't bother landing, just came to a hover about twenty feet off the ground, opened the door remotely, and yelled at us to jump. After a few minutes' jog we got the word that Bianca was almost in position.
"We need to speed up," Aisha said, glancing back at us as we reached the mouth of the canyon.
I had been jogging alongside Amber, making sure she didn't fall behind, but now I scooped her up in a princess carry and lengthened my stride, keeping pace even as Aisha sped up. Soon, we were both covering ground faster than Earth's Olympic sprinters.
"Jaune!" Amber flailed for a moment before putting her arms around my neck, pouting. "I guess I'm still not back to peak condition…"
"It's fine," I assured her. "In another situation you could fly with your staff, right?"
"Yeah. Aren't you going to be tired out when it's time to fight, though?" she asked, concerned.
I shook my head. "It's not like you're heavy; I could carry you for miles."
"No need," Aisha interrupted, slowing down as the canyon made a sudden turn, blocking our view of what lay ahead. She peered around the corner, then pulled her head back, tapped her earpiece, and spoke both to us and over the channel, "We're in position now, over."
"On my mark, we switch to squad frequencies, Jin and Denium move in, while Amber and I start charging," Bianca ordered. "At sixty seconds post-mark, we open fire. Over."
"Roger," Aisha spoke for our squad as I set Amber down.
"Mark, and out."
[Story Event!]
[Boss Fight: Amphivena the Emperor Taijitu]
[Victory: 300,000 EXP, 300,000L, universal antivenin, [Taking Names] quest continuation and reward, increased reputation with Shade Academy, greatly increased reputation with Vacuan Legion, increased reputation with Vacuo, increased closeness with Amber, increased closeness with Bianca Arc.]
[Loss: Probable death, death of Amber, deaths of Legion task force; untold destruction due to loss of the Fall Maiden powers to Cinder Fall.]
A timer flickered up on my HUD, counting down from sixty seconds, and I mentally lowered the volume of my combat BGM before confirming I was on Squad B's designated frequency.
"Go," I said, and Aisha took off, her sword drawn and held out to the side. As usual, I transferred the Family Sword from its baldric to my left arm, then drew it. I didn't expand the shield, instead grasping Amber's shoulder with my left hand so I could activate [Lay On Hands]. That dropped my passive MP regen from 47/min to around 28/min while granting her 33/min. Her MP pool started trickling down, but I wouldn't be able to meditate in combat so it would have to be good enough.
Amber took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Aisha's footsteps faded, being replaced by the slithery sound of scales over rock. Then the wind kicked up around us, plucking at our clothes and swirling the surrounding grit into little dust devils. An invisible aura of power grew around her, different from anything I'd felt from a Hunter, and the breeze got stronger.
I also heard a tune kick up, fading in over my combat music, but I couldn't quite place it.
Amber began walking towards the bend in the canyon, eyes still closed, and I stepped forward as well to keep in contact.
"Hostile coming your way!" Aisha warned over the radio just as we turned the corner. I saw her backflipping away from a ten-meter thick coil of muscle that tried to close around her. Looking up, I saw the enormous white snake head, glowing with red markings and a stark bone crest crowning its skull. Huge red eyes suddenly locked on mine, and I could feel the Grimm's hatred of mortals steal over me like a chill.
[Status inflicted: Paralyzed]
The box flashed across my vision for an instant before shrinking to a debuff icon with a timer on it. Every muscle in my body seized up, and I accidentally jarred Amber to a halt since I was still gripping her shoulder and probably outweighed her twice over in my armor. She stumbled, but the sense of power around her continued to grow so it seemed she hadn't lost concentration on whatever spell she was weaving. Aisha ran forward again, but a coil slammed down on her position and forced her away from us. I tried to grit my teeth in annoyance, or close my eyes, but my entire body refused to respond, and I couldn't even growl in aggravation since I could no longer breathe.
Grunting, I activated my [Aura] and shattered the paralyzing effect. I averted my eyes from the snake and immediately dropped the skill so I could continue recharging Amber's MP. Instead, I watched the timer as it counted down, ignoring the giant snake drawing rapidly nearer.
"Five," I muttered, loud enough for Amber to hear. "Four. Three. Two."
Amber's eyes snapped open, and the right one flared with magic, brighter and more palpable than Aura. The sunny day dimmed around us as clouds appeared from nowhere directly overhead, dark and rumbling ominously. Amber raised her hand on 'one', and a bolt of lightning fell into her open palm, drawing Amphivena's undivided attention.
"Fire!"
She reared back and flung the thunderbolt like a javelin, and it flashed across the intervening space so fast it left a streak across my vision. It struck true, directly in Amphivena's eye, and the snake jerked backward with a hissing screech as its HP dropped sharply.
‹Wuming's Way›
LV ?
Amphivena
HP: [81%]
"Not bad!" Aisha yelled, prying up a scale and slashing at the black flesh underneath, before jumping away from the snake's thrashing and picking another scale to repeat the process. The damage she was dealing was minimal, but every little bit counted. The creature's HP also dropped in between our attacks, showing that the others were doing their part, hundreds of meters away.
I pulled Amber backward as Amphivena's head flailed around, and watched from the corner of my eye as it hissed, its remaining eye glaring furiously as smoke rose from its ruined eye socket.
"How fast can you do that again?" I asked.
"Give a girl a challenge," Amber smirked, raising her hand again.
This time though, Amphivena ducked under the thrown bolt. Rather than lunge at us, its coils rippled, and a wave of black poured out of its mouth, pooling on the canyon floor between it and us. More glowing eyes appeared from the pool as the goop shaped itself into smaller snakes — smaller being a relative term, since each one was still a meter thick and a dozen long — with white heads following the black out of the puddles until the Named was blocked off from us by a wall of serpent Grimm.
‹Twisted Duality›
LV 20
Taijitu
[100%]
I grimaced. "How long can you keep it up without me recharging you?"
"I can just chain lightning the Taijitu," Amber offered, but I was already stepping forward and deploying my shield.
"You could, but that's probably what Amphivena wants," I pointed out, triggering the squad radio to keep Aisha in the loop. "I can deal with the adds more easily than I can damage the boss. Stick to the plan and let us handle the small fry; I'll try to keep an eye out, but yell if you start running low."
"Got it."
Aisha also barked an affirmative, and then we had no more time for discussion. I ran to the left, thankful the canyon was so wide, and started hewing at every Taijitu that came in range of my right side. My shield rocked repeatedly as they tried to throw themselves at me, but thanks to [Steadfast]I was strong enough passively now to absorb the blows without losing my balance.
It was hardly a perfect defense, though, and my HP dropped a bit as a rent opened in my shirt. The fang had only grazed me, but it wouldn't be the last time. Clicking my tongue, I activated [Aura] again. My HP would be full again in under a minute, but I'd have to keep an eye on my MP now that it was no longer regenerating.
On the plus side, I wasn't using my animal buffs right now, so the only uses for my MP besides defense were [Parry], [Crusader's Smite], or [Elemental Weapon], which all cost less than 100 MP. I didn't even need [Crusader's Smite] against the adds — every stroke of the Family Sword dug deep into Grimm flesh, and I soon had to start backpedaling as the corpses piled up faster than they could dissolve. I had a vague sense from [Detect Aura] of Aisha doing something similar, her slashes occasionally punctuated by barks of AR fire.
Amber called on the storm again, twirling her staff before sitting on it sidesaddle and rising into the air, out of reach of Amphivena's lunge. The massive Named crushed several of its recently-birthed brethren, but the Grimm had no morale to break and kept coming. She hurled another thunderbolt at the boss, and connected even though she missed the head. Its HP dropped another few percent, but significantly less than the crit to its eye.
I ground my teeth as more and more attacks skittered off my active Aura. I wasn't in danger of it breaking — my buffed CON was now over 300 and [Steadfast] was reducing the incoming hits by that amount before taking the rest to my MP— but the constant impacts were still driving me away from Amphivena. The crowd of Taijitu was dwindling, but not fast enough, and it was getting harder to keep my back against the wall.
Just as I thought that, one of the snakes managed to get behind me, and instantly coiled around my leg. I stabbed it immediately, but the dying body continued to constrict even as dark wisps started rising from it, keeping me from moving. I raised the Family Sword to cut through the corpse, but three more Taijitu attacked at the same time and I had to change targets.
"Jaune!" Amber yelled, and the urgency in her tone got me to look up. One of Amphivena's enormous coils was raised over my head, and immediately started to slam down.
"[Crusader's Smite]!" I roared, dropping to a knee and holding the Family Sword overhead with both hands.
Amphivena's blow did what the plain Taijitus had not managed, and my MP plummeted. Then my [Aura] shuddered and shattered. [Bludgeoning Resistance] blunted what damage got through to my HP, but being crushed under several tons of snake still hurt like a fucking bitch.
Still, my bones knitted instantly thanks to [Gamer's Body], and I kept hold of the Family Sword, twisting it and triggering [Crusader's Smite] over and over until Amphivena finally yanked itself away.
Aisha was at my side a moment later, quickly checking me over, and gasped as I kipped to my feet. Overhead, Amber was screaming in fury, bombarding Amphivena with rapid lightning strikes and fireballs.
(You can't break me) Crush the fears of yesterday.
(You can't save me) Barriers – our trust will fade.
I've stood in the dark, been waiting all this time…
While we damn the dead I'm trying to survive;
I'm not ready to die!
[BGM Unlocked! Fight Song: Amber Ud̵͈̫́͋́̏͊́̽̑̂̕͠ ̷̝̱̮̗̪͎̳̹͖͂́͒̿̎́̎͑̽̾̍̾̕̕͝͝ ̴̡̗͇͇̤̺͍̲̞̜̀̿́́̀̓͆̚͠ͅͅ ̸̡̨̛͔̘͕̱̦̭̤̲̯̈́͊́͛̒͂̇̓́̑͒̎ ̷̧̗̫̰͇͉̰̒́̓̈́̑̌̇̕̕ ̴̫̥̜͖̪̲̀͛́̚ – "Not Ready To Die" by Avenged Sevenfold]
Idly decapitating another Taijitu as it lunged at Aisha, I took a breath to glance over my [Status]. Over a third of my MP and almost half my HP was gone from just that one hit, and the [Aura Shock] debuff was ticking from 73 seconds with no way to speed it up since meditating was off the table.
"How the hell are you standing after that?" Aisha asked, firing controlled bursts at more Taijitu.
"Quirk of my Semblance," I said honestly, killing another snake trying to circle behind us. "I need another minute before I can get my Aura shield back up, but at least we're making progress. And only have to deal with the one head."
‹Wuming's Way›
LV ?
Amphivena
[67%]
No sooner were the words out of my mouth than our radios squawked. My earpiece wasn't working, having been crushed when I was, but my Semblance kept me on the channel and Bianca's voice rang loud and clear.
"Bravo Squad, Alpha, the black head is retreating down the canyon toward you!"
Damn it.
"What did I tell you about jinxing us, rookie?" Aisha sighed.
"Amber," I said coolly over the radio. "It's time to trade out." I hit her with [Observe] and saw that her MP was below half. "I need you to support us and look for a finishing blow."
"You're still suffering from Aura shock," Aisha pointed out, falling in behind me regardless and covering my back. Is that from [Chevalier] or is she always this cool under fire? I guess even Amber hasn't really lost it, so I'm gonna give the credit to my Title.
"I still will be when the other head gets here, so we might as well kill this one now," I replied, rotating the shoulder of my shield arm to loosen it. Other head was at most 300 meters away; I could run that in thirty seconds, best to assume it'll be faster.
I couldn't flare my Aura with [Gaia's Pulse] right now, so I tapped some Freeze Dust to cast [Elemental Weapon] and drove the Family Sword under one of Amphivena's scales to the hilt.
"Come on, motherfucker, come get me!" I yelled. "I've killed Krios and Samiri already, and you're next!"
The snake twisted around itself and tried to glare at me with its remaining eye, but I kept my shield over my head and leapt onto its back, slashing at its nose. It jerked back before I could connect, so I swung at its neck instead, triggering another [Crusader's Smite] and tearing a huge slash out of its flesh.
Amphivena screeched again as its HP dropped, and it rammed me with its skull. I twisted with the blow and grabbed hold of the bone crest, clinging on while it thrashed back and forth trying to dislodge me.
"Amber, can you hit my sword with lightning?" I asked over the radio, not sure if she was close enough to hear me yell.
"Are you sure?"
"And preferably not me directly," I added, glancing at my debuff timer. 50 seconds left. Black head will be here any second. "Now would be good."
"You asked for it."
Still hanging on to the bone crest with one hand, I held up the Family Sword, and mentally crossed my fingers that my half-assed idea would work. As the magical lightning struck the Legendary blade, I activated [Elemental Weapon] once again. My Aura coated the sword and it started to glow with more power than I'd ever obtained from using Dust.
"Rrraaaaagh!" I wedged the sword's tip under the scales below the crest of bone on the serpent's head, and with a yell, drove it to the hilt with yet another [Crusader's Smite], twisting and hewing until the white head fell silent and the bone crest under my hand detached. Knowing we were short on time, I stowed the mask blindly in my [Inventory] as I rode the limp neck to the ground, bracing for impact.
The collision I was expecting never came, as someone grabbed the back of my breastplate and yanked me away, so hard that I lost my grip on my sword.
"Idiot boy," Rumpole grumbled, landing with her feet against the canyon wall and shifting her grip on me.
"What the hell?" I demanded. "Why are you even here instead of with the plane? We had a plan!"
"The phrase you're looking for is 'thank you', you little shit," Rumpole responded, kicking off the wall and landing lightly. At least, she landed lightly — I was two feet taller than her and consequently banged my knees on the rocky canyon floor. "Force an old woman to save your sorry hide, hmph!"
"I had that under control; the head was already dead," I snapped. "Now I've lost my sword, Amber's low on energy, and we don't have evac on standby!" I turned to glare at her and almost swallowed my tongue when I saw the details above her head had changed.
‹?›
LV ?
Xanthe Rumpole
What the fuck? I saw her title earlier, I know I did. Did her fucking level increase somehow? It would have to be at least seven higher than this morning!
She snorted. "If you were my student I'd have you in detention for a stunt like that. Much less for talking back to me you are."
"I don't work for you, I don't go to your school, and you're not my fucking mother!"
"You sure are a whiner."
"I'm–!" The ground started to vibrate, and I stepped in front of Rumpole despite how annoyed I still was with her. I haven't been disarmed like this since Krios, and I don't like it! Growling in exasperation, I shut up and reached for the gun I'd won from my wager with Olivia.
It sat at the small of my back, and when collapsed it wasn't much more than a brick of blued steel and chrome, similar to Bia's gun — hence why it was so easy to tease Ruby about what it might be. As my hand closed on the pistol-grip, it detached from the belt and began to unfold.
I was happy with the Family Sword as my melee option, so rather than using [Weapon Design] to combine a melee weapon with a firearm — since even with thirty-odd points in the skill I could only combine two weapons — I instead combined two guns.
Specifically, two shotguns.
The end result was Dawn Cracker: a double-barrelled, 4 gauge monstrosity with a split foregrip that I could hold in my left hand or clip over the top of my shield if I needed my hand free. The bottom barrel was smoothbore, and could fire a variety of shell types, from standard bismuth-tin buckshot to steel flechettes to various Dust loads that could create elemental effects. It was fed by a small magazine, inspired by Crescent Rose in the Red Trailer, good for five rounds of a given type, plus one if I kept the pipe full. The whole thing was 700mm long, a little over half the length of the Family Sword, but weighed over twice as much when loaded.
I'd checked it over before we landed, but a glance with [Observe] confirmed again that it was clear, ready to fire, and loaded with 5+1 shells of Gravity-enhanced shot.
Amphivena's black head appeared, not from over the fallen coils of its white half, as I'd expected, but lunging suddenly from underneath them. My [Aura Shock] timer was still over 30 seconds, so all I could do was raise my shield, brace the gun on it, and open fire.
I got off three rounds of shot before the black head barrelled into me and knocked me off my feet despite [Steadfast]. Rumpole had obviously moved out of the way, because I didn't impact her as I flew backward, skipping off the rock like a stone tossed across a lake.
As soon as I skidded to a halt I tried to throw myself to the side, but I wasn't fast enough, and one of Amphivena's fangs pierced my thigh, and I let out a roar of agony that almost drowned out multiple yells of my name. My HP didn't drop by as much as when I'd been crushed, but I was still down near a third of my maximum even after the reduction from [Piercing Resistance].
(All I've learned) It's like poison
(All I've known) Inside my veins;
(All I've seen) It's like venom,
(All I know) It's all that remains!
[Status inflicted: Poisoned]
[Status inflicted: Corroded]
And then there's that.
Amphivena's glaring red eye fixed on me, and behind the hate it held for all mortals and sadistic amusement at my pain, there was a certain… curiosity?
Gritting my teeth, I hissed, "Krios and Samiri couldn't kill me, and neither will the rest of you!"
You won't break me
No matter how hard you try!
You can't take me down,
I'm fucking bulletproof!
[BGM Unlocked! – "Bulletproof" by Five Finger Death Punch]
But you're not! I brought Dawn Cracker up one-handed, triggering [Bull's Strength] and [Reinforcement] for the first time in this fight, and relying on my resultant 339 STR to brace the pistol grip. The Grimm's eye slammed shut, even sinking somewhat into its skull to protect itself, but I didn't care.
My finger slid past the primary trigger and caressed the secondary one, firing the top barrel's payload. Unlike the bottom, the top barrel was rifled. Rather than shot, it fired specially-made, 115-gram, saboted tungsten-nickel slugs, for when I really needed something dead.
Considering my gun was all but pressed against the Grimm's head, its scales did less than nothing in preventing the 25-millimeter projectile from smashing straight through its flesh, putting out its eye, and continuing straight through its skull to come out the other side.
Amphivena's HP had been below half, since the white head was dead and Bianca's team had been fighting the black one before it came after me, but now it dropped precipitously. Thank you, critical hit with [Giant Killer].
‹Wuming's Way›
LV ?
Amphivena
[14%]
Screeching, Amphivena tried to jerk back, but I dropped Dawn Cracker in my lap as I sat up and wrapped my arms around its fang, digging my heels in despite the agony shooting up my impaled leg.
It was too massive for me to stop even with [Bull's Strength] and [Reinforcement] active, but I slowed it down enough for Amber and Bianca to land on either side of me. Both of their hands were glowing, Amber's a crackling yellow, Bianca's a soft white. My battle music faded out, replaced by a haunting string quartet.
[BGM Unlocked! Fight Song: Violet Arc – "Lux Aeterna" by Clint Mansell]
In unison, they both fired beams that collided inside of Amphivena's mouth and detonated in its throat. The explosion decapitated the snake cleanly, finishing off its HP. The body thudded to the ground, while the head remained in place, with its fang stabbed through the meat of my leg and into the canyon floor.
That could have gone worse, I decided as I let my head thump back to the rock. Even poisoned, I'm in much better shape than after the fight with Krios. I lazily pumped a fist in the air. "Three down."
Thousands of miles away, a pale figure on an obsidian throne opened her eyes, red irides nearly glowing against black sclerae. Salem tapped a finger against the throne's arm, the Seer beside her drifting away as she no longer required its presence, and she pondered what she had seen through the eyes of her fallen Titan.
"How intriguing…"
Most of those present weren't particularly noteworthy. Average specimens of Ozma's foolish attempts to make the pathetic remnants of the true humanity slightly closer to their forebears. No doubt being present at the death of a Grimm that the modern mortals had Named would be the greatest accomplishment of their pitiful lives.
The brunette she had observed at the end, however… The fire, the wind, the storm; that had unmistakably been magic that finished off her Amphivena. And if Salem wasn't mistaken, based on the scars on her face this was the same Maiden that young Cinder had waylaid and half-drained before being interrupted by Ozma's pawn.
She not only yet lived, but she was still able to use her power. Cinder's command of magic was rudimentary at best, with Salem barely able to teach her to hold the unstable power inside before it burned her out, but the Maiden commanded the other half with surprising proficiency. If it came to a magical duel between the two, she honestly wasn't sure if Cinder would be the winner.
And the blond pair — brother and sister, she thought. They were both mildly interesting in their own ways. The woman for her Semblance, which was mighty enough to have damaged Amphivena on its own. Since the Fall, most Semblances were barely fit to be called 'a semblance of magic', being little more than petty tricks that Ozma's Hunters were frequently all-too-reliant upon, giving the cleverer Grimm ways of defeating them even without her direction.
The boy displayed no such capacity of his own, but his strength and durability were remarkable for his age. He looked scarcely old enough to be attending one of Ozma's schools, and yet he verbally claimed responsibility for killing two other of her more noteworthy children.
She hadn't been watching their deaths, so it might even be true.
And then there was his weapon… That sword channeled magic better than she thought a creation of the modern era was capable of. Was it a simple fluke of metallurgy? Or perhaps an artefact of the lost humanity?
She wondered if he knew what he carried. It could be the reason he had succeeded in killing Krios and Samiri, if his boasting was accurate. If he realized the blade's potential, perhaps he would also be worth paying attention to in the future.
If only for the despair it would bring Ozma when she delivered him the boy's head.
Name: Jaune Arc
Level: 44 (Next: 14.85%)
Title: Chevalier
Race: Human
Age: 18
Job: Beacon Student
Class: Paladin
Semblance: The Gamer
HP: 1726/5782
MP: 1981/3282
STR: 201 (100)
CON: 233 (100)
DEX: 144.7 (53)
INT: 108.5 (50)
WIS: 100.4 (52)
CHA: 131.1 (51)
Points: 27
Money: 1,214,961L
Status: Cursed – Yellow Death [High]
: Aura Shock [Low]
: Poisoned [High]
: Corroded [Moderate]
A/N: Every time Jaune hits a stat threshold I'm reminded what a pain in the ass it is to come up with skills, but I'm reasonably happy with these.
A near-me area network is a logical grouping of communication devices that are in close physical proximity to each other.
I'm aware both of Cinder's eyes glowed when she was using the Maiden's magic even before Amber's death; let me have the thematic imagery. In this story the eye on the scarred [left] side of Amber's face doesn't glow.
Wú Míng is Chinese for "anonymous", as in how Grimm are 'manifestations of anonymity' — no association is intended to the group of Italian authors using the name as a collective pseudonym.
'Way' is the traditional translation for 'Tao', for which the taijitu is an important symbol.
Jaune's gun has been named for a while, but it really did take this long to settle on a design I liked. It's based roughly off the Russian KS-23M, but Remnant-ified into a collapsible semi-automatic with a larger magazine and a second barrel above it.
For the non-Americans (and those less familiar with firearms), 'gauge' is a measure of the width of the barrel [of a shotgun or cannon]. Lower numbers are bigger, and a 4 gauge on Earth is basically your quintessential 'elephant gun', having a barrel a bit over an inch wide. Considering how big some Grimm get, though…
A sabot is a support structure (usually plastic) around a projectile (in this case a metal slug) that keeps the projectile aligned with the center of the barrel and obtures to a rifled barrel to better impart spin (which significantly improves accuracy). It's no sniper, but Dawn Cracker's top barrel is functional at a longer range than you'd expect from a shotgun.
As usual, Quest rewards that haven't been enumerated in the text don't appear in the [Status] — these are Jaune's stats as of the end of the fight.
There may be some lingering formatting issues. Neither website (FFN and AO3) where I post this story is perfect about transferring everything I try to show, but if something looks funky, maybe check the other site.
