I don't own anything
+ 11283 Dust
As the Ursa began decomposing, I threw a little glance at my aura bar and smiled. It was basically full, and the only missing aura had been the activation cost for Chitin Shield. Checking my surroundings for threats quickly, I didn't find any Grimm lurking around me for the moment. So, I pulled up my attribute page, my smile only growing wider when I realized that I had enough Dust for another level.
Jaune Arc
Level: 40 - 41
HP: 100/100
AP: 400/420
Vigor: 10
Mind: 21
Endurance: 16
Strength: 25
Dexterity: 16 – 17
Intelligence: 11
Dust: 22829 - 1928
Leveling had both been getting slower and faster. Slower, because of the amount of Dust I needed to level up getting so much higher, but also faster because I could fight more and stronger enemies that gave more Dust. I was more than aware that it wouldn't last, though.
At some point, it wouldn't matter how strong I was, if even killing every Grimm in the Emerald Forest every night would barely get me a level. When I got to that point, I would have to carefully think over every level, to squeeze every bit of use out of those stat points. But that day was not today, and I had even experimentally put a point in Intelligence, just to see what it did.
It had been about a day since I'd done so, right before the trip to Vale, actually. I had to say, though, that I didn't feel any smarter. Or maybe I was? I couldn't exactly be sure, but I had noticed that Chitin Shield seemed to have gone from virtually reducing impacts to nothing to literally doing so. Hell, I'd been able to take a full-on charge from the Ursa on it without even being pushed back an inch. I wasn't sure how that was possible, since I sure as hell didn't weigh enough for that, not in comparison to an Ursa anyways. But in the end, I just chalked it up to my semblance being awesome for once and left it at that.
Collapsing my shield and sheathing Crocea Mors, I was just about to go and find some more Grimm, when a cracking branch in the distance made me narrow my eyes. I wondered if it was Port for a second, but discarded the thought. The professor didn't make any sound in the forest, not unless he wanted to. It was how the man had kept sneaking up on me while I trained, and I'd never noticed him unless he announced himself, either by talking or by making some kind of noise.
It must have been a Grimm, then, who had made that sound. But, for a Grimm, it was remarkably quiet. Usually, any kind of Grimm I'd met so far were pretty loud as they moved around. They didn't care one bit about being found, hell, they preferred it, so they made no effort to remain quiet. This, though, this was something new.
I crept through the forest, carefully stepping through the underbrush, making sure to remain silent. It was a skill I had learned in the forest around Ansel, and then practiced more here in the Emerald Forest. Back then, I hadn't been strong enough to fight just any Grimm I encountered, and so, I'd had to pick my battles. Since I hadn't been able to outrun any Grimm that were too strong for me to fight either, I had resorted to not being seen at all.
It came in handy now, when I crept through the trees soundlessly, closing in on the sound of rustling leaves and soft footfalls. I finally found it near the cliffs of Beacon, the dark shape carefully making its way through the woods, trying not to make any sound. When I got a closer look, though, I noticed that it wasn't a Grimm at all. It was a person. It was… Blake?
What the hell was she doing here?
The black-haired girl was wearing her normal combat outfit, with Gambol Shroud strapped to her back. Which was a good thing considering where we were at the moment. And for a moment, I wondered if she'd come looking for me. No, that didn't really make sense, even if she'd found me missing from my bed, there was no way that she'd know to check the forest.
The fact that she kept her head down and wasn't looking around at all only made it clearer that she wasn't here searching for anyone or anything. Instead, Blake walked along the rock face with a steady, but hurried gait, and I struggled to keep up without making any noise.
The girl was so focused on whatever she was doing that she didn't even register the fact that someone was watching her. Her aura should have been alerting her to the fact that I was watching and following her, and yet, she didn't look up from the ground in front of her as she walked. After the sort of day we'd had, I understood why she was a bit out of it. What I didn't understand, was why she would be out in the Emerald Forest in such a state.
As quietly as I could, I shadowed her. I knew enough about the forest at this point that avoiding anything that would make a lot of noise was child's play. The only sound I made was the occasional muffled thump of my feet when they hit a patch of dirt that wasn't quite as damp as the rest of the forest floor. Blake never noticed, though, and we kept going.
Soon enough, I realized where she was headed. The Emerald Forest was mostly behind the Beacon cliffs, which served as a natural barrier to the city of Vale. Mostly being the key word there. The Forest had a very small border with the actual city, just beyond the edges of the Beacon cliffs.
Back before bullheads had been the norm, this was the path that Beacon's students took to get into the city during term. It had slowly but surely been phased out of use since airships were much easier and safer than a jaunt through a Grimm infested forest. These days, the route was only really used by students who'd missed the final airship and needed to be back in the school urgently.
The path ended when the cliffs of Beacon ended, but it was also where the walls of Vale began. The walls here weren't quite as impressive as those on the northern end of the city, which shielded the commercial and the upper-west side from Forever Fall, mostly because the wall here rarely saw any use, and it showed.
The wall here was more of a relic of the past than any sort of defensive structure. It was a ten-foot-tall wall made out of chipped limestone that was slowly succumbing to the elements, while the mortar that held it together was crumbling slightly. Unlike the more modern walls up north, this one hadn't been renovated since before bullheads became a thing, and I couldn't even fault the council for not coughing up the budget to do so.
Almost no one came here anymore, and thus, no one attracted any Grimm to it. The residential district beyond it was a quiet part of town and no one lived close enough to the wall for any negativity short of a tragedy to actually attract any of the monsters. And so, it had been left there for all those years. It still kept out the occasional Beowolf that might get ideas, and that was more than enough.
As Blake approached it, she hopped up, grabbing the edge of the wall and pulled herself up over it. She took a quick look around the residential district beyond, and then jumped down with a quiet thud. I waited a good 20 seconds before I, too, made my way up the wall. Blake, already on the road beyond, didn't look back when I made a similarly quiet thud, landing on the asphalt of the road.
Vale might have been the city that never sleeps, but the residential district was quiet as could be in the middle of the night, a sharp contrast to what I had seen of the commercial district. It made it more than a little difficult to follow Blake around without her noticing me, since all she had to do to spot me was turn around.
So, I walked along the houses, hurrying from porch to porch to stay out of the line of sight. I was in luck, though, as Blake never checked her surroundings. It was honestly a little disturbing seeing the usually competent and alert girl like this.
It wasn't long, however, before I recognized the route we were taking from earlier in the day. We passed the river and walked through some smaller streets, and before long, we were standing in front of Tukson's Book Trade. Or at least, Blake was, I was standing around 20 paces behind her, hiding behind a bin in an alleyway.
I was so focused on the fact that Blake had finally reached her destination, that I didn't immediately notice what was wrong with the store we had visited as a team just that afternoon. Just like Gathering Dust, Tukson's was now the scene of a crime, complete with police tape and a cordon around the whole storefront. Unlike before, though, there were no officers on the scene.
Maybe it was because it was the middle of the night, or because they'd already found everything they needed here, I couldn't be sure. What I did know, was that Blake ducking under the police tape to enter the store itself was probably not the best idea. I rushed out from my hiding place, but before I could reach the store, Blake was already inside with the quiet jingle of the bell.
Without thinking, I followed after her, the little bell announcing me. That was probably not my finest moment.
Before I knew it, I'd been spun around, and the cold barrel of Gambol Shroud was poking into the small of my back. It was an intimately familiar position, one that I'd had more than one nightmare about, but now that I knew Blake better, it was more funny than anything.
"You know, we have to stop meeting like this." I said with much more levity than I'd had last time I was in this situation. To be fair though, even if I didn't know that Blake wasn't actually going to shoot me, I was pretty sure that I could beat her from this spot. While Blake was undoubtedly faster than me, I was much, much stronger, and probably a good bit more durable too.
If I spun around, she wouldn't be able to get enough shots off to break my aura, and I'd definitely have the advantage in the cramped confines of a store, especially since we were already standing so close. If I got her into a grapple, there was no way in hell she would be winning that fight.
I didn't have to test that theory, though, as Blake let out a horrified whisper and let her weapon fall away. "Jaune?"
"Yep!" I said, popping the P as I turned around to face her. Blake looked horrible. I hadn't been able to see her face while I followed her, but now that we were face-to-face, it was almost impossible to not notice that something was wrong. The normally stoic girl's eyes were red rimmed from crying, and the small amount of makeup she wore was smudged and smeared in places, almost as if she had hurriedly wiped away tears with her sleeve.
"What are you doing here?" She asked me, her voice soft she sheathed Gambol Shroud onto the small of her back. I couldn't help the sardonic little smile that curled my lips, because I finally noticed what kind of crime scene we were standing in. It wasn't some robbery like Gathering Dust.
No, the splatters of blood, destroyed bookshelves and racks and the chilling chalk-outline on the floor made it more than clear that this was no ordinary crime scene. It was the scene of a murder.
"Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing."
A/N: Hi everyone! I hope you all enjoyed. It's a little shorter than usual, mostly a little update on his current level (because it's been a bit difficult to fit in any of the previous chapters), and the kick-off for the White Fang Arc.
Anyways, let me know what you guys think, and as always, have a good one!
If you guys want to talk about the story and get direct responses from me, or just chat in general, you can join this Discord at: b7JaQcpuc7
You can read up to 4 chapters ahead on: (Chapter 23 should be up in a couple of hours.)
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