this is the second part of the big chapter I talked about in the previous chapter
also don't hesitate if you feel like it, to send a private message or review the story on how I could improve or even just point out some critical flaws here and there (I see it as the best way to improve my writing and thus the story)
in the library, right after Maos and Ruby left
"Don't worry yang, I'm sure Maos won't do any harm to Ruby" said Weiss, Blake is already back at her book
Yang crosses her arm in disagreement "It's not that...it's..."
"what is it then ?"Blake actually reacts, Weiss and Yang look at Blake in surprise "I know you're hot-headed, but your reaction is a bit too much even for you, just saying protective doesn't work anymore...there is clearly something else"
"..." Yang stays silent, Weiss turns to Yang "I'm on her side for this one"
the blond girl looks around as if to search
for an escape or maybe just the correct to phrase a few words
"It's...how do I say this ?...hee...okay you know just forget about it..." She seems to even struggle to express herself, maybe she doesn't really understand it
Weiss sits next to Blake and talks to her, almost hiding behind the book "What do you think it is ? She seems to truly struggle with it"
"I'm not sure..." said Blake, "Ruby did mention that their uncle has talked a lot about Maos because they know each other well...given Ruby's reaction to Maos, she seems to be looking up to him to a certain point...but-"
"stop gossiping in front of me! I can hear you!" said Yang
Blake and Weiss ignore Yang's yell
"hmm...Yang seems really embarrassed about it..." said Weiss
"Let's try to resume all we know ?"
Blake actually take out a piece of paper, the library actually give those out along with Pen, which helps for taking note when reading books
"Seriously ?" yang seems offended on her side of the table, Weiss takes a pen for herself as well
"Yang Xialong, if you don't want to tell us, we'll find the answer by ourselves eventually!" said Weiss
"what-"
Blake smile gently at Yang with the most peaceful voice" We will"
Yang grunts "Okay, fine! I'll say it !"
"I...I..I guess I'm kinda jealous.." said Yang, with a strange cuteness
"jealous ?" Weiss and Blake look at each other in confusion"About what ?"
Yang takes a deep breath "It mostly started after I actually saw him..like in person I mean and.."
"heh ?" react Blake "You making it sound like a love thing, don't tell me your jealous of Ruby because she's closer to Maos ?"
"what? no! it's just not that"
"Sorry..." said Blake, "I think you read too many novels..." said Weiss to Blake
yang sigh..' okay...just let me explain..."
with Maos and Ruby, they are walking in the corridor
"so...what is that method ?" asks Ruby as she walks joyfully next to Maos"We'll get to my room to test it, we'll test with a regular book..."
"test it ?"
"yep, it's a ring...it's very special, you'll see"
soon after they arrive, in Maos's room, Ruby immediately sees the sword near the wall "Oooooh", her voice sounding like a child discovering a new type of candy
"you can have a look if you wa-" said Maos, the moment he blinks, he see ruby already with the sound in hand, he see a bit of rose petal falling on the floor
"It's so light! And it's pretty !"
Ruby analyses with the eyes of an expert "Did you make it ?!"
"in some way, yes, in some other way...no"respond Maos as he gets the ring of speed reading, he also gets a simple history book he had
"what are those symbols ?...it's not glyph? runes ?" Ruby tilted her head as she observe the sword
"you mind focused on something for one? You have all the time in the world to look at the sword after that,"said Maos
"right!"Ruby jumps next to Maos, and he hands her a ring
"a.. ring?...hey, there are also weird runes on it...why are they glowing, did you put dust in it ?"
"put it on"Maos also grab his chair and put it in front of the desk and puts a book on the desk, he presents Ruby with the chair
"are we going to do homework ?"Ruby seems to almost back down
"homework will come on another day...you have time before that,"said Maos
"okay..." Ruby sat on the chair with doubt, as she put on the ring" I don't understand...i thought you were going to use your semblance"
"I won't...you will...in some way," said Maos," heh? How is that supposed to work ?" Ruby is completely lost now
"just grab the book...start reading..and put your aura in the ring...imagine using your semblance, but with the ring as a catalyst..."said Maos,he put his hand on ruby's shoulder, he intend to give her energy if needed, he can't have her passed out and he was also ready to cast a healing spell on her, with Coco he knew using a ring is safe, but he can never be too careful
"um...okay.." Ruby opens the book, the moment she starts reading, she activated the rings, and her eyes suddenly begin to glow,maos suddenly sees a lot of rose petals being emitted from ruby's body like ejected, the petals floating toward the book and ruby's hands
, Ruby's eyes seem to follow the pages, her rose petal going around her hand as she suddenly starts flipping the page really fast
[it's working !]thought Maos, he see the strange effect around Ruby, her petal floating around her protecting her, boosting her, making her read faster
10 seconds later, the books suddenly close, and Ruby show sign of shortness of breath, she has a lot of trouble breathing, like she has been using her semblance non-stop for 10 minutes
"you're okay ?" asks Maos, [her aura didn't break...but it was reduced to almost nothing...]
Ruby's eyes stop glowing as she tries to regain a regular breath, the petals disappear as well, a smile appears on her face, the kind of smile someone has broken a physical record
"done!... I've read the whole book !" said Ruby as she lay down on the back of the chair, she start getting up, but she seem to have lost all her energy, she almost falls, but Maos catch her, she tried to get herself fully standing "I got...I got it !"
"you should take off the ring now...just in case" said Maos [she read the whole book? she should have read like only a third of it with a single use of the spell...strange...]
"oh right!", Ruby easily takes off the ring, and the ring suddenly flight out toward the desk
fro Maos, time almost slow, he sees the ring glowing...the kind of glowing it definitely shouldn't have...it's now a red color
"huh ?"Maos grab it mid-air and catch
this ring is amazing !" asks Ruby, she seems to slowly get at least stamina back, how did you do that ?"
Maos stare at the ring, half ignoring Ruby" I put one of my semblances in it...I learn I could now stock them into objects and other people could use them"
"What?! But that's amazing!I mean since I heard you could copy semblance I have been going crazy about it and have been making literally a list of questions! But if you can do that it is even more amazing. did you another semblance to do it ?!"
"the ring's hot,"said Maos
"heh ?" Ruby's eyes turn to the ring, and the ring start emitting strange smoke
"and it's getting hotter !" said Maos, his hand is hurting now
Maos raises his free hand[create water], and a full 10 L of water appears out of thin air,
"wha-"react ruby
before the water could even touch the ground
[Shape Water] With another gesture, the water suddenly shape to form a block of ice with a shape on top of it to put the ring on it, maos go over it and put the ring in it
ruby and Maos
"you will damage the ring by cooling it like that!" said Ruby, she tries to take it, but it actually burns her finger "Ouch! touching hot stuff without gloves is still a terrible idea !"
"don't touch it!" said Maos
they both watch as the ring actually melts the ice, Maos just keep the ice cold by putting using magic
"It must be crazy hot to melt ice at such a rate!" reacted ruby
after a few seconds, the ring is not getting colder, in fact, it's getting hotter
Maos raise his hand, he made the water evaporate with magic and use weak telekinesis to hold the ring right above his hand, the runes still glowing bright red
Ruby is still a bit close "I can feel the heat coming from it...it's insane"
"and it doesn't make sense," said Maos, he feels...disappointed...is the ring faulty because of him, or is it a reaction due to Ruby being the one using it ?"
"is it the first time you make a ring like that ?" asks Ruby as she sees the ring floating above Maos's hand [he can even do telekinesis like professor goodwitch]
"not really, it's the second time actually..but the other worked properly don't understand why this one didn't work..."
Maos look at Ruby, and the young girl just smiles at him "If only the second try, it's not surprising it fails right ?... I mean this seems...unknown?we can't expect it to work much in the beginning, I'm sure you'll get it right next time !",ruby intervention did cheer up Maos a bit
Ruby and Maos suddenly see the rings melting, the gold itself is melting
"the runes ?!"Maos immediately goes to the window, opens it, and throws the ring as far in the air as he could using telekinesis
"Why did you do that ?!" reacted Ruby as she reach the window and see the ring high in the air, a huge explosion then occurs coming from the ring, in reaction, Maos goes in front of Ruby to shield her just in case, they both just see the fragment of the golden ring falling on the ground, they stand in silent
"I'm sorry Ruby, but you should maybe start reading books like a normal person at normal speed for now..." said Maos
Ruby is seemly traumatized
there was a small silence as Ruby turned to Maos "That wasn't supposed to happen...right ?"
"no, that wasn't supposed to happen, this gold ring was also worth a lot..." said A disappoint Maos
"I'm sorry I didn't intend to break!" said Ruby"
"It's okay...I should be the one to apologize, you could have been hurt by the ring...testing them will take a bit more tries, but not on you, I'm not making that bet"
Ruby and Maos stand in silence as they see the remaining shard of the ring on the grounds from the windows, the shine of the gold allows it to be very visible
"so..you're going to make more of those exploding rings?" asks Ruby
"of course,"said Maos
the sorcerer his head to Ruby and look at her
Ruby has the brightest and cutest eyes he has ever seen
[puppy eyes...Qrow warn me about it...]though Maos
the young girl starts speaking very fast
"can I help you make them? I wanna what are those weird runes !, where did you even get all that gold ?! Did I just use your semblance using the ring, is that right ? ?! How is that even possible ?!"
Maos fought his hardest sadly it was useless, the problem wasn't the puppy eyes, thanks to Qrow Maos also knew...when Ruby is really curious when she sees something that she doesn't understand and it's related to the weapon, she's unstoppable, she would never give up even attempting to replicate what she saw herself
"Okay, I get it...I will teach you...just promise you won't tell anybody, not even your team, none of this is ready yet"
[Ruby saw the runes once if she tries to make an experiment on her side by herself with the thing she doesn't understand, she may hurt herself, it's risky to teach her about it because magic is unknown to this humanity, but for her safety...wait...Miss Goodwitch sent Ruby to me, with my magic in mind...does Ozpin actually want me to slowly introduce Ruby to magic or at least my research in understanding aura and semblance ?... it's settled then]
it was way better than Maos teach her, it was a regular thing for a student in magic to lose an eye or something even an arm when learning runes and magic item crafting
"Yes! Thank you! I'm sure we can make more rings with even crazier abilities!...and no explosion after the first usage"
"..." Maos just realise something
"I'm surprised you take this so well..."
"heh ?" react Ruby "What do you mean?"
"I made you use a ring that allows using a semblance that isn't yours...you don't seem that Surpris by it"
Ruby looks at him in confusion "Um...I've seen clothes imbued with dust before giving powerful effects, Weiss is able to use her glyph to affect other people as well...and given your semblance, I don't see why you would be able to pick up a semblance that allows you to do it, Weiss can literally speed up time with her glyphs"
"Weiss can do what ?" react Maos, he is completely frozen, meanwhile Ruby went on" Also in legends, there are several mentions of objects which can give one a superpower or a semblance...it's not that far-fetched that semblance able to store other semblance exist in the first place"
"you thought of that just now ?" asks Maos[hey, hey...I think the rings may have had more than the speed reading effect ?!]
"not really, using the ring seems to have also sped up my thinking" answered Ruby
[how can you be so calm about it?! There's something wrong...]Maos suddenly grab Ruby by the shoulder
[identify: level 5]
ruby rose: ranger/ artificer
semblance: petal's burst
abilities:
-silver eyes
-Favored Enemy: grim
-Natural Explorer
-identify weapon, can identify the weapon at an equivalent of level 8 [identify]
currently affected by: [Heightened awareness], [speed reading]
[I'm missing some information, I need to cast once more, avoiding useless information,I need to be aware of any kind of effect she may under]
[IDENTIFY]
a second later in the ruby's point of view
ruby felt like she has dazed out for a second after Maos grab her shoulders,she then see him
"Maos you're okay ?!" Ruby grabs Maos by the arms,the sorcerer was brought also back to reality
"your nose is bleeding!"
Maos look at his nose, he felt blood around his nose and mouth, he shakes his head
"I'm fine! I'm fine!"
his bleeding nose heals almost constantly thanks to his magic "I'm okay, see? I have just overused my semblance it's nothing really"
"ho-wh-"
"I tried using my semblance to understand the effect of the rings on you, seems like it's okay,I just had to make sure"
"what about you ?!" react Ruby, worried more about Maos than Ruby
"I am fine"
a few minutes later
"That's actually kinda cute," said Blake
"no, it's not!" complains Yang
Weiss starts summarising "You're mad at Maos because he has ignored you and has directly come up to Ruby and when you did come up to him, he ignored you, adding the being Mean to Ruby part, you are afraid he may suddenly ignore her and that it would hurt her"
"who just stands there in the middle of a courtyard and just does nothing !, I actually scream at him you know?!" react Yang
"you're also jealous that Ruby has chosen to have Maos help her in her study then asking you"add Blake
"I...maybe a little...I know I'm not as smart as Weiss when it comes to school...but I'm not an idiot I have had above-average grades since I started combat school! I could help her!I know Uncle Qrow hyped her (and me) up about him and his abilities, but still.."
[is she actually pouting ?]thought Weiss and Blake
"I feel kinda betrayed you know..."Yang actually had a surprised girl and a childish tone
team WBY heard the library's door opening revealing Ruby, she goes back to her team
"your fearsome leader is back !"said Ruby, she strike a pose,she then walk again
"How was it? It was more than 5 minutes," asks Yang, she was shushed by Weiss and Blake
"it was actually really cool! except for the last part...but we'll be working on it" said Ruby
"What did you do ?" asks Weiss"I'm curious about that fast method to read also...where is he ? he didn't follow you back"
"oh, it's mostly based around his semblance," said Maos," he can boost my ability to read, also, apparently he got an important call and he had to answer"
"right,his semblance of copying other people's semblance that you so talk about...it's still hard to believe..." said Blake
"not that unbelievable,I mean we have Weiss"said Ruby
"huh ?" react Weiss
"you can do crazy things with your glyphs!, speed, slow, platform, gravity, even time control thing!" said Ruby
Yang,Blake and Weiss look at each other, Ruby is right
"so what were you talking about before I came back ?" asks ruby
several hours later, Maos is walking around the school, he has finished all his classes, but he seems distracted during most of them which was unusual
[damn it...what did I do that !]thought Maos, his holding his head in anger
the sorcerer had done something extremely dangerous
[I really hope she won't have any side effects]
"damn it"
his eyes suddenly glow a bright blue, his engulf in blue flame, he then suddenly teleports,Maos blinks once, and he found himself above Beacon's academy, his magic had gone wild
the reason for his anger ?his anger toward himself
when he made Ruby use the ring, there were a few accidents after that, the ring getting hooter, melting then eventually exploding,then after that, it seem that everything was fine
except it was not
Maos use identity, he went up to 6th level [identify], something he couldn't control properly and he messed up bad
he learned information about Ruby, her past, and her own thought, he manage to even literally read her mind and mostly he manage to even learn information that she didn't know about herself, this in itself wasn't a problem
HOWEVER, indirectly,Ruby also could access Maos's mind
using the rings actually had a chain reaction on her and him using a spell on her after made it worse
she learns actually cast spells thanks to his mind, without wanting to, she almost died and she didn't even realize it,her brain was literally being fried
Maos let himself fall for a few seconds above Beacon
at the first [identify] spell, Ruby's life expectancy was 91 years old, but after she entered Maos mind was stuck by magic itself, his own understanding of it and his view of the world
her life expectancy went down to 32 years and it was going down
Maos manage to realize the problem and stop the whole process by affecting Ruby's mind directly, he has to use WIld magic at the highest level he could to manipulate her mind and overall knowledge and either change it or erase it, he erases every memory of the ring, of the spells in her mind, and all the knowledge about Maos and his past, and instead Maos changes the memory where he just boosts her reading speed using a weird semblance
Ruby is saved, but the damage is done, he stole 60 years of her life
Mao kept falling, he close his eyes as he calm down and think
[so that the effect of the people of remnant using higher-level spell...it actually drained their life span and not just aura]
after 2 seconds, his eyes open, and he lands on the ground using magic to create a shockwave of energy around him
he's alone in the courtyard, but no doubt Ozpin saw him falling given the shockwave
"I'm going to give it back to her,it's my fault,I need to fix this"
"book of Magic: show me a way to increase someone's life span, alchemy, rituals, I don't care what type, just tell me"
and so the book gave a solution
2 weeks Later
in the combat class of the first year
Jaune and Cardin are fighting, Cardin is obviously winning
"come on,jaune!"Ruby is encouraging Jaune the best she can,Pyrrha goes along with her
"and he lost..." said Yang
the fight stop and Glynda Goodwitch
" Students, as you can see,Mr. Arc's aura has now dropped into the red; In a tournament-style duel, This would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match"
the teacher turns to beat down Jaune gets up "Mister Arc, it's been weeks now, you should be more aware of your aura spending during combat, you waste too much energy in your attacks and it leads you to have no defense, We wouldn't want you to be gobbled up by a Beowolf"
Glynda turns to the public of first-year"Remember everyone!The Vytal Festival is only a few months away,It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing! Those who choose to compete in the combat tournament will be representing all of Vale, just like the student before you"
a few minutes later, team RWBY and JNPR are eating in the cafeteria, jaune seems bit down for a good reason
"by the way, Ruby you still have a lecture with Maos after class ?" asks Weiss
"yes, I do like always why ?" asks Ruby as she speaks with her mouth full of food,Weiss grabs a loaf of bread "I had some trouble with a specific subject in chemistry...i just wanna check if I understood the exercises correctly"
"it's tomorrow after class,I can akss him,as a student representative it's like he could refuse,he actually help a few other student with some subject"said ruby
Blake didn't to even listen to the conversation,too busy eating
"by the way...isn't weird we never see him ?" asks Yang "Like he goes to class, eats with team CFVY and then we just don't see him all day until he comes helping ruby..at the beginning of the year, we met several times in the corridor and stuff, but now..he like a ghost in the school"
"he's probably training," said Weiss ", to this point ?" react Yang,
"I mostly see him in the morning, sometimes I even drink coffee with him" suddenly said Pyrrah
"you do ?" react the whole group except Jaune even Blake reacted
"When I go running a bit in the morning, we usually meet and run together, we have a few chats now and then," said Pyrrah
"but what about the rest of the day ?" asks Nora,Yang seems to be with her this
"he may also be meditating, given his semblance and energy, it's understandable," said Ren
"but where? It's not his room,I checked," said Yang
"you seem really interested in finding him..." mention Blake,but she was ignored by everyone but Ruby whose eyes give a look to her
"then it's probably somewhere only known to him alone, a silent and peaceful place, I would not mind having a conversation with him about that,i wasn't aware he run so early in the morning,"said Ren
Weiss rolls her eyes"The 2 champions have the habit of getting up at 6 am to run 10 kilometers before classes...you two talk a lot ?"
"apart from in the morning, not really, but he is really sweet, I even propose we spar some day as training, but we didn't find a right moment where we both have the time"
"What !?, he asks you for a fight ?!" react Yang and Nora" so that's what this is about..." Blake and Ruby sigh as the same time
"I'm not sure to understand why the surprise ?... I fough with all of you, also he didn't ask for a fight, I did" said Pyrrah
"But he didn't fought anyone!I wanna spare with him too!," said Yang, "Nora and I have been searching for him for days, to ask him for a spar...and you know measure up our team to him"
"you should not go around asking for a fight,"said Ren "We should !" scream Nora in response
that's what Weiss intended to do as well!" added Yang, the rich girl is not very silent as everyone turned to her "I'll admit after he helps me with chemistry,I did the thought of asking for advice...mostly for my semblance, having a spar with him is an idea that would come along as well"
"I'm surprised Ruby still did not ask herself then, "remarked Weiss
"I did," said Ruby as she look down a bit "but every time I ask, he just says "sure why not,I tell you when I have the time" and then he leaves"
"You did ?!"
Blake finally speaks as she gives a look to each member of her team "Seems like there's a clear lack of communication in our team"
"did you ask him as well ?" Ruby turned to Blake, "No, I didn't, I'm not interested in fighting him, according to Team CFVY, he is a bookworm, But I've never seen him reading a book in the library so far"
while saying that, Blake actually takes out a book and starts reading "I don't think asking for a fight will go anywhere"
Blake didn't react to the disappointment sound of her team and Nora
and so their meal kept going, soon Nora start telling stories of her dreams
"So...There we were...In the middle of the night..."
"It was a day..." correct Ren
"We were surrounded by Ursai!"
"They were Beowolves." add ren
"DOZENS OF THEM!/ 2 of them"
"But they were no match! And in the end...Ren and I took them down, and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"
"She's been having this reoccurring dream for nearly a month now..."said Ren
it took a bit of time for everyone to actually Jaune lack of talk during the whole meal, Pyrrah decide to finally ask the big question
"Jaune...Are you okay?" asks Pyrrah, Jaune turns to Pyrrah "Uh?" he seems surprised " Oh, Yeah! Why?"
Ruby had also realized the situation"It's just that you seem a little... not okay..."
"you do seem down for a few days"
Jaune let out a nervous louder and tries to strike confident pose"Eh, guys, I'm fine... Seriously, look!"
they all hear Cardin mocking Vevelt in the distance
"Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school."
Jaune try to joke the problem away" Who? Cardin Winchester?,Nah... He just likes to mess around, you know? Practical jokes!"
" He is a bully," said Ruby
"Oh please... Name one time he's "bullied" me.." said Jaune
Yang raises her hand and starts counting with her finger "That one time, he just keeps knowing down your books, that time when he kept making you stuck in the doorway with your shield, he even locked you in a rocket locker and made you go flying!
"I didn't land far from the school..."Jaune is trying to excuse the situation
Pyrrah reaches a hand on Jaune's shoulder "Jaune, you know if you ever need help you can just ask..."
Nora suddenly get up from the table "We'll break his legs"
Jaune moves his hand fast meaning his refusal of the Idea itself "Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone."
"It's not the problem! How can you let yourself be pushed around like that!" react Yang, who is very defensive of her friends
"What a freak!"
team RWBY and Team JNPR turn to Cardin bullying Velvet
" That hurts !" complain Vevelt as carding is pulling on her ears "Please stop!"
Yang starts getting up"This guy deserves a beating," said Yang, Nora seem to clearly agree
but Blake stops them "No...be smarter about it, if you fight now, they may take revenge on her when we are not looking",they both look at Blake,they both sit back
"I can't stand People like him," said Pyrrah
"He's not the only one like that"said Blake, Yang also added " It must be hard to be a Faunus"
Weiss didn't seem to really care about Vevelt being bullied, mostly a lack of empathy, while Ruby look at Velvelt leaving with sorry eyes
the next day,Ruby went to Maos's room, it was time to do a bit of work
she knocks on the door, he opens the doors
"Hi, come in, I made some coffee," said Maos
Ruby enters the room like usual, she is now used to being there, she gives look at the coffee and takes a cup for herself
"so, how was your day ?" asks Maos "I know you had combat this morning"
"fine,i didn't get the chance to fight, how were you day ?" asks Ruby
"it was okay I guess,"said Moas, he goes toward his working desk and take a red gem out of it, he goes near ruby
"again ?"
"yes,it helps you being able to not pass out because of my semblance," said Maos as he put the red gem in the cup and seem to resolve in the coffee and change it
"i know..." Ruby takes the coffee and sits on the desk and put on a ring, Maos put a book in front of her
he goes behind her, and put his hand above her head
he has spent the last 2 weeks learning new spells in order to help Ruby, new rituals actually, he also found a way to restore her lifespan with the help of alchemy
he has previously used the [speed reading] on the book himself, he will share the knowledge his using another spell, making ruby using a magic item is full of out the question now so he had to search for a new way,a ritual seems like the right answer
sadly, after performing several time rituals which cost him silver and iron, he was almost out of materials,he will need to refill his stock soon
Maos began incantation for a ritual as ruby started reading
[share lore]: a ritual spell that actually requires 10 minutes to even cast, it allows one to transmit all kinds of information,
soon after, Ruby closed the book "It's as incredible as always, I can feel the information coming into my mind at such speed!"
she then dranks the coffee
[identify]
Ruby's life span: 53 years
Ruby finish drinking the coffee
[identify]
Ruby's life span has increased to 65 years olds
[12 years, this is the best blood gem I made so far, human really gives a better quality]thought Maos
"Okay, so I think we are actually done with math class...congratulation, you have caught up all knowledge for beacon level in mathematics!"
"yeah! History and chemistry are the only ones left right ?!" scream Ruby in joy
"yep" Ruby and Maos did a tiny high five
Maos goes near his bookshelves "So next week, we'll have History of Vale and History of Vacuo"
"next week? why so long ?" asks Ruby," Why not tomorrow ?"
"I can't produce the gem that easily I've run out of it and I need time to make it properly, remind the first time you didn't take it ?"
"I pass out and fell asleep and had a headache for 2 whole days, what are those weird candy gems anyway ?" said Ruby
"It's a type of medication I can create using my semblance it lessened the street on your body and make sure you don't hurt yourself "As they talk,Ruby had taken Maos's sword in his hands, she was always amazed by it"
"i really wish you explain to me how you can make this sword so light,"said ruby
"maybe one day," said Maos as he take a deep breath "Anyway,I think you go now, it's getting late and I have things to do, those red gems won't be created by themselves"
Ruby starts going toward the door "I get it, you also have homework...by the way? Weiss wanted to ask for help in chemistry"
"chemistry? sure why not, just asks her to meet me tomorrow after class,I should be here" said Maos
"Okay got it"said Ruby before she left
after ruby left
Maos goes the room and look at what remains of his materials
"damn...out of iron..."said Maos,"i'll need to go buy on my way"
he then remembers "right, blood gems"
Maos found himself in the basement of Beacon, his own laboratory, full of animals in cages, 5 cages were empty now
"at least it only took 5 tries with real subjects to achieve dimension door"
"I wonder if everything is okay with the rabbit I gave Velvet"
he then remember a situation he had several days ago
a few days ago, in the basement
[Dimension door]
a magic door opens and another next to it
"Okay bunny..your time to shine"Maos basically throw the rabbit in the gate,a brown bunny,it seems pretty young
"and...here we go"
Maos look at the other door, but the bunny doesn't come out of it
"um..."
previously the remains always come out, either in piece or just dead
"Where did the bunny go ?"
somewhere in the school, a few minutes after team rwby is walking down a corridor
"I'm impressed by your progress ruby" said Weiss,"you're really catching up to class thanks to Maos's help"
Ruby who had a good felt-like joking,she takes the exaggerated tone and imitates Weiss "Oh you know; Maybe I'm just one of that hidden genius that nobody noticed till they get a better teacher!"
Weiss crossed her arms "I still have better grades than you"
"FOOOR NOOOW, maybe eventually the young prodigy will dethrone the princess from a foreign country !" said Ruby still joking
Yang pat Ruby on the head "She's right Weiss, if we're not careful she may actually go past us"
"talking about grades"Blake interrupts the whole group "sorry to be the Weiss of the group"
"we still have a history test tomorrow..maybe we should be working on it, we have free time for now and given our grade on the last one...it could beneficial to have a better grade on this one,"said Blake
Weiss sighs "She's right...I think we sh-"
Ruby suddenly "is that a bunny over there?"
the whole team stops walking and stares at the rabbit moving in the corridor perpendicular to them, their eyes lock on it and follow it
Weiss turns to the ruby, the girl with the red cape is here anymore, only petal remains
"look at him, he's so cute!"
Ruby is already standing next to it, hesitating to touch it, she's joined by Yang,Blake, and Weiss, but the princess seems to have trouble coming closer
they all stand around it
" it doesn't even try to flee, it's probably domesticated,"said Blake,she bend her knee a bit and start caressing the bunny
"and eat well apparently,look at those chubby cheeks,"said Yang as she it pet as well "it eat a bit too much I think"said Blake after analyzing the rabbit
they all turn to Weiss, she seems a bit uneasy
"you scared of rabbits?" asks Ruby, "No, of course not!...it's just... I've never seen one before"
"you've never sen one before ?" even blake was surprised hearing that, "my father didn't like the idea of having pets...he hated it actually,he made sure I never go by a pet shop even when walking around Atlas"
"that seems excessive" reacts Yang, "well,pet this one! Don't worry, it's won't hurt," said Ruby as she grab Weiss by the hand and forced her to come closer
Weiss, slowly takes a knee as well," It doesn't bite right ?"
"It seems pretty calm, but be gentle, anything with a mouth can bite"said Blake
weiss's hand reaches hesitantly toward the animal"...um.." reach doesn't even try to reach it
"Just pet it", Ruby actively pushes Weiss's hand onto the bunny "Hey! don't do-.."Weiss starts petting the rabbit "Its fur is so soft"
"See ?"said Yang
they all stop petting it after a few seconds and it immediately ran away
"oh no..he left...I wanted to pet him a bit more..." admit Ruby, Blake reassures Ruby "It must have enough pat for the day, its owner will probably searching for it"
"ever had a bunny Blake ?" asks Yang", why the question ?" react the hidden faunus
"I know Ruby and I didn't have one,but there was a pet shop on the way to our combat school, Weiss never saw one before...and you easily approach it and seem to know if he eat too much..just asking"answer the blond girl
"well...Yes actually, when I was around 7, sadly it passed away when I was 12"said Blake
"sorry to hear that..."said Ruby,"don't be...it was already a bit old, and Dash had a good life," the black hair girl star being a bit nostalgic
"dash..what a strange name, why that name may I asks ?" said Weiss
"It's a pretty dumb story actually," said Blake, "I had a childhood friend named Adam, we found the rabbit together"
team RWY looks at Blake, her smile seems so natural
"I remember that Adam wanted to catch it for me, so he start chasing it, Adam was fast, but the rabbit was as well, it lasted for hours", she even giggle a bit
"then when he actually catches it, he got bitten quite heavily on the hands, but he did not give up...and eventually we manage to bring it back to my house, I remember my dad's face as he saw me holding the rabbit while had a small bandage around his hands thanks to my mom"
Blake turns to her team, they smile at her "What?"
"Nothing," said Yang, "just happy to see you talking a bit about yourself, you don't usually do that"
"..." Blake hesitates a bit, her handshake a bit, her eyes then end up on Weiss, and her hands stop shaking
she almost dared to reveal her nature, but Weiss's presence make it impossible
"anyways..we have a test tomorrow,let's go,"said Weiss to change the subject
soon later, Maos is walking around the school, he knows the rabbit can't be far
he walks around the school ward, and he sees Yastu's back
"hey,Yatsu..wouldn't you have seen a rab-" said Maos, but Yatsu turn around and reveal he was holding the said rabbit, behind him was Velvet but since he is so tall, she was hidden
[grap]thought Maos, it had to be the 2 people in the whole school who rather die themselves than hurt an animal who found it
"hi, Maos look at that! That champion's been running around the school," said Yatsu as he pet the rabbit he was holding,"hi, I wonder where he comes from"Velvet petted it as well
"hi...I can see that..." said Maos hesitantly
"do you happen to know where he may come from? Maybe he belongs to a student," said Velvet
Maos pet the rabbit, it bites him in response "Ouch!"
"seem like it doesn't like you," said Yatsu backing down a bit "Hey, hey there little champ"
Maos's finger is bleeding, but it heals almost instantly [you little sh-]
"maybe we should just let it walk around? finding its owner ?" said Yatsu," no...bad idea, just let walk around and it may leave the school ground and its owner may never find it again" said Velvet
"you mind if I used my semblance on it" asks maos "to determine who may be its owner ?",he raised his hand again, the rabbit tries to bite it again, but Maos dodged and touch the rabbit's head, he faked [Identify]
"this rabbit has no owner,"said Maos "it came from the forest near the school, Maybe I should there..go and release it ?"
"it doesn't have an owner ?!" reach Velvet "He comes from the forest? that far away?it must have followed a team's airship or was climb up on one without anyone noticing and it run off in the school"
"so he is truly a little champion," said Yatsu as he look at it with the eyes of a dad
"That's right...so...I will-"Maos got closer trying to take the rabbit, but he was stopped by Velvet" Maybe we can keep it ?" said Velvet "He won't survive on his own in the forest"
"if he did it before he can do it again"!said maos as he try to take the rabbit again, this time Yatsu move away "I agree with Velvet...there's no rule that forbids students to have pets around"
Maos stop his movement, seeing that Vevlet and Yatsu have made up their mind "Maybe asks you, team leader, first"
"well, there she is"
[of fucking course!]thought Maos as he faces facepalmed
Coco and Fox had just finished their homework in the library and they were searching for their remaining teammate
"hi team,hi Maos,"said Coco,"hey" said Fox
"look!"Velvet grabs the rabbit, hugs it, and then shows it to Coco "Where did you find that rabbit ?"
"Can we keep it ?!" asks Velvet while doing her best puppy eyes, Coco grabs the rabbit and look at it in the eyes"huh? You wanna keep that thing ?"
"his name is Champ" said Yatsu"You even already name it ? When did you find that bunny ?" react Fox
"about a minute ago and now I want to protect it as if my life depends on it" said Yatsu
Coco turns to Fox "I don't have anything against it...you sure it's a wild rabbit? it doesn't belong to anyone ?"asks Fox
"Maos use his semblance on it, it doesn't belong to anyone, we can't just release it in the wild and dangerous forest !" velvet made full use of her rabbit to make herself even cuter
Coco turns to Maos,he doesn't seem that happy, she then turns to Velvelt, she her hardest to look at cute as possible, Velvet even grab the rabbit again and holds it in her hand, increasing the cuteness of the picture
"you think you can take care it ?" asks Coco,she already gave on fighting Velvet
"of course!I know how..but I will do some research"said Velvet
"you promise me that this...champ, doesn't eat my shoes nor destroy any of my things?"
"We promise!"said Velvet and Yatsu" He won't even get close to it"
"then we have a rabbit now ?"said Velvet with a bit of hesitation
coco sighs "...yes, we have a rabbit now"
"yeah!" react Velvet and Yatsu, even the rabbit seems happy
[damn it..bunny cost a lot you know !]thought Maos
back to the present
MAos is face-palming "That rabbit cost me a lost...but At least he was the first to survive the dimension and I manage to adjust the gates to finally completed the spell"
"okay now...blood gem,i need to try again...hope I can get it better this time"
Maos then goes to the alchemy side of the room, full of grim tears, he actually went with Coco to the forest near Beacon to search for them, on the side is also Coco's first piece of tissue made with a grim tear, grim skin, and bones
"we'll need more if we to make a whole suit with it...Coco could use a bit of practice"
alchemy is essential the same as chemistry, but with more grims tears, and energy management, it doesn't require one-owns energy be it magic or aura, so it doesn't have any effect on Coco, he still remembers her face when she grabs the bones of a grim after she covered the grim with liquid grim tears
it really felt good for Maos to actually not lie about what he was doing, sure he didn't tell her much, but the fact that he doesn't have the hidden alchemy to her anymore felt great for him since then he had several thoughts of telling Coco everything, his past, his power, but after logical thinking, he knew it wasn't the time
Maos sit on a chair and grab a jar of glass full of red liquid, its blood, animal blood to be precise 5 L of rabbit blood, he did not kill any rabbit to get it, it just took a bit of blood here and there to filled the jar, he has enough rabbit to get 5 L in less than a week
"ok...now..let's try making it with animal blood again and refine it"
Maos then made several experiments, mixing the blood with grim tears and accomplishing a ritual with it
a few minutes later, Maos put a bowl of 6 L of blood mix with grims tears on the floor, he then draws a glyph on the ground according to the rituals
the glyph is not necessary, it's just a security measure, if it activates, the floor would shake enough to spill the blood it the whole ritual would stop as the blood would be spilled on the bowl itself had several runes on it to perform the rituals
Maos grab a small piece of ice that he just creates his hand, raises it above the blood, and starts the ritual as he closed his hand on the rock of ice
after a few second, the blood start bowling and then strange red energy seems to be emitting from it like vapor and then smoke, the energy change to several colors in rows, then it stays a dark red
Maos kept the ritual going and the smoke suddenly start moving and seem to be sucked toward his hand, going between his finger and entering the rock
[now compress], the smoke is not coming out from the blood anymore, in the blood only a dark liquid remains, all the energy has been taken away
Maos's fish glows a bright red as the ritual is almost over
"and...done"
He opens his hand and looks at the gem made of life energy and ice, this ritual is actually pretty basic even for Maos, in the old it wasn't really used to increase lifespan because it had clear limitations
using blood gems, you can only increase your life span by EXACTLY 100 years old after that if you take more gems, it will have the opposite effect and take away you life-span, it's probably the gods seeing the human trying to become immortal that made the gems kill you eventually if you take too much given the precise numbers
thankfully for Ruby, it's more than enough to at least restore her lifespan
"i hope I did better this time"
[identity], Blood gem: great quality: life-span:6 month
"what the fuck ?! it's high quality and it's only 6 month worth of lifespan!"
Maos facepalm "Animal really is just a waste for it, doesn't it...", the sorcerer still kept the gem, it's not like it could be wasted
he grabs his scroll and call someone
"hi,Maos" respond the one on the opposite
"hey, Juniors... I need about to buy about 10 L of human blood" asks Maos
"you want to buy blood again !? 10 L this time ?! What the fuck do you do with all that blood ?! Do you drink it or something ?! you don't even know where the blood comes from" reacts Junior
"it's come from people who died selling their organs to the black market, the blood is then sold to the hospitals in Vale and even Mistral,"said Maos
"wait, you actually know? how ?" react Juniors
" I ask the twins, 10 L, I already have the money ready when do I come to you ?"
Maos could hear Junior's putting the scroll a bit away from his face to talk to someone else
"You two said to him from where the blood was ?!" asks Juniors
"yes/it's not like he would change his mind and not buy blood" respond Melanie and Miltia,the malachite twins
at the same Maos heard the noise of punching, saw, and crying in the back [are the twins torturing someone again ?]
juniors come back to the scroll "anyways... I's 10 L right ?"
"yep," said Maos
Maos could hear Juniors mumbling to himself"This kid's a psychopath, worse than Neo"
"who's Neo ?" asks Maos
"heh, you heard me?! no one you need to care about! Gang business!" said Juniors
"understandable, so how much and when do I pick up the blood ?" asks Maos
juniors calculate quickly "Should about 110 000 liens for 10 L, I think I would be able to get it by tomorrow"
"110 000 liens for 10 L ? Yeah, I have that," said Maos
"deal ?" asks Juniors
"deal" said Maos
a day later, Maos actually did help Weiss with chemistry, after that he went to Vale to pick up the blood and came back, he even bought materials on the way
after eating with team CFVY, he found himself alone in his room
"so what spell could I learn next? Should I start?
"[elemental weapon] 3rd level ? no, I can already create a weapon with wild magic and the flame blade is already powerful enough"
he starts going through the list of spell the Book of Magic would allow him to see, and ignore the spell from level 0 to level 3, the reason being that almost all effect at that level can be done using wild magic so unless he is searching for a specific effect he doesn't need to look at them
for example, Maos can easily make a similar effect to [magic missile: level 1] or [flame blade: level 2] or even [Lightning Bolt: level 3]with wild magic, but on the other, he could never read someone's though with wild magic, he would actively need to learn and cast the spell [detect thoughts] a spell which he doesn't know
"what can I learn in the 5th level category would take too much time to learn..."
he starts thinking a bit, he thinks a bit about learning more spells to mentally affect people...mostly so he could fix the problem off
"[modify memory] is a spell Ozpin wants me to learn, it's 5th level so he may take months to learn"
Maos still take a look in the book of magic and read the whole spell description
/[modify memory: You attempt to reshape another creature's memories
While this charm lasts, you can affect the target's memory of an event that it experienced within the last 24 hours and that lasted no more than 10 minutes. You can permanently eliminate all memory of the event, allow the target to recall the event with perfect clarity and exacting detail, change its memory of the details of the event, or create a memory of some other event.
You must speak to the target to describe how its memories are affected, and it must be able to understand your language for the modified memories to take root. Its mind fills in any gaps in the details of your description. If the spell ends before you have finished describing the modified memories, the creature's memory isn't altered. Otherwise, the modified memories take hold when the spell ends.
A modified memory doesn't necessarily affect how a creature behaves, particularly if the memory contradicts the creature's natural inclinations, alignment, or beliefs. An illogical modified memory, such as implanting a memory of how much the creature enjoyed dousing itself in acid, is dismissed, perhaps as a bad dream.
A [remove cruse] or [greater restauration] spell cast on the target restores the creature's true memory.
At Higher Levels. If you cast this spell at 6th level or higher, you can alter the target's memories of an event that took place up to 7 days ago (6th level), 30 days ago (7th level), 1 year ago (8th level), or any time in the creature's past (9th level)./
[I guess it's better I learn it...i already manage to alter Ruby's mind and memories using wild magic...maybe I can learn that 5th-level spell faster]
Maos take a deep breath,he doesn't the idea of using such a spell, but for security reasons, he has to know,he can't take the bet of using wild magic for it,it's a miracle ruby's mind is not in piece after that
"what do I learn after that ?",he start looking at the spell list
"oh, this one looks promising"
[Sending]3rd level spell: You send a short message of twenty-five words or less to a creature with which you are familiar regardless of distance. The creature hears the message in its mind, recognizes you as the sender if it knows you, and can answer in a like manner immediately.
"actually seems like a useful spell, I'm definitely learning that right now, it's a 3rd level spell,It should be done quickly"
"ok..book of magi, teach me the spell [sending]"
and so Maos begin to learn the spell,he will trained it later,
after a few minutes of just understanding the basics of the spell, he found himself still wondering...if maybe trying to learn a 6th-level spell would actually help him to reach that level..however, the book refuses access
what are the desires he needs to give up or satisfy in order to reach level 6 of magic? what did mean that he could not find the answer in a book but that he had to experience it himself?
"..the god of darkness is the one who gave magic to humans...even if I don't trust him, the idea of the answer not being in a book is something to consider, the spells can only be learned with the book of magic,maybe a spell is simply not the answer"
Maos had asked OZ how to reach 6th level of magic before and he remember clearly what the old man said after Maos had realized the book didn't answer him other than just learning more spell
"you will know when you reach it, telling you exactly how to achieve it may actually be a hindrance to your progress to the level after that, so I won't,it's the same reason why the book of Magic doesn't tell you"
as Ozma, he had reached the 8th level of the spell, as OZ, he had reached the 9th level of magic eventually through his reincarnation, sadly he ends divided his power making him lose so much power because of the maidens, so of course OZ knew how to reach 6th level
Maos look around his room, he looks at "the legend of Ozma", Ozpin's autobiography of himself, his eyes end up on the others, the legend of the mad king (Salem's father), the legend of Curae, the legend of Osiris
[I need to review their stories...sadly, du those biography being rewritten by Oz,it was adapted to not imply that magic existed,it's almost a fairy tale like]
Maos knew the real stories of Ozma,his ascension to being a hero, he knew the story of Osiris, he knew of his grand-father Aquila,he knew a bit the story of Euphrosine
the only story he didn't know by Heart was the story of Curae and the mad king, mostly because the story of Curae was lost time and mostly was speculation
"wait... a book of magic.."
the book appears in front of him
"you contain all knowledge Osiris had...all the knowledge humanity had before it got wiped out...not just spell right? Also history"
in several tales, Osiris and Curae knew each other
"Show me the story of Curae, the real story of the man who created the forest I was born in"
/access denied/
"heh? Why? I need to have a higher level of magic to read his story ? come on show me something that will help me! anything, any story !"
the page turns quickly and finally stops on a page with a title on it
/ the origin of wild magic sorcerers by Lyssa/
Maos seem immediately absorbed by the title alone, he looks down on the page as he sees this story is composed in several volumes
/Volume 1: Chaos, the first wild magic sorcerer/
/Volume 2: the beginning of Madness/
/volume 3: the Paradox of Chaos/
"any more stories by this Lyssa ?... I've never heard of her name before...but why does it seem familiar ?"
the book change pages to show a list of books
/the revenge of Curae, Access denied/
/Aquila's burden, Access denied/
/Grims, More than monster, access Denied/
"heh ?!"
"Who the fuck is Lyssa ?!"Maos actually scream in his room
the page of the book changed again /access denied/
Maos'eyes suddenly turn glowing red
[This book is annoying me]
his body starts to emit heat, despite that the room is slowly getting colder, his window begin to freeze due to the cold, and object in the room start floating
he suddenly hears a knock on the door"um...is this Maos's room ?"the sorcerer suddenly was more confused
"is that Pyrrah's voice ?", he gets up and opens the door
he is confronted by Pyrrah and right behind Jaune
"hi"said Maos
"Are we interrupting something...i think we heard scream-"said Jaune
"no, you didn't hear anything"Maos relax a bit as he goes into the corridor to confront Jaune and Pyrrah and close the door behind them so they don't see how damaged his room actually is
"so...what do you need ?" asks Maos
"not much we...I..."jaune hesitate a bit
the red hair girl go in front of Jaune "My team leader is in great need of training...and I would like to ask your help for that...you see...his sword skill are..." said Pyrrah
"non-exitant..."said Jaune
Maos raise an eyebrow and smile a bit "I am genuinely surprised you didn't come sooner..I mean no offense but I've seen you in combat classes, you have no proper training in using a sword"
"I know that!" react jaune "No need put re-open the wound!"
"hey I had never use a sword before going into Beacon,I always use a staff, I was trash at combat in my beginnings here"
"wait really ?" react Jaune, "see? I told you jaune"
"but I thought that was just propaganda...you know...poster boy thing, to make people dream!"said Jaune
"I'm a poster boy ?"maos turn to Pyrrah "I have my face on cereal box...I am in no position to talk about that kind of thing..."
"anyways, when do we start ?" asks Maos "right now? I have free time"
"right now ?" react Jaune
"right now is a great idea!"Pyrrah join her hand in happiness "let's go to the training arena
the next day,Maos is slowly waking up, opening his eyes
"get u,p, lazy man ! the motor pieces we wanted are finally here!"
Coco burst in the room,Maos is so surprised his falls from his bed "wh-"
"it's time to keep building our babies! the suit design we come after that"said Coco
"Heh? Babies?..who's babies? is it that dream again ?"Maos is trying to figure out where the floor is compared to the ceiling
"Dream? I'm talking about our motorbikes! we have everything to finish them !" almost scream Coco in joy,she even sing a bit while saying it
and that's it for this chapter, see you in the next one
hopefully, we will soon be done with Volume 1, I hope you like the story so far